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kingdombuilding

LOTR: Children of Refusal

At the Waters of Awakening, an elf is born with memories that don’t belong to this world. When the Valar arrive with their shining offer - salvation, eternal light, a paradise across the sea — he sees what others cannot. A price hidden beneath divine promises. Safety traded for freedom. So he does the unthinkable. He refuses. The Avari-the Unwilling, the Refusers, the ones history will forget — follow him into exile. What unfolds is not a tale of wandering wonder, but of building: walls raised against the coming darkness, weapons forged without divine guidance, a kingdom carved from nothing but will and determination. Because in Middle-earth, freedom is never free. And darkness always comes to collect. ━━━━━━━━ ⟡ AUTHOR’S NOTES ⟡ ━━━━━━━━ Lore-heavy beginning: The opening chapters introduce many Tolkien terms, names, and worldbuilding elements. If it feels dense at first, don’t worry - each chapter ends with a mini-glossary to help you navigate everything easily. Long-form chapters: The chapter count may look small early on, but every chapter is substantial (3,000+ words minimum, often much longer). AU & apologies to lore purists: This is an Alternate Universe kingdom-building story set in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. I apologize in advance to hardcore LOTR fans for any lore liberties or naming mistakes - I’m doing my best to honor the source material while exploring new possibilities. Constructive feedback is always welcome (kindly, please)! Give it a chance. The Avari are waiting!!!
Afkter · 807.4k Views

Fate/Ascend

This is a fan translation of 求你让我上英灵座吧 The original author is 洛州白马 Art is by @km_mechi Edit is by ClayTL Please support them! === "I transmigrated into the Nasuverse and gained recognition from the Root itself. As long as I can manage an unnatural death, I’ll ascend to the Throne of Heroes—becoming its master, stronger and freer than any of the Seven Grand Servants." "So, I started courting death all across the Nasuverse." "I openly insulted the King of Heroes to his face, challenged the almighty Zeus in Greece, abducted Scathach in broad daylight in the Norse realm, declared in Israel that Solomon was a demon god rather than the Son of God, and in Britain, I went so far as to publicly side with Morgan..." "But tell me—why am I still alive?" ... Fuyuki, 1994. A man of many names: the third companion of the Oldest King, the First Vizier of Mesopotamia, the favored of the Greek gods, King of the Giants in the Norse lands, the divine incarnation who awakened Solomon’s humanity in Israel, the prince’s right hand in Camelot... Rovi, whose face was young but whose eyes carried the weight of ages, sat atop the Fuyuki Bridge. With a weary sigh, he looked at the people before him. “So, where do you think it all went wrong?” He lowered his voice, half-pleading, half-desperate: “How about... you kill me? Just let me ascend to the Throne, please—I’m begging you!” Emiya Kiritsugu lit a cigarette, glancing at Artoria beside him, who’d raised Rhongomyniad; at Gilgamesh, whose Gate of Babylon shimmered ominously behind him; at the blood-red spearhead emerging from the shadows of the Land of Shadows...The hand holding his cigarette trembled, just a little. === discord.gg/wisetl
ClayTL · 471.4k Views

Project 1948: The Jinnah Divergence

"History says nations are built on speeches and slogans. History is wrong." "Nations are built on plumbing, supply chains, and systems." Bilal, a cynical game developer from 2024, knows exactly how the “game” of British India ends—with the fire and blood of 1947. When he wakes up inside the mind of Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Father of The Nation) in 1930, he realizes that following the historical script is a death sentence for millions. The Quaid-e-Azam (Father of The Nation) of the textbooks—the distant, immaculate lawyer—needs a patch. Forming an unlikely partnership, the modern systems thinker and the Edwardian barrister abandon the politics of London and Delhi. Instead, they retreat to the forgotten backwaters of Montgomery to attempt something dangerous: Project Sandalbar. Their goal is not rebellion—but construction. To build a functioning prototype state inside the belly of the British Empire. Armed with modern knowledge of logistics, communication networks, and resource management—wielded through Jinnah’s razor-sharp legal mind—they begin engineering a sanctuary against the coming storm. The Mission: Turn a dust-bowl estate into a self-sustaining fortress. The Tools: Sanitation protocols, radio networks, cooperative economics, and a militia disguised as farm guards. The Obstacles: Feudal lords, imperial suspicion, religious extremism, and the ticking clock of history. They are not fighting for independence. They are building a lifeboat. Can a game developer and a lawyer “mod” the operating system of the Raj before the server crashes?
farooqakram · 160.4k Views

Lost in the Modern World

In the far future, her world died. Under a gray sky and a broken sun, cities became skeletons of steel and concrete. Demonic invaders devoured the land, the forests turned to ash, and humanity survived only in ruins and sewers. She was one of the last. A nameless girl called Blondie by the soldiers who rescued her. A battlefield survivor. A healer born from a world that no longer grew anything. She learned to fight. She learned to hide. She learned never to trust. And then she died. When she opens her eyes again, she is no longer in a wasteland. She is inside the body of a kidnapped girl in the year 2006 — in a world overflowing with green forests, running water, summer air, and something she has never seen before: Normal life. But she is not normal. Her wounds close before your eyes. Her body heals from anything. Her presence feels… wrong. Silent. Observant. Unreadable. She doesn’t understand school. She doesn’t understand money. She doesn’t understand friendship. But she understands survival. Now stranded in a peaceful modern world that feels more alien than the demons she once fought, she must decide: Will she remain a weapon shaped by war? Or will she learn how to be human again? ---- Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All locations, organizations, companies, media platforms, and cultural references mentioned in this story are fictionalized interpretations created for narrative purposes. Any resemblance to real-world countries, corporations, brands, websites, or individuals — including references to modern technology or media platforms — is purely coincidental or used in a transformative fictional context. This story does not represent real events, real governments, or real commercial entities. It exists entirely within a fictional narrative universe.
Precious_lore · 4.4k Views

Fallen Eagle [Kingdom-Building; Military Strategy]

The year is 1459. Constantinople has fallen, and the Romans are no more. Nearly fifteen hundred years after its founding, the greatest empire the world has known has ceased to exist, swallowed whole by the Great Ottoman tide. In the dying embers of the Byzantine world, its last rump states stand on the brink of collapse. Their fall will mark the end of any remnant of Roman rule. Nestled in the mountains of the Crimean Peninsula, the tiny Greek Principality of Theodoro clings to a desperate existence, living in the shadow of Byzantium's destroyers. Its fall is not a possibility; it is a historical certainty. Dr. Nikos Karagiannis is a History professor ripped across worlds into the body of Theodorus, a bookish third son in a disgraced house with a prophetic name, but little prospects. Nikos has no magic or divine blessings. What he does possess is the knowledge of the political blunders, the shifting alliances, and the military tactics that will lead this land to ruin. "The city is fallen and I am still alive." – Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine Emperor. What to Expect: Historical Kingdom-Building: A gritty, grounded take on rebuilding a nation where logistics are king, supply lines are lifelines, and battles are won with strategy, not superpowers. A Brutally Realistic World: The protagonist is not the center of the universe. Allies and antagonists have their own ambitions and plans, and will act accordingly. Meaningful Character Arcs: A story where characters are forged and broken by the crucible of war and politics. Dramatic and tense character interplay abounds, and no one is safe. You have been warned.
TheodorusSideris · 15.7k Views

THE HERETIC ENGINE

Garrett Cole was never a good person—just a functional one. He learned early that society had rules, and following them was easier than explaining why he didn't feel what everyone else seemed to feel. People were puzzles. Relationships were transactions. Engineering was perfect because systems made sense where humans didn't. He spent fifteen years in war zones rebuilding infrastructure, not because he cared about the people he helped, but because broken systems were interesting puzzles. He had colleagues, not friends. Professional respect, not affection. A reputation for cold competence that served him in boardrooms and failed him everywhere else. He died at thirty-four saving eleven workers from a building collapse in Turkey. Not heroism—spite. Someone had corrupted his work, substituted substandard materials, turned his design into a deathtrap. The insult overrode his survival instincts. He went back for one more person because stopping felt like losing. The ceiling came down. His last thought was fury at himself for breaking his own rules. He died angry. He woke up the same way. Garrett didn't land in a random corpse. He woke inside Kael Ashford—Thornveld spy, traitor, and mass murderer. Ashford had been ritually executed by the Ascendancy, but before death, he'd made a deal. His body was promised to a fire entity older than the church, payment for services rendered. Now Garrett is squatting in contested property. The entity wants its vessel back. Ashford's enemies want revenge on a face they recognize. Ashford's handlers want their asset returned. And the body itself carries abilities that haven't yet awakened.
Dpress_Law · 531 Views