Afterword - Book 1 - Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Chapter 5: Spellcraft and Banditry

(original chapter title: The 3rd Bandits)

Seven months isn't a very long time, right? Most people wouldn't think so.

Yet it was long enough that I, somehow, managed to convince myself Ranthia's original knives--received here from the former legion squad leader--were singular. I spent MONTHS convinced she single wielded back then. I had to correct things for my art commissions over it!

One of the more "interesting" things about going back to this section is something that was always easy to forget: The System wasn't really -settled- in the first couple of books of Beneath the Dragoneye Moons. Class stats weren't always set right and it's a weird balance to match with what Elaine showed rather than what the System should have allowed. It also made it MUCH harder to balance out mana costs, which is still intimidating. I feel like I'm trailblazing for whoever comes next for a major BtDEM fanfic (hint hint, I want more Tales Beneath the Dragoneye Moons!).

Waaaaay back when I first wrote this section I originally planned for just generic bandits, but... well, I've never liked generic bandits in stories. Why on <whatever world you're reading this from> would anyone just randomly decide to become a bandit? Something has to drive people into it! ...So I decided to springboard off the Rangers executing the corrupt legion officer that was taking bribes and smuggling people out of the city (and possibly murdering and robbing them). There had to be people operating under him, so... have a set of those have gone AWOL and boom all problems solved!

...It also allowed me to have them, as a group, kind of unofficially adopt Ranthia once she started to pull away from her mother, of course.

It's kind of hilarious how often while writing a random idea, whim, or question can completely change the path of the story.

In this case, it was definitely for the best.

I also expanded Ranthia's interactions with the teen she saved, which gave me an opening to discuss some of Pallos' deities and set things up better.

I also got to add what might be my favorite Book 1 joke: Ranthia's [Cute] level gain. It was an idea that came to mind in the middle of writing/revising and made me giggle, which meant it just HAD to go in.

Free writing tip (yes, shush, I know you paid for access to these; but you didn't know they'd have writing tips! (disclaimer: I may or may not provide future tips.)) - If an idea makes you laugh, it'll probably bring at least one other person joy if you can reasonably work it in.