by Gloomwing
This story is an account of my journey with a distant relative, through his journal. He was an archaeologist who conducted archaeological work in Africa in 1912. His account reveals that during his journey, deep in the jungle, he came across an inconspicuous path that led to an unusual place and its inhabitant. His scientific inquisitiveness compelled him to return to this place, which opened a new chapter in his life and showed him that there are things that can defy contemporary reasoning, yet not betray reason or science. In a significant portion of this story, I give voice to my ancestor, while attempting to provide some verification of what he shares in his journal. I share his experiences and my thoughts with the hope that perhaps one day I will find someone who will confirm these reports or help me clearly dismiss them as fiction. More up-to-date story is available at mariposanocturna.casa.
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 8 Oct 2026, 18:28 UTC
Entry forecast updated 8 Oct 2026, 18:28 UTC
Ranking model: rs-public-oracle-state-v1
Forecast model: rs-model-entry-v1
Chart history contains only this ranking model's runs; legacy points are not spliced in.
Not enough recent follower history to estimate a shadow rank yet.
beats 13% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 6% of similar stories
Both levers trail the field
Traffic and conversion are both below comparable stories. Cadence is the first lever — stories posting near-daily reached 25 followers 17% of the time; stories posting every few days almost never did. Get the flow going, then re-check conversion.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 10–19 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views lifetime.
