Artwork of the League of Elder
February 23, 2019
We’ve been at this for what–over ten years now?? In that time, we’ve commissioned a literal ton of artwork from amazing artists all over the world. I created a short YouTube video presenting some (but not nearly all) of the amazing pieces that have helped make The League of Elder what it is today, a deep, ever-growing mythology of words and pictures.
Enjoy!
Bowl Naked: RDG
copyright 2019, Ren Garcia
The Belmont Saga–Update
February 23, 2019
As we zoom along into 2019, The Belmont Saga, a compilation of Books 6 and 7 is nearly ready to go. The revised manuscript is totally done, though we keep tinkering. The Cover is nearly complete. The front is done–the back is still in progress. I suppose this counts as a cover reveal, though I never bother with those–when I get something, I share it immediately.
Front cover for The Belmont Saga, by Carol Phillips (unlettered)
I did manage to get around to scribbling up a back cover blurb. So, here goes:
GET THE BRANDY TO BAZZ . . .
That’s all Paymaster Stenstrom, the Lord of Belmont-South Tyrol, has to do and the old Warbird Seeker is his. He has dreamed of captaining a Fleet ship his entire life.
Little does Paymaster Stenstrom realize that he is in the grip of an old Vendetta and the short trip to Bazz might very well be his last.
Faced with a dead ship and a lost crew, Paymaster Stenstrom finds help in the strangest places: the jail-jockey Marine and the milquetoast young man from the Admiral’s office, and, though he just became acquainted with these two strangers, he discovers they have been influencing each other’s lives for a very long time.
Conceptual sketch for the back cover, by Carol Phillips
Something sinister hovers over Paymaster Stenstrom and his two new friends, something they are only now becoming aware of. Is the Seeker about to become just another ship that set sail from safe shores never to be heard from again?
Sands of the Solar Empire and Against the Druries, told as they were meant to be told, as one book with a grand new look. In this tale of vile evil and hopeless terror, can new friendship and new love conquer all?
The Belmont Saga will feature over 70 interior maps and illustrations, some of which are all new. I really can’t wait for this one to be completed. The swashbuckling tale of Paymaster Stenstrom, Taara de la Anderson, Captain Gwendolyn and Lord A-Ram has always been one of my personal favs.
The Belmont Saga will be published in mid 2019 by Hydra Publications.
copyright 2019, Ren Garcia and Carol Phillips
The Temple of the Exploding Head Omnibus
April 27, 2018
At last, the Temple of the Exploding Head Omnibus is available on Amazon. When I started this whole process last year, I figured it would be pretty easy to just compile the three books that make up the saga–The Dead Held Hands, The Machine and the Temple of the Exploding Head–and that would be it.
Didn’t quite turn out that way–creating this omnibus was actually pretty difficult and extremely time consuming. I might as well have started from scratch.
The whole Temple thing began life back in 2011. I wanted to highlight Lord Kabyl, the son of Captain Davage and Countess Sygillis. I wanted him to embark on a long quest, one where he would grow into manhood.
The end result was the original Temple of the Exploding Head, which weighed in at a little over 300,000 words, which is a pretty big book. That said, I was forced into editing the book into three roughly equal parts that were published over the next three years.
Thing is, I never really liked it chopped into three parts. I felt it was better whole, as one book. Flash forward around ten years. The time had come to re-assemble it into one large tome, as it was meant to be. Re-edited, with the soon to be released paperback featuring over 100 interior illustrations from artists all over the world, the book is a complete quest from beginning to end, and something I’m quite proud of. It also features a brand new cover by Carol Phillips, the Queen of the League of Elder universe.
In the book is Lord Kabyl, a young man, the son of famous parents, trying to discover himself, his cousins, Lady Sarah and Lord Phillip, their friend Lord Lon of Probert, and Kay’s love, Lady Sammidoran of Monama, a woman full of secrets, and not all of them are pleasant. In fact, some of them are quite terrifying.
Below is my Ren Presents podcast where I discuss the book, the characters, it origins and my thought processes as I came up with the concept.
The Temple of the Exploding Head Omnibus is available on Amazon from Hydra Publications.
copyright 2018, Ren Garcia
The House of Bloodstein is out today
August 1, 2016
Finally, after years of work, LoE Book 10, The House of Bloodstein is available! The HOB series consists of two books, this one, subtitled Perlamum and Book 11, subtitled Mentralysis. Mentralysis is already written, just going through the usual editing and pre-publication process which can take a long time. It should be out in 2017.
All authors are different. Some are note-takers, scribbling down thoughts and sudden ideas for consideration later. Others outline the story from beginning to end, making the work into a full-fledged project. And then there’s me. I write on-the-fly, no notes, no outlines, nothing. I just write. It works for me most of the time. The problem with writing how I do is I tend to change my mind in mid-stream a lot. It’s never the case where the story I intended to write at the beginning is what ends up in the final product–and that is triply so for HOB.
As much as I complain about the NaNoWriMo month as a destructive stunt and waste of time, HOB started as a NaNo project I did to appease a friend about five years ago. It was a fairly straight-forward tale, but it lacked the manic imagination and strangosity I’m known for. In fact, as I finished the first draft, it reminded me of those feel-good ABC After-School Specials I used to have to watch as a kid. There’s a term in Spanish that applies here: The first draft of HOB had no tiene chiste. What that means is the story was plain, boring, had no oomph, had no pop. Love or hate my books, nobody’s ever bored, and HOB, due to the emphasis of NaNo on word-count, was full-on boring.
This cover mock-up, although beautiful, looks more like a cover one might find on a romance book, which is not the case here. We moved this image to the interior. (Carol Phillips)
So, there I was with a 50k manuscript that I, frankly, hated.
I moved on to writing the oft-mentioned but seldom-seen Shadow tech Goddess. As I wrote, the candy-coated mess that was HOB stayed in the back of my head like a doomed bug fying in a window pane. But, you know, sometimes, the addition of one or two elements can make all the difference, like that elusive missing piece of a puzzle that, once found, pulls everything else together. I’m not certain when it happened, but that missing piece for HOB hit me–hard–and I went back to the story. 50k words quickly exploded to 170k, enough for two complete books.
With this addition, all the old imagination came back in earnest, in spades. HOB went from a moribund cake-walk with no chiste, to the weirdest, most epic, most sprawling book in the LoE series yet with tons of chiste. I held nothing back… it is all out there and I am so happy to share it with the world at last.
The Wunderlucks, Ernst, Clara, Rusty and Aiken, are a bunch of bullies that are fun to hate. (Carol Phillips)
BLURB:
I usually suck at blurbing–it’s a lot harder than you might think, but, this one just sort of wrote itself for HOB
Mysterious and elusive, Lady Chrysania of Bloodstein calls from the ruins of her castle. She dwells in the dark, hiding her face, ravaged by an ancient curse. The only way to break the curse is to win a game called Perlamum. If she loses, she dies. She looks to her Vith kin in the west, begging for help acquiring the all-important pieces she needs to play the game. Lord Kabyl of Blanchefort, his Ne-Countess Sammidoran, and his cousins answer her call. However, collecting the Perlamum pieces for Lady Bloodstein is a deadly game. They must face a host of perils:
-The terrible Black Hat in the city of Waam who knows their every move.
-A hated rival on the planet Xandarr and the bewildering labyrinth of Gods Temple.
-The man from Shook who cannot be killed. -A family of vile bravos from the south.
-The diabolical Dead Men of Mare, nigh invincible creatures straight from an insane nightmare.
To even the odds, Kay and Sam turn to a forgotten graveyard deep in the Telmus Grove, and the great eminence resting there. Can Lady Chrysania of Bloodstein be helped, or, for that matter . . . . . . can she be trusted?
The House of Bloodstein is out on Amazon–CLICK HERE to go to Amazon.com. I also have several signed copies available. If you’d like one, message me. I’ll even pay the shipping and throw in a little swag.
copyright 2016, Ren Garcia and Carol Phillips
The Ballwigs
July 2, 2016
Of all the various sects rolling about the League, it is probably the case that the Ballwigs are the most notorious and reviled. Never has a sect been so despised, feared and coveted all at once.
Emblem of the Ballwigs
The Ballwigs are a select sect of beautiful, wealthy and socially influential ladies from all over Kana, Hoban and Planet Fall. They are both married and unmarried. Their primary function is to attend balls, endurocons, cotillions and other such social events across the League. Their mere presence tends to elevate the event they attend in stature.
What makes the Ballwigs so universally reviled is their frigidity and terminal unavailability. They take great pride in rejecting any attempt to socialize with them, with any and all attempts being rebuffed. They even go so far as to compete amongst one another to determine who can reject the most people. Whichever Ballwig collects the most points over a given period of time, receives a fabulous Golden Harrsprung made of gold, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. Points are given for the following:
Being asked to dance
Being offered a drink
Being offered a cigarette
Being asked for a visit
One of the most coveted prizes the Ballwigs seek: hearing the words “I love you”. It is also said that the greatest point allocation is applied if a person commits suicide after being rejected.
If a Ballwig ever returns any affection shown to them, or if they publically state their love for a person met at a ball, they are immediately cast out of the sect.
Lady Vendra of Cone, the founder of the Ballwigs. (Eve Ventrue)
The founder of the sect is Lady Vendra of Cone, a spinster socialite from Remnath who was spurned at a ball by the man she loved. Determined to get even and make others feel as she did, she created the Ballwigs to unleash hell upon the hearts of men everywhere in the League.
The rival sect to the Ballwigs is a group known as the Lambs, a collection of much more matronly ladies actively seeking to attract a husband.
Their emblem is a Harrsprung, a mythical rabbit-like creature of Vith lore leaping out of a garland wreath. The Harrsprung is said to be uncatchable.
copyright 2016, Ren Garcia, Eve Ventrue
HOB Characters: Roethaba of George
May 13, 2016
Roethaba of George, by Carol Phillips
Among the many new characters introduced in the upcoming House of Bloodstein books is the mysterious Xaphan Marist Roethaba of George.
Roethaba, for a number of reasons, is truly an enigma, so much so, even her very existence comes into question.
CONSUMED BY SICKNESS??
Roethaba is often in the presence of her bodyguard, Hruntha, a Haitathe warrior. (Painting by Eve Ventrue)
Per the Book of Xaphan, Roethaba was born in 3273 (or 003486AX in League designation) as the 5th daughter in the Court of George, a favored, gentile branch of the House of Burgon. Her mother, Marist Styxa of Burgon, was said to have snuck into a League ball and cuckolded with a Vith lord named Lord Mauro of Bloodstein. Two years later, Roethaba was the result, a beautiful, golden-haired girl, and she was given to the Court of George, who were lacking in females. A retelling of the story insists that Styxa gave birth to twin daughters, Roethaba, and Lady Chrysania of Bloodstein.
Roethaba’s young adulthood is very sketchy, with stories wildly varying. One story has her going to school in Midas before becoming an A-List Marist, other stories claim she was deathly sick as a child, inflicted with the genetic scourge of flesh rotting, an inherited defect brought on by the Burgon’s habit of eating human flesh. Other stories claim she was sustaining herself via arcane methods at the expense of her twin sister, Lady Chrysania of Bloodstein; her rivalry with her sister is a common thread in her narrative, be it arcane or social. In any event, Roethaba was considered a stunningly beautiful woman, long sought after by many Xaphan Warlords.
A CYBERLING??
Roethaba is friends with the notorious Willhella Cormand-Grande, the Made Black Hat of Waam (Painting by Eve Ventrue)
If anything, Xaphans love stories, and any Warlord or Marist of note have their life history extensively chronicled by people known as “Daemonesses“.
Roethaba’s history was compiled by a Deamoness named Sysaphaea Marx (or, in League designation: of Marx). As she worked, Sysaphea ran into a significant problem. Though Roethaba was notorious for her love affairs, her expensive tastes, her scandals, her Haitathe bodyguard, her friendships with a number of Black Hats, including Wilhella Cormand-Grande, the Mad Black Hat of Waam, she could find no tangible proof Roethaba of George had ever been to any of the places she was said to have been. In fact, she could find few credible people would could say that they’d ever seen her in the flesh other than from a distance. Sysaphaea had seen her several times at various social functions, but could never get close to her or be granted an audience. Her 10 foot tall bodyguard Hruntha, would allow her no admittance–were it not for the bodyguard’s presence, she would seem like a ghost. She began to suspect that Roethaba of George was a Cyberling, a fictitious person with an extensive made-up history making her seem real, hiding some vast secret. She suspected the League was involved, possibly perpetrating some grand conspiracy in Xaphan society.
In her digging, Sysaphaea wrote that she found a hazy link at a ruined temple once dedicated to a dead goddess, Anabrax, the Goddess of Fertility. In the temple was a fading mural connecting Roethaba, Lady Chrysania and an old dictator from the early days of the Xaphan empire named Queen Ghome of Trimble–their faces were all there, painted together. What that connection is, Sysaphaea never found out, as she dissapeared without trace, never having finished her work, leaving only incomplete hints as to what she had stumbled onto.
For now, Roethaba of George continues to make headlines and break hearts across the Xaphan empire for her outrageous behavior, still ever elusive and full of mystery.
Roethaba of George appears in the League of Elder, Book 10–The House of Bloodstein from Loconeal Publishing.
copyright 2016, Ren Garcia, Carol Phillips, and Eve Ventrue
Whatever happened to Queen Ghome??
April 18, 2016
Queen Ghome and her Attendants (Painting by Fantasio)
The Xaphans, if anything, are great lovers of stories. Though smaller and not nearly as old as the League, Xaphan lore is rife with shadowy characters and hidden places whispered into anxious ears in the insane courts of Burgon, George and Midas.
One such name is that of Queen Ghome, a favorite in Xaphan Society. Her name is familiar on multiple worlds, her likeness is seen in any number of statues and paintings hanging in Xaphan museums, even an entire class of battleships was name in her honor, her name conjuring up images of strength, tenacity and endurance.
Who was Queen Ghome? Was she a real person of antiquity, or is she simply a colorful figure of lore, more myth than reality? What deeds is she attributed with to earn her such a ready place in Xaphan culture?
Queen Ghome first came to light in Xaphan history thousands of years prior when she claimed the hand of Queen Xo of Trimble during the Night of Centenos when many came from across the Xaphan Empire to court and win her love. In the early days of the Xaphans, one of the first planets colonized and established as a Vith stronghold was Trimble, therefore the opportunity to claim its throne was clamored for by many. To the shock of all attending, it was an unknown woman milling in the crowds who claimed Xo’s hand, becoming Queen Ghome, ushering in the brief age of the Two Queens of Trimble.
The Two Queens of Trimble. Queen Ghome (on the left) began her practice of wearing horns after she claimed the throne. Note the floating Garden of Zama in the sky.(Painting by Fantasio)
Who was Queen Ghome? Many suspected she was a refugee from the League, with s0me even saying she had once been a prisoner of the hated Sisterhood of Light. Many thought she was a sorceress. With the sudden death of Queen Xo less than a year into their marriage, Queen Ghome would not remain an unknown for long. She ruled Trimble with an iron fist for over six-hundred years, slaying millions, putting her people to the lash and instigating any number of small to medium-sized skirmishes with both the Xaphans and the League.
THE WOMAN OF A THOUSAND FACES
Bloodthirsty tyrants and deadly potentates are no strangers to the Xaphan Empire. They come and go quite often, many forgotten to the ages once they’re forced from power and executed. Queen Ghome, though, was no ordinary tyrant. Everything about her was strange and fanciful, worth story-telling. For one, those in attendance in her court reported that her appearance varied wildly from day to day, sometimes from hour to hour. Elias of Sorrander, a mystic known for her ability to see through elaborate Cloaks, was a frequent guest in Queen Ghome’s court in the early days of her reign. She often wrote that Queen Ghome’s frequent changes in appearance, including hair color, general features, size and skin tone, appeared to not be a Cloak, rather her changes appeared to be quite real. She also wrote the one sure way to tell for certain when one was in the presence of Queen Ghome was to look into her eyes: red and piercing, like the eyes of a demon.
Horns and deadly red eyes were a frequent Queen Ghome attribute. (Painting by Carol Phillips)
Elias also wrote of Ghome’s other body changes she often indulged in. She was known to flit about the towers of Centenos Castle with a leathery pair of wings, sometimes peeking through the windows of guestrooms in the upper floors.
The thing most commented on was Queen Ghome’s tendency to appear to her subjects wearing horns. Horns of various sizes, shapes and colors. Many who visited Trimble mentioned Ghome’s horns, though a few wrote that she wore a horned helmet instead of sporting real horns.
THE SUITORS:
As Queen Xo had sought a suitor to the throne of Trimble, so too did Queen Ghome, though, to be a suitor for her hand meant facing death. Over many years, she put to death countless suitors, robbed and tortured others, and humiliated the rest. She often enjoyed making her less-favored suitors stroll through her deadly Garden of Zama where a host of carnivorous plants she had cultivated, lurked in wait for an easy meal. She never did take a husband, and many of the enemies she made during that time would lead to her eventual downfall.
Queen Ghome was said to have command of a great beast that guarded her vast wealth. She often used this beast against her enemies. (Painting by Carol Phillips)
AN IMMORTAL??
In all, three women named Ghome ruled Trimble over six hundred years. Ghomes I and III were very similar in temperament to the point of being interchangeable, while Ghome II was considered a genuine saint. Ghome II also abjured the practice of wearing horns and changing her face. Still, scribes on Trimble often speculated that Ghomes I, II and III were the same woman, with Ghome II being under a spell that changed her brutish nature to a more benevolent one.
THE BMQ
The people of Trimble living under Ghome’s lash never forgot about poor Queen Xo, whom they believed was murdered. An underground sect grew in the province of St Georges called the Brotherhood of the Murdered Queen, dedicated to the overthrow and prosecution of Queen Ghome. Ghome and the BMQ were constant antagonists. Ghome’s assassins, the Mensada, often smoked the BMQ out of their hiding places and slayed them only to see the sect rise again elsewhere. Ghome was also said to command a giant metal beast that was unstoppable in battle whom she used to slay the BMQ.
Conversely, Ghome’s ruthless and capricious rule was unsustainable, nearly toppling her from the Trimble’s throne several times. During these times, she was secretly propped up by the BMQ, as they wished to be the force that toppled Queen Ghome, not economics.
THE BATTLE OF THE TOMB
After six hundred years of rule, Queen Ghome III was finally deposed from the throne by the BMQ, backed by the warlord Vai of Sorrander and his fleet of battleships. Vai’s great grandfather, Wilmer, had been a rejected suitor of hers. After a pitched battle on the floating Garden of Zama, the BMQ defeated Ghome’s forces and sought to capture her. Ghome herself was never found among the dead, leading to speculation that she had escaped Trimble, though, she was never seen or heard from again.
Mysterious socialite Roethaba of George is often thought to be Queen Ghome in disguise. (Painting by Carol Phillips)
Xaphan society refused to let her go. Many believed she had in fact escaped the Battle of the Tomb, wearing a different face and is living a more inconspicuous life somewhere, waiting to rise again. Some thought that Baroness Camilla of Sorrander was Queen Ghome in hiding, a rumor she enjoyed perpetuating. Other names bandied about are Millicent of Tuck, Melazarr of Caroline and the elusive Roethaba of George–are all people who be Queen Ghome in disguise.
And, it could also be that the venerable Queen Ghome simply died at the Battle of the Tomb, her body buried in a mass grave along with the other victims of that conflict, leaving many to scratch their heads and wonder, her lore simply too delicious to let die.
Queen Ghome’s many secrets are explored in the upcoming House of Bloodstein books, from Loconeal Publishing
copyright 2016, Ren Garcia, Carol Phillips and Fantasio
HOB Legends: Menk
February 7, 2016
Menk with its Blood Box in the background (Ewelina Dolzycka)
Menks are evil spirits often tasked to guard various objects or treasures. They appear in the upcoming LOE Book 10/11: The House of Bloodstein. Menks are horrific in appearance and fearsome in their power.
Menks are fixtures of Vith lore. From Vith Household to Household they are varied in their appearance. Menks can appear as famished, lanky humanoids possessing incredible strength and speed. They may also be part human, part animal, with animal heads, claws, wings, tails, etc. They may also be faceless, handless, and footless with metal hands and feet. Menks show little or no outward intelligence or emotion. They exist simply to stalk and kill any who fall into their gaze.
THE CAUL-DE-MENK
As they are varied in their appearance, Menks are also varied in their mystical origins. The most common method is to be cursed into becoming a Menk by a sorcerer or enchantress, who often use Menks to guard their arcane treasures. Additionally, according to some, if one has lost something precious and somehow loses their life whist searching, they might be transformed into a Menk, condemned to guard lost treasures for all eternity. Other stories speak of a mystical statue known in the Vith language as a Caul de Menk. Those wishing to protect their hoards place these statues on their grounds, hoping to both scare off the curious, and to collect more Menks. These statues are said to have hollow eyes where the light of the Kanan moons, Elyria and Solon, may shine through. If one beholds the glowing eyes of a Caul de Menk, then one is transformed into a Menk forever.
MENK-SIGN
Menk, by Fantasio
Some people and animals appears to be pre-destined to become a Menk later on in life. Such people are said to bear Menk-Sign, where their appearance in mirrors, paintings and photographs appear monstrous, becoming more so as the time of their transformation draws nearer. Some people with Menk-Sign take steps to rid themselves of the condition. The waters of the Indigo River on Hoban are thought to slow the process down, removing it completely in some cases. Xaphan Cabalists have rituals to thwart Menk-Sign. Bartering with a Menk, performing some task for it, will also cure the victim.
THE BLOOD BOX
Whatever guise they take, Menks are fearsomely powerful and nearly impossible to bring down. Menks keep their vital organs in a separate place called the Blood Box–how they remain alive without their vitals is a mystery. As such, Menks are virtually indestructible. They can absorb massive amounts of damage and continue to function. Arcane weapons and items can do them harm, but only if vigorously applied.
The best way to defeat a Menk is to locate their Blood Box and destroy their organ hidden within, once that is accomplished, the Menk will die. Menks go to great lengths to hide their Blood Boxes. Their boxes can come in many configurations, from a small jar, to a chest, to a whole shrine-like structure, guarded, in turn, by other Menks. The Blood Box can be hidden far away, buried deep or even located on other planets. Many times, locating the Blood Box is nothing short of Impossible.
DISEMBODIED HEADS
Menks have the ability to remove their heads from their bodies. They often place their heads in elevated, advantageous positions giving them a wide field of vision. They may also summon the assistance of various evil creatures to carry or fly their heads great distances.
Menks give our heroes everything they can handle and more in the House of Bloodstein books, coming soon from Loconeal Publishing.
copyright 2016, Ren Garcia, Fantasio and Ewelina Dolzycka
Where does Creativity come from??
January 25, 2016
I was sitting with my wife at our favorite pizza place a few days ago. My wife was bored; I was regaling her with my thoughts for upcoming book projects. She’s not much of a reader, and when I start talking books, she tends to tune out. Happens every time. Finally, after several minutes of fruitless babbling, my wife asked me a seemingly innocent question:
“Where do you get your ideas from?”
And I had to sit there and think about it. Where does creativity come from? Where do ideas and concepts, characters and distant places originate??
After several minutes contemplation, I had to admit I really had no idea or a ready answer for my wife.
THE BUTTERCHURN
Magistrate Kilos of Blanchefort danced in my thoughts for years (Carol Phillips)
Creativity is a very personal thing. Where a person draws inspiration from will differ. I suppose, for me, creativity is a result of everything I’ve ever seen, read, watched, smelt, tasted and felt. For those with a creative persuasion these things stay in your head; you dream and ponder about them. It’s also based in all the things you love, you’ve hated, been confused by, been afraid of … everything sort of stirred together over time like a vat of hot butter in the basin of your brain continuously churned, and then recycled into something sort of like what you’ve experienced, but different. Sometimes these images linger in my head for years, slowly evolving over time before I insert them into my books. Lt. Kilos was one such character. I saw her in my thoughts for a long time, initially a banana blonde, in a colonial uniform holding a gun. Eventually the rough-and-tumble lady from Tusck spilled out onto the page, though quite a bit different than what I’d dreamed of. Things always turn out different once you get to writing.
Other thoughts site in head for only a day or two. That’s just how it works out.
THE WUMALAAR
As an example of the creative process for my wife, I used the Wumalaar. The Wumalaar, in my book series, is a mythical beast that the Sisterhood of Light believe in. They believe that, on the last day of the League, the Wumalaar will come, break through their defenses and reveal all the Sisters’ secrets. The Wumalaar is the one thing the Sisters are afraid of.
I came up with the name “Wumalaar” from a movie that I loved as a boy. I never forgot the name, let it twist around in the back end of my head for about twenty years, modified it a little bit, and wham! I had the name Wumalaar. For me, that’s how creativity works.
Can you guess what movie I got the name from, and what it was called before I modified it?? If you do know, you have one of two choices. A: You should give yourself a rousing pat on the back for having such minute knowledge of `80’s pop cuture. Or, B: You should check yourself into an insane asylum for having such minute knowledge of `80’s pop culture.
Here’s where I got the name from:
Bowl Naked
copyright 2016, Ren Garcia
HOB: The Wunderlucks
December 26, 2015
The Wunderlucks are a group of treasure and fame-seeking bravos from the Remnath area of Kana. They appear in the upcoming House of Bloodstein books. They are rude, crude and generally a trouble-making bunch. (Note–Authors have long memories. I based the Wunderlucks after bullies and louts I’ve known throughout my life.)
The House of Wunderluck. In the background is a sham mock-up of the legendary Oberphilliax (Painting by Carol Phillips)
THE OLD JOCANDAS
The Wunderlucks are a modern off-shoot of the much older Remnath House of Jocanda. The Jocandas were infamous for declaring war on the Sisterhood of Light during a contentious land dispute (the rightness or wrongness of their position has been lost over time). The Sisters were, and still are, the defacto rulers of the League, and the Jocandas ill-advised “war” with them plunged their House into the dregs of Kanan society (The derogatory term “Jo-Boy” stems from this war. A Jo-Boy is a foolish person doggedly engaged in a fruitless or ill-advised task with no hope of success.)
Slowly, the Jocandas, relocated to the hills outside of the city of Wiln, died out, with several of their progeny branching off forming their own new Households, including the Storrs, the Wilners, and, most notably, the Wunderlucks.
IF YOU HATE US, YOU’LL HAVE TO RESPECT US
The Wunderlucks’ on-going credo is to restore prestige to their line, to erase the stain of the old Jocandas and to become the premier House on Kana and the League at large by any means necessary. Their most immediate goal is to fill their empty coffers with treasure. The concept of Frundage, or “collecting” is an important status measuring stick in the League, ie, the more you have, the more status you obtain. All of the great Houses possess massive stockpiles of treasure, land-holdings, arms, arcane items, vehicles and beasts. The Wunderlucks had virtually nothing when their House was formed, and they have, ever since, been acquiring any item, pile of junk, dogged-out vessel and arcane device they can get their hands on. Some of these items they purchased, others they quested for, and most they simply stole. They make no bones about theft, in fact they boast of it. The arcane item they are after the most is the legendary Oberphilliax, which they have laid claim to many times.
The Wunderlucks are unmistakable out in public. They wear garish spacing suits of shocking red, trimmed in blistering yellow, usually with a proud “W” emblazoned somewhere on their attire. The girl, Clara Wunderluck, mostly wears slinky, off-the-shoulder dresses and chain-smokes Wolf menthols. Wherever they go, they make a point of calling out the local hero and starting a brawl.
Despite her unsavory reputation, Clara Wunderluck is highly skilled at reverse-engineering arcane items (Carol Phillips)
They are mercenaries for hire, lending out their services whether they are wanted or not. Aiken Wunderluck is the front man and spin-doctor of the group. He is adept at keeping his ears open, at hearing hidden conversations and discovering opportunities to acquire treasure or fame. Once they are on to a promising lead, they are difficult to be rid of. Their usual tactics include being as verbose, rude, obnoxious and haughty as they can, finding the low road they choose to tread upon to be much more productive than engaging in usual decorum. Beating them or imprisoning them accomplishes nothing, they are undaunted by defeats, humiliations, censures, and getting cast out of certain areas–they consider these things victories. Aiken Wunderluck can spin a humiliating defeat or shocking scandal into a resounding victory in the public’s eye. This “burn all the bridges” attitude has earned them few friends and a host of enemies, but, it has succeeded in making a notorious name for themselves. Any fame is good fame in their eyes.
CHEAP, KNOCK-OFF ARCANE ITEMS
Clara Wunderluck has proved herself a master of reverse engineering arcane items and creating easily produced knock offs that function in a temporary or limited capacity. She has replicated the Progenitor’s Skull, various dimensional jars, and, most notably the 10th Finger of Zahuti. None of these items are as potent as the originals and only work for a limited time, however, the fact she can do these things has provided added income for the House and more infamy to their name.
Her brother, Rusty Wunderluck, is a name in the Xaphan underworld as a smuggler and League traitor, with a number of sleezy contacts in the darkest of Xaphan ports. He is often able to obtain illegal Xaphan items, most notably the Midas Hemolizer assassination weapon, which he doesn’t hesitate to use in battle.
The final brother, Ernst Wunderluck is a mouth-breathing bore and blunt instrument of the group, always eager to cause a scene in public. He is known for his hatred of the Monama peoples to the southeast.
The Wunderlucks give our heroes fits and no peace in the upcoming House of Bloodstein books from Loconeal Publishing.
copyright 2015, Ren Garcia and Carol Phillips
The Temple of the Exploding Head 