Carmen

Re: A Circle Of Rings This is probably the ring given to Yvain in Chretien's Yvain: The Knight of the Lion, which you should all go read right now.

Re: Romantic Space Pirates If you are planning on writing this up, you might find Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly (ISBN 0-15-600549-2) useful reading. Granted, there aren't any spaceships, but there's information on pirate codes, privateers, buccaneers, pirate islands, and all that good stuff. It's also entertaining.

Daily Life in Ancient Rome by Jerome Carcopino (ISBN 0-300-00031-6) It's a little dry, but you might find it useful.

Talsorian Since R. Talsorian's website mentions Gencon LA, I think it's safe to say they're still around, if a bit lethargic. It looks like you can still get the supplements. I'd suggest getting SJG's GURPS Castle Falkenstein for the basic setting info, and then Talsorian's Comme Il Faut for extra details, should you want them. There's also a Fuzion-based game called Victoriana out now. I don't know much about it, since I haven't downloaded any of the previews on the website, but I'd guess that a conversion to HERO wouldn't be too hard.

Kickbacks Some villains probably get kickbacks from certain unscrupulous "news" programs.

Dallas, TX I just preordered mine from Game Chest in Dallas. The guy there thinks they'll get them in on Tuesday.

I'm planning an Arthurian game, set in Britain while Arthur's away on the Roman campaign.