Meet The Mwangi Expanse 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! I know some of you have been clamoring to know who wrote what section in the Mwangi Expanse, so I 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!

Eleanor Ferron
Developer

Laura-Shay Adams

Greetings, I am Laura-Shay Adams, a part-time writer and full-time nerd. The amount of excitement I experienced at being able to contribute to Senghor was probably not entirely healthy, but warranted. Getting to provide and create perspective regarding the day-to-day life within the city and fleshing out some of the prominent businesses made me fall in love with Golarion all over again. The setting has so many strengths, and using it as a creative backdrop to offer such a wide array of cultural flavors that add so much to storytelling is honestly a joy. Each Lost Omens book that has come out has become my favorite, but the Mwangi Expanse area will be near and dear to my heart for decades to come.

If you are interested in seeing some of the homebrew projects I’ve come up with for my personal campaigns, one-shots, or my freelancer rates, drop by my website https://world-invader.com or contact me via email, at contact.us@world-invader.com. Or if anyone is hosting a game set in the Mwangi Expanse and needs an extra player, I am your lady if our times align.

Mariam Ahmad

Hello, I’m Mariam Ahmad (they/them). I’m a queer South Asian freelance writer, and I am so honored to have been a part of this book, my first with Paizo. For Mwangi Expanse, I had the pleasure of contributing lore on the Taralu and penning Amakell Inre and her draconic companion, Sahiba. My favorite part of this process was not just putting imagination to paper, but seeing it brought to life by the wonderful artists.

I’ve also written for other indie games, such as Thirsty Sword Lesbians and Rookwood. When I’m not writing or working on cultural consultancy projects, I stream on Huetopia as the GM of Kahaaniyaan and run a podcast called The Musafirs. Both are all Q-BIMPoC actual plays that are set in Sarzameen, my custom South Asian fantasy setting. If you want to see updates on things I do, as well enjoy pictures of food, cats and fibre arts, you can follow me on Twitter @media_junkie.

Jamal Brown

Hey What’s happening! I’m Jahmal “Mad Jay” Brown, and I’m a contributing author on Mwangi Expanse. The Karina, Solar Ibis and the Zinba are my babies! During the design process I imagined big encounters focusing on these creatures. I know you’re not supposed to have a favorite kid. . . but mine are the Karina!

I also worked on Mzali and Senghor, two big and very different cities in the Expanse. The final product looks FANTASTIC! I’m glad I got to be a part of this project of so many amazing authors. You can catch up with my other works on www.madjayzero.com, and I am on twitter @madjayzero. I write about the games I run, game design, and facilitating game sessions. I’m currently doing layout work on my latest Kickstarter project, Lifted, a supers setting Zine.

Allie Bustion

Oh heck, back at it again with the writing! I’m Allie Bustion, freelance game designer and writer with indie projects of my own but also work on games like Thirsty Sword Lesbians (“Shinsei Galactic Puroresu: Revolution - The Final Engagement”) and Brinkwood: The Blood of Tyrants (“The Scene Is Dead, Long Live The Scene”). I wrote a good chunk of things for Mwangi Expanse, but I think my favorite are the Song’o. I put a lot of the joyful parts of being Black from my childhood into them, and I’m super excited to share it with you all.

You can find me around the internet on Twitter talking about my cat, Twitch playing and making games, TikTok serving up GMing and game design advice, and Patreon also making games. You can also check out my itch.io page for my games like HEIST and The Way You Make Me Feel.

Sarah Davis

Hey there! I’m Sarah, an Afro-Latina writer and designer. For the Mwangi Expanse book, I got to contribute various locations in Mzali and Senghor and had a blast. The Mzali Archives, the Sunlit Inn, the Mixing Mingle, and Burash’s Lost and Found are just a few of the entries I got to dream up! I’m really happy with the finished product and grateful to get to contribute alongside all these wonderful people. In my spare time, I write stories, come up with my own games and homebrews, and craft!

You can follow me and my work on all of that on Twitter at @SarahndipityCos, where I have links to reach out to and support me, and I tweet about my ideas and all manner of nerdy things.

Solatra Lilac Harvinkai

Hi all, my name is Solatra Lilac Harvinkai, credited as Sasha Laranoa Harving, and I wrote the Taralu dwarves! I was really glad to flesh out a culture I’d worked on prior in the Pathfinder Lost Omens: Character Guide’s dwarf section, and I am excited for you all to see what wonders it has in store. I’ve been involved with a number of third-party publishers for Pathfinder and Starfinder as well, and I live in Chicago with my fiancee and my roommate, both also regular players in my games. If you’d like to hire me for freelance work, you can reach me at condochimp@gmail.com. Thanks!

Michelle Jones

If you’ve been paying attention, you should know who I am by now. If you’re new here, let me tell you. I am Michelle Jones, freelance writer and game designer. I got to write several of the deity entries for Pathfinder Lost Omens: Mwangi Expanse, as well as a couple of bestiary entries, and collaborated with some very talented authors to reintroduce everyone to the city of Mzali. If you wanna know more, be sure to check out my twitter @AleshaKills. I will be going into more detail about everything I wrote the moment the book hits the streets.

I promise you, Mwangi Expanse has everything you wanted and everything you didn’t know you needed. And Strength of the Thousands is gonna be possibly the greatest Adventure Path ever. I’m not biased just because my name is on it, I swear. See you all again on the 7th.

Travis Lionel

Hello, my name is Travis Lionel also known on the internet as Rabbit. I worked on Pathfinder Lost Omens: Mwangi Expanse, specifically the sections on the People of Mzali and the Bright Lions. I did a lot of research on western and middle Africa as well as usede my own experiences as a black American and those of my African brothers and sisters. The most fun I had was studying how pre-colonized Africans lived among the Savannahs. Since working on this project, I’ve primarily been diving into video game livestreams via Twitch ( https://twitch.tv/EightBitRabbits ). Here I talk about storytelling, how I learned to write and worldbuild, and, of course, role-playing games, such as Pathfinder: Kingmaker. For those who enjoy what I wrote and would like me to work on their projects as well, feel free to send business inquiries to Travis.TheBlanketFort@gmail.com. It’s kind of crazy going from the eleven year old in Catholic school turning biblical lore into super hero stories to where I am now. Hopefully, you guys enjoy the work many of us put into this project.

Hilary Moon Murphy

My name is Hilary Moon Murphy. In real life, I am a librarian, freelancer, and enthusiastic Organized Play Game Master. I am so proud to be a part of this book! I wrote the section on the Sodden Lands, which included both the flooded city Hyrantum and the fierce Terwa Lords. Being able to update Hyrantum and reimagine what has happened with that flooded city and the rest of the Sodden Lands was a true pleasure. When we last saw Hyrantum, it was a sad and downtrodden shadow of its former glory. But Hyrantum is undergoing a new boom with a surprising new group of immigrants. . . To find out more, you really should purchase this book!

Mikhail Rekun

Здравствуйте, уважаемые читатели! (Hello, dear readers!) My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and you may know me from past Lost Omen books, such as Legends (where I wrote Baba Yaga), Ancestries (tieflings and duskwalkers), and the Character Guide (humans). On those occasions that Eleanor and Luis don’t need my humble assistance, I’m a Russian-American historian and educator with a book and everything.

For this book, I wrote the Mbe’ke dwarves, the Mwangi Jungle, and my personal favorite, the gnolls. My very first PC, way back in the misty depths of time, was a gnoll fighter, and I’ve been on a one-man crusade to get the loveable, furry lugs made into an acceptable PC ancestry ever since. Which, thanks to this excellent book, they are, so do check them out.

I should also mention that when not writing for Paizo, I’m working on Ourichor: Fulcrum of the Luminant Age, an upcoming campaign setting set in a world of lost suns, teleporting rats, and people who can drink your personality traits. Check out our Twitter at https://twitter.com/LuminantA! Our first Kickstarter project is almost ready to release, so keep an eye out for what’ll come next. You might like it.

Soup

I’m Soup! My parents call me Josh. I’m a nonbinary Korean-American freelance writer/game designer/anime podcast host. I have more than a reasonable number of opinions about fantasy and fantasy fiction. I’m always open to taking on new projects, so reach out to literalsoup@gmail.com! You can see what I’m up to outside of work at https://literalsoup.com/ and https://twitter.com/LiteralSoup.

Jabari Weathers

Hey there!

I’m Jabari Weathers, and I’m excited for y’all to get to see my work on the Pathfinder Lost Omens: Mwangi Expanse sourcebook for Pathfinder 2nd Edition. I had the honor of writing “Reclaiming the Expanse,” as well as penning the cities of Jaha and Osibu for the book.

Earlier this year, you may have read my work on Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft with Wizards of the Coast, and if you follow my twitter (@Goblinprincete) or Instagram (@jmwillustration), you can also gander the illustration work that I made my way into TTRPGs with and catch whisperings about game design and writing thoughts when I’m not spinning too many plates. Also, feel free to check out my illustration website—GoblinPrincete.com. I hope you enjoy the book, and if you dig the sections I worked on, you can find more of my writing in Dominique Dickey and Charles Linton’s Tomorrowon Revelation III, which kickstarted earlier this year.