That's alright. I can work with that. Serendipity, right?
Thom Brannan (est.1976) is a nuclear submariner and offshore oilfield electrician, and now works on automated equipment in the Austin, TX area for whomever will allow it.
He's aided and abetted by Kitty (his wife) and a couple of kids and a dog.
The world as we know it ended, but after a brief 15-year period of rising dead and spreading chaos, things are more or less back to normal. The maps of the world have changed, now including miles-wide Black Zones, and state lines have been redrawn.
In the aftermath, a game show arose: Cemetery Gates, where contestants test their mettle against the walking dead. The winners go on to fortune and fame, and the losers… well, they're taken care of by the next round of contestants. Enter Terry Dax, who uncovers a secret so explosive, Of The Dead, LLC has decreed Dax will die, and he will die on Cemetery Gates!
Things only go downhill from there. Zombies, bounty hunters, pirate-themed gangs, mega-corporations and an entire six-pack of whup-ass. World of Trouble is a zombie/corporate espionage/adventure story, equally inspired by The Running Man, Richard Stark's Parker novels, and Land of the Dead.
Generations beyond the events in H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu," the Thurston/Angell family has remained it the family seat, prosperous in business and politics. Wayland Thurston wants none of it. However, after the death of his father, he has no choice but to return home to Providence and receive his birthright. He wants none of that, either, but puts in an appearance anyway.
And everything changes.
The Century protects us at night: one hundred wizards to wield magic, traveling the globe to keep the monsters at bay. The Century enforces the Pact, the only thing that stands between humanity and darkness.
Io (Centurion IX) is sent to Austin to evaluate and assist Detective John Chang with several missing persons cases. But what appears to be a simple job quickly spirals out of control and as danger looms from every side, both men are hemmed in by supernatural politics and predators. The pair will use every bit of skill, luck and magic they have just to survive.
These are the Tales of the Century.
The Century protects us at night: one hundred wizards to wield magic, traveling the globe to keep the monsters at bay. The Century enforces the Pact, the only thing that stands between humanity and darkness.
Io (Centurion IX) and the Austin PD Liaison John Chang are drawn into a murder mystery the likes of neither has seen before. The dead are the fae, creatures of myth and magic, but before they were murdered, they were turned undead. Nothing makes sense, and the clues are few and far between. It will take every bit of will and wit John and Io possess to see this through.
These are the Tales of the Century.
There comes a time for a superhero when punching a bad guy in the face just isn't enough. Spring-Heeled Jack has reached that point. Not that he doesn't enjoy the way his nanotech-enhanced fists have made their mark on the underworld, but he knows he could do so much more. His partner, the Archon, knows Jack means well, but he doesn't have the answers he needs to make a decision, and the archangel Uriel, to whom he is bound, has been silent on the matter. Their boundaries are stretched to the limit when a new supervillain appears on the scene and changes the way the game is played. Some bad guys want to be rich, some want to rule the world... the Tyrant wants to bring an end to everything... and he's got the means to do it.
Spring-Heeled Jack and the Archon will save the day, of that there is no question. But what will be the cost? Ideals and people will be cast to the side, and when the time comes, a terrifying choice must be made.
This is what happens when the abyss gazes back.