Battle plans rarely survive first contact unless scope for a swift and orderly withdrawal is factored in at first instance. Drustina's initial plans do exactly that. First she must try and measure the enemy's capacity and quality on sea and if possible, on land. She has not the resources to tempt the Vikings to land troops ashore early so she cannot fully determine what she must face in the final analysis.

Grogg
By Ellie Dauber
(c) 2002

A father uses the Medallion of Zulo to break up the relationship between his daughter and a boy he doesn’t like. And, as you’d expect, things don’t go exactly as planned.

This is an experimental story that alternates between the action of the story and a stream of consciousness by the narrator character. I'll be curious to see what people have to say about it.

Basically a 'filling in' chapter as Drustina makes her way unobstructed up the West Coast of Hibernia. The Munster men who act as her pilots can only advise her as far the estuary of the River Shannon for the kingdoms are divided tribally near this border and the Vikings are active in the Shannon estuary.

Drustina and her flotilla arrive in Cork Harbour where they encounter a Viking Warship anchored off the little town of Cobh. They are compelled to destroy it or capture it before they can safely proceed up the inlet to the main city of Corgheig. (Cork)

A simple Map of the outer harbour of Cork in Ireland. Cork is further up to the west of the narrow inlet. Next map next chapter.

Terry buy's a phone app from the SRU store after a night at the bar with his roommates but they find the app on his phone and show their true deviance.

Twenty Three — Part One
Man was making such a mess of the world in 2020, something had to be done, or womankind would be lost forever.

Drustina and her companions complete their 'tour of inspection' to ascertain the general preparedness of the Saxons and Mercians to combat the Norse threat. Finally they return to Winchester to witness the marriage of Ethelred the Wessex king to Sonala the Mercian Princess.

Drustina continues on her tour of Edrinor's Mercian kingdom as she assess the Viking threat. The recapturing of a Viking held village for the Mercian King enables Drustina to send a sharp clear message to the Viking King Harald Cold-blood.

My parents named me Julio, and I don't really know when it all began. I remember one time I was a little boy I had a dream that I'd turned into a girl somehow. In the dream I wore a pink dress and black Mary Jane shoes and white stockings, and my hair was long and curly. I remember going to the bathroom and peeing sitting down. When I was a little older, at twelve I think, one time during gym class a friend of mine was sitting next to me.

In this chapter the plotters Lefty Tip-toe and Bishop Celyn learn their sentences. Drustina gets married to Carl and is finally delivered of her twins.

This chapter is something of an interconnecting step towards Drustina's onward ambitions to recover her homeland Lleyn.

The trial of Lefty the Assassin is concluded and the two plotters are detained prior to sentencing.

Drustina eventually wins the arguments concerning her right to marry Carl but Bishop Celyn is enraged by Cardinal Craklow's use of political expediency to circumvent what Celyn believes to be rigid, biblical strictures about gender, faith and nobility. He plans to have the Cardinal murdered.

By a happy accident, the Pope's envoy to Consecrate the Saxon great Church in Winchester turns out to be Cardinal Craklow, the once Archbishop of Warsaw. Drustina cunningly uses her Pagan circumstances and faith to persuade King Ethelred to allow her to approach the cardinal on her own behalf instead of getting the King to advocate for her. The Cardinal's ship delayed because it is dis-masted by a big wave. Drustina is fortuitously on hand with The Angry Mermaid and she get's the Cardinal out of a jam. He is delighted to meet her again after her efforts in Pola.

This chapter describes Drustina's battle with Harald Cold Blood during his attempt to invade and occupy Wessex. I have included a map with a Gazeteer to help illustrate battle sites and locations.

The first phase of the battle between Vikings and Saxons deals with Drustina's contribution to it's progress before she is burned and incapacitated.

I'm sorry for the long delays between chapters but the superb cycling weather here in the UK coupled with a full DIY workload and my busy social life (Sparkle weekend et al) has precluded me from writing much.

The first phase of the battle takes place wholly at sea the second phase has not yet been started so please bear with me as to the long intervals between chapters at the moment.

Bev.

In this chapter Drustina returns from her spying trip but finds the essential information lacking. She still is not absolutely certain where Harald Cold-blood, the Viking king will land his invasion fleet. There is no other option than to try and tempt him into her prepared killing ground but the risks are high because certainty of success is low. She will have to sacrifice some ships (but not the crews)to get Harals to land on Selsey Bill. Then she must carefully prepare the killing grounds.

This chapter describes how the Western Celts from Brithony decide to join forces with the beleaguered Saxons in order to protect their own interests. In the second part of the Chapter, Drustina decides she will have to make a spying trip of her own and the cost of getting vital information is painfully high.

Drustina has to choose between accepting being raped in order to gather information and take it back alive or to kill her rapist and probably be executed for regicide.

I wish to thank my editor, JP. Without his close supervision and eye for detail, this story would not have been possible!

The Passage
By Anon Allsop

Forward

In a story set in the early part of America's infancy, a young unwed American nobleman, Isaiah Evans, finds himself accused of wrongdoing after implying that he is married. Without his knowledge, close friends decide to provide proof that a wife exists. Their plan is to alter the appearance of a young indentured servant, who has recently arrived to the colonies. By using the the Medallion of Zulo, Duncan is to become the wife only as long as needed, but further entwines himself in a plot to get Master, Isaiah Evans to release him from his indentured servitude early.

Rae Summers: A New Beginning Chapter 13

Having warned the Saxon king who proves to be preoccupied with pious endeavours, Drustina decides to get proactive and go searching for the Viking invasion fleet. She eventually gathers some news of the Viking activities but nearly comes to grief because of natural, unexpected perils.

A man loves his long-time friend from childhood, but she doesn't — and can't — love him. He thinks that Operation Rescue will give him a way to remedy the problem, but he's unaware of what that will mean to him, his job and friends, and his whole being — if he gets accepted into the program.

As usual, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to my editors for improving, fine-tuning, and helping this story be better. Any mistakes or errors left are my own fault.

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W

A forest ranger in a remote cabin finds an MAU. After experimenting a bit, he finds a way to alleviate his loneliness. This story was posted several years ago on another site. This is its debut on Big Closet Top Shelf. It's a light-hearted little romp, but a bit explicit in points. Enjoy.

The MAU story universe and characters contained therein are copyright by ElrodW, all rights reserved. Use of the story universe or characters without the express written permission of the owner is a violation of copyright law.

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In this chapter, Drustina experiences her first pre-prepared and planned engagement with the Vikings. Andrar, the young heir to the Freisian throne has his first terrifying experience of battle.