Hugo Negron's Blog - Posts Tagged "dungeons-and-dragons"

Back in the day, Grenadier Miniatures created lead figures for various role-playing games. Starting off with historical figures, they quickly moved into fantasy characters, and expanded into all sorts of fantasy/sci-fi/horror, as well as figures for a host of games (Dungeons and Dragons, Gamma World, Call of Cthulhu, Lord of the Rings, Champions, Twilight 2000, and a bunch more, including their own range of fantasy sets (Fantasy Lords)).

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Andrew Chernak was the president of Grenadier Miniatures, and I was happy to have connected with him years later. When Grenadier was still thriving, they started to send out a free bulletin via mail - I was a big fan of their products and recall sending them a set of miniatures that I had purchased at a local gaming store with a hand-written plea for help. The set had some damaged figures, and Grenadier not only replaced them at no cost, they also sent me an additional figure as a thank-you for being a customer. I'm assuming that's how I ended up on their mailing list, and lo and behold, I got issue #1 of their bulletin below. They kept this up for awhile, eventually having to charge a few bucks for yearly subscriptions to the bulletin because it became so successful. They got to issue #18 before expanding into a colored glossy version known as the British Grenadier from their operations in the UK. I only got a couple of these new versions before I stopped subscribing. I kinda preferred the prior version as it had an old-fashioned simple charm to it.

Luckily I saved all the ones I had - and most of issue #1 - I think I tossed some additional contest info or ads, but here it is for your nostalgic consumption...if you'd like me to post any more, let me know.

https://www.facebook.com/Forging.of.a...

So Gen Con has come and gone - and the withdrawal symptoms have started to sink in. Film festivals, cosplay parades, amazing games, live adventure dungeons, and amazing people - that's pretty much it in a nutshell, but that last part is the best. As an author at Author's Avenue, everyone is an instant familiar friend, as are the many readers who stop by year after year to buy a book, talk about the older ones in the series, and ask what's coming up in the next.

Everyone gets involved - even the local bars and restaurants - take this example from the Tavern on the South's menu: "Wandering Monster Plates", "Kicking Open the Door" appetizers, and "Halfling Approved Sandwiches".

If anyone is on Facebook, I invite you to my Forging.of.a.Knight page where you can see pictures and videos of the amazing cosplay parade. You have to see it to believe it!

And that leads to the title sale - The first TWO books in the Forging of a Knight series (Forging of a Knight, and Forging of a Knight, Rise of the Slavekeepers) kindle versions are on sale on Amazon.com for 99 cents each until Sunday to celebrate the fun of Gen Con. If you haven't tried them yet, you cant beat Book Two at 423 pages for 99 cents!

I'll be writing soon about Book Five's status, upcoming events, and updates to that fun contest that will reveal itself when Book Five is live...

Greetings, all!

Lora Lee continues to amaze with her renditions of my cover ideas. Her latest is a true knockout! Should be coming your way in a couple of months or less, as it goes through a final once-over.

For the sake of a forbidden love, Qualtan will find himself on the run with a Mah-Zakim to free her from her curse, or be consumed by it. No longer a knight, his friends now turned against him, how great will the price be that must be paid? Can a Mah-Zakim truly love back, or has the curse that has followed the First Knight for so long come true at last?


https://www.goodreads.com/photo/autho...

It's here, it's finally here! Book Five in the Forging of a Knight series is available at last. A hearty 536 pages, which explains the delay from the original intent for an October release. There was just too much to cover in this addition to the series! Without trying to list ALL the characters that show up, both new and old, you have Sir Qualtan, Sir Bartholomew, Sir Euric, Sir Rutt, Sir Jesepha, Termenon, the Sword of Eagles, Cassandra, Glaive, and the half-orcne's nemesis Lord Thule from his past. Plus, you have a return to the Woodworm Ports, the School of the Arch-Mages, and a lot more.

It will be making its way out soon to the typical online vendors like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc., for both the paperback and ebook versions, but if you can't wait, both are available now through Lulu.com. The price tag based on its girth is $24.99 for the paperback, the usual $2.99 for the ebook, but you can get the paperback version at a special 15% discount ($21.24) on Lulu if you go there:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/HugoN

A twisted love story, for redemption, and for hope. Or is it NOT a love story at all? The blurb from the back cover says it all:

"For the sake of a forbidden love, Qualtan will find himself on the run with a Mah-Zakim to free her from her curse, or be consumed by it. No longer a knight, his friends now turned against him, how great will the price be that must be paid? Can a Mah-Zakim truly love back, or has the curse that has followed the First Knight for so long come true at last?"

This one puts a major change into Qualtan's life, and shifts him into a new direction that will doubtless bring a ton of problems, more than he ever expected, in the two-puncher that will follow.

And speaking of follow - that brings us to a fun contest that I'll be staging shortly concerning this volume and how a particular character has a connection to an earlier volume in the series! More details will be coming soon.

In the meantime, please be safe, and happy holidays to everyone out there!

Happy New Year! With new goals and new opportunities for 2017, why not add a new book as well? 3 signed copies to give away for Forging of a Knight Book Five, Knighthood's End! The giveaway is open from Jan 14 - Jan 21 for the US, UK, and Canada. Why not throw your sword into the mix for a chance?

The Kindle version of Forging of a Knight, Knighthood's End and the NOOK version are ready! Go check 'em out, and come back here to get ready for a nifty lil' contest surprise...

The wait is officially over. $2.99 at Amazon.com and at Barnesandnoble.com:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/forgi...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCWGQCO/...

So with Book Five in the can, it's time for a bit of wee fun before the pen goes back to paper for Book Six.

See the attached pic? That's a gargoyle pen holder, along with a cool gargoyle pen.  There are three of these, which I usually keep behind iron locked doors (gargoyles can be a lot to handle).  I gave this one a little reprieve for his photo shoot.  Sad to say, these guys are rather lonely, and looking for a happy new castle to roost in.  In a short time, I'll be having a contest to give away one each of these beauties - well, that is, if you find scaly, winged, fanged creatures on the cute side of things.

How can anyone find a scaly, winged, fanged creature something to come home to? Well, that's a hint for those who read Book Five. In the meantime, just keep in mind these lil' guys just can't wait to eat..I mean, greet you...

https://www.goodreads.com/photo/autho...

All right - to make this even more fun, adding some very nifty looking dragon pens to our gargoyle pals for the upcoming contest. Actually I thought these pens were no longer in stock, but luckily they were!


https://www.goodreads.com/photo/autho...

The results are in - and the three lucky winners will be sent a signed copy of Book Five in the Forging of a Knight series, Knighthood's End. Thanks to Sheila, Sean and Deanna, the lucky winners, and of course, to everyone else who participated! Hope you enjoy!

With Forging of a Knight, Knighthood’s End, there is a wonderful part whose inspiration demands to be told.

When Qualtan faces off against the Kubare’ Queen in the hopes of freeing Vanessa, the Kubare’ Qualtan has fallen in love with, the Queen forces a choice (in effect a magical spell) to prove his love. To show his love was not based solely on the appeasing form of the Kubare’, Vanessa was forced to reveal the “other” side to her form – a horrible, demonic, monstrous form. Could he still love her then? Qualtan said he could, surprising all the Kubare’ present by giving Vanessa a kiss in her uglier, sharp-toothed shape, but the Queen was not convinced. The two halves of Vanessa’s personality were permanent, the Queen insisted, and could not be separated. He would have to choose – would he wish to see her “human” form during the day for all to see, and have her more horrid form visible solely at night, or the reverse? The Queen was sure his love would falter with this forced choice…how could it not?

So as not to spoil the result, I’ll leave it to the readers who will know what happens next.

This scene was inspired by the motif of the Loathly Lady, which seems to have been a hit back in old Irish and British tales. The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle, a version of the “Loathly Lady”, is a classic example. In a nutshell, King Arthur goes off on his own into a magical forest in pursuit of a white deer (white usually meaning an enchanted creature). He succeeds in hunting down the beast, but upon slaying it, is suddenly confronted by a knight. For the offense of killing the otherworldly deer, the knight gives a question, and demands that the King must return in one year with the answer. So what was the question?

Basically, it was this…“What do women want the most?”

The King ends up encountering a particularly nasty-looking hag, who says she can help him by providing the answer to the question. In return, the King would have to allow one of his knights, Sir Gawain to be exact, to marry her. With little choice, the King informs Sir Gawain of his predicament, and being his nephew as well as an honorable knight loyal to his King, the knight agrees.

So the deal is cast, the King is saved, and Sir Gawain brings to the royal court the evil-looking hag, humped, smelly, and drooling, as his wife-to-be. When those in the court began to point and laugh, he warns them to honor her as his bride, treating the hag with all the courtesy and respect he would give to any woman.

When the marriage is completed, and the couple retire to their bedroom chamber, the hag demands Sir Gawain fulfills his role as a husband (you can figure that one out!). Sir Gawain stands by his decision to be her husband in all ways and agrees. He’s suddenly shocked when the hag transforms into a beauteous woman! She states she is under a spell, and that he must choose when she can look attractive – at day or at night? He thinks on it, and decides it is up to her to make that choice. By doing so, he broke the charm over her, and she became beautiful permanently, for he had given her what the knight of the enchanted forest had asked of the King to answer – for a woman to have the control/freedom to make choices/decisions for herself.

This representation is usually based on one of two themes – the freedom of women, or the freedom of the land.

There is a similar (almost identical) story in the Wife of Bath’s Tale from The Cantebury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. And then there is the Celtic, “Adventures of the Sons of Eochaid Mugmedon”, where a future King-to-be and his band of brothers goes off looking for a source of water. They find it, yet again, guarded by an ugly-looking hag. In order to sample the water, the price would be a kiss. All of the brothers balk, except for the Prince, who kisses the hag and gains his kingship, as the hag becomes beautiful.

There is also per Wikipedia the European tale of the pig faced woman – where in similar fashion, a women is cursed to have her face become that of a pig’s and her husband must choose when to allow her to be seen in this porcine state. The husband gives his suffering bride the choice, and the curse goes away – although apparently this story changed over time and began to be taken as literal truth with actual “sightings” and such – just check YouTube or Google on this one!

For Knighthood’s End, I thought it would be interesting to reverse the plight – rather than an obvious ugly evil hag, it was an attractive woman, and thus the rather sad plight of the Kubare’ could be seen – their beauty easily fallen for, love initially gained, but then the rejection that would come upon seeing the darker side to their face, proving the love that had been given was false. This also played into their rejection of such feelings, preferring to lose themselves in darker hungers, as a way of self-denial and avoidance of the pain they felt because of their cursed state.

That switch, and the concept of the Loathly Lady isn’t just found in old Middle Age stories. There are modern versions that are quite familiar. Beauty and the Beast (reversed to the male vs. the female) is one, where professed love to an evil looking Beast bring out a handsome Prince, as well as The Princess and the Frog (again, the modern version, since the old Brothers Grimm version didn’t offer such a happy ending) - even a certain Disney cartoon about an ogre named Shrek seems to have some roots to the Loathly Lady.

You can easily see references to feminism, to free will, or the basic adage of what’s inside being more important than what is on the outside in the themes related to the Loathly Lady, or perhaps in some of the above examples, of a Loathly Man. In Qualtan’s and Vanessa’s case, there was another aspect to the tale to be considered…one of hope, in the power that lies behind the emotion called love.

Here are some cool references to check out:

http://www.maryjones.us/jce/loathlyla...

http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text...