Meet The Legendary Authors!

While the writers of our Paizo products are always credited in the front and back of the books, a simple name in a byline doesn’t give readers much information on the people who work to bring the setting to life! To wrap up our preview of Lost Omens Legends, we reached out to the authors of the book with the intent of promoting them—as well as any other personal work they would like to share, so that new fans of their work could find other projects, RPG products, websites, livestreams, and more to enjoy!

Luis Loza
Developer

Art by Nazar Havrulyuk

Alex Augunas
Hello! I’m Alexander “Alex” Augunas, and I had the honor of writing the entry for legendary sorceress Hao Jin, the Ruby Phoenix. This article is super special to me, not only because I love Pathfinder Society and the stories told about Hao Jin there, but also because I was given the opportunity to expand Hao Jin in a way that adds her to Paizo’s ever-growing list of LGBTQ+ characters. Drawing off my own experiences, Hao Jin is confirmed asexual, and I hope that her story helps questioning people discover themselves.

If you want to follow me, feel free to do so at @AlJAug. I’m also a blogger and podcast host with the Know Direction Network, publish Pathfinder- and Starfinder- Compatible content as Everybody Games, formerly Everyman Gaming, and have a Patreon. You can also keep an eye out for me in the Pathfinder Second Edition Advanced Player’s Guide and Starfinder Starship Operations Manual; in the latter product, I’m the madcap who wrote Voltron rules for starships.

Kate Baker
Hi! I’m Kate Baker and I am delighted to have written Queen Telandia of Kyonin for this book. I enjoy elves a lot, and Telandria is an interesting figure within Golarion. Human royalty comes and goes many times within the reign of an elven leader, so she’s always going to have a different perspective. If you’d like to hear more about projects I’ve worked on, please follow me on Twitter at @KateBakerGM!

Allie Bustion
Hey there, Allie Bustion here. I’m a freelance narrative designer and writer who has worked on indie titles of my own as well as some bigger projects like Sea of Legends. Writing Avarneus was particularly important to me, as I’m also Black, non-binary, and sometimes just want to slide into the background to simply listen. I don’t learn state secrets but it does give me some pretty good fodder for interesting characters and stories. You can find my name in some other upcoming books from Paizo and others, on Twitter taking a lot of pictures of my cat, or on Twitch playing Apex Legends probably. If you’re looking for a writer or narrative designer, check my portfolio and email me at allie@madpierrot.design. If you just want to support me making games, I’ve got an itch.io page and a Patreon.

Art by Nazar Havrulyuk

Carlos Cabrera
Hi there! I am Carlos Cabrera, Paizo and third-party freelancer for Pathfinder. For Lost Omens Legends, I wrote about the Pactbroker of Katapesh, Hashim ibn Sayyid. It was a lot of fun to write about someone who has been around Golarion for the past 10 years and has not played too large a role, at least not yet! This allowed me a lot of creativity to come up with everything he has been up to since, and if you have a keen eye across Paizo’s other products, you are in for a real treat.

If you would like to see my other work for both editions of Pathfinder or need another freelancer, you can go to carloscabrera.carrd.co. I also have some voice acting experience for a game on Steam, and my face was scanned for State of Decay 2. Check out the trailers at the link and then go kill zombies with me! My other gaming obsession is creating characters who did not make the cut for the upcoming Street Fighter Miniatures Game Kickstarter release, just for fun. Can you tell I play Shadow Lodge? Leave no player behind!

Jessica Catalan
Hi, everyone! My name is Jessica Catalan. I had the honor of penning a new chapter in the tale of Belimarius and Sorshen for Lost Omens Legends. I’ve been a freelance ttrpg author for almost a year and a half. In that time I’ve written three Starfinder Society Scenarios and contributed to a dozen other projects for Paizo, which will be releasing over the course of the next year or so. I’ve also written three adventures for Dungeon in a Box; contributed to Rusted Iron Games and the Hard Wired Island RPG; and contributed to both Wayfinder #19 and #20 alongside my children. In between freelancing, I run d20diaries.com, a personal blog focusing on my family's experiences in gaming. You can follow me on Twitter (@d20diaries), Instagram (d20diaires), and Facebook (D20 Diaries). I hope you love Lost Omens Legends as much as I do!

Ryan Costello
I’m Director of Operations at the Know Direction Network. Writing for Lost Omens: Legends is my first Pathfinder 2e work for Paizo, and my first Paizo credit since my oldest daughter was born. I am glad to be back, and was ecstatic to be assigned Khismar Crookchar. He was one of the book’s blankest slates, only appearing in a sidebar in the Lost Omens World Guide that alleged he was a notable figure in the Broken Lands. With four pages of freedom, I got to turn this blue streaked gnome into a hype-dealing hype addict, protected by layers of back-up plans because he is paranoid that everyone is as deceptive as him.

I loved the collaborative way in which Luis and Eleanor managed us Legends freelancers, and particularly enjoyed working with Ashton Sperry to flesh out Khismar’s relationship with Kevoth-Kul. I love the dynamic of their relationship; it’s like Conan with a laser sword hanging out with Salacious Crumb on Red Bull.

Hopefully Pathfinder enthusiasts catch on to how special and fun Lost Omens: Legends is. I will do my part to promote it on my podcast at knowdirectionpodcast.com

Art by Dominik Derow

Greg Diaz
Hi, I’m Greg Diaz, and I developed the Nex entry for Lost Omens: Legends. Nex was a thrill to write, this looming figure of historical importance, remembered because of the awesome monuments and terrible ruins he left behind. In writing this brief history, I aimed to portray Nex as a daring egomaniac, always willing to delve a bit too deep, to push just a bit too far in the pursuit of his goals. The world has an uneasy relationship with what Nex has left behind, which makes his history so interesting to chronicle.

I hope you enjoyed my work on Lost Omens: Legends. You can find more of my work @kaijulovesgames.

Steven Hammond
Hi there, I’m Steven Hammond, and it was my distinct pleasure to write the section for Ardax the White-Hair. Orcs have long been a favorite of mine, and I leapt at the opportunity to shed some light on Belkzen’s inscrutable new overlord. He is as one colleague has called him an “orcish Lion in Winter.” He is canny, patient and unperturbed by those who operate on old assumptions and stereotypes. I think Ardax may best be described as a Jacobean George Smiley.

I’ve worked on a handful of other projects for Pathfinder over the last year. I wrote PACS 6-2 Urgathoa’s Persistent Shadow, as well as PACS 7-1 Attack of the Twice Born. I contributed a few spells and general feats to the APG, the Artifacts of Aroden section in volume 6 of Extinction Curse, and if you’re an active member of the Pathfinder Society, you may have played my recent scenario Tarnbreaker’s Trail. If you're interested in seeing what I'm up to, you can follow me on Twitter at @MelechGidon.

Nicolas Hornyak
Hello folks! My name is Nicolas Hornyak, and on Lost Omens Legends, I got to write the story of Magdelena and Martum Fallows, a pair of halfling abolitionists who are the current Farmers for the Bellflower Network. This was my first time writing with Paizo, and I was brought aboard in an active effort to recruit more freelancers from the Latinx community

From the very start, I knew that I’d taken on a huge responsibility. Even in fantasy, you cannot write about slavery (and subsequently, abolitionists) without acknowledging that real people are still affected by the enslavement of their ancestors every day. And even though I’m a Latinx individual, I have not been subjected to racism in the same ways that Black and Brown people have. So I opted to be as cognizant as possible. I read books, listened to podcasts, and dug up articles, because even in Golarion, we must be as diligent as possible when approaching the parallels between fantasy and reality.

What emerged was a pair of halflings who were enabled to seize their own destinies, who understood that the law would neither serve nor protect them in the fight ahead. Magdelena came to represent the station masters and conductors operating the Underground Railroad, while Martum stood in for abolitionists securing money from stockholders. Meanwhile, the Bellflower Network uses quilts to send messages to halflings escaping slavery, while slave-hunters are known to kidnap halflings who were never slaves. All of these details were part of the reality for Black people on the road to freedom and deserved acknowledgment.

Even though I attempted to be as responsible as possible, I wrote this material for people who play Pathfinder. Once the Fallows enter your game, I don’t know what will happen to them. But I hope that players and game masters will also acknowledge the responsibility that comes with approaching topics such as slavery and abolitionism. It’s my hope that, like Earth, slavery in Golarion is considered so evil by Pathfinder players that no PC would support or enable it. It would be a line they wouldn’t cross, no matter what.

I sincerely hope that I did Magdelena and Martum the justice they deserve. But if I made mistakes, I’d rather learn about them than trick myself into thinking I did everything right. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or my website (nicolashornyak.com) if you want to share them with me.

James Jacobs
I’m James Jacobs and I’ve been inflicting Red Mantis assassins on my players longer than Golarion has existed. But they don’t always have to be the antagonists of the story. I’ve always wanted to do an Adventure Path where the entire party plays Red Mantis assassins who, at some point during the campaign, have to sneak into the Crimson Citadel and explore a wing of the dungeons below that have been sealed away for Very Important Reasons. The time’s not yet right for this adventure, but with Blood Mistress Jakalyn’s entry in this book, we’re one step closer!

Art by Tomas Duchek

Michelle Jones
My name is Michelle Jones and I’ve been a freelancer with Paizo for a little over four years now. Legends was my first assignment for second edition, and one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had so far. It was an opportunity to work closely with so many other freelancers to weave together what I think may be one of the most interesting Pathfinder books to date. I’m already hard at work on my next big Pathfinder project, so keep an eye out for my name in the future. Trust me when I say you won’t want to miss out. If you want to get in touch with me, I go by AleshaKills on platforms where I wish to be found, including Twitter.

Kristina Sisto Kindel
Hello all, I'm Kristina Sisto Kindel, a gamer, oxford comma enthusiast, and content creator based in the Pacific Northwest. Creating is my passion, whether it is a written story, vocal or theatrical performance, art, or knitted item. I adored working on Lost Omens: Legends, and was so proud to be able to expand lore on a powerful woman leader and warrior: White Estrid! You can find my work in Uncaged Anthology Vol. 1, Book of Seasons: Solstices, and DMsGuild and DriveThruRPG spaces. If you want to chat games, writing, early music, or anything really, you can connect with me on Twitter @d20xtina or email me at kristinakindel@gmail.com.

Ron Lundeen
I’m Ron Lundeen, a developer on the Pathfinder Adventure Path line here at Paizo. I wrote up Abrogail Thrune and Wynsal Starborn for this book. The latter was easy—his story was already in my head, as I included him as an important NPC in the back of Pathfinder #160: Assault on Hunting Lodge Seven at about the same time. But my favorite part was writing the sample infernal contract for Abrogail Throne. I spent many years as a contract lawyer, and it was a joy to include so many of the sneaky, one-sided, unenforceable, and arguably illegal contractual provisions I’d had thrown at me over the years. You can check out my RPG advice, including an entire free Pathfinder Second Edition Adventure Path I wrote, on my blog at RunAmokGames.com. I’m available for freelance for any number of game systems at rules.lawyer.ron@gmail.com.

Stephanie Lundeen
Hi, I'm Stephanie Lundeen. I've been a freelance editor for years and am excited to be moving into more writing. I enjoyed revisiting the city of Kintargo in crafting a backstory for the Sapphire Butterfly, a new hero arising from the rebellion there and a key figure in the Golarion-spanning Firebrands. I particularly enjoy bringing people and places to life through detailed histories and descriptions, and I often draw on my study of medieval and Renaissance literature (I earned a doctorate in English) to do so.

Art by Hassan Tabrizi

Fabby Garza Marroquin
Hi, I'm Fabby Garza Marroquin I'm a games writer and podcaster from San Antonio Texas. Getting to work on Lost Omens Legends has been one of the highlights of writing table top games, not only is everyone involved with this book amazing but the fact that we created such a fantastic and truly diverse set of characters together warms my heart.

Working on a new character like Sihar I got the chance to be as self-indulgent as possible and I'm forever grateful to Luis and the rest of the team for being super encouraging when I turned in a draft about a queer trans woman and all her queer revolutionary friends and I can't wait for y'all to meet and maybe even join them in their quest to overthrow the child God.

You can find more of me, my projects and games over at @Fabby_Garza on Twitter.

Sydney Meeker
I'm Sydney Meeker and I wrote the section for the Whispering Tyrant, Tar-Baphon. I had read about the character before, but when I signed up to write for his section I had no idea just how much research I was in for and what a fun trip it would be. Like many of my fellow TTRPG writers, I'm fascinated by lore and histories, so all of my research, cross-checking, and looking through documents helped me land on the tone I ended up ultimately using in this section, one of morbid reverence while taking in just the vastness of how much this character has affected Golarion. Much of my freelance work involves writing in a pre-existing world, so I'm immensely happy I got to be part of Pathfinder's remarkable and wide-ranging lore. I work mostly as an editor and writer for video games, dipping in and out of worlds. If you'd like to see more of what I've worked on or hire me, check out my website at www.sydneymeeker.com or contact me on Twitter @SydMeeker.

Matt Morris
Hello everyone!
I’m Matt Morris, and I’ve been lucky enough to do freelance writing for Pathfinder and Starfinder for several years now, working with Paizo and a few 3rd-party companies, including Everybody Games and Rogue Genius Games.

The Lost Omens line for Pathfinder Second Edition has given me the opportunity to explore some of my favorite parts of the setting, from characterizing the membership of several organizations in the Lost Omens Character Guide to providing details on Norgorber and Groetus in Lost Omens: Gods & Magic, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what is in store from the line in the future! In Lost Omens: Legends, I tackled the complex relationships between some of Qadira’s power players: Xerbystes II, Hebizid Vraj, and Deena al-Parishat.

I keep an up-to-date list of my work on my Paizo profile, and I’m always looking for interesting projects, so feel free to send me a message via the forums if you are looking for a reliable writer!

When not writing, I’m teaching high school English near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Patchen Mortimer
I'm an ad agency copywriter and DJ from Baltimore. (Those Haribo ads where the kids ran the gummi bear factory—I wrote those!) But most people know me from The Daily Bestiary (dailybestiary.tumblr.com and dailybestiary.blogspot.com), where I spent 7+ years writing adventure seeds for nearly every monster in the Pathfinder Bestiaries.

For Paizo, I love writing backmatter articles for Pathfinder Adventure Path and fleshing out heritages and backgrounds for PCs in hardcovers like Pathfinder Lost Omens: Character Guide. But I’m thrilled whenever I get to delve into unexplored corners of Golarion, so working on Pathfinder Lost Omens: Legends was a special treat—I got to do something with elves(!), as well as put my love of sailing novels to use!

Please find me on Twitter @patchdj. If your game world needs new cultures, subraces, settings, lore, or monster expertise, we can talk freelancing at patchen.mortimer@gmail.com.

At time of writing, my radio show is somewhat on hiatus due to the pandemic, but you can sometimes find me on Instagram on Tuesday nights at @wmucradio. Otherwise, look for me on 88.1 WMUC-FM College Park or at wmuc.umd.edu.

Art by Katerina Kirillova

Dennis Muldoon
Hello! My name is Dennis Muldoon, and I wrote the Licktoad Goblins entry for Lost Omens: Legends. We Be Goblins! was one of the first Pathfinder adventures I ever played, and the whole We Be Goblins! series still rank among my very favorites as both a player and a GM. I was thrilled to get a chance to write about the further adventures of Chuffy, Mogmurch, Poog, and Reta, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! You can see more of my work in PFS Quest #7: A Curious Claim, PFS Scenario #2-00: King in Thorns (co-written with Kate Baker), and in the Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide, as well as in the most recent issue of Wayfinder. You can find me on Twitter at @dkmuldoon.

Andrew Mullen
Howdy, folks! I'm Andrew Mullen, and you might recognize me from adventure backmatters, insufferable puns on social media, or the Magaambya section of the Lost Omens Character Guide. Working on the latter was a big boon for my part in Legends: Old-Mage Jatembe! I was thrilled to write about the early days of one of my favorite in-world figures, particularly because I read a ton of folklore and myths as a kid, and portraying his discovery of magic in that style felt like a natural fit. It was also lovely to provide another glimpse at Magaambyan life through the lens of perhaps the most important NPCs in all of Golarion—the spider boyfriends on Lost Omens Character Guide page 99!

There are a few other recent pieces I hope you'll check out. I have xulgath variants in every book of the Extinction Curse AP, as well as a look at xulgath culture in Legacy of the Lost God that I'm particularly proud of. I wrote about giant trees and Ghorus Prime for Near Space. Finally, you can hear a recent interview with me on the Know Direction podcast!

Hilary Moon Murphy
Hey, I’m Hilary Moon Murphy, aka Hmm. I’m a librarian, freelancer, mom, and proud GM with Paizo’s Organized Play program. Writing the Artokus Kirran’s section of this book was an utter delight because I got to resolve two apparently conflicting pieces of information in Artokus’s story: first, that he taught students, and second... that no one had seen him in living memory! I wrote a piece of short fiction illustrating a day in Artokus’s life, and tell a side of his story that no one has seen before... and introduce two characters pivotal to Artokus’s story.

If you liked my fiction, I have some free audio fiction short stories on Podcastle. Or if you want to see other recent projects, I wrote for the Starship Operations Manual and authored the “Magical Academies” article in Threefold Conspiracy #6, Puppets without Strings. Or if you would like an excellent free adventure, check out the “Wandering Water Bear” in Wayfinder 20!

Art by Juan Miguel Lopez Barea

Amirali Attar Olyaee
I’m Amirali and I am very happy and thankful to have contributed to this absolutely incredible project! I’m very thankful to Paizo for the opportunity, and I genuinely enjoyed spending the time working on this project working with an extremely talented and creative group of people and learning so much from them. I hope to continue writing fantasy and fiction, either as part of other wonderful projects, or through short or long stories across various mediums.

I’ve always had a deep interest in fantasy and science fiction settings, the creativity that flows through them, and the infinite possibilities they offer for exploring all manner of themes, concepts, and ideas. I enjoy running tabletop RPGs, seeing how the players react to the world, how they deal with complicated decisions, and where the story goes once the characters of that story have full agency of their actions.

If any of that sounds interesting, feel free to follow me @_WritingBot on twitter where I’ll be sharing snippets of games I’m running, and updates on projects I’m working on!

Mikhail Rekun
Добрый день, уважаемые читатели! My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and you may best know me as the author of the Kortos Mounts Gazetteer (AP #156), PFS 1-15 Blooming Catastrophe, and the human ethnicities in Lost Omen Character Guide. When not writing about Abyssal leshys and depressed lich-queens, I’m a Russian-American historian and educator (I have a book! How Russia Lost Bulgaria, 1878-1886: Empire Unguided, Lexington Books, 2018).

In Legends, I wrote Baba Yaga and Eutropia. Baba Yaga is a figure of enormous cultural significance in the former Soviet Union, and writing her was, truthfully, an honor. It was also the first and probably the last time that the rest of my family actually understood what I was writing.

Eutropia, meanwhile, was great fun. War for the Crown is perhaps my favorite Adventure Path, and the narrator of her section, Samel Maleagant, Senior Priest-Advocate of the Court of Black Paper, is an old PC of mine and someone you’ll be seeing again – he features in Absalom, City of Lost Omens. I’ve a few more projects forthcoming from Paizo, so until next time, please direct professional inquiries and rapturous adulation to MRekun@Gmail.com. Досвидания

Mark Seifter
I'm Mark Seifter, Paizo's design manager and one of the four leads on the creation of Pathfinder Second Edition.

In Lost Omens Legends, I created Kassi Aziril because I wanted people to see a heroic, complex Rahadoumi woman who strongly believes in the Laws of Mortality, rather than previously where the Rahadoumi always appear as adversaries. You might have noticed Kassi's work spreading across the land with the introduction of feats like the Battle Medicine feat and some Rahadoumi Medicine feats, and the truly eagle-eyed of you might remember she was in the Gamemastery Guide in the Rahadoum nation statblock.

Check out my twitch stream with Linda Zayas-Palmer, Arcane Mark, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7PM Pacific, and Saturdays at 10 AM Pacific at https://www.twitch.tv/arcanemark. We cover a variety of RPG and Pathfinder topics on Tuesdays and Saturdays, chosen by the viewers, with interviews on Thursdays!

Owen K.C. Stephens
Owen K.C. Stephens is a former Paizo employee and 20+ year veteran of the tabletop RPG industry, who has worked on products for five editions of D&D, two of Pathfinder, the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, its Beginner Box, and more than a half-dozen other RPGs. He was delighted to work on this book, especially the opportunity to get to write some things about dwarven kings and history again. You can find his every-weekday game posts at his blog, support him on his Patreon, and check him out on Facebook and Twitter.

Art by Juan Miguel Lopez Barea

Ashton Sperry
Howdy, I'm Ashton Sperry, writing to you from a hot summer day in Boise, Idaho! I wrote the entry on Kevoth-Kul, one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite corners of Golarion. Before this, you might recognize my name from the Pathfinder Paper Minis line, or as N'wah on the boards here.

I could understand a lot of folks dismissing the old Kevoth-Kul, a puppet warlord addicted to Numerian fluids and controlled by the Technic League. Some groups may have even killed him in Iron Gods! But I thought the idea of the immortal, powerful black sovereign, now in full control of his faculties and out from under the League's thumb, looking to unite all the Kellid clans under one banner, to be compelling. Hopefully you will too. And wait 'til you check out the new alloy he invented: sovereign steel!

You can find me these days @WhoTweetedThis on Twitter, and feel free to check out my Patreon where I manage a Google Drive full of free tokens, portraits, my complete illustrated Strange Aeons campaign journal (The Mythos Notes of Astrapi Mirous) and more at www.patreon.com/WhoFundedThis. Thanks!

Isabelle Thorne
Hello, readers! My name is Isabelle Thorne (previously Isabelle Lee), and I’ve been a contributor for a few years now. I’ve written some of just about everything Paizo offers; my Paizo work tends towards the mechanical, but I like to write flavor material whenever I can. And as a queer trans girl, writing LGBTQ+-inclusive content is of particular interest to me.

For Legends, I had the opportunity to expand on my work for the Lost Omens Character Guide by detailing Kalabrynne and Clarethe Iomedar, the most respected of the Knights of Lastwall. This book’s brand-new in-universe approach allowed me to really play with prose, writing about the mother and child from the viewpoint of an ardent admirer. I’m indescribably proud of what I’ve written here, and I hope you all love it as much as I do.

You can find me on Twitter at @ThornyRoseGames; I’m always potentially open to work opportunities and sensitivity reading. In addition, I (still) have a Patreon, and I’m finally starting to put content on it! I’m planning to release content monthly(ish), covering both editions of Pathfinder as well as Starfinder. If that sounds interesting or you like my other work, please have a look!

Lost Omens Legends is available now!