Beware the Bastard O’Kemp

Dark Circus, Volume 3

De: Velma Loftin-Stoneburner, R. J. "Josh" Stoneburner - editor

Narrado por: Rudy Eisenzopf

A word of caution to decent folk and God-fearing travelers: there walks among us a man not born to honor nor to law, but to spite and cruelty. He is called Douglas Flannery O’Kemp, though most know him simply as the Bastard O’Kemp.

He was sired by a planter of ill repute and a servant woman of northern stock, pale as snow and marked by heathen tales. From his first breath he was raised on blows, and from his fifteenth year he carried his father’s scalp to market for coin. Since that day, he has known neither home nor mercy.

Where O’Kemp goes, misery follows. He gathers to himself rogues and cutthroats, and together they strike only when numbers and advantage are theirs. They want not gold alone, but the joy of watching men brought low.

Women beware his false charm. Men beware his pale eyes. Children, whisper no laughter in his hearing.

For the ballad is true:

O’Kemp the Bastard, cruel and tall,
He takes your joy, he takes it all,
No prayer, no coin, no blood can save,
He’ll lay you low and call you grave.

Remember him, fear him, and pray he passes you by.

©2025 Velma Loftin-Stoneburner (P)2025 Velma Loftin-Stoneburner