Howdy folks, I got hit with at least one but seems to be two kidney stones. Again. The chapter for Monday August 4th is really important – as in possibly the most important of the last fifteen chapters – so I don't want to rush it. But I also can't really sit in a chair for more than a few minutes at a time without my pain ramping up. Walking around, the pain is around a 0.5-1 but sitting for over ten minutes and it starts to get to the 3-3.5 level. I am getting some meds but I don't think they will allow me to actually sit and write.

This sucks. It sucks for me and it sucks for you all, the fans (since I am already taking off the week of August 11th to visit my folks).

I'll let people know a bit more as more information comes to me but still, sorry. I don't like disappointing people and I should have more backlog, just life stuff keeps getting in the way.

On a slightly brighter note, I did come up with a lot of epigraph (those things from Gabby's book at the start of chapters) ideas and would love to get your thoughts on which ones you want to see first.

Essence colors and how all that works, the essence zones, a different explanation of sub-Tiers, buying skills/skill markets, proper spell casting (see Chapter 43 😅), wars on Putijama, inter-Kingdom trade, Tier 7+ people and how they exist, cultivating with lower-Tier essence (math!), Kingdoms across the sea, bandits/banditry, the Verdant Kingdom military, a rehash of strength by Tiers, enchanting overview, alchemy overview, contract escalation to Zalano and/or the monarchy, the monarchy itself, city autonomy and governance in the Verdant Kingdom, Tiering up, a review of the different cores (I think that was 1K+ pages ago..), etc. Throw out your own ideas too if you have them!

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Okay, I'm just going to dump a few random character descriptions from my spreadsheet in the spoiler below until I hit the 500 word requirement.

Alexandra Podlipa: Councilor in Velez. Is from Pitola and left there a few months ago. Her family is being blamed – unfairly – for the null essence situation. She is helping Terry with information on the Church of Unullification – group that is maybe(?) involved with the assassination attempt on the way back from Pitola.

Aras Burba: Extremely laconic – though becoming less so since the null essence dual-affinity means he can control his emotions a bit better. He stopped an arrow from hitting Terry when he was riding away from the rift where Steve (and Terry) got badly injured. Was Terry's Tier 3 choice for the dual-affinity procedure (versus the city's Tier 3 choice).

Asta Podlipa: Wife of Aleksandra Podlipa.

Aunt Ruta: A mythical figure who is aunt to Inara and recommended her and her team to Tiesa. Friends with Tiesa, Jasna, and Gabor.

Barry (Baritonimous Bartlesby): The guy who set all this in motion. He tried to take a rich guy's soul (Lazar Fabianova) and put it in a blank body. Instead, Lazar Fabianova died and Terry's soul was summoned into that blank body.

Barry: Real troublemaker and weirdo. He was the one who performed the experiment or procedure that brought Terry's soul to Putijama and also has been clearly doing some other shady stuff. He's probably worse than you are even expecting.

Church of Unullification: New church/religion/organization that worships the null. What that means is vague because the church is utterly disorganized.

Cornelius: Terry's body double. Was an earlier experiment of Barry. Has been an incredible problem because he's essentially a high-class male prostitute to the rich and famous even when they are in committed relationships. He's the reason Terry's not allowed in Zalano and was kicked out of Pitola.

Dorota Prendi: The woman whose bank accounts were used to try to get Terry assassinated in a rift in chapter 11 and 12. She's in Zalano under house arrest.

Fuzzybutt: Merchant Terry met with that was surfer dude-coded. Gave Terry a lot of information about how sentient beasts work and how they are different from bonds.

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