In the Shadow of Certain, Painful Doom: Abyssinia
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House Zagwe's Military Conquests...
That would be either a really brief book, or a work of fiction.
Black Lagoon, an anime about organized crime and high seas piracy in the Pacific (particularly in the fictional Thai city of Roanapur), circa the 1990s. Balalaika is a primary character, an ex-Soviet Airborne forces veteran of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan who is, in the series, now a Russian mob boss, using her old Afghan war veteran subordinates as the enforcers of her crime syndicate. The video you saw was from the second season, where a pair of twin children assassins are sent to dismantle Balalaika's cartel and fail miserably.
And yes, axes are becoming quite popular in anime these days. I blame the World Eaters.
The author abandoned it after only a few chapters and it never got posted anywhere other than a now-closed forum, but apparently all the Britannian characters were quietly tweaked into Germans. He renamed Lelouch "Ludwig" for instance. And the Knightmare Frames were replaced with Wanzers.
It actually had a little bit of promise, but it seems to be a dead project now, sadly.
I see
I didnt like Code Geass, so Im hoping one day for a legit legit something about KR world, its way too good to pass up
I didnt like Code Geass, so Im hoping one day for a legit legit something about KR world, its way too good to pass up
Sorry, folks, but I will be delayed until Wednesday for the next post. I have some things that have come up that are requiring taking care of first.
Here is a little peek preview:
Hmmm... Why might he be returning to the story? (We do not have a mercenary job for him.)
Here is a little peek preview:
Hmmm... Why might he be returning to the story? (We do not have a mercenary job for him.)
I believe mercenary captains, since they're treated as dukes, are eligible.
You're right. There must be something else going on there... Hmmm....
And another Zagwe tradition has been followed - namely not reading important information before it is lost
A time-honored tradition. And thank you for the anime primer. I was a bit more disturbed to learn that a twin of that evil-boy/girl-child-assassin-thing still exists in that anime world, though.
History of the Order of the Coptic Goat Herders? Or just coptic goat herders? It turns out that the second is even more interesting than the first.
Hmmm...
Ahh yes, forget Mongols invading from the east, or Aztecs from the west. Baboons from the south!
House Zagwe's Military Conquests...
A primer of what not to do in war.
Exactly.
Yes, I was surprised to see the duke colors hanging in the portrait circle when I cropped The Careless' picture.
Chapter 80
==Chapter 80==
While this particular book turns out to be the ravings of a literate lunatic, it does excite my imagination and curiosity. How many books and scrolls have I bought simply because it was the fashionable thing to do? What do all those books tell us about the hidden secrets of the world? To the relief of some of my council, I begin shutting myself in my library, reading books on Cuman shaman practices, baboon species, and the coming-of-age sexual practices of the ancient Babylonians. It’s all so fascinating. There are so many books--scholars must put out a book once a month to account for all these treatises. How is one to keep up with that volume?
Then I recall that a certain mercenary Captain Etrek “the Careless”, while in my employ in Abyssinia, had reported collecting some sort of tome from an ancestral sacred site of my dynasty… well, actually it is just a secret exit that has dead goats in it, but my dynasty’s standards are not so high. I talk with my Marshal, and it turns out that nobody knows what happened to that book. Obviously the good Captain “Careless” wanted to keep the book safe in the turmoil following the debacle of my military expedition to Africa. I send a messenger to collect it from Etrek. I have the messenger take a traditional Armenian basket of promegranates as a thank you for keeping the book for me.
Appollonios, my talented ex-Marshal whom I tried to have murdered, has become marshal to the rebel doux who is fighting against my liege. If Appollonios dies on the battlefield, I will consider it part of my revenge properly discharged.
Darn it! Within just a few months it is apparent that Appollonios was not talented enough to keep his new liege from losing the war and being imprisoned by the Empress. But it is with great frustration that I learn that not only has he managed to not die some horrible death on a battlefield far from home, Appollonios has managed to get himself appointed regent for the imprisoned Doux. While his liege is enjoying the best hospitality the dungeons of the daughter of the Impaler can offer, this makes Appollonios de facto ruler of that demesne. This is not at all what my revenge should look like. I will still get him… one day.
Because I am so kind… and because it would make my spymaster like me more… I decide to satisfy his desire to get married. I really don’t have very high hopes of being successful at this, but amazingly I am able to get a Swedish princess to marry him, Princess Gyla of Sweden. Oddly the note from her old liege—her eldest sister who inherited the Swedish throne—stipulated that Gyla must never again visit Sweden. Very strange. They must have some odd marriage customs in that distant land.
Princess Gyla is impressive. Actually, she is the most capable military strategist in my court now. I joke with her that even though I won’t be able to send her out into battle, I will see her as my unofficial marshal. To my surprise she takes this seriously and agrees. When I think about it, why not?
Why does he care? It’s not like I sleep in the same bedchamber as him.
Really my husband should just concentrate on whatever he spends all his time doing all day and mind his own business. What does he spend all day doing? I ask my council to look into this matter.
Apparently my husband is an aspiring duelist. I don’t say anything because it would hurt his feelings, but it turns out that he is absolutely horrible at everything martial. I am surprised he has not impaled himself by now, honestly.
My messenger to Captain Etrek returns. The man had the gall to tell me that he is keeping the book until I hire him again, at which time he will let me have it. He even had the nerve to eat the whole basket of promagranates before he told the messenger this. I consider having him assassinated to get the book back, but if I don’t have the funds to get at Appollonios to avenge my father’s murder I certainly can’t waste them on someone who is borrowing my books for too long. No matter, I’m sure sooner or later I will need the services of a mercenary. And when I do my book will be waiting for me.
==Chapter 80==
While this particular book turns out to be the ravings of a literate lunatic, it does excite my imagination and curiosity. How many books and scrolls have I bought simply because it was the fashionable thing to do? What do all those books tell us about the hidden secrets of the world? To the relief of some of my council, I begin shutting myself in my library, reading books on Cuman shaman practices, baboon species, and the coming-of-age sexual practices of the ancient Babylonians. It’s all so fascinating. There are so many books--scholars must put out a book once a month to account for all these treatises. How is one to keep up with that volume?
Then I recall that a certain mercenary Captain Etrek “the Careless”, while in my employ in Abyssinia, had reported collecting some sort of tome from an ancestral sacred site of my dynasty… well, actually it is just a secret exit that has dead goats in it, but my dynasty’s standards are not so high. I talk with my Marshal, and it turns out that nobody knows what happened to that book. Obviously the good Captain “Careless” wanted to keep the book safe in the turmoil following the debacle of my military expedition to Africa. I send a messenger to collect it from Etrek. I have the messenger take a traditional Armenian basket of promegranates as a thank you for keeping the book for me.
Appollonios, my talented ex-Marshal whom I tried to have murdered, has become marshal to the rebel doux who is fighting against my liege. If Appollonios dies on the battlefield, I will consider it part of my revenge properly discharged.
Darn it! Within just a few months it is apparent that Appollonios was not talented enough to keep his new liege from losing the war and being imprisoned by the Empress. But it is with great frustration that I learn that not only has he managed to not die some horrible death on a battlefield far from home, Appollonios has managed to get himself appointed regent for the imprisoned Doux. While his liege is enjoying the best hospitality the dungeons of the daughter of the Impaler can offer, this makes Appollonios de facto ruler of that demesne. This is not at all what my revenge should look like. I will still get him… one day.
Because I am so kind… and because it would make my spymaster like me more… I decide to satisfy his desire to get married. I really don’t have very high hopes of being successful at this, but amazingly I am able to get a Swedish princess to marry him, Princess Gyla of Sweden. Oddly the note from her old liege—her eldest sister who inherited the Swedish throne—stipulated that Gyla must never again visit Sweden. Very strange. They must have some odd marriage customs in that distant land.
Princess Gyla is impressive. Actually, she is the most capable military strategist in my court now. I joke with her that even though I won’t be able to send her out into battle, I will see her as my unofficial marshal. To my surprise she takes this seriously and agrees. When I think about it, why not?
Why does he care? It’s not like I sleep in the same bedchamber as him.
Really my husband should just concentrate on whatever he spends all his time doing all day and mind his own business. What does he spend all day doing? I ask my council to look into this matter.
Apparently my husband is an aspiring duelist. I don’t say anything because it would hurt his feelings, but it turns out that he is absolutely horrible at everything martial. I am surprised he has not impaled himself by now, honestly.
My messenger to Captain Etrek returns. The man had the gall to tell me that he is keeping the book until I hire him again, at which time he will let me have it. He even had the nerve to eat the whole basket of promagranates before he told the messenger this. I consider having him assassinated to get the book back, but if I don’t have the funds to get at Appollonios to avenge my father’s murder I certainly can’t waste them on someone who is borrowing my books for too long. No matter, I’m sure sooner or later I will need the services of a mercenary. And when I do my book will be waiting for me.
The luck of the Zagwes... either they have no interest in reading anything relevant, or they can't get their hands on it on the rare occasions they have any interest in reading.
Your husband looks so adorable : failing miserably in all he tries to do, which makes him perfect for your dynasty, and having all those virtues. He hates you because you read books (and denied his children any right to the realm), but he would never hurt you... surely. And Appolonios fate is interesting.
Your father said the same thing, before his wife killed him. Now, I think you need to kill him before he kills you. Let the rampant paranoia begin! Off with his head!
Hiring a mercenary captain with the nickname "The Careless" for a book sounds like a smart move and I whole-heartily support this decision.
I think its time for a certain marshall turned regent to get attacked.
and here's a video of the pro-Zagwe resistance in Gondar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMya0eKDPlE
and here's a video of the pro-Zagwe resistance in Gondar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMya0eKDPlE
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