Ashtrim: Directionless

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

“The world’s a mystery. Always has been,” says a wanderer.He’s crossed cities, braved kingdoms, and chased the edge of maps—all to reach the places known only in whispers: the Willfall.

But he’s not just chasing a myth. He’s chasing a question too.What gives people direction?

Plagued by indecision, driven by wonder, the wanderer walks the world—perhaps to find an answer.Perhaps to lose himself in the search.

"When the world sings, you have to listen. But when you sing, it slides you off a fall." A quote that echoed within…someone.

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The story was originally available on WebNovel.com with the name "DirectionLess", under the prior username of "alex_read". It is now republished there under a new title "Ashtrim: Directionless". The new titled book on webnovel.com and this one here will be continued, on both sites. And the previous username has been updated on both sites to "alexUnderTheStars".

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A warning for my writing style. It is different than usual. You have to read with expectation that every moment will add in as it opens up.

To read ahead of RoyalRoad, become a patron on patreon.com. The link is below to my page! :)

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Instagram handle:@ashtrim.directionless

Patreon:@alexUnderTheStars

Discord link: To be announced!

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2025
Author: alexUnderTheStars

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 3.9/ 5.0
Followers: 11
Views: 10,762

What readers say about Ashtrim: Directionless

“Ashtrim: Directionless is unlike anything else on Royal Road. It is not a power fantasy, nor a conventional adventure story. Instead, it is a reflective, immersive journey that weaves existential questions into a beautifully written narrative. With poetic p…”
KaelithRoyal Road4.5 / 5
“Alright, let's talk about "Ashtrim: Directionless." This isn't your average, easy-breezy read, but it's definitely got some unique vibes. Think of it less like a smooth drive and more like an off-roading adventure – bumpy, a bit wild, but with some truly st…”
Apollo149Royal Road4.0 / 5

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(7)

KaelithRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Ashtrim: Directionless is unlike anything else on Royal Road. It is not a power fantasy, nor a conventional adventure story. Instead, it is a reflective, immersive journey that weaves existential questions into a beautifully written narrative. With poetic prose and richly atmospheric worldbuilding, this story follows a nameless wanderer across a mysterious and often unforgiving world, not in search of power, but purpose.
What makes this story truly special is its tone. There is a dreamlike quality to the narration—disconnected yet deliberate, surreal yet grounded in deep emotional undercurrents. The wanderer's struggles are not just physical, but spiritual. He is a man haunted by visions, by a past never fully revealed, and by a future that refuses to solidify.
From the first chapter, the reader is pulled into a meditative rhythm: a man waking up before dawn, wrestling with memories, and muttering to himself about coins, plans, and a mysterious destination called the Willfall. The use of magical realism and subtle world mechanics (such as the 'action of water') are handled with restraint and intelligence. These mechanics feel like a natural extension of the world, not systems to be exploited.
The slow pacing may not suit everyone, but those who embrace it will be rewarded with an experience that is both cerebral and poignant. There's an emotional honesty in the way the wanderer navigates mundane actions, from brushing his teeth with a chewing stick to dealing with strange currencies in a local tavern. Everything matters, even if the reason isn’t always clear.
The wanderer’s journey through towns, grasslands, wildfires, and ruined cities is marked by philosophical observations, cryptic dialogues, and brief moments of connection with others, like Cheal. The narrative isn’t afraid to linger in silence, in contemplation, in the unknown.
If you enjoy introspective storytelling with rich prose, subtle worldbuilding, and a haunting atmosphere, Ashtrim: Directionless is a h
Apollo149Royal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Alright, let's talk about "Ashtrim: Directionless." This isn't your average, easy-breezy read, but it's definitely got some unique vibes. Think of it less like a smooth drive and more like an off-roading adventure – bumpy, a bit wild, but with some truly stunning views along the way.
The plot in "Ashtrim: Directionless" is basically a fireworks show of ideas. We're talking stolen magic, weird totems, and even a unique magic system where people draw shapes in the air or make "bootleg alchemy" with smoke and coins. Some of these concepts are genuinely awesome and got my imagination buzzing.
The punctuation is a bit wild, and paragraphs break off at weird spots. It might be an artistic choice, but honestly, it just makes things confusing more often than not. You'll hit a great line, but then it's surrounded by sentences that just don't quite make sense.
Honestly, the characters are where this story really shines. Cheal, our main guy, is a hot mess but super intriguing. He's trying to juggle like five different things at once and seems to be bluffing his way through situations way over his head. The Wanderer in the brown coat has this cool, mysterious vibe and a strangely endearing obsession with posters. Even the smaller characters like Gweren and Castroph get their moments in the spotlight.
You really get the feeling that everyone in this world is playing their own complicated game, even if we don't quite know the rules. My only small gripe is that sometimes the talking and inner thoughts blend together too much, and the tone can jump around a bit mid-scene.
"Ashtrim: Directionless" isn't a bad story at all. It's just unpolished. It's chaotic and can be a tough nut to crack, but it has these flashes of brilliance that are truly fascinating. You can tell a lot of love and effort went into building this world, and with some solid editing and a bit more focus, this could become something really special.
Read this if you like: Stories with really unique, surreal worlds an
RainyLiquidRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
This story follows the journey of a (so far, by chapter 10) nameless Wanderer heading towards their goal, eventually accompanied by a companion, Cheal.
The world the wanderer is travelling through is well detailed, with some magic scattered through a relatively low magic setting. For the most part, the first ten chapters are fairly calm, with minimal action, focusing on character interactions and interpersonal drama. Their journey takes them through several areas, including guild halls and cities, with fun interactions between the main character and the people they meet.
The wanderer encounters quite a few characters, each expressing their own personalities and thoughts. Speaking of thoughts, the wanderer's are explored from time to time, giving an insight into the character's thought processes, making it easier for the reader to place themselves into the character's shoes.
For the most part, the grammar is acceptable, with most issues being easy to dismiss. From time to time, some sentences are a little difficult to process, but the story is ultimately a good read with chapters that are short enough to keep flowing well without dragging on.
Overall, Ashtrim: Directionless is a fine story that I enjoyed spending my time reading, and definitely worth checking out on a quiet day with your choice of music in the background.
emssitumorangRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
So, I'm going to start by assuming that the writer doesn't speak English natively because I spotted quite a few odd sentences that just fall shorts of making sense which inturn confused me to what the motion of the story was.
To be fair though, confusion is an emotion I felt for the entirety of my altercation with the story. I had to reread a few sentences or paragraphs twice to get the gist of it which slowed down my own pace of reading considerably. I just felt like I had to address the elephant in the room.
However, before we go further with the criticism, I do enjoy the initial set up the author is preparing in the world where it takes place. The explanations of the different currencies, different guild jobs, different city-states and the changing of hands etc was a nice touch to the detailing of the worldbuilding.
The characters for the most part are 'sentient' enough -kudos to the author- in the sense that for the most part they're written in a way where they do indeed operate like a part of the world the author is building. They aren't complete 1 dimensional NPCs. As much as a mystery I feel the wanderer remains, I do enjoy that he's somewhat more clueless about the world we're in for whatever reason (which might be explained in later chapters).
However, that's also a thing. I get that the author is trying to keep up a sense of mystery to keep engaging with our own wanderlust, but after reading 10 chapters, I'm still not engaged enough to deal with the story on more than an intellectual level.
All of that is truly down to the aforementioned difficult grammar. Personally, I do enjoy more shorter styles of sentences as much as long-winded ones, but the punctuations end in awkward places that are detrimental to my understanding and enjoyment of the story. And this is something that affects characterisation, setting, as well as plot.
I am all for slow-burn style stories, but I can not stress enough that there has to be a clear outline of a goal by at least 5 chap
HazzardosiousRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Ashtrim is an interesting book from the get go. Follow a nameless wanderer as they interact with the world. There are good hints at a larger or overarching plot with defined lore in place. The author has very strong instincts for worldbuilding and these instincts are arguably the strongest part of the piece. They have a good understanding of when and where to weave lore into the story.
The nameless wanderer is an interesting idea and I can clearly see that the intent here was to use this as a plot to build mystery and increase immersion in the book. However, in my opinion it falls short of these goals. It is hard to connect with the wanderer as we know very little about them, while I assume that this would be addressed later in the novel for me personally I would want to know more earlier.
The characters in this story have clearly been designed by someone who knows exactly the roles that certain characters have to fill and for the most part their dialogue and motivations work fine.
The style is arguably one of the weaker points in this story, it is often confusing and doesn't make any sense. Whether this has been done intentionally or not it doesn't really matter. Due to the decisions made, immersion is broken repeatedly and I often had to reread sections several times. While, this is my biggest critique of the novel it is not meant as a detraction to the skills of the author. Their instincts are strong, my main concern is the confusing style but I expect with time and practise as an author and a careful edit down the line I could see this story improving drastically.
As far as grammar goes. The story was riddled with mistakes at my time of review but I am confident as the author takes time to perfect their craft these issues will fade.
Overall, I would like to see some in depth edits of the earlier parts of the story sometime in the future after the author has had time to improve their craft.
SahqoreythRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Style: 2.5 / 5
This story swings for the fences stylistically. It’s experimental, unpredictable, and loaded with strange poetic imagery that hints at a bigger world beneath the surface. But that same style is its biggest hurdle. Sentences run long, our protag's innermost thoughts drift into the middle of several scenes at important moments, and sentence structure often collapses under the weight of ambition.
Sometimes it’s compelling. Sometimes it’s unreadable. There’s a strong voice here, but it needs refinement and focus to really shine.
Story: 2.5 / 5
The plot is best described as a controlled explosion. Big ideas fly in every direction, stolen magic actions, totems with embedded laws, etc. There’s even a magic system based on drawing shapes in the air and bootleg alchemy brews made of smoke and coins. Some of this is genuinely cool.
But it's a bit...hard to follow. Character motivations are often vague. Transitions are abrupt, and plot threads get dropped or replaced before they pay off. If there’s a central plot holding it all together, it’s buried under ten layers of metaphor, action, and posters. With that said, the latest plot thread has been much easier to follow, and more interesting to read.
Grammar/Mechanics: 1.5 / 5
This is where the story most clearly needs work. Punctuation is chaotic. Paragraphs break at strange moments. This might be a stylistic choice, but the result is confusion more often than clarity. A good line will land now and then, but they’re surrounded by ones that needed another revision pass to make sense.
I would recommend saying some of them out loud. If it's hard to say, it's harder to read.
Characters: 4 / 5
Honestly, this is where the story shows the most promise. Cheal is messy but interesting, trying to play five different games at once while bluffing through situations beyond his pay grade.
The Wanderer in the brown overcoat has some solid mystery energy, and a strange but endearing obsession with posters.
Even side characters l
KhetiennRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
So. Where to start. There are some good bones here, but they definitely need to be fleshed out a lot more. I am not a fan of the style; every sentence is its own line which feels disjointed and unnecessary. Sentences can also feel fragmented at times which gives the impression of a dreamlike narrative. If this was intentional, well done but for me it just didn't feel cohesive.
The story itself is not bad; a nameless wanderer enters the city looking for work and answers. Who is this wanderer? Where does he come from? What does he want? What, or who, or where, is "willfall"? I imagine the answers will be revealed in time but for now there are plenty of mysteries to keep you reading.
As for grammar, it's mostly fine, apart from the aforementioned fragments of sentences. Verbs get dropped here and there and there are some dialogue punctuation issues but the spelling is good and these corrections can easily be resolved with an edit pass. I'm mostly just nitpicky on this category and have high expectations.
The characters are where I really wish we had more. At this point they feel like actors moving around a stage, especially the secondary characters. We know almost nothing about them, their motives, their hopes, their fears, what drives them to get out of bed in the morning. It's like the plot is moving them instead of the other way around. The structure is here, and with some filling out I feel like it could really live up to the promise it shows.