On Tue, 12 Oct 2004, Johne Cook wrote: > >I needed to develop some key ideas for the October challenge, but >found myself writing background stuff to work out the details. > >The Caducean Order which is comprised of two competing houses, the >Hand of the Dove (Knights Templar) and the Hand of the Vulture >(Assassin Priests). They have the same relationship as the FBI and CIA >– they both work for the government, but one is visible and one is >covert. > >Both hate each other. > >This story is the story of an assassin. He will be a central figure in >the companion story, as will Sir Rodrik, his nemesis, a real bad-a$$ >do-gooder. > >I'm very aware that this will be a very editable, very pulpy, very >derivative effort - it's 30 days fer cry-yi. I'm also very aware of >my influences. In this case, I should apologize in advance to Steve >and PC Hodgell (God Stalk) (with a dash of Arthur Landis, who won't >mind as much, being dead already and all). > Have you read /The Apocalypse Door/, by James D. MacDonald? It sounds very much like what you describe above. It's got a smartass assassin Templar protagonist vs. the Teutonic Knights, and like that. Some people on this list might like it, although I thought that the ending was disappointing, and the religious aspects didn't do as much for me as it might have. It may have more resonance for Catholics, lapsed or otherwise. All of which is not to say that you should not do your own take on such things, of course. It seems that Katherine Kurtz did some anthologies of Knights Templar stories; perhaps you could submit to one of those if she does more. Reviews here: http://www.dkennedy.org/C2025243227/E638999845/ http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue294/books2.html http://google.com/groups?threadm=birkfe$civru$1@ID-100778.news.uni-berlin.de http://google.com/groups?threadm=tillman-EE0D71.22563704062003@news.fu-berlin.de http://google.com/groups?threadm=3eff2f87$0$964$cc9e4d1f@news.dial.pipex.com