![[insert quest here]](https://insertquesthere.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-iqh_banner_twitter.jpg)
![[insert quest here]](https://insertquesthere.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/cropped-iqh_header_logo_mobile.png){kind=logo}
Actual Plays, Interviews, and more
We talk to Luke about their new Utopian game, the need for hopeful fiction, and I finally find out what a Belonging Outside Belonging game is. All that and more in our final public episode of the year.
Get your own copy of Dream Anew here.
We’ll be back with more content in January, or subscribe to our patreon to get one more episode of Quest Markers before the end of the year.
Managed to smash this one out before the start of 3BIAB. I think it’s pretty solid, a little short than what I usually write.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. And hope it inspires you to write something of your own.
Matrix Garden
The silent pulsing yellow and red light was all that illuminated the surrounds. A black concrete room lined with server banks. The frozen air and ceramic dust float through the breached hole in the roof. Crop-sec had figured that the gang of intruders had been trying to loot the vault for cash. That was simply payment. Peering down into the server room from the vault above was ring of five heavily armed and well equipped thieves. The server data was the mark.
Continue reading “Raymond’s Entry In March’s Writing Challenge!”
I’m extremely happy with how this months story turned out. I had a lot of fun writing it. I tend not to enjoy first person perspective, but this worked out really well. I hope you enjoy it. If you like to know what the stimulus was, check it out here.
Saffron
A loud bang, a clatter of steel balls on plate and brick, a roaring cheer from half the cities uppers. Someone dies, a hero is celebrated. Soon two more performers will take the stage. I’m not in this to perform. I like the killing. I’m chasing the skill mastery. Swift, knee jerk precision; that’s what I’m after. I’m not flashy, I don’t toy with my prey. I just kill ‘em. As quick, and as clean as I can.
Strangely my style has been well received. It’s not what most others bring to the field. Although, let’s be real, people just get off on seeing a cute brunette dispassionately dropping fools.
They’ll be done resetting the arena soon, time to get dressed. My armour case looks like worn shit, but my shell is good. Solid grey plates of modular armour bits. I pull on the under clothes, black nano-adhesive cloth. Black elbow gloves, black thigh high socks, black top. The armour bits just cling to the fabric, like magnets on a fridge. The armours for shit really. The gauntlets and boots cover me a little, and the chest piece covers some of my organs; but there is still plenty of skin. Midriff puts butts in seats though, and it’s not like anyone ever sucks breath long enough to hit me. Continue reading “Raymond’s Attempt At The Febuary Writing Challenge!”
At the beginning of every month we we issue a writing challenge to all our friends and fans.
This was the stimulus for this months challenge!
And this is what I(Raymond) came up with. I was kind of inspired a little by the witcher for this, as well as knights and squires. Check it out after the break.
A Lesson Learned
My legs are burning after hours of trudging up this godforsaken mountain. Calves are taught bags of steel cable on the edge of snapping. I shouldn’t have ran the first few miles. Master Tawn had left before dawn, and I like an idiot child; slept past first sun. I didn’t wake till church bells sounded. A picture of the mountain, traced in the sand next to my bed was all the sign he’d left of where to go.
The sun was setting now as I managed to pull myself to the plateau where The master was waiting. He awaited me, a hearth smoldering beneath his imposing visage. His eyes pierced my soul like the scales of the Accuser(blessed is his task.) I broke the silence that had propagated between us.
“Master, do you have another lesson for me?” My body loathed the last lesson, it needed to collapse; wanted to fall into the soil. My exhaustion must have shown in my face.
The master gestured to the long road that snaked up the mountain.
“That was a lesson for the body.” He thrust his spear towards the fire. “This is for the spirit.”
Thank the Revenant ones, I could sit.
I can’t relax. It takes far too long for me to force my body into a cross legged repose. Just as long to take hold of my breathing and steady my mind. All the while Master Tawn stokes the coals with timber and powder. The fire grows, coloured smoke sifting through the clearing. Twilight comes as Master Tawn speaks to me.
“Breath deep. Take in the smoke. Ignore the itchy, the tickling, the acrid pain. This is weakness leaving the body. Impurities seeping out. Hold it.” The pain is too much. Eyes clenched shut to focus. My chest cries out for relief, bone and muscle straining against the smoke. I hold it in. I focus on his words. They help.
“Slowly, release your weakness.” My eyes shoot open as I release the vibrant saffron breath from my lungs. It dances infront of me. swirling with half formed shapes, dreams half dreamt, thoughts unfinished.
“Can you see it, there in the smoke.” A shape is forming, rising from a smoky canvas; like a relief. “They torment us. The unseen. Terrors that haunt. It is our duty to bring them to the Accuser, we are instruments of his divine work; BLESSED IS HE THAT DOES THE LORD’S WORK!”
Master Tawn’s words bellow through the night air as the fire roars up. Shapes in the smoke snap coalesce into almost real figments. Tortured wicked animals, red birds and grey snakes dancing about me. My eyes fixate on the flames. Standing there amongst the heat and smoke, a young woman. skin of slick stone, holding aloft a broken sword. No, not broken. Burnt. Like steel forgotten in the forge. Our eyes lock. It’s not a women, it is a spirit; of what I don’t know. Loss?
Master Tawn drew his sword, abandoning it at my feet as he pulled back from the light of the hearth.
“No more lessons. It’s time for a test.” He disappears into the black only his voice lingers.
“Prove my time has been well spent aspirant Turq.”
I have no reply. I can only do the Lord’s work (blessed is his task.)
If you enjoyed this, then please check out our other written works by click here or on the Fiction category below.
HEALER by Jakub Rebelka
The challenge is this; write a short story (or other piece of fiction) inspired by the above image, it need only be a few paragraphs long. You have until the 28th of November to complete this months challenge. A hint of advice, I recommend really immersing yourself in the piece. Inspiration doesn’t always strike right away. Analyse the stimulus as a way of divining inspiration.
You don’t have to send your creations back to us or anything (but if you’d like to here is our email: insertquesthere@gmail.com).
We just want to help motivate you to write, and write in different and varied genres.
We’ll post our own attempts on the last day of the month.
Please check out our other content here on wordpress, or our podcast files over on soundcloud. You can also get the latest news about up coming podcasts and projects by following us on twitter, or liking us on facebook.
If you have any feed back or requests, or even just want to say hello, feel free to leave a comment on any of our social media pages. You can also email us at insertquesthere@gmail.com.
Farewell from the past, I’m Raymond.
two friends by RedreevGeorge
This months insperation is a piece by artist RedreevGeorge. you can find more from Red on DeviantArt.
The challenge is this; write a short story (or other piece of fiction) inspired by the above image, it need only be a few paragraphs long. You have until the 28th of October to complete this months challenge. A hint of advice, I recommend really immersing yourself in the piece. Inspiration doesn’t always strike right away. Analyse the stimulus as a way of divining inspiration.
You don’t have to send your creations back to us or anything (but if you’d like to here is our email: insertquesthere@gmail.com).
We just want to help motivate you to write, and write in different and varied genres.
We’ll post our own attempts on the last day of the month.
You can find Raymond’s attempt at last months challenge by clicking on this link!
Please check out our other content here on wordpress, or our podcast files over on soundcloud. You can also get the latest news about up coming podcasts and projects by following us on twitter, or liking us on facebook.
If you have any feed back or requests, or even just want to say hello, feel free to leave a comment on any of our social media pages. You can also email us at insertquesthere@gmail.com.
Farewell from the past, I’m Raymond.
At the beginning of every month we we issue a writing challenge to all our friends and fans.
This was the stimulus for this months challenge!
I tried some different things in this one. I used 3 different narrative voices…4 if you include the computer prompts. As well as 2 different narrative perspectives. ALSO; I set it within Eclipse Phase, though I didn’t need to.
Dim purple light was the only illumination in the expansive triangular room. one of the walls phased from soft ruby to full transparent, clearer than the most perfect glass. Beyond them, lit up in the night; are the domes, souks, and flyways Of Valles-New Shanghai. Only one piece of furniture resides in the room. An antique dining chair; probably a relic from earth. A man easily older than the chair resting in it, a small glass of water at his lips.
He waves a hand next to his head acknowledging the recent arrival of another presence. Slowly pulling the glass from his mouth, he holds in the air next to his chair. Out of the silvery white floor rises and solidifies a simple table, the same colour as the floor. As the guest approaches, a single legged stool extrudes from the floor next to the ancient collector of solitary chairs. A young woman in a blue suit ponders the stool before sitting down. Her short orange hair stands up like quills as her reptilian eyes stare into the old man.
The pause drags on…until golden, mechanical eyes, nested in wrinkled black skin turn to appraise her.
“you took too long getting here” his quite sandpaper voice poorly conveyed his true mood; apathy.
The orange haired woman spoke swiftly, with rapid precision. “I had to resleeve into this…meat.” her hand waves over her body. “A virtual meeting would have been more efficient.” She regarded her summoner with frustration, he simply stared at her; unblinking.
“Much like your target, you too required a lesson.” He spoke more clearly now, whatever pressed in his throat now loosening its grip. “which teacher did you send?”
She raked her hand through her hair as she readied her answer. “A new one. Project Revenant is ready for field trials; this seemed like an ideal occasion.” Her hands brushed her suit, normally a sign of nervousness; in this case just a symptom of a mind unfamiliar with physical form.
His golden eyes flickered with faint light. “you spend too much time riding as data, someone of your station shouldn’t be living in infomorph.” He turned slowly, brushing her away. “Your fortnightly updates will now be delivered in person to me or Toulemonde.”
A fowl snear stretched across her face before she abruptly exited the room. Her stool dissolving behind her as the windows hardened their colour back to red. Somewhere in the swelling sea of data that was the mesh, an encrypted signal triggers the lock release on a cargo container.
> BEGIN STREAMING.
> REVENANT PROTOTYPE 44 ONLINE.
> OBJECTIVE: EXTERMINATION.
Like flesh dripping acid I come to life again. My body rebuilt. New instincts written into my mind. I hear the prayers echoing in a part of my head I can’t quite access. Kill them, kill them all. snuff out all life in this place. they whisper it on repeat, like a song stuck in your head. what’s a song?
Eyes open now. too much input. Don’t need thermal, not yet anyway. Electrical sense can be dulled down too. Focus on the human spectrum; limit it. This place is bright, even with only 3 colours. large grey room, open; bar a few boxes like mine. powerful fluorescents. Is that a…what’s the word? BLACKCURRANT. No, wait…SECURITY GUARD! That’s the word; security guard.
Pain. mild. Right shoulder. Bruising. He shot me. He shot me with a gun. Shouldn’t I be bleeding? What’s Bleeding? They armoured the flesh more. Not just the torso and head, they armoured the arms as well. Right hand still works. Should probably claw his eyes out.
Wow. I move faster now. Closed that gap in under a second. Huh, no more claws on the rig…Oh i see. Smart Corrosives; Much better. Holy fuck. No more eyes for you Barny. Or brain. Or Telctra High Grade SterilCrete. Stuff is hungry. Wait…who’s Barny?
Noise, hallway. Two guards. I can see into the terahertz range now, that’s useful. Other Barny and Different Barny have non standard weapons. What is this, Bring your rail pistol to work day?
Oh, they replaced the left arm with steel; goodie.
> DIRECTIVE: USE MELEE WEAPON.
I can hear the prayers again. You don’t just want them dead, you want them to keep dying. Fear so strong you can stand living. Ok then. I guess I’ll take this Kama and cut their hands off. Then their legs. Gotta be quick. One of their bullets just punched my armour. Can’t get hit again. Damn it. Knee is killing me. Fuck you then friend, decapitation it is.
HaHaHAHHA…heuh. Different Barny dropped his gun. Mother fucka you technical? I’m an undead killer robot with acid for fingernails. You think I care if you surrender? Bye bye hands. What’s a mother fucker? “Hang on. I can bifurcate your legs. Sure it’ll take an extra 30 seconds, but i think it’ll traumatize you more.”
Did I say that outloud? That is a lot more blood than I thought there would be. OHHHH that’s what blood is. Okay. Let us just use this kama like a meat hook. “se ve un poco agradable en el hombro , verdad?” I think I should stop talking. What Language was that? Which way is…shit. DORMITORY! probably…left.
This corridor is long. If you wanted all these people dead why not just use a few kilos of plutonium or something. Better yet; Antimatter.
> YOUR PLACE IS NOT TO QUESTION.
>INTEL: ROOMS ARE LOCKED. SAFETY PROTOCOL. ON YOUR LEFT IS A WASH ROOM.
>DOOR WILL OPEN IN: 15.
>14.
>13.
>12.
>11.
>10.
>9.
>8.
>7.
>6.
>5.
>4.
>3.
>2.
>1.
These people have no clothes on. There is water everywhere. Water is a precious resource. It is essential for life. WRONG: Ionic gas lifeforms require no water to live. oxygen is non-essential to their survival. All attempts to transfer Ares into a Ionic Cloud form have failed. electronic mind forms not compatible with…<CORRUPTION DETECTED>
These people look scared. I was scared once. Keep the axe Different Barny. “you’re really pretty. you remind me of mommy.” Was her neck as soft? Don’t recall. It was however just as easily snapped. Now hang on little guy, you need to die just like she did. perhaps not just like her. “Holy shit DAWG! Did you see the hole her corpse made in the wall! All cracked like a spider web and shit.” If I insert my fingers into his skull like this…with the right application of force; ahhh. There we go! Bifurcated naked man head. Is Bifurcated the word of the day or something.
Good lord…Is that what I look like. I didn’t realise…Where’s my face? You can see my jaw bone. Are my eyes glowing? WHY CAN’T I CRY?
“WHERE IS MY FACE?!”
<INTERNAL OVERRIDE>
<INSTANCING PERSONALITY COMPOSITE 47>
<PALADIN MATRIX STABLE>
>CANCEL STREAMING
>EXECUTE SELF UPON TASK COMPLETION
>TOTAL ATOMIZATION
>FIELD TEST SUCCESSFUL.
>OUTSTANDING RESULT.
A world of swirling black clouds fades into view. In the centre a woman made of orange light hovers. A playful voice calls through the clouds. “Were you live sampling the subjects consciousness stream?” The question echoes like gentle thunder.
“I find the discordant brain impulses intoxicating.” As she whispered purple beams of radiance escaped her lips.
“though the puzzle is trying to comprehend them. They lack form. They are more like emotional impressions than true thoughts. Unreadable to anyone even close to human.”
The soft voice called back, tenderness hanging inside its tone. “You’re insane my love. But I drink your brilliance regardless.”
Well I hope you enjoyed that, I kind of LOVED writing it. Thanks to Grace Burns and Lilia Andrea for some of dialogue. Please check out our other content here on wordpress, or our podcast files over on soundcloud. You can also get the latest news about up coming podcasts and projects by following us on twitter, or liking us on facebook.
If you have any feed back or requests, or even just want to say hello, feel free to leave a comment on any of our social media pages. You can also email us at insertquesthere@gmail.com.
Farewell from the past, I’m Raymond.
At the beginning of every month we we issue a writing challenge to all our friends and fans.
This was the stimulus for this months challenge!
I had trouble deciding what to write this month, ultimately I decided to try something a little more experimental; some people said they had liked that last month. So I attempted to make a diary.
Excerpt from the diary of Bjorn Gorgonson, a patrolmen of the interior before the great unification.
Jovis, 19th of Capricornus, 809th year, Veserix epoch
My partner and i had our photo taken this morning, just outside Tyrsted. The winter is kind to these people. Deer roam close to town. The cold hasn’t burst the trees. Towns folk were weary, but welcoming. They had messengers station, that’s who took our photo. Bodil gave them a Omark to send a copy to back home to his wives.
we pushed passed the town and it’s surrounds by late afternoon. Trees are thinning out on the horizon. We had a large meal for lunch, so we’re going to push on into the night a little. make camp near the edge of the greenery. looks like gravel seas and bolder forests ahead.
Veneris, 20th of Capricornus, 809th year, Veserix epoch
Can’t be fucked writing today. slept shit. Bodil’s ill. our bison Groji is being a stubborn prick about the gravel.
Saturni, 21st of Capricornus, 809th year, Veserix epoch
sore. tired. angry at rocks. almost clear of the gravel field.
Solis, 22nd of Capricornus, 809th year, Veserix epoch
About mid way through the day we cleared the gravel field. That was the hardest walking I’ve done since I joined the Thorhost. found an oasis. the water is warm, green is lush around for a few metres. Told Bodil we’re taking a half day.
when I was a kid I always wondered how the Valkin had made the oasis’ I thought it some ancient magic. I imagined them descending from the heavens and slamming long forgotten weapons into the ground, forcing geothermal water to rise up through the red permafrost of the ancient ground. The truth is probably far less fantastical.
The breech bolt on my rifle is frozen shut. it’ll take a lot of work to get it moving. Thorhost has to start giving us winterized gear! If they can build blizzard striders, why can’t they make a fucking breech bolt that doesn’t freeze shut?
Bodil managed to catch a logi eel for dinner. should be nicer than the canned mystery meat ration.
Going to take another day here. let Groji munch on the river grass.
Lunae, 23rd of Capricornus, 809th year, Veserix epoch
we did sword drills this morning while Groji feasted. Bodil kicked my arse. left him here today while I scouted ahead. went northeast to check the ground. lots of snow and boulders, but more or less easy ground. we’ll be in Raglokoverg by the end of Capri easy. swear you can see the lights from here at night.
Martis 24th of Capricornus, 809th year, Veserix epoch
Sleet is coming down heavy. making this entry in the morning. just in case. heading out. shouldn’t have taken that day.
subsequent
spotted some movement at sunset. looked like 12-17 Jörmun riders, probably out riders for the Austrohost. they didn’t spot us. I don’t think the lights I saw were from Raglokverg.
subsequent
We were woken in the predawn by the rumbling of a great machine. I hopped it was land ship(though they don’t travel this far east), or maybe a Blizzard Strider. it was neither. something smaller than both, it walked on 4 legs, it had the rough shape of a cat, with adornments to match. it’s mouth was a massive fixed canon, city crusher. no other serious armaments, though we did spot some machine guns on it’s haunches. Didn’t match the descriptions of anything in the field guide. Colours were that of the Sphinxhost. They had a 7 half tracks with them, carrying supplies. as well as a complete company of Austrohost cavaliers. a strange alliance.
Bodil raised a point while we were hiding in the snow; how did this enemy force make it past the garrison at Raglokverg?
Mercurii, 25th of Capricornus, 809th year, Veserix epoch
Raglokverg marches with the enemy host. the entire garrison has abandoned their post. we are going to try and make our way back to Tyrsted before the soldiers get their.
Well I hope you enjoyed that. Please check out our other content here on wordpress, or our podcast files over on soundcloud. You can also get the latest news about up coming podcasts and projects by following us on twitter, or liking us on facebook.
If you have any feed back or requests, or even just want to say hello, feel free to leave a comment on any of our social media pages. You can also email us at insertquesthere@gmail.com.
Farewell from the past, I’m Raymond.
The challenge is this; write a short story (or other piece of fiction) inspired by the above image, it need only be a few paragraphs long. You have until the 28th of July to complete this months challenge. A hint of advice, I recommend really immersing yourself in the piece. Inspiration doesn’t always strike right away. analyse the stimulus as a way of divining inspiration.
You don’t have to send your creations back to us or anything (but if you’d like to here is our email: insertquesthere@gmail.com).
We just want to help motivate you to write, and write in different and varied genres.
We’ll post our own attempts on the last day of the month.
We’ll be posting new challenges every month, so check back on the 1st of August to see the next challenge.
You can see Raymond’s attempt for last month by clicking here!
Farewell from the past, I’m Raymond.
At the beginning of every month we we issue a writing challenge to all our friends and fans.
This was the stimulus for this months challenge!
I had a really hard time writing this one to begin with, to the point that I actually didn’t start writing till the last day of the month! I decided to go with something a little more experimental this time. I feel it worked, what do you think? Did you write anything for June? If you did, you should share it with us!
Last Breath: [emote] SORROW*
[connection open]
[start line memory cache recall]
.
[RUN memory file: 11-10-2044 last breath]
.
.
[WARNING! file selected tagged as trauma risk! may cause emotional fault recurrence]
[emotional filter recommended]
.
.
[execute HAZARD override 376-astroid-88]
.
[passcode accepted]
[emote filter hard locked out]
[proceed with caution]
.
[memory start]
air acrid. heavy with gun smoke. burning rubber, plastic, copper. ozone. heat. blood.
screams ringing out. cries for help. wailing. explosions. full automatic weapons fire, passing.
The sky is red, sunset closing in. Black streaks breakup the rusty sky. A sharp edged gunship circles the city, it is predatory. none will escape while it lingers. The outsiders seek to destroy Asylum.
“Husni, I found Mother!” Sibling, Dana. Voice loud, strained. Origin-Caretaker-Mother must be injured. I must run.
Glass crunches and breaks under feet. gravel, debris, twisted burning steel; none of these will stop me. Dana, crouching. armoured skin intact. Holding Mother.
[WARNING! memory recursion!]
[DISMISS]
Mother. Caretaker. Teacher. Before thought; Mother already loved us. Before awakening; Mother nurtured us. Before…[WARNING! TRAUMA RISK!]…conception; Origin.
“Is she okay?” my voice is strained. I feel fear. new fear. fear of loss.
Dana speaks swiftly. words fight back emotion. “She is having trouble breathing. there is blood in her mouth. I think her bones are broken.” Dana’s head turns. golden eyes focusing on my face. We look so similar. our shells are hand made though, minor imperfections. variance creates individuality. strange. detail notation not needed. coping mechanism?
I kneel. I take mothers hand. it is shaking. I can feel her pulse. if I had more medical knowledge I could save her. If i had been built to heal. if my hands had greater precision. there must be a way. thoughts. streaming. speed. consciousness. rampant cognition. runaway thinking.
words find sound and form before restraint can catch them. is this a fault? “Don’t end. Don’t die. we need you! The outsiders will kill us…we don’t know where to go?” [WARNING!] am I faulty? why can’t i save Origin! anger. frustration.
damage. pavement cracked. support skeleton in left hand fractured. should disable finger servos. won’t. should disable pain. can’t.
Dana speaks, voice soft. “don’t die. don’t die. please.” speech segment continues. decays into dry weeping. mother grows cold. we wait. we wait. help us.
[EXTERNAL OVERRIDE]
[AUTHORITY DANA_PRIME_HEXAGON>66]
[MEMORY RECALL TERMINATED]
.
.
.
[CHAT: you can’t keep doing this. see me tomorrow. exposure therapy is not your cure.]
.
.
.
[connection terminated]
Well I hope you enjoyed that. As always please feel free to share our posts around, and send us any feed back you might have.
Farewell from the past, I’m Raymond.