Michael Karner's Blog

“You want to know about the kingdoms? Well…”

“The Tattooed Empire: global empire due to its trade secured by vast ship fleets, railroads and regiments of redcoats. It is believed that the queen’s connection with the old gods grants their ships safe passage. The empire that Chauhan reluctantly gave allegiance to. I don’t trust them, but that’s just me.”

“Land of the Natives: fallen empire with most advanced technology that believes itself related to immortal blood and ancestors such as King Tancred. Roland’s home. Its former leader is to believed dead, but missing. Now the monstrous king’s domain and defended only by some barbarian tribes and leftovers of the war. Yeah, can’t get any worse than that.”

“Land of the Frank Ones: situated to the west of the Land of the Natives and seat of the Bloodied Hunters, a brotherhood of monsterhunters Roland was trained in. These are the good guys, ahem, most of the time.”

“Empire of Calves: empire engulfing the middle-earth sea with its distinctive heavy armored legions and gunpowder. Masters of wine and entertainment, such as Calcio and gladiatorial games. A long-winded mountain pass of forts leads to theLand of the Natives. Takes a lifetime. Believe me, I’ve done it. Twice.”

“Desert Land: homeland of the desert princess and refuge of one house of Immortals. Wealthy oil and trade hub of nomads with its caravans and bazaars. Only livable places are vast cities and oases between deserts infested with sandworms and oilfields. Harbors draw in motley ship crews from other nations like the Land of the Burned Faces from Roland and Chauhan’s ship. Location of the secret academy the princess was trained in and seat of the world’s biggest library. Place where, following a vicious sandstorm, both Roland and Chauhan arrive and the adventure begins.”

“Temple of the Creator’s Soul: a place only the most foolish or brave nomads and adventurers seek out to find treasures. An old, forgotten empire of the dead. You really don’t want to go there. Best you forget what I just said.”
“Flowland: vast dominion of the Tattooed Empire Chauhan grew up in while becoming a monk. Origin of the new religion and the spectacular martial art Chauhan is trained in. Don’t mess with him.”

“Land of the Five Rivers, Horsemen and Turtles: birthplace of the monk Chauhan close to the Flowland to the east. And lastly…”
“Land of the Free Ones: covered in emerald islands and white beaches. Location of the jungle-city of three rivers and recruiting place of a band of heroes that wants to rescue the princess and fight against the monstrous king hunting her. It is the safe haven Chauhan wants to bring the princess, only to find out that the employers of their killers are in the same city.”

“Of course there are many more, but these play a bigger part in this story. Give me a short break, let me finish my pipe first.”

A thousand years haven’t left the world in stasis...

A new empire spans with its fleet across the whole globe, reaching every continent and mysteriously being kept unharmed from the horrendous old gods that lurk in the depths of the world seas. People born in far away and exotic cultures, like the monk Chauhan, find themselves now under the rule of a queen, half a world away. People like him won’t believe in loyalty to a crown, but they would believe into the new religion, if only a savior arrived.

The uprising of monsterhunter Roland’s homeland was destroyed when he was only a child. Its advanced technological relics roam the borderlands that are overrun by barbarian kingdoms and hordes of monsters. Always on the search for water and fuel for his machine-artifact, his last hope lies in the finding of the immortal princess to save his broken nation: the land of forefathers, where it all began and the bloodline of the Immortals is rooted.

The Immortals and their knowledge of a power called magic are all but forgotten and hidden in the sands of the desert, emerald jungles or in worse places. The awakening of one desert princess could be a turning point of the forgotten power – if she can beat the monsters hunting her.

Learn about its kingdoms...

999 years have passed since the events of Red Axe, Black Sun – A new world will be forged from the ashes of forgotten legends.

Twilight Princess: The Rogue Empire tells the tale of the rescue of the immortal and sleeping desert princess. The problem is, when two knights in shining armor arrive at the same time. Monsterhunter Roland Ducarte from the Order of the Bloodied Hunters and a pacifist kung-fu monk with a criminal past, have their own secret agendas. While it soon becomes clear, that a monstrous king wants to kill the princess and bestow her immortality upon himself, she slowly begins to remember what she is capable of and that her family kept her locked in for a reason.
Explore its world...

TOP SECRET/ //NOFORN, ORCON//MR1
FAX COVER SHEET

Antoine Springer – exceptional spy, recruited by the UNIT. Left for dead and hunted by his ex-employer, the CIA. Sent on a mission to retrieve a lost agent and later on to stop a terrorist attack involving a dirty bomb. If intel deems it necessary to infiltrate his enemies and work with them side by side, he will. Loves his wive unconditionally.

Priya Patel – Indian hacker, drone operator and secret spouse of Pakistani tycoon Usman Salim. Providing the UNIT’s eyes and ears on most missions.

Rose Mensah – mastermind and head of the UNIT, ex-MI5 with Ghanaian roots. Incredible thinker. Recruiter and patron of Antoine. One of the few trusted ones to know his secret.

Usman Salim – Pakistani arms industry tycoon, weapon and tech supplier of the UNIT. Charismatic, well-connected and well-funded.

Nate Kovac – Serb, hatchet man and best pal of Antoine. Chain smoker. Trigger-happy. Both attributed to having spent his childhood years at war. Lost his loved one, but is willing to do anything to spare Antoine from the same grief.

Olga Kovalenko – FSB operative, headstrong and willing to do what it takes to get to the top, even if it includes withholding vital information from the top FSB brass and leading her own covert operations.

Tanya Sharipova – ex-FSB spy, was involved in the biggest spy-swap of the history between Russia and the US. Has worked for both sides. Trained by Olga Kovalenko’s father. Extremely unpredictable.

Khabib – Chechen, ex-Spetsnaz of the infamous Chechen Vostok battalion and leader of Tanya’s hired muscle. In possession of stolen stealth technology and a dirty bomb.

Don – CIA operative working for Section Chief Brenneman, investigating the murder of three of his colleagues. All clues hint to a man believed to be dead. But it seems Don’s boss is withholding some information.

Kerrie Carter – widow of the presumed dead. Jamaican, living in New Orleans together with her son. Avid painter, lover of art and all things French.

NOTICE TO RECIPIENT

If you have received this material in error, please notify this office at the above telephone number (collect) for instructions regarding its destruction. Thank you.

TOP SECRET/ //NOFORN, ORCON//MR1

Love Is For Tomorrow follows a spy named Antoine, a man who doesn’t exist. Left for dead and buried in Mexico, he starts a new life in Austria to protect his family. But while his former employer, the CIA, wants him finally dead, Antoine is hell-bent on stopping a Russian agent from an attack on an unthinkable target: her own motherland. A deadly chase across Europe ensues.

As the first part of a new series, it is Antoine’s first mission with the international spy agency UNIT, based in Vienna. With him stand a seasoned ex-MI5 mastermind from Ghana, a young female Indian hacker and a Pakistani arms industry tycoon.

See the locations up next.

http://www.xtme.de/2016/04/mittwoch-n...

Love Is For Tomorrow

Rasanter Agententhriller von Michael Karner

Der Ex-CIA Agent Antoine beginnt in Österreich ein neues Leben, doch der US-Geheimdienst scheint seine Spur gefunden zu haben … und während eine russische Agentin den ultimativen Anschlag auf Moskau plant, zieht sich die Schlinge um Antoine’s Hals immer fester zu. Gemeinsam mit seinen Kollegen von der Spionage-Agency UNIT in Wien bereitet Antoine den Gegenschlag vor. Zwischen London, Washington, Istanbul und Shanghai entwickelt sich ein rasanter Thriller in der guten Tradition von James Bond und Jason Bourne! „Spionagefans sollten mit diesem aktionsreichen Thriller auf ihre Kosten kommen!“ (Leser) (14 Rezensionen / 4,1 Sterne) (210 Seiten)

Another installment of the ‘Countdown to Hero‘ blogpost series (Part 3):

The thing I was always most looking forward to in one of my favorite author’s books, was turning the last page in a chapter in Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Night Lords trilogy, see the dreaded horned skull with bat wings symbol that starts a new chapter and lay my eyes on the few lines in italics that lie beyond, before the story went back to where it left – a quote, a proverb, or an abstract from some historical or pseudo-historical text.

To instill that exact same feeling of anticipation and as a hommage to Aaron Dembski-Bowden, I used that same method in Love Is For Tomorrow. Here are some of the best beginning chapter texts, their explanations and hidden meanings related to the story.

“And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

Right at the beginning, at a chapter named Fallen Heroes, this quote is taken right out of the Bible (John 8:32) and at the same time used as the US intelligence service, the CIA’s main motto. It is used in an ironic way in this story, as the truth is kept from even the closest partners within the agency and only the fallen heroes seem to have taken it with them into their graves.

“They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”

A beautiful Mexican proverb in the Noir chapter, showing beautifully, that a buried cause or person, can evolve from a dark path and come back to haunt you. Exactly what the main character Antoine is doing. In addition, Antoine was buried in Mexico and believed to be dead. 

“There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.” 

Wise words from Ernest Hemingway that show the complete dissociation from the real world one will experience, when once at war or in fighting situations. Used, when Antoine takes on his mission as a spy in the chapter Back to Black.

“When you set out to take Vienna, take Vienna.”

From Napoleon Bonaparte. Do what you intended to do and don’t let anything dissuade or stop you. Go relentlessly after your goal. Used in the chapter Capital of Spies, which is Vienna. 

“Know yourself. Know your enemy. Know no fear.” 

Own creation. Take Sun Tzu’s two-thousand year old wisdom of The Art of War (“If you know yourself and your enemy, you won’t have to fear the outcome of a thousand battles.”). Mixed with the unrelenting Science-Fiction world of Warhammer 40,000, where genetically enhanced superhumans protect humanity against the horrors of the universe (“And they shall know no fear.”). Taken from the chapter Ghosthunting.

Stay tuned for more motivational quotes or read them in the thriller Love Is For Tomorrow.

 

Contrary to what their advertisement wants to make you believe, most muesli and cereals are unhealthy: full with sugar (simple sugars linked to lowered testosterone levels in multiple studies), bad carbs (gluten in grain cereals, which can significantly increase prolactin levels, and lower Testosterone production), and bad fats (Polyunsaturated fatty-acids (PUFAs) as in most nuts).

Reason for that is also that cheap ingredients are used to earn the highest possible profit. What matters for the producer is taste, so that customers buy more and more.

What should matter to the customer is functionality.

Here is an alternative recipe for a self-made muesli that is not only healthy and full with delicately chosen ingredients, but increases health, boosts energy and testosterone and tastes good.

The ingredients:

a) Essentials

Macadamia nuts

Dietary fat increases testosterone and nuts in general are very high in fats. However, the kinds of fats linked to testosterone production are saturated fatty-acids (SFAs) and monounsaturated fatty-acids (MUFAs). Polyunsaturated fatty-acids (PUFAs) lower testosterone levels.

Most nuts are unfortunately loaded with PUFAs.

Macadamia nuts are the exception. 100 grams contain around 75 grams of dietary fat, out of which 60 grams are MUFAs, 13 grams SFAs and less than 2 grams PUFAs.

Brazil nuts

Brazil nuts don’t have as good fat ratios for testosterone production as macadamia’s (100 grams of brazil nuts has 15g SFAs, 25g MUFAs, and 19g PUFAs), but their testosterone boosting potential is in the high selenium content, which is very rare to find in other foods. 100 grams of Brazil nuts contains 1917 mcg’s of selenium, which is 2739% of the RDA%. That means with only 3 Brazil nuts, the recommended daily amount of selenium is satisfied.

Selenium – mostly due to its glutathione stimulating effects – is directly linked to increased testosterone production according to these studies: (study, study). Most of the selenium is in the skin of the nut, so it’s better to buy them unshelled.

Raisins

Raisins are anti-inflammatory and full of antioxidants, such as resveratrol, which has been linked to increased testosterone and lowered estrogen levels in this study.

Also, 100 grams of raisins contain ~3 mg’s of boron, a rare mineral that increases testosterone significantly according to these studies (study, study).

Yogurt

Prebiotics, probiotics, live enzymes, and other kinds of friendly bacteria seem to have a positive impact on testosterone production.

In this 2014 study, researchers tested multiple different diets with added Lactobacillus reuterii on male rodents. In every single case, the addition of L.Reuterii to the feed increased testosterone levels, increased luteinizing hormone levels, increased testicular size & weight, prevented age related testicular shrinkage, improved semen parameters, and even increased markers of social domination.

Another rodent study found out that increased exposure to healthy gut microbiomes lead to elevated testosterone levels. And one even saw that the probiotic Clostridium scindens can literally convert the stress hormone cortisol into androgens inside the gut.

By eating fermented foods, which naturally have the friendly bacteria and enzymes, you nourish the gut flora and colonize those healthy probiotics, prebiotics, and friendly enzymes into your intestines.

Yogurt contains both L. Reuterii and C. Scindensis and several other probiotic strains.

Raw Cacao Powder

Raw cacao, cocoa, or chocolate products are nutritionally dense testosterone boosting superfoods. In its raw form, it is not heated (which destroys the antioxidants and many vitamins), not processed and not refined.

It is linked to increased cardiovascular health, lowered blood pressure and lowered blood glucose levels.

The raw chocolate and cacao products are loaded with antioxidants and minerals, such as: magnesium, zinc, manganese, iron and copper.

They have perfect fat ratios: out of the dietary fat in raw chocolate ~61% is saturated fats, ~37% is monounsaturated fats, and only ~2% is polyunsaturated (depending on the manufacturer).

b) Extras

Dark berries

Dark berries like blueberries, blackberries, acai berries. The darker the berry, the higher the antioxidant content, and the more antioxidants consumed, the less inflammation and oxidative damage takes place in the body.

The result of that should be significantly increased testosterone production and testosterone molecule preservation.

Berries are low in calories, while being full of nutrients.

They also contain the unique fiber called Calcium-D-Glucarate, which can potentially help your body to remove excess estrogen.

2. Pomegranates

In this human study, daily pomegranate juice consumption for 2 weeks increased salivary testosterone levels by 24%, while dropping diastolic and systolic bloodpressure.

Another human study associated long-term (1-3 years) pomegranate juice consumption to -35% reduction in arterial plague. Pomegranate juice also protected LDL cholesterol from oxidizative damage, and dropped blood pressure as seen in the above study.

In test-tubes, few compounds extracted from pomegranates have found to be anti-estrogenic.

c) Side-drink

Coffee

Caffeine stimulates the nervous system, while boosting cAMP levels, leading to increased testosterone production and is full with antioxidants.

 

Enjoy these 7 Ingredients and 1 side-drink for a powerful breakfast or meal during the day, that is easy to prepare even on travels!

Use a page like www.agoda.com, search for your destination, sort by price (lowest first)

Screen for high ratings

Check pictures of inside rooms

Read the customer reviews, but don’t put too much emphasis on customers giving bad reviews, mostly due to minor observations, because a lot of people seem to never be fully satisfied and we are looking for the cheapest possible price here. Do take heed to observations about noise, smell, dirt and malfunctioning air conditioning, water heaters, showers and toilets. Do ignore observations about unfriendly staff, small rooms and no view.

Check the hotel location via map – location and logistics is everything and a hotel with slightly higher price will come cheaper than a slightly less expensive hotel badly situated, which might require taxi, bus, metro, car or motorbike rentals. A hotel in walking distance to your most favorite destination, a beach, clubs, public transportation hub, food market, atm/bank is worth gold. Aim to have each of those within a 1km radius. Everything more is doable once or twice, but will turn into a chore if it turns into an everyday affair (imagine carrying water more than 1km every day after walking 1km to get there).  

Make sure the room is available for the day of arrival, for the right amount of people, that it is a private room and not a dormitory and when are the check-in times to arrive there

Book a room for the lowest amount of nights possible – preferably one night

Upon arrival and after inspecting the room (cleanness of bed, air-conditioner working, hot water, clean water) if everything is fine, ask for additional nights and the best price they can give you. This should be the lower, the more days you plan to stay. Say how long you want to stay, but don’t book all the days at once, only 3-5.

If you aren’t satisfied, you can pull out or can search for a new hotel right away.

Always double-check on sites like www.agoda.com – sometimes they offer reductions, that the hotel has no knowledge of or infuence in.

And always treat people nice.

Everyone would like to travel and see far away places, but in these times, it’s cost of money and time that weighs us down. Next to the cost of accomodation – which will soon be tackled in its own article, getting to your dream destination is one of the two big expenses.

Here is a cut-down-to-the-essentials guide on how to always get the cheapest flight, save hundreds of dollars per flight and thousands per year or be able to afford a dream destination you thought previously financially impossible.    

Step by step:

Use a flight finder page, at the moment I always use skyscanner. 
Set the date for the whole month or the whole year and be time flexible to see on which days are the cheapest flights. Wednesdays are usually cheap, weekend and holidays expensive, as well as certain holiday seasons which differ from region to region. Supply and demand.
Clear cookies in your internet browser and refresh the page or change the language shown, if you previously were looking for flights to that destination. “Targeted marketing” means your previous search terms are saved and the provider knows what you need or are looking for, so will adjust the price by raising it. Use the aforementioned rebooting measures or open the page with another internet browser.
Choose the cheapest days. Check the list of flights on that day sorted by the cheapest offer and see which airline offers that cheapest flight, if you made sure the travel time plus transits is okay for you. Get all details of that flight but don’t book it.
Go to the homepage of the airline, search for that flight on said days using the details you just acquired and book it there. The flight finder page will take a small commission, so the price on the airline’s own website will be lower.


 Alternatively, check for special offers on travel pages that promote price bargains. In the german speaking world there is urlaubsguru, urlaubshamster and urlaubs-piraten. Make sure to check all country-versions of these pages, if they happen to be in reachable distance for you. That would be the Germany/Austria/Switzerland region for example, watch offers on .at, .de and .ch of the above mentioned pages.  
Sign-up for email newsletters or install their free mobile phone apps to get notified of offers on the flights you are interested in.
Some airlines offer flights with different return destinations, than their start destinations. One, those won’t be shown on normal searches because of different locations and two, you don’t know what the possible locations even are. Knowing them, you can search on the airlines homepage.
Some airlines have anniversary price reductions. Some airlines have special week-day reductions (like France’s KLM on wednesday for oversea flights from Europe). Sign-up for their newsletters to get notifications


Additionally: don’t forget to be location flexible. Some airports have cheaper offers than others. You can take the train, bus or even flight to a slightly more far away airport and take the flight to your end destination from there and still save money. For example, Munich is cheaper than Vienna. Frankfurt is cheaper than Munich.
See if cheap airlines are available for part of the flights or the whole trip to your destination.

Tip: Use the ryanair world map of destinations 

This map shows you which airports offer ryan air flights to which destinations and for which price. It pays off to work back from your end destination to see how to get there from the airport closest to your starting position. Or to even use detours by hopping around countries, if the complete end price is lower.  

Some tips for cheap airlines: make sure to read the flight information and  weight restrictions 100%. Some cheap airlines don’t include extra baggage in their flight bookings – only hand luggage up to certain measurements and weight (7kg is an example). Some don’t include the check-in service and you have to check-in online by yourself, or you need to print your own boarding card. These cheap airlines make money by charging high amounts for every mistake the customer does, by not reading their guidelines, so make sure you don’t make any.

Disclaimer: some cheap airlines like ryanair offer a mobile phone app as a free download, that allow to check-in for flights online and get a QR code sent to the phone that acts as a boarding pass. It pays off to install the app if you plan to use the airline several times, as now you don’t have to print out your boarding pass on your own every time – which can be costly and unneccessary complicated, if you’re abroad with no printer at home.

Have a good flight, enjoy your travels and don’t waste your money. Use it better.