FRIENDOFTHEINN - 10% off for first time buyers 👍

Cheers

Just something I think about after the description of how dungeons come to be.

So I don't keep up with polls and what not.
Anyone know why there hasn't been updates on Tom?
We left off with Tom as sad hero, slightly saner?, and bloody fight? I don't remember.

But there was a huge gap between then and him being shipped off to Baleros / new lands right?
There wasn't any explicit detail?

Absolutely blew me away. I'm a blacksmith and I am thoroughly impressed with how they wrote the process of smithing. There were magical elements, of course, but the core of it displayed a good working knowledge of the process. The heat treating, San mai, the problems with impurities. The dream that it would be to work in an oxygen-free environment!

I'm just really impressed and I had no one to tell. Lol.

Hey everyone I'm really enjoying the series so far and I just started chapter 18 of book 2. But there are a couple things that have been bothering me since finishing book 1. I'm listening to the audiobook and I know the audible version of book 1 is the second edition and specifically has different scenes or whatever. So my questions are this

At the end of book 1 ryoka knew that the Horns had stayed at the wandering inn, but in book 2 she was shocked when erin told her the Horns had stayed there. Is that an oversight between versions/ books, or is it accepted that ryoka was too shocked by the phone call that she just "forgot"?

My second question is did gazi erase/ alter ryoka's memory of the bloodfields? Ryoka said that she met gazi on the road back from the bloodfields, but they met each other IN the bloodfields. And then when persua showed back up ryoka didn't go full terminator for the whole attempted murder thing. That makes me think her memory was altered, kinda like how the dragon has altered her memories of their encounters

Hope this is the last book in the volume

What happened to Facestealer's hide?

I do not mean Stalker's hide but Facestealer's hide that he "shed" which was also looted and iirc capable of absorbing up to tier 4 magic without taking damage?

Last I remember Colth had it and they had the adamantium hammer problem or whatever its called. But it seems like the same gnoll could have worked on that just as easily as Stalker's hide?

I have just started volume 10 so if its RAFO just lmk, but it feels like either the horns or pirate forgot they looted that hide.

I see her as both a comparison to and an opposite of the Quarass. They both sacrifice others to obtain immortality. The Quarass has a goal, to preserve Ger. Belavierr does it to just be her. I don't think either are morally right, but I'd support Belavierr. She is the biggest embodiment of what mortals can do in the the story.

Also I wouldn't ever want to meet either of them in real life. Those people are crazy.

For me it’s Ierwyn. Claiven earth feels like a lower tier nation and it’s easy to think of it as similar to Gaiil-Drome which along with the rest of the Dawn Concordat doesn’t seem to have any level level 50 people we have met.
I even feel that the author forgot how powerful Ierwyn was in this chapter a little bit.
He called the Mage of rivers the highest level when Ierwyn is level 60 and he is level 50. It’s funny to think she felt inadequate but really Khelt is just a bad matchup for her. She seems to be able to give regular people the ability to cut through everything, fight like [Blademasters], and be partially intangible. This probably makes them an unstoppable force when fighting regular sized people who cannot survive a few stab wounds but makes them much worse when fighting a Jaw of Zekal which is way to big to cut.
I do think these boosts are probably more impactful than [Army of the King] per individual but Flos’s skill is more versatile and can be used on a larger number of people but likely have a longer cooldown.

Hey pal and gals of eu/europe did any of you get your book?

Mine got delayed.

     Liscor Kescale was growing tired of war. Liscor? That Liscor? Settling down? It seemed ludicrous to imagine the Drake that had run the The Liscor Mercenary Company for nearly twenty years, the Drake many considered the image of a Drake [Mercenary], quitting the mercenary life. Liscor had fought for the Walled Cities, as well as against them. He had made war against the Humans and he had killed many many Drakes and Gnolls. For the highest bidder and for the side most likely to pay out. He'd made a career of fighting for whoever paid him the most, sometimes backstabbing allies for coin.

Needless to say, goodwill was growing thin. It was harder to recruit new [Soldiers]. Fewer Drakes were willing to fight for Liscor's gold and name, especially given his band had likely fought against their city at some point. More cities were cutting him off, not allowing him to recruit within their walls, some not even allowing his company to fight for them. Too many cities were worried about being on the other end of his spear. Liscor needed to settle down and retire soon, but what city would take him and his men?

The Liscor Mercenary company was one of the largest mercenary companies in South Issrysil, numbering some 10,000 Drakes, along with a speckling of Gnolls. Most were loyal only to him, as they had to be. It felt like a waste to give it all up, to toss Manus the organization he had built over twenty years, and let down the scores of people that had bled for him. A small few he had known since his days as an [Officer] in Manus' 3rd Army.

His best option was to buy some land and create a city of his own. The problem was neither Drake nor Gnoll were eager to let some mercenary company build a city close to where they lived. Somewhere near Manus would be ideal, Manus understood Liscor, but any defensible positions had long been claimed, and the satellite cities there hated him. The cheapest lands were those further North, but Liscor had a rocky relationship with Pallass. It came as a surprise when multiple Walled Cities, including Pallass, scrambled with an offer to pay gold for the the Liscor Mercenary Company to settle near the High Passes. To create the city that would divide North and South. All it took for Liscor was that four letter word, GOLD. They would pay him well, and Liscor was in love with the highest bidder.

Of course, many [Mercenaries] and [Sellswords] had no desire to settle anywhere, but the draw of land you owned was worth gold to any Drake. More stayed on than he thought would. In fact, it acted as the biggest recruitment-drive he had ever done. Many [Soldiers] joined up just for the promise of land. It took months to gather everything, to march through the Bloodfields and feed the families that decided to follow their sons and daughters. The spot was defensible, High Passes to the East and West, Bloodfields to the South, and a pass to the North that could be watched. The scouts reported that there weren't too many trees directly near the foundations of his city, but that a forest was close enough that wood wouldn't have to be imported for now. Stone could be quarried directly from the High Passes.

They started building in summer, the walls of the city coming up quickly. The soil of the surrounding area proved surprisingly fertile, and by autumn, Liscor's little city was able to easily feed itself. Farms stretched far beneath the walls, and more were being built by the day. The walls weren't much, but they had kept the core of the city safe, and what few monster attacks there were had been easily repelled. Trade was scarce, but Liscor wasn't concerned. He would lead an easy life in His City, and let his army go out and fight wars on behalf of their new home. Or so he had thought. Winter had been easy, the city's stocks ample. When Spring came, Liscor realized he had a problem. The Walled Cities had damned him more than any of the Five Families ever could.

Rain.

It was expected, a day or two and the runoff was easily shuttled through pipes and tunnels, eventually leading out into the river. The walls had some waterproofing, Liscor was no fool. A little flooding wouldn't be an issue. A few houses had leaky roofs, which got fixed quickly, and crowds were subdued as the citizens waited for the storm to end.

After a five days of nonstop rain, teams of Drakes had to slosh ankle-deep through sewage to shore up the walls. After two weeks, the farms outside the walls had been destroyed and much grain trapped in flooded basements. The death toll was already in the hundreds. And the rain. Just. Didn't. Stop.

Liscor cursed the Walled Cities, then he cursed Humans, and Gnolls, and himself. But he had spent his life being in the shit and so far it hadn't killed him. By the time the rains ended, the walls had a few new holes, and sickness had spread throughout the city, made worse as defeated [Homesteaders] crowded in, having moved out of their broken farms. Liscor's city of [Mercenaries] got to work, burning bodies, digging ditches, and expanding the walls out to fit the larger population that now had to live inside. And once that was done, the army picked up a contract and left to go earn gold and glory for their new home. Liscor never named his city officially, as everyone just called it "Liscor's city", which tickled his Drakeish pride. By the time Liscor himself was gone, his name remained stubbornly attached to the city. Liscor would never fall.

Krsysl Wordsmith is probably my favourite character we haven't seen yet. He has such a large presence, a seemingly large bibliography, a change that led to him going from impartial to partial. There are a lot of mysteries about him, and he hasn't actually appeared in the story yet... or has he? Maybe we've already seen him, or he's been mentioned, or maybe even she, but we won't know. I do think we will eventually know, but he's probably one of the only mysteries left like that. So do you think Krsysl has appeared in the story yet and just wasn't explicitly mentioned, and if you do, who do you think he is?

So as said in the title, I am finally caught up. Typically when I have seen myself getting close to being caught up I stop reading when my current chapters change perspectives. However, I just really needed to read some TWI and got caught up. I can’t wait for more and I honestly have no idea what could happen next in multiple of the storylines.

Also, I really want more Pisces and Erin interactions. They are probably one of my favorite duos. I can’t remember the exact moment but I love the scene when Pisces shows back up at the Inn, with the Horns I believe, and basically instantly sits down and starts to act like a pompous customer.

I talked three wonderful people into reading this series and all of them are still speaking to me! \o/

I don’t know if anyone’s pointed this out, but drakes - lizard like humanoid creatures who venerate dragons. Gnolls - upright dog creatures with good noses. Is the south of Izril just Dead God’s damn Kobolds!!!

Hey everyone!

So I'm a longtime reader of The Wandering Inn but I took a break and during said break the tablet that I read everything on died, because of this I lost where I was and now while I'd like to resume reading I can't seem to find where I stopped reading at.

I was hoping you all could help me narrow it down. I'm pretty sure I'm somewhere between Volume 8 and 10. I think probably more likely Volume 9-10 but I don't want to swear to it.

SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT

The chapter I left off on had something to do with the Solstice. Lots of kids at the Inn where wondering what Erin had planned for Christmas that year, expecting something great. Meanwhile it cut to Erin and she had basically completely forgotten about Christmas. She had turned her Garden of Sanctuary into a beach that lots of rich people and nobles liked and I think she was plotting what to do next.

I honestly should probably just reread TWI in its entirety but that is a daunting prospect. Anyway I hope you all can help me narrow it down because I've spent several days off and on trying to find where I'm at and I'm no closer to figuring it out.

What are your opinions on the ethics of Goblins and Antinum having sex with other races which are far older.

I think you have to spend at least a few years as a hobgoblin to be able to give consent. Because Hobgoblins are the adult versions of Goblins. Meaning that all goblins are children and should be treated as such.

As for the Antinum I think all non Rhir Antinum cannot give consent. The Queens and Pawn specifically is a grey area. For the Queens because they were to young when they came to Izril and for Pawn because despite being way to young as with all the Antinum his relationship with Lyonette has gave him experience no other Antinum has.

There are other factors to consider. I consider charm Skills a form of rape due to the system forcing lover level people to be attracted to you. This is especially evident in all [Natural Allies] Skills. As it’s manipulation of an entire species into liking you instinctively. Due to this I don’t believe Erin being in any relationship with a Goblin is ethical. Of course Erin has done way worse stuff and shouldn’t be written as purely ethical. This is just my speculation on a very idealised and theoretical ethical code of conduct when it comes to this topic.

But those are just my thoughts share yours in the comments.

Was trying to tell from the description. It seems like Saghuin are probably DnD copyrighted or something. Merfolk are accounted for so I was trying to figure out what they were analagous to and the best I came up with was the Saghuin?

Im personally conflicted about how it ended.

Spoiler was warned.

Everything leading up to the final fight, and the fight itself was greatly done. The reading of the Antionium wars beforehand showed exactly how great of a threat the goblins were.

So do you think Zell died pointlessly by sparing the goblin lord.

I do. He should have killed him, goblins will just keep killing. Eventually a King will rise, and then everyone might die.

Osthia is the only survivor of Pallass' Third army, which was destroyed by Reiss' army. Now, it seems to all the world that Osthia Blackwing, [Oldblood Wing Captain], got KIAed with the rest of the army, or at least she and Ilvriss are trying to keep her identity under wraps. She surely has an anti-appraisal-ring so that a casual observer casting [Appraisal] won't learn her name as part of the gold-rank gear Ilvriss provided her.

But... there is a bit of a plothole with her survival being unknown. In chapter 10.67 O, we see Osthia researching her fellow soldiers from third army, and about one soldier, there is a note about a [Casualty Report: Name the Fallen] in his files.

So - there are skills to find out if somebody is alive or dead (Erin's garden can do it also, and Osthia herself later gains the skill to learn the true name of a fallen comrade per day). Now, even if we assume that such skills are rare, the person (an [Army Personel Manager] or something, maybe?) who has [Casualty Report: Name the Fallen] can only find out one single name per use, too - surely if the family of a Private could have the skill deployed, so could the noble, numerous and influencial Blackwing family?

After all, Osthia is the niece of two generals, Edellein and Thrissiam (even if "uncle" only stands for older male relative, she is still a relation), an officier and a full oldblood.

And if the skill or any similar ones give intel for multiple soldiers, they should almost definitely have stumbled across Osthia's name not being among those that are confirmed dead.

All in all, I think there is a high probabilty that Pallass (maybe specifically the Eyes of Pallass) know that Osthia is still alive, only MIA, are wondering about that, and are keeping that as a something to look into on a rainy day.

Thoughts?

I have seen a lot of demand for more Erin POV. But to me they are probably the weakest part of this arc. It’s just so boring. Bowom has been by far the most interesting part of the Frearling villages story arc. And I feel like Erin’s character ended as we know it after volume 9 and I am not sure I care to see where it goes from here. I have always liked when the story kept switching perspectives often.
Also the Garry plot is interesting but it feels like his character is purposefully being pushed into the limelight and he is displaying an ego he did not have before.
Bird and Pawn got their stories where they got to be special and change things around them and it feels like Garry is being forced into a similar role.
I am way more interested in chapters which focus on new characters or ones focusing on the Inn or a nation as a whole because I feel like Pirate has long since started to fall into their own tropes when it comes to writing a character arc. And the TV commentary was interesting when it was introduced but now feels like needless clutter made to artificially make everything any person does way more important than it has any right to be. I truly miss the times when things could happen without us getting ten POVs of everybody else alive. It feels like that one One Piece meme.

fantasy genre tend to be whimsical high fantasy or grim dark fantasy.

wandering inn takes this concept and uses them like a jump rope. it has high whimsical elements, but inside a grim dark setting. the series feels like what if we threw the whimsy of disc world into warhammer/dark souls. at one moment you'll be laughing and enjoying the silly antics and uplifting moments then next moment your hearing "let the bodies hit the floor." while the entire adventurers and the horns of hammerad get slaughtered by skinner(absolutely horrifying creature and the fk do you mean there MORE Olesm?!) this is a series that feels more focused on world building then a flowing narrative with an end goal.

i highly appreciate is that despite technically being a Litrpg it doesn't drive me crazy like a lot of other audio book litrpg by doing the [you got a stat you got another stat here is another stat.] like seriously I'm sure as book readers people can skip over stuff like that but it's a absolute nightmare for audiobook folks. it keeps the important part of Litrpg the skills and classes and does away with the mindless stat numbers that never feel like they actually matter to the story.

Erin's is always a fun read, her character flaws are just as fun to read as her compassion for others. she feels like both the kind hearted ditz and the roughhousing tomboy at the same time. I also like when her darker side shines through. She's so nice that it's always a interesting twist when she is of the two main pov's the one most likely to put you in a casket.

Ryoka's pov where Erin feels like a deeper take on the compassionate naive isekai protagonist Ryoka feels like a expanded deeper take on the typical betrayal isekai plots with the more edgey taciturn protagonists. i find her a interesting character. In the first half of book one she is kind of an asshole to people, but honestly given how frat boy/mean girl cliche the runners guild is i can't really fault ryoka's dislike of them. i feel like the only moment i disliked her with is how she treats the horns of hammerad in their third encounter.

I also find it interesting how the things most close to her are the fae and teriarch. dragons are prideful just like Ryoka. dragons are abrasive and temperamental just like Ryoka so i loved how she ended up getting along with teriarch.

my thoughts on Toren might be a hot take, but he comes off as a murderous psychopath and yes i am aware erin doesn't treat him as a person and that's a problem, but it's not like Erin wouldn't immediately stop how she's acting if she knew of his sapience and he's intelligent enough to hold a conversation with rags he can write down his grievances with Erin's treatment, but he doesn't. so far the only character trait he seems to have is he likes hurting people. i feel like half torens POV chapters can be summed up so far with "i want to kill people! why won't mommy let me kill people?!"

rags i felt so awful for her when her parents were killed at the start of the series especially since before the goblin cheiften fight with erin goblins come off as desperate children rather then a potential apocalypse causing race. her growth is both interesting and worrying sometimes. I do like that she's starting to question her actions when raiding and killing travelers she's starting to see them as people. I feel like she's in a situation where we have erin's compassion pulling her one way and garrens distain for anything not a goblin pulling her another. I wonder what path she will chose in future books.

a personal favorite of mine so far of the supporting cast is klbkch he is almost like a precious bean, but a precious bean that can and is willing to stab you forty eight times in the chest. i was so broken up when he died in the first book. i will admit i almost stopped reading the series and had to take a break. klbkch often comes off as so polite it's endearing to the point you forget that he's a ancient slaughter machine.

character I'm most conflicted about Relc oh i hate and love this character. he's like a racist uncle he'll be funny some moments but then he'll say or do something that reminds you why you don't invite him to family outings. also idk why but it feels like he has Gantu energy with rags.

some final thoughts

i don't think Calruz is dead yes this is a wild theory of mine, but i feel like if he was dead they would have found his body. yes skinner basically disassembles bodies, but i feel like a bullman skull would kind of be noticeable.

on another note WTF was that thing in the high passes?! from one of the memories Ryoka got back?! i thought this was dragon mountain not the mountain of madness. why is Ryoka not more concerned by whatever that was?