The Gearmonger Chronicles: Arcwatch by RJ Shoke

Author:RJ Shoke [Shoke, RJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

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Some worlds were complete and utter scrap heaps.

Zebulon had been exploring the planets of Fogum’s Forge for more than a decade and each one had a dumpster fire of its own.

For instance, Gogglemore, the closest neighboring planet to Crankedge, was a world of water and gas. Every landmass was submerged underwater by some degree and only mountains and volcanoes dotted the world’s single, vast ocean. The largest cities were undersea, occupied by the amphibious Gogglemorans who did not have enough Gadgetry to form exoskeletons just yet. And for the visiting races, there were hovering cities in the sky that were anchored to mountains and volcanoes.

However, for an avid delver like Zebulon, all of the best Gearmonger ruins were underwater. Because of that, he’d spent years retrofitting his rigid dirigible to be able to survive the rigors of deep sea exploration. And for all of that trouble, he found 15 leagues and three seas worth of pirates. Filthy, dirty, backstabbing, frog-faced pirates.

Zebulon hated Gogglemore.

Cinderrath was the next planet over, home of the lanky, gray-skinned Cinderrans with their ruby red eyes, pointed ears and tentacles that they styled like hair. At least they had actual continents and islands. But their race was obsessed with ‘honor.’ So much so that their entire culture was based on the idea of ‘an eye for an eye,’ which only meant that anyone could challenge anyone to a duel at the drop of a bowler hat.

Give someone the side eye? Duel.

Don’t use the correct honorific when addressing someone? Duel.

Park a dirigible in the wrong hangar? Duel.

Kiss the wrong girl while fondling her tentacles? Duel.

Well…maybe Zebulon deserved to be challenged for that last offense. She was, after all, a Gearlord’s daughter.

But! Run from a duel that couldn’t be won? That was a definite duel and a half.

And they’d laid bounty after bounty on his head to make sure he was hunted across all of Cinderrath. That’s really what the planet was filled with — a bunch of squid-heads with itchy trigger fingers.

Needless to say, he wasn’t exactly welcomed back there.

Now, Gizmere? That was a world that Zebulon could have gotten behind. Oh sure, he was as likely to be shot as he was to be shanked by a burly Gizmeren, but those squat and stout snowrunts knew how to work hard and play harder. Their icy white skin, cold blue eyes and thick muscles made them the ultimate warriors in the harsh wintry environments all across Gizmere. The planet was a monumental snow globe in the throws of perpetual winter.

Worse yet, the world was an icy trap for any ship that wasn’t prepared for the extreme conditions of its frozen environs and it had nearly become Zebulon’s icebound tomb. Within weeks of being in the inner atmosphere of Gizmere, his dirigible had been nearly frozen solid and barely capable of flight. He’d been stuck on-world in a frigid hellscape for months after that.

If not for his Coreforged Walkers that had replaced his legs, his One-Size-Fit-All that

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