A few weeks ago, it was my honor to introduce Ed Greenwood and his Alkenstar story, talking about how one of the best parts of this job is getting to work with industry superstars who want to add their two cents to Golarion. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I'm going to have to do roughly the same thing this week. Because this week, we started a new story by none other than Mr. Monte Cook.
I'm going to go ahead and presume that Monte needs no introduction, but if the name sounds familiar and you're not sure why, go take a look at the gaming section of your bookshelf. Dark Matter? The d20 Call of Cthulhu book? The Book of Experimental Might? Arcana Unearthed? The third edition of Dungeons & Dragons? Yeah, that's him. As it turns out, in between (literally) game-changing RPG releases, he's also written a couple of novels and a bunch of short stories. And now he's come to show us what he can do for Pathfinder Tales, starting with this week's entry in the free Wednesday web fiction.
Illustration by Carlos Villa
He doesn't waste any time, either. "The Ghosts of Broken Blades" starts out with a bang as we meet Roubris, a somewhat shady character with the apparently unique gift of speaking to souls trapped within the blades of fallen warriors. (Before you ask: yes, we know how that works in game terms, and no, we're not ready to reveal the answer—yet.) For Roubris, it seems only natural to use his ability to make a few coins here and there, "saving" the souls in exchange for a modest fee. Yet something big is about to come into Roubris's life that could change his worldview forever...
Of course, I'd be remiss to launch us into a new story without putting the spotlight on a fabulous new artist who starts illustrating the web fiction this week. Carlos Villa has done an amazing job of bringing Roubris to life in all his shiftless glory, and if you think this is good, just wait until you see next week's cleric of Iomedae....
He doesn't waste any time, either. "The Ghosts of Broken Blades" starts out with a bang as we meet Roubris, a somewhat shady character with the apparently unique gift of speaking to souls trapped within the blades of fallen warriors. (Before you ask: yes, we know how that works in game terms, and no, we're not ready to reveal the answer—yet.)
Ssssoooooo.... are you guys almost ready to reveal the answer?
He doesn't waste any time, either. "The Ghosts of Broken Blades" starts out with a bang as we meet Roubris, a somewhat shady character with the apparently unique gift of speaking to souls trapped within the blades of fallen warriors. (Before you ask: yes, we know how that works in game terms, and no, we're not ready to reveal the answer—yet.)
Ssssoooooo.... are you guys almost ready to reveal the answer?
Nope. :) Revealing that one would require some very specific stars to align...
And just so I'm not being a *total* jerk... while I can't reveal exactly how Roubris's ability works, you can get pretty close in your home game by just saying it's a variant Speak with Dead spell that uses a dead person's weapon instead of the body as a focus.
He doesn't waste any time, either. "The Ghosts of Broken Blades" starts out with a bang as we meet Roubris, a somewhat shady character with the apparently unique gift of speaking to souls trapped within the blades of fallen warriors. (Before you ask: yes, we know how that works in game terms, and no, we're not ready to reveal the answer—yet.)
Ssssoooooo.... are you guys almost ready to reveal the answer?
Nope. :) Revealing that one would require some very specific stars to align...
I'm hoping that's a cheeky reference to, say, Distant Worlds (stars, space... there's a connection! I KNOW IT! YOU WROTE THAT BOOK! YOU CANNOT DENY! FHTAGN!) and not that it's buried in an NDA for a product that's floating in limbo. :(
He doesn't waste any time, either. "The Ghosts of Broken Blades" starts out with a bang as we meet Roubris, a somewhat shady character with the apparently unique gift of speaking to souls trapped within the blades of fallen warriors. (Before you ask: yes, we know how that works in game terms, and no, we're not ready to reveal the answer—yet.)
Ssssoooooo.... are you guys almost ready to reveal the answer?
Nope. :) Revealing that one would require some very specific stars to align...
I'm hoping that's a cheeky reference to, say, Distant Worlds (stars, space... there's a connection! I KNOW IT! YOU WROTE THAT BOOK! YOU CANNOT DENY! FHTAGN!) and not that it's buried in an NDA for a product that's floating in limbo. :(
Sorry, but your latter statement is closer to the truth. :/
He doesn't waste any time, either. "The Ghosts of Broken Blades" starts out with a bang as we meet Roubris, a somewhat shady character with the apparently unique gift of speaking to souls trapped within the blades of fallen warriors. (Before you ask: yes, we know how that works in game terms, and no, we're not ready to reveal the answer—yet.)
Ssssoooooo.... are you guys almost ready to reveal the answer?
Nope. :) Revealing that one would require some very specific stars to align...
I'm hoping that's a cheeky reference to, say, Distant Worlds (stars, space... there's a connection! I KNOW IT! YOU WROTE THAT BOOK! YOU CANNOT DENY! FHTAGN!) and not that it's buried in an NDA for a product that's floating in limbo. :(
Sorry, but your latter statement is closer to the truth. :/
LLLAAAAMMMEEE.
Ah well. It happens. Thanks for the quick and dirty non-NDA-breaking suggestion!
James Sutter
Senior Editor/Fiction Editor
