Huge fan of Jay Cantrell's "Always on Guard". However, I feel like the pacing gets really bad near the end, and I'm not really a fan of Denae as a character.
Any other stories similar to this, that also don't contain magic? Magic systems are fine if they are fleshed out, but I really don't enjoy half-assed systems that are crucial to world building and setting.
Argon has a couple of other candidates:
- https://storiesonline.net/s/72279/the-tales-of-tanitsar
- https://storiesonline.net/s/12076/constable-hereward-and-the-popish-maid (set in 1688, maybe that is too late).
colt45 had three stories in a similar vein to Tales of Tanitsar (Premier only):
- https://storiesonline.net/s/44463/sea-king
- https://storiesonline.net/s/47790/shastas-tale
- https://storiesonline.net/s/51360/quest-for-knowledge
They are set in a post apocalyptic world and should be read in that order.
Gina Marie Wylie wrote a couple of possibilities:
- https://storiesonline.net/s/50382/tangent
- https://storiesonline.net/s/52820/cost-of-time
Including those two is pushing things, they should be read in that order - look at the description and codes for Tangent before you start.
Smilodon vanished almost 20 years ago so his stories are also Premier only.
- https://storiesonline.net/s/37645/anglo-saxon-chronicles
- https://storiesonline.net/s/42108/a-fall-in-antioch
- https://storiesonline.net/s/43101/a-storm-at-samos
- https://storiesonline.net/s/42640/vinland
It seems I left the best to last, Smilodon's stories are up there with Argon's Knights and Commoners for perceived realism.