#grave of empires

[shardanic]

VIP commission of @SamSykesSwears' character Nuzano!

I need me a pair of bug boots!

#commission #fantasy #grave of empires

[gunkreads]

#the expanse #malazan #baru cormorant #grave of empires

[twilightdomain]

hey. dont cry. ten thousand years, ok?

#m #grave of empires

[cyborgamazon]

I just finished the Grave Of Empires trilogy by Sam Sykes and I found it to be vaguely unsatisfying. I must scream.

Spoilers ahead, you have been warned.

Sal and Liette just leaving New Vigil like that doesn’t make any goddamn sense. New Vigil is described as...well, shitty. Half finished. Rough. But it’s better than anywhere else in the Scar!! Where else are they going to find somewhere out from under the boots of the Imperium and Revolution? Didn’t both of them fantasize about settling down somewhere? New Vigil is the best place for it. It’s not Revolutionary, it’s not Imperial, and not subject to the whims of either. And it’s one of the only places where Sal actually felt welcomed? Cavric did not hate her. Cavric was not angry at her. Cavric offered her his help.

And it’s not even safe yet! The war is not over! They won this battle but do you really think the Great General is going to look at a six digit casualty report and think “Oh wow, I guess I should leave New Vigil alone?” NO! He’s going to escalate. He’s going to build an even bigger army with even more fuck off war machines and he’s going to throw them at New Vigil until it falls.

The Empress is no different. The fact that she just lost a Prodigy to that place will only anger her. She will build up another army of Mages and throw them at New Vigil until it falls.

And now the only two (three, if you count the magic talking gun) people capable of holding them back are just leaving? I’m not sure if Sal can ever actually use The Cacaphony again, but even the threat of something that could kill a Scrath and a Prodigy in less than two minutes would enough to keep the Empire and the Revolution wary. But once news gets out that that threat is no longer present? Goodbye New Vigil.

Speaking of Scraths...Culven Loyal was Strongest. The Seeing God was Wisest. Eldest was Eldest. Strongest appeared in the third book and got eaten by The Cacaphony but where the fuck did Wisest go? He also wanted Eldest, but apparently he just gave up after Book 2?

And...The Lady Merchant is a fucking Scrath? Hello? This was heavily hinted at.

Book 2, page 632, Culven Loyal/Strongest: “All that we sacrificed for *her*, all that we were denied, this land bleeds.”

Book 3, page 648, Culven Loyal/Strongest: “Eldest, Strongest, Cleverest-all of us gave up our bodies to be free of pain, like Mother. And like Mother, we missed it.” (Side note, who the fuck is Cleverest? Is that supposed to be Wisest and the author just misremembered? Or was there a 4th Scrath that I don’t remember?)

The Scraths crave emotion. Pain and suffering in particular, it seems. And what does The Lady Merchant take from Mages in return for their power? Their emotions. Their breath. Their time. Their blood. Their control of their body. All things that a Scrath would crave. The Lady Merchant set up an entire system of magic in order to feed her craving for emotions.

It felt like the book was leading up to some kind of grand revelation where everyone suddenly realized “HOLY SHIT the source of all our power, of the Imperium’s power, is a fucking soul sucking demon!” And then it just...didn’t? The book hints at it but nobody fucking acknowledges it. They just gloss over it. This is a revelation that could shatter the Imperial Throne and plunge the Empire into chaos but nothing comes of it.

I loved the trilogy and I hope Sal and Liette get to ride off into the sunset and settle down and wake up in each others’ arms in silk sheets after a night of good whiskey and better sex, but I do find this ending unsatisfying with all these loose ends.

#Sam Sykes #grave of empires #sal the cacaphony #spoilers #seven blades in black #three axes to fall #ten arrows of iron

[ailedeverre-oto]

Ofc Jindu had to die. like i saw it coming and all but ah. what a sense of loss still. I do get that sal couldn't get back her flight but for some reason a little part of me still held out with that hope. I guess that with loss, you never truly stop missing that part of you that's gone, but merely try to move on. sorry mr. sykes, it's still too early for me to take that lesson into account :S(

#three axes to fall #grave of empires

[blueiskewl]

Three Roman Graves Uncovered in Portugal

Three burials dating to the 5th or 6th century AD have been unearthed in the ancient Roman city of Ossónoba in Faro, southern Portugal.

The Ossónoba’s first archaeological evidence dates back to the 4th century B.C., when the Phoenicians settled in the Western Mediterranean. The city was then called Ossónoba From the 2nd century B.C. until the 8th A.D. the city was under Roman and Visigoth dominance being afterwards conquered by the Muslims in 713.

A team of archaeologists from ERA Arqueologia discovered ancient Roman structures and the remains of a man, woman, and child while conducting excavations over a 5,000 square meter area that will eventually house a real estate development.

The excavations, which took place before a construction project, revealed the grave of a man whose skeleton was complete and who would have been between 39 and 45 years old, as well as a young woman under the age of 25, and a baby who would have been no more than six months old, according to archaeologist Francisco Correa.

Francisco Correia, the project’s head archaeologist, said in a statement that the discoveries were made in an old truck repair workshop and are believed to date from the 5th or 6th century.

The tombs appear to have been looted in the past to steal “small bracelets, necklaces, and rings,” according to anthropologist Cláudia Maio. The tombs indicate that the people may have had “some economic status” as they were not simply placed in open graves but instead buried in carefully built graves.

The proximity of the three people’s graves seems to indicate that they were family members, though the team cannot be certain of that. “But we cannot say anything for sure,” the anthropologist said.

To learn more, the researchers hope to be able to provide more precise answers through DNA tests and isotopic analysis techniques used to determine population movements and dietary habits from chemical traces in ancient human remains.

This latest archaeological discovery did not come as a surprise to archaeologists, who had already led similar works which resulted in the discovery of a Roman game artifact believed to date back to the first century AD in 2020.

“We know that we are in an area with archaeological potential where there is a 17th-century convent (of Santo António dos Capuchos) to the west, and to the east lies the area where the mosaic of the Ocean God (Deus Oceano), now a national treasure, was found,” he said.

What did come as a surprise to archaeologists was the location of the tombs.

“Based on previous studies, this would have been an area that was possibly residential or more linked to industrial activities. There are many traces of salterns. Largo da Madalena would have been the entrance to the urban area of the city of Ossónoba. The identified graves are in the Figuras area, near Teatro Lethes, close to the Ermida de São Sebastião and the Pavilion of Escola D. Afonso III. This area is almost within the urban fabric,” the archaeologist explained, adding that this illustrates both the “growth and decline of Ossónoba.”

The graves of the man and the woman “were sealed with limestone slabs,” believed to be reused parts from “some of the most emblematic buildings that would have been here in the area,” he believes.

According to the project manager of ERA Arqueologia, who was co-responsible for the work, in addition to the graves, hundreds of small pieces were also discovered which suggest that there may also have been a mosaic there.

The researchers also recovered Roman artifacts in the area, including ceramics, bone dice, nails, pins, a spoon, possible evidence of a dye factory, and coins minted during the reign of Constantine the Great, between A.D. 306 and 337.

Cover Photo: Roman mosaic of the god Oceanus, part of the ancient city of Ossónoba, the modern town of Faro, in Portugal.

By Leman Altuntaş.

#Three Roman Graves Uncovered in Portugal #Roman city of Ossónoba in Faro #ancient grave #ancient tomb #ancient artifacts #archeology #archeolgst #history #history news #ancient history #ancient culture #ancient civilizations #roman history #roman empire #roman art

[rabbitmotifs]

adventures of freakboy and hatergirl

#men that need to be leashed and collared > #anyways i hhope its common knowledge that gideon in the movie wore womens underwear in every scene. its my roman empire #scott pilgrim #scott pilgrim vs the world #spvtw #scott pilgram takes off #spto #gideon graves #gordon goose #julie powers #goosepowers #my doodles

[illustratus]

Napoleon's Tomb by Horace Vernet

#napoleon #napoléon #bonaparte #napoleon bonaparte #napoléon bonaparte #art #horace vernet #tomb #france #french #emperor #empire #napoleonic wars #napoleonic #st helena #saint helena #history #europe #european #mourners #soldiers #marshals #generals #grave #army #sea #waves #shipwreck #henri gatien bertrand #charles tristan montholon

[essektheylyss]

To preface, I think that Beau and Caleb are fine, and somewhere in Exandria they're being super effective using their respective 10 strength scores to try to smash their restraints into a rock before giving up and trudging off to find a smith shop or an arcane store. HOWEVER.

I am thinking about what a HORRIFIC few moments they just had. Of course they're here chasing Ludinus to this end, because that's what they set out to do, but I don't think there was any imagining in their epilogues to what extent this would go. They signed up for riskier-than-average private investigation work and found a plot to unleash a second Calamity.

And then, when it came down to it, they failed.

They were about as trapped and restrained as they could be, fully at Ludinus's mercy. Behind the charm, did Beau think about how much Yasha was forced to do when her will wasn't her own? Silenced and without magic, did Caleb remember being at the complete mercy of another Cerberus Assembly archmage?

And amidst it all, when was the last time Beau saw Yasha and their kids, whom she's had for no more than five years? When did Caleb last visit Veth or speak to Essek? Does he even know where Essek is right now? Do any of the Nein know specifically where Beau and Caleb are?

They've failed, they're trapped, and they're restrained in ways that explicitly cut off any possible way they might tell their loved ones goodbye, let alone warn them about what they are near certain is about to happen.

And the nature of what looks inevitable in that moment means that even that warning would mean nothing in the end, because while Beau and Caleb are already trapped, there is no escape for anyone in Exandria if Ludinus gets his way.

#anyway I'm not actually angsty about this (see the first paragraph) but I am :3 about the angst of it so I'm inflicting it on all of you #yanno! just for lulz! just for kicks! #empire kids trauma world tour 843 PD #cr spoilers #cr meta #critical role #caleb widogast #beauregard lionett #like man imagine being like 'am I gonna be buried in an unmarked grave' #and then promptly realizing the answer is def yes but mostly cuz no one's going to be alive anymore to find your bodies

[victusinveritas]

A Roman “hologram” effect ring found in the grave of 1st century AD noblewoman, Aebutia Quarta. The ring is thought to depict her son, Titus Carvilius Gemello, who passed away at age of 18. Found at the Grottaferrata necropolis close to Rome.

I know I've posted this before, but every time it comes across my feed on Twitter or Facebook, it goes up here.

#grave goods #roman empire #rome #archaeology #jewelry #necropolis

[shardanic]

VIP commission for

@SamSykesSwears of his Ashmouth assassin Ghiori!

#commission #grave of empires #fantasy #assassin

[gunkreads]

(back to our regularly scheduled programming)

So I know I said I was about to read Leviathan Falls, but I had to put a hold on it at the library, so I grabbed Ten Arrows of Iron in the meantime.

Ten Arrows of Iron is the second book in the Grave of Empires trilogy by Sam Sykes. I read the first book, Seven Blades in Black, nearly a year ago now. It was... well, if you wanna read my review, you can search its title on my blog. Ten Arrows of Iron is preeeeetty much the same deal.

Before, I compared this story to Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames (one of my all-time favorites) by saying Seven Blades in Black had all the same things right with it as Kings, but more things wrong with it.

The world of this series is pretty compelling, with Sal, the protagonist, on a revenge quest the no-man's-land of a war between the militaries of the Empire (made of mages with a comically hackneyed array of powers) and the Revolution (Basically the Imperium of Man from Warhammer 40k). There's some wacky interdemensional shit going on in the way background, but the foreground stuff is basically "Sal has a haunted gun and a list of people to kill. She is mean, bad, funny, and in extraordinary pain with even more extraordinarily bad coping mechanisms."

These books, the Grave of Empires trilogy, are an exercise in non-restraint. Sykes lives and dies by the idea that every single line he writes should be fucking killer. He makes liberal use of paragraph breaks, italics, choppy sentences, and all-caps dialogue to this end (kind of like I do in these reviews!). You might be able to tell this just from that description, but these books can get BEYOND exhausting to read. Blah blah, "when every line is a showstopper, none of them are," blah blah.

However! If you let yourself melt into the narration, you can see it as both 1: characterizing the narrator (diegetic narration; Sal is telling another character her story) and 2: a thousand attempts at greatness with about a hundred successes. Sykes takes that 10% success rate and says "Fuck it! Good enough!" assuming that you'll also feel that way. As I believe the old crusties on this site say, "YMMV" (Your Mileage May Vary, for those of you who also didn't know what that meant).

Personally, I read these books in the same way I watch action comedy movies. They aren't high art. Are they constructed well? Yes. Are they changing my life? No, not at all.

Do I have a good time reading them? You fuckin betcha! They're oozing style in a way I don't see often. I've seen somewhere that Sykes created his setting inspired by old-school JRPGs; to this I say nay, this is Wacky West. Y'know how Sergio Leone basically said "Here's what a cowboy looks like!" and all of America went "Yeah we're cool with this, it's awesome!" Sam Sykes agreed with all of America on this and made Sal his Clint Eastwood. She's a cowboy through and through, in all the most ridiculous ways mythologized by classic American filmmakers.

Or... at least, she was in the first book. The second book cranks up the melodrama quite a lot. It's actually a very pleasant transition, with Sal having plenty of reason to become more emo and the difference coming out fairly smoothly. She's really questioning herself more in this book, which is saying something, but her narration does show wild swings in her belief that she's a bad person that are actually super interesting to read, but... possibly too deeply buried for some peoples' tastes. It's not that Sykes actually buries anything--he's about as subtle as, well, a zeppelin falling out of the sky--but because he's so blindingly hamfisted most of the time, any character or plot beat that's done normally feels like a little secret just for you.

I can't say I'd recommend these books outright, but I will say that if you're in for a couple 600+ page brain candy fantasy action comedies, these are pretty fuckin' stellar.

#ten arrows of iron #grave of empires #seven blades in black

[uncleclaudius]

“Here lies Tiberius Natronius Venustus. He lived 4 years, 4 months, and 10 days”

A tombstone discovered a few years ago in an ancient necropolis near the modern Vatican.

#ancient rome #roman empire #ancient art #ancient history #ancient culture #child grave #scupture #tombstone #ancient civilisations

[empirearchives]

The Three Graces (details) by Antonio Canova, 1814-17

Regarded internationally as a masterpiece of neoclassical European sculpture, The Three Graces was carved in Rome by Antonio Canova (1757 – 1822) between 1814 and 1817 for an English collector. This group of three mythological sisters was in fact a second version of an original – one commissioned by Joséphine de Beauharnais, first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Canova is now widely recognised as one of the greatest European artists of his day, but from the mid-19th century onwards his reputation suffered, partly because of what was seen as the problematic relationship between his work and ancient sculpture. The great German scholar Gustav Waagen commented dourly on The Three Graces in his extensive survey of works of art in British collections of 1854: "But however attractive the tender and masterly finish of the dazzling white marble, the pretty but insipid character of the heads cannot gratify a taste familiar with the antique".

Source: V&A Museum

#v&a museum #victoria and albert museum #napoleonic era #napoleonic #empire style #empire #neoclassical art #neoclassical #neoclassicism #graces #the three graves #Antonio canova #1800s #1810s #marble #statue #marble statue #19th century #first french empire #French empire #art #canova #19th century art #Italian #french #premier empire #Italy #France #Josephine #empress josephine

[theminecraftbee]

It’s a day later, and Ren’s clothes still smell like dirt.

Obviously, he’s washed them; this isn’t the first time he’s smelled like dirt, you know. He’s a terraformer! He gets down and dirty! He’s used to doing things like digging out basements and building new hills, things that cover him in soil and the unique smell being underground has. It’s fine.

But those times, see, he just had to wash his clothes, take a bath, and clean himself off. This time, he’s scrubbed himself so raw there are rashes on his chest. It’s a little embarrassing, actually, the patches of red, raw, scrubbed-clean skin on his body, given that he normally tries to have a hot and ready body for every occasion.

He can’t take off his shirt like this, even if no matter how hard he washes himself, he still just smells like dirt.

…and maybe a bit of rot.

The rot should wash out too, though, Ren thinks. He’s washed it out before. He knows tricks for getting blood and corpse out of clothing and hair until he mostly just smells neutral-to-bad, and not like a pile of dead bodies. It’s. Not a skill he’s so proud of, to be honest. Getting dirt out of things? Sign of a hard worker. Getting blood out of things?

Well.

He still feels like there’s dirt and blood under his nails. He tastes dirt in his throat. His clothes still smell like a tomb.

(Long love the king.)

He’s fine though, really. Ren Diggity Dog can get up from a lot of things. He’d almost dug his way out himself, before Pixlriffs got there. And all the hermits are here! Plus all these new friends! And like, no one’s looked at Ren and asked why he smells like dirt and rot and something that’s stuck to the back of his throat, so like, maybe it’s just all in his head?

It’s probably all in his head.

He frowns. Then again, he doesn’t want to leave a bad impression on anyone he hasn’t met yet. One more wash shouldn’t make the clothes fall apart, and one more wash can’t be that bad on top of the parts of himself he’s already scoured clean.

His nails still feel so grimy. He probably just missed a spot.

#empires smp #hermitcraft #rendog #a bee fic #hey Ren you can’t just wake up in a grave and not explain it dude

[thesilicontribesman]

Inscribed Roman Tombstone of Vicuritinus, son of Beria(cus), Swansea Museum, Wales

The name inscribed on the stone was thought to be Macaitinus but a more recent examination suggests that the stone may be mounted upside down and the name is in fact, Vicuritinus.

#roman #romans #roman grave #inscription #archaeology #relic #artefact #stonework #roman empire #roman craft #swansea museum #wales