A Tale of Heroes

Excerpts from the Private Journals of the First Treasurer. 03/08/961 The Romans are gone. I know I wrote on it before, but I cannot believe it yet. They held us hostage within our own city for the better part of a year, and in one morning, two... children, for they are absolutely children, shatter the whole of their army and see them thrown back into the sea? And their reasoning makes even less sense than their feat, if that could be believed. It is not because they seek to conquer our island for themselves, or because one of the Emir's allies has paid them to. No, they did it because "Phokas is a cunt", and they disagreed with how the man waged his war.  They have killed an army. An entire Roman army, and they have done it because they disliked its leader and his methods. Or, rather, the woman does. The man barely speaks, seemingly more content with following her every word. I could say I disapprove, but I don't dare to. The man may not speak, but his eyes say everyt

April 26th, 2015 Susanne Dietrich-Wolff The Powered and their Effect on the Waging of Wars  It is, one would suppose, somewhat dumb to start this with the phrase "powered people exist". It is a fact of life that any human -- or rather, any living being -- on this Earth is more than capable of realizing on their own. Some of the people among us are different, and they are different in extraordinary ways. They are not lesser for it, nor are they superior. They eat the same food that we do, enjoy the same things we do, fall in love just like we do, and the million other small things humans do throughout their life.  But the truth remains that they are different. Despite being of significantly lower numbers than the non-powered, they have affected history in deep, undeniable ways. Were things just the slightest bit different, perhaps we would not have had blood be the sign of rule for centuries, but instead the fantastical powers they wield.  The effect they have had is varied. W

  For When You Return Day 7,665 I met Basil today. He's done much since I last saw him, back when you were still with me. He broke the Bulgarians, subdued the Croatians, and even marched on the north, to the Tauric Peninsula.  But he knows. Even as he spoke of Sicily, he could tell. He is greyer now. Smaller, less muscular. The only part of him that remains the same are his eyes.  He seemed angry that the same had not happened to me. I suppose I would be angry too, perhaps.  You never were.  Regardless, he knew why I had come. He reassured me that he would not, even if I was gone. But I did not come for the reassurances of a man that I knew was too smart to give me reason to kill him. I came for the one that sat next to him, the wastrel that knew only to gorge himself on food and expensive women. Where Basil was too smart to try, this one was too foolish to succeed.  Still, he assured me he'd taught his generals otherwise, at least. Crete was to be an unspoken ally, a shield to

Excerpts of Laura Coltello's Diary 01/07/15 Today was the day. I did it! I went out there, and I used my powers to help people!  It wasn't a big thing or anything, just three idiots trying to rob a bank, but no one else was around, so I just... I took care of it myself. They had a few hostages, but beyond some scrapes, I got them all out safely, too. My first victory! My mask was itchy, though. And I guess my energy's too hot for the wig, it started slipping off when I was done. I had to turn down a reporter because of it. Maybe I should buy some hair dye. Black would look good, I think. I'll decide later, anyway. Mother is calling, and it's a bit late. I plan to go out tomorrow, too. 03/17/15 Me and Forlorn worked together again today. I could have handled it on my own, obviously, but I gotta admit he makes fighting a lot easier. He always knows how to support what I'm doing.  He's still too harsh, though. We were fighting two powered today, they were kind