Let’s start with Sithe, one of the darkest characters I’ve ever written–a voidsoul genasi avenger, sworn to Shar, goddess of Loss and Sorrow. You’d think from that description she’d be a straight-up villain, but not all is as it seems.

Sithe, genasi avenger (4e)

Here’s a passage from Shadowbane that I think captures her character:

“There is a void within each of us,” Sithe said. “Whether we try to fill it with faith or with magic, with will or with love, each of us must accept that it remains–boundless as existence and infinite as nonexistence. Fill yours with hate, and you will be like me.”
“No,” Kalen said. “I have something more powerful than hate.”
“Oh?” Sithe eased into a fighting stance. “Then show me.”

Fun fact: In crafting Sithe’s character, I drew on my philosophy background, particularly on Existentialism and Nietzsche. Consider it an easter egg for those who, like me, have a degree that isn’t necessarily that applicable to the real world!

Happy Gaming!

Cheers

No doubt you’ve been reading about the amazingly awesome multi-author Crossing the Streams Contest. And perhaps you were wondering hey, why isn’t Erik involved in that?

Well, he is. That is, *I* am.

I’m arriving at the party a little late (as usual) but here I am to support your reading habits! Let’s get this show on the road…

CROSSING THE STREAMS

Running from now to the end of February, this contest (or rather, series of linked contests) involves not only myself, but over a mind-boggling number of other speculative fiction authors (novelists, short story writers, comic writers, the works!).

Most winners will win a signed book, from the author whose contest they won. (And yes, you can enter more than one author’s contest.) But one of you? A single lucky “super-winner” will receive a free signed book from each and every author involved.

Excited? I know I am!

THE SKIVVY

I, and my fellow speculative fiction writers (mostly novelists, but some short story and comic writers as well) have thrown in together to create something huge for you guys.

Here’s how it works: Each individual author involved is running a contest on his/her own site. The specific details vary from author to author; the contest I run on my site might be very different than the one on Ari’s site, or Marcy’s site.

Each of us will select two winners from the contest on our own site. Each of those winners will receive one signed book, free, from the author whose contest they won. So, for instance, if you win here, you’ll win one of my books. If you win on Paul’s site, you’ll win one of his, etc.

And as for the big prize, once the contests have ended, all the authors involved will get together and choose one single “super-winner” from all the entries on all our sites combined. This one lucky individual will receive a signed book, free, from each and every one of the authors involved.

That’s right: 15+ free books. Rock.

You can only enter each author’s contest once, but you may enter multiple contests. So you could enter here, on Matt’s site, on Jason’s site, etc. Heck, you can enter on everyone’s site, if you want. (And even if you aren’t selected as the “super winner,” you might win more than one of the individual contests. You never know.)

You can find a complete list of the authors involved, as well as links to their sites, below. But first…

HOW TO ENTER ERIK’S CONTEST

Note that these are just the rules for my contest. The rules for entry on other authors’ sites might be very different.

To enter for a prize from me, you need to do two simple things:

1) Post a comment on my website (erikscottdebie.com), Twitter (tweet to me @erikscottdebie), Facebook (tag me: “Erik Scott de Bie”), on one of my books on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or a similar medium where you feel comfortable posting and where people will see it. Make sure you mention the Crossing the Streams Contest in your comment.

2) Email me (erikscottdebie AT yahoo DOT com) the content of that comment and a link to where you posted it.

Note that you MUST fulfill both steps to be in the running for my contest. After all, I can’t declare you the winner if I just happen not to see your comment.

Entries must be received between February 1st and February 29th, 2012.

“What should this comment say?” you ask?

One thing you absolutely need to do is mention the Crossing the Streams Contest. This is about exposure for all of us authors, after all, and broadening everyone’s horizons.

Beyond that, no restrictions. I’d like it if you said something about me or what you enjoy about my work. (Obviously, if you post about one of my books on Amazon or B&N, you should mention the actual book!)

If you don’t know me or don’t know anything about my work, that’s fine too! Tell me something you like about speculative fiction in general—fantasy, science fiction, horror, whatever your cup of tea. (Note that you do not have to say anything about me or my work to win.)

Of course, I’d appreciate it if we could all keep all the comments positive, please! If you dislike my work, that’s fine, but abuse of me, another author, or anyone else online will be grounds for disqualification.

WINNERS

I will select two winners. One will be chosen completely at random, with no consideration given to how thought-provoking the comment may or may not be. The other winner will be chosen based on the content of the posted comment: did I laugh and/or cry? Throw things? Create you as a character in my next novel? Etc.

Note that you do NOT have to say anything about me to win. Just post a dedicated comment and email me about it.

ALSO! Anyone who enters my contest will receive an exclusive Shadowbane bookmark, signed by me, while supplies last! After the contest, I will mail said bookmark to you–help on postage will be appreciated but not required.

And of course, everyone who enters my contest (or any of the contests) is also in the running for the random “super-winner” selection.

PRIZES

My two winners, and the super-winner, may choose any one of the following prizes.

• Downshadow (paperback), a novel
• Ghostwalker (paperback), a novel
• Depths of Madness (paperback), a novel
• When the Hero Comes Home (paperback), an anthology
• Timid Pirate Bundle: Cobalt City Timeslip and Cobalt City: Dark Carnival (paperback), two anthologies
• Special Mystery Prize (dun dun dun!)

Winners will also receive a limited-edition signed bookmark promoting my most recent novel, Shadowbane, which is currently available as an e-book exclusive!

If you’ve got any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or email me (erikscottdebie AT yahoo DOT com)

Whose Streams am I Crossing?

There are a number of authors involved in this. You can find names and links below (more to be added).

All of these fine folks are worthy of your time and interest. If you like me, you will definitely find at least a few of these authors you will like just as much. Check out what they’ve got going on. See what’s up—what books they have to offer. Maybe buy some. This whole contest is about broadening everyone’s horizons!

As the elves say, “sweet water and light laughter until next we meet.”

Or as the orcs say, “get ‘em!”

• Ari Marmell
• Steven Savile
• Katharine Kerr
• Aaron Rosenberg
• Keith Baker
• Jon Sprunk
• Nathan Long
• Kevin Hearne
• Joshua Palmatier/Benjamin Tate
• Matt Forbeck
• Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell
• Jason Bradley Thompson
• Howard Andrew Jones
• Paul S. Kemp
• Eugie Foster
• Scott Oden
• Elaine Cunningham

Want to use the heroes (and villains) from my popular Shadowbane series in your campaign? Well here you go! Four NPCs, ripped from the pages of Downshadow, by Yours Truly.

Herein, I’ve composed statblocks to reflect four of my principle characters from Downshadow: the vigilante paladin Kalen, the amnesiac wizard Myrin, the sexy trickster Fayne, and the brutal dwarf assassin Rath.  These represent their power at some point in about the middle of the book, and hopefully contain few spoilers for those who haven’t played the game.

I figured, since I used these to run these characters as NPCs in my own game, it was just silly of me to keep them all to myself.

Heroes of Downshadow (4e)

You may notice the statblocks have a new monster type: NPC. This is to indicate that they can be run as allies alongside conventional PCs as DM-controlled NPCs or as a handy character for a guest player. I’ve done this many times at my table, and it’s worked out pretty well. They have fewer hit points than you’d expect a standard monster of their level to have, counterbalanced by healing surges (though not necessarily a way to spend them–that’s for leaders to help out with). They also each have a single action point.

Happy Dice Rolling!

Cheers

Today sees two new entries:

- Chapter 15: Journey into Darkness

- Chapter 16: The Plague Cave

Here they are, from the beginning through chapter 16: more than a year of play! http://erikscottdebie.com/2011/07/06/worldwalkers-campaign-summaries/

If you’re new to the story or want to catch-up real fast, here’s a who’s-who of the campaign! http://erikscottdebie.com/2011/07/06/who-are-the-worldwalkers/

Happy Reading!

Cheers

The article is IMO overstated and unbalanced (i.e. not talking about the vast majority of rescue adoptions that go perfectly fine), but it does make a valid point: not all people who work in Animal Rescue are good at customer service, advocate policies that people find comfortable, or even make sense all the time.

I suspect much of this is just personality clashes and poorly understood philosophy. Humans constantly misunderstand each other, particularly when they come to interactions expecting a different thing: would-be pet owners might expect a business transaction, while rescue workers think of it as an adoption event. And people get burned, feelings get hurt, etc. It’s also my impression that a number of people who work in animal welfare do so because they’re better with animals than people, so customer service isn’t high on the skill matrix.

Ultimately, my feelings about it are thus:

Yes, animal rescues can be extremely protective of their animals, which isn’t all that much of a stretch, since their mission is to *rescue* animals (mostly animals that other people don’t care about and/or protect, such as strays, surrenders, etc). This is a noble goal that is good for animal welfare but not always good for business or human interaction.

I think the core issue is whether one sees animals as “beings” or as “things,” and Rescues tend toward the “beings” angle. Sure, an animal isn’t a child, but it is a living being and can/should be a part of your life, not just some toy to play with. So certain precautions (such as making sure the animal is adopted into a stable home where the animal will be comfortable with guaranteed, unchanging support for the duration of its lifetime) are quite reasonable. Which is not to say some rescues don’t go overboard, and clearly some do. Anyway, that focus on animal welfare is how I understand the animal rescue philosophy, and it’s one I largely share.

Don’t let some experiences (yes, there are kooks) color the concept of a rescue or paint all rescues with the same brush. All my animals come from various rescues, and I have adopted them with no fuss and absolutely no problems.

Cheers

Today, amidst all the talk about MLK Jr., I got to wondering if we’re really moving toward his dream of brotherhood among all people, regardless of difference, or we’re just moving to a place where we’re better at hiding our prejudices.

What do I mean?

We seem to be pretty good at hiding our racism in politics. It comes across in subtle ways, like the constant attempt to paint Obama as the Other: he’s a Muslim, he was born in Kenya, he’s not a REAL American. And while none of those are overtly about him being black, would any of that fly if he were white?

There’s all kinds of sexism at all levels of American society as well. If you thought electing a black man as president was tough, we haven’t managed to elect a WOMAN yet. I wasn’t at all surprised that Michelle Bachmann was the first major GOP casualty–call her crazy if you want (guilty), but I think it’s still telling that she was the only woman on the field and we made sure she went away first. (Not to mention Santorum is at LEAST as crazy as she ever was.)

(And lest anyone think this is me indulging my liberal leanings, it isn’t. Obama has PLENTY to answer for, and the Democratic party has been anything but impressive for many, many years. What I’m saying here is about being an AMERICAN, not being a liberal or a conservative.)

Racism, prejudice, bigotry… these things are NOT American. They do not belong in our discourse or our society. A long history of crusaders for tolerance and understanding, including MLK Jr., has led us to this moment. We have learned the importance of embracing diversity and difference without prejudice.

So why can’t we quite manage it?

Racism is still an issue at all levels of our society, but what I really wanted to talk about here was prejudice against 10% of our country, across many ethnicities and both genders: homophobia.

Somehow it’s ok to be a raging homophobe in politics. It’s ok to say “naw, the gays aren’t real citizens, like us straight people,” and still have a promising career in anything but the looney bin. I don’t see how campaigning on an anti-gay marriage platform is any different from campaigning on a pro-segregationist platform (see politics in the 40s and 50s). And I *really* don’t see how you can equate consenual sexual acts between gay men with pedophilia or bestiality and still be taken seriously in modern politics. Seriously?

And while politicians who use these sort of tactics may not be bigots themselves (though Santorum, yeah, definitely a bigot), appealing to this sentiment still makes a politician complicit in it. If you make your politics about hate and intolerance, then you are about hate and intolerance, regardless of how strongly you protest your innocence.

So this day reminds me of where we need to go, and how far we still need to travel. It is our duty to stand up against prejudice and intolerance, racism and sexism, for any reason.

That is Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, and it’s our duty to see it done.

Cheers

This raises the question of the fate of the Forgotten Realms in 5e. According to EN World, The Forgotten Realms will be supported from the start, and a video game art studio from China has been hired to fully detail the Realms. I asked if going forward support would be continued for the current time after the Spellplague and the Neverwinter Campaign. A WotC spokesperson answered, “The Forgotten Realms has a rich history and we will support all of it. It is for the gamers to decide which time they would enjoy playing in.” That would allow Wizards to take advantage of a massive back catalog of products; however, there are no current plans that we know of for other settings – we assume these will follow in later years.

That’s promising but not very specific.

What follows is my list of what WotC should do, IMO, to make the Forgotten Realms the awesome, financially successful, flagship setting it deserves to be.

1. Don’t retcon 4e out of existence–rather than destroy, BUILD:

Personally, I would not do a retcon. That would be bad from a business standpoint, a fan standpoint, and a story standpoint. Not only would they burn bridges with all their fans of 4e, but they’d also demolish story hooks that are being advanced in 4e. Erevis Cale? Done. Shadowbane? Done. Even DRIZZT? Done. Fortunately, I also don’t think WotC is going to go that way. They already saw the havoc that wreaked on Dragonlance. Do they–or we–really want to see our beloved Realms go down in flames like that?

Also, we saw what happened when we tried to enact sweeping, unprecedented changes to the setting.

What would be BEST is if we could get to a place where we all agree on the setting, and just go with it there. But since that isn’t going to happen, what *I* would do is release stuff that supports all eras of the Realms, so that people playing 1e, 2e, 3e, 4e, or 5e can still use anything that comes out. I’m completely fine with seeing the mechanical stuff that comes out support whatever edition is *current*, but story material should support any edition. I’d like to return to the days of 75% flavor, 25% crunch. (Which is where I think WotC design is headed, actually.)

2. Support all eras–sourcebooks, novels (more, please!), and online fiction included:

Give the eras of the Realms the Star Wars Expanded Universe treatment. Release sourcebooks that support multiple eras–that give you a baseline of what a place is like (Waterdeep, Suzail, Silverymoon, Dalelands, etc.), then give you customizing tools to tailor it to whatever era you want to play in.

Authors and designers should work in all eras. I want to see this made not only more possible but actively encouraged. The problem is a little bit the business case–people want to feel as though they are witnessing progress, so novels set mostly or entirely in the past need to have some clear connection to the future–they still need to move things along. Thankfully, Realms history is so rich with mysterious events and cool happenings (see Grand History of the Realms) that I don’t see this being a problem. I would love to write a whole series about more than one of my “post-dated” characters–Fox-at-Twilight and Arya Venkyr spring to mind.

I would like to see WotC put out more novels (15-20 a year, not the 10-12 we have now) and I’d like to see them move into inexpensive online fiction, which hits every other week or so. $1-$2 for a 6k-8k story, downloadable from WotC, from Amazon, the iTunes store, or whatever you want. These may be included with your DDI subscription (up to WotC to decide that–I would personally do it).

A thought occurred to me, to have our cake and eat it too: what about TWO Realms novel lines? The regular Forgotten Realms line (which features stories set in the 1480s), and then “Forgotten Realms: Legends,” which features stories not only from the pre-Spellplague era but also from far-removed times/places?

3. Work hard to give us a strong mechanical system and also ACRES OF STORY:

I don’t know about 5e’s mechanics–they’re still in the works. But the big opportunity here is to build a system that lends itself to ALL ERAS of play. You could pull this off with previous editions, too, with a lot of work. But 5e can be integrated–can bring all eras together under one umbrella so that you can flow into anything you want. This game should be so badass that you’ll WANT to use the system.

And for those players who don’t want to use 5e? What about people who are perfectly happy with 1e, 2e, 3e, 4e, or (yes) Pathfinder RPG? (Because no matter how good the system is, there will be some, I promise!) Fortunately, there’s everything that goes along with it: story, sourcebooks, content up the wazoo. The business case for this is simple: reach out to everyone who plays any sort of D&D and say “here–here’s a setting you can use whole-cloth with whatever you’re doing. Have at it.”

Anyone playing any edition should be able to pick up a 5e Forgotten Realms sourcebook and use it in his/her game. It’s as simple as that.

The Realms is vastly underdetailed, especially considering the scope of its history. Start with better explanations of the 4e transitions. There’s a lot of story there, and I think we can get to a narrative point where some of the big shenanigans are resolved. And I think that a lot of this is being dealt with as we speak, er, type. Let Ed deal with the Mystra situation, for instance (which he’s currently doing). Give us another piece about the drow and their pantheon (hint hint, Menzo sourcebook). Let me deal with Helm (which I’m currently doing). Give Paul time to work the Shar/Mask/Erevis Cale thing (again). Continue this trend.

Also, let us fill in some of that gap. I know it’s nice for DMs to have an open area they can “fill in” with their own stuff, but it’s far better for them to have the information to use if they want, and ignore it if they don’t, rather than be FORCED to make it all up.

Bottom Line?

5e is our opportunity to pull everything together and move forward with a strong, vibrant Realms that is better than ever before.

(Also: yay!)

Now let’s get to work.

Cheers

Without further ado . . .

Kalen “Shadowbane” Dren

Kalen is a thief-turned-paladin, sworn to the Threefold God (a heretic amalgamation of Helm, Tyr, and Torm), who turns his shady skills to a one-man war against evil. He suffers from a spellscar that deadens sensation in his body: it makes him stronger and tougher than ordinary men, but it will also kill him one day. He has sworn to follow his god’s path in the time given to him.

Appearances: “The Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane,” Downshadow, “Chosen of the Sword,” “A New Purpose” (inc. in ebook bundle), Shadowbane, Eye of Justice (September 2012)

Race/Class (during Shadowbane)

4e D&D Build: human male (age 25 in 1480) pursuit avenger 10

3.5 D&D Build: human (Chondathan) male rogue 2/paladin 4/shadowbane inquisitor 4

1e-2e D&D Build: human male dual-classed thief/paladin 10

(As a novel character, Kalen defies easy classification in terms of class and powers. I originally conceived him as Shadowbane Inquisitor from 3.5, but I wrote him for a 4e book before the 4e core rules were published, so I couldn’t really build him before he appeared. I called him a paladin before avenger appeared, which is a much better build for his abilities. You’ll see him get more settled into that class during Shadowbane. He’s basically a dual-class character in the old 1e/2e tradition.)

Alignment?

Alignment is one of those things I don’t make super clear in my novels, but Kalen falls somewhere around the “lawful neutral” axis–sometimes he’s closer to Lawful Good, sometimes to True Neutral. An actual statblock of Kalen would probably list him as “unaligned.”

IMO, the 4e “unaligned” concept basically incorporates the “neutral” alignments of previous editions (NG, LN, TN, CN, NE), saying that a character who is partly “neutral” isn’t committed enough to have a specific alignment and is thus “unaligned.” I consider “good” to be the translation of “chaotic good” (i.e. you don’t give a fig for whether it’s legal or not–it’s the right thing to do) while “evil” is basically “lawful good” (devils, organized evil, etc). Not everyone will see it that way, but that’s how I think of it.

Notable Possessions/Powers

Vindicator is a shard of Helm’s lingering divine power. The sword originally appeared in 1384 after a young Night Mask named Gedrin Thalavar (or the Westgate noble family) saw the god Helm dueling the god Tyr. The god of guardians fell to the god of justice, but his power flowed into Tyr and into the sword he wielded, which was in Gedrin’s hand when he awoke. The young thief chosen by Helm became a paladin and created the Eye of Justice organization out of the ranks of his fellow Night Masks.

Mechanically, Vindicator is a Vigilant Blade bastard sword +3 (modifier scales with a chosen wielder’s level), with as-yet not fully revealed additional powers including glowing with bright grey flames, a variant of the Swordmage’s swordbond class feature, and burning a would-be wielder who is not worthy to hold it.

Kalen has a Spellscar that diminishes pain and makes him strong, tough, and fast. He barely feels strikes, though his body suffers the damage and he doesn’t always know when to back down from a fight. His numbness applies to all tactile sensation, including kisses, caresses, and the like. The debilitating spellscar also seems to get worse at times, almost completely immobilizing him under certain conditions, and Kalen believes it will one day kill him.

Notable Relationships (before Shadowbane)

Myrin Darkdance (good-aligned human wand/orb wizard [spellscarred harbinger]): A young amnesiac wizard, whose safety Kalen took upon himself when they met in the novel Downshadow. Myrin clearly has strong feelings for Kalen, though he can’t quite identify/reconcile how he feels about her.

Fayne (chaotic evil eladrin (fey’ri) female fey-pact warlock): A con-artist and professional scandal-maker, whose illusion/disguise powers have earned her the moniker “The Trickster of Waterdeep.” She serves at the whim of her patron and father, Lilten Changecloak. She and Kalen have an on-again/off-again toxic romance.

Araezra “Rayse” Hondyl (good human female fighter [MC warlord]): A Valabrar in the Waterdeep Guard and Kalen’s (former) commanding officer. She and Kalen had a romantic relationship in the past, but have since become good friends instead.

Cellica (unaligned halfling female psion): Kalen’s adopted sister from Luskan, she helps “Shadowbane” with his war against evil.

Arrath “Rath” Vir (evil dwarf male monk): An infamous assassin who clashes frequently with Kalen as Shadowbane.

Lady Ilira “Fox-at-Twilight” Nathalan (unaligned eladrin [moon elf] female rogue/assassin): A retired adventurer turned silk merchant/stylist in Waterdeep. She and Kalen share a dance in Downshadow, and while it is clear there is a connection between them, she soon flees, accused of the murder of her best friend.

Vaelis (unaligned human male avenger): A young broadcryer Kalen encounters at the end of Downshadow and takes as an apprentice.

Backstory

Bloody Days in Luskan

Born a street rat on the mean streets of Luskan, city of thieves, in 1455, the boy Kalen learned quickly to beg, steal, and occasionally murder to survive. Kalen is the younger of two siblings; his 5-10 years older half-sister Eden, who left Luskan after seeing their shared mother (Drenna of Luskan) allegedly died of a broken heart when Kalen’s father, a Silverymoon knight, abandoned her, leaving Kalen more-or-less alone.

At an early age, he suffered from an illness that diminished the amount of pain that he felt from external stimuli (similar to CIPA) which resulted in scars around his lips and fingers (where he gnawed constantly as a child). As a boy, he met (by chance) the halfling twins Cellica and Toytere, who had been captives of a cult sworn to the Demon Prince Graz’zt. He forged a close sibling relationship with Cellica and a rivalry with Toytere, who was a member of a gang called the Dead Rats.

In 1463, at the age of 8, Kalen met Gedrin “Shadowbane” Thalavar, who bequeathed him the fabulous sword Vindicator, which was the founding blade of the Westgate-based guild called the Eye of Justice. He instructed the boy to follow the path the blade set for him and not to run from it, then boxed him on the ear so that he would remember his charge. Gedrin perished shortly thereafter, betrayed by his closest ally into the hands of a vampire lord called Kirenkirsalai, who was apparently an old enemy. (This tale can be found in “The Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane”—a free short story download.)

Soon after, Kalen hawked the blade for enough coin to flee the city, along with his adopted sister Cellica, but they were betrayed and almost killed. The pair escaped, but not before Kalen had fallen prey to unrestrained Spellplague energy. The result put him into a statue-like coma, from which he eventually with Cellica’s help. The lingering scar exacerbated his numb sickness and would ultimately prove fatal. Kalen decided to follow the path of the Threefold God that Gedrin had blazed and vowed to get the sword back.

The Birth of Shadowbane

In 1470, Kalen (and Cellica) arrived at the headquarters of the Eye of Justice in Westgate, where he demanded to be charged with the task of recovering Vindicator. The sword had been missing since 1460, when Gedrin had quit the order, which he called unrecognizably corrupt and morally bankrupt. The council agreed with Kalen’s daring demand, offering membership in the order should he prove successful. Kalen met Gedrin’s adopted daughter Levia Shadewalker (a half-elf priestess/spy in Westgate), who quickly became his second trusted ally when he revealed to her that he had, in fact, had Vindicator all along.

She began to train him in the ways of the Order, hoping that one day he would redeem the Eye of Justice, which had fallen from its lofty ideals. In turn, Kalen attempted to reconcile the brutal thief inside him with the noble paladin Gedrin had taught him to be. Unfortunately, Kalen ultimately broke with the Eye of Justice, much as Gedrin had before him. When he had to deal with assassins sent by his own organization, which feared his growing power and popularity, he left in disgust after five years of training.

In 1475, Kalen went to Waterdeep, where he took a commission in the City Watch by day, whilst punishing those criminals the law couldn’t touch by night as a vigilante called Shadowbane. He became a master of the underworld neighborhood called Downshadow and began building an infamous legend as a mysterious “black knight.”

On the surface, his valor as a Watchman quickly caught the eye of then Shieldlar Araezra “Rayse” Hondyl of the City Guard, with whom he struck up a casual and ultimately doomed romance (though they remained friends). When she was promoted to Valabrar, Araezra requested Kalen be transferred from the Watch into a position under her command. Ostensibly was suffering badly from his numbness affliction, Kalen was kept out of active physical duty, though in truth, he was pushing himself extra hard as Shadowbane.

The Scourge of Downshadow

(The following story can be found in the novel Downshadow. If you haven’t read that novel, be warned of spoilers!)

In 1479, Kalen met (by seeming chance) an amnesiac girl with blue hair and numerous tattoos called “Myrin,” to whom he was immediately drawn. It seemed Myrin was a wizard of some sort, but without knowledge of her past, the true scope of her powers was hidden from all. Myrin immediately gravitated to the heroic Kalen and forged a close friendship with Kalen’s adopted sister, Cellica. As her powers continued to manifest, she seemed to have a knack for absorbing magic and memories from those she touched. All the memories she absorbed were memories of herself, and whenever she saw herself casting a particular spell, she would remember how to cast it. A remembered spell manifested on her skin as a tattoo.

Unfortunately, Myrin’s presence also drew the attention of Fayne the Trickster, a fey’ri warlock and professional scandal-maker, who sought to acquire her by any means necessary. (Fayne worked at the behest of anyone with coin, but particularly her mysterious and powerful patron, Lilten Changecloak.) These included the hiring of the dangerous Arrath “Rath” Vir, a dwarf monk and assassin, who became bitter rivals with Kalen. He betrayed Fayne and sowed chaos in Kalen’s life, including the murder of a high-ranking priestess of Sune (Lorien Dawnbringer), the ruination of a merchant queen in the city (Lady Ilira Nathalan), and the slaying of Kalen’s sister, Cellica. Myrin was herself kidnapped along with Fayne, though it appears the fey’ri was complicit in Rath’s dealings (or at least knew how to escape). Kalen fought Rath through Downshadow and had a final showdown with him atop Waterdeep’s clock tower.

Thinking Kalen would give in to his internal monster and kill Rath, Myrin left the city, though not before she absorbed some of Kalen’s spellscar, extending his life. Kalen spared Rath and arrested Fayne, who promptly escaped the Waterdeep prison. In the process, Kalen also met the boy Vaelis, in a manner similar to his own initial meeting with Gedrin Thalavar. He determined to train the boy to take up the mantle of Shadowbane, in part so that he could leave to follow Myrin.

Do you want to know more?

I think I’ll produce some statblocks for use in your 4e games. But in the meantime, go check out:

“Chosen of the Sword,” which tells the tragic tale of Kalen’s first apprentice, Vaelis.

The Rath vs. Shadowbane twitter duel, where the rivals meet in the contested city of Neverwinter.

“A New Purpose,” the short story included in the Shadowbane e-book bundle.

Then, of course, the novel Shadowbane.

Cheers

THE STORY:

The Shadowbane series is all about my ephemeral, troubled hero: Kalen “Shadowbane” Dren.

When he first appeared as Shadowbane in Downshadow (book 1), Kalen was an uncompromising thief-turned-paladin who routinely bent the law in his one-man war against evil. He is chosen by the dead god of guardians, Helm, and gifted with a powerful magic sword (Vindicator) to cleanse the world of darkness.

Now in Shadowbane (book 2), Kalen returns to the thieves’ city of his birth, where his paradigm must evolve if he is to survive and save the woman he loves. His sense of right and wrong grows stronger and more complex, and he must accept the darkness within him to be worthy of Vindicator.

The sequel, Eye of Justice (book 3, Fall 2012), will see him come face to face with the consequences of his actions and the legacy of his past mistakes. And he will learn that he is not the only worthy wielder of Helm’s sword or divine power.

As with all antiheroes, Kalen’s greatest enemy in his quest is himself. He comes from a violent past, growing up a thief and occasional murderer on the mean streets of Luskan, city of thieves. He naturally distrusts all those around him, from a long series of betrayals at the hands of would-be friends. His body rots from within due to a magical curse, making him feel no pain and strengthening him, but also killing him slowly.

When I created him, I wanted Kalen to be strong and brave, but also weak and self-doubting. Any man without flaws can rise up to become a hero, but it makes it so much more valuable when he must face his demons and overcome his shortcomings to do what must be done. Kalen is also living on borrowed time: there is no doubt in his mind that he will die soon, either in battle or from his curse. The only question is what he will do with the time he has, making his quest all the more poignant.

The series also nods in homage to my love of comic book superheroes. While Batman is the most obvious parallel to Kalen, with his double life and grim manner as the vigilante “Shadowbane,” but I’ve tried to instill echoes of heroes like Daredevil (Kalen’s religious connection and focus on justice) and the Punisher (Kalen’s uncompromising, ruthless attitude). I drew on my love of the X-Men through the use of spellscars—hereditary magical blessings/curses that grant power even as they mark a wielder as different and (in many cases) feared.

And finally, the Shadowbane series grows out of my enduring love for the panoramic Forgotten Realms fantasy setting. It was my goal to create a story that would stand alongside the exploits of Elminster, Erevis Cale, Arilyn Moonblade, and the legendary Drizzt Do’Urden. The series gives me a chance to tell a story I love in a setting I love, weaving in lore and themes that have captivated me since my youth.

Next up, some lore!

Cheers,

Erik Scott de Bie

Adam Gopnik, a popular New Yorker writer and noted intellectual, wrote a piece back in August about knowingly buying a puppy from a puppy mill. He claims that he didn’t know how awful puppy mills were, and was concerned that a rescue would be harder to own (that he would have to “cope” more). I buy those claims, because “if I don’t see it, it’s ok” and “rescue dogs are tough” are both common cultural misconceptions. These are pretty much the same attitudes by which one justifies, respectively, buying products made in sweat shops and distrusting people from “rough” neighborhoods. Totally ludicrous and unethical prejudices, but that’s America for you.

The thing that bothers me the most is the lack of contrition (I’ve google-searched for it for some time now), and the continuing attitude that he’s confident in his improved ability to “cope,” so it’ll be ok to adopt a puppy from a rescue. This is a false presumption–that all rescue dogs are damaged–and one that needs to be contradicted at every turn.

The main difference in terms of personality of a rescue vs. a puppy mill dog is that a rescue dog “may” have been abused in its past, whereas a puppy mill dog “definitively has” been abused in its past. At best, puppy mills are inhumane places where puppies are profit-driven products, not actual creatures worthy of love or respect. In most cases, the operators of puppy mills care far less about the health of their dogs than do rescues (which do health screenings and treatments as a matter of standard procedure, at their own expense). Puppies are born from abused breeder mothers kept in cages, which are forced into pregnancy (yeah, that’s right–dog rape, you got it), basically as much as possible. I could go on, but you can google the gory details yourself.

Gopnik claims to have learned about the horror of puppy mills, but he expresses no outrage over it or regret for supporting them. I have no doubt that his dog is a wonderful one (he’s lucky if he didn’t get one that was permanently damaged by its upbringing or infected with an awful illness), but he should be using his considerable position to talk about the ethical implications. He’s a smart, worthy writer, but this looks increasingly like willful ignorance. Being fooled into doing something wrong does not make you morally reprehensible, but not recognizing that it was wrong or trying to do something about it does.

If you are outraged about puppy mills, like I am, I recommend you get involved. Donate to your local animal rescue, facebook/tweet about animal rescue events, or just stop buying things from pet stores that sell puppies (i.e. supporting puppy mills). Dog Rescues charge adoption fees to cover the care of their dogs, but pet stores that sell puppies are just trying to turn a profit.

Cheers,

Erik Scott de Bie

There are currently two books in this series (Downshadow and Shadowbane), and a third (Eye of Justice) to be published in September 2012. That isn’t all there is to the series, however–I’ve been filling in little bits and pieces in the form of companion stories, and being the prolific and crazy writer that I am, I also wrote a whole 85-page novella called “Chosen of the Sword,” which (about a year).

Oh and it’s absolutely free. No DDI account or credit card or e-reader or cash required. You can download it here: “Chosen of the Sword”

Why did I write this piece? For three reasons:

1) To give those who’ve been following Kalen’s adventures since Downshadow a little extra insight into this second installment, as well as provide more of an introduction for new readers who pick up Shadowbane and want to learn more about this Kalen Dren person who carries around a sword belonging to the god Helm.

2) To fill in a subplot in Shadowbane that I didn’t have space to go into as deeply as I wanted (i.e. “Who is this Vaelis person anyway? And why is Kalen so broken about it?”)

3) To tell what I think is an awesome story, one that gets to the roots of what it means to be Shadowbane, much as the self-titled novel does.

Question: Is reading “Chosen of the Sword” required for Shadowbane? How about Downshadow, the prequel? 

Answer: Nope and nope . . . but you should totally check them both out.

You should be able to pick up Shadowbane knowing NOTHING about the character or the story and enjoy it. “Chosen” and Downshadow give you a chance to immerse yourself deeper in the ongoing trials, soaring victories, and crushing defeats of Kalen “Shadowbane” Dren.

If you like what you’re reading, I recommend checking those out . . . not that I’m biased, or anything.

Cheers,

Erik

P.S. If you’re a completist who wants everything chronologically accurate, then here we go:

- 1462, “Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane” (available for free on the WotC SB product page)

- 1479, Downshadow (available in print, Kindle, and Nook, or as part of the Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep collection 1)

- 1480, “Chosen of the Sword” (free download, right here)

- 1480, “A New Purpose” (available on Shadowbane e-book bundle)

- 1480, Shadowbane (available on Kindle and Nook)

- 1480, Eye of Justice (September 2012)

(There’s probably also a companion story I’m going to write for Eye of Justice that takes place between “Legend” and Downshadow, but we’ll see.)

Happy writing, NaNoWriMo folks!

Cheers

Brimstone Angels, by Erin M. Evans

Q. So Brimstone Angels ties into the Neverwinter releases this year. What aspects of Neverwinter do you play up in the novel?

I liked the idea of this city that’s historically been huge and vibrant and influential, that’s been just razed by catastrophes, but that’s starting to rebuild. I read a lot of news stories from post-Hurricane Katrina NOLA to get an idea of what it’s like. For Neverwinter, what really popped for me is that while the people of Neverwinter are trying to rebuild, there are all these major threats that have sort of entrenched themselves where no one’s looking.

When I started outlining the novel, I went through Cryptic’s story bible for ideas and found myself drawn in particular to the interplay of two big factors—the Ashmadai and the Abolethic Sovereignty. I actually went to them with the idea of a succubus that’s been tasked with corrupting a priest who turns out to be “the Foulspawn Prophet” that Cryptic had put in Helm’s Hold. But then they decided that the prophet should be a woman, so I said, “How about the succubus becomes the prophet then?” They loved it, so now you’ll find Rohini in the Neverwinter Campaign Setting. In some ways, Brimstone Angels is Rohini’s origin story.

(And there are a few easter eggs for fans of the previous video games. J)

Q. What was it like to write a pair of sisters? How did that affect your writing process?

I have two sisters of my own, so that dynamic is one I’m pretty familiar with. I suspect that on some level it’s the same sort of dynamic that brothers have—these are people you’re closer to than anyone, so they can also drive you crazier than anyone. Your very identity, on some level, gets tangled up with who they are. You can be “the smart one” or “the pretty one” or “the athletic one” but whatever your siblings get to be, you don’t. When I bring this up with people a lot of the time, there’s this spark of recognition and they tell me about how their brother was good at running, so they just decided they were bad at running despite going several miles a day. Or their sister was the artistic one, so they stopped drawing and got a new hobby. It’s sad and weird, but I think it happens to a lot of us for a time.

I feel like the scenes with the twins were some of the easiest to write because I’ve been where Farideh (the main character) is—where you just want to go out and be your own person without your siblings—and I’ve been where Havilar is—where you just want everyone to stop trying to change things up on you. I’m thankful to have gotten past that point, and I’m thankful neither of my sisters is a whiz with a polearm.

The funny thing is that I think my sisters will both read the book and decide that Farideh is me, and the other sister is Havilar. But I was much more of a Havilar at that age than either of them.

Q. Who was your favorite character in the book? Which character particularly challenged you?

All of them and all of them? This is a character-heavy book, and writing it took a lot of work that had me pretty much getting into every character’s head for an extended period of time.

I found a lot of the time I butted up against tropes I didn’t want to use. Like Lorcan—he’s the cambion that Farideh has a pact with. He’s a complicated character with a lot to work out—he’s controlling and a little compulsive, but he’s also very noble in his own way. I hope you can see a sort of thread of humanity in him, but he’s unavoidably fiendish. There were times in my first draft where I felt like he was really trying to be the hero—and I think if someone else was writing this book, he might have surged up and redeemed himself right away, because that’s what you expect the handsome bad boy to do in other books, right? But—spoiler alert—Lorcan’s not a prince. He’s an evil bastard. An evil bastard you can occasionally count on, but an evil bastard.

The God Catcher, by Erin M. Evans

Q. Does Brimstone Angels relate to your previous work in some way (such as your previous novel, The God Catcher)? Are we going to see familiar characters?

For the most part, no. The book is set about a year earlier in the current timeline (around Kythorn 1478), to make room for actions that set up threats in Neverwinter, so Tennora’s still a wizard and Nestrix is still gods know where doing gods know what. One character from my short story, “The Resurrection Agent,” [link?] does return, older and wiser, as a secondary character—a Harper agent. I needed a priest for mechanical reasons, and rather than come up with a whole new character, I pulled the Shepherd out of retirement and gave him a new purpose.

Q. You write a bit about warlock pacts in the novel. How was that? Where do you take your inspiration?

Mechanically, in The Fanged Crown, there’s a character with an infernal pact, so I tried to keep to the suggestions there—patterns of hurns that mark the warlock as a devil’s especially. But the character there was pretty minor, so I had a lot of room to get creative. I wanted to get away from the standard Faustian pact, because dragging that out over a series of books didn’t feel like what I wanted to do. Instead, I created a sort of devilish subculture of pact-holders who collect warlocks of particular bloodlines or attributes, and spend a lot of time hunting for the exact right warlock or poaching their rivals’. The casting style, I tried to make very physical, since a lot of the book is about personal space and bloodlines—plus, it means it’s less like wizardry.

Character-wise, I really loved dealing with the pact. Here’s this very moral young woman who’s spent her entire life being told she has to be obscenely good, that she has the options of maybe two professions that she hates, that she’s pretty much going to be stuck living with her sister in the middle of nowhere because she’s not safe going out into the world. And then she takes this pact—something so far from all that she didn’t even know she wanted it—and suddenly has all this power. She knows it’s a bad idea on paper, but in practice her life is suddenly a lot better. Suddenly she can help people. She’s conflicted and confused and trying to figure it out.

Q. Your book highlights the erinyes and succubus, two creatures that have undergone some flux throughout the editions, as well as cambions, tieflings, and big-time devil princess Glasya. What can you say about that?

I wrote a whole blog post about this, actually. Check it out here: Sexy Devil Women on Slush Lush

Q. I heard a rumor a Brimstone Angels follow-up is in the works. Any teasers you can slip? (Promise I won’t tell anyone!)

The hard part about giving teasers for the next book is not spoiling this one! Let’s see…

Loose ends connect up, but more appear.

• More of the Shepherd.
• Fewer devils—new threat.
• And I’ve been researching sokushinbutsu.

(Have fun.)

About the Interviewer:

Erik Scott de Bie is the author of numerous novels and short stories in the Forgotten Realms (his fourth, Shadowbane, released in October 2011), as well as a contributing designer to several Dungeons and Dragons products. He feels particularly honored to borrow one of Erin’s toys (Rohini) for the Neverwinter Campaign Setting, and is looking forward to her novel with serious enthusiasm.

I’ll also note what novels they appear in: Downshadow (DS), “Chosen of the Sword” (CotS), Shadowbane (SB), Eye of Justice (EoJ). Some of those appearances are cameos, which I have noted as such.

I won’t mark all the characters who appear in EoJ, as that would spoil it, wouldn’t it? There will also be several brand new characters in EYE OF JUSTICE, and I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.

I posted this on Candlekeep, ranked by basic alignment, but here I’ll rank it based on the novel in which the characters first appear. Note that there are SPOILERS for each novel you haven’t read.

Downshadow

Kalen “Shadowbane” Dren, Chosen of Helm: male human ex-rogue/ex-paladin/pursuit avenger (Helm/Threefold God[1]) (DS, SB, CotS, EoJ)

Myrin Darkdance, amnesiac wizard: female human wizard (spellscarred harbinger theme, see NWCS) (There was a mention of a different name as well…) (DS, SB, CotS cameo?[2], EoJ)

Cellica, Kalen’s adopted sister: female halfling ardent (DS)

Arrath “Rath” Vir, deadly murderer: male dwarf monk/assassin (DS)

Fayne, the Trickster of Waterdeep: female fey’ri warlock (DS, CotS)

Araezra “Rayse” Hondyl, Valabrar in the Waterdeep Guard: female human fighter (DS, CotS cameo, SB cameo)

Lady Ilira “Fox-at-Twilight” Nathalan, former adventurer: female moon elf rogue/assassin (DS cameo, EoJ[3])

Chosen of the Sword

Vaelis, Kalen’s former apprentice: male human ex-rogue/paladin (Tyr/Threefold God[1]) (CotS)

Kirenkirsalai, vicious manipulator, wants Myrin: male half-elf vampire (DS cameo, CotS, EoJ)

Shadowbane

Rhetegast “Rhett” Hawkwinter, Waterdeep Guard and noble scion: male human paladin (Torm/Threefold God[1]) (SB)

“King Toy” Toytere, Gang Lord of the Dead Rats of Luskan: male halfling artful dodger rogue/prescient bard (SB)

Eden of the Clearlight, Gang Lord of the Coinspinners of Luskan: female human cleric (Tymora/Beshaba) (SB)

Sithe, Dead Rats enforcer: female voidsoul genasi avenger (Shar) with a big, jagged axe (SB)

Lilten, mysterious traveler and schemer: male sun elf bard/cleric (Beshaba) (SB, EoJ)

Eye of Justice

Levia Shadewalker, Kalen’s former teacher: female half-elf rogue/cleric (Torm/Threefold God[1])

????

Notes:
[1] When classing a Threefold God worshipper, I’m also going to identify the character’s *main* deity of choice.
[2] It’s ambiguous whether that’s actually Myrin in that scene, or someone else–someone more powerful . . .
[3] Yes, Fox-at-Twilight fans, you read that right. Mysterious Lady Ilira will be reappearing in Eye of Justice, and while I won’t spoil her role, I will say it’s expanded over her appearance in Downshadow.