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Borin's Tales

A serial story site in English and German: six tales cut into chapters, a lore encyclopedia the stories link into, and a release date on every chapter that puts it online without anyone opening the site.

  • reference
  • publishing

Borin's Tales publishes a fantasy serial. Most of its readers arrive on a phone for a single chapter, so the site has to put that chapter in front of them in their own language and keep the next one within reach.

The Borin's Tales home page, an illustration of a dwarf reading in a hall of books under the name.The Borin's Tales home page, an illustration of a dwarf reading in a hall of books under the name.

A chapter at a time

A chapter page, the story above the title, the chapter number and reading time below it, and the chapter bar at the foot.A chapter page, the story above the title, the chapter number and reading time below it, and the chapter bar at the foot.

Six stories, two to three chapters each, every chapter carrying the minutes it takes to read. At the foot of a chapter sit the one before and the one after, a drawer lists all the chapters of the story with their reading times, and a bar across the top of the screen marks how far into the story this chapter is. On a phone the next chapter also comes with a swipe.

The same page in two languages

Every story, chapter and lore article exists in English and German under the same address. The language switch changes that address and nothing else, so chapter three in English becomes chapter three in German rather than the front page.

Lore beside the stories

The lore encyclopedia, its entries grouped into characters and locations, each with one line.The lore encyclopedia, its entries grouped into characters and locations, each with one line.

Ten encyclopedia articles hold the characters, places and history the stories draw on — the dwarves, the Rumbling Deeps, the Great Forge, the rune wards. They link to one another, a story links into them, and a new tale adds to them.

Chapters that publish themselves

The release timeline, every story on a line with its date, the last one still ahead.The release timeline, every story on a line with its date, the last one still ahead.

Each chapter carries its release date. Before that date it is absent from the lists, from the navigation and from its own address; on the date it appears, and nothing has to be rebuilt or re-uploaded for it to. A story whose chapters are all still ahead is invisible altogether. The home page turns the same dates into a timeline of what is out and what is coming.

Where a reader goes next

A form on the home page takes an email address and sends word of new chapters. A support page links Ko-fi and Patreon.

https://borin.talesfromfaraway.com