Squee!
The link's not working, Brent. I suspect the space between the a and d of "thread" might be the culprit. :)
Here is a cool link to Elaine's blog post about this short story:
I didn't set out to specialize in elves. They just kept showing up when I was writing, playing with my harp and making snooty comments about my wine collection until I put them in the story to get rid of them. As one does.
"A Single Thread," however, started with a facebook message from Allen Drees, one of the editors at IPG. Having met him at Gen Con Milwaukee years ago, I can attest with a high degree of certainty that he is not, in fact, an elf. But he wanted an elf story, set in a fantasy version of medieval Europe (the year 1415, to be specific) known as Kingdoms of Legend, a Pathfinder-compatible setting.
Okay, I was intrigued. When I learned that the Forest Kingdom shares a border with the Kingdom of Poland, I was sold. If you've read WINTER WITCH, the Pathfinder Tales novel written with Dave Gross, you're familiar with my fondness for Slavic folklore, upon which the land of Irrisen is loosely based. In this story, however, I was able to go Full Polish. We've got spirits and creatures taken directly from folklore, and the story offers a new take on one of the most famous Polish legends: the dragon of Wawel Hill. There's even a mention of Jadwiga, a term that's familiar to Pathfinder fans, but in this case it refers to a Polish queen, not to the descendants of Baba Yaga.
The story subverts a familiar theme in Slavic folklore: the trickster hero, a common man who outwits nobles and/or monsters through his native cunning. In this tale, the trickster is a female--an elf bard who lives by her wits and wiles--and she might not be quite as clever as she thinks she is.
The story is a little over 5000 words long, and is told from the point of view of two elves--Mellindria the bard, and Wisenti, cleric of Valpas Once-Watchful. Here's a link to a post on my website with more information:
http://tinyurl.com/9cdhpxp
Hope you enjoy this new tale!