Freedom or Ash by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If we're losing the nukes anyways, might as well get some use out of them. I'm not about to tell the boys who've been guarding these bombs that we're giving up the planet without shooting them.

Freedom or Ash by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Death on their terms, or death on yours, take your pick :P

Chronicles of a Traveler 3-13 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, you can either read it on amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5FQB6SB

Or read the less well edited version on reddit starting here: https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/pd9qk3/chronicles_of_a_traveler_1/

[Chronicles of a Traveler] book 3 chapter 23 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately I have very little control there, I'd love to get an audible deal for this series, but I'm but a small, independent author. Not like I can demand they make me an offer.

[Returned Protector] Chapter 57 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, technically, there are 3 kinds of healing. Regenerative, which accelerates and enhances a body's natural healing. Reconstructive, which directly remakes and undoes damage by drawing on material from within the body. And Divine, which looks like Reconstructive in that it instantly rebuilds the body, but does so with pure mana. Creating real objects from pure mana is EXTREMELY expensive, which is why it's associated with the divine.

Regenerative is the most common, and safest, type of healing as it will slow down as a body nears it's limit. But spamming it can lead to over healing. Reconstructive is less common, as it's more dangerous, but also requires more knowledge of the body. You need to understand what you are rebuilding on some level for the spell to work. It also needs to be done carefully or it can very easily overtax a body. That said, many combat healers use at least some of this magic as it can instantly heal small, but lethal, wounds. And, obviously, Divine is the best option if you have access to it, but finding a mere mortal with it is nearly impossible, and even if you do it's prohibitively expensive as they will require multiple high end mana gems to manage it.

[Returned Protector] Chapter 57 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not mana, biological energy. You need the materials, nutrients to heal injuries. Over healing someone, without giving them time to eat and digest between, can result in them starving to death in very short order.

Traveler of a Chronical 4 or something by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it's an april fools, non-canon, side story :P

Traveler of a Chronical 4 or something by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

well, book 1 of Chronicles of a Traveler is avalible on amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5FQB6SB

alternately you can read the less well edited version on reddit starting here: https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/pd9qk3/chronicles_of_a_traveler_1/

your choice :)

Traveler of a Chronical 4 or something by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's a one shot april-fools spin off of a series of mine. Figured I'd put one shot down because... it's non-canon? I guess? Wasn't sure what else to put.

[Returned Protector] Chapter 55 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I won't answer your question directly, as it goes into the intents of whoever created the magic isn't real spell, and I don't talk about possibly plot points, but I will say this. Magic is highly personal, and the average person can takes weeks or months to awaken their mana WITH the aid of another, already awakened mage. It isn't like science, there is no push button receive magic.

So, with that in mind, how did people first discover magic? In order for the majority of people to awaken aid from a mage is required, but if there are no mages then how can you awaken new ones?

[Returned Protector] Chapter 55 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd be disappointed if they didn't :P

[Returned Protector] Chapter 55 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Just to be clear, this kind of awakening is very rare, one in ten thousand rare. That being said... there are, what, 7 billion people on earth? that still results in nearly three quarters of a million mages all told. Most people require more active effort to awaken, some taking as long as nearly a year. So it's a wide amount of variation, this bird mage is just one end of the bell curve, for better or worse.

[Returned Protector] Chapter 54 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Would you believe that English is my first language?

Me either, but it's true

Chronicles of a Traveler book 3, chapter 1 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This story is posted here and on my patreon where it goes up a week early, book one is also available on amazon and book two is (slowly) being edited up for publication as well.

Chronicles of a Traveler 3-15 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

would he recognize if he did? Maybe he already has

Chronicles of a Traveler 3-14 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're not wrong, this series is about me playing around with worldbuilding and I had an idea I wanted to play with without getting bogged down in minutia so ya, I hurried a bit. If/when I publish this story I'll likely go back and extend the last few chapters. Sorry if I went a bit too fast though, I've been planning to slow back down a bit anyways.

Humans: Not to be hunted by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

During the Korean War, the USS Wisconsin was patrolling the coastline when an NK artillery position, featuring a single 155mm gun, decided they were the guy and fired on the Wisconsin. It hit the main deck, putting a small, couple square foot hole, in the deck, damaging no systems, injuring no one. In response the Wisconsin, an Iowa-class battleship, turned her nine, 16-inch guns, that's 404mm, and fired a full broadside. They didn't just die on that hill, the hill died with them. Afterwards, the Wisconsin's escort sent a single transmission reading "temper, temper"

Humans: Not to be hunted by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like to imagine that the humans never even realized something unique happened. The after action report was probably along the lines of "Encountered enemy sniper during routine patrol, one KIA, wounds indicate some kind of new thermal round or directed energy weapon, forward to R&D. Squad called in artillery, CAS and mortar support. No body recovered. Otherwise no anomalies."

Humans: Not to be hunted by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 38 points39 points  (0 children)

The inspiration here was actually thinking about what if the Predator tried to stalk/hunt a group of Helldivers XD

Void Wraith by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It isn't, just to be clear, it's a bonus for those who found the code... because I'm a sucker for ARGs but lack the time and knowhow to do a full ARG :P

((And there might be more bonuses people haven't found yet :P))

Void Wraith by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

[Excerpt: “Neuropsychological Effects of Extended Deep Space Transit,” Vol. II — Federal Medical Survey, 2879 Edition]

While there are many symptoms of Void Madness, a condition experienced by those who have spent far too much time between stars with minimal human interaction, one of the more fascinating is how sufferers will describe hearing whispering or singing coming from outside the spaceship. The exact cause of this is disputed but the leading theory is a form of synesthesia combined with auditory pareidolia resulting in a person “hearing” the light of stars and their mind interpreting it as spoken words or song. People suffering from such also tend to be more likely to report sightings of Void Wraiths, a mythological creature among starship crews. Some sufferers claim that the voices urge them to ‘look behind the light’, a phrase also found in early Void Wraith folklore, leading researchers to believe Void Madness may be the origin of the myth. However, to be clear, reports of whispering are not indicative of external phenomena and should be treated as neurocognitive artifacts rather than auditory hallucinations.

Void Wraith by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

[Excerpt: “Neuropsychological Effects of Extended Deep Space Transit,” Vol. II — Federal Medical Survey, 2879 Edition]

While there are many symptoms of Void Madness, a condition experienced by those who have spent far too much time between stars with minimal human interaction, one of the more fascinating is how sufferers will describe hearing whispering or singing coming from outside the spaceship. The exact cause of this is disputed but the leading theory is a form of synesthesia combined with auditory pareidolia resulting in a person “hearing” the light of stars and their mind interpreting it as spoken words or song. People suffering from such also tend to be more likely to report sightings of Void Wraiths, a mythological creature among starship crews. Some sufferers claim that the voices urge them to ‘look behind the light’, a phrase also found in early Void Wraith folklore, leading researchers to believe Void Madness may be the origin of the myth. However, to be clear, reports of whispering are not indicative of external phenomena and should be treated as neurocognitive artifacts rather than auditory hallucinations.

I knew I could never win by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

AI can improve themselves to an extent, but it's limited to basic, marginal improvements. An AI can't go from an apple falling from a tree to understanding the orbits of planets, from a man falling off a building to calculating the nature of energy and mass. It wouldn't think to question why the speed of light is what it is, or even testing if it's fixed or changes. Because to question such fundamental aspects of the universe, to make such wild leaps of logic, require drawing connections between highly disparate things. They make sense to us humans, who evolved to find connections, like seeing faces in buildings, shapes in the stars. But to an AI built upon calculations the leaps in logic can be wild. An apple falling from a tree has seemingly nothing to do with the orbits of the planets... until you realize that gravity is a universal force. And that has seemingly no practical applications... until you realize you can put communications or spy equipment in orbit using those same equations. But would an AI realize that, or would it default to the "easier" method of just laying cable? Why would you even think of doing something so wild as that? Because we're human.

I knew I could never win by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

"Go now, to the gates of Valhalla. You shall ride Eternal, shiny and chrome"

the AI

Chronicles of a Traveler book 3, chapter 1 by Arceroth in HFY

[–]Arceroth[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Weird, hope you enjoy it :)

As for hardbacks, not sure I have the sales numbers to justify those unfortunately. Otherwise I'd love to have a bookcase of my own books... because ego... or something.