Way back in the before times, before the great white whale of Reddit and the inbred-a-torium that is Facebook, there lived a small corner of the internet where speech flowed freely, and one could engage in a battle of wits without the spectre of a ban hammer floating over their heads.

That was before the appearance of bots.

Now, we need to be a bit more judicious about how things are run in this little tavern on the internet. You can still say what you want, and expect to be raked over the coals for it just like before, but due to the times, there are certain countermeasures in place here that should work to keep things mostly legible. If you find that something you posted has been removed in error, feel free to send me a message and I'll have a look.

That said, Welcome fellow space pirates!

The Cartel Incorporated Universe has been around for a long time, though the literary incarnation of it is relatively new. It started as a fan site for a game called X - Beyond the Frontier - a 4X title that pretty much started the genre back in ol 1997 or so. We were a piratey bunch, and the forums became sort of a haven for ne'er do wells and other salty types that didn't fit in with the folks over at the Egosoft main forums. I was the site admin, and over the years I role played the Captain of the Cartel Inc. empire, posting ships I'd created in 3D Max and getting into flame wars with other opinionated folks.

That role play started the universe that I have been able to bring to the pages in The Ballad of James Layne, and will be continuing in the forthcoming Aria of Cain Mezcal and more! I invite you to come on in, pull up a stool and grab a mug of grog here. The rules are few, and the liquor strong 🙂