Keys of the Endpoint is an illustrated fantasy serial written by TheKaizerWithin and drawn by Eln. All chapters except the newest are available for free online through this website. Just click on “Chapters” in the menu to start reading.

Every day, people appear from the storms that ravage the Endpoint. Whisked away from their own time and place by storms in their homelands, these newcomers find themselves in a hostile place made up of ruins and populated with people from every culture imaginable. Stranger still, they all find themselves holding silver keys that grant the holder incredible powers.

On Earth, most people have mundane excuses for the disappearances, but not Isaac. Having lost his brother Finn to one of these storms, Isaac becomes obsessed with finding a pattern. Not to prevent more people disappearing, but rather to get taken by the storms himself in order to find his brother. While chasing Finn’s faint trail, Isaac soon discovers how little he really knew about himself, his brother and how much loss someone can take.

WATCH A CIVILIZATION UNFURL

Watch a Civilization Unfurl

This story gives you a front seat to history. Watch as factions and coalitions form, battles take place and power structures fluctuate. Be witness to the consequences of each choice made by those in power. Experience the mixing of vastly different languages and cultures and see new ones form. Garner first hand knowledge of the origins of new traditions and customs as they form.

Fully Illustrated

Keys of the Endpoint is fully illustrated by the wonderful artist Eln. Give your imagination a helpful push in the right direction and imagine the rest on your own in your minds eye on top of Eln’s solid framework. Skip past excessive descriptions and dive right into the action. Approach the story from roughly the same visual viewpoint as everyone else, including the authors. 

Cultivation & Progression Fantasy

Keys of the Endpoint has a heavy focus on personal growth, both as characters in terms of personal arcs but also in terms of combat strength. The magic in the Endpoint allows for gradual growth and interesting variations on that growth. Let the sense of satisfaction consume you as your favorite character collects and achieves ever greater heights of magical ability. Similar to series like Cradle by Will Wight and Arcane Ascension by Andrew Rowe, characters have their own unique flavor of motivation for pursuing strength but they all share one essential force that is forever pushing them towards an increasingly greater potential; survival.

Character Driven

Even though Keys of the Endpoint is about the birth of civilization, the whole story is told through the eyes of the characters and their lives as they struggle to survive and thrive in the chaotic Endpoint. All the main characters are exceptional or heroic in some way, but they all have flaws. Each character has one or more personal arcs they go through and come out on the other end, changed, not always for the better.

MODULAR MAGIC SYSTEM

Modular Magic System

The magic system in Keys is based on objects of power in the shape of precious keys that grant you their associated power on possessing the key itself. The keys come in three main categories; Bronze, Silver and Gold. The keys themselves can be combined with each other, upon linking one key with another their powers will coalesce and interact, giving you a new distinctive power wholly different while at the same time similar to the two previous powers.

Each power comes in several different “aspects”, or flavors of the same power. Two keys of the same kind but with different aspects will have the same main effect but divergent secondary or tertiary effects. This means in effect that there are nigh infinite combinations of powers and aspects, all producing disparate results.

Despite the many possible combinations however, upon learning what each kind of key does and how they interact with a few of the other keys, you will be able to figure out what any combination of keys entails without having to read about that exact combination in the story.

Combat Focus

With inspiration from modern eastern storytelling like chinese cultivation novels or japanese light novels the combat in keys is plot-driven and consistent. Develop a clear sense of what is possible and not in the Endpoint and extrapolate the victor of any physical conflict before it has been resolved. In Keys of the Endpoint you will be able to make a near objective case for power rankings between the multiple characters introduced through the course of the story. The actual ranking however in contrast to other stories, is not the end-all be-all as the political power struggles is just as important, lest you be betrayed and lured into a trap.

Contained Power Creep

Keys of the Endpoint’s magic system features an exponentially demanding progression ladder that nonetheless has no theoretical upper bounds. The result is both godlike characters and consequences walking the Endpoint hand in hand. Characters can still die in freak accidents no matter how powerful, or assassinated while distracted. Numbers actually count for something and even the most accomplished magician must be vary of being ganged up on.

GAME OF THRONES GRAY

Game of Thrones Gray

Keys of the Endpoint is a morally grey story with a myriad of characters with conflicting values, goals and worldviews. Keys is not a story of good versus evil, but the tale of a new world in its infancy. In Keys you will find conflicts where two parties or more will be in a position to garner your sympathy and understanding. Nevertheless, some conflicts must be resolved and each main character will not always win.

A main character will sometimes be pitted against another main character. The result is an unpredictable plot that will have you guessing and cheering for your favorites.a

Mystery Filled

Despite the Endpoint being a young world, there’s plenty of backstory and background information to be discovered. Unearth multiple mysteries as the plot marches on and guess at the ramifications of the shocking realizations as they come. Major twists and turns will wrench the story in a wholly unexpected but ultimately more satisfying direction when you least expect it.

Create theories on how it all connects and make an attempt at predicting the twist before it arrives. Every hint and foreshadowing will be there in plain writing for you to pick up on should you pay the attention required. 

Contact Info

ILLUSTRaToR

Ellen M. Pettersen

@Elnptrsn

PAtreon

https://www.patreon.com/keysoftheendpoint

AUTHOR

TheKaizerWithin

@TheKaizerWithin