Cover art for the story, depicting Amaryllis Penndraig .
Cover art for the story's Korean translation , depicting Amaryllis Penndraig , Juniper Smith , and Fenn Greenglass .
A teenager struggling after the death of his best friend finds himself in a fantasy world - one which seems to be an amalgamation of every Dungeons and Dragons campaign they ever played together. Now he's stuck trying to find the answers to why he's there and what this world is trying to say. The most terrifying answer might be that this world is an expression of the person he was back on Earth .
Worth the Candle The Metropolitan Man
The story is available to read on Royal Road and Archive of Our Own . Discussion of the story takes place on the /r/rational subreddit and the Alexander Wales Discord .
Serial overview [ ]
Book
Chapters
Word Count
Originally released
First released
Last released
Book I
14
63274
July 14, 2017
August 5, 2017
Book II
19
88186
August 7, 2017
September 10, 2017
Book III
19
98735
September 12, 2017
October 21, 2017
Book IV
22
130138
October 25, 2017
February 7, 2018
Book V
30
186995
February 12, 2018
June 8, 2018
Book VI
33
210739
June 20, 2018
November 18, 2018
Book VII
31
229304
December 2, 2018
July 3, 2019
Book VIII
27
191740
August 15, 2019
March 27, 2020
Book IX
51
352208
April 29, 2020
July 17, 2021
Total
246
1610239
July 14, 2017
July 17, 2021
Chapters [ ] Book I [ ] Main article: Book I
No. overall
No. in book
Title
Word count
Release date
1
1
"Taking the Fall "
3622
July 14, 2017
2
2
"Thickenings "
4392
July 15, 2017
3
3
"Solely Responsible "
4266
July 16, 2017
4
4
"Reaver "
4572
July 17, 2017
5
5
"Goraion "
5459
July 18, 2017
6
6
"Cold Comfort "
6289
July 21, 2017
7
7
"Twenty Questions "
3724
July 22, 2017
8
8
"Diamond and Iron "
3673
July 24, 2017
9
9
"Making Magic "
4001
July 26, 2017
10
10
"Sewer Rat "
3969
July 28, 2017
11
11
"A Winding Course "
4400
July 30, 2017
12
12
"Life of the Party "
3365
August 2, 2017
13
13
"Time Out "
5106
August 3, 2017
14
14
"ELEVATOR facts "
6436
August 5, 2017
Book II [ ] Main article: Book II
No. overall
No. in book
Title
Word count
Release date
15
1
"Whys and Wherefores "
4608
August 7, 2017
16
2
"Kindly Bones "
4466
August 9, 2017
17
3
"Voting Blocs "
4018
August 14, 2017
18
4
"Communal "
4660
August 14, 2017
19
5
"Montage! "
3909
August 14, 2017
20
6
"Desert Course "
5415
August 17, 2017
21
7
"Cliff Racer "
4587
August 19, 2017
22
8
"Rolling Need "
4708
August 19, 2017
23
9
"Siege "
7571
August 22, 2017
24
10
"Like a Glove "
4694
August 25, 2017
25
11
"Rocket Man "
4604
August 25, 2017
26
12
"Superman "
4617
August 28, 2017
27
13
"Fears "
4319
August 28, 2017
28
14
"The Impish Inn "
5142
August 31, 2017
29
15
"Greychapel "
5396
September 3, 2017
30
16
"Plot Relevant "
3535
September 10, 2017
31
17
"The Loyal Elf "
3991
September 10, 2017
32
18
"Be Still My Heart "
4084
September 10, 2017
33
19
"Tenth "
3862
September 10, 2017
Book III [ ] Main article: Book III
No. overall
No. in book
Title
Word count
Release date
34
1
"Weik Handum "
4990
September 12, 2017
35
2
"Friendship is Magic "
5474
September 15, 2017
36
3
"In Which Juniper Stares At His Character Sheet "
4496
September 18, 2017
37
4
"Paths "
4415
September 24, 2017
38
5
"Don't Split the Party "
6105
September 24, 2017
39
6
"Strategic Reserves "
4184
September 24, 2017
40
7
"The Feminine Mystique "
4885
September 26, 2017
41
8
"Truth and Reconciliation "
5109
September 30, 2017
42
9
"A Pleasant Interlude in Kansas "
3607
September 30, 2017
43
10
"In Search of a Quest "
3789
September 30, 2017
44
11
"Mairzy Doats and Dozy Doats "
5745
October 2, 2017
45
12
"Keep Magic Weird "
5328
October 4, 2017
46
13
"The Market of Blood and Bone "
4639
October 9, 2017
47
14
"At Arm's Length "
5842
October 9, 2017
48
15
"Doe or Doe Not, There is no Try "
4199
October 9, 2017
49
16
"Math.random() "
5420
October 16, 2017
50
17
"Copse and Robbers "
10083
October 16, 2017
51
18
"Blood in the Water "
6005
October 19, 2017
52
19
"Culmination "
4420
October 21, 2017
Book IV [ ] Main article: Book IV
No. overall
No. in book
Title
Word count
Release date
53
1
"A Tiptoe Through the Tulips "
3928
October 25, 2017
54
2
"Looper "
6544
October 25, 2017
55
3
"Bond Girl "
4331
October 30, 2017
56
4
"Vacation Vocations "
4755
October 30, 2017
57
5
"Place Your Figs "
5915
October 30, 2017
58
6
"Panopticon "
4120
November 6, 2017
59
7
"All the Myriad Ways "
5356
November 6, 2017
60
8
"Aggressive Negotiations "
6900
November 12, 2017
61
9
"Animus "
6628
November 19, 2017
62
10
"Drift "
8382
November 27, 2017
63
11
"The Chemical History of a Candle "
3643
December 2, 2017
64
12
"In Which Juniper Stares At His Character Sheet, Again "
6248
December 7, 2017
65
13
"A Kindred Soul "
6952
December 15, 2017
66
14
"The Long Night "
6812
December 22, 2017
67
15
"A Helping Hand "
5570
January 10, 2018
68
16
"Seeing Red "
3938
January 10, 2018
69
17
"In Mutual Congress "
4768
January 10, 2018
70
18
"Moral Agency "
8392
January 18, 2018
71
19
"The Soul of Discretion "
6410
January 26, 2018
72
20
"Tripartite Talks "
5533
February 7, 2018
73
21
"Amaryllis "
10855
February 7, 2018
74
22
"The Mouth of a Long River "
4158
February 7, 2018
Book V [ ] Main article: Book V
No. overall
No. in book
Title
Word count
Release date
75
1
"Stats for Nerds "
0
February 12, 2018
76
2
"Date Night "
11524
February 12, 2018
77
3
"Lies and Damned Lies "
3298
February 18, 2018
78
4
"The Sacrifice "
7094
February 18, 2018
79
5
"Rule Zero "
5351
February 22, 2018
80
6
"The Princess and the Pea "
5368
February 28, 2018
81
7
"Musings on the Elder God "
4217
February 28, 2018
82
8
"Aboard the Lion's Tail "
2931
February 28, 2018
83
9
"The Familiar and the Foreign "
7141
March 8, 2018
84
10
"The Party Line "
8700
March 8, 2018
85
11
"The Great Train Robbery "
6778
March 14, 2018
86
12
"Headwater "
4690
March 30, 2018
87
13
"Down And Out "
10396
March 30, 2018
88
14
"The House of Solitude "
6275
April 11, 2018
89
15
"The Face of a Place "
4790
April 11, 2018
90
16
"Head of House "
5784
April 30, 2018
91
17
"An Open House "
5144
April 30, 2018
92
18
"Shades "
6492
April 30, 2018
93
19
"Bottle Episode "
8709
April 30, 2018
94
20
"Grayscale "
7546
May 10, 2018
95
21
"Time Enough "
6108
May 23, 2018
96
22
"A Portrait of the King as a Young Man "
4902
May 23, 2018
97
23
"Rapping at my Chamber Door "
7054
May 23, 2018
98
24
"Letter 15 "
3964
May 23, 2018
99
25
"Enough Rope to Hang Yourself "
5391
May 23, 2018
100
26
"Immanentizing the Eschaton "
5121
May 23, 2018
101
27
"PPROM "
9619
June 8, 2018
102
28
"The Adventures of Valencia the Red "
10637
June 8, 2018
103
29
"Contract "
8647
June 8, 2018
104
30
"Consolation "
3324
June 8, 2018
Book VI [ ] Main article: Book VI
No. overall
No. in book
Title
Word count
Release date
105
1
"Notes "
6527
June 20, 2018
106
2
"The One-Hand Warder "
10677
June 20, 2018
107
3
"Name of the Beast "
6395
June 20, 2018
108
4
"The Dream That Skewers "
6549
July 2, 2018
109
5
"The Veil of the World "
10508
July 2, 2018
110
6
"Bubblegum "
6512
July 17, 2018
111
7
"Peer Pressure "
5474
July 17, 2018
112
8
"Egress "
7843
July 17, 2018
113
9
"A Hell of a Time "
4986
August 13, 2018
114
10
"The Meeting of Minds "
7806
August 13, 2018
115
11
"Communicative "
3058
August 13, 2018
116
12
"Therapy "
6977
August 13, 2018
117
13
"Beast of Burden "
5359
August 13, 2018
118
14
"Breaking Loose "
7142
August 13, 2018
119
15
"Depths "
10717
September 8, 2018
120
16
"Deceptions "
9949
September 8, 2018
121
17
"Maddie "
4509
September 19, 2018
122
18
"Raven "
5079
September 19, 2018
123
19
"Medieval Stasis "
7796
October 16, 2018
124
20
"Fight Club "
9321
October 16, 2018
125
21
"The Remnants of the Past "
8455
October 16, 2018
126
22
"Ever Onward "
4860
October 16, 2018
127
23
"Full House "
6618
October 25, 2018
128
24
"An Open Book "
9118
October 25, 2018
129
25
"Schemata "
6624
November 10, 2018
130
26
"The Abject Despair of an Uncaring World "
5779
November 10, 2018
131
27
"A Cypress Waits "
7817
November 10, 2018
132
28
"Uskine Nervedah "
4683
November 10, 2018
133
29
"The Critical Path "
4530
November 10, 2018
134
30
"Safe Mode "
3436
November 10, 2018
135
31
"Holding "
5635
November 18, 2018
136
32
"Krinrael "
4285
November 18, 2018
137
33
"Darili Irid "
8219
November 18, 2018
Book VII [ ] Main article: Book VII
No. overall
No. in book
Title
Word count
Release date
138
1
"Stats for Nerds II "
0
December 2, 2018
139
2
"Piece of Mind "
7745
December 2, 2018
140
3
"Commingling "
9725
December 2, 2018
141
4
"Monty Haul "
5046
December 2, 2018
142
5
"Sound and Silence "
5762
January 5, 2019
143
6
"Manifold Paths "
5230
January 5, 2019
144
7
"Skewered "
10988
January 5, 2019
145
8
"Freshman "
14829
January 5, 2019
146
9
"Terrors of the Black Age "
10556
January 29, 2019
147
10
"Good Vibrations "
15108
January 29, 2019
148
11
"Sing For Your Supper "
5474
March 16th, 2019
149
12
"I Have to Hand it to You "
7295
March 16th, 2019
150
13
"Than One Innocent Suffer "
3563
March 16th, 2019
151
14
"The Mind's Eye "
9467
March 16th, 2019
152
15
"The Time to Talk "
5807
March 16th, 2019
153
16
"The Temple "
6414
March 16th, 2019
154
17
"Above From Below "
5505
March 16th, 2019
155
18
"Mome Rath "
6275
March 31st, 2019
156
19
"Mome Rath II "
6397
March 31st, 2019
157
20
"The Bird on the Fence "
6463
May 18th, 2019
158
21
"OP "
6471
May 18th, 2019
159
22
"The Dome Away From Home "
7179
May 18th, 2019
160
23
"On the Merits of Oblivion "
11842
May 18th, 2019
161
24
"Reimer "
13694
May 29th, 2019
162
25
"Deus Ex "
7640
June 19th, 2019
163
26
"Level Heads "
6811
June 19th, 2019
164
27
"In the House of God "
3904
June 19th, 2019
165
28
"Politics, blah, blah, blah "
7743
June 19th, 2019
166
29
"Brownian Motion "
5886
July 3rd, 2019
167
30
"Beached "
5362
July 3rd, 2019
168
31
"Hollow "
5123
July 3rd, 2019
Book VIII [ ] Main article: Book VIII
No. overall
No. in book
Title
Word count
Release date
169
1
"The No Sleep Club "
9304
August 15th, 2019
170
2
"On Treating With Dragons "
7777
August 15th, 2019
171
3
"Blood is Thicker Than Water "
9027
August 15th, 2019
172
4
"Respec "
7008
October 27th, 2019
173
5
"Passions "
4385
October 27th, 2019
174
6
"The Blade of the Self "
4284
October 27th, 2019
175
7
"High Concept "
6571
October 27th, 2019
176
8
"Warrens "
5112
October 27th, 2019
177
9
"The Erstwhile Manor "
6311
December 27th, 2019
178
10
"The White Room "
5452
December 27th, 2019
179
11
"Hilbert's Paradox "
7890
December 27th, 2019
180
12
"Dumbest Entad "
5301
December 27th, 2019
181
13
"To Sleep, Perchance to Dream "
4776
December 27th, 2019
182
14
"Painless "
9098
December 27th, 2019
183
15
"Transgressions "
6551
December 27th, 2019
184
16
"The Further Adventures of Valencia the Red "
11519
January 12th, 2020
185
17
"Mirror Room "
7877
March 1st, 2020
186
18
"Paladin "
9409
March 1st, 2020
187
19
"Penndraig's Rules of Order "
12220
March 1st, 2020
188
20
"Common Law "
7842
March 1st, 2020
189
21
"B-Side "
7985
March 1st, 2020
190
22
"To Know One's Onions "
6211
March 1st, 2020
191
23
"Overwhelming Violence "
5289
March 1st, 2020
192
24
"Cooldown "
7888
March 27th, 2020
193
25
"Coda I "
6126
March 27th, 2020
194
26
"Coda II "
5173
March 27th, 2020
195
27
"Family "
9408
March 27th, 2020
Book IX [ ] Main article: Book IX
No. overall
No. in book
Title
Word count
Release date
196
1
"Notes II "
6197
April 29, 2020
197
2
"Second Degree "
5740
April 29, 2020
198
3
"Prurient Interest "
6678
April 29, 2020
199
4
"Nearest and Dearest "
7658
April 29, 2020
200
5
"Feeling Blue "
9943
April 29, 2020
201
6
"The Aviary "
7356
May 2, 2020
202
7
"Star Pupil "
5955
May 2, 2020
203
8
"Where the Streets Run Red "
5752
May 2, 2020
204
9
"Open Veins "
8298
May 2, 2020
205
10
"A Bloody Mess "
8093
May 2, 2020
206
11
"Parallel Lines "
10124
Aug 11, 2020
207
12
"An Elevated Monologue "
8365
Aug 11, 2020
208
13
"On the Merits of Eternal Suffering "
9614
Aug 11, 2020
209
14
"Orison "
4533
Aug 11, 2020
210
15
"Push and Pull "
4880
Aug 11, 2020
211
16
"Gilding the Lily "
5265
Aug 11, 2020
212
17
"Spilled Ink "
10154
Aug 11, 2020
213
18
"The Endless Toil "
6673
Nov 25, 2020
214
19
"Glass Houses "
6446
Nov 25, 2020
215
20
"Post "
6358
Nov 25, 2020
216
21
"Bureaucratic Melees "
3939
Nov 25, 2020
217
22
"A Dragon's Roost "
6995
Nov 25, 2020
218
23
"A Grueling Calm "
5952
Nov 25, 2020
219
24
"Homecoming, Part I "
7317
Nov 25, 2020
220
25
"Doecent "
9886
Nov 25, 2020
221
26
"Targets of Opportunity "
7632
Nov 25, 2020
222
27
"Clerical Errors "
8204
Mar 24, 2021
223
28
"A Lost Friend "
5065
Mar 24, 2021
224
29
"We're Here, We're Deer, Get Used to It "
6270
Mar 24, 2021
225
30
"Runination "
7345
Mar 24, 2021
226
31
"Fires of my Heart "
5823
Mar 24, 2021
227
32
"Homecoming, Part II "
3328
Mar 24, 2021
228
33
"The Fel Seed Incident "
12660
Mar 24, 2021
229
34
"The Road "
7428
Apr 18, 2021
230
35
"The Palace "
6611
Apr 18, 2021
231
36
"Hellfall "
6200
Apr 25, 2021
232
37
"Department "
8002
Apr 25, 2021
233
38
"Tartarology "
7358
Apr 25, 2021
234
39
"Heck if I Know "
4770
Apr 25, 2021
235
40
"Interval "
11373
Apr 29, 2021
236
41
"More Dakka "
5061
May 2, 2021
237
42
"Long Story Short "
7809
Jul 6, 2021
238
43
"A Certain Kind of Longing "
5219
Jul 6, 2021
239
44
"Old Sins Cast Long Shadows "
6489
Jul 10, 2021
240
45
"The Long Haul "
6666
Jul 10, 2021
241
46
"Long Shot "
6765
Jul 13, 2021
242
47
"A Long Row to Hoe "
7670
Jul 13, 2021
243
48
"Long Memory "
6519
Jul 14, 2021
244
49
"Long Pig "
7809
Jul 14, 2021
245
50
"Long Live the King "
5219
Jul 14, 2021
246
51
"Reflection at the End "
7364
Jul 16, 2021
