Hearthomancy vol 3 a men.., p.1
Hearthomancy Vol. 3: A Men's Fantasy Adventure, page 1
Hearthomancy Vol. 3
M.E. Thorne
Copyright © [Year of First Publication] by [Author or Pen Name]
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
Contents
1. Author’s Note
Fullpage image
2. The Story Thus Far
3. Chapter 1
4. Chapter 2
5. Chapter 3
6. Chapter 4
7. Chapter 5
8. Chapter 6
9. Chapter 7
10. Chapter 8
11. Chapter 9
12. Chapter 10
13. Chapter 11
14. Chapter 12
15. Chapter 13
16. Chapter 14
17. Chapter 15
18. Chapter 16
19. Chapter 17
20. Chapter 18
21. Chapter 19
22. Chapter 20
23. Chapter 21
24. Chapter 22
25. Chapter 23
26. Chapter 24
27. Chapter 25
28. Chapter 26
29. Chapter 27
30. Chapter 28
31. Chapter 29
32. Chapter 30
33. Chapter 31
34. Chapter 32
35. Chapter 33
36. Chapter 34
37. Chapter 35
38. Chapter 36
39. Chapter 37
40. Chapter 38
41. Chapter 39
42. Chapter 40
43. Chapter 41
44. Chapter 42
Afterword
Books by M.E. Thorne
Author’s Note
2024 might be drawing to an end, but that doesn't mean the smut stops here! I was super excited to get Hearthomancy Vol. 3 out before Halloween, but I fully intend to release two more projects this year; Halls of Magic Vol. 2 and The Immortal's Guide to Supervillainy Omnibus.
Anyway, enjoy the spooky thrills and terrifying chills as Brent and his lovely ladies battle the oddities of Ashling Grove. No cults this time—I promise!
I have a Patreon now! For just $5 a month, you can gain access to character artwork, preview chapters of upcoming releases, and polls regarding my projects!
As always, you can sign up for my newsletter or follow me on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates. If you enjoyed this book please leave a positive review and spread the word!
Thank you again!
The Story Thus Far
Vol. 1
What would you do if the world suddenly had RPG Classes, Skills, and Proficiencies? For most folks, after the Reckoning hit, they slowly went on with their lives. They adapted as best they could while ignoring the RPG-like rules that had suddenly appeared on Earth.
Brent, though, had other plans. He wanted to be a great and powerful Wizard, with his own Lair—a magical home to call his own. Working as a home contractor, he slowly built out his Laborer and Wizarding Classes, learning the Skills and Proficiencies he would need to make his dream come true.
His hometown, Ashling Grove, appeared to be a normal college town in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania. There were some weird traditions like the solar eclipse festival—coming up in the fall—and the Order of Stone. Brent had just accepted them as normal parts of everyday life. When he learned Rotwood Manor, the local haunted house once known as Rootwood Manor, was up for sale, he jumped at the chance.
Binding himself to the house’s copious mana, he unlocked the Hearthomancer Class, a Wizard empowered by the energy surging through his newly acquired Lair’s Hearth. He also earned himself a familiar, the Hearth Spirit Lorelei, who inherited her form and memories from one of the manor’s previous residents.
Working together, Brent and Lorelei slowly began the arduous task of repairing the manor, trying to restore it after decades of abuse had left it a shattered ruin. As they worked, the Lair slowly revealed parts of its past, including dark secrets from the previous residents, the frat Delta Iota Kappa.
Determined to become stronger and protect his home, Brent delved into Ashling State’s Dungeon. Though the adventure didn’t go as planned, he met Ayara, a talented Drow Blacksmith. Seeing her potential, he invited her to become Rotwood Manor’s first Crafter. She eagerly accepted. At the same time, Lorelei became Brent’s lover, further solidifying their bond.
Ayara set up a forge in the manor’s backyard and quickly moved in to be closer to her work. She also joined Brent and Lorelei’s efforts to unwind the mysteries of Rotwood Manor, including one of the first residents on the property, the blacksmith Eustace Phelps. Ayara recommended bringing in a Scholar she knew, Ishikana, to help unwind the secrets that seemed to be pressing in ever closer.
Brent’s neighbors, Mitch and his wife Candy, the stoner Josh, and Herb the goat farmer, were making themselves known. Several times they had approached Brent, trying to talk him into joining their Neighborhood Watch. But Brent got a bad feeling from them, causing him to refuse. As the solar eclipse festival drew closer, they stepped up their harassment campaign, trying to get Brent evicted from the property.
Ayara became Brent’s second lover. The Drow had a long cultural history with harems, so such an arrangement was natural to her, and Brent was more than willing to welcome both of his lovers into his life.
Events continued to spiral out of control, even as Ishikana arrived. The Arachne Scholar was instantly drawn to Rotwood Manor, its amazing power, and the dark mysteries surrounding it. When Mitch and the other members of the Neighborhood Watch were caught on the property, it revealed the existence of a dungeon–The Oubliette of the Forgotten.
Brent and his party barely escaped from it with their lives. They learned that there was some deep horror trapped beneath his Lair, a terror beyond description. Worse, it appeared the frat DIK had been worshiping the creature under the guise of the demon, Baphomet. Mitch, Candy, and the others had been part of the frat, and they were attempting to take back the manor and sacrifice Brent to the dark nightmare.
The prisoner’s power was at its zenith during the solar eclipse. Using Candy’s Class, Mind Leech, to brainwash the town, DIK laid siege to Rotwood Manor. Brent and his lovers barely survived the attack while Mitch attempted to free Baphomet from the Oubliette of the Forgotten. In a climactic final battle, Brent threw Mitch into a burning pillar of flame, sealing his mad ambitions and imprisoning Baphomet.
Events slowly wound down as the year came to an end. Brent was exploring the property with Lorelei when they discovered a new dungeon, The Frost Princess’s Prison, and a new quest to save its captive.
Vol. 2
It was the start of a new year at Rotwood Manor, but Brent had little time to relax. Icy Monsters were appearing around town, created by a leak in his Lair’s mana. Someone, or something, within the Frost Princess’s Prison was stealing the energy and threatening to drain Rotwood Manor dry.
As Brent and the others pushed into the frozen realm, determined to complete the quest and defeat the thief, they also had to deal with issues at home. A new adventuring guild, called the Company of Heroes, had been growing rapidly. Made up of younger people, those who had embraced the System, they rallied against the town elders and the institutions of Ashling Grove. The guild’s founder, Clarice Foundling, seemed to have a particular interest in Brent.
Undaunted, he pushed farther into the icy Dungeon while fending off Clarice’s growing influence around town. His relationship with Ishikana, the Arachne Scholar, continued to deepen, and he eventually accepted her into his harem.
Rotwood Manor revealed more of its secrets. Pulled into the past, Brent and his harem witnessed the black mass that got Mitch Felch and DIK kicked out of the house. Mitch had created a powerful, dangerous relic, the Book of Baphomet, using occult papers he had discovered within the mansion. Upon returning to the present, Brent was given a quest to find and destroy the book.
The Frost Princess’ Prison was once the kingdom of the Frost Dryads, who were overwhelmed and destroyed by invaders during their integration into The System. At the heart of the realm, Brent met the mana thief, the Last Warden of Arcadia. He revealed he remained in undeath, watching over the fallen princess of the realm. Working with him, they rescued the princess, receiving a flower bud containing her essence.
Planting the bud in Rotwood’s atrium, it swiftly bloomed, revealing a doll-sized figure. Morietta remembered little about her death or imprisonment. She agreed to stay with Brent and the others until she could regain her former strength and find her place in the world.
Ishikana purchased the homes once owned by DIK, gifting them to Brent. They became part of his Lair, forming his first External Holdings. Brent eventually agreed to rent Josh’s old property to Randy, the Crafter. Randy had been working with a mysterious benefactor, but they vanished after Ishikana forced the renters to sign a magical contract.
The Company of Heroes wasn’t idle during this time. Clarice Foundling once again tried to ally herself with Brent, explaining that she, too, was searching for the Book of Baphomet. Based on a vision granted by the horror trapped under the house, it could grant its owner unspeakable power. Clarice intended to sacrifice the town and lead a revolution, destroying the old guard and installing the Company of Heroes as the new global order.
After Brent refu
Hunting for the book, Lorelei eventually led Brent and the others to a hidden cemetery within his Lair. There, they discovered the bodies of the DIK cultists killed during the siege. Morietta raised Josh as a zombie, commanding it to lead them to the book.
Growing desperate, Clarice and the Company of Heroes besieged the town. She broke into the Order of Stone, thinking they have the book or know of its whereabouts.
Zombie Josh led Brent and the others into a series of secret tunnels below the town and to a hidden shrine to Baphomet beneath the ruins of Zurlman’s Trousers. Fighting the Company of Heroes, and a rising tide of Madness, Brent found the book. Slaying Clarice Founding, he then torched the unholy relic, ensuring nobody could use its power to free Baphomet.
As Ashling Grove recovered from the siege, Brent focused on his home. Working with Cliff, the local scrap man, he pulled out some old boiler works from the basement. Cliff located a hatch that had been hidden under the equipment. Venturing into a crawl space that ran beneath the house, Brent discovered that the cornerstone for Rotwood Manor was missing—it had been stolen. Beyond the gap left in the foundation, he could hear the call of the River Styx.
He received a new quest—to find and return the missing cornerstone.
Chapter 1
“Well… that’s not something you see every day,” Professor Brown commented dryly as he looked through the hole in the manor’s foundation.
We were hunched in a crawl space underneath my basement. I hadn’t even known it was there until we had removed the old boiler works that had covered the entrance. The missing cornerstone and the quest to retrieve it were a surprise, too.
Lair Quest! – Return the Stolen Cornerstone
Reward: Styx’s Punishment Bane
Brown leaned closer to the hole. “I think I can hear something. Is that running water?”
Reaching out, I grabbed his shirt, tugging him back. I doubted he had realized it, but the professor had instinctually moved toward the opening and nearly tumbled through.
I wasn’t exactly sure what was on the other side of the missing cornerstone beyond the tumbling waters of the River Styx. I was certain, though, that his girlfriend would be furious with me if I let the older man tumble into the endless abyss.
Professor Brown shook his head as if coming out of a daze. I carefully pulled him back, away from the hole left in my house—and reality—by the theft.
“Try not to listen to the sound,” I suggested. “I would have fallen through the gap if Lorelei hadn’t been with me the first time I was down here.”
Brown nodded then hunched his shoulders to inspect the foundation. “I’m no mason, but I’d guess the Quest you received from the System was accurate. This was likely the cornerstone of Rootwood Manor.”
“But it’s not in the actual corner?”
Brown nearly jumped as Lorelei appeared, phasing through the wall. The Hearth Spirit gave an apologetic smile.
Ghostly and ephemeral, Lorelei looked like some silver-screen starlet starring in a haunting role. Her ebon-black hair contrasted with her pale skin and the white jumpsuit she was wearing. Normally, she favored gowns and dresses, but she could change her outfit at will, clearly copying my overalls.
“Sorry, I was just listening in and got curious,” she admitted as she drifted closer.
Lorelei could move freely through the manor’s floors and walls, phasing through the material with ease. The structure was as much a part of her as the face and memories she bore from the original Lorelei Ganlts, one of Rotwood Manor’s previous owners.
“It’s fine.” Brown cleared his throat. “Cornerstones were mostly decorative by the period the manor was constructed. The positioning is odd, though. They were normally installed on the front of the building so the public can see them. Down here, though? I doubt anyone but Patrick Ganlts and the original masons knew it existed.”
He ran his hands along the edge of the hole. “It definitely was a cornerstone, though. A big one, too. Notice how the gap is larger than the stones beside it? There’s even a bit of mortar left. Someone chipped it away with a chisel if I had to make a guess.”
“So someone stole it.” Lorelei sighed.
“I can’t fathom how or why, but yes,” he agreed.
Brown took a few measurements before we turned around and trundled out of the crawl space. Someone could have smuggled the stone out via the passage, but it would have been a laborious process.
Emerging into the boiler room, we patted off the dust and grime from our clothes. Ishikana, the Arachne, was patiently waiting for us.
From the waist up, she was a mature, scholarly-looking woman with bronze-brown hair and a haughty demeanor. From the waist down, she was a giant freaking spider with eight legs and a black, chitin abdomen covered in fine hairs.
Despite her inhuman nature, I found her infinitely fascinating and innately gorgeous. I had come to appreciate her almost supernatural grace and the gleaming, orb-like eyes that dotted her brow. Her torso sat high against her arachnoid body. When she crossed her palps—her forward spider limbs—it always put me in mind of a woman sitting with her legs crossed.
Sure, her appearance was weird compared to normal Human sensibility, but she was a hell of a ride in the sack. Of my three lovers, Ishikana always surprised me the most in the bedroom.
Professor Brown reviewed our findings with her.
“So, who were the original masons Patrick Ganlts commissioned to lay the foundation?” she asked. “They would be our first suspects in the theft since I can’t see Ganlts removing a section of his building for no reason.”
I had a very short list of suspects, but I tried to keep an open mind—as Ishikana suggested. Lorelei hovered nearby, with a slightly worried expression on her face. I knew the topic of the house’s past and its previous owners could be uncomfortable for her.
Professor Scott Brown furrowed his brow, thinking. Though his dark skin had grayed with age, he was still a robust man used to working with his hands. Once an academic at Ashling State, he had been driven out because of his research into the town’s past. He had grown to be a crucial ally, but I felt guilty that his association with us had brought trouble to his doorstep.
“Patrick Ganlts was very secretive about the construction of Rootwood Manor—and for good reason. He had many enemies, including other businessmen. They would have been more than happy to sink his folly by sabotaging his efforts. In all my research, I’ve only uncovered anecdotal material concerning the house’s construction, mostly from journals, receipts, and documents belonging to the craftsmen and laborers who worked on the project.”
He paused, blinking. “Huh—I just got a level in Mentor. It’s been a while since I leveled that up.”
Ishikana smiled. “Mentor and its derivative Classes all benefit from deductive reasoning and intellectual breakthroughs. I know you gave up on teaching, but you might unlock the Historian Evolution at this rate. It comes with some very useful Skills for researching historical events.”
For a split second, my brain just shut down. I was standing in the basement of my very own magical mansion with two of my lovers—a giant spider and a ghost—talking about Classes and Skills like life was some kind of video game.
But that was just the world after The Reckoning. RPG-like rules, including Classes, Skills, and Proficiencies, had been forced on Humanity. Soon we had learned we were not alone in the multiverse. We met other Races through the Dungeons, which wound through reality like wormholes, connecting various worlds.
And my home seemed to be some kind of pan-galactic jail or prison, holding countless Dungeons within its bounds.
I brushed aside the errant thought—I didn’t have the luxury to zone out. Instead, I worked with Ishikana to leverage the stone hatch for the crawl space closed. Runes had been carved into the hatch, further concealing the hidden passage. I doubted we would have ever found it without the power of Truth Seeker’s Boon.
Truth Seeker’s Boon
Your hearth burns with insightful flames! When investigating events within your Lair, your hearth’s mana will assist you, bringing forth phantoms of the past. Secrets and sealed paths will be easier to discover as well.
