The Lydian Stone Series

The Lydian Stone is a story about an archaeology student named Ulyses who accidentally finds himself texting a Roman slave named Marcus. With each issue, Marcus faces a new danger or challenge, and Ulyses tries to help him using modern knowledge and technology, carefully adapting solutions Marcus can actually build with what's available around him. Every problem they solve together quietly sets ancient Rome on the path toward an industrial revolution, unlocking new ideas and inventions that quickly ripple through society. But as Rome rushes forward, these rapid changes create tension and trouble among people unprepared for a world transforming before their eyes. It's a story about what could have happened if history took a different path, told through friendship, ingenuity, and unintended consequences.

Issue #1 - ContactREAD HERE

In this first issue, we meet Ulyses, a worn-down archaeology student digging in the dust of Pompeii, desperate to find something meaningful. Instead, he uncovers something impossible, a stone that bridges two timelines. Suddenly he's speaking with Marcus, an educated slave who lives just days before the city is doomed by fire and ash. As their connection grows, Ulyses faces a painful choice: intervene to save Marcus, knowing it could destroy the present as he knows it, or stand by and watch history unfold.

Issue #2 - The Engine Of Empire COMING SOON!

In issue #2, The Engine of Empire, Marcus and his master, Gaius, find themselves facing disaster after Pompeii’s destruction. With most of their wool workers dead or injured and the wool rotting in warehouses, the entire Campania region is sliding toward ruin and starvation. Desperate for a solution, Marcus turns to Ulyses. They use new designs to build the first machines, allowing the survivors to work much faster than ever before. They save the community, but the massive scale of the new industry creates a surplus that the old world wasn't built to handle.

Issue #3 - The Boats COMING SOON!

Production quickly outpaces logistics. In The Boats, landlocked by bandits and debt, the Sixteen Houses are forced to take their engines to the water, building a steam-powered fleet to bypass the ash-choked roads. As their smoke stains the horizon, it catches the eye of the state. Rome has come to collect the arrears. The war for the future has begun.

Issue #4 - Civil War COMING SOON!

The legions are marching. Rome is coming to Picentia to force the Houses to surrender. Marcus and Gaius are pushed to the edge to stop the attack. With the army at their gates, they must risk everything on a final, desperate plan to avoid total war.

NOTE: I’ve intentionally left some obvious mistakes, like the faces on page 20 of Issue #1, to keep the raw, experimental feel of the project. As explained in the "the making of" section, this comic book was created with the aid of an AI model. I review and adjust each image, sometimes editing by hand to fix things like missing characters, extra fingers, or elements that don’t belong. Then I add the dialogue boxes.

I understand that newer model versions may produce better results; however, replacing the original sketches would undermine the purpose of the experiment. For each issue, I’ll use whichever LLM version is available at the time I’m working on it.