Powder Mage Quotes

Doctor, what could you prescribe for Charlemund?” The doctor looked down his nose at the unconscious form of the arch-diocel. “Arsenic?” “Now, really. Something to give him a quality headache and a great deal of memory loss.” “Cyanide.

The age of kings is dead, Adamat, and I have killed it.

You’ve one mark on your record,” Tamas said. “You once punched a na-baron in the face. Broke his jaw. Tell me about that.” Olem grimaced. “Officially, sir, I was pushing him out of the way of a runaway carriage. Saved his life. Half my company saw it.” “With your fist?” “Aye.” “And unofficially?” “The man was a git. He shot my dog because it startled his horse.” “And if I ever have cause to shoot your dog?” “I’ll punch you in the face.” “Fair enough. You have the job.

I would die for my country. But I’d rather kill for it. Ready your troops. We march!

You missed the morning’s festivities,” Bo said to Adamat. “You call torturing a man ‘festivities’?” Adamat asked. “I’m not a good person,” Bo said.

Even if you are a pompous ass with no respect for authority, you're worth fifty men, and I mean to see you in my army." "That was an incredibly backhanded compliment." "I meant every word.

The world is changing. People do not exist to serve their governments or their kings. Governments exist to serve the people, so the people should have a say in those governments.

First rule of bathing,” Gavril said. “If you can’t smell yourself anymore, it’s time to wash.

I’m an investigator, my dear. Other people’s business is my business.

Don’t trust any man who surrounds himself with beautiful women. Least of all a priest.

One man always makes a difference. Sometimes it’s a small one. Other times, he tips a war.

When a man solved his problems by punching them, books were often a foreign thing.

And there, among the ruined splendor of Skyline Palace, Adamat saw a god weep for the hero of Adro.

There is nothing that will make a man more desperate and more capable of violence than endangering his family.

I have the feeling you would much rather be on the front than in Adopest trying to win over the snakes in politics. At least here you’re allowed to shoot your enemies.

You seem to be in unusually good spirits.” “I do?” Tamas said. “I haven’t said two words.” Prime cleared his throat. “I can sense it about you. It’s in the air. Like a first-year student who knows he’s going to be every professor’s favorite. It’s annoying.

I’ve met dozens of officers who think their immaculate mustache can move the world.

A king’s pride doesn’t fill the people’s bellies.

Let the Kez come,” Tamas roared. “Let them send their greatest generals after us. Let them stack the odds against us. Let them come upon us with all their fury, because these hounds at our heels will soon know we are lions!

Not knowing one’s weaknesses gets people killed.

God' is a funny word, it implies omnipotence and omniscience. Let me assure, I am neither.

For Dad For never being hesitant that I’d make it this far. Even when you should have been.

Books are important. They link us to the past, to the future. Every written word gives us another hint about how to control the Else.

The problem with logic,” Prime said, “is that sometimes you are forced to believe your own hypothesis, even if you don’t want

The lockpick gaped up at Adamat from his knees. “You’re making enough noise, you might as well have knocked on the front door,” Adamat said.

Take all that hate and anger and ball it up and put it away. Don’t chew on it—that just makes you bitter. Put it aside and use it as a reminder of why you never want to be helpless again. Take your weakness and make it your strength.

At what point have you ever gotten the impression that there are good people in the royal cabal?" "You've given me that impression. Yes. You have." "Well, get past it. Because I'm not a good man. Not in the slightest. I just pay my debts.

Always ask why. It’s not enough to know the what of something.

He had an honest face, though Adamat found that honest faces were almost always deceptive.

You know,” Taniel said, “we could have kept firing after they sounded the retreat. Would have wiped out thousands on the mountainside. The Kez did that to us in Fatrasta a few times.” Gavril snorted angrily. “War has to have some decorum. Otherwise it’s back to the Bleakening for all of us, and Kresimir be damned.

I pretended I was a Kez colonel pretending to be an Adran colonel,” Olem said. “It was disturbingly easy.” “They didn’t ask for papers or proof?” “In this rain?” Olem gestured at the downpour. “You don’t understand an enlisted man, sir. Nobody asks for bloody papers in this kind of weather.

I believed it had been long enough that Kresimir would never return. I believed it was time for change. I thought all of Rozalia’s concerns were foolish, and that Julene was living in the past. I believed we were alone.” “My people have never been alone,” Mihali said. “The others may have left. I did not.

If they can kill,” Gavril said, “they can drink.

After the adrenaline had worn off and medals had been awarded and the glory meted out, only the suffering remained after a battle.

You gorged them on the blood of the nobility,” Mihali said gently. “They drank, but were not filled. They ate of hatred and grew hungrier.” He

He took my family,” Adamat said. “Blackmailed me, and he still has my wife and oldest son. I want to get them back, and then kill him slowly.” “A lot of violence planned, for a family man,” the eunuch said. Adamat leaned forward. “‘Family,’” he said. “Remember that word. There is nothing that will make a man more desperate and more capable of violence than endangering his family.

The people are hungry,” Mihali said. He lifted his hands, spreading them to encompass the city. “The people need to be fed. They need bread and wine and soup and meat. But not just that. They need friendship.” He pointed to a minor noble, some viscount decked out in his finest foppish frills, who poured a bottle of St. Adom’s Festival wine into the cups of a half-dozen street urchins. “They need companionship,” Mihali said. “They need love and brotherhood.” He turned to Tamas. He reached out with one hand, putting a palm to Tamas’s cheek. Instinct told Tamas to step back. He found that he couldn’t. “You gorged them on the blood of the nobility,” Mihali said gently. “They drank, but were not filled. They ate of hatred and grew hungrier.” He took a deep breath. “Your intentions were… well, not pure, but just. Justice is never enough.” He let go of Tamas and turned to the square. “I will put things right,” he said. He puffed out his chest and spread his arms. “I will feed all of Adro. It is what they need.

There are always two sides to everything he says and does, just as there are two sides to Brude himself.

My loyalties are not for sale,” Adamat said. “You’ll have to change your loyalties, then.

Yes. I’d already realized that.” Adamat gritted his teeth. “You’re the type of man who gives face to evil.

the ceiling was a mural showing some ancient hero making a deal with a two-faced celestial being.

Tamas had heard that every genius was equal parts madness. He

He was a longtime street thug who had just enough ruthlessness to rise to legitimate businesses and not quite enough intelligence to leave his dark life behind him. Aptly suited as a banker.

Promise me.” “No.” Etan’s eyes were glassy with tears. “Coward. If I were dying, you’d promise me. Because you wouldn’t have to answer to me then. But I’m not dying, and you won’t promise it. Bloody coward.

Stop!’ I said, holding a handful of powder in my right hand. ‘One more step and you’ll face the insidious death magic of Kellen Argos, arch-lord of the seventh order of shadow, master mage of the Jan’Tep!’ Reichis looked up at me, disgusted. ‘You really can’t stop yourself, can you?

There were a number of powerful factions within Adro: the Wings of Adom mercenaries, the royal cabal, the Mountainwatch, and the great noble families.

I don’t know if it’s ever been used before, but it’s supposed to rally every guard and battle mage on station to this point. Let’s hope it—’He was cut off as a large explosion and shouts of terror erupted on the far side of the door. ‘Battle mage.

Doctor, what could you prescribe for Charlemund?” The doctor looked down his nose at the unconscious form of the arch-diocel. “Arsenic?

powder mage could float a bullet over a mile and hit the bull’s-eye every time. He could angle a bullet around corners with the power of his mind, and ingest black powder to make himself stronger and faster than other men. But he could do little to contest Privileged sorcery at close range.

Men with a Knack were considered the least powerful among those with sorcerous ability. It usually manifested itself as one very strong and particular talent, though some were quite powerful. There were plenty of men who claimed to have a Knack. Only those with a third eye—the ability to see sorcery and those who wield it—were truly Knacked.

Creemos que a veces se necesita de un poco de magia para sobrevivir a la realidad.

Spies aren’t like soldiers, Field Marshal. A soldier has loyalty, yes, but at the end of the day he does what he does for a full belly and a month’s wages. Spies do it because they love the game. They love their country, or their king.

Doctor, what could you prescribe for Charlemund?” The doctor looked down his nose at the unconscious form of the arch-diocel. “Arsenic?” “Now, really. Something to give him a quality headache and a great deal of memory loss.” “Cyanide.

They spoke at the exact same moment: “Adamat, I need your help.” “Ricard, I need your help.

Traveling through airports with white powders may get you flagged by TSA as a potential drugs dealer!

No,” Beon said. “The story is not over yet. But the ending will be very sad regardless.

I did it because those grumbling students of philosophy at the university only play at rebellion. The age of kings is dead, Adamat, and I have killed it.

If Claremonte’s eyes twinkled from amusement, Tamas’s twinkled as if he was imagining a very slow, painful way for Claremonte to die.

Let them come upon us with all their fury, because these hounds at our heels will soon know we are lions!

you seem

The man blinked in the sudden light of the lantern, his mouth slightly open. His skin, hued with an almost reddish tint, marked him from Gurla, while his pudgy face and a body flabby around the middle and soft like a woman's betrayed that he had been castrated sometime before puberty. His head was shaved and he had no facial hair whatsoever.

Doctor, what could you prescribe for Charlemund?” The doctor looked down his nose at the unconscious form of the arch-diocel. “Arsenic?” “Now, really. Something to give him a quality headache and a great deal of memory loss.” “Cyanide.” “Doctor!” “I’ll find something,” the doctor mumbled.

Yet who listened to soothsayers these days?

I’ve never resorted to assassination before. Not in twenty-five years of command.” “I can remember a few times you should have,” Sabon said. “Remember that shah we fought in southeastern Gurla?” “I try not to.” Tamas leaned over and spit. He lifted his canteen to his lips, still watching the barricades. He could hear musket shots and the occasional report of artillery from about two miles away, where Brigadier Ryze was commanding an assault on the armory. “I’ve met some bad men in my day,” Tamas said, thinking of the shah. “But that man was a monster. He’d have a man’s entire extended family buried alive if he questioned a command.” “You had him gelded,” Sabon said.

We’re the chaff,” Styke said. “Lindet doesn’t give a damn about our lives and we don’t give a damn about her orders. If you want to stay behind and protect Planth, you bet the medals on your daddy’s jacket the Mad Lancers will stay with you.” He reached out, clasping Taniel’s hand.

Erika laughed, a sound like wind chimes in a light breeze.

The man narrowed his eyes. “Cook?” he snapped. “Do I look like a cheap purveyor of watery soup and half-cooked meat? I’m a chef, damn it, and you watch who you call a cook in the future. Feelings are liable to get hurt.

I swear by my mother’s squash soup.

I don’t really want to meet anyone yet, thank you,” he said. “I don’t want to cause a fuss. Meeting a god is an awfully big thing. I think.

And they will guard Kresimir’s Promise with their lives, for if it is broken, all the Nine might perish.” He scanned the page, and then the page after, and then the page before. There were no other references. He scowled at the pages. “This doesn’t make sense.

You look like you haven’t had a good night.” “You look like you have,” Tamas said. “I’ve seen it all now: seduction by way of omelet.