The woman who bought Saffron had sat behind a screen for the questioning and auction process. She had insisted Saffron be blindfolded once purchased and bound, wrists to thighs, so there was no chance of messing with the blindfold as she led Saffron by the arm to her home.

Thus, Saffron had very little to go on. Her voice was smooth and sweet, her laughter easy and not so unkind as some. Her diction was easy to understand, her words simple, not the convoluted mess many inner circle people spoke. And she lived close enough to the auction center to walk home, which meant she was either in the Second circle or very close of the walls in either First or Third.

Most importantly, she owned Saffron now. She'd bought the contract, and for the next ten years, Saffron would be her Servitor, to do whatever she wished, whatever she commanded.

"Stairs," she murmured. They were the first words she'd spoken since leaving the auction hall. Saffron let a shin hit the first stair and climbed up carefully, trying not to lean on the woman. "Just a couple more. There."

Was she going to leave the blindfold on forever? The inner circles had some odd habits, Saffron had heard. The Flow changed them, the way it changed everyone, but some people said that the Inner circles were more twisted, far further from normal than the outer circles. Was she afraid he would freak out? Afraid he couldn’t handle her? It was far too late for any of that now.

“And here. And a few steps.” She steered Saffron down a hallway, or what could be assumed to be a hallway at least. A door opened. “Here, sit.”

Saffron sat. There was a chair there, soft and cozy. From the sounds of things, the woman sat as well.

“Saffron Techon. Normally by the time people get to four syllables, they’ve picked a gender for at least one of them.”

Saffron coughed. “Hadn’t decided yet.”

“Well, I suppose that’s a sort of decision in itself. Tell me, Saffron, why did you decide to become a Servus?”

Saffron’s gesture was cut short by the chains. “Like this, I wouldn’t survive long out on the Tenth Circle. Too skinny, too weak.”

“Mmm.” Her tone of voice suggested she agreed with that assessment. “And do you think, then, that the Second Circle will be that much safer for you?” There was danger in her voice that hadn’t been there before.

The blindfold was suddenly a shield, suddenly all that stood between Saffron and terror. A swallow did nothing to clear the lump in Saffron’s throat. “Ma’am?”

If only running was an option.

The Circled Plain has a landing page here

Valran – Here

“Here.” Keldra Dre stood up and strode away from Valran. He swallowed until his throat no longer felt too dry to speak again.

“Here, ma’am?”

“Stay there.” She called it over her shoulder; if Valran hadn’t been so confused, if his legs hadn’t been falling asleep, he would have been grateful. As it was, he held still and hoped it was the right thing to do.

read on...

Chapter Fifteen – Taslin – Here

“Here.” Reshnel pointed at a spot on the contract. “Sign here, and here; and you, Jervennon of Cecby, there, and there. It is done.” The Master of the Gladiators stood. “I will leave you two to get acquainted. Your next match is the day after next, Taslin. Sir, I will send a runner for your bank note.”

He left the room, leave Taslin and Jervennon sitting across a table from each other.

http://www.jumpingrings.com/?p=59

“Choose.”

“Choose, ma’am?” Valran blinked at the ancient, terrifying woman who owned him. The car had gone quiet for a little while, almost entirely silent, as they wended their way into the heart of New Indapala. And then… that.

“I’m sorry, I got lost in my own thoughts...” Read on...

To Three-Word-Wednesday (Today's words are Barren, Intense, Worry).

Set in the world of the Circled Plain, the same 'verse as my webserial Jumping Rings.

The land of the Circled Plain was barren. Everyone knew that. It had been blasted, bombed, and then stripped of everything that remained by explosions of magic that came both during and after the Great War. It was dead. Everyone knew it.

The common knowledge had its flaws, of course. First of all, there were farmers who lived outside the city walls, planting seeds and growing food in the blasted land of the Circled Plain. True, they had things to worry about that a pre-War farmer might not: seeds might die, or grow backwards in time, or, sometimes, they might sprout something not entirely vegetal and often quite hungry. But they grew food in the barren lands of the Circled Plain.

Secondly, the walled cities that gave the plain its name - New Indapala, Red Sinachi, and so on - were, if you wanted to be nit-picky, actually on the plain's land, especially as they grew outwards, ringed wall by ringed wall. And inside those walls, animals grazed and plants grew, planted seed by tedious seed in the barren lands.

Those were logical issues, however. The problem really lay in the third flaw: the places where people neither lived nor farmed.

There were miles and miles of land between cities, long stretches that took days to travel. And in those places, plant life and animal did not struggle, it didn't wither and die. Rather, it grew. It grew wild, intense, and poisonous. It grew thick enough to destroy buildings and drink up watering holes. It grew over rivers and into lakes - and it grew hungry and, sometimes carnivorous.

It wasn't that the land of the Circled Plain was barren. It was that it was so much more alive than the humans who moved through it.

So, thnidu prompted me with a lovely prompt to my request for Inner Circle demifiction prompts.

And then I went and forgot I was writing demifiction, and wrote fic around a poster. So um. Semi-demi-fic?

Names by Sky & @Inventrix


"Attention." The New Indapala guard stood up on the plinth behind the well, using the bellowing voice for which he'd likely been hired. Around the square, two others guards were posting notices. Dermonnil slipped behind the guards, holding tight to Grental's hand. "Hsst," rhi warned. "Don't cause trouble."

Grental, who at fourteen actively resented being a little brother, tugged at Dermonnil's grip but didn't pull away. "I'm not stupid, you know."

"I know. But this - this is important." And the Guard was not known for being all that patient with outer-circle whelps.

The guard cleared his throat again, but Dermonnil was already reading the notice.

Now Hiring

(the notice read)
The City Offices of New Indapala are now hiring sturdy, quick workers of all Circles
("...Wait. All circles? Why do they have a notice out here, then?"

"Sst, Grental, let me read.")

For a new, professional, squad of emergency responders. Members will be considered Aside the Ladder, able to travel into any Circle for job purposes.

Job is considered highly dangerous, as it involves fighting fires, dealing with Flow-spurts, and aiding the injured and unwell.

"...For more information, speak to any Guard, or come to the City offices for your Circle. Thank you."

"Der, you're not really gonna... Der...?"

Dermonnil was already heading towards the nearest Guard.

Chapter Six: Valran

Thrust

This chapter contains material that some may find NSFW

“Thrust out your hips more.”

“Now you’re just making fun of me.”

“No, I’m telling you what to do.” Bicla put her hands on Valran’s hips and pushed them forward. “Like that. Now you look...”

“Like a ten-piece whore on a street corner.”

“No, no, at least a fifty-piece whore, this is serious Fifth Ring stuff. You’re not a seventh-circle whore. At least, not anymore.”

“You’re so nice.” Her hands on his hips were actually a bit distracting. “Bicla...”
( Read more... )

Become a Patreon Patron

Donate via Paypal

If we reach $20/month in Patreon or $25 in donations in Paypal - or a combination therof - I will post a second chapter this week, on Sunday.

If we reach $40/month in Patreon or $45 in paypal donations - again, or a combination - readers will be able to choose between an outtake or meta/demifiction now or an epilogue chapter at the end.

Chapter Five: Taslin

Thrust

Thrust. That was step one. Step two was definitely don’t get thrust into. Taslin danced out of the way of her larger opponent’s blade and, because she could, made a twist out of it so that she could then go for another thrust, this one a move that looked far more complicated than it was.

The audience - such as it was - cheered. Her opponent - such as he was - barely managed to dodge in time. Her teammates - such as they were - shouted encouragement and his - such as they really, really weren’t - hissed and yelled.

Taslin loved it. She slapped him in the face with the flat of her blade - not grandstanding, she told herself, she could tell Gan she’d done it because she wanted to get him angry.

If she’d been trying for that, it worked. He bellowed in rage and came running at her, head down and sword out.

It was too easy. It had to be a trick. If it was a trick, if he was actually planning this out, his off hand would come up like thus.
( Read more... )
Become a Patreon Patron

Donate via Paypal

If we reach $20/month in Patreon or $30 in donations in Paypal - or a combination therof - I will post a second chapter this week, on Sunday.

Chapter Three: Taslin

Duck

“Duck! Damnit, Taslin, I said duck! The next time you miss, I’m going to leave you so sore you can’t lift a sword nor spear for a week!”

Gan was shouting. Taslin found her lips curling back in a grin, so, instead, she ducked her head. “Again, ma’am Ganlenrel?”

“Again! I’ll give you again, you worthless Outer-Circle mutant of a waste of armour, again, now, and what did I tell you about keeping that left arm up, Gladiator, keep your arm up and keep that shield up! Now duck, and what did I tell you about playing to the crowd?”

Taslin dropped down under Gan’s blade, rolled in a move she’d been practicing on her own, and came up just behind the trainer’s off-hand. “Don’t do it unless I can do it right, and forget playing to the crowd until I can survive three fights in a row with no new scars. Right now I’m fodder for the mill.”
( Read more... )

Chapter Four: Valran (LJ) Duck

Chapter One: Taslin

Kneel

“Kneel, Taslin Altreka.”

It was not the first thing the man had said to Taslin, but it was the first important thing.

He had begun many minutes before, as law and his conscience dictated, with a series of disclaimers and explanations. “You understand that, once you take a knee, you cannot take it back? You will be committing to ten years, or to death, or until a resident of the First Circle calls you to service.”
( Read more... )

Chapter Two: Valran (LJ) Kneel
( Read more... )

First words of Friday:
“A year is enough. They’ll have moved on to someone else in that time. And besides...”

Last Line on the 30th:
“I have been, from time to time.”

(This: He nibbled on her ear tip. was almost my last line, but then I got ambitious and wrote another 100 words)


I wrote 2,341 words on Friday and 1,770 words on Saturday, bringing my Inner Circle total to 25,312 and my total total to 85,967 (It loses about 100 words in nano validation but those are MS Word numbers).

And it's done. Well, Nano is done.

What to Do in December and Possibly January will come later today.

First Line: Valran coughed and took a wild gamble. “Whaddefuc, ma’am?”

Last Line: ...but tonight was an entirely different sort of combat. She slipped the fifteen omeh into the vest and let Vinroth dress her.

(in which I figure out their underwear and loosely guess at their currency)

I wrote a whopping 1350 words yesterday, bringing my Inner Circle total to 18357 and my total total to 79012.

I'm still on track, however; at the rate I've been going (an average of 2294.6 words/day on IC; an average of 2912.5 words/day all told), I'll still get to 25K on Inner Circle by the end of the month!

First line of yesterday: Valran envied ri; he certainly wasn’t enjoying anything at all right now

Last Line of yesterday: Before she could do anything except exactly that, he had pulled the cord, loosing a flood of cold water onto them both.

(Then there was Day of the Doctor, and then the DOCTOR showed up... and that was all the writing.)

2061 words on Inner Circle yesterday, bringing the total to 14,972; that brings All The Nano Words up to 75,627.


~

Setting notes:
They appear to wear Grecian-style clothing. Relatively warm climate? But not overly warm. Where do they get fabric/fiber?
Must find places where rock is commonly quarried in the U.S. for reasons.

Two books in a row without females-as-weaker/gender-insults is very interesting (no calling someone a bitch, f'rinstance)

If I have a gendered-neutral honorific, maybe I should make gendered-honorifics as well? Rather than using Sir and ma'am.

I should list out specifically feminine, masculine, and neuterine suffixes.

First Words of Yesterday: “You don’t look like the sort to take the collar. At least not this collar.”

last Words of Yesterday: “What lands you a position playing valet to Gladiators, anyway?” She’d made her jokes, of course; everyone did. Standing around all those naked and nearly-naked people, with sweaty, well-toned bodies.

2206 words yesterday, bringing my total on Inner Circle to 4,595 and my total all told to 65,251

IC's average words/day is 2,295.5; the total/day over the whole month is 3089.38

I'm slowin' down! (and that's okay)

First Line of Inner Circle: “Kneel, Taslin Altreka.”
(the first ~300 words were a redo of The Test Intro)

Last line of the night:
The woman started walking, and Valran, having been given no other directive, followed her.

I wrote 2389 words (my goal is 1700/day for 11 days), bringing me to a total of 2389 words, and a nano grand total of 63,045

This is a draft/test/idea that came to me in the shower. There are questionable things in it, but this is how it started so far.

This is the Kink Setting, by the by, not the Steam!Goats setting, this one tentatively called Inner Circle.

"Kneel, Taslin Altreka."

It was not the first thing the man had said to her; it was merely the first important thing.

He had begun, as law and conscience dictated, with the standard disclaimers and explanations. "You understand that once you take a knee, it is not something you can take back? You will be committing to ten years, or to death, or until a member of the first circle calls you to service."

Taslin had nodded. "I understand." Other cities had less rings, and thus less years of service. But she had been born in New Indapala, and her family lived here.

"You understand that one out of five who take this route die in service?"

Again, she'd nodded. "I understand."

"You understand that two out of three who do survive are maimed or crippled?"

"I understand."

"There are easier routes up the Ladder."

Taslin had finally looked the man in the eye. "I have a little sister and a little brother."

"Aah. Then we will continue." And they had. "Kneel, Taslin Altreka."

She took a knee, her head bowed. The man snipped the cord that had been around her neck since childhood, removing her ID chit. Her neck had felt empty without the light tug there.

That had lasted only a moment. Those who knelt did not wear their ID on a cord, but they wore it nonetheless.

The collar was the thinnest metal she had ever felt, jointed like mail. It moved with her, but at the same time, it pressed against her.

"Rise, Taslin Gladiator."


Thoughts: I know how the names work, at least. That's a whole post of its own.
Ten years seems ridiculous, but I wanted New Indapala (which is also a question, I need a name there, but I'm not sure how that one flows off the tongue) to be a large city, and thus a large number of rings.

Unnamed Kink Setting Worldbuilding 1

Envision elaborate architecture - arches, steeples, towers - all of it built with an eye to defense.

These are cities which have been under siege before; which have been attacked by human foes and by monsters, by magic and by war engines. War isn't a constant state, but someone might be coming next week is a constant mindset.

Start with the walls: any city in this land is surrounded by at least three tiers of walls; even the smallest town has two tiers. The largest cities have seven to ten, added onto as they have grown over the last hundred years.

Inside the outermost ring is grazing land, crop land. There are these things outside the walls, too; what's inside the walls is a refuge when attacks come.

There are always houses on this land, unless the wall has just been built. When there is no more grazing land, work begins on another wall outside the last one.

Inside this level is cheap housing. These houses, like ancient Pueblo dwellings, have no doors on the first floor - often on the second floor, either. Access is from the third floor and up, via ladder from below.

There are so many wards around a city that, even if you can fly, flying in a city is almost impossible. Almost everyone uses a ladder.

Back to the buildings. These buildings are often adobe-covered. Deeper into the rings, the buildings have often been joined together; three or six one-family homes are used as the foundation for a taller multiple-family dwelling. The further towards the center you get, the more elaborate the buildings get, and the taller. The houses of the elite in the center are said to touch the sky (although generally no more than 13 stories tall, in modern terms).

As you look at the construction, you will easily note that both buildings and walls appear to be made out of a mish-mash of building materials. A great deal of effort has been made to unify the mish-mash into attractive patterns - sandstone spotted with brick in some sort of checkboard, for instance - but the materials themselves, on very close inspection, have very likely been used for something before.

Indeed, the gates that stud each wall look as if they are built from I-beams and odd slabs of wood, shaped into a pleasing form.