Chronicles and Conundrums
Fantasy Crossword Puzzle answer!
Here is the answer key to the crossword puzzle - how many did you get?
Fantasy Crossword Puzzle…and some thanks!!
As we enter into my second favorite time of the year after Halloween, our thoughts turn to giving thanks and being with friends and family.
With that, I thank YOU, yes, you out there, each and every one of you, who has liked and/or followed my humble page here and read my books. Telling stories is great. Sharing them is better, and sharing with readers who enjoy and gain something from them, whether it be some nugget of value, some morsel of brief escapism from their daily burdens, or perhaps even some spark to their own creativity, well, that’s the proverbial icing on the cake.
In the spirit of giving, I was asked by a reader to create another brain teaser, so I created this puzzle for you. Forging of a Knight contains heroes who carry enchanted arms with which to battle evil, but so have many others in myth, author works, and in TV/cinema.
As a creative, intelligent, fantasy-loving type who follows the Forging of a Knight series, you have undoubtedly followed other such works. Let’s have some fun in seeing how many of these heroes, heroines, and their magical toys you can identify (but you better hurry; your adventuring party is stuck in that dimly lit tunnel with something big and noisy stomping ever closer - you might need all the help you can get!).
The answers will be shared shortly!
Forging of a Knight breaks into the top 20 ranks on Amazon!
Well, here is a way to bring in 2024! The first book in the Forging of a Knight series (ebook version on Amazon) reached #23 in the Teen & Young Adult Epic Fantasy eBooks category - and take a look at who we were rubbing elbows with! Not bad company! This was truly some Valentine's Day love sent my way by readers, and I can only share that love back - thank you so much! Now, these algorithms change every hour, and the ranking will surely drop in time (probably in minutes, lol!) - but for just this lone hour on Friday the 16th, 2024, Forging of a Knight reached the storied land of the best seller and it's all because of YOU!
Blog Date 3/22/2023 - Maze Craze Solution!
As promised, for those outside of a certain friend of mine whom I affectionately refer to as a pizza-elf (long story, lol!), here is the solution to the Prison Planet of the Mah-Lahkt maze!
Blog Date 3/10/2023 - Maze Craze
Here's a fun one! Book Three of Forging of a Knight revolves around a race against time to stop Shaz and his minions from freeing the "parents" of Those That Stand in Shadow imprisoned within a prison planet forged by angels. Excitement, thrills and chills follow in stopping this nefarious scheme - culminating in a breathless climax!
For those who felt they would love to try their own hand at getting to the Evil Ones first, here is a circular maze with the same goal - see if you can get to the center of this prison planet maze where evil forces lurk chained and waiting for visitors to say hello (cue in manic evil laughter) ...!
And don't worry - if your heroes get trapped, I will post the solution next week!
Blog Date 1/31/2023
Another new year and a very happy 2023 to one and all!! Snow has finally started to fall by me in appreciable measure, and yes, my Christmas Tree is still up and will remain standing until the last snowflake hits the ground, which in these parts means the winter solstice along with the Wild Hunt, Odin, Yule Logs, St. Nick and other seasonal holiday reminders will probably continue until May, lol!
So while I polish off ye olde convention booth tablecloth and prepare for upcoming events (hello PeoriaCon in March and CodCon in April, for starters), here's a little bit of fun! A Forging of a Knight Word Puzzle! Mulvanen is at it again - impressed as usual by his own self-perceived wit (well, he is an Arch-Mage after all), our grumbling mage has decided to craft out a word puzzle to while away the time in between spell research and complaining for the third time about the proportion of sauce served on his meatloaf. You can while away the time too alongside Mulvanen (at least until he's satisfied with his meatloaf) and see if you can find all of the words our wizard of whinging came up with...and if you recognize them!
Blog Date 8/15/2022
Funny the recollections that bring you back in contact with the past. Back in the 1980’s as a kidling, I purchased a beautifully rendered “Deed” from a company known as Historic Estates, Ltd. ran by a Tom Collins, which, in turn, was offered through another company called The Worldwide Treasure Bureau, which sold coins, artifacts, and other collector-type items via mail.
The "Deed" (which I’m sure is worthless for some supposed area named Batham Gate Estate) would be emblazoned with my name, surrounded by a score of amazing Heraldic imagery (see the attached image). From what the accompanying literature with the "Deed" provided, it was near a town called Tideswell following the modern Batham Gate road leading to Bradswell in merry ol' England. A novelty item, I was interested more in the Heraldic art than from any freehold ownership which the supposed Deed promised.Anyway - I kept that artwork all of these years, and since these two entities - Historic Estates Ltd. and Worldwide - are gone/defunct from what I can gather online, I thought to find if the artist who was mentioned as "owner of the Unicorn Studio" in the back of the “Deed’s” enclosed literature (who created the art for the Deed) was still around and active.
I soon found what I believed to be the artist's website and figured it was worth a shot to reach out! Well, guess what, it WAS the same artist after all of these years - Andrew Stewart Jamieson! He remembered that project and was as polite and friendly as can be to someone referencing such an old work. In fact, he had never been sure if his idea for the work had ever been used, so here I was, able to confirm that from 30+ years ago by sending him an image of that selfsame "Deed" representing his work and the bio they had included of him at the same time - man, 30+ years - has it really been THAT long?!Check out his awesome art at his website - and thanks, Andrew, for your responses and reciprocation! Andrew Stewart Jamieson Coats of Arms
Blog Date 1/15/2022
The amazing David A. Trampier
Fantasy role playing aficionados will always have a warm spot in their hearts for this amazing talent. He was one of the original artists for the Dungeons and Dragons games, illustratring cover images, creatures, and other images. He was also known for his Wormy cartoon series found in the pages of Dragon magazine in the 70's-80's.
Wormy was a cigar chomping, pool playing, wargame hustling Dragon, surrounded by friends such as a hillbilly cyclops and his one-eyed hound dog, a fire-loving imp with a coitain type of accent (if youse can get the pun), and a self-described sesquipedalian winged stonedrake. Along with them came a gaggle of trolls, ogres, giants, and other inhabitants from Trampier's imagination, all beautifully rendered in a style only he could draw.
Tramp (as he was also known by) only improved over the course of this series. Unfortunately, he never completed it, leaving just as the second plotline he had been building was at its peak. There are many websites that discuss this turning point, and it's difficult to know for sure what happened. Conflicts with Dragon's management staff, supposed outbursts, possible emotional issues or paranoid concerns - these and more you'll find hinted at in a variety of articles, but suddenly Trampier was gone, his cartoon series abruptly cancelled, nowhere to be found. People assumed him dead, phone calls no longer being returned, even royalty checks being sent back, until he was found quite by accident working as a taxi driver in Carbondale, IL.
His "discovery" brought renewed interest, both by fans of his work and by gaming companies looking to commission and re-publish his works...but he refused them all.
Sadly, he found out he had cancer. He began to re-emerge from his self-imposed isolation, perhaps from a need for money, agreeing to appear at a local gaming convention and possibly return to his work...but then he died, 3 weeks before the start of the convention, at the age of 59.
Wormy was an amazing series - just check out the images of Dave's wit and creativity - brought more from the perspective of the "monsters" with barely any humans represented at all save for a certain dragon-chasing wizard. I can only hope someday someone creates an anthology of his work, for it truly deserves to be seen by others outside of the gaming community to be appreciated for the imagination and skill that Dave had.
Luckily, the following website has all but one of the entire Wormy cartoon strip series, where you can see the progression of the art and the characters...thanks again for sharing your art and your world with ours, Tramp. Both are missed.
Blog Date 12/17/2021
Here we are again! Merry Yuletide to all knights and their families (and even to some of you orcnes) out there! The picture to the left I felt was most apropos for the season - perhaps an ancient Santa, or some hoary wizard in his most festive holiday gear? James Christensen is the artist, and you should check out his wonderful works at https://www.jameschristensenart.com to see more of his mythically inspired creations!
This is a time for giving thanks, and for extending love and blessings, especially with the continuing plague of Covid that surrounds us. I am always humbled by the interest of readers new and old, and I must extend a huge virtual THANK YOU as Forging of a Knight had yet another banner year, outpacing last year's efforts, and setting the stage for an amazing 2022!
So how else for me to say thank you for your support than to celebrate with some fun goodies? Now, old Santa would probably require some cookies and milk for his efforts (we won't delve into what Krampus would appreciate), but for me, I'm craving something different.
Check out the gifties to the left! The top shows some wee medieval knight statues (3"Wx2"Dx4.5"H) and below it our ever-favorite knights templar pen holder. To have one of these sent to your castle, all you need to do is send me an email through the Contact tab on this website stating which book in the Forging of a Knight series you like the most, and why! First THREE that come in get to choose which gift they want - either ONE of the wee knights or the pen holder! As the wee knights can vary from the vendor, if chosen, the selection will be random! Make sure to state your contact email/info so I can write you back for mailing details! Deadline by (of course!) December 31st!
So there you have it - but as the saying goes, "Wait, there's more!" I'll be having some more celebratory events coming up - with free signed books of your choice from the series, and even a free online ebook sale of one of the books as well! The holiday fun with Forging of a Knight isn't stopping yet; how can it with such amazing readers like you?
I asked Glaive for words of good cheer. He replied with the following:
"Blast!"
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! STAY SAFE AND MINDFUL OUT THERE!!
Blog Date 8/18/2021
Forging of a Knight needs your help!
Hey all - I'm so excited that Book Five - Forging of a Knight, Knighthood's End, has been nominated for the 2021 Readers Choice Awards Contest by TCK Publishing!
Now Qualtan and company need your help! Please vote for it at: https://www.tckpublishing.com/2021-readers-choice-voting-page/
Urgsh will love ya for it!!
Blog Date 7/14/2021
Mini - vacation time at last! After two years of waiting on Covid, finally took a trek to Door County, WI recently for a brief respite - wonderful area to visit. Fish boils, horse riding, and more food and treats than even Glaive could shake a wrist-bolt at! If you ever go, of especial interest is a Swedish restaurant with the non-Swedish sounding name of Al Johnson's in Sister Bay, WI, where you can enjoy Swedish pancakes, lingonberry shakes, and take note of the goats actually grazing on the roof (see pic below)!
Taking a ferry (car and all) to Washington Island, I came across this amazing Stavkirke (Church of Staves), a replica made around 1995 from an illustration of one built in Borgund, Norway in 1150 AD.
This brought a little kindling of remembrance to me. I'm sure I had seen this structure before, but where? Then it hit me; a quick digging through dusty tomes at home brought me to the attached picture from the old Time Life Book Series, The Enchanted World, specifically the "Giants and Ogres" book. Looks pretty close to it!! Makes me wonder if I should have been looking around for a giant troll's graveyard too...
Blog Date 5/18/2021
Forging of a Knight book two, Rise of the Slavekeepers, has cracked the top 100!
Where? In Amazon's Sword and Sorcery/Epic Fantasy categories, that's where (at least at the time of this blog addition, since these category rankings can change every minute, lol)! Why not see what the fuss is all about? Join the adventure - today! Tell 'em Urgsh sent ya!
Product details
ASIN : B00FM4GUJE
Publisher : lulu (October 2, 2013)
Publication date : October 2, 2013
Language : English
File size : 1313 KB
Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 434 pages
Lending : Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #2,484 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)#50 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy eBooks#57 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy (Books)#71 in Epic Fantasy (Kindle Store)
Customer Reviews: 4.4 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
t
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Blog Date 2/10/2021
It's here! Spellfury is back!
I love this Youtube series - and not only had the first book in the Forging of a Knight advertised on it awhile ago, I also had the great opportunity to do an interview with the series creator/director Travis Gordon (which you can find on the Interviews of FOAK Friends tab, 'natch!
Season 3! Episode 1! Check it out, by Urgsh!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcaO1-oz-WQ
Blog Date 1/7/2021
Happy New Year - difficult start to the New Year with the continuing COVID dilemma, the chaos at our US Capitol and Urgsh knows what else! Makes me think its time to look forward to the New Year...in 2022!! Seriously, though, moving forward, I hope the apparent growing inability by some to be polite, debate rationally, and respect the fact we will have different opinions will use the current shocking events to contemplate that hey, it's ok if we don't agree on everything, without the need for baiting, profanity, and hate-fueled shaming. I may not agree with your position, but I can respect your view and see where you are coming from without condemning you to Those That Stand in Shadow because of it! We need to heal and bring the understanding that we are all in this thing called life together, and despite the many differences we have, it's those differences that make us all so unique and wonderfully special, not something to divide us, but to learn and take value from!
Moving from the heady stuff, so I've been asked when was my first attempt at writing something for public view? Not counting school, it wasn't Forging of a Knight - it was a letter that got published in Marvel Comics' Iron Man comic, Vol. 3, #58, October 2002 issue - for those who don't collect comics or don't plan to ever read any Iron Man from this far back, here it is in all of its stilted, overly formal glory...
Blog Date 12/21/2020
THANK YOU!!!
I wanted to give a big and hearty "Thank You". With a year fraught with extreme political polarization, COVID, high unemployment, isolation, and more, it's been a challenging time for all of us. I am honored by those readers who have picked up copies in the Forging of a Knight series during this horrendous time, and hopefully they have given you some small measure of escape and enjoyment during this global travail.
Who am I thanking? Forging of a Knight received some amazing support this year, and now that we are in that wonderful week leading up to Christmas, where ol' Kris is still going to be out there making his holiday run, it's time for some shout outs:
Thank you to the folks at Lulu.com for getting Book Seven of Forging of a Knight, Against the Alliance, completed at last!
Thank you to Zyro for the ease in getting the Forging of a Knight website launched!
Thank you to the many new readers who joined the Knighthood - I had set up some aggressive sales numbers to meet this year, and despite all, Qual and his pals achieved it, selling more copies than ever before!
Thank you to the folks who were willing to put ink to quill pen and put out some reviews on Amazon and other platforms: 20+ at last count, spread out through a variety of the books!
Hopefully, we will all be able to have a better year in 2021. Blessings and virtual hugs/high-fives to all the readers out there! Here's a fun final holiday image to enjoy from Dragon Magazine, December 1980, #44, written by Douglas Loss. Dragon was a fun gaming magazine that ran from 1976 to 2007 produced by TSR (creators of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game, among others), until TSR was purchased by Wizards of the Coast, eventually restarting the magazine as a digital house organ-only publication. During its run, the mag covered a variety of areas related to gaming, mostly TSR gaming products but also other company products as well - reviews, character articles, cartoons, advice columns, convention details, interviews, and more.
Take a look at the image, and you'll get a taste of some of its earlier gaming flavor...Santa Clause reviewed in terms of a ...gaming character?!
Happy Holidays, everyone! Stay mindful and safe out there!!
Blog Date 11/18/2020
The Price of a Kiss and the Loathly Lady
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/loathlylady.html
https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/hahn-sir-gawain-wedding-of-sir-gawain-and-dame-ragnelle-introduction?fbclid=IwAR0shk7tjL1ley5fQJZNQ-BQV_AXk3Dz9CfEfOLQhtBFI3zrwM3bDsCrVig
Blog Date 11/14/2020
A Gary Gygax trek to Lake Geneva, WI
I was introduced to Dungeons and Dragons/Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy role-playing game created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, by my 7th grade teacher, who brought her collection of gaming manuals and miniature lead figures used for the game into her classroom to teach leadership, creativity, and how to work in a team. I became hooked, collected my own manual copies as well as various miniatures, and played both on the dungeon master side and on the player character side. Atari, comics, Star Wars, and AD&D - talk about a golden era of imagination back then!
Back in 2019, I decided to take a day to visit Lake Geneva, the birthplace of D&D/AD&D, and see if I could find some of the hidden gaming landmarks amongst the boutiques, resorts, wineries, and bistros (including the many mansions owned by such families as the Wrigleys, Schwinns, and others that a lake cruise tour can bring to one's attention). Would the quest be fruitful?
Here we have Gary Gygax's home at 925 Dodge Street in Lake Geneva. When he was just a kid, Gary and his family moved from Chicago to this stately home - the home of his mother's parents - back in 1946. Not sure who owns this now, of course, but they have obviously done a great job maintaining this residence.
In 1976, Tactical Studies Rules (TSR), the company Gary founded to produce the D&D game that both he and Dave Arneson created, takes up a house on 723 Williams Street in Lake Geneva to be their new office/hobby store location. It was known as "The Gray House." Again, its obviously currently inhabited, but hey, it's still there!
Lakefront at Lake Geneva, the Riviera.
And here it is in greater detail - a plaque honoring Gary Gygax. A hidden gem indeed!
Horticultural Hall - where Gen Con started back in August of 1968. Nearly 100 gamers and fans attended that initial gaming convention. Compare this to Gen Con's attendance in 2017 of nearly 208,000 fans who came from around the world to attend the event now located in downtown Indianapolis, IN. I wonder if any present at that inaugural day would ever have believed the growth that was going to take place?
A front view of Horticultural Hall, the birthplace of Gen Con.
This is it. In the early 60's, Gary got married and moved back to Chicago. Just a few years later he would return to Lake Geneva to rent this house at 330 Center Street. Here he builds an infamous gaming table in his basement to host various miniature wargames - and eventually this is the birthplace where the D&D game was created.
