#gunpowder fantasy

[cromwell300]

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on tumblr. Here are some recent works of mine

[tildeathiwillwrite]

WIP Intro: The Hunter, the Myth and the Cure

Procrastinating on chapter 3 revisions and tag games by making an intro for this WIP lol

Tales from Valaria Masterpost

WIP Masterpost

~~~~~

Title: The Hunter, the Myth and the Cure

Genre: High fantasy, dark fantasy, noir, gunpowder fantasy

Audience: YA-Adult (TV-14+)

Tags: #thtmatc #the hunter the myth and the cure #draven cozenson #octavian de silv #reese takari

Stage of the Writing Process: Revisions

Synopsis:

Valaria is in turmoil. An outbreak of lycanthropy has swept across the planet, halting trade and sending everyone into panic. The elves have closed their borders, the Draigo have barricaded themselves into their strongholds, and it is left to the humans to quell the plague before the infected kill or spread the disease to the entire population.

Ten years after the outbreak, the plague is somewhat handled. Draven Cozenson is an infamous lycanthrope hunter, someone tasked with tracking down werewolves and putting them down before they can infect others. While on a job in the vast forest known as the Fells, he discovers a strange elf trapped beneath a frozen lake.

Octavian de Silv has unknowingly been imprisoned for a decade, held in a magical stasis the likes of which are unheard of. Still reeling from events that concluded a decade before, he is forced to get his bearings in a world vastly different than he remembers.

Reese Takari is trapped. Not just by the walls of the place where she was taken, but also by the fear of what would happen to her father if she takes any opportunity to escape. And now she's trapped by her value as a subject for unknown experiments.

The search for an antidote or a vaccine against the outbreak is ongoing. Researchers are desperate, and ethics have long been tossed out the window. Magicians roam freely, no longer afraid of Draigo agents hunting them down for wrongdoing. Perhaps it will take a new---or rather, old---perspective to turn the tide. Or, more likely, perhaps not.

[censored-the-redacted]

Hrng colonel i've, forgotten that i was doing this and never posted this shit

Part 2 The Comically Unstable faction and its fuckups made manifest

This is the flag of the Maroon Leauge a coalition of Distributionists, Mitualists, Communal and Community Capitalists, Communitarians, Communalists, National Syndicalists, Vanguard Anarchists and most prominently Corporatists. This vast spread of ideologies would drift with the years with more and more going to the dominant Corporatist or Corporatist Aligned ideologies. The Corporatists Dominance did however cause problems and corruption became a festering infection that spread all throughout the Leauges Military due to numerous reforms making it more corporatist. This eventually leading to a series of Events that would end in the Antonian Mutiny. The Antonian Mutiny would see the entire Niolian Front Succeed and eventually defect to the Republicans. The Antonian Revolt also gave justification for the Corporatists to finally seize total power due to many Antonians being Mutualists, Vanguard Anarchists or Community Capitalists. This ended up leading to Another breakaway, the Real Maroon Leauge, better known as the Bleached Leauge. Both of these factions would lead to the Maroon Leauges eventual destruction at the hand of the Republicans

The Maroon Standard (I'm going to be honest, this is my first flag i made for this so it is literally just the corporatist symbol over a maroon background, the Maroon meant to show that they are not communist, liberal, nationalist or regencies, but a number of secret third things)

This next one is the Bleached League also called the Unbarred League and officially the "Real Maroon League", this is made up of numerous ideologies that left the Maroon League after they were discredited due to the Antonian Mutiny. Made up of Mainly Communalists, Commutarians and Vanguard Anarchists, oddly a number of Corporatists that disagreed with the League implementation would join as well. The Bleached League had a short lifespan as a proper, powerful faction, just about 4 months before the Maroon League crossed the mountians and shattered their army, Though the League would last not much longer. The Remenants would consolidate for a short while before joining the Republicans, likely knowing a war with them would be worthless

The Bleached Banner, a Ad Hoc flag used at the start of the revolt that became well liked by the troops, made by removing the center and lightly bleaching the Banner. It was common, though not offical, to see one with a hole through the center. In the Modern Day the Bleached Banner is still used in politics, Representing the Communalists in both the Republic and the Peoples Kingdom.

This Next Flag is the Flag of the Antonian Mutiny also known as the April Mutiny. The Mutiny was a Truly massive affair that can chalk its existence up to bad luck, good luck, incompetence and hyperconpetence. Its Origins lie in the actions of one, Colono Oscanu Vittorio, (who despite the title actually held a rank equivalent to that of a General). Oscanu was comically bad at commanding a army, using strategy left behind with the gladius, so perhaps it was fitting that he would have a love of decimation as well. Oscanu lead the army to a string of defeats, every failure having the scapegoated unit decimated until one day after a particularly bad loss he decided that every, single, unit under this army had to suffer decimation, and that additionally, the Assadore-Arditi, the special storm troops, were to kill 7 of every 10 of them. This went about as well as can be expected, with a mutiny breaking out and the Colono being beaten to death by a Assadore. This Mutiny would grow fast, with Antonio Galo, a Sergeante, something of a philosopher and a surprisingly good commander. While some units would remain loyal, the mutiny would gain many defectors as the problems within the maroon league revealed itself, the deep corruption that allowed Oscanu to gain his station and retain it and the power grabs being made by the corporatists due to the mutiny pushed many nearby the Mutiny to their side. The Mutiny would face clashes from both loyalists, republicans and maroon league armies seeking to restore order, though after the initial week the few loyalist cells would be wiped out or routed and the republicans would pick up on the situation and cease most of their offensives. About 2 weeks after the mutiny the Republicans sent negotiators to speak with Antonio and the other leaders of the Mutiny, to keep things brief, a alliance was signed, POW's were released and the Republicans joined the Mutineers on the front against the Maroon Leauge, about a month and a half after the Antonian Mutineers were officially incorporated into the Republican Army

"The Standard of Mutiny" AKA the Deserters Banner, the The Hangman's Lament and the Saviors Flag. The Standard of Mutiny portrays a common scene of the early mutiny, nooses being cut. On a more metaphoric sense it represents a militant resistance of injustice and wrongdoing. In the modern day the Standard of Mutiny is used to represent the Communal Party and the wiider Saffron Alliance, the political party founded by Antonio (also, incase this was not obvious by the unequal amount of lore, the protagonist is from here)

[glbettwrites]

The Mummers' Masque by G.L. Bett - ON HIATUS

↪ genre(s): adult flintlock fantasy; low fantasy; romance ↪ pov: third person, past tense ↪ status: outlining; hiatus ↪ type: standalone novel ↪ themes: enemies to uneasy allies to lovers; heists and assassinations; guns and rapiers; desire for a fresh start; justice; revenge; responsibility; corruption; self-interest; secrets and lies; blood vs. found family—split loyalties; more TBA

↪ hook: Saddled with her predecessor’s debts, the leader of a mummers' troupe is drawn into a musketeer’s revenge plot, tempted by the fortunes of his aristocratic mark.

↪ the plot:

Leader of a touring troupe of mummers, Luzya has been saddled with a staggering debt left by her late predecessor. Hounded by debt collectors from a powerful guild who intercept each coin the mummers earn, escape back to their homeland is a pipe dream—and survival itself is starting to feel a little precarious.

Growing desperate, some in the troupe start to engage in thievery; one is caught in the act and pursued back to the playhouse by a musketeer. Luzya's pleas fall on deaf ears as, intent on following orders, he hauls her friend away to the city dungeons.

Weeks pass. Fortunes shift.

With his parents' recent deaths at the hands of a corrupt aristocrat, Raavos' life has spiralled out of control. His investigation into their unjust execution turned him into an enemy of the state, and now he finds himself a stowaway in the troupe's caravan, at the mercy of the woman to whom he had shown none.

Primed to hand him over to the city just as he had her friend, Luzya is only stopped in her tracks when Raavos proposes a heist to fill the troupe's coffers—enough to pay off their debts, sail back home, and live out their days in luxury.

And, he says, the troupe already has their ticket in: their upcoming performance at an aristocrat's masquerade. They leave with the coin, he his vengeance. A mutually beneficial arrangement—and quid pro quo becomes a new way of life for Luzya and Raavos as they gather the allies and resources required to pull this off.

Amidst the gryphon taming, prison breaks, smuggling of exotic glamours, and favours purchased from a spy network run by Luzya's own cunning half-brother, the duo realise that if they're to survive the scheming of everyone else in the city...at the very least, they're going to have to trust each other.

[kampoof]

The Ballad of Barry the Bard

Taken from his autobiography, "living a good life" under his pseudonym, Alan Dakkar in the 4th Khlanastic era...

There once was was a brave lad named Barry,

Who never did like to tarry.

His best friend named Larry,

Did much like to carry,

All the great things found by Barry.

Larry died.

Barry cried.

So off went Barry to avenge sweet old Larry

A nice girl he did marry

His child she did carry...

Then she punched him in the face.

Footnote: Barry was neither a good poet, nor a good man. The punch he received at the end of his ballad was entirely warranted and deserves for many reasons...

[saltylittlecreature]

Magical Setting Idea: Copper and Gunpowder

Imagine an early Bronze Age civilization that has access to more modern inventions, such as magic gunpowder that can absorb elements and potion effects. A Bronze Age civilization in a magic setting could have magic used to craft items and maybe golems that are kept to certain statuses. Perhaps even some statuses for a priest class that help make the powder and maybe even keep the legal records.

A culture made of city-states that have a kingdom of a couple surrounding towns. With the creation of permanent roads to enhance trade. With bronze tools starting to become the normal. Although leather and wood are still very popular and useful for easy repairs. Magic is seen to be an art of the priest class and the armies. While many different environments are around the area.

Like a forest civilization that's become known for its longbows made from a sacred wood that's easy to enchant. founded and run by a priest class that holds a republic amongst themselves to determine the fate of the many cities around them, with this city as a central hub they founded to hold meetings and centralize their council, at the mouth of a river connecting all their cities up. Making a very reverent class who are enshrined in their past. With them have some special worrier classes that are under the direct order of this counsel (effectively becoming generals). These special worriers have better-enchanted equipment and special wooden masks of a spirit and may honor a chosen reverent patron. All while the common people are cooking raised rabbits, quails, and barries that are made into wine for priests and rulers, with cheese and grapes seen as a luxury for the rich. While a form of mint tea is incredibly common amongst all classes. Imported spices are seen as a luxury or extravagant.

While a people who settled along a rocky coast near a prevalent trade route with a prominent copper production and holy statues set there. Founded for trade and fortification by people wanting gold and more independence from other city-states with a slight imperial cult that worships the office of the City master. with the mercenary military having prevalent statues here due to their part in setting the city up, they often have priority for filling that seat. All this is run by a pack of Mercenary houses who help the city's trade and sell themselves to the best highest-paying person. Even if they're reliant on fishing and trade for food, they have the might and infrastructure to keep their autonomy. Common food is lobster due to how common they are, sardines, and even wolf fish stew if you've had a bad day. Higher-class meals usually prioritize the quantity of trophy game fish like swordfish, giant tuna, and maybe even some glaze. Stir fries would be the exclusive food of the rich due to how expensive it is. with fermentation being a prominent industry there. Pickled sardines and pickled root stalks are extremely popular here and are often offered at temple cemeteries to honor successful ancestors. The city also seems to be less reverent towards gods, not viewing them as inherently deserving of worship.

Heck, let's even chuck in a third city-state that specializes in gunpowder warfare and agriculture. The city was founded at the mouth of a vital delta river by shunned priests and disgruntled warriors. It is governed by a council of nobility led by a "God-king" who serves as a conduit for the city's god and is believed to possess magical abilities (The king or queen is mortal and can die. The next person to assume the position becomes the new embodiment of the god, who is associated with fire, bronze, serpentine dragons, and a planet named after the god, where the god-kings and priests are said to reside after death). The God-king often has an imperial cult (A God-king or queen can ascend to divine status after death and become a part of the city's history). The city's inhabitants venerate only one god, who is believed to be dedicated solely to the well-being of the city-state. Some extremists within the religion even proclaim that this city's god is the sole deity worthy of worship. The city has developed a new gunpowder, giving alchemists special privileges. The city relies on tariff-farming grains to produce staple foods like bread and gruel. The higher class consumes fruits, pastries, and bird meat, while spicy berries are reserved for the upper class. A standing army is an attractive option due to good food, led by noble generals on behalf of the god-king, elected by the noble council or the god emperor, and swear themselves to the imperial cult.

Another factor is the bronze resources in this area. with an idea of how enchanting works in this world could be that the newly discovered bronze tools are harder to enchant. While Wood, bone, hair, feathers, and stone are far easier to enchant, but last don't last as long as it does on these new shiny bronze tools and equipment. Alongside their natural durability. The bronze would also allow easier ability to use the magical gunpowder. Maybe this world is just getting the idea of possibly creating cannons to protect their walls or begin a siege. This isn't even mentioning the various uses of this newly discovered gunpowder medium.

For example, frost-based gunpowder holds the power of frost and can flash-freeze rivers during war or a fire extinguisher for massive city fires. Or a gunpowder variant based on electricity, greatly damaging creatures wearing metal and causing mass electric serges that consume miles of river. An Earth variant would likely involve extreme expansion of earth and stone. Something like a filler agent for walls, or setting it off in a hallway to block a hallway, preventing an escape, or from being followed. Air could be like a sonic boom used to try knocking things over, or causing a massive thrust. While a fire-based version of this powder could just work like regular gunpowder. Maybe the potion-passed powder can be discovered later on in history, like a healing potion-based powder that distributes a small radius of its healing effect or a hallucinogenic smock that is produced by another.

These are examples of this setting idea. I have more, like how the cities have a pattern god or gods, the many minor gods that follow something between animism and Embodied gods. Or some ascended mortals who became something similar to angels or a powerful spirit. Or how Unreliable narrators help and hinder sources of power.

For example, let's go back to that Rock Coast civilization and give them a Legion of their founding. The legend tells the story of the great settler Velsin, who supposedly used the legendary blade Singer to slay the feared beast Shalga, gaining wealth and fame. His descendants safeguarded the blade Singer, expecting it to be used when the city faced a formidable enemy. However, the truth is that Velsin and his company went to the Shores to establish their city-state by the coast to exploit the new trade in the region, and while Velsin did kill the mighty beast Shalag, Shalga was trying to defend its home and nest. The legendary weapon Singer is genuinely magical, but is actually a spearhead, as swords were not commonly used during Velsin's time. Additionally, the present noble houses are not descended from Velsin; rather, a few decades ago, merchants overthrew the original noble families and fabricated their ancestry to connect themselves to Velsin and his legions.

Overall, I enjoy the idea of this setting. I may add more to it, but for now, I'll leave it here. If anyone has an idea or just wants to share, feel free to do so in the comments. Thank you for reading and enjoy your day.

[chaobunnyarts]

Tank… teas…? 🛡️🫖

[commander-ben]

The Kickstarter for Black Powder and Brimstone is now live!

Created by me and pubished by Free League this is an action packed TTRPG packed with Witchcraft and Gunpowder.

You can back the campagn here!

[lilolilyr]

ScarletMay Mermaid × Pirate inspiration board

Gunpowder Milkshake Scarlet × Anna May historical fantasy AU, idea by @geek-goth-gay on the @gunpowder-milfshake-discord

[v1tfrma]

[cromwell300]

Now Available

Dive into a world of gunpowder and sorcery as we follow the exploits of a young group of warriors from the warrior clan, the Crimson Wolves. Many challenges of betrayal and bloodshed await them in their journeys as they seek vengeance on the one who wronged them.

My book is available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSX8MGC1?ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_dp_5VXZLVRQLTHK3DXC4UP9&language=en_US

#lonewolfchronicles #steampunk #flintlockfantasy #gunpowderfantasy

[purgatory-is-life]

Mechtober Day 14/prompt 14-Alternate Universe

if i need to single handedly populate this fandom with urban fantasy aus by the gods i will

@mechtober-2024

An Average Day 'Round Here, Really - Reality666Rift999 - The Mechanisms (Band) [Archive of Our Own]

tw, my poor attempts at using british vernacular with my very limited knowledge of it as an american, cursing, arguing (mostly jokingly), mentioned alcohol, implied alcohol consumption, blood, blood consumption, non-con blood drinking, minor unnamed character death, probably more, feel free to ask me to tag something!!

Brian woke with a groan, and something heavy on top of him. He cracked an eye open, glaring at whichever one of his flatmates it was that decided to wake him up this time. It turned out to be Raphaella. He glanced at his clock–eleven AM. Too early, by his standards, but he did have some classes that day, so he would’ve had to get up at some point.

“What do you want, Raph?” He asked, voice thick with sleep.

“Do you have the chem notes from Friday?” she asked, staring up at him with wide, unblinking eyes. His still freshly-woken up and foggy mind thought she looked a lot like a bird, like one of those falcon’s Tim’s constantly sending pictures of.

Brian stared back at her. “Raph. You couldn’t wait for two hours for me to wake up with my alarm to ask that?”

“My chem lab is at noon!” She defended. “And you almost never get up before noon.” She poked him on the nose. “It was much easier to wake you up, insomniac. You need to work on your sleep schedule.”

“I at least get a consistent amount of sleep,” Brian grumbled, “how much have you slept recently?”

Raphaella quickly turned her head, waving her hand dismissively. “Not important! My chem lab is in an hour, do you have the notes or not?”

Brian curled up further under his sheets, humming quietly and closing his eyes again as if he’d be able to get any more sleep. “In the yellow notebook, on my desk. Hundredth page in.”

“Ah! Thank you, dearest,” Raph kissed his forehead and jumped off him, scurrying towards his desk.

“Mhm…”

Raphaella grabbed the notebook, and left the room. There was a brief moment where Brian could almost fool himself that he was asleep, before Raph came back into his room. “Do you… want me to turn your light on to help you wake up or…?”

Brian groaned, and pulled one of his pillows over his head. “Please let me at least try to get my last two hours of rest!”

“Okay, sorry!” And then Raphaella actually left him alone to get some more sleep.

—-- By the time his alarm went off, Brian had been playing a random game on his phone for at least an hour and a half. At some point in his attempts to get back to sleep, he’d given up and began playing on his phone. However, with his phone vibrating aggressively and playing one of Toy’s newer songs loudly, he couldn’t get away with hiding any longer, and he forced himself to get up.

He sat up, stretching his arms, back popping as he did so. He swung his legs, testing his knees. Finding they didn’t ache as much as usual, he decided to venture out into the living area of the apartment without his cane. As he entered the living room, it was just as he expected–chaotic. And loud, he was honestly surprised he hadn’t noticed before, while he was still hiding in his room.

Everyone in their friend group was there– while Brian, Marius and Raph were technically the only ones on the lease, it was admittedly more unusual if there weren’t at least six people in their flat at once. Typically, all nine of them were in at once, but Raph had a few labs on Monday’s and Nastya had one of her computer science classes in the afternoon on Mondays, so it was only the seven of them on Monday afternoons. Eight, if Marius convinced Lyfrassir to come around, or they’d stayed the night. Nine, at most and if they were lucky, and Bertie was visiting from his campus.

Currently, Jonny was laying on top of Ashes while rambling about something from his creative writing class, maybe something about his teacher who he hated. Apparently, he was kind of a jackass, but it was Jonny, and Jonny was prone to exaggeration, so he could’ve been fine. Toy and Marius were playing chopsticks while debating something in German, Ivy was reading a book while sitting upside down on the couch, and Gunpowder was cooking something.

Ashes was the first to notice his emergence, as he made a beeline for the coffee pot. “Morning, doll,” Ashes called, smirking. Brian rolled his eyes at them.

“It’s afternoon,” Brian pointed out, “that’s the point. I don’t like getting up early.”

“It’s still fun to bother you about,” Ashes said. He could hear the grin in their voice. Brian rolled his eyes again, and set about making his coffee, being careful to move around Tim while he-they?-continued cooking.

“Pronouns?” Brian asked, starting his cup.

“She/he, thanks,” Gunpowder smiled, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “So you’re finally awake?”

“Oh, you can’t talk, Timopher,” Brian flicked the other on the head. She groaned at that.

“Not you too! I’m going to kill Jonny for getting you all started on that!”

Brian grinned, but didn’t say anything more. Tim pouted, but returned to his cookery. The smell of bacon hit Brian’s nose as something started sizzling on a pan, and his stomach growled at him. Gunpowder noticed, and tilted his head at him as Brian grabbed a mug from one of the cabinets. “D’you want some of this? I can make more, it’s just eggs, some toast, and bacon.”

Brian shook his head as he poured his cup of coffee. “No, thank you. I was planning on getting something on my way to my anatomy class.”

Tim raised an eyebrow, glancing at him over his glasses. “Your anatomy class is at three. It’s almost one-fifteen. You have time to eat a proper breakfast.” Brian waved her off as he took a sip of his coffee. Tim wrinkled his nose. “Brian. One-coffee isn’t breakfast. Two-black coffee? Seriously?”

Brian shrugged. “It’s better than coffee ice cream for breakfast.”

Gunpowder rolled her eyes, pinching her nose. “It’s not- I’m not doing this. And besides, that was one time during finals last year. I don’t think any of us had a consistent amount of sleep or a consistent amount of food in our stomachs.”

“The woes of being a college student,” Brian said, taking another sip of his coffee and walking towards the adjoining living room.

“Yea- wait I’m not done lecturing you–!”

But Brian was already sitting down next to Ivy and ignoring her complaints. “Good afternoon, Brian. Did you sleep well?”

“Would’ve slept better if Raph didn’t wake me up, but mostly, yeah.”

Ivy nodded. “I apologize, I was the one to tell Raphaella to ask you for the notes. I forgot how much you dislike being woken up early.” She turned another page in her book.

“It’s fine, Ivy, I’ll just try and go to bed a bit early tonight.”

“I believe it’s a misnomer to say you sleep at night–you go to bed most often at four AM.”

Brian–couldn’t deny her there. “Is it comfortable, sitting upside down like that?” he asked instead.

“It is plenty comfortable for me. Thank you for your concern, though.”

Brian nodded, and took another sip of his coffee. The still-scalding liquid burned in his throat, and behind it a thirst he’d been doing his best to ignore burned as well. He’d have to do something about it soon–the… thirst? Hunger? He still wasn’t sure what to call it, nearly two years later–either way, he’d have to do something about it soon, it was getting hard to ignore.

Gunpowder came into the room with a plate of food, flopping onto the couch next to (almost on top of) Ashes. “Oh, by the way,” she started, “I’m going to be visiting Bertie over the next few days, I’m heading out a bit later, so I might not be able to make it to band practice on Thursday.”

“Have fun,” Jonny said, reaching over to Tim’s paper plate and taking some of the bacon for himself.

Tim swatted at Jonny’s hand, sticking his tongue out at the other. Jonny stuck his tongue out at her. Brian smiled at his friends' shenanigans–not quite dumbassery, but a very similar brand of chaos. Though, dumbassery usually ended with someone injured and an argument about whether or not a trip to A&E was necessary. And a kidnapping to take someone to A&E, but that was neither here nor there.

“Tell Bertie we say hello,” Ivy said, as Brian glanced over at Marius and Toy, who were still completely absorbed in their game and debate.

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll know,” Tim shrugged as Jonny–successfully, this time–stole some of Gunpowder’s bacon.

Tim didn’t notice at first, but when she did, she immediately turned on Jonny. The other grinned, which only annoyed Tim more. Brian decided that was a good moment to down the rest of his scalding coffee, and get up to get dressed. “Do you think I can get away with not wearing my binder today without my chem lab supervisor misgendering me?”

Ivy glanced up from her book and raised an eyebrow at him.

“…Yeah, fair enough…” Brian sighed. He didn’t really care one way or the other about wearing his binder or how people perceived him, but sometimes it got tiring getting misgendered by people around him. Oh well, he wouldn’t have to wear it all day. Brian glanced back at Gunpowder and Jonny, and saw that Tim had completely ditched his breakfast, and was now wrestling with Jonny while Ashes took her bacon. All in all, a normal day, really.

—--

Brian hated the sun. Without a doubt, he hated the sun. It was hot, it was bright and hurt his eyes, and it made him tired. Really, besides it providing light for the rose bushes he’d been trying to grow out of his flat’s window box, he had no reason to like the sun. Except for the fact that most of his friends were awake when the sun was up, but most of his friends had absolutely god awful sleep schedules, and Brian was half certain Raphaella was more willing to do hard drugs than sleep when she could be ‘science-ing’. So, really, other than the roses needing sunlight to grow, he really didn’t have any reason to appreciate the sun. So, naturally, with such a hatred of the sun, he did his best to avoid it, but sometimes he was forced to face the burning ball of hydrogen gas and plasma.

The latest anatomy class he could get was at three, and thus he was forced to face the sun at least twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays (for his bio-chem class, which was at two-thirty) if he wanted to actually gain that pre-med he’d been working towards since Secondary. At the very least, with the weather changing and slipping more into the icy chill of fall and winter, the amount of time he’d have to face the sun was lessened. Which he was grateful for, even though the sun had long since begun to set as he made his way home from his last monday class (he also had a chem lab on mondays, but it was at a different time than Raphaella’s) at six in the evening.

When he returned to the flat, placing his bag by the door and tossing his jacket on the coat wrack. With a quick glance around the flat’s living room, he noted that everyone was there with the exception of Gunpowder. She must’ve already headed off to Bertie’s campus. Lyf was there, sitting on the couch braiding Raphaella’s hair while she braided Marius’s hair, and Marius scribbled something down while Nastya played her viola. Jonny and Ashes were cooking something, though he could hear Jonny saying he was gonna head out once the food was done. Toy was laying on the floor on top of Ivy, both of whom were reading different books. Toy was reading a book that appeared to be about different species of frogs, and Ivy seemed to be reading something about mice. Which did nothing to narrow down what she was reading.

Lyf glanced up from their work, briefly, and nodded at him as he entered. Brian smiled and waved, continuing his walk to his room.

“Brian!” Ashes called, peaking leaning on the counter that separated the living room from the kitchen. “You gonna want any o’ this, doll?”

“Oh!” Brian hummed. “No, probably shouldn’t–I told Galahad I’d go out for drinks with him and some of his friends.”

“The Pendragons, again?” Ashes raised an eyebrow as Jonny pouted, turning to face him as well.

“Yeah,” Brian nodded. He glanced at Jonny and smirked at him. “What’s with the pout, dear?”

Jonny scoffed, face turning a bright red. “Fuck off! I put in all this work and you ain’t even gonna try any?”

Brian’s smirk softened. “Yeah, sorry, I didn’t realize you were making dinner for us tonight. Save some for me?”

Jonny huffed and nodded, turning back to his cooking and waving him off. Brian glanced into the pot, trying to decipher what it was that he and Ashes were cooking. It looked like some kind of stew. With that mystery kind-of solved, Brian headed to his bedroom to change into something a bit more bar-appropriate.

He did have somewhere to be, afterall. While the night was young.

—--

Brian, along with the sun, hated bars. Their smell was rancid, there were always too many people and they were always too close, Brian hated bars. More specifically, he hated getting hit on at bars. And yet, here he was, in a back alley behind a bar making out with some random drunk person. They were-probably a man? And definitely older than him, but Brian wasn’t picky with his snacks.

Though, in times like these, he found himself often missing his friends–“the Crew”, as Jonny sometimes called them.

Their relationship was… Well, it was something. He could probably write a philosophy thesis on it, actually. And it wouldn’t be fair to say they weren’t open, by no means were whatever-they-were a closed relationship. But maybe it wasn’t fair to say whatever they had was open, either? Since it wasn’t exactly defined in most areas.

Tim and Bertie were something, though Gunpowder refused to elaborate further. Tim and Jonny were dating(?)–that’s literally how they described it, too–Jonny was willing to have sex with most of them except Nastya (for obvious reasons. Ew), whereas Marius was usually the opposite, he’d take everyone out on dates and plan elaborate dinners or lunches or breakfasts or brunches, whatever meal it was, but sex was a very inconsistent desire for him. Brian was generally the same way, though a bit less… dramatic, about it. His planned dates were always much less extravagant than Marius’s. Nastya was exclusive with her long-distance girlfriend, but she and Brian kissed sometimes, and he knows that she and Ivy also do the same on occasion. Toy was odd, but it was always sweet and it was involved in the relationship chaos in all the ways that mattered, it deserved a place in this train of thought. It didn’t exactly feel romantic or sexual attraction, but had expressed that it loved the Crew all deeply and truly, and always tried to help and show its care in whatever ways it deemed to be effective.

Ashes had something with everyone, but it looked different depending who of the Crew they were with, Raph and Ivy were dating, Marius was starting to date Lyffrassir, which actually seemed to be going pretty well compared to previous romantic exploits outside the Crew of his, Marius, Ivy, and Raphaella were dating, and all of them were just… generally pretty touchy feel-y? It was always weird to see one of the Crew and not see at least two others nearby. And dating or being fuckbuddies with one of them generally meant having to share with the rest at least, and if not, being roped up a lot more tightly in their web of weirdness (as Lyf had once called it). Lyf was still new, but they seemed to get along with everyone pretty well, and had even made out with Brian on a few occasions, and he’d definitely seen them leaving Raph’s room with tousled clothes and hair in the early morning while he was still awake, shortly followed by Ivy or Raph–or both.

All that to say, there were about nine other people that Brian could be kissing that he’d much rather be snogging behind a dingy bar. The probably-a-man reached up and curled a lock of his hair around their finger. “You’ve got such pretty hair, doll,” they said, breaking the kiss.

The stench of whiskey was heavy on their breath–it was amazing they were coherent at all–and Brian was hit with two twin pangs of longing, one with an equal measure of anger. Only Ashes got to call him doll. Brian would have to try and finish this quickly, even if he didn’t really want to hurt them. They hadn’t done anything yet. Except– well, except agreeing to makeout with a college student in a back alley. Brian had to force himself to not wrinkle his nose at the whiskey smell that came with each of their heavy breaths–that was a scent that was only kinda sexy on Jonny–there was no way he wasn’t going to be at least a little tipsy after everything was over. Which–might sell his excuse about going out for drinks with Galahad and the Pendragon Polycule better than coming home sober.

“Thanks,” Brian replied quietly, “a friend of mine does it for me.” Ivy had been dying her hair forever, and was therefore the most apt member of the Crew to aid in taking care of everyone’s hair when they were too Tired to do it themselves for one reason or another. It was always relaxing, her hands running through his hair as she washed it for him in either the bathroom sink or the flat’s tub–he had a lot of hair and was very inconsistent about cutting it to various lengths. It seemed to make his joints stop hurting and his head less achey. She’d probably say something about endorphins and serotonin and relaxing–or maybe Raph would, no telling who.

“Oh?” they responded, clearly uninterested.

“Mhm,” Brian nodded. “Hey, did you know that the scales of most sharks, placoid scales, are made up of largely the same enamel as what makes up teeth? So some people call their scales teeth scales.” Brian knew approximately four people who called them that, and one of them was studying marine biology. And the other three were Raph, Galahad, and Jonny. Actually, he’d heard Marius call them teeth scales before– or, no, he’d called them teeth skin. That still counted, he supposed. So, five people, on a technicality, probably six soon once Toy picks it up. He was surprised it hadn’t already, actually. “I’ve even heard some people call them teeth skin. Although they don’t eat with their skin, like some animals.”

Whatever direction the probably-a-man expected this conversation to go, this was certainly not it. They stared at him in confusion, pausing in twirling his hair in their hand. Well, that was what he was wanting, confusion and surprise. He was running out of odd animal facts though–Toy hadn’t given him any new bug facts in a while and it was more focused on trying to find frog facts that none of the Crew had heard before (which was harder than it seemed) and Lyffrassir was just generally hesitant to start infodumping about marine biology around anyone other than Marius it seemed. All this to say, Brian was thinking about getting a better method to throw people off their game.

He was overthinking this innocuous piece of information, he knew. Stalling. The confusion wouldn’t last long, the person’s inebriated mind probably already forgetting why they’re confused in the first place. He was hesitating, but god or gods above, his stomach ached with want. And yet, he was hesitating. He should really be used to this by now–he’s been doing this for two years at this point. Just– stop thinking, and do it.

“Well–” the person started, but didn’t get to finish as Brian lunged for their throat, sharp fangs easily piercing the delicate, human flesh. Their words, and their scream, died in their throat as he did so. They thrashed and tried to push him away, but being the inhuman thing he was, he was stronger and was able to hold them in place until they stopped trying to fight, as he drained their lifeblood through the gaping, gushing wound in their neck.

He always hated it, hated feeding off of and killing people. But if he didn’t, he could starve, and starving looked much worse than killing one or two people a month–he’d tested it. At least twice.

It was several minutes until the person fully went limp, but there was still blood and Brian was still hungry, even if he knew he was overindulging and going to feel sick and even more achey than usual later. Eventually though, as the now-corpse was starting to run dry (some part of himself, the part that was a starving, ravenous thing, wanted to drain as much as he could, and knew that there was surely more blood in the body that was just harder to get too–he ignored that part vehemently), Brian let the corpse drop and stepped back, staring blankly at the corpse.

He did this every time, taking a second to stare at the mess he left. Take a minute to revel in how awful he was.

A voice snapped him out of his post-feeding haze. “Oh~ I know that smell~!” Brian’s head snapped up to the end of the alley, eyes widening and body freezing in place. “What do we have– Brian?”

Jonny stared at him with glowing, red eyes, confusion written on his face.

Shit.

[censored-the-redacted]

Hrng, Colonel im, posting a list of flags and their respective faction i've created for my, isekaied player character in a Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition campaign who fought through a, comically divided civil war.

Part One, The Commies

This is the Flag of the Peoples Army of Esclaria, used to be a coalition of Leftists, with Prominent Socialist, Communist, Syndicalist and even a few Anarchist Members. However the Army would not remain whole for long as [Fantasy Lenin] took power and cemented his factions rule causing a good chunk of people to leave to Join the LF or the PRA. The PA would be destroyed during a joint offensive by the Labour Front and Republicans

(The Rice Laurel, Flag of the Peoples Army) The Rice Laurel arround the hand represents the people becoming "Kings in a Rice Laurel" A Concept popularised to represent everyone becoming equal to kings (Huey Long Reference) While the rifle represents the Army and Technology that the people must stand upon to remain equal.

This next Flag is the Flag of the Labour Front. A collection of Socialists and Syndicalists, the Labour Front existed at the start of the war but most of it's supporters defected to the PA and the PA handily defeated them, driving the remaining LF into the hills. However when [Fantasy Lenin] took over the PA many who left the PA went to the LF. The LF would Later be Absorbed by the Republicans after the defeat of the PA due to their greater strength and relatively close ties, though numerous would join the PRA.

(The Toiler's Standard, Flag of the Labour Front) The Hammers Represent the Labourer's in the Cities and broadly the Syndicalists and the Sickles represent the Farmers in the Countryside and more broadly Socialists The Flag of the Peoples Royal Army. A Offshoot the Crowning Movement spawned when a group attempted to raise Giuzemo Revenia to the title of king. Giuzemo Revenia however had been raised into a steel worker in a co-op that when taken by his crowning supporters decided to combine his Socialist Views and his newfound position as a Monarch and developed Monarcho-Socialism. The PRA, with no small help from Revenia's oration skills attracted a odd coalition of monarchists from the destitute Crowning Movement and various Socialist Movements. The PRA would go on to cripple numerous other factions in the civil war including the Nationalists and Peroxists. The PRA would become the Peoples Kingdom, a constitutional monarchy and one of the Two Nations to result of the Esclarian Civil War

(The Yellow Sun Banner of the Peoples Kingdom of Esclaria) The Rice Represents the Agricultural Workers and more broadly the people that hold the crown up and protect the Nation. The Sun is a popular symbol of a United Esclaria and represents the Nation and is represented being the base of the king and the people. The Crown Represents the king holding the people up and by extension holding the nation up.

[emerald-dragonflame]

My edgy teenager Brynjar. Ioana get’s very disappointed when she sees him smoke, but of course, Bryn just replies with a simple “you’re not my mom”. Baby boy, you’re 16, you’re gonna get brain damage!

I’m finally getting the hang of Procreate, so now I can use it to “paint” with, more or less. Still like Clip Studio more, but I’m getting better, kek.

[hounds-and-stars]

Gunpowder is basically just alchemy with explosive results, and early guns (both artillery and man-portable) could definitely still get checked by magic. Melee is also valid up to a point; landsknechts, Swiss guards, etc were all contemporaries of early gunpowder weapons.

Even farther along the tech tree, you can still make it work. Look at WW1 and tell me you can not imagine a witch in the trenches, reanimating the dead to keep up the stalemate and fireballing stormtroopers to death.

And, for Japanese-inspired fantasy, the samurai fucking LOVED guns. So much. There is an untapped genre of samurai gunpowder fantasy just waiting for some manga or anime to tap into.

Is my obsession with firearms history showing yet? I think it just might be