KnightofTempest

Scenes From Elsewhere (Carthage III)

For the past year, a Civil War had been in the offing in Carthage. Gisgo had never formally relinquished his title of Malik to the Assembly of Shophets when they demanded he do so. Instead, he took his Army into Numidia to aid the Massylii in defending against attacks from the Masaesyli. The Battle of Cirta had seen the King of the Masaesyli, Madghis, and his son, the Prince Syphax, were both s...

Chapter 21

The Dodds Mansion was like some sorta time capsule, a Gilded Age Remnant that stuck out like a sore thumb in the modern skyline. Shit'd been built at the turn of the century by Wealthy Investor Edward Dodds, the Old Man of the Sandman from back in the day. It had that sorta old school charm that you just don't see these days. Of course, that impression was only skin deep, as anyone who bought a...

Interlude: Ra

Ra was, slowly, making his way around his Empire on his Great Progress. Already he had been feasted with gusto by his son, Heru'ur, and with somewhat less gusto by his brother, Apophis. Most recently, he had been feasted by the ravishing and mysterious Morrigan at her Throneworld of Teamhair and was currently en route from that pleasant world of green, rolling, hills, and rushing rivers to the ...

Chapter 90

Watching the fights of the New Faces Team was an educational experience. The Brawler, Nanakase, seemed to mostly be just that, a brawler. Some of his moves had a fluidity to them that made me think he had some level of rudimentary training, but discarded the bulk of it in favor of straight brawling. I will say this for the guy, he had power. Opening my third eye revealed that he was drawing mos...

Eastern Mediterranean as of the Peace of Attica 279 BC

Purple: Epirus

Light Purple: Epirote Clients

Gray-Blue: Aitolian League

Blood Red: Sparta

Wine Red: Spartan Clients

Orange: Macedon

Blue: Thrace

Rose: Dardania

Dark Green: Empire of Bolgios

Pink: Seleucids

Khaki: Meleager's Phonecian Kingdom

Yellow: Ptolemy Philadelphos' Egypt

Bronze: Cyrenaica

Turquoise:...

Chapter 50

Athens was surrounded. As winter crept upon us and December dawned, my Army had dug into positions around Athens and settled in for a siege. Our Trebuchets hammered the walls as days turned to nights, my siege engineers working in shifts in order to ensure a consistent level of fire from the massive siege engines. The consistent barrage ensured that not only would we be able to assault in a mat...

Chapter 100

I unfortunately only had a single night to spend with Brienne before having to march out of the Capital with Stannis' Army for the Battle with Tywin's Army. Even more unfortunately, the Red Keep was so crowded with Lords that any attempt at anything more intimate than a brief kiss and cuddling was out of the question. We largely spent the evening doing that and in the morning, she would be sail...

Chapter 16

The Jarl's Castle was a great monolith of tiered stone on a hill overlooking the main street of Jannathstaad. Five levels of towers and walls rose up along the hillsides, leading to a great keep at the crest of the hill. There was only one way into the Castle, a long wooden bridge that spanned the width of the gully that formed the main road into Jannathstaad from the landward side. Unlike Caer...

Selima of Murann level Eight

Class: Cleric (Glyphscribe of Deneir) 8

Race: Human (Amnian)

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

STR-15

DEX-16

CON-18

INT-16

WIS-18

CHA-14

HP: 76

Fortitude: 12

Reflex: 8

Will: 12

AC: 30

BAB: +6

Equipment:

Hammer of Deneir (Equipped): +10/5 1d8 (+2d6 vs Evil) +5 Bludgeoning and Holy x...

Lady Shavariel Level Eight

Class: Fighter 8

Race: Elf (Sea Elf)

Alignment: True Neutral

STR-13

DEX-18

CON-18

INT-16

WIS-16

CHA-16

HP: 92

Fortitude: 11

Reflex: 9

Will: 8

AC: 33

BAB: +8

Equipment:

The Sea Baron's Judgement +2 (Equipped): +14/9 1d8 +1d6 Sonic +2d6 Electricity, +6 Piercing x2

L...

Janessa Goodharbor Level Eight

Class: Sorcerer 8

Race: Halfling (Lightfoot)

Alignment: True Neutral

STR-14

DEX-18

CON-16

INT-14

WIS-16

CHA-18

HP: 48

Fortitude: 8

Reflex: 9

Will: 11 (+13 vs Fear)

AC: 25

SR: 21

BAB: +4

Equipment:

Holy Sling +1 (Equipped): +9 1d4 (+2d6 vs Evil) +6 Bludgeoning x2

...

Robar the Red Level Eight

Class: Bard 4/ Swashbuckler Rogue 4

Race: Human (Northman)

Alignment: Neutral Good

STR-20 (18)

DEX-22 (18)

CON-20 (18)

INT-16

WIS-20 (18)

CHA-18

HP: 83

Fortitude: 10 (+14 vs Bardic Performance, Sonic, and Language Dependent Effects)

Reflex: 15 (+19 vs Bardic Performance, Sonic, and Language Dependent Effects)

Will: 1...

Chapter 9

Lizzie's Bar was all the way in Kabuki. V wasn't around for me to bum a ride off of for this trip either, as she'd been contacted by Tio Padre about a Job. Something about a Fixer out in Santo Domingo who needed to be Zeroed with extreme prejudice. Apparently, the guy, Arthur Cormac, had been doing some shit that was no bueno as far as Tio Padre was concerned. He was holed up in the No-Tell Mot...

Interlude: Memento Mori

Captain Arnošt Svatoš of the Alpha Company of Delta Battalion, First Guards Regiment, had been sent in ahead of the rest of First Guards that were already unloading in the city of Nova Salona. Nova Salona was effectively functioning as the Capital and Headquarters for the Provisional Senate of Calinius which was being headed by Senators appointed by the Sons of Albano and approved by the...

Chapter 15

The Âu Cơ Fortress was, at least nominally, impregnable. Bastions of Trinium-Reinforced Stone atop a large mountain, with tunnels honeycombed throughout the mountain and redoubts on a number of nearby peaks that could support each other or the main fortress if attacked. A shield generator was housed in a control room inside the main fortress, shielding the entire complex from orbital strikes,...

Chapter 89

The next two matches were informative, not just for me, but for anyone paying attention. Kusanagi Kyo clearly had some form of Divine Empowerment, as the flames his Chi sparked forth registered as slightly holy in nature with a faint tinge of the Sun. I was guessing if you traced his ancestry back far enough you would find that his family descended from Amaterasu. He managed to defeat the Giant...

Chapter 32

The first thing I did after getting on the Hogwarts Express was to find Hermione and exchange late Christmas Presents. Once again, I gave her a Tebo-Bone Disillusionment Ring and got a book in return. This one was called Skeletons and Mustard Gas by Honorius B. Black and was a historical overview of the Necromancer's War. Of course, Hermione was more rational about getting a ring than most of m...

Images for Chapter Fifteen

Here are the images for Chapter Fifteen. We have a few major players making their first on-screen appearance, so hopefully the AI Generator got Elminster, Sarevok, and the Blackstaff right. As for Gorion and Mei, I've always felt that Liam Neeson would make an excellent Gorion if they ever filmed a movie version of Baldur's Gate One, and as for Mei, well, I wanted someone cute who had a bright ...

Chapter 99

As I entered the Throne Room of the Red Keep for the first Court of King Stannis' Reign in King's Landing, I couldn't help but notice the mood was a lot brighter than I thought it would be. Part of that was largely the result of what was going on right now. Stannis Baratheon sat on the Iron Throne, gazing out over the assembled petitioners and Lords, ready to dole out rewards as needed. The Cur...

Chapter 15

As I dreamed, I found myself transported to what seemed to be a giant casino with magnificently plush silk carpets dyed richly in blue and silver. All around me were games of chance going on, as tables of expensive Darkwood bore velvet coverings marking out various dice games, or had spinning roulette wheels of weirwood and brass. Plus leather chairs were seated around every table, as various p...

Chapter 45

As soon as we returned to the Mansion, I was off to grab a shower and a change of clothing. Atlantis didn't have showers, per se. Instead, they used a sort of sonic machine that vibrated the grime off you using sonic pulses to create currents in the water. It was very neat and very super-science-esque, but the feeling was off to me and I hadn't used it as much as I would have otherwise. After s...

Chapter 56

As I reconvened with my Council using the HPG, I had to thank Precentor Armanovitch for all the work she'd done for me as part of our small, but growing, conspiracy against the leading factions of ComStar. Not only had she run interference for me on the loan thing, but she was also doing so again now, ensuring that I would be able to speak to my council in real time over the HPG without any iss...

Images for Chapters Thirty and Thirty-One

Unfortunately, Packing for my Camping Trip is taking up a lot of my time tonight and I have to sleep soon. That means you guys get this instead of a second update. Hopefully, you aren't too put out by that, but I did say this trip had been planned for a year.

Sorry for the inconvenience. I'll be back for more chapters Sunday Night, and like I said, I'll be doing extra chapters to make u...

Chapter 31

The Gift Exchange was a larger affair at the Ball than it would have been elsewhere. There were, apparently, two separate gift exchanges. With the Adults exchanging second while the kids went first. This seemed to be meant for the adults to congregate over drinks while the Kids exchanged gifts. something I could agree wholeheartedly with for how it meant that Lord Greengrass would be too p...

Announcement: Small Pause This Weekend

I will be camping this weekend, meaning I will have limited, if any, internet Access. I will have a chapter out tonight, maybe two, but then there will be no chapters until Sunday Evening when I return from camping.

Apologies for the inconvenience. This is something that has been planned for a year now, so it's happening.

When I return, you can expect extra chapters to make up for t...

Chapter 20

The second that cackle rang out, Jackie knew that he was in for some shit. The lights winking out as the fuses blew from the sheer mystic power of an unbound and vengeful spirit was the sorta shit Jackie'd expected. The forcible vacating of the Hookers they'd hitched a ride on by the Succubi ain't, though. One moment, the Succubi-Possessed Hookers'd been moving around, ready to try and kill wha...

Chapter 88

As the fight recommenced, Kim launched himself into the air about twenty feet up flipping around and flaring his Chi to come down at me with a diving kick that somehow had him rocketing down at me. I was forced to dodge, diving away from the kick even as he smashed into the tiles of the arena floor, breaking the heavy-duty stone tiles and throwing up rock dust. That kind of power was interestin...

Interlude: Battle of King's Landing (Non-Ricasso) II

Stannis Baratheon growled as he cut down a Gold Cloak who was trying to cut him down with a halberd, parrying the descending chop with his blade and literally kicking the man off the walls of the Capital to smash his skull on the flagstones below. The Artillery and Musketeers had done an excellent job of clearing the walls of any enemy musketeers, archers, or crossbowmen and Stannis had surged ...

Chapter 14

Lieu Hanh was dead. I hadn't trusted the reports I'd been given at first, thinking them a trick. Most Goa'uld would try faking their own death if they could use it to escape, perhaps hijacking the body of some Technician or Jaffa in the Process. However, the scans and footage didn't lie. I went over them three times and even checked the body. Lieu Hanh had refused to wait for me to make my sale...

Chapter 14

The Very First thing that happened as Thorfinn the Tall led the Crew of the Hammerdown against our party was that Janessa looked over to the right with a sharp motion of her head. She called out a warning mere moments before a smell of ozone issued forth from the deck of the Hammerdown as a robed, dusky-skinned, Zakharan with an oiled beard appeared on the deck, chan...