This is what is written in the Book of the Huli Jin:

...and the Greatly August Shang Di sent a dragon of heaven to protect the Kings of Zhou, for before the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the world belonged to the tigers.  The Kings of Beasts, jealous though they were of the successes of men, were held at bay by the power of the Dragon of ( Read more... )

Any golden age is a fragile thing.  Surrounded by ruins, carvings in forgotten languages and, above all, the spirits of the long-dead, the necromancers of Persia know this better than most.  The greatest empires, the wisest sages and the kings of kings all eventually find themselves passing into the shadows, fading as people forget.

It is in the ( Read more... )

You know white noise, of course.  Everyone does.  You hear it every time you tune a tv, radio, whatever, to a dead channel.  You hear it, in fact, even when you think you can't hear anything.  By the time you're old enough to understand the things you're meant to be listening for - voices, sounds, music - your brain has already learned to filter ( Read more... )

In June of 1937, Radio Moscow listeners, expecting to hear of the start of Marshal Tukachevsky's trial, instead hear the dreadful news that the Boss - Secretary of the Central Committee, Comrade Stalin - is dead.  The Liberator of Nations, it is reported, died of a massive stroke as he strolled along Moscow's evening streets.  Four days later, as ( Read more... )

"Times are getting tough, mate.  The gold's all been dug up and the wool steamers aren't calling as often as they used to.  It's getting harder and harder for a man to find enough work to put food on 'is table, even in this working man's paradise.  Trades Hall says we won the eight-hour day, true, but what d'ya take home after only eight hours?  It ( Read more... )

Demons create nothing but suffering.  This has been recognised by every culture since time immemorial.  Like many things, however, it took Taoism to turn it into a serious problem.

All around the world tonight, people will set fire to specially issued banknotes to buy their ancestors out of tribulation in Di Yu, or to get any demonic influence off ( Read more... )

It may be time to admit to myself that, despite my best efforts and intentions, I just can't run a straight campaign.

Last night saw the end of the alternate-historical pirate campaign that I'd been vowing to run for ages.  I made it clear from the beginning that there'd be no magic in this - the only differences between the 1713 we all know and ( Read more... )

Timur the Lame, Doom of Baghdad and Leveller of Damascus,  has made known his intention to become ruler of the Indias.  Throughout his empire, the air is alive with the sound of hammers beating out the swords that will carry out his warlike will.  He musters horsemen beyond number on the borders of his empire and sends messengers ahead to demand ( Read more... )

It's been a while since I've had an idea worth posting.  I hope this one was worth the wait.

Since I was six, I wanted to join the Cubs, but Mum and Dad told me there wasn't a group around that I could join, and they told me to stop asking them.  I think it was making them sad, because Mum cried a lot and Dad hasn't come back home after work for a ( Read more... )

Even among the Order of Hermes, the Academica Septima Superior was a fantastical tale - a vast complex covering an entire hillside, torn free from the Harz mountains during the conquests of Charlemagne to sail unhindered across the skies of Christendom (and, rumour has it, beyond).  The names of its founding magi have become legends: Aosgar Tree- ( Read more... )