Super Sunday: Time Travellers

Time Travellers!

Does time-travel count as a Supernatural thing? It’s more the domain of science fiction, isn’t it? But it surely is inaccurate enough that it doesn’t count as “hard” sci-fi. Anyway, I wanted to introduce a bunch of time travel characters, so I’m including them in Supernatural Sundays whether you want me to or not.

I mentioned somewhere on this site about a year ago that Kip and I were working on a project. I am still not doling out too much information, but here are some of the characters involved:

Professor D’Eon

This American professor was stuck in a bit of a rut in the 1980s. He found that he didn’t enjoy teaching very much, he didn’t enjoy life very much actually, but what he did enjoy was movies about time travel. With that in mind, he built himself a Time Car and began travelling all over the timestream looking for adventures comparable to those he sees in film. He has no concern for the stability of history or anything like that, he just wants to have adventures.

Knight of the Clock

When a European knight in the dark ages found a sword that could cut portals into other timmes, he took it as a sign from God that his quest was a noble one. But what was his quest? Well, since God is on his side, he figures that whatever quest he sets his mind to is righteous. With that kind of freedom, the knight can now travel to any era he likes and do whatever he wants to the godless heathens he finds there, especially when it comes to taking their stuff.

Jakkhax99

In the sprawling metropolis of Neo-Manila in cyberpunk future times, this cyborg crook managed to steal an experimental Time Belt from a global hypercorporation. Now he’s able to extend his crime spree to all sorts of time periods less advanced than his world. He can steal whatever he wants and who is gonna stop him?

Hung-Shi Tu

Coming from roughly the modern era, this Chinese astronaut (or taikonaut, if you prefer) was piloting a space shuttle that discovered a time-warp anomaly that could bring her to any point in history. Rather than turn this knowledge in to her employers, she has decided she could use unlimited freedom the anomaly provides for her own purposes.

A.G. Bromley

This Victorian Era gentleman has access to a time-travelling hot air balloon. Occasionally the other men in his club will make some sort of wager and he will embark on a journey through history and the future to win. And, if he’s feeling nice, he might even use his innate greatness as a civilized Englishmen to help the poor, pitiful natives of all the other time periods he visits.

Uchoyo of Rhapta

In the ancient city of Rhapta, one merchant was the greediest of them all. He travelled the extents of the explored world, and beyond, but his lust for more wealth was unsatisfied. But luckily, for him but nobody else, the merchant acquired a strange crystal orb that allowed him to jump through time. As soon as he realized his reach now extended through infinity, his greed expanded in an attempt to fill that gap.

Fariba the Mad

In the dark ages, there was a Persian princess who had a reputation for being both extremely vain and extremely eccentric. Her reputation was, if anything, an understatement. In an effort to appease the princess, she was given a supposedly magical mirror that was actually a time-travel device that allowed her to switch places with other time travellers in history. And with no particular goal in mind beyond her own amusement, she set about using that ability to mess with everyone.

You may have noticed that all of these characters are pretty much time-travelling jerks. That is not accidental. We’ll be back with still more time-travelling jerks next week, and they’ll get even stranger.

Super Sunday: Efmons 3

Efmons

Time again for me to flesh out the Efmon family. These are the people from a fantasy world who mutate themselves to serve their demon bosses.

Grunnich Efmon

Grunnich is the family’s hunter. Her mutation allows her to run, on all fours, at speeds about as fast as a car and she can track scents from miles away. Her claws and her bite allow her to do a lot of damage to her prey. Since the war, Grunnich has been helpful during invasions of new worlds. When the Efmons show up in a new place and start conquering, often the first instinct of the locals is to flee and seek help. Grunnich makes sure those runners don’t get anywhere.

Essan Efmon

As should be obvious from his great big head, Essan is a smart guy. His mutation allows him to think more quickly and abstractly than a normal mortal, which has become especially useful since the family had to flee their home dimension and start dealing with the mathematics of higher space. This works out nicely for Essan, who is something of a coward and has no desire to be anywhere near physical conflicts. A downside for Essan, however, is that his intellect has riddled him with doubts about the cult-like nature of his family’s worship of the demon Thalamaya. But Essan keeps those thoughts to himself. He is a coward, after all.

Beekeeper Review: Holofernus Meiersdorf and Sons

Holofernus Meiersdorf is a halfling beekeeper who lives in the fantasy land in which the Witcher franchise takes place. Previous reviews of Beekeepers in fantasy worlds have provided us glimpses of some very powerful beekeepers. Sadly, Ol’ Holofernus is not another one like that.

Holofernus, with his sons Bernie, Franklin, and Hugo, runs a honey farm called Honeyfill Meadworks. They seem to do a good job of it, so I’m not going to impugn their skills as apiarists. But what they don’t have is that extra something that makes truly special beekeepers. When they think their farm is under attack by a ghost, what do they do about it? They hire the Witcher to solve their problem for them.

These guys live in a world where magic and stuff is all real, but instead of using magic to become Ultimate Level Beekeepers, they’re just ordinary halfling guys who are actually worried about the threat that ghosts could pose. Power to them for being good at beekeeping, but it’s just a shame that they don’t apply themselves and unleash their full potential.

Two Honeycombs out of Five.