There are a lot of things wrong with Liv Brodbeck.
She’s too small, for one thing. When she works in the castle kitchens with her mother, she can’t carry a sack of flour or roll a keg of ale.
Baron Summerset’s chirurgeon says that she has brittle bones, so she isn’t allowed to wrestle or sword fight with the other children. Even sledding downhill in the winter brings the risk of breaking an arm or a leg if she falls.
Everyone says that she ruined her mother’s life when she was born. Not when they think Liv is in the room, of course, but she overhears all the same. In the kitchen of a less kind lord, a cook bearing a bastard child would have been more than cause enough for both of them to be out on the street.
No, a child like Liv doesn’t have much hope. But when she accidentally unleashes a surge of wild magic, she takes her first step on a journey which will lead her from the kitchens of Castle Whitehill, to the cold palaces of the Eld, and beyond, to the graves of gods...
What to Expect:
- MC starts off very weak, with a lot disadvantages - not just physically weak, but also vulnerable in a socio-economic sense. She has talents, but it is going to take time to develop them. I want to give this process room to breathe, so I hope you enjoy long-term progression.
- The MC begins the story as a child. As she grows up, she will have relationships that I intend to be appropriate for her stages of life, BUT THERE WILL BE NO SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS UNTIL SHE IS AN ADULT. Expect eventual teenage drama progressing into more adult relationships.
- There is action, but it is not constant action, and it will again be appropriate for the MCs development. As a child, she will be challenged by child things, and as she grows into power the scale of threats will increase.
- 1. The Room of Curiosities
- 12. The Lower Banks and The Hill
- 15. Eruption
- 18. A Beast at the Walls
- 20. Eruption’s End
- 23. Steam in the Courtyard
- 26. Harvest
- 29. The Mountain Song
- 31. The Waystone
- 34. The Lady of Changes
- 37. The Laughing Carp
- 4. Magic is Like Fire
- 42. In Need of a Daughter
- 45. Fulgurite
- 48. Duel at North Beach II
- 50. The One Who’s There
- 53. The Conclave
- 56. The Masque
- 59. Palaver
- 61. Steria
- 64. Visions
- 7. Blackwood’s Bestiary
- Chapter 100: The House of Wyrms
- Chapter 103: Tidings
- Chapter 106: A Voice in the Dark
- Chapter 109: Faramond Blackstone
- Chapter 112: Aluth
- Chapter 115. Coronation
- Chapter 118. The Tidal Ruins
- Chapter 121 - 120. The First Changes You
- Chapter 124 - 123. The Well of Bones
- Chapter 127 - 126. The Fourth Gate
- Chapter 130 - 129. The Garden of Sitia
- Chapter 133 - 132. Descent
- Chapter 136 - 135. Torrent
- Chapter 139 - 138. The Trap
- Chapter 142 141. Reunions
- Chapter 145 144. Dreams of the Past
- Chapter 148 147. A Shared Secret
- Chapter 151 150. The Watchful Guild of Magim
- Chapter 189 - 186. Target Practice
- Chapter 192 - 189. Tiranat's Coal Mines
- Chapter 69: D?
- Chapter 72: The Ravages of Time
- Chapter 75: Into the Abyss
- Chapter 78: The Cascades
- Chapter 81: The Turncloak
- Chapter 84: High Hall
- Chapter 87: Blunted Blades
- Chapter 90: A Night’s Rest
- Chapter 93: Arianell Seton
- Chapter 96: Time and Tide
- Chapter 99: The Hall of Ancestors
- 10. Master and Apprentice
- 13. Keremor
- 16. The Princess that Never Was
- 19. Wings at Dusk
- 21. Lessons
- 24. Varuna
- 27. Airis Ka Reimis
- 3. Aluthet’Staia
- 32. Seasons
- 35. The Sign of the Terrapin
- 38. A Day of Blood
- 40. The Endless Horizon
- 43. Flowers in the Garden
- 46. Two Truths
- 49. The Black Horse
- 51. Decisions
- 54. The Great Council
- 57. Pursuit
- 6. The Old Tongue
- 62. Return
- 65. The Cottage Beneath the Willow
- 8. A Promise
- Chapter 101: King Tide
- Chapter 104: The Son of Celris
- Chapter 107: Spirited Debate
- Chapter 110: The First Step
- Chapter 113: Two Tests
- Chapter 116. Nightmares
- Chapter 119. Hammer and Knives
- Chapter 122 - 121. East
- Chapter 125 - 124. Tactics
- Chapter 128 - 127. Chandrika Tiwari
- Chapter 131 - 130. The Abyss
- Chapter 134 - 133. At the Bottom of the Well
- Chapter 137 - 136. The Cenote
- Chapter 140 - 139. Shares
- Chapter 143 142. Forgotten Students
- Chapter 146 145. A Steep Price
- Chapter 149 148. An Eel-Bone Button
- Chapter 183 - 180. Midwinter
- Chapter 190 - 187. Priorities
- Chapter 67 - 66. A Wand of Bone
- Chapter 70: Hands of the Goddess
- Chapter 73: Defense in Depth
- Chapter 76: Water Under Rock
- Chapter 79: Aluthos’o’Ea
- Chapter 82: A Wedding
- Chapter 85: The Cedar Closet
- Chapter 88: Rosamund Lowry
- Chapter 91: The Bodyguard and the Professor
- Chapter 94: Classes
- Chapter 97: The Storm Eel
- Glossary
- 11. Judgement
- 14. Winter’s End
- 17. The Winter Garden
- 2. The Frost Fair
- 22. Aspen and Silver
- 25. Mountain Home
- 28. A Game of Questions
- 30. An Investment
- 33. Cel?vant
- 36. The Burning Sky
- 39. The Cotter Farm
- 41. Freeport
- 44. The Meaning of a Glove
- 47. Duel at North Beach I
- 5. Five Crowns
- 52. Ice Sphere
- 55. Vela
- 58. Morning
- 60. The House of Syvä
- 63. Shoals
- 66. A Wand of Bone
- 9. Jurian of Carinthia
- Chapter 102: Skinner
- Chapter 105: May Not Feed the Wicked
- Chapter 108: Authority
- Chapter 111: Letters
- Chapter 114. Nautical Charts and Tea
- Chapter 117. Karis
- Chapter 120. The First Changes You
- Chapter 123 - 122. Lendh ka Dakruim
- Chapter 126 - 125. Wildheart
- Chapter 129 - 128. The Point of the Spear
- Chapter 132 - 131. A Light in the Darkness
- Chapter 135 - 134. One Frozen Moment
- Chapter 138 - 137. Inscriptions
- Chapter 141 140. Repercussions
- Chapter 144 143. Wisps Left Behind
- Chapter 147 146. Wands and Inscriptions
- Chapter 150 149. The Airaduinë
- Chapter 188 - 185. Profiting Or Profiteering
- Chapter 191 - 188. Traveling
- Chapter 68: Kelthelis
- Chapter 71: Savalent
- Chapter 74: Bald Peak Mine
- Chapter 77: Ice Beneath the Mountain
- Chapter 80: Scars
- Chapter 83: Coral Bay
- Chapter 86: Examinations
- Chapter 89: The Crab and Gull
- Chapter 92: Celestria Ward
- Chapter 95: An Assignment
- Chapter 98: Permutations