JosephArmstead

On the massive planet of Teshiwahur, a decade before the Knight known as D'Spayr became a symbol of Justice, a female child is born into the macabre and evil Royal Family known as "The Nightspawn-Evolved", a family of sorcerers, warlocks and witches who have mastered the Technology of Chaos-Magic called "The Discipline". Headstrong, brilliant and somehow exceedingly moral, the young Princess Nygeia, still discovering the latent powers resident in her evolutionarily-advanced mutant mind, rebels against the tyrannical feudal society of Ombria-Aeternae and against the sadistic brutality perpetrated against the kingdom's subjects by her parents, The Pahrayah. Her ally in her defiance and revolt against the edicts of the Pahrayah is her teacher in the arts of The Discipline, Ma'irgon Weircresther, half-sister of homicidal Mefysstin Baroness Foralynne. Meanwhile, outside the towering, mighty walls of the Palace 'Doomkravyn's Keep', the Nightspawn-Evolved is in the midst of a shooting war against the forces of their ancestral enemies, the Mefysstins... who seek to enslave everyone in Ombria-Aeternae in service to their dark demigod, 'The King of Scars', a.k.a. Grendabroam the Void Reaver. The main adversary and leader of the Mefysstin Legions is Hektar Mizurabliss, the Grand Mage-Inquisitor, who serves as the strong right-hand of Astarionne Myllenius, the Prince-High Cardinal of the Mefysstins. And Hektar Mizurabliss desperately wants Princess Nygeia and her powers for his own dark and twisted purposes. ****************************************************************************************** Jaw-dropping cover art by Stefanie Saw: @seventhstar…

JosephArmstead

"The Withered Land, The Empire Falls: Abyssium" is another early tale in the epic saga of D'Spayr's haunted youth, set three years Earth-time after the events of "Hell's Avatar" and nine years BEFORE he meets his comrades, Nygeia and Lumynn. He falls into the role of sellsword as he infiltrates the cabal of thuggish, bloodthirsty criminals among the forces of the government's army while assigned to the soon-to-be decommissioned moonbase of "Pex'Insava" orbiting some 380,000 miles above the surface of Teshiwahur. There, along with his scheming and duplicitous brother, he meets the artificially-evolved super-soldiers called "The Fae-spawn" and he accepts duties in one of their brigade-units as a mercenary consultant. The brigade runs afoul of a clandestine scheme to conquer Pex'Insava by insurrectionist terrorists using the Emperium's own fascist, anti-human mutant force, a ferocious Special Operations Counter-Insurgency military unit known as "The Nahztreme". Once the conspiracy is revealed, D'Spayr finds himself hunted and friendless except for the camaraderie of one of the most advanced members of The Fae-spawn, a vengeful, godlike super-being known as "Anthus Rohggym", and an enigmatic, moonborn woman-warrior named Reihn Valkonurr."****************************************************************************************** Phenominal cover art by Stefanie Saw: @seventhstar…

JosephArmstead

In response to Reader requests, I have created & compiled a brief Index, a FAQ if you will, detailing some of the BASIC foundational tenets of The Withered Land and its universe. This is in no way meant to be a complete and encyclopedic listing of the many and diverse details about the planet Teshiwahur and its peoples, but it does serve to provide a central rallying point for the most common Whys and Wherefores of D'Spayr's world.Enjoy!!…

JosephArmstead

"MUNE'STAHR and PYLOTT: HELLMARROW" is an epic tale of interstellar/cross-dimensional adventure featuring RIKTONN MUNE'STAHR and KESHURA PYLOTT, former Territorial Expanse SpecOps Troop officers in the Hegemonic Emperium's Extraplanetary High Frontier Extrasolar Naval Fleet. Following the catastrophic events of the Great Cosmic Revocation, that being the return to the Teshiwahurian Homeworld of all Naval Space forces from assignments in the World-Father's far-flung galactic empire, Mune'stahr and Pylott, separated from their naval units, are wrenched from the dimensions of normal Einsteinian SpaceTime to the bizarre cosmic corridor between dimensions known as "The Ventriculum". During a dangerous time of violent internal strife within the World-Father's crumbling interplanetary empire, the two space-armored SpecOps Troop veterans become biologically-bonded with a gigantic, sentient, alien ship called "The Glide", a spherical vessel that follows the programming of its own governing artificial intelligence, known as "Neesharim", on a mysterious mission to police the interdimensional gateways against sorcerers, alien dictators and their armies, space demons and other non-human threats scheming to enslave the Multiverse. Marooned in a colossal, intelligent shiftship that traverses a seemingly endless, omnidirectional fractal metaflow between universes, Mune'stahr and Pylott fight for ultimate Justice and for the control their own fates..."*********************************************************************************Cover Art by the legendary John Conrad Berkey, copyright © John Berkey / www. johnberkey. com…

JosephArmstead

Following the ominous events of "The Traveler in Red: Warlords of the Withered Land", D'Spayr, Nygeia, Lumynn and The Traveler in Red discover ever darker and deadlier secrets in the ongoing war between the foremost of the mighty outlaw warlords on the dying, giant planet of Teshiwahur! Alien demons, mutant mercenaries, criminal syndicates and pirates with interdimensional ships vie for dominance in a crumbling port-city beside an ocean of dangerous marine monsters as The Knight and his allies fight for Justice in a land where Time is broken! ********************************************************************************************* Astounding cover art by Stefanie Saw: @seventhstar…

JosephArmstead

In a decayed and dying alien world that was once center of a vast planetary empire, an embittered rogue knight, soldier to the fallen empire, traverses a bizarre landscape discovering strange and sinister truths about the nature of the leaders he once served and about the mysterious warlords who have now carved the world into their private kingdoms.************************************************************************************************Wonderful cover art by Stefanie Saw: @seventhstar…

JosephArmstead

A mysterious cosmic calamity befalls the planet and the world changes in fearsome, dangerous ways. In the grim aftermath of the catastrophe, desperate survivors, tyrannical warlords and monstrous mutates clash over dwindling resources and control of devastated territories. Michael Hellinger and his brave band of post-disaster commandos battle against the Evil unleashed following the collapse of civilization...…

JosephArmstead

Plot blurb about a dark novel of adventure: New Barrington and West Sussex on California's Borrego Bay are bustling modern cities to nearly all their human inhabitants. But behind their daylight facade is a festering supernatural underworld ceaselessly struggling for control. Metahuman warrior Montgomery Quinn, known as The Adversary, is the only force that can resist the evils threatening to overrun not just the Twin Cities, but all of the mortal world. An ancient artifact of power, The Sigil, has resurfaced, and the factions of Borrego Bay's night world are desperately competing to claim it. The Verrigotta Gather of vampires has rescued a local businessman's daughter, Brooke, from the kidnappers who tortured her to death and revived her as one of the undead. Brooke was investigating mysterious events in her area and learned too much about The Lost Sons of Purgatory, a cult of mass murderers who want The Sigil to bring their god into reality from another dimension. The government agencies responsible for the tenuous truce between humans and the beings called Ultrakin call on Quinn for help, along with a Bloodwitch named January Ulrich, or "Cold Janey." Together, Quinn and Janey track down the mystery of The Sigil, who wants it so badly and why. Reluctantly aiding them are Quinn's sometime-partners, Sam Carstairs and Ashton Brazil, and Patricia Silver, a professor whose love for Quinn led to her becoming one of the vengeful ghosts called Le Grymmeure. Meanwhile, Quinn himself is stalked by three members of his own ancient race, the Olympians, seeking retribution for a past crime of Quinn's. But they also have an interest in The Sigil. In a complex and tangled plot that evokes the best of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert Ludlum, Quinn and his allies--human and Ultrakin--follow the Sigil and its pursuers to a tense final showdown that holds some bitter revelations for The Adversary himself.…

JosephArmstead

Evolution is unstoppable. All things evolve -- or they die. Nothing is static. The world experiences a devastating cosmic event and civilization falls apart: the very geography of the planet changes, morphing into something deadly, hiding nightmarish new life forms. Cities crumble, societies fall. Welcome to the world of Michael Hellinger and the Rescue and Recovery Archaeological Brigade...…

JosephArmstead

D'Spayr, the EARLY YEARS ... nearly two decades before meeting the Sorcerer-Princess Nygeia and before encountering the Traveler In Red, a young journeyman Knight named D'Spayr encounters a dangerous secret sect, battles against an angel-like rogue alien with a sinister plan, encounters mercenaries from the Emperium's galactic militia, and encounters the sinister predecessor to his most persistent enemy, The Pilgrim, in a sprawling adventure across Space and Time!***********************************************************************************************Terrific cover art by Stefanie Saw: @seventhstar…

JosephArmstead

An excerpt from a novel-length adventure of the immortal vampire-hunter, Montgomery Quinn, in the macabre and dangerous supernatural underworld of the twin cities of fog-enshrouded Borrego Bay!! In a world where a secret vampire nation is watched and monitored by the U.S. government and where Undead, blood-drinking killers collaborate with human organized crime in criminal conspiracies, Quinn and his team of special operatives fight for justice!…

JosephArmstead

A military expedition to a dying world at the ends of Space and Time, a world that was once the hub of a mighty space-faring empire where advanced science and alien magic exist in a complex balance, encounters heroes and villains locked in a fierce battle for control and survival. A new adventure of D'Spayr and Nygeia in the bizarre and menacing Withered Land!**********************************************************************************************Magnificent cover art by Stefanie Saw: @seventhstar…

JosephArmstead

In a dark and dangerous city, a team of paranormal investigators encounter ghostly vengeance in the fallout of a criminal syndicate's gang war.…

JosephArmstead

A Tale from the Book of Dark Memory, featuring the dire menace of The Infernals: a special investigations field-team from a government scientific intelligence service run afoul a plot by a wealthy industrialist to summon an intelligent and powerful alien evil...…

JosephArmstead

A short, dark psychological study of a bitter and amoral man who has crossed the line...…

JosephArmstead

Welcome to my blog...…