Topher Lydon

It is an interesting world, I was in a very different mindset, and very young when I wrote this. As stated the original went on to become the Falcon Banner some ten years later. But revisiting the original which was buried in my old files, has me nostalgic. It's a bit formulaic, and we can see how... simple the plot is from that early work. But it is a sweet love story, underneath the grease and the dust.

Shem is the every man... there is nothing special about him, he is not the chosen one. He is just the Last man, the Last Caster of a fallen realm. Rade (pronounced RA-day) is going to come to rely on him, as Shem will come to rely on his prince.

just wait till he discovers boys his own age, they may run like rabbits, but Tom'll catch 'em

A deadly game in rapidly occupied territory, Karn is relentless and Taïr has what it needs. The three have a long road ahead.

Indeed, Jonas isn't magically well yet, but he's being brought back by his rather misbegotten family of misfits. I am looking forward to him being back on his feet again.

Not today

Welcome to Taïr Dieselpunk, magic, and invasion.

This work is VERY old I was a teenager when I wrote it, back in the 1990's. For those that know, this was the very first draft idea for the Falcon Banner. It has a lot of early concepts and thoughts. It was written, originally, over my first Christmas on my own, I was alone, all I had was Tea and what I could scrounge in my fridge. I had to do something with the weeks off from school, no one was around. Snow was brutal... and so I wrote this. I hope you enjoy.

In a dieselpunk city-state shattered by war, a scrawny mechanic with a forbidden power becomes the last hope for a runaway prince, fleeing an unstoppable enemy and the ashes of a fallen world.

Prologue THE SOOT ROAD The High City of Taïr was not built on a mountain; it was a mountain, or what the elements had left of one. It was a single, colossal stone pillar, sheared smooth by ancient, relentless winds, rising thousands of feet from the valley floor like the stump of a fallen god. Perched atop this impossible column, the city was less a bastion and more a cruel, sky-bound fortress of severe, grey architecture and towering sheer walls, all dominated by the flutter of fading

The Lord of Dust The vast, echoing hall felt colder now that the heat from Shem’s torch was gone. The only warmth came from the oversized greatcoat draped over the boy on the throne, which served less as a garment and more as a pathetic symbol of office. “What’s happened here?” the Lordling repeated, his voice barely a breath. He straightened, pulling the heavy blue coat around his slender shoulders, trying to look the part of a ruler. The attempt was heartbreaking. “What happens when t

A contemporary painting circa 1740 Photo circa 1925 A map of the grounds, the Barn and Stable complex surrounds 119 The Row of cottages that include Paddy's and the Harker's is along 349 The hall itself is in blue.

Tom is great fun. Adores Eddie and gets into every last ounce of trouble he can.

Good Morning

It was the mud that finally woke Jonas. Or rather, it was the horrific, suffocating memory of the mud that pulled him under, dragging him violently down into the dark, terrifying place where the past lived and breathed. He was back in the labyrinth. The ground beneath his boots was wet, slick, and treacherous, churned into a horrific, sucking quagmire by the frantic, dying boots of a thousand desperate men. The mud was soaked through with a horrifying, sticky mixture of freezing Scot