Gazetteer of the Shenbyrg Vale: Walstock

The main setting for my first novel, Night Skies Over Valhallow, and to a lesser extent my second novel, Quiet Upon Shenbyrg's Dawning, Walstock is herein detailed for both fans of the book and roleplaying gamers alike.

Walstock
The seat of power for the Count of Shenbyrg, Walstock is a place of great intrigue. Bordered by bucolic Calvary to the west, fascistic Mauriatown to the north, the majestic Shenbyrg river to the east. and the magocracy of Caelum Mount to the south, it has been the focal point for many adventuring parties and strange occurrences for decades. It has recently fallen under the control of various Cults (see below), which allowed for a full invasion of Helltowne.

Official Ruler: Count Remus (currently missing)
Actual Rulers: Helltowne Occupation Force
Symbol: Blue & Golden Falcon
Faiths: Formerly Tyr and Minerva, now the Cults of R'ti, Ghulshield, and others have officially replaced them
Major Locales:
North: The County Castle, Knights Falcon Chapterhouse, Tower of Mistro
West:  Church of Tyr, The Brick Villas, Below's Mine, Walmarket
Central: Church of Minerva,  The Gaol (now Gaolag), Watch Command, The Mailery, The Meathouse, The Springing House, The Academy, The Hospitalia
Southern: Notacos Opry House, Mac Donaghill's, Colonel Siegfried's Gnome-Whipped Chickenhouse, Cindy's Tavern, The Schoolhouse

Divinities and Cults II Sneak Peak #1

Volume II in the infamous work to bring more of that Old School Religion to your Old School Roleplaying game is moving along nicely. I'm nearly done with the first draft and am already working with the artist to bring more of those beautiful Divinity portraits to you craving readers!

So here's a first taste of the Table of Contents for Divinities and Cults: Volume II (first draft). Enjoy!

Double Release!

 

With dualistic rapture, we are pleased to announce the official release of both  

Divinities & Cults for Swords & Wizardry AND Novel #2: Quiet Upon Shenbyrg's Dawning- 

 IN PRINT.

Order your copies today and please leave us a review so we know how much you love our books!

Order Div Cul for S&W

Order QUSD

One for the Fighters

 

Nerds (such as I) were given far too many wedgies by the local football participants over the years to fully appreciate athleticism in the current era. On the other hand, ancient athletes; that is, the warriors of old are certainly compelling enough for me to honor in my writing, no matter how much they might have belittled men of smaller frame in their own time. 

It takes an incredible amount of courage to fight in an actual battle as opposed to some game that involves running around lines. trying to knock each other over in plastic armor before some half-time show commences. It could even be said that the warriors of old, the fighters in our role-playing games, had to endure even greater terror than the usual scenario of fighting foes at least at some range, as is the case in the warfare of today. 

Keep these facts in mind when reading Divinities and Cults, for in that book, fighters are given special rules on how to gain the most out of combat like the ancients did, without making your game imbalanced or overly complicated. How can you make your fighter into a viking or an amazon or a berserker or a hoplite? Refer to the book and find out! And stay tuned for the upcoming Divinities and Cults Volume II, which includes even more historical fighter options!

And remember always to honor these warriors, for after all, they most likely didn't give wedgies, since underwear wasn't even invented yet.

Div Cul for S&W is not a POD Dream!

I know the title says it all, but I figured I should explain anyway: the Divinities & Cults for Swords & Wizardry version has been available in Portable Document Format (Div Cul for S&W PDF) for a few weeks now.... Don't forget to order your copy!

And for those with a Print Obsession (like me), we're still working on the proofs for the Print-on-Demand version (Div Cul for S&W POD) to make sure that it's Truly As Wonderful As Possible for Our Beloved Readers (TAWAP for OBR).  

Fear not though!  It should be available soon!

Meanwhile, we (that is, Dan Osarchuk, himself, and he) are still working on getting Quiet Upon Shenbyrg's Dawning (novel #2) out to Amazon (Kindle and Print), as well as developing Div Cul Vol.II....

Stone Cold Awesome

Here's a great video series about the Stone Age!

From ancestors buried under the kitchen floor.... that would occasionally be dug up to have their heads removed to vulture-picked carcasses dragged into the sky above (also with heads removed): I wonder what sort of Divine Tests they had? Hmmm.....

You Tube Link

Updates

Divinities and Cults (Swords & Wizardry) Print-on-Demand version is at the proof review stage.

Quiet Upon Shenbyrg's Dawning (2nd Novel in the Nights Skies Over Valhallow series) is being prepped for Amazon Kindle and Print release.

In the works: Divinities and Cults II (Celtic and Roman Divinities)...

Quiet Upon Shenbyrg's Dawning Now Available

This is my second novel in the Nights Skies Over Valhallow series. Click the link below to see the product page.

Cover by Rachel Bostwick.

Enjoy.

D&C for S&W Nearly Ready


The print-on-demand version of Divinities & Cults for Swords & Wizardry is nearly ready! Curtis Lyon has done an excellent job with the layout and editorial assistance for my book. We're looking to have it available for sale soon.

In the meantime, enjoy the link above for a preview of the article on Odin (artwork by Luigi Castellani).