Chapter 1: Entombed
The dead can’t walk.
Another of those small, comforting lies.
He’d heard many of these simple platitudes. Telling someone it will be all right when you both know it won't be. Telling someone there is plenty of time, knowing that they will rush anyway.
Yet here, breathing in the musty, stal...
2025-12-15 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 81: Like a Child
CROWN(Wryna)
I stood very still and stared at the elder. I didn’t have to fake surprise and shock – I was actually feeling both of those things. The question had been so sudden.
What are you?
I didn’t know.
| DUCK: Okay, boss, don’t panic. S...
2025-12-15 06:03:16 +0000 UTC View PostEarlier today, the final chapter of Book 1 dropped. Of course, this means that chapters will stop for a week while I get some editing done and prepare for Christmas. Chapter 81 will drop for Paid members on the 19th, the same day Chapter 71 posts for everyone else.
This does not mean I’m not posting anything during the next week.
I...
2025-12-11 19:23:35 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 80: Simple Village
CROWN(Wryna)
The monastery was quite impressive for its size. I knew that only a small population – a few thousand – actually lived here full time, and most of the elves still in the original areas had more developed cities. Yet as I hiked up the winding path with one of the sentries by...
2025-12-11 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 79: The Gods Must Be Crazy
CROWN
I materialized the Avatar within sight of the monastery, but far enough away to have a leisurely walk towards it. That would give me enough time to get my bearings. At least, that was the idea I had when I set myself up.
I took stock of my current situation. I’d ended ...
2025-12-08 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 78: Stranger in the City
SENA
The three servants chatting in the hallway abruptly dispersed, shuffling to either side to make way for Sena’s passage. They were typical laborers, each one sporting short cropped hair and the telltale fuzzy, slightly pointed ears of the totems that made up their caste – the ...
2025-12-07 17:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 77: When It Rains
CROWN
When I had first learned about the idea of Proxy Avatars, I’d been looking forward to the idea that I could experience ‘life’ and things like true flavor while relaxing in the Sanctuary. Just the thought of more intense sensations had been tempting, and I’d only hesitated due t...
2025-12-06 18:06:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 76: The Magnificence of Chall
CROWN
I really didn’t want to spend more than a few weeks here, this time. I could do a more thorough exploration of the culture later. Twenty years in a Totem tribe gave me plenty of time to learn the gestures, language, and habits of the region, if not the nation I was curren...
2025-12-05 17:06:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 75: The Myths We Make
CROWN
I hadn’t been sure it would work, but it did. Both the guards and the villagers in Kelstad were eager to hear the myth I’d made up to prepare them for incursions… once I made it sound like it was common knowledge elsewhere.
This was a technique that I had heard about wh...
2025-12-04 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostSo, I’ve just been informed that I’ve been laid off from my actual day job that brings in most of my cash.
This is (probably) not a crisis! I have an emergency fund, I’ve been getting a bit of money from Patreon, and it doesn’t go into effect until Jan 5th. I also have a huge backlog of PTO that is getting cashed out. I’m not in ...
2025-12-01 19:51:40 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 74: What Lurks Beneath
CROWN(????)
The tribe was far from any others, but that was fine with them. Their nearest neighbors were a Totem tribe of peaceful gatherers, hardy but not aggressive.
At the edge of the known wilderness, this tribe had everything they needed. Fresh, clean water, fertile land for ...
2025-12-01 18:06:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 73: Scenic Road
CROWN
I’d learned a lot about what to consider, lately. I tried to pay attention to some of these details that I knew would be important later while I approached the checkpoint.
The terrain was idyllic and pleasant enough. Much of the continent was covered in forests, aside from some m...
2025-11-30 17:06:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 72: Where the Wild Things Are
CROWN
I had failed to consider the effect of cutting off an Incarnate Avatar early. I wasn’t sure how the friends and family had reacted, but I doubted it had been pleasant when my Avatar just fell over and died one day. I’d have to figure out a cleaner way to handle t...
2025-11-29 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 71: A Day In The Sanctuary
It was a big day.
Well, “day” was a loose term, in my Sanctuary. Time didn’t work quite the same way here. It was intrinsically linked to the universe that constituted my real ‘body’ now, in a very real sense. Right now that universe was experiencing time at a leisurely rate of about five ...
2025-11-28 17:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostWell, this now marks the completion of posting Book 1 of Neophyte World Builder, a series that will have at least three books.
For those of you in the free tier, this doesn’t mean anything until you get to December 11, because that’s when the finale is publicly available.
For those in the paid tier, tomorrow marks the f...
2025-11-27 18:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 70: All These Worlds…
ADMINISTRATOR POV
The Perception Filter had updated while we were in the temporary afterlife, leaving Orpheus looking a bit less professional now.
She still looked sharp and competent, despite my discovery that she was in a disorganized panic. Her purple hair – a constan...
2025-11-27 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 69: Reunion and Choice
EYSSA POV
Eyssa woke up with a start, her ears and nose both twitching.
Something was off.
She wasn’t bleary. Her eyes blinked in the dim light, but didn’t have the blurriness she was used to. The aches she’d gotten used to – especially in her side and back ...
2025-11-27 06:09:36 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 68: What Is Reality?
“Have a seat.”
Orpheus gestured to my recliner, while she herself sat… a comfortable easy chair appearing behind her just in time to catch her. I wondered about that, since she had earlier indicated no desire to sit, but maybe it was for my mental comfort rather than something she needed. Even that ...
2025-11-24 18:06:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 67: What Have You Done?
REALITY POINTS
2,471.093
DEBT
14,840.982
Gross Generation +75.94/cycle
Universe Maintenance -0.383/cycle
Cluster Tithe -37.779/cycle
Debt Garnish -22.667/cycle
Net Income +15.112/cycle
Now I was compl...
2025-11-23 17:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 66: Afterlife
ADMINISTRATOR POV
Nothing ever goes as planned.
If my original ideas had worked, I wouldn’t have spent so much time making adjustments and fine-tuning everything. It had taken a while, but I was convinced that over a little time, energy generation – and the spread of the elf species ...
2025-11-22 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 65: Fond Farewell
FISK POV
A day ago, Fisk had never heard of dragons.
Now, he was watching his childhood friend talk quietly to the second dragon they’d seen. This one was smaller, yet still huge compared to an elf, easily able to grasp and pick up any of the explorers in its talons. Unlike th...
2025-11-21 17:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 64: Higher Purpose
TASTKA POV
“You want to know about your class, the Soulkeeper. It was an accident, but one I’m not unhappy with. You weren’t supposed to be able to sense me, but since you can… hello.” The figure of me made a strange expression, baring her fangs but lifting ear...
2025-11-20 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostAs I write this, I am pecking at Chapter 70 of Neophyte World Builder. This will be the final chapter of Book 1. The Patreon should also be 9 chapters ahead of public release for Tinkerer-level Patrons.
While I didn’t plan this, it will be released on November 28th, Black Friday, for Tinkerer-level Patrons. It will be publicly released s...
2025-11-20 06:37:13 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 63: The Green Tender
TASTKA POV
I took a deep breath and turned away from the problem.
It had been a rough journey – first the marsh, then that monster that had attacked us, and then our capture by the Aravel before the long trek through the high-mana lands. Kelas had been invaluable in helping...
2025-11-20 06:27:20 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 62: Dancing With the Stars
EYSSA POV
The moment she set foot on the new land, Eyssa gained another level.
That wasn’t particularly surprising to her. It had been difficult enough to reach level five while staying close to her community, but now that the journey had taken her and the others into lands ...
2025-11-17 18:06:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 61: A New Perspective
KELAS POV
After nearly a tenday, Kelas finally understood why he had not seen the other Calen elves in such a long time.
“Are you sure this is where they came from?”
The one called Fisk had asked the question, his ear cocked upward as he stared at Kelas. Like all the Cale...
2025-11-16 17:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 60: Thinking Forward
ADMINISTRATOR POV
Things were finally proceeding the way I’d like. Sure, they weren’t perfect – there were certainly a lot of zigs, zags, and unexpected twists – but for the most part, it looked like my tweaks were working.
I hadn’t gotten around to checking every settleme...
2025-11-15 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 59: Horizon Bearer
TASTKA POV
The hushed murmurs rose to a volume that made my ears twitch before the Grand One raised a hand, and the noise died down. Our guide was staring at us in concern, his ear twitching as well when the Grand One quickly spat out a string of words so rapidly I could catch only one or t...
2025-11-14 17:06:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 58: Objective
TASTKA POV
After days on the trail, and spending last night soaking wet, awakening in a dry and warm place was refreshing.
Of course, we were a little crowded all tucked into this single shelter, and we were technically captives, but our captors had put us up in a very comfortable place by...
2025-11-13 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Chapter 57: The Pieces In Play
ADMINISTRATOR POV
Things had not gone quite as planned, but it seemed as if they’d still work out. Then again, when had my plans ever gone exactly as I wanted, lately?
It turned out, running a universe was hard – who knew?
I had hoped that Tastka wo...
2025-11-13 05:54:27 +0000 UTC View Post