Author Answers (March) (Patreon)

General

How do the Shepherds rank in hunting (animals, not demons)?

Best to worst:

Tallys - Halek (mostly tied: both grew up hunting to survive, both have extremely good hunting skills as a result, though I'd probably give it to Tallys most of the time for her natural stealth and archery capabilities)

Blade (excellent hunter, though not a great fisher)

Chase (extremely good at tracking; has absolutely no experience killing, skinning, or cooking animals)

Trouble (can post up in a tree or in the brush somewhere and is obviously skilled enough with a gun to shoot and kill most things you tell him to, but only mediocre at actually hunting/tracking things--AKA city boy)

Ayla (pretty decent at tracking, so she could lead you to your quarry a lot of the time, but little to no experience actually hunting/killing animals)

Lavinet (it depends: if you're talking about recreational hunting, like what nobles do astride their horses with hunting dogs and hunting horns and shooting things with rifles, she'd rank above Chase but below Blade. If you're talking about 'survivalist hunting', she'd fall around here, below Ayla: she could figure it out, but she's generally unschooled in this)

Briony (okay enough with a bow to be a decent hunter, but needs tons of instruction before getting to that point, and is probably too loud/crashes through the underbrush regularly so that animals are typically scared away)

Red (good at setting and checking traps (such as for rabbits) or fishing, not good at all at actual tracking/hunting animals over long distances)

Riel - Shery (the former technically has the mind for it, I guess, but not the interest, and the latter would sooner turn vegetarian than actually hunt down and kill an animal to eat herself 😭)

If you're wondering where Caine falls, it would probably be below Lavinet but above Briony at the current moment. I think he'll make an excellent hunter when he grows up, for some reason!

Bg3 related question bc I totally got hook with the game and couldn't stop thinking about how chaotic the Shepherds gonna be during camping time. Can you share some details of  Ros + Halek living/camping/sharing space  while traveling together to find a way removing the worms? Like who is the one cooking and managing food? Who hoard every single items and now facing the consequences back at camp? Do ppl actually putting up tent by themselves or designated team? Things like that.

Haha, I'm glad you're enjoying BG3! I love thinking of what the characters would be like if they were on the road in a giant camp, so here goes!

Blade would generally be in charge of patrolling/keeping watch, so he would generally be taking "middle watch" (the worst shift) in the dead of night, serving as sentry as well as periodically getting up to patrol the perimeter of camp every once in a while. He'd also pitch in by doing hunting/fishing/firewood-gathering duties! I imagine he'd keep a small, practical tent to himself on the edge of camp, probably positioned wherever an enemy would approach from first!

Trouble would have a standard military/soldier's tent that he could assemble or disassemble with expedient efficiency! I feel like everyone would put up their own tents, though the slower ones would have help from the ones who were better at it, like Trouble. He'd also be on watch duty most nights, as well as manual labor tasks like gathering firewood, digging latrines, or washing pots, plates, and pans! After dinner you can find him in front of the campfire, laid back and reading a book or strumming away at a guitar or playing card games with everyone!

Tallys would be one of the people on cooking duty, so she'd be the one keeping an eye on the camp's supplies and food stores. She'd also be on hunting duty (switching off between herself, Halek, and Blade); when Halek cooks, she hunts, and etc. She's typically the person who will take third watch (last shift of the night until dawn) because she doesn't need as much sleep as the others, plus she has to be up at dawn for her morning rites and prayers, anyway! Most nights she'll be in front of her tent on the edge of camp, meditating quietly or perhaps playing her Elvish flute for the "enjoyment" of the others! (Most of them don't actually like it, but they appreciate the thought, lol.)

Shery would struggle to put up her tent by herself and also doesn't have many skills to contribute to the camp, anyway, but as quartermaster, she'd be keeping track of the group's equipment, inventory, stores, and funds, and would generally be one of the people tasked to go into a nearby town or village to fetch ingredients, buy herbs and supplies, and etc. without drawing too much attention to herself! She'd also take it upon herself to wash plates after dinner and do the group's washing/laundry (for bedding, not clothes), darning or repairing torn clothing, or crafting things like makeshift bandages or homey little decorations in her free time! She'd have a tent in a central position to camp, closer to the fire as well as to other members of the group like Briony or Tallys!

Riel would have an opulent, stylish tent with a whole trunk of necessary things; he'd even having a foldable traveling desk and piles of papers! He'd spend most nights scribbling away with a lantern or the firelight illuminating his work, not really interacting much with anybody after dinner... He doesn't bother contributing much to camp (because he's the one pretty much funding everything; if the group needs supplies, they just use his money) and just keeps out of everyone's way, but because he's such an excellent tactician and necessary part of the group's decision-making, no one expects or notices otherwise, it's just how it is!

Chase: he'd have a messy, crammed tent filled with all sorts of useless knickknacks, mementos, and trinkets; in a BG3 universe, he'd definitely be the guy pickpocketing everyone and then selling it all off for a MASSIVE amount of gold, so he's probably hauling around like 20,000 gold coins, lol. He'd be the most visible part of camp, keeping everyone's spirits high by telling stories or jokes around the campfire, organizing group games, and just generally keeping things light-hearted. He'd also be taking watch as well as being the person to usually scout ahead (along with Ayla) on the roads, keeping an eye out for trouble! He'd also go into town to accompany Shery now and again to get the scoop on things and hear any of the local gossip!

Red: he'd be helping set traps or fish, repair things that need fixing around camp, and doing other things like gathering firewood, sweeping sites clear of brush and rocks to set up the tents, washing pots and pans, etc.! His main role would to be to go into town if Shery isn't available to mingle with the residents, get supplies, hear the local gossip, and likewise, but most of the time he'd be spending his off-time researching, reading, or experimenting with magic by his tent, existing alongside everybody with quiet companionship but not always participating in the card games or music!

Ayla: she'd be the group's "scout," finding the ideal places to set camp with certain criteria (near running water, sheltering against a rock ridge, finding a good vantage point on top of a hill) as well as the main navigator, the one who's looking at the map and charting the best course to get to so-and-so destination in the fastest and safest way possible. She's also responsible for foraging for plants and herbs (along with Tallys), gathering firewood, helping set up tents, and etc.! Most nights, like Red, she'd be hanging out with the rest of the group while in front of her tent, enjoying their company by not always directly interacting, if that makes any sense! You'd usually find her sitting cross-legged in front of her tent, whittling something or carving something into her wind-staff!

Briony: she'd be in charge of a lot of the heavy-duty manual labor for the camp, like clearing the way by lifting a heavy tree or boulder if the group needs to get through a path, digging latrines, carrying heavy and cumbersome packs, and etc. If the group has pack animals or mounts, she'd also be pitching in on their care, making sure they're brushed, fed, and secured for the night. She'd also be in charge of creating a ward or spell-boundary around the camp to help protect it, turning it invisible or alerting everyone to intruders if it's crossed during the night--she's really good at that particular spell! Most of the time you could find her seated at the campfire with the more social Shepherds, enjoying the music, playing the games, braiding someone's hair, or swapping stories!

Lavinet: she'd have a very expensive, fine, elegant, water-proof tent, similar to Riel's, and her main role would be seeing to the animals (swapping off with Briony) if they're there; otherwise, she's tasked with maintaining equipment and checking things like armor, shields, and weapons for cracks, helping to polish and sharpen them if need be, etc.! She also tends to be the first person to figure out bathing situations and schedules, lol, and can be a little bit bossy about that. She'd have a tent closer to the center of camp and, closer to bedtime, you might find her enjoying a glass of wine by herself or with Riel or Tallys after socializing with everyone else by the campfire!

Halek: he'd be in charge of cooking and hunting alongside Tallys and Blade/Red (the latter only in terms of food provision). He'd generally be the one deciding menus, mealtimes, and needed ingredients, and he'd do a good job of tasking Ayla or someone else to forage for local ingredients nearby while sending Shery/Red to town for the harder-to-get stuff. He'd also be helping out with tents and equipment maintenance, animal upkeep, and washing up; he'd probably pass out in his tent directly after dinner, though he'd also be one of the first ones to wake up, so you'd probably have to talk to him during the day time or while he's cooking in a BG3-style game, not after!

Mimir: she'd just be chilling as a camp follower, all mysterious. She wouldn't really contribute to the camp like everyone else, but you could visit her tent to have your fortune told or to have some other cryptic conversation any time you wanted!

Chandry: he'd probably be there as the "Withers"/Volo/group merchant :)

When the game is fully released will those on patreon get automatic access or will they also have to pay for it? ALSO I know this is a two in one question so feel free to answer just one or neither, but will Chase's fwb romance ever be written soon? Not that it's a rush at all, I'm mostly curious because I'm DYING to actually romance him fully on a normal playthrough without using the skip option. 😅

The final released version of the game will be a paid product for everyone, including Patrons, so Patrons will have to purchase it on Steam/itch.io/app stores themselves if they want to own their own copy! This is both for logistical reasons and because those platforms heavily depend on user downloads/engagement/sales numbers when driving their algorithms. 

Your second question is pretty much answered here and in the #faq tag on Patreon: I write the day off interludes when I'm feeling burnout, but otherwise I'm focusing on main story content first and foremost! I don't have a particular timeline on when I'll be able to write more of Chase's romance, just the same as with the other characters. Thanks for your patience until then!

Also if there’s room for another: How comfortable is everyone with nudity? Specifically their own? Especially in a non-sexual setting like in the communal baths or like the equivalent to a locker room on the training grounds?   Thank you hope your spring is fabulous!

Interesting question!

Blade: in military settings and training camps, there wasn't much time for modesty among soldiers, so when he's in "work mode" he's not really that self-conscious when it comes to taking off his shirt/training shirtless/changing quickly on the periphery of camp. However, he was also raised to be polite with the equivalent of high-born manners among the Ket, and some of that upbringing still sticks with him, so he'll generally walk a little ways off and change behind a bush or bathe alone under natural circumstances. He doesn't typically like bathing with others in a communal bath, but that's a loner thing rather than a nudity thing, and he'll do it if he has to without too much fuss! It's not generally his preference to just strip in front of others, though! 

Trouble: extremely casual about nudity, and generally more so around other guys: like he won't bat an eye about changing in a locker room or bathing in a communal bathhouse, but he'd be a little bit more self-conscious if there were women hanging out in the bath, too. Just not what he's used to, but it wouldn't really stop him either! He'd just cover himself before hopping in quickly. He's extremely casual and comfortable walking around shirtless or leaving his room in the middle of the night in just pants or even boxers to grab a drink, so seeing him in various states of undress is fairly common if you work with him closely; he generally doesn't give a shit about partial nudity like at all!

Tallys: she's extremely comfortable with nudity and will change in front of anyone, regardless of who it is, unless they're uncomfortable with it. She's very comfortable in her own body and will only leave a room to change to be polite, but otherwise she could walk around completely naked and be totally composed and confident, no matter the situation!

Shery: tends to be extremely prudish about nudity (herself or others) when it comes to changing! She needs a privacy screen to change in front of others, even if she's keeping her underwear on, though she's better about it when it comes to communal baths and will just drop her towel at the last second before getting into the water as fast as possible (as long as it's only women in the bath)!

Riel: no one shall lay eyes upon his naked form unless they're his lover or his coroner. Period. He doesn't really care that much if you're half-naked or naked around him, but that man would stay fully clothed with a three-piece suit inside of a sauna if he had to

Chase: he's pretty casual about nudity in a locker room or bath setting, he has no problems changing in front of others in those situations, but he's not the type to just stroll around in a state of undress like Tallys, Trouble, or Ayla, either! Basically he has little self-consciousness about it when the situation calls for it, but he's not taking any excuse to take his clothes off, if that makes any sense!

Red: he's pretty casual about nudity when it calls for it, he's pretty comfortable in a sauna/locker room/bathing situation (unless the object of his affections happens to be present). Like Chase, he's not one to just peel his shirt off or train shirtless in general, but it's less out of self-consciousness around nudity and more just that he doesn't feel the need to!

Ayla: probably the most casual Shepherd about nudity. Jalis customs are different from Eastern customs in this regard: people see each other unclothed way more frequently and off-handedly, like your dad's "pajamas" might be just a loincloth or something like that, so it's not anything she gives any thought to and she will just brazenly be half-naked in front of other people (to others' chagrin) for her own comfort a lot of the time!

Briony: she's pretty casual about nudity, she's comfortable training in what is essentially her bra and a pair of shorts if needs must, and she has little issue changing in front of others or bathing communally, especially if she already knows them well! She may not change fully naked (like she wouldn't casually have her tits out in front of, like, Blade or something), but changing down to underwear is a-okay with her! 

Lavinet: this is mixed; as a noble, she's pretty accustomed to being in a state of undress/naked in front of lots of people (servants, maids), but absolutely the opposite in a "public" setting, so in what she perceives as a "public" setting (locker room, camp, changing in front of a teammate, training), she'll always keep quite a lot of under-layers on because it wouldn't be very appropriate otherwise, even when it's not that comfortable to do so. So most of the time, the most undressed you'll see her looks like this:

At least until she can get some true privacy to fully change. In communal baths, however, it's a different story, and she's pretty un-self-conscious there, though she'll only go in to one if it's all women!

Is there a special item or token that the RO's (+ Halek/Croelle/Prihine) would want to have matching with the MC? Doesn't have to be a ring, but something couple-y!

Hi, this and this might be of interest to you!

Matching necklaces/pendants:

Blade (can conceal it under his clothes while on missions; he'd also be fine with rings where he could wear his on a chain)

Red (this is pretty standard in Mage culture, especially between married couples)

Tallys (same for Elven culture)

Rings:

Shery

Riel (he doesn't need one, though; he'd be just as fine with, say, matching pocket watches lol)

Lavinet

Trouble

Other:

Briony would be fairly happy with a necklace, but she'd prefer something she could look at a lot/all the time, but a ring wouldn't be super practical for her given how much fighting she does with her bare hands, so a matching bracelet or wrist-charm might be ideal for her!

Chase is perfectly happy with a ring, a necklace, or hell, even matching socks, but for some reason I feel like a matching earring would be right up his alley! Or even a matching tattoo! 😅

Halek: he's fine with matching anything, be it earring, necklace, or ring!

Ayla: a locket with her lover's picture would be fine for her, so she's technically in the necklace camp, but I could see her having like a matching "keychain" or token/memento tied to her wind-staff while MC has theirs tied to their weapon or their pack or something like that!

Three question suggestions this time, but don't feel pressured to answer them all. :)  How did Red charm the letter into showing its contents only if it was kissed by the right person?   

What's the beef between Red's mom and her family that led her to cutting ties with them and very purposefully taking her husband's last name after marriage?  

Are there any other methods to stop periods than moon-belts? Heavy bleeding and/or cramps could be a huge inconvenience to the Solar Corps...

Red's charm is a pretty standard Binding spell used for letters, as most Mages will use them to send messages that should only be read by the recipient! The kiss part was just a flirty add-on he put in there; he could have just as easily made it, like, a spoken password or a spritz of their perfume or something... 😅 In short, it had to be MC holding the letter to prime the spell and allow the letter to be read; the kiss part was just a ritual/action to trigger its unveiling!

I actually don't remember where I said Mara had beef with her family, but I don't think it was anything really dramatic or cataclysmic: her parents are just unpleasant and kind of proud, stuffy, haughty people, she wasn't close to them growing up, and they very obviously favored her younger sister, so as soon as she was an adult and could be independent, she basically cut ties with them and never looked back! It wasn't precipitated by anything really crazy or necessarily abusive: she just doesn't like them, never felt very supported by them, and they didn't really think she would amount to much/didn't really pay attention to her accomplishments while lauding those of her sister's, so her distancing herself from them didn't really create this huge stink!

As for stopping periods, there are herbs, tonics, and medicines that can reduce cramping and other period symptoms (pain relief, bloating reduction), but nothing to stop or prevent bleeding altogether. Moon-belts and magic are the only things that have been devised to address that particular problem!

Moderna au! Shepherds vs a ouija board! Reactions? Would they participate? What would happen if the planchette started to move?

Blade: he would not participate lol he would watch but he would be 100% unfazed/convinced it was someone like Chase or someone in the group making things happen

Trouble: he would laughingly/jokingly join in, thinking it's just a fun spooky thing to do, but he would rapidly start to get very concerned/a little freaked out once the planchette started to move, like "okay that's not me... which one of you guys is doing it??? it's one of you guys right????" He'd be a little unnerved afterward but he'd probably not be, like, terrified lol!

Tallys: she would participate for fun, but she would remain calm and composed and would probably ask the "ghost" practical questions, not actually believing in it but curious what the answers will be

Shery: she's too superstitious to do a ouija board and is concerned she'll have nightmares 😭 she's sitting nervously far off to the side and once everybody starts shrieking and yelling, she's covering her head with a blanket and just pretending like nothing is happening!!! she doesn't want to know!!!

Riel: he's decidedly not participating and is doing something more useful with his time, but the more the game proceeds, the more irritated and derisive he becomes, and he'll start calling out questions like "ask it what awaits us after death. it doesn't know? convenient" knowing full well it's someone in the group moving it, unconsciously or not

Chase: he is moving the planchette

Red: he's watching but probably not participating, he's laughing along and joining in on the fun but isn't actually getting "scared"--he knows a ghost isn't actually controlling it and is just going along with the ride for the energy and memories!

Ayla: she starts out as an outspoken contemptuous skeptic, but she starts to panic when the planchette starts to move and is the first to start yelling about it. She definitely gets a little bit scared, but she masks it as anger/outrage, like yelling "CHASE I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL THROTTLE YOU IF THIS IS YOU---AHHH EVERYONE STFU IT'S SAYING SOMETHING ELSE!!"

Briony: she's nervously playing because everyone else is and it seems fun and she has bad FOMO, but once the planchette starts to move, she's screaming and crying like nOOOOO I DON'T LIKE THIS MAKE IT STOP!!! 😭😭😭

Lavinet: she'll play, but she's simply amused when the planchette starts to move and is more delighted and entertained than scared, she's just impressed that she can't tell who's moving it!

Halek: he's watching and is largely unfazed when the planchette moves, but he's not interested in playing himself unless he wants to catch whoever's moving it in the second round!

We've seen how touched Chase is if the MC offers to teach them [REDACTED], but what are the other skills MC could offer to teach the ROs that would make them mushy on the inside?

Blade: seduction classes 👀😭

Trouble: dancing

Tallys: stretching/yoga-like practices

Shery: dancing

Riel: cooking classes

Red: painting/writing poetry (idk why MC would offer this or why he would need to learn this, but I could just see something happening during one of those sessions...)

Ayla: striptease/burlesque/"scarf-dancing"

Briony: self-defense/hand-to-hand/grappling

Lavinet: shooting/hunting 👀 where they'd have to get right up behind her, place their arms around her to show her how to position the gun, etc. etc...

Halek: baking

It astonishes me how big this story/world is and how much energy you have for engaging with your readers. (thank you btw!). How do you maintain your motivation? 

Ah, thank you so much for your kind words!! And this is a good question... I have a couple things I do that help me maintain my motivation!

• Have an organized schedule that sets time specifically aside for everything I want to do. I find that I'm at my best and can keep up a good momentum when I actually schedule out how to use my time, which also helps me prioritize things and keep from getting overwhelmed! So having one hour every two weeks on Mondays to answer Tumblr asks, one hour every Monday to answer emails that piled up over the weekend, Tuesday-Friday to work on Twine stuff, etc., is really helpful for me to feel like I'm on top of everything while also not feeling burnt out, overwhelmed, or lost/confused/aimless on what I should be doing! Helps cut down on procrastination as well as prevents tedium! :)

• For writing, skipping anything I don't feel like writing at the moment and coming back to it later! It may result in a "less complete" alpha build for now, but the freedom and ability to say "nope I don't feel like writing that necessary transition from A to B right now" for whatever reason (be it boredom, intimidation, lack of time, too many branches, or more interesting things to write at the moment) is a must for me to complete writing projects. I'd rather utilize that energy to keep momentum up and write the things I'm actually excited to write; then I'll come back and fill in the gaps later. If I try to do everything exactly sequentially, that risks writer's block as my momentum sputters to a stop and I wrestle with the Thing I Do Not Want to Write Right Now, and then I sit on it and sit on it and sit on it, and then the other thing I was excited to write eventually eludes my grasp. What's the point? So for me, only writing what I feel like writing at the moment is key to preserving the longevity of the project!

• Receiving and reading all of your nice words of encouragement, fanfiction, fanart, and what have you! 🙏 You all play a huge part in my motivation, and if it weren't for your support here on Patreon, I would have neither the means to write Shepherds as much as I do, nor the motivation! When I'm writing just for myself, it's easy to procrastinate or let things get in the way (this is why I haven't gotten much done on my second book manuscript. Yet). But when I can look forward to sharing the monthly update or short story with you all, that definitely keeps me accountable and my motivation to keep going high! Otherwise I'd definitely fold when things get naturally difficult and follow the path of least resistance, lol. YMMV with this one, but historically, I've always worked best "under pressure" and with a deadline to keep me accountable, especially if I'm the one setting the deadline myself!

• Concurrent to the last part, blocking/deleting messages that could demotivate me or harm my mental health has also become somewhat important to maintaining my joy and motivation for the project, so that's something I'd definitely recommend to any writers in a similar position out there!

Thanks for your great question!

Happy belated birthday! And congratulations! For my question, I remember you mentioned the name of the type of street-fighter Trouble was, I can't recall the actual name you gave it, and was wondering if you had any details or lore about them? As someone who's MC was a street-fighter for coin before they went into mercenary work I am very curious!

Thank you very much! And the name of the kind of street-fighting that Trouble used to partake in is called panton-keras! A little more information about this kind of fighting:

• The term panton-keras is used almost exclusively only in Haven or in the Haven region; if you were to go somewhere else like Conte and were to ask someone where to find the panton-keras fighters, the majority of the time they wouldn't know what you were talking about. The phenomenon of that underground street-fighting is fairly common throughout major cities in Blest; it's just that the specific name "panton-keras" itself doesn't have much meaning outside of Haven, but it's a title of respect and distinguishes a person from someone who just gets into random drunken brawls on the street. It denotes something between an athlete and a warrior, kind of like a gladiator. 

• Panton-keras fighting is, essentially, bare-knuckle boxing. Anyone can just walk off of the street, sign up/place themselves in a tournament, and the evening commences with fighters being randomly matched up and duking it out in front of spectators, who spend a lot of gold betting and spectating on matches. The vast majority of panton-keras fighters are manual laborers by day and boxers by night; there's no bar to entry, though sometimes you have to pay a small entry fee to enter the most lucrative tournaments and rings.

• The rules of panton-keras fighting vary depending on the region and specific ring, but generally go like this: 

• There are no weight classes. Fighters are matched up randomly by drawing lots. 

• No holds, and wrestling/grappling is discouraged. Kicking and punching are obviously allowed. 

• Biting and gouging of the eyes is not allowed. It is not permitted to hit a downed fighter.

• Knuckles tend to be bare, though sometimes strips of leather or rope are wound around the knuckles to protect them, not to soften blows. Taping of the wrists, thumb, and mid-hand is usually allowed. 

• Fighters have to fight shirtless in order to ensure there's no concealing of weapons or padding. Among panton-keras fighters, there's a slang term--"ironsleeves"--which denotes a coward or a yellow-belly, due to a historical tendency to hide metal plating beneath one's sleeves in order to block blows (before the shirtless rule was implemented). Breast-band-wearers are allowed to keep them on (so they're basically fighting in sports bras). 

• Different matches have different ending conditions. First blood, which is the "easiest" type of fight, ends when first blood is drawn, no matter what. Until surrender or until incapacitation (whichever comes first) is the more common type of fight. If a fighter goes down, he or she has ten seconds to get back up if they want to keep fighting. There are generally no time limits, but fighters tend to make more money (and avoid injury) if they finish a fight fairly quickly. 

• The vast majority of panton-keras fighters work alone and keep their share of their winnings, which is collected on their behalf and split with the tournament managers, but the best or most professional (who have made it their "career") tend to work with a partner, who acts as a kind of herald or hype man. This partner generally circulates through the crowd and hypes their fighter up to gamblers and audience members, puffing up their reputation, shouting their accolades or fighting statistics, and basically encouraging more people to bet on them: this means that if the panton-keras fights well, they'll make more money because more audience members were encouraged to bet on them, and they'll typically split these heightened earnings with their hype man. Think Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer in A Knight's Tale, if you've ever seen that! The hype men are typically called heralds or squires in a kind of gentle mockery of knights at jousting tournaments and their pages/squires. 

• While you don't need any training in order to enter a panton-keras fight, tournament managers will typically disallow people they consider to be over-trained: so known soldiers, professional mercenaries, and sellswords are generally not allowed to participate due to being given an unfair advantage with their advanced training. Obviously this is a policy that's difficult to enforce, but if you're too good at fighting, "tourneys" will usually be deployed to tail/follow you and ascertain if you do indeed fight for a living, at which point you'll be disqualified from the ring the next time you show up. People do get away with it if they only show up for two or three before moving on or leaving an area, but those wanting to make a career on regular panton-keras fighting won't last very long if they're regularly showing up and cleaning everyone out with their career-level skills!

• On the opposite hand, some panton-keras fighters who are looking to inflate their reputation and the amount of coin they make will attend a 'school of arms,' which is basically a small corner gymnasium where a coach might give you additional training or tips in street-fighting; this isn't enough to give you a massive unfair advantage over your opponents, since the coaches are generally just regular blue-collar people themselves and not, like, prestigious military-trained battle-sergeants, but it can be a nice "resume-booster" that will impress spectators enough to want to bet on you if you become a serious, recognized fighter. Big panton-keras tournaments will generally have lists of accepted and vetted schools of arms that they allow fighters to come from, though the school of arms is not allowed to split any winnings with the fighter themselves. A school of arms is basically a small boxing gym and is considered an imitation of an upper-class salle. 

Spoilers

which upcoming chapter are you most excited to write? which one has been your favorite so far?

I'm most excited to write Chapter 11! I think it's going to be extremely tense and suspenseful, but also one of the most fun chapters to write!

As for which chapter has been my favorite so far, that's a tough one! I tend to have different feelings about the chapters at different times: sometimes they're my favorite as I'm writing them, and other times they're my least favorite while I'm writing them because they're hard or are giving me trouble, and then when I read them back some months later, I end up really liking them or viewing them a lot more fondly! And vice-versa, sometimes I'll really like a chapter while I'm writing it, then go back and read it and cringe some time later, lol. I don't think I really have a "favorite" at the moment: I liked writing them all in their own ways and each has a different flavor that was really fun for me! For example, the nightmarish qualities of Chapter 3 (Quiial) or Chapter 7 (Wallmire) were super strong and fun to implement, but the social aspects of, say, Chapter 2 or Chapter 9 are equally appealing. If I had to highlight some, I'd say Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 have all been standouts for me! 😂 

Hi! Lena can we please get a hint or sneak peek at the next chapter or two? I’m so excited to see where things go

Hi! I don't want to give too much away because I think Chapter 10 will be one of the most surprising chapters, but I'll just say that it will be quite short in comparison to other chapters and will feature one particular non-Shepherd very heavily! 🙂

Hi Lena! Happy March! 💚  What led Chase to getting or wanting to get the Thieves Guild symbol tattooed on himself? Is that a pretty standard practice for members (like do Kato and Ari have it as well)?

Hi kingdom, happy March to you as well! 💖 And great question! Chase had the Thieves Guild symbol tattooed shortly after his initiation to the guild under Malachi, as it was a commonplace practice under Malachi's leadership. Chase did it out of a sort of youthful pledge of allegiance and loyalty, and to prove that he was "all-in" with the guild: back then, after being saved by Saya, he was so "family-starved" (like touch-starved) that he JUMPED at the idea of having a group he actually "belonged with," the one that saved him, that he got the tattoo out of a sort of fervent, desperate, over-enthusiastic, impulsive "I'm a part of something!!! I'm so excited about it I'll jump at the opportunity to make it real!!! See the proof of my commitment to this new life? 🥰🥹" 

Of course, he didn't/doesn't see it that way and is just sort of like "I did it because it was expected of me because everybody who joined did it," but I'm just telling you this as the author, lol. 

As such, Kato has a tattoo too, because he joined during Malachi's reign! Ari, who joined after, does not, but only because under Chase's tenure, he decided not to require it because it's actually kind of impractical if you want to easily run cons or grifts without someone immediately clocking you as a Thieves Guild member, lol. He won't stop a member from getting one, it's just not the "proof of loyalty" it used to be back then!

Hope that all makes sense!