Recent content by Walter Banick

"Very well," Walter said, pleased not just with Alistair's assent but with how the whole of their conversation had gone. "I will make the request." He gave Alistair's shoulder a small, paternal pat, one that likewise signaled his imminent departure. "We will speak again in the future...

Walter accepted the compliment with a quiet grace, smiling slightly but not commenting on it. "The ship of state is only as well-steered as the capabilities of its crew allow." Walter cast a vexed look off to one side, his comment to follow made with a touch of disdain. "And I fear that the...

Military. Perhaps the most prestigious route for the Dreadlord son of a minor House to take in this new era. Swearing to his House would have limited his growth, for it was a plain fact that minor Houses lacked the reach of the Seven--mayhap with the exception of House Sirl these days. But on a...

No shortsighted protests against his rules of engagement. Good. Oftentimes, any dealings with elves were complicated more by his own people and allies than by any action on the part of the elves themselves. The Anirians who lived in the southeast, along the fuzzy borders with Falwood and the...

Yes, we are trained to be the elite defense of this city. We are Vel Anir's deterrent to the dangers of the outside world, so we have to be the best. A near textbook answer. It was nothing that Walter did not already know, the very same sentiment that he and swathes of fellow Anirians both of...

Walter's scrutinizing gaze moved among each of the Initiates. "Very well." It was a near certainty, within the Guard or within the ranks of the Dreadlords, that if one spent enough time in service, one would do battle with Vel Anir's most ancient adversary. Mayhap it would do them much good in...

Walter cupped his chin in the crook of his thumb and forefinger and listened to the young lord Alistair speak on his experience. He studied the boy with a scrutinizing eye, his attention focused solely upon him and his testimony. A storm of thoughts rolled in at the conclusion. Far be it for...

He reached the top of the stairs and waved off Sir Keating, Sir Belford, and Spymaster Gaines. They stood by the banister and waited dutifully for his return in speaking with the Initiates. Walter strode down the hallway, his armor rattled with each step. He wore mastercrafted, articulated...

"Psychopaths..." Walter barely spoke the word, his lips hardly moving. He tried to keep his expression receptive and stolid, the granite projection of strength that Theodore had hammered into him as far back as he could remember. Yet his sole eye betrayed him, a mirror into the self-reflection...

Another acquaintance of Major Huntington's came up just as Alistair did, providing the perfect pivot point in the current conversation. Charles turned to his acquaintance, and Walter turned to face Alistair. "Young lord Krixus," he said with a pleasant smile. He wasn't particularly surprised...

Major Charles Huntington was a fine Guardsman, but he highlighted one of the weaknesses of a republic. The man was good at being a Major in the Anirian Guard, but far less suited to being an elected representative. There had been a good many others like him, higher-ranking personnel who had...

((Ouch!)) Sir Keating and some of Banick bannermen turned glanced back toward the captive vampires in the cage wagon when the traveler pointed. Walter kept his gaze on the man. "Yes," he said slowly. "Yes, they do." So there was a bigger matter at play here. No conspiracy fabricated by the...

Well, nothing worth doing is ever easy. "A truth revealed time and time again." Such was it for the Initiates themselves, in their training to become one in the esteemed ranks of the renowned and feared Dreadlords. Walter knew that it was hard and brutal--the advent of the Republic...

Walter started to walk in his stately manner, and he bid the Initiates to follow. His entourage of bannermen, servants, and attendants emerged from the construction site and trailed behind the lot of them. "Good question, young lord," Walter said. "We are expecting individual pockets of...

"Outstanding. I've not had the opportunity to meet your brother, though I'm sure that both of you will serve with distinction through the years." To be honest, Walter was rather surprised by Kalix's enthusiasm. If one merely read the naked letter of the Academy's notes on Kalix, one would...