Improved Initiative Is Undergoing An Update (And I Could REALLY Use Your Support)!

It's been one hell of a year so far, and it feels like every day brings us a new four-alarm fire that requires yet another response. Even narrowing things to just my little corner of the world of TTRPGs, we've had an uphill battle getting folks interested in the stuff I'm putting out, Drive Thru RPG's roll out has slashed organic discovery on the site to nearly nothing, social media continues to decay, and of course there are a slew of challenges as major companies in the hobby make changes that send shockwaves through the landscape that smaller creators have to try to weather.

However, despite all those challenges, I am still trying to push forward, and to keep making cool stuff for all of you to consume! And I try to keep the costs as low as I can because I know that a lot of my regular readers are on threadbare budgets as it is, and you all may not be able to afford just one more cost.

With that said, though, I'm currently dealing with a 2-on-1 assasult, and I could really use your help to get to the other side of this fight.

We're adjusting... your patience, and help, would be appreciated.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

The Two-Front Financial Assault

For folks who are regular viewers of my show Tabletop Mercenary over on the Azukail Games Youtube channel (which you should subscribe to if you haven't yet), you already heard about the most immediate challenge I'm currently facing. The short version is that, thanks to finally getting my portion of the earnings from the Kickstarter for Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, I got kicked up into a new income bracket. So instead of cutting a check for $300-$400, which is my usual, this year I owe roughly $1,700... which is more than half of what I actually earned from the Kickstarted in the first place.

More details can be found in the latest episode, Talking About Taxes For TTRPG Creators, embedded below.

That is, of course, a hell of a punch to the gut. I spent the year getting as many receipts for business expenses and charitable donations as I could, but in the end it just didn't matter. This isn't going to leave me penniless, but it is basically knocking me down the ladder to where I was at the start of last year, wiping out any progress I made, and just at a time when earnings are going into a serious downturn all around.

And that is... well, that's bad enough. But if that was the only problem I was dealing with, I wouldn't dedicate this Monday's update to the situation.

There is, of course, a second issue I'm dealing with. Since late 2024 I've been working on getting the details together for my audio fiction podcast Windy City Shadows. This show will be set in the world of the Chronicles of Darkness, and season 1's scripts are slowly coming together. However, since I already updated my video editing software in late Fall of 2024, I figured that this would be a good time to update my audio equipment as well. What I have is perfectly functional, but I was thinking on moving out of the realm of standard USB microphones, and getting something that would capture a slightly richer sound before I started recording for this podcast. After all, I don't want to be 3 episodes in, and then have the style and quality of the sound I'm producing radically shift.

Again, if this was the only challenge I was dealing with, I'd just handle it behind the scenes. But these two things happening at the same time is... less than ideal, to say the least.

How You Can Help

I'm not going to lie, I could use a hand to clamber up a few rungs. I also know that everyone is struggling right now. So if you're someone who'd like to help me dig my way out of this hole, but you're not sure you have the ability to do so, I've arranged the options in descending order. If you have spare dosh you'd like to throw my way, that's a great help! If you've got no spare money, but you have time and eyeballs, that can also be a major boon!

Let me explain.

If You Just Want To Give

If hearing about this situation makes you just want to throw money in my tip jar, that would be greatly appreciated. If you just want to do a one-time tip, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or if you want to become a regular contributor consider Becoming A Patreon Supporter.

This is the most direct way to help, and the most efficient in terms of funds going directly to me as a creator, which is why I put it first. The others on the list are equally good, though, so feel free to take advantage of them as well!

If You Want To Make A Purchase

If you're the sort of person who wants to support me by buying stuff I've made (and there's a lot of it for sale) there are two major categories you should check out.

The first is my rather large archive of tabletop RPG games and supplements. I've made a TTRPG pinboard for all of them for ease of browsing, but if you prefer to avoid going to Pinterest as a website you can also find everything I have on Drive Thru RPG through this link.

Secondly, for folks who don't know, I also write novels and short stories. You can find a majority of my books on my Amazon author page, and several of my titles are also available at other bookstores if you see something you like, but you're trying to avoid buying from Amazon. Defunct super soldiers, mystery-solving cats, a sword-and-sorcery novel that reads like Conan if he was from Tennessee... all these and more await you!

If You Want To Help Without Spending Money

I get it, funds are in short supply these days. Or maybe you already did one (or both) of the previous options, but you'd like to put a cherry on top of your efforts to support me as a creator. Well, there are several things you can do that won't cost you any money whatsoever, but they still go a long way toward helping me pay my bills, recoup my losses, and get the new equipment I'm looking at for my upcoming projects.

These are listed starting with the most impactful.

- Read Articles From My Vocal Archive: This archive has 326 articles at time of writing, and they're all free for you to read! However, for every 1,000 reads, I earn about $6. So if a couple hundred people all read 1 article a day, that's going to be a noted difference in my income every month. For extra points, share the articles you like on your social media platform of choice to get more eyes on them!

- Watch My YouTube Videos: I contribute a lot of content to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and when last I looked I think I've got nearly 200 videos on there. As with the above option, folks who watch just 1 video a day consistently can make a big difference (and an even bigger one if you upvote, leave comments of at least 7 words, and subscribe to the channel while hitting the bell icon to get updates)! Thanks to platform decay, it's hard as hell to get eyes on these, but whether you want to hear me talk about my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting, my Army Men RPG, advice for the World of Darkness, audio dramas, or dozens of other things, adding views to these videos makes a difference.

- Subscribe To Me: Whether it's on social media platforms, the YouTube channel I just mentioned, or becoming a free member on my Patreon page, anything that puts more bodies in my queue helps tell the algorithm to pay more attention to me. Interacting with my posts, leaving comments, sharing stuff, all of that helps as well, but even just clicking to follow me as a bare minimum makes a difference. Social media sites can be found below, for folks who want to take this option!

My Thanks In Advance

In an era where it's getting harder and harder to tell stories for any kind of living, you are the folks who help keep me afloat so I can keep doing this. Because without you, I don't know where I'd be... and that's pretty scary.

So thank you. Thank you to those who've been with me since the beginning, and thank you to folks who are just coming across me. All of you help keep me going, and it's my hope that the things I make enrich your lives just a little bit.

Here's hoping we reach the other side of this challenge together!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Would You Like To Hear Broadcasts From Mr. Nowhere? (Changeling: The Lost Updates)

As most of my regular readers know, I'm currently elbow-deep in working on a fiction podcast for the Chronicles of Darkness setting. This will be a continuation of many of the short fiction pieces that have already appeared on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and there will be returning voices (as well as returning characters) from some of those stories!

However, the host of the show is someone a lot of you may have missed. The faceless, enigmatic voice on the airwaves, Mr. Nowhere. While there's little enough known about this elusive Winter Courtier, Mr. Nowhere could be making an appearance in other videos quite soon... assuming, of course, regular readers are interested to hear what he has to say.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Where You Could Hear Mr. Nowhere (Cast Your Vote Today!)

While Mr. Nowhere is going to be the voice of the intro and outro of each episode (as well as the commercial break in the middle of each episode, assuming we can find ourselves some proper sponsors!), this podcast is going to take a lot of behind-the-scenes work and time to pull together. As I mentioned in previous updates, it's likely going to take me months just to finish writing all the scripts, firming up the details, etc., before I can start getting people together to record.

But to sort of warm up the crowd and get people interested, I had a couple of smaller videos I'd like to make. My hope is that they'll catch some people's attention, and get more folks to tune-in when the full podcast starts dropping episodes.

One of my first thoughts is to put together a second video essay for Changeling: The Lost that's all about Radio Free Fae. This Winter Court organization is used to broadcast coded messages, and to share information among the Lost in ways that can be vital to the community... and Mr. Nowhere is a member of this particular organization, covering the Windy City as well as the greater Chicagoland area with his broadcasts. As such, this video essay would have a much more meta tone than previous ones have, allowing a character from the setting to give the audience the run down of who he is, and what the organization he represents does.

However, that's just one possibility for where folks may hear Mr. Nowhere next!

In addition to that video essay, I was also thinking of providing some short character bios in order to give listeners insight to season 1. These might be particularly useful for those who are not Changeling: The Lost players, and who would like a brief cliff notes dossier so they aren't left scrambling to pick up context of what's happening when the show starts. From discussions of major players in the seasonal courts that make up the changeling power structure in the city, to persons of note, to insights into recent events for the main cast, I figure this might work as a gentler introduction to the upcoming story.

Lastly, Mr. Nowhere is likely to be heard on the official trailers I want to make for season 1 of Windy City Shadows. I'm planning on making somewhere between 1 and 3 of these videos which will be short little samples of what's to come that will (fingers crossed) get more listeners interested in the show as we get closer to its official debut.

What Is Something You'd Like To Hear Next?

So, out of all those options, what is something that appeals to you most?

Would you like:

#1: At least one video essay voiced by Mr. Nowhere as he leads us deeper into the Chronicles of Darkness setting, and Changeling: The Lost in particular?

#2: Character bios as Mr. Nowhere gives new readers and listeners a cliff notes version of the setting of Windy City Shadows?

#3: Trailers for Windy City Shadows to draw folks into the setting?

Now, it's likely that all three of these projects are going to happen at some point. However, where I put my energy and time will be determined by you, the readers and listeners! So if one of these categories has a distinct lead over the others, that is the one that's going to go at the top of the to-do list when I manage to free up time in the production schedule.

So please, leave your vote down in the comments below, on social media where you came across this page, and in the comments section of The Liminal Horror of Changeling: The Lost so that I and my publisher can see them, count them, and tally them! And if you want to help push projects like this up in the algorithm, and make it easier for me to keep getting ideas like this greenlit, subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and hit that little bell to get all of our updates while you're at it!

Lastly, if you enjoy the little samples you've seen of Mr. Nowhere and you'd like to grab a few supplements I've released that have featured sneaky references to him or his activities, you could also grab these supplements I've written for Storyteller's Vault!

- 100 Mourning Cant Dialects, Phrases, and Meanings: Delving into the secretive communication styles of the Winter Court, this supplement helps you really take on the feel of clandestine operatives.

- 100 Strange Sights To See In The Hedge: The Hedge is a bizarre place full of impossible creatures and landscapes... and if you look closely, you might catch sight of a signal tower, swallowed in the greenery.

- 100 Rumors To Hear At The Freehold: Whispers are as deadly as daggers among the paranoid Lost... and very few people can collect more rumors than Winter.

What's Next on Table Talk?

That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel for Azukail Games. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, my hard-boiled noir series featuring the street beasts of NYC in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, or my recent short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Bue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.

An Update on The Chronicles of Darkness Podcast "Windy City Shadows"

As I first mentioned going on a year and a half ago, I would love to do longer, more involved audio dramas, particularly for the Chronicles of Darkness... but I just didn't have the ground work laid to make it feasible. However, as regular readers found out recently, the Azukail Games YouTube channel (where this podcast will be available, in addition to other platforms) finally got monetized!

And now that this piece of the puzzle has slotted into place, I figured it was time to start cranking up the story engine, and I wanted to give folks an update on where I am with this project right now.

And if you haven't tuned-in, let me tell you why you should!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

What It Is, And Where I'm Currently At

For those who haven't heard about this project until just now, the short version is that Windy City Shadows is going to be a Chronicles of Darkness podcast where I and a crew of voice actors tell tales about the things that lurk in the dark corners of Chicago. The first season is titled Grim Promises, and it's a Changeling: The Lost story that follows the former Fall Court's chief enforcer being pulled out of retirement against his will to handle one more sensitive matter, and to fulfill a last, dangling promise.

If you need an immediate comparison, it's modern fantasy John Wick with a more noir sountrack.

However, I wanted to give folks an update as to where we're at now. Because even though the Azukail Games channel was only monetized at the start of this month, I didn't want to let the grass grow under my feet on this... because this project is going to take a long time for me to finish, and it's going to take a lot of work to bring it all together.

Also, if you haven't checked out the AMA I did about the show, I'd recommend giving it a watch!

As of Fall 2024, it looked like we were coming up on our goals. So I started storyboarding Grim Promises to make sure that I had the general shape of the series. Once I had that set up, I reached out to some folks I've worked with on the Azukail Games channel before (in addition to some new voices you all haven't heard before). Then in December 2024 I started writing.

At the time of this update, I've completed the first episode script, and I'm diving into the second episode! In addition to that, I'm putting together scripts for some commercials, previews, and some character introductions so that folks can dip a toe into what's coming, and get some additional context before I throw them into the deep end. However, each script is looking like it's going to come in at 7K-8K words, and with a 10-episode series, I'm essentially working on a novel's worth of text before we even start recording.

So, I'm starting off strong, but I didn't want folks to think that silence on my end meant the project had been dropped... especially because a lot of my regular readers have expressed interest in finally getting something bigger, longer, and in-depth for my Chronicles of Darkness fiction!

While I covered some of this in my recent video about Azukail Games Goals For 2025!, I'd recommend folks check out that video for more details, and leave comments over there so that both I and my publisher can see them.

Speaking of The World/Chronicles of Darkness, Though...

Before I sign off for the week and get back to work on scripting this show, I wanted to take a moment to draw folks' attention to the most recent piece of mine that dropped. Because I still have plans to expand the World/Chronicles of Darkness video essays I've been putting up on the channel, and the latest one has been something of a slow starter. As such, any and all views, signal boosts, comments, and subscribes would be much appreciated!

So whether you're a fan of Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Warhammer 40K, or a bit of both, consider giving Which Space Marine Chapters Best Represent The Garou of Werewolf: The Apocalypse?

What's Next on Table Talk?

That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel for Azukail Games. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, my hard-boiled noir series featuring the street beasts of NYC in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, or my recent short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Bue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.

Ask Me Anything About "Windy City Shadows" A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast

Roughly a year ago I proposed a project for all the folks who were enjoying my Chronicles of Darkness RPG supplements and audio offerings. The idea was to write a narrative podcast that would tell a story set in the darkest corners of Chicago, dragging listeners into the shadows and giving them a glimpse of the horrors that lurk just beneath the surface of the world they know. And if listeners enjoyed the first season, I would then spiral out into subsequent seasons that showed just how interconnected events in this setting truly are when the monsters all live cheek-by-jowl in a place as hard and mean as the Windy City.

On this, the anniversary of the original proposal for Windy City Shadows, I wanted to open up the floor to my readers and listeners to see what questions you had about the show, as well as what it will take for this project to finally happen!

Because we're getting quite close to the edge...

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

What Is Windy City Shadows?

For folks who haven't heard of this project before, the short version is that it's a narrative, audio drama podcast set in a version of Chicago in the Chronicles of Darkness RPG setting. The podcast will be a Dark Pack project, and it will start in the realm of Changeling: The Lost, but subsequent seasons will likely take a side step into Geist: The Sin Eaters, Mage: The Awakening, and others if folks enjoy it!

For those who want to catch up on the previous times I've talked about this project, please check out:

- Windy City Shadows, A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal

- Dead City Blues, A Possible Second Season For Windy City Shadows

- Vox Mortis- Radiohead (A Geist: The Sin Eaters Concept)

What Would You Like To Know?

When I first proposed this project, it was something of a pipe dream because I just did not have the time and energy to dedicated to it in order to make it really happen. However, I've been making all kinds of audio dramas over the past few years, and I think I finally have the necessary resources to really make the stories shine... and I've got enough other folks who've volunteered their voices to breathe a little extra life into it, as well!

My question for all of you is... well, what questions would you like answered about this podcast?

My current plan is to dedicate the 30th episode of Discussions of Darkness to an Ask Me Anything video about Windy City Shadows where I will get answers for all the most popular questions. At present I'm going to cover:

- What is a Dark Pack project (and what does that mean for this podcast)?

- What funding solutions are currently being considered?

- When will it come out?

- How will we be able to find it?

While I can probably get a halfway decent episode out of those questions alone, I want to make sure that anyone who wants to see this project come to fruition gets the answers to their questions. So if you've got a curiosity that isn't answered in any of my previous articles or videos about this project, please ask them in the comments below, on any social media page where you saw this article shared, or even on the Azukail Games YouTube channel so that both I and my publisher can see them!

This is something I've been really excited about for about a year now, and I feel like we're finally getting close to being able to make it a reality... so ask any questions you've got now, and please share this post around to help get new folks in on the ground floor of this project.

What's Next on Table Talk?

That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel for Azukail Games. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, my hard-boiled noir series featuring the street beasts of NYC in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, or my recent short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.

Vox Mortis- Radiohead (A Geist: The Sin Eaters Character Concept)

Molly felt cold. It wasn't the sharp, immediate cold of the wind outside, or the chilly, winter claws that scrabbled at the corners of the cracker box of her studio apartment, though. It was the sort of cold that marked an absence. It was how you felt when there were no more laughs or tears inside you. It was how you felt when you'd been clinging to your diet for so long your stomach had gone quiet, and even your tongue couldn't be bothered to complain. It was how you felt when the water around you went pink, and the panic had ebbed out along with your blood.

"Time's a funny thing, isn't it, kid?" a voice asked. It was a strange voice, with an old-timey accent she'd only ever seen on clips from black and white movies and news broadcasts.

Molly blinked, using what little energy she had to turn her head on her pillow. She glanced at the cracked TV with the cardboard shims to keep it even sitting on the old dresser she'd found in an alley. Her eyes slid over the kitchenette, where the empty fridge hummed on, and her one set of dishes sat ready to be used. Her laptop was open on the rickety desk she'd gotten from a neighbor who didn't want to pack it up. The old machine's screen was dark, but a single, green eye pulsed in the dimness. That was the closest thing there was to another person in the room with her, as usual.

"Hearing things..." Molly muttered, her eyes falling closed again.

"That's the nature of the spoken word, Molly Mouse," that voice said again. "Hearing is the first step to understanding."

Molly's eyes shot open, and adrenaline pumped through her veins. She sat up fast enough to give herself vertigo, her head whipping around. That voice hadn't come from inside her head; it had come from the tiny clock radio that sat on the milkcrate she used as a bedside table. She hadn't turned the thing on since she'd moved in, but she just hadn't had the give a damn to move it. She blinked, trying to focus, peering at the speaker.

"Can... can you hear me?" she asked in a small, soft voice.

"Of course I can hear you, Molly," the radio said. Then, from across the room, the same voice leaked out of her busted TV. "The question is, dearest heart, are you hearing me?"

Molly's mouth went drier than dust, and her eyes opened wide enough that her lids practically disappeared. Hissing, electric laughter echoed on the air, emanating from every speaker in the room. Molly shook her head, putting her hands up to cover her ears. She shut her eyes, as if not seeing the room would mean she couldn't hear what was happening. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, everything went silent. Molly opened her eyes, and stared in open-mouthed silence at what she saw.

A man was seated in her rickety old desk chair. He wore polished shoes with dark spats, and a crimson lounge suit with barely-there silver pinstripes. His legs were crossed, and his long-fingered hands were laced together over one knee. A watch chain snaked out of his breast pocket, hanging like a coiled serpent that hissed and shushed against itself. His tie was like a piece of a dream, shifting colors with the light every time he moved, as if the wan beams of winter sun were revealing deep, dark secrets. His face was strangest of all, though, in that he didn't have a face. He didn't have a head either... not really. Instead, sitting atop his neck was an old-fashioned radio. There was one dial for volume, and one for tuning, and a band filled with numbers beneath the off-black speaker. Molly frowned, trying to make out the numbers, but they seemed to blur and change, taking on shapes and patterns that made no sense. The figure raised one hand, and snapped his fingers; it sounded like the volume coming back on.

"I've got a limited time offer for you, Molly," the figure said, tilting its head forward slightly. "And I need you to listen very carefully. Because you've been here too long, and this may just be your one chance out of that bed."

"I don't need-" Molly tried to say, her words slipping over numbed lips, but the bizarre figure interrupted her.

"On the contrary, my dear, you very much need," he said. "You've done without for far too long. Friends, family, fulfillment, purpose, love, and even food... you've told yourself you don't need for so long that you almost believe it. But if that were true, then you wouldn't have those scars on your wrist, now, would you?"

Molly groped for her wrist, cupping the places where she'd cut deeply, but not deeply enough. The tuner on the radio spun, and static flickered with a dozen different voices before the thing spoke again.

"You have cut yourself in more ways than that," he said, his voice lowering conspiratorially. "You have carefully carved away every part of yourself that needs. Every part of yourself that wants. Maybe you thought it was safer to deny yourself, rather than to be denied by someone else. Maybe denial is the one thing you felt you had control over, until you realized that you didn't. Whatever the reason, though, your window is closing, and this is your final opportunity."

"Opportunity for what?" Molly asked in a hoarse whisper.

The dials spun again, and this time they were accompanied by a flash of color. It bathed Molly's face, and a dozen emotions flooded her mind. Anger. Joy. Lust. Pain. But atop all of them, like the tart frosting on a sour cupcake, was a single, overriding emotion. An emotion Molly had almost convinced herself she didn't feel; Want.

"An opportunity to raise your voice," the figure said, leaning in close enough that Molly could hear the hiss of static from the speaker. she swore she heard other voices in that static... a thousand times a thousand people, all talking at once, from somewhere very, very far away. "Let me be your microphone, and turn that whisper into a demand. What do you say?"

Molly raised one hand. She hadn't realized how thin she'd grown... or how weak she'd become. She swallowed, and she heard a hollow click from her throat like a gun cocking. A tremor ran through her, and she ran her dry tongue over dry lips.

"What are you?" she asked.

"Vox Mortis," the figure said, holding out a hand. "Now tell me, Molly... do we have a deal?"

This isn't where your story ends... not if you don't want it to!

Molly "Mouse" Madrigal and Radiohead

Molly Madrigal was a lurker in her own life. A product of environments she found threatening, and social cliques that were always looking for victims, she moved through her life choosing safety and security. Forgotten about by her classmates, and even her parents, she had two great loves in her life; music, and the Internet.

As a young woman, Molly consumed everything she could find. Songs, music videos, tutorials, ASMR, affirmations, storm chasers... no matter what it was, she wanted it. Being able to consume emotions vicariously, and to watch the interactions of others on forums without every getting involved, gave her a feeling of connection in a way she'd never had before... even if the connections were parasocial at best.

Old habits died hard, though, and Molly's were the sort of habits that could kill you if you didn't yank them out by the roots. As more of her happy spaces were taken over by aggressive trolls, scam artists, and worse, she soon found she had nowhere to retreat to. Every social media page, forum, and fandom was being poisoned, and it was all too much. She lost herself in the comfort of old voices, but soon even those faded away to noise. Food was bland and tasteless in her mouth, and even the warmth of her bed was less of a comfort, and more of something she was simply too tired to try escaping from.

She would have died there, and likely remained undiscovered until the slumlord who owned her building came to investigate why she was behind on rent, if not for the intervention of the geist calling itself Vox Mortis... a creature she often refers to simply as Radiohead.

Since that time, Molly has embraced life again. Not only that, she's become one of the more recognized voices on the local Twilight Network. The smoky tones of her broadcast are well-known to most Sin Eaters in the Chicagoland area, and those in the know tend to keep an ear out for when she and her associated geist make vital information known to people.

Would You Like To See More of Them?

While this is a brief introduction to this Sin Eater and her geist, I would like to make a pitch to all my readers out there this week. Because I would like to do more with these two... in fact, I think they would make ideal hosts for season two of Windy City Shadows, which I mentioned a while back in the post talking about Dead City Blues, which is my tentative title for the Geist season.

Now, Dead City Blues as a season would wrap up the story of Johnny Hammer, the Six Gun Saint, and their grudge with the mage Cyprian who wronged both of them. However, the sheer scope and scale of that revenge story is going to involve a lot of factions in Chicago, with both sides looking for allies, and trying to counter their enemies. Even the tentative plot I have right now is a significant step up from the very small and personal stakes I have for the Changeling season, which is slated to go up before that.

However, Molly and Vox Mortis would fill the role for season 2 that would be held by Mr. Nowhere in season 1; the voice of our announcer, and characters who are still part of the story as it unfolds, getting more and more involved in the events they'd previously been mere commentators about.

If these two represent an interesting addition to the cast that you'd like to see/hear more from, then all you have to do is help me get the Azukail Games YouTube channel monetized so that I can finally start in on making these episodes! We're just over 900 hours of watched time away, so check out the Chronicles of Darkness audio dramas we've already made, and maybe check out some of our other shows like Discussions of Darkness or Speaking of Sundara while you're at it! Also, if you're someone who's a fan of Geist in general, consider grabbing a copy of my supplements 50 Geists and 100 Mediums, which planted the seeds for this entire season of the show I'm practically champing at the bit to make!

And for those who got this far and are curious, yes, I finally got around to watching Hazbin Hotel. Inspiration strikes from the oddest of places, doesn't it?

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's addition to my Unusual Character Concepts! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Dead City Blues: A Potential Second Season For "Windy City Shadows"

Every month the Azukail Games YouTube channel gets a little bit closer to that monetization goal. Though we recently debuted the new show Tabletop Mercenary (which is also available on my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary, in case you haven't followed me there), and we are still about 1,000 hours off from crossing that initial finish line, I'm still tinkering with the idea of the interconnected Chronicles of Darkness podcast Windy City Shadows as a way to celebrate that achievement by doing something bigger and more involved than what our audience has seen in the past.

While I talked about what I'd like to do for season 1 in Windy City Shadows: A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal back in July, I've also had an idea for a season 2 rolling around in my noggin... and for the time being, I'm calling it Dead City Blues.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Dead City Blues, Johnny Hammer, and The Six Gun Saint

While I've made a lot of little audio dramas over the years, perhaps the most cohesive series outside of the shorts for Changeling: The Lost has been the saga of Johnny Hammer and The Six Gun Saint. They first appeared in the intro text for my supplement 50 Geists for Geist: The Sin Eaters. In Russian Roulette, former Chicago hitman Johnny Hammer gets gunned down in a back alley outside of the bar he was working in under an assumed name in Philadelphia. He manages to kill the assassins who came for him, but he's dying when the black-cloaked shade of the Six Gun Saint comes for him, and offers him a deal... Johnny will get to keep living, but he's gonna have to do some killing on the Saint's behalf.

The follow-up to this initial tale was not found in another Geist supplement... rather, it was in my first Mage: The Awakening splat book. In the introduction to 100 Shadow Names (And Their Meanings), Calling Up Bones, we learn that Tony Gracchus, the mafioso who'd taken over as the head of the Chicago family Johnny used to work for, has awakened as the Mage known as Cyprian. He sent the hit squad to tie off Johnny's "loose end," and though he killed all the hitters, their ghosts report back to the necromancer. Tony learns that not only did the operation go wrong... but that Johnny is now a much greater threat than he was before. A skilled gunman is bad enough... one with the backing of a creature as dangerous as the Six Gun Saint might be a threat even to a mage.

The third installment of this cross-over story is taken out of the supplement 100 Mediums, which is meant to be used as a general NPC list for various World/Chronicles of Darkness games. In Under The Hammer we see that Johnny has come back to Chicago, and he's visiting the home of another retired hitman. Alonzo Delamorte threw himself on top of the old head of the family, saving him from a bomb blast, and losing his sight for his trouble. Something happened, though, and now Alonzo can see the world of the dead, which is just the sort of help Johnny needs. He knows that Tony is stealing souls, and recruiting an army of the dead to protect him... and Johnny plans to fight fire with fire. Chicago is a haunted city, and if he can convince enough of the unquiet dead to help him and the Saint in their cause, then they may just be able to do the impossible, and take down the necromancer.

So Where Would The Story Go From Here?

My original intention was to keep the back-and-forth between Mage and Geist supplements going, and to keep playing out a little more story each time until we'd reached a full conclusion of this story. However, as I mentioned in Why I Will Have Fewer Community Created TTRPG Products Coming Out, it has become financially unfeasible for me to keep writing supplements for this setting (short version, my publisher gave me a raise in pay, but that raise doesn't apply to community-created supplements, and I can't afford to take the pay cut). Initially, this looked like it was just going to leave the story hanging with a completed prologue, but nothing else to show for it.

But with the stage set, Dead City Blues would be able to pay off on all this lead up!

The early parts of this season would focus on Johnny attempting to locate allies in this fight. That will likely mean reaching out to other mediums, and putting the word on the street to any Krewes of Sin Eaters who might want to help him. He'd have to contend with the various orders of Mages in the city, as well as their politics. Tony has made his share of enemies with the way he uses his power, after all, but he may also have allies willing to protect him. Powerful ghosts might be persuaded to weigh in as well, creating a powder keg that's ready to blow... and the Six Gun Saint is holding a lighter.

Why is the Saint so hellbent on Tony Gracchus's death? Is the young Mage responsible for killing the Saint's previous Bound host, leaving it adrift in the world? Did the Saint make Tony an offer that he refused? Or has the necromancer meddled with powers he doesn't yet understand, earning himself the enmity of the violent geist?

I know the answers to some of these questions. But if you want to go on that journey with me, I need you to help me make this show a reality!

What You Can Do

First and foremost, subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and watch our videos. YouTube requires 500 subscribers, which we have, and 3,000 hours of watched content... which we don't. What we need most are eyes on our content in order to help us cross that threshold so that the videos I make generate income for the publisher, making it more likely for them to greenlight (and then help fund) something bigger and more expansive like Windy City Shadows.

On that note, likes, comments, and shares on social media are also appreciated to help us overcome the inertia of the algorithm so we can find a larger audience.

Additionally, there are currently 37 videos on the Audio Drama Playlist, so if you enjoy my little stories and want to see them expanded, go give that list a listen! Additionally, if you particularly like a story, check out the supplement it comes from, and consider getting yourself a copy. They're all listed in the video descriptions, and every sale shows that these products (and their tie-ins) have an audience who wants us to keep going.

What's Next on Table Talk?

That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel for Azukail Games. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, or my recent short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.

"Windy City Shadows" A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal

Folks who've been coming to my blog for a while have likely come across several of the little audio dramas I've been putting together over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should subscribe to, if you haven't). However, there have been a couple of folks out there who have asked why I don't take these shorter pieces, and expand them into full-length audio dramas, or even into a full season of audio dramas of a podcast.

And that's what I want to talk about today... because I would love to do that very thing. But I'm going to need you all to actually make it happen.

Blood and glamour make the word go round.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Windy City Shadows: A Proposal

This is not the first time I've talked about this potential project, but the video I made on the subject didn't give quite enough details for some folks to get a handle on what I'm trying to do. So I thought I'd take this week's Table Talk entry to expand on the idea as it stands right now, and to see whether it's something folks would be interested in if I put in the effort to make it happen.

As I said in the video, the idea behind Windy City Shadows is that it would be an audio drama podcast set in the world of the Chronicles of Darkness. Each season will tell a different story set in a different sphere (ideally), with characters and plot points from previous seasons being expanded on as the story bounces from one group of monsters to another... this will, at least partially, be decided on the votes from the audience.

Where I would like to start this project off is with season one, which I'm tentatively titling Grim Promises, is in the realm of Changeling: The Lost. This story features Shepherd Black, a beast who has gotten out of the games between the seasonal courts, and settled down running a little shop on the south side of Chicago. His old life comes crashing back when a face from his past calls in a favor... a favor he owes that he can't turn away. Shepherd, whether he wants to or not, must once again don the mantle he wore as Black Shuck, the Teeth of the Fall Court and the Paladin of Shadows, and go on one, last hunt before he can be left in peace.

This season will tie together a lot of the elements that have been laid down in previous audio dramas on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, including a reappearance by the character of Lucius Frakes, as well as possible roles for Wolfe, Amy Prism, and others. The person bringing us this tale, and acting as the host of the show, would be Mr. Nowhere, who I recently used to deliver an Emotional Weather Report over on my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary.

Where I go from that first season is anyone's guess. While I would like to finish the story of Johnny Hammer and the Six Gun Saint (the Geist/Mage crossover I've been adding to for a little while now), I could also move over to Vampire after that first season, as well. Werewolf is an option, too. And, of course, there's nothing saying I can't do multiple seasons in the same sphere if folks decide they want more changeling after all.

Practicalities of The Podcast

As I said in the first video, getting a podcast off the ground is no easy task. There's the writing, casting, recording, editing, and then making sure that it gets put up on all the various platforms out there for folks to consume it... it's a lot of a lot, especially when you need to make sure the scripts fit together into a single, cohesive narrative by the end of the season.

So if this is something you're interested in making a reality, there are a few things you can do to make it happen!

First, please subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and help us get it monetized! We have over the 500 subscribers we need, but we just rounded the 1,000 hour mark of watched content, and we need to hit the 3,000 hour mark in order for YouTube to share any of the ad revenue we generate with us. Hitting that goal would be a huge sign of audience interest, and it would help persuade my publisher to greenlight this show, even if it will also appear on Spotify and other platforms, too.

Second, please share this article around so that other folks can get wind of this project, and we can build a groundswell of interest in it. Because I'll be very honest with you, dear readers, this would be a massive undertaking, and it's going to take a not-insignificant amount of eyeballs to help make it into a reality.

Third, please leave comments below about what level of interest you have, and what you'd be willing to do to help support the show. Will you tune-in to listen? Will you share the episodes around on your social media to help boost the signal? Or would you be willing to pitch in on a Patreon in order to help me pay my bills while I work on making new episodes?

The more numbers I can get regarding this, the better I'll be able to judge how interested folks are. Because I've been chewing over this idea for a while, and I would love to make it happen, but I don't want to spend that much time, energy, and cat herding making something that nobody's interested in. So speak up, and make your voice heard!

EDIT: Because there appears to be some confusion on the subject, this is not a casting call for voice actors, nor am I looking for people to help me edit or work on post-production. I have access to all the cast, writers, etc., that I would need to make the show at present. I am just trying to find the audience to listen, because to make a show like this worth the time, energy, and effort, we need people tuning in to listen, or donating to help us pay bills to keep making more episodes.

What's Next on Table Talk?

That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel for Azukail Games. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, or my recent short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.