On the Verge of Lunacy

Masanosuke Akitsu is having a hard time keeping his jobs because of his personality. Although he's a skilled swordsman, he freezes up in a crowd and cowers when everyone's attention is on him. The shy ronin meets his opposite while wandering around town. Yaichi, leader of the gang called Five Leaves, hires him as a bodyguard. He finds the gang's covert activities discouraging however and several times he tries to extricate himself from the group. However, the more he knew Yaichi, Take, Umezou, and Matsukichi, he becomes more attached to the gang. His fascination with Yaichi leads him to discoveries of the latter's past that strengthens his admiration for the gang leader. The series has a very slow pace that matches the main character's personality. It takes a few episodes to establish the personality of each member as it is a character-driven story. There are also flashbacks in certain episodes that will only make sense as the story progresses. This is a diffe...

Charles John Tibbits wrote a brief introduction of the origin of myths and legends. He traces it back to animism. He wrote that investing life in all things, living or inanimate, probably arose from the language used to describe or name things. Some words are expressive of gender and because the items have genders, there is a possibility that qualities were given to the object as time passed. This a collection of 30 of those stories which originated from that concept. They are listed below: Gaffer Death The Legend of Paracelsus Hans in Luck The Grey Mare in the Garret The Water Spirit Peter Klaus The Legend of Rheineck The Cellar of the Old Knights in the Kyffhauser The Fisherman and his Wife The Mouse Tower The Dancers The Little Shroud The Arch Rogue Brother Merry Fastrada The Jew in the Bush The Elves The Conclave of Corpses Legends of Rubezahl, or Number-Nip The Hunter Hackelnberg and the Tut-Osel The Alraun The Goose-Girl Hans Jagenteufel The Waits...

Edited and translated by Charles John Tibbits This book is a collection of 29 stories, some of which are from the Edda. Readers will also find stories about the Norse gods although this book does not include the tales leading to Ragnarok. Included are a few stories about Thor and Loki. The following are the myths and legends included in this volume: The Wonderful Plough (Isle of Rugen) How a Lad stole the Giant's Treasure (Sweden) Tales of Cats (Denmark) The Magician's Daughter (Sweden) The Hill-man invited to the Christening (Denmark) The Meal of Frothi (Norway) The Lost Bell (Isle of Rugen) Maiden Swanwhite and Maiden Foxtail (Sweden) Tales of Treasure (Denmark) Holger Danske (Denmark) Tales from the Prose Edda      The Gods and the Wolf      The Strange Builder      Thor's Journey to the Land of Giants     ...

Don and his son Toby were out exploring the woods surrounding Timberlake farm. On their way back home, Toby found strange tracks on the snow. His father Don felt that the tracks were strange, but he dismissed them as footprints of some unknown animal. When he consulted his books and contacted his friend who said that the tracks aren't from any known animal in the vicinity, he became more suspicious. Toby had also sighted a strange creature with amber eyes peering at him at the windows. When they found one of their horses dead, Don knew his family, Toby, his son and Connie, his wife, is in danger. This book, published by Dean Koontz under the pseudonym Aaron Wolfe is a recollection of the strange events at Timberlake farm from the point of view of Don. He found himself battling for his sanity against an unknown force. The unfolding of the events leading to a shocking revelation was expertly done, creating more tension and anticipation towards the ending. Although the book is...

Although this game was set in the age of the Warring States in Japan, it doesn't focus on the human conflicts. Instead the player goes on a quest to stop the resurrected Nobunaga and the Genma from taking over feudal Japan and later on, the rest of the modern world. In the first game of the series, Onimusha: Warlords , Samanosuke Akechi received a letter from his cousin Princess Yuki asking him to rescue her from imminent danger. She observed that most of their servants are disappearing and strange events have been happening in the castle. Samanosuke was too late however. And what was supposedly a rescue mission turned out be a quest to rid the world of a much greater threat. The objectives of the first game are quite easy to follow. The player also has to remember everything he sees in the castle (doors to be opened, puzzle boxes, etc.) as some of these will help unlock items needed in the game. The boss fights aren't difficult as long as the player remembers the p...

The famous quartet from the Bridgeburners of the Malazan series. I tried to stick to the physical descriptions of the characters in the books. Link:  http://fav.me/d4salrp

Laseen from the Malazan series. Posted this on my deviantArt. Link:  http://fav.me/d4sal7b