Travis Starnes

In the Shadow of Lions - Chapter 11

Aleors Mill, Barony of Stonehill, Duchy of Kingsheart, Sidor

Gareth Bevan looked up from the row of cabbage seedlings he was carefully thinning as the trio of unwanted guests approached on their horses. As village elder, Gareth had served as leader and advocate for Aleors Mill for thirty years, and it was always his duty to deal with the baron’s men on the community’s behalf. In his youth, the duty had been unpleasant, as most duties a lord requires of a commoner ar...

Triumph of Venus - Chapter 9

Between Devnum and Factorium

Lucilla stared out the window as the train raced along the newly laid tracks, the countryside whipping past in a blur. She marveled at the speed—almost as fast as a galloping horse but smooth and steady instead of the jouncing gait of even the finest destrier. The ribbons of steel track stretched to the horizon, following the curve of the land and cutting straight as an arrow. She gripped the edge of the seat unconsciously as trees and hil...

Cover Reveal - The Triumph of Venus

Well ahead of schedule this time with the cover for the sixth Imperium book.

Imperium Concept Art - Imperium Character Portraits

Ramirus (Image 1), Talogren (Image 2), Hortensius (Image 3)

The Threads of Destiny - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Ruined Keep

The inside of the crumbling structure was both amazing and sad, its once fine craftsmanship and splendor now torn down by the relentless passage of time. It was impossible not to marvel at the grandeur of the space, even in its current ruined state. Shafts of light streamed in from gaps in the partially intact roof, illuminating swirling motes of dust that danced through the air.

Across from them, the far wall had completely collapsed in...

Triumph of Venus - Chapter 8

Devnum

Lucilla felt a pounding in the back of her skull. For days, she’d been trying to figure out any way to get troops for Ky’s legions as he’d approached Italy. He’d already begun the attack two legions down, and he was going to be dispatching another when they reached northern Italy.

Three legions was a very small number as they headed toward the heartland of Carthage. But try as she might, there was just no where she could dislodge more men. As it was...

Shattered Lands Concept Art - Characters

Colm Thranton (Picture 1), Garr of Eliston (Picture 2), Drummond Ainsworth (Picture 3), and Taran Bramwell (Picture 4)

In the Shadow of Lions - Chapter 10

Starhaven, Kingdom of Sidor

Captain Bramwell stood outside the heavy oaken door leading to King Serwyn’s personal study, taking a moment to prepare himself before raising a gloved fist to knock firmly three times. The sound echoed down the stone corridor, almost like a warning. One of the commanders he’d brought with him flinched slightly at the sound.

Instead of being bidden to enter, as he had the other times he’d been forced to interrupt the King, the doo...

Imperium Concept Art - Character Portraits

Gaius (Image 1), Conchobar (Image 2), Senator Fiacha (Image 3)

Triumph of Venus - Chapter 7

Gades, Southern Hispania

Cormac steadied his nerves as a much smaller contingent of legionnaires followed him back into the crumbling meeting hall. The past week had been extremely humbling for Cormac. Llassar’s rebuke over his performance during their first attempt at negotiations did not end when he stormed out of the village, continuing for several days as they waited for permission to return and attempt negotiation again. Some blistering words and hard truths had ...

Imperium Concept Art - Character & Location Portraits

Sorantius (Image 1), Modius (Image 2), Cynwrig (Image 3), Devnum (Image 4), Londinium (Image 5)

Triumph of Venus - Chapter 6

Gades, Southern Hispania

A long column of Britannian horsemen, two abreast and fifteen deep, passed the first buildings of the worn-down village, the eyes of every villager on them as they rode toward the central market. Or at least, every villager brave enough not to run into hiding the moment the column of armed and armored men appeared coming up the road.

The village had been through difficulties, it was clear. The road might have been well-made and sturdy twen...

In the Shadow of Lions - Chapter 9

William walked slowly across the blood-soaked field, carefully stepping over the bodies of the dead and wounded. The fighting had ended hours ago, but the moans and cries of injured men still filled the air as disciples moved among them, doing their best to treat gruesome wounds. The real disciples who arrived shortly after Baron Pembroke, not the soldiers disguised as healers.

Eskild walked silently at William’s side, his face an impassive mask. For William, it was all still painfull...

From the Top - Chapter 45

As we walked into the sleek, modern conference room, dominated by a massive oak table that could easily seat twenty people and a massive window overlooking LA, I was trying my best to keep my stomach in check.

The week following my victory had been a whirlwind, with numerous interviews, including two on national television, that had been amazing. All of my friends and family, including Kat, had gone home the day after the finale. Besides LA being crazy expensive and people having jobs t...

From the Top - Chapter 44

Christmas Eve day, Kat and I stood just outside the security checkpoint at LAX, waiting for my friends and family to arrive. I was having a hard time not grinning every time I looked over at Kat. The last three days we’d spent together had been amazing.

While each day I’d been allowed access to the studio to practice and prepare for tomorrow’s competition, and Kat had to train at the UCLA swimming facilities to keep in shape, we made the most out of our evenings going all around t...

Imperium Concept Art - Character Portraits

Bomilcar (Image 1), Niall (Image 2 - Kalb Garrison Commander), Lassar (Image 3), Cormac (Image 4), Valdar (Image 5), BNS Bellona (Image 6)

Triumph of Venus - Chapter 5

Southern Caledonia

Claudius rode swiftly through the wooded hills of southern Caledonia, his back and legs tired after weeks of chasing the escaped prisoner across Britannia. If it had been left to him, he would have abandoned the chase a long time ago. Either the elements or local patrols would have eventually captured them, and it wasn’t like these were the only bandits operating in the less populated parts of the country.

The problem was, it wasn’t easy to ...

From the Top - Chapter 43

Dexter was still closing up the show as I walked through the backstage area to where a green room of sorts was set up for contestants. I was still in my head, coming down from the excitement of the performance, and barely had time to recognize the blur headed right before me and brace myself before Kat charged me and leapt into my arms. Before I could even say anything, she grabbed the back of my head and pulled me into a kiss.

“You were amazing!” she exclaimed as she finally pulled...

Books by Tag

Some users have been having trouble sorting through Patreon's system to find the book they're reading.  Here is a list, byu series, with a link to a particular books tag, to help you find it easier. (In addition, here are the links for concept art and cover reveals if you pr...

From the Top - Chapter 42

The van dropped me off at the hotel, and I checked in. I was hungry and thinking about getting something to eat, but other than a quick text to tell Kat I’d made it okay, I hadn’t talked to her since the night before.

I dropped my bags on the floor of my hotel room and pulled my phone out of my pocket.

“At hotel. Finished production meeting. About to grab dinner. Call you later.”

My phone buzzed almost as soon as I hit send.

“Hey,” she said when I ...

In the Shadow of Lions - Chapter 8

Starhaven, Kingdom of Sidor

Edict of Travel

By Order of His Grace, King Serwyn Whitton the First, King of Sidor, on this day, let it be known that for the preservation of order and the safety of its people, the following restrictions on non-landed people living within the boundaries of the Kingdom of Sidor and its manor lands are hereby imposed:

Part One: Non-landed citizens shall not be permitted to travel outside their manor lord’s lands and purview with...

From the Top - Chapter 41

I headed down the hallway towards the front entrance, backpack slung over my shoulder, ready to get home and start packing. I had to leave for LA on Monday and, unlike last time, I was going to be gone for at least two weeks this time, until the week after Christmas, which meant I had to figure out how to get everything packed and go through it a few times to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

I couldn’t, however, just leave. Although I had gotten permission to finish the semester on...

From the Top - Chapter 40

Wednesday night was the night of the big show. Kat drove down to be with me as soon as her last class got out, even though it meant she’d have to get up early the next morning to make it to her eleven AM class. We’d picked up Cole an hour and a half ago from the Asheville airport and hustled back to Wellsville for the big event.

I’d been absolutely floored when we got to the school. Even though we’d arrived with over an hour to go until showtime, the parking lot and all the side...

Imperium Concept Art - Character Portraits

Ky, Lucilla, Medb, Taenaris (Head Roman Senator)

The Triumph of Venus - Chapter 4

In spite of her approval, it had taken several days working with Lurio, the imperial treasurer, to build out a budget for the rail project and go through all the details to make sure she understood exactly what Hortensius was planning. She didn’t exactly need the permission of her council of advisors for the project, but she wanted to run the idea past them.

Lurio already knew about the project, naturally, but Ramirus and Lassar were both brilliant in their own areas and could predict...

From the Top - Chapter 39

We’d ended up playing until almost midnight the night before because the crowd was so into it. With some help from a few kids from the A/V club who happened to be there, he’d pumped the music out through the TVs outside and it had become a whole party. By the time we called it at midnight, half the parking lot was still full of people partying. The atmosphere was great, but it was also a Wednesday night and most of us had school and work in the morning.

I hadn’t gotten home until ...

Shattered Lands Map

An overall map for the Shattered Lands

Character Lists and Maps

I still have work to go, but I've begun adding character lists (with images) and maps on my website.  I'm updating each collection with these links if you want to find them in the future, or you can go to my website and click on the series name to get to them. You can find the links to each here:

Imperium: https://tstarnes.com/book-series/imperium/

Country Roads: 2024-01-29 17:17:27 +0000 UTC View Post