Knights of the Hidden Sun Souls of Our Ancestors Episode 5

Here it is.

Sorry for the long hiatus. Last week I attended HammerCon II and it pretty much wiped me out.

It was a real endurance run for gamers. I ended up playing DC Heroes, Pathfinder, a number of other games in their speed gaming segment AND still managed to run two sessions of Knights of the Hidden Sun. All in all not a bad Saturday.

This is the episode I played RIGHT after the con so if I sound draggy you know why.

In this Episode Rixel realizes that having a large black energy bow of death really isn’t helpful when you’re stuck on a derelict starship. To make things worse ‘Night Man’ from Episode 3 makes an appearance and Rixel’s not taking any chances with him. It’s a short story,half of it is Souls of Our Ancestors and the rest is about fun in Hammer Con but I promise tonight’s show (to be posted next week) will have a lot more Hidden Sun goodness.

Hope you enjoy.

Chall

Knights of the Hidden Sun Souls of Our Ancestors Episode 4

Here is Episode 4: Lady In Black.

The goddess figure in this story comes from this song.

I was introduced to Uriah Heep by my father after his death. I was going through his old records and found The Magician’s Birthday. For a scrawny teenager who was a big fan of fantasy and science fiction, who just lost his dad this was a priceless discovery.

When I got to University found Moondance and picked up Demons and Wizards. The song Lady in Black left a BIG impression on me.

This was because the first story I wrote in high school was about a Lady in Black who redeemed herself form being an evil sorceress and became a wandering saint doing good.

Needless to say I wanted my first book to have something to do with her. The Lady in Black in this story features prominently in my RPG.

Knights of the Hidden Sun — Now On Trent Radio

Space opera with stone instead of steel, runes instead of circuits, the power of the human soul instead of fusion.

This is the roleplaying game I’ve been working on for the past three years. In it the player characters are agents of a shadowy organization dedicated to keeping peace throughout the Galaxy. They use magic, cunning and skill to attain their goals. The game can be an action packed adventure or even a deadly intrigue depending on the tastes of the players

I’ve had fun writing all 300 pages. I’ve found that it’s worked well in play-testing. I’m running a game at Phantasm in Peterborough Ontario this weekend and I’m looking into running another at Hammer Con in Hamilton Ontairo in November.

Right now the development of Hidden Sun is in the very capable hands of Malcolm Sheppard of White Wolf fame. He’s doing a great job. I value the perspective and the work he’s putting into this.

However, I want to do more. That’s why I’ll be producing a radio show on Trent Radio 9.27 CFFF FM.

It’s going to be a series of stories from the Hidden Sun Galaxy. It will follow the journey of a young woman named Rix as she searches the stars for the stolen souls of her ancestors. It’s going to be a live show, so watch for my mistakes. I also hope to make a podcast. I’m rather new to podcasting so this may take me a week or two after the show airs.

The show won’t ‘give away the whole Galaxy’. The stories will be specific and while they’ll describe the Hidden Sun Galaxy they won’t offer in depth context into the setting. For that, and the rules, you’ll need to buy the book when it comes out. The purpose of the show will be for fun (mine, I like telling stories, and hopefully yours) and give perspective Hidden Sun players a taste of what is to come.

The radio show will start on November 3rd at 5:00 PM EST. It will then run weekly, every Sunday, from 5:00 – 6:00 PM EST.

I hope you enjoy it.

The First Time

My goal since high school was to become an fantasy author. I was a big fan of gaming books; we’re talking about the Dragon Lance Chronicles,  Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, Spell Fire, the Halfing’s Gem. . .you get the picture. These were the stories I loved as a kid and they inspired me to write my own.

In my teens to twenties I tried to ‘break into the market’. It didn’t work,  I was young an lazy and had not refined my style.

That changed when Guardian’s of Order drew up a super hero anthology for Silver Age Sentinels; Path of the Just. Inspiration struck, I sent out a story and actually got a response. The editor liked it but wanted me to make a few tweaks. I thought I was in, one of my stories published, for money. I was on Cloud 9. However, in the end they dropped my submission. You know the saying the bigger they are. . .

I was crushed and decided to give up the craft.  I was pissed off at Guardians of Order but more at myself for not being good enough.

Fortunately it didn’t last. A week later my girlfriend and I were reading Knights of the Dinner Table #121.  I’d read the voices of B.A, Bob and Bryan, she’d read Dave and Sarah. We were flipping through the pages when we glanced at The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Article. It was my submission. My name was on it. I was going to get paid for it. I had been published and didn’t even know it because Kenzer Co didn’t send any notice. Again, cloud 9 time. It was good to be back.

Armed with my new confidence I decided to give writing another shot. Four years I’ve published another article in Polygraff #1 and I’m on the cusp of releasing a RPG Knights of the Hidden Sun with Malcolm Sheppard of White Wolf fame.

My teen self would be proud.