August 2016 – Q&A

This is a compilation of questions that have been emailed and messaged to me recently.

If you want to ask anything, you can post a comment here or get in touch through the contact page (and newsletter subscribers can just reply to any of my emails).

Dalibor asked on Facebook: I have a kind of special question for you and I was hoping you could help me out. I have been looking into the Khazalid language from the Warhammer universe, and I am going to have some custom work done with inscriptions. For that I really need to know how to say Grudgebearer in Khazalid. I know that grudge is Damnaz, but I failed to find how to say bearer in Khazalid. Do you think you could help me out please?

Having a look at the lexicon pages in Grudgelore tells me that khaz is an underground hall, khazunki is cavalry (literally ‘carried warrior’) and khazakan is dwarfs or hall-dwellers. I would therefore suggest a variant on khaz. Perhaps Dammazkhazi as -i suffix is used to denote a singular person.

Colin was after some writing advice and contacted me by replying to the newsletter: My problem is not getting the ideas, it’s developing and focusing on the story, going the distance so to speak. How do you do that ?

There’s a whole bunch of stuff on the website about story structure and how to organise it – http://gavthorpe.co.uk/tag/writing-advice-planning/ – http://gavthorpe.co.uk/tag/writing-advice-synopsis/

But my one-liner piece of advice is always to figure out the end first. Get an idea of the final scene, and then build your story toward that, working out what pieces need to fall into place to bring about that conclusion. So much better than starting with an idea but then running out of steam when you run into a place you weren’t expecting.

Duke_Leto asked on the blog: Hi Gav, just read The Beast Must Die. Awesome. One of your best…seriously. How did you and the other authors decide who would write which books?

Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed the ride! The allocation of titles was initially done in the opening meetings, via who wanted to write which parts of the story. In the latter part of the series it really has just come down to scheduling and who was available for a particular slot.

Iracundus commented on the blog: I hope we get more about the philosophy behind the conception of the Path and Aspect system in the new novel. Maybe even some on why Jain Zarr creates a new Aspect as opposed to becoming Asurmen’s first Dire Avenger follower? That was one of my original critiques about the Asurmen novel, that we didn’t spend enough time on his spiritual awakening before he rather swiftly IMO transitions into being Asurmen, the legend.

Had it been 80,000 words rather than 50,000 I would have had more opportunity for that sort of thing, but it is something I’ll be exploring via other stories as well when possible. And yes, we’ll see why the ‘Aspects’ started to develop rather than just Asurmen’s approach and style.

Stuart asked via the website: Do you have any insider knowledge regarding the possibility of a future printed release of your Legacy of Caliban Novels in ‘Omnibus’ format? I am a little old fashioned and prefer to have a paper book to hold over digital formats.

Unfortunately Ravenwing is only available as a digital copy at the moment. There will certainly be a LoC omnibus in the not-too-distant future. Quite a few people have approached me about getting copies of Ravenwing, I don’t know why it didn’t have a bigger print run.

Joshua asked via the website: Is there a way we (your readers) get a list of video games that you’ve been involved in? I would really love to see it and hopefully own them all. Thank you for taking the time to read this message and I appreciate everything you do.

To be honest, the list of currently disclosed videogames projects for which I have / will have an actual credit is short: Mark of Chaos and the forthcoming Deathwing. There will be a top tier title to add to the list soon. Other than that most of my work was in my capacity as Loremaster / Lead Background Designer while at GW so doesn’t warrant an individual credit I can list but includes Fire Warrior, Warhammer Online (various incarnations!) and Dawn of War.

I will over time update the games section of the website to include more details of my tabletop and video games work.

Kasrkin asked on Facebook: Hi Gav, just wanted to thank you from myself and a friend about how well your Raven Guard are so well researched in regards to their ISR tactics and recon abilities. Did you have a military background at all, or ever do military press at some point? So few writers ever seem to get it as well understood as yourself.

I’ve never served in the armed forces but I have read a lot of accounts and reports from many periods over the years, right up to Afghanistan and Iraq, by way of Belize and Aden and other special ops of the 20thC.

Mark asked on Facebook: Can’t find any pictures of a Punisher-class Titan. Is it a new variant you created for The Beast Must Die?

Yep, I made it up. Maybe we’ll see a model one day.

James asked on Twitter: Do any of your books explain if Eldar Banshees are definitely all ladies or whether guys can join? It worries me.

I was tempted to make Path of the Warrior about a biological male Eldar in a female Aspect, but didn’t want to get drawn into into deep investigation of Eldar gender attitudes.To me, Howling Banshees take on every part of the role of the mystical being while ‘in Aspect’.

If you want to ask anything, you can post a comment here or get in touch through the contact page (and newsletter subscribers can just reply to any of my emails).

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