Beeqs | historical | Complete
It is 1788 and King George III has succumbed to a deepening bout of madness. Doctor Francis Willis has been summoned from his asylum in Lincolnshire to treat the King only to find that it is no medical malady that tortures His Majesty, but rather twisted mythological Celtic magic. He leads the effort to lift the curse on the King and restore the realm to sane governance before the King is forever lost to madness and the realm descends into chaos.
29.72 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:37
T C Griffin | historical | Complete
Frightened and alone, held captive by the enemies of my father, the King, the only thing that scares me more than my captors is the man that came to save me
1.06 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-21 18:30
jaauerbach | historical | On going
Mati was a typical blacksmith's apprentice, until the fateful day he discovered a long-lost demon sword hidden in a cave near his village. To make matters more complicated, inside the sword is the trapped soul of a girl named Lyra from hundreds of years ago. Despite having never left his valley and barely able to lift the smith's hammer, Mati vows to help gather the eight crystals needed to free Lyra. Now, many years later, the duo are near the end of their journey, and Mati has rather inconveniently fallen in love with the disembodied voice of the girl he has never met. But with the fateful day approaching, will Mati be able to muster up the courage to not only secure the last crystal, but also confess his true feelings to Lyra?
8.31 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 15:11
Michael Regal | historical | Complete
RELEASES EVERY MONDAY AT 18:30 CST ----- After suffering the torments of slavery, the destruction of his nation, and the massacre of his band of brothers, Rodion Kazansky craves revenge and yearns for the freedom owed to him as a proud Cossack. A lost horse and a chance meeting with the Catherine the Great set him off on a journey that will take him from the steppes of the Crimea to the beaches of the Gold Coast of Africa and back again. There he will face British slavers, pirates, and the ghosts of his past to become the bane of his enemies as the Czarina's Buccaneer. ----- DISCLAIMER: This novel acknowledges the fact that the Cossacks, and the Ukrainian people by extension, are unique and not simply a "different variety of Russians." The main character views the Russians as "moskal foreigners" and does not see himself as one. This also acknowledges the fact that the czarina deprived many of the Cossacks of their freedom, something that the main character resents.
49.81 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:44
H F J Ballard | historical | Complete
A loose retelling of the story of Prometheus. They say that with the wheel and money the greatest thing man got was fire. The god we got to steal this funny red-orange burning wood or (pot) was tired of being comfortable alone and cried for cold men down below, and so he stole the warm-lit red orange glow& or tried or did, but all he got, for his effort was caught.
21.63 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:34
Lady Siv | historical | Complete
All Griff ever wanted out of life was to be left alone in his library with his books. In order to keep his station in the library, he is forced to work with an upstart alchemist named Nicholas Flamel. When the experiment goes awry Griff and Nick must trek along the countryside to reach the Library of Alexandria. Dodging both African and European armies would be so much easier if Griff wasn't a two-story dragon."
19.28 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:44
ArDeeBurger | historical | On going
This story is a tale classic in its tragedy, about the foibles of Man and how he destroys the things he loves, all to prove himself superior over the Universe. In a quest to defeat Hilter during Wold War II, Winston Churchill and Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt barter with a race of serpents who come from outer space. There are a few inconveniences for the leaders of the West when dealing with these creatures. For one, they can't even talk to them, for the aliens 'speak' by manipulating light. But in exchange for the knowledge of how to build an atomic bomb, all the monsters want from us is to live in peace at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. What could go wrong with that? * * * This story is my entry in The Royal Road Community Magazine Contest * * *
5.76 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-04-02 14:59
Janelle Walden | historical | Complete
Claire's life led her to love. Love led her to death. Death began her eternal struggle to retain both her love and her humanity through 5 centuries of endless nights. Book 2 covers the 18th century. "Ravyn's Nights" is a six book series, with each book covering a different century. Book 6 was actually started first, and it takes place in the near future, bringing the story to a final conclusion. I then started writing the rest of the series when I decided that I wanted to share the details of the life that made her into who she is in Book 6. At the time of posting the first chapter of the series, books 1-2-3 are completed and books four, five and six are in various states of completion. There is currently a novella following a side character that does include a few crossover chapters featuring the main character. The novella will be included in the completed versions of books 4 and 5.
79.91 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:38
SidusProject | historical | Complete
"55(5+ 5 55"5! 5(5 5.5, 5"5, 55(5.5'5" 552 5-5!5 5,5-5+5"5'5 5, 5(5 5 55-5 ." Those words, traverse through space and time only to bring us what's called "inevitable" - a designated end that awaits right from the start of every new journey. How unfair... to have no control over the course of our own, no option left but to docilely obey its order. Still, there are those who have dared to challenge the supreme, with every last drop of their will, with each piece of their flesh and bones. In this story lies the tale of the two "rebels," yearning to escape the endless cycle of lost and found. Indeed, it is the tale of a doctor who lost himself in revenge and the knight who soon forgot the warmth of love. Together, will they collide to break through the illusion of pawns on the chessboard of power? From the puddle of sin, will their hands find each other? To once and for all, sharing the crimson Camellia, proof of their sincerity. 'Amor Vincit Omnia'May their love tear the veil of greed. Copyright � SidusProject, 2023
76.78 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:39
M-Anthony-Harris | historical | Complete
Vealand's jewel twin cities of Portin and Brinhold fell to terror fourty years ago. During their fall a man rose up and saved them. He took the survivors of the fall of the Veaish coast and brought them inland, setting up his new empire inland in the mountain stronghold of Fiell. The Emperor singlehandedly saved the people of Vealand. Everyone knows that and everybody in Vealand adores him as a hero and the savior of their nation. Dren though, says differently. As a Memory Mage and the leader of the Rebellion, he's desperate to prove that the Emperor is a false savior. He bets his life on it. He fails that bet and fails in his last attempt at transfering his memories into the mind of one of the Emperor's Inquisitors. Now it's up two the two most unlikely people, Aris Ravenscroft, the head of Fiell's city guards and Kestrel, a street rat, to save Vealand from a monster that it worships as a savior. Notice, this is a High Fantasy novel, there are no LitRPG or Cultivation elements in it.
92.03 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:35
GLBertrand | historical | Complete
(WARNING: This book contains graphic descriptions of body horror, blood, gore, violence, and trauma based heavily on real-life medicine. There is occasional profanity, alcohol, and drug use at various points. This is not a story for the easily squeamish, pursue at your own risk!) When a deadly plague arises in a metropolitan desert trading post called Ash, a healer is summoned by the city's oligarchical ruling class to uncover its cause and nature. The healer, Appo Ilonnorot, is an intelligent and highly skilled practitioner of the burgeoning field of medicine, though he is challenged both by the almost supernatural nature of the plague and the town's absence of medical literacy. With the help of Jere, a laconic mercenary with a mysterious past, Appo is forced to navigate local politics, ancient superstitions, and even the harsh desert environment in order to contain the plague before it becomes an epidemic. __________________________ Author's Note: This is a slow-burn fantasy horror story I have been writing since 2020. While there are magic and supernatural elements scattered throughout, much of this story is inspired by actual historical medicine, in a foreign world where development is somewhere between Sumerian and Roman times. Update 3/15/2024: That's a wrap, folks. Full story is here to read. Hope you enjoyed, and for future readers, I hope you enjoy. -B
109.51 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:23
TheImperial | historical | Complete
A Short Story about a family that gets together over the holiday season. Even after they drift apart, the children off to live their lot own way in a tough world, they will never stop being family. A tribute/gift I wrote for my whole family.
1.31 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 14:11
JFSA132 | historical | Complete
In the year 2019, Joshua Alo, a college drop-out, has been living the depressing dream, going from place to place around Greece, looking for booze, money, women, and most especially, trouble. However within this seemingly never-ending cycle, a strange man appeared in his life and gives him a second chance to regain back his good life, not knowing the consequences that may happen later on.
14.83 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-21 18:34
PJ_Lowry | historical | Complete
David Jones thought he was normal until he discovered that his family has been keeping a secret from him his entire life. He learned that his father's side of the family can and has been doing something that no one else can: travel through time.
29.71 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:26
HAXX0RZ | historical | Complete
All three of the great Greek Tragedians have written plays about the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. Yet theirs is in fact not a story of tragedy, but rather one of redemption. As they move from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, their spirit of struggle and regeneration becomes an everlasting song of celebration to be heard throughout the ages. Forming a discourse set against the emergence of Athenian democracy out of a period of chaos and destruction, the Orestian plays are compelling stories of the tensions between our obligations to our families and the laws that bind us together as a society. In the beginning, we witness how a king's decision to sacrifice his daughter and turn the tide of war inflicts lasting damage on his family, culminating in a terrible act of retribution. In the aftermath of regicide, we behold how a son must set out to avenge his father's death by committing a most egregious sin. In the end, the sinner is tormented by supernatural powers that can never be appeased, but ultimately finds redemption and ends the curse on his house once and for all. Woven through all of this is the story of a friendship so close that it elevates itself to brotherhood - Where the blood of the covenant is shown to be indeed thicker than the water of the womb. In this very brief twelve-chapter modern rendition of the Orestian plays, I have chosen to place my focus mainly on the lives of the characters Orestes and his best friend Pylades. The chapters, each around 2000-2500 words, are split up evenly between them in first-person narrative. I hope that you will come to enjoy reading this heartwarming story, but more importantly, that you see how the conflicts portrayed in the story, whether human or institutional, are still much very relevant to our societies today. Note on Sources: The details of this story is very loosely based on The Oresteia by Aeschylus. And I mean very loosely. Other sources that I referenced for detail and inspiration are Mythology by Edith Hamilton, Electra by Sophocles, and Iphigenia in Tauris by Euripides. You may also find that I have quoted some of these works, and others (such as Shelley's Ozymondaeus), without citations (average of 1-2 such quotes per chapter). I did this because I do not have the ability to describe certain scenes nearly as well as some of those writers. If you read a particularly beautiful piece of prose here, chances are it's probably stolen lol. Also, I wrote this during the summer between my high school senior year and my college freshmen year. It was the summer of 2020, and being quarantined apparently gets my creative side out lol.
15.05 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:30
Unraed | historical | Complete
"His name will never be sung, son. Skalds and bards like me will never tell his stories to the mass. But only us and us alone will keep telling his story, his actions, his saga. For he is the man who started all of this." This is a story no man in Lumenter will ever hear, no man except for an Arnesen, for his stories are dull and generic to the ears of the masses, except for us, because he is the very reason why our people traveled this far east, why kingdoms in Erisgi fell and rose, why I... even existed in the first place. He is Geir, son of Arne, called 'the Stranger' by the people. But what he truly is, is a fiery red heart that beats inside every Eyklandian, Arnesen, and me. R鴖hjert (My Submission for Royal Road's Writing Competition in June 2022)
10.97 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:40
JoyceMatula | historical | Complete
[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] Lolly lives in time. It is where she has always lived...for now. Now is a peculiar state of existence because one now leads to another now. Lolly is not quite sure where the next now will take her, but it will take her somewhere.Now, Lolly lives in Texas. It is where she has always lived. It is 1975. She has her own quiet dreams and her own personal challenges, like we all do.
58.76 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:39
Michael Regal | historical | Complete
Europe is set ablaze in the fire of war as brother turns against brother, stirred to violence by their corrupt governments and churches. In this time of upheaval, free bands such as the honorable(?) Talbot Company make their name by selling their swords to the highest bidders. The company is a family bound by coin and blood. When a Swedish castle falls to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Talbot Company must venture to the wild lands beyond the Oder River to stop war from breaking out over the ambitions of a rogue Polish colonel. The company attracts all manner of characters, among them an English peasant archer, an impoverished conquistador, and a cross-dressing Italian girl who thinks she has what it takes to hold her own amidst the rigors of war. Read on and find out if they have what it takes to survive this time of war and suffering. ----- If you like what you're reading, please consider buying the complete book. That is the only place where the final chapters will be available. Click here to buy on Amazon Click here to view on Goodreads Click here to buy on Smashwords
40.93 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:31
deepfriedtails | historical | Complete
"All liars are angels and devils, and none quite fair as those under direct control of the puppeteer." Welcome to the Era of Progress! The turn of the century could not have been more grand. Prosperity has reached this corner of the world, and rapidly gaining steam as it builds into a world where every man a king, but no one wears a crown. Life for the everyman is great, family life is great, and everyone is happy! All for the good of a society. People all over the world are coming to this country to build better lives. After all, this country was built on the foundation of liberty and justice, and who wouldn't want the taste of the dream? "Tear down the old world, build a new world," as they say. Cover art - Disparate de miedo by Francisco Goya. Updates intermittently What to expect: A story about people running away.
15.05 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:41
J3P7 | historical | Complete
Planet Earth is broken. Civilisation was plunged back into the Dark Age when the Sun spewed forth the largest solar flare in recorded history. But amidst the ashes, a lone physicist made humanity's greatest scientific breakthrough time travel. A decade later, the fledgling technology is ready to send a pair of daring pioneers on a one-way journey into the past. When the portal shuts there will be no communication. And no coming back. Even then, Matilda and Harry were enthusiastic volunteers, eager to impart their futuristic knowledge so a subsequent civilisation might mitigate the inevitable celestial cataclysm. But when the inaugural mission goes awry in its opening heartbeats, Matilda finds herself trapped and alone in 12th Century England . She is Chronomad One. Humanity's first time traveller. Check out my website to pre-order a physical copy and see how the book was written, how the cover was designed and how physical copies were hand-bound.
70.48 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:35
