A fungal plague of apocalyptic proportions has come to Dr. Genneth Howle's world, and he and his colleagues at the West Elpeck Medical Center are duty-bound to fight it till the end. But how does medical science combat a disease that defies the laws of nature? How do you treat a plague that slowly transforms some of the infected into psychokinetic lindwurms? And how does Genneth hold true to his principles when he, too, begins to undergo the change?
As Genneth wrestles with these horrors, he is visited by an amnesiac spirit who no one else seems to see. She's come to save the people of Genneth's world, before the darkness destroys them all.
And she needs his help.
How to tell if you will enjoy this story: Do you want to watch a guy slowly transform into a magical fungal lindwurm while the world meets its end? Do you like the idea of a 9k-word-long sequence where everything has Minecraft graphics? Have you ever watched a medical drama on TV and thought, "boy, this could sure use demons, a magic sword, and cosmic horror?" If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", then The Wyrms of &alon is right up your alley!
What you can expect:
• High quality prose.
• World-building, magic systems, and deep lore over a decade in the making. (This is the first story in a grand, interconnected series of stories)
• Transformation & body horror.
• Hospital medical drama (as seen on TV), with lots of scientific details.
• The MC is a dorky, 40-something-year-old neuropsychiatrist / struggling family man. He's obsessed with manga, loves pangolins, plays the clarinet, and has strong opinions about action RPGs vs. turn-based RPGs.
• A fictional world inspired by mid-20th century USA retrofuturism (kinda like pre-apocalypse Fallout).
• A story that gradually gets more and more fantastical as it plays out.
Release Schedule: My chapters range from 5k to 10k words, but I will be posting them in 1.5k ~ 2.5k-long pieces here on RR.
The first five weeks will be multiple chapters posted per day. Eventually, I will start posting full story chapters (three to four RR chapters' worth of content) on Mondays and Thursdays.
This posting scheme will reset for each of the stories four parts/volumes.
Note: All the tags are relevant, though it may take a while for them to appear. Virtual Reality won't really get going until Parts II & III.
Other note: The cover is a placeholder until my lovely artist KittraMcBriar finishes the final version.