The Wyrms of &alon

A fungal plague of apocalyptic proportions has come to Dr. Genneth Howle's world, and he and his colleagues at the West Elpeck Medical Center are duty-bound to fight it till the end. But how does medical science combat a disease that defies the laws of nature? How do you treat a plague that slowly transforms some of the infected into psychokinetic lindwurms? And how does Genneth hold true to his principles when he, too, begins to undergo the change? As Genneth wrestles with these horrors, he is visited by an amnesiac spirit who no one else seems to see. She's come to save the people of Genneth's world, before the darkness destroys them all.  And she needs his help. Patreon: Click here for more chapters, or if you just want to support the author! Discord: The Exarium omniverse now has a Discord Server! Come if you wanna chat with me or other fans this is the place to go. I also help with math homework. Or, you know, we can just want to hang out. How to tell if you will enjoy this story: Do you want to watch a guy slowly transform into a magical fungal lindwurm while the world meets its end? Have you ever watched a medical drama on TV and thought, "boy, this could sure use demons, a magic sword, and cosmic horror?" If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", then The Wyrms of &alon is right up your alley! What you can expect: • High quality prose. • A story that gradually gets more and more (and more!) fantastical as it plays out. Take a glance at Chapter 63.1 for an example, to see what I mean; no need to worry about spoilers here. And that's barely the tip of the fantasy iceberg. • World-building, magic systems, and deep lore over a decade in the making. (This is the first story in a grand, interconnected series of stories.) • Transformation & body horror. • Hospital medical drama (as seen on TV), with lots of scientific details. • SLOW BURN—but the temperature only rises. • The MC is a dorky, 40-something-year-old neuropsychiatrist / struggling family man. He's obsessed with manga, loves pangolins, plays the clarinet, and has strong opinions about action RPGs vs. turn-based RPGs. • A fictional world inspired by mid-20th century USA retrofuturism (kinda like pre-apocalypse Fallout). Release Schedule: My chapters range from 5k to 10k words, but I will be posting them in 1.5k ~ 2.5k-long pieces here on RR.  I post full story chapters (three to five RR chapters' worth of content) on Mondays and Thursdays. Note: All the tags are relevant, though they may take a while for them to appear in the story.  Other Note: The cover is by the lovely, spectacularly talented KittraMcBriar. Other Other Note: The Content Warnings for this story include (but are not necessarily limited to, because there's a lot, and I might forget): people being sedated/drugged against their will, predatory religious organizations, religious fundamentalism, terrorism (particularly of the kind induced by religious fundamentalism), cannibalism, extreme gore; at one point, a guy's head explodes; body horror, a lengthy discussion of nematodes, abortion, autopsies, suicide & self-harm, smoking, animals being harmed, the Japanese language, video games, spell slots, manga/anime; satire of US politics, particularly circa 2020; LGBTQ+ content, hummingbird-related violence, pangolin-related violence, voxel graphics, so much body horror, cults, fictional Christianity (especially fictional Catholicism), the melody of the song "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain When She Comes", atheism, death, death of loved ones, death of children, death of old people, death of young people, extreme violence, lobotomies, yet more body horror, the eating of plastic, the eating of furniture, the eating of biomedical waste, the eating of ice cream sandwiches, and the eating of protein bars. Vast quantities of (liquid) ammonia. Sexual violence is mentioned at one point, but never shown or described. (I will add more if I can think of any.)