James A. Hunter posts
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Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 48
Forty-Eight – Now HiringThe shop was bustling with activity, even though I was hearing more and more rumors about Aspirants poking around the various doorways scattered about the floors. It didn’t seem to be stopping anyone from venturing into the storefront—not yet anyway—but that could cha...
MudMan Re-Release
Hey everyone, James Hunter here. We're dusting off an oldie but a goodie. I wrote MudMan in early 2016, back before I'd even started dabbling in LiRPG. It's dark, gritty urban fantasy with a whole lot of blood, gore, and action. We took this book down several years ago for a fresh round ...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 47
Forty-Seven – The Prize BoothThe prize booth was exactly what it sounded like.There was a long, glass fronted cabinet filled with smaller, less valuable trinkets, while the bigger high-ticket items hung on the wall, grouped by price. Perched on top of the counters were small, computerized kiosks w...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 46
Forty-Six – Fun and GamesThe four of us spent the next nine hours grinding through murder game after murder game, each more interesting and bat-shit crazy than the last. We started with Whack-A-Mole, which cost a Gold Loot Token to play. The price tag seemed awful steep, especially considering wha...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 45
Forty-Five – Jungle Gym JamboreeStepping into Funtine Frank’s Jungle Gym Jamboree was like plunging into another dimension entirely.This place wasn’t a simple mall arcade, like the place Croc and I had raided on the third floor. Nope. The Jamboree was a neon-drenched city that was like the bas...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 44
Forty-Four – Mana Displacement EffectIt took us the better part of a day to get to the Funtime Frank's Jungle Gym Jamboree—though between Jakob, Temperance, and Unerring Arrow, I’d never had an easier or more stress-free trip. Temperance seemed to intuitively know every inch of the seventh...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 43
Forty-Three – Gear UpThe plan was simple, elegant, and as insane as it was ballsy.Head over to Funtime Frank’s Jungle Gym Jamboree and grind the lesser blight infected Dwellers who lurked within, until eventually we were strong enough to take on Frank and his animatronic jamboree posse. I had my...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 42
Forty-Two – The Assignment“Obviously, I don’t want to contract cancer- rabies or whatever in the fuck Blight actually is,” I said. “But I’m willing to listen if you think there’s a way I can strike a deal with the Hold.”I briefly considered the golden Seal of the Researcher tucked aw...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 41
Forty-One – Old HistoryI lounged in the breakroom across the cheap, circular table from Temperance the Murder bunny.The gentle hum of voices drifted in through the open Employee’s Only door, accompanied by the squeak and scuff of distant feet. The store was busy with the hustle and bustle of new...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 12 - Livestream Mic Drop
The Ravenous Slender Essence was already up in the Soul Index and ready to go, but Clay didn’t trigger it. He couldn’t afford to throw away his one shot at breaking free of this attack just because he’d been too hasty.Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. The thought flashed through his mind as he s...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 40
Forty – The Odd CoupleThe burning blue shield vanished in an eyeblink and suddenly there was a bowie knife clutched in the Cendral’s hand. Jakob gave the blade a quick twirl, then drove it through Mohawk’s palm, pinning his hand to the floor.“If you want to keep the rest of your body parts,...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 39
Thirty-Nine – Knight in Scaly ArmorMy health was critically low and though I’d regained about eight points of Mana during the tussle, that wasn’t even enough to fire off a single Drain-O Bolt. The Sterilization Field vanished but the golden protection granted by the Slammer of Shielding still ...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 11 - Kicking the Hornet’s Nest
“Stop them!” Merciful Shepherd roared, letting the half-strangled Joe drop to the dirt, choking and holding a throat covered in livid bruises.Half the guards attacking Alex split off to take on the oncoming horde of released prisoners. Multicolored flashes of magic lit up the night, mainly focus...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 38
Thirty-Eight – Killing BlowCroc and I needed a game plan before barreling in there like reckless morons.I mean, we were morons for not just running away, but we could try to avoid being reckless. As my Dad always used to tell me growing up, if you’re going to do something stupid, try to be smart...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 37
Thirty-Seven – The Red HandsEarly on the third day of what was beginning to feel like a doomed quest to nowhere, Croc and I blundered into a large school locker room, filled with rows of lockers, slick, mildew-covered tiled floors, and wooden benches that had probably endured more psychological tr...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 10 - Outnumbered
A hundred times during weapons training at the dojo, Alex had warned her students about the “dog with a bone” trap—that instinctual urge to get into a tug-of-war with your opponent over a weapon—and she’d sworn to herself a hundred times that she would never get caught by it. But the secon...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 9 - Soul Overload
Clay stopped outside the unmarked door the squidhorse guard had taken him to just hours ago. Switching over to his Reptilian Infrared Detection, he scanned the interior. Two hostiles inside—the standard red body temp of a human and the green-yellow of an Inconceivable Cosmic Security Officer. This...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 36
Thirty-Six – Goosey Goosey GanderAfter looting the corpses, I planted my VIP Doorway Anchor and popped into the store to distribute my five new Enhancement Points and swap around some Relics. The Doodles dropped a variety of Common and Uncommon Shards, but each one carried a Common-grade Relic cal...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 8 - A Dark Moment for the DCU
“Ow!” Joe cupped his bleeding face in his hands. He turned huge, shocked eyes on the Dark Sentinel. “What the hell, guy?”But Alex had already figured it out. She reset her feet, holding the combination kusarigama-thurible at the ready.She’d been stupid not to use that helicopter distractio...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 7 - Hostile Takeover
“This way,” Shifty said, waving for Clay and the others to follow him up the steel stairs to the ground floor. “First door on our right.”The tower’s curved hall was deserted, but when they came to the door marked Control Room, it was locked and they could hear muffled voices inside.“Any ...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 35
Thirty-Five – The School ZoneHammer firmly in hand, Croc and I slipped out of the dilapidated classroom and into an equally rundown hallway with green walls, so pale they were almost white. Rows of rusty lockers adorned the wall to the right, a few of them closed, while most hung open at odd angle...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 6 - Here Comes the Cavalry
Clay jumped when the klaxons started going off. He had hoped his Beguiling Whisper had gotten out, but so long had passed since he sent the message that he was starting to wonder. Either it had worked and Alex and Joe were on their way in or this was one hell of a coincidence.Boots and clicking chit...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 5 - Breaking and Entering
“…and that, dear viewers, is the tale of how Lumberjack Joe and the Jaeger squad defeated yet another menace to wasteland society while he was drinking his juice in the IZ,” Joe concluded.Alex checked her shotgun, then Clay’s Wyrd West revolver, making sure for the hundredth time they were b...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 34
Thirty-Four – The Seventh Floor“You know, I like that Jakob,” Croc said as we exited through the sliding glass doors by the front register.“That doesn’t mean anything,” I replied. “You like everyone.”“That is true and a fair point, but this time I really feel it. Like the warmth I ...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 4 - Hostile Work Environment
Clay caught Griff’s sharp one-eyed gaze. They hadn’t planned for a cell full of people, but if they were going to get out of this prison, they would need everybody in their cell on board. Or at least not actively working against them.“What if I told you we were breaking out of this place?” C...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 3 - Fun Time with War Crimes
“I can’t believe our stream isn’t blowing up,” Joe grumbled, face lit with the gray-blue glow of his suit’s arm screen. “I filled in all the keyword slots—big government conspiracy revealed, cool squad saves the day, David and Goliath fight of the century… We’ve only got one viewer...
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 33
Thirty-Three – R & RI handed over a duffel bag worth of Elixirs to Jakob and he headed off to one of the tents in the back—compliments of the house—for a peaceful night of rest and relaxation, while I spent the next few hours sorting through the enormous pile of Relics he had unceremoniously d...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 2 - Supermax Conglomerated
The passenger window in the seat in front of Clay whirred open, letting in sand and hot air and one sweaty, pissed-off Triple S agent.“What the hell, man?” he snapped, plopping into his seat. “Just gonna fucking leave me back there?”“I said ‘abort,’” the jerk in the driver seat said....
Backrooms: Delvers and Dwellers - Chapter 32
UPDATE FROM JAMES: Hey everyone. I am SOOOOOO sorry for the irrgular posts. DragonCon messed me up good and I thought I'd be able to get some writing done, but nope. Not one word. But I'm back home, feeling great, and super excited with where the story is headed. Expect regular posting to re...
Wasteland Warlords Episode 5: Chapter 1 - A Truly Terrible Plan
“I can’t believe I let you idiots talk me into this,” Alex said, shaking her head. “I look like a doofus.”“You’re the only one of us who could fit into Rhett’s clothes.” Clay leaned over the back of the dune buggy seat to give his wife a nudge with his shoulder. Not obvious enough ...
