Extra Short Stories (For Those Who've Been Enjoying My Audio Offerings)

Folks who have been enjoying my fiction releases recently have likely noticed I've been putting together a lot of short vignettes and flash fiction series when it comes to my audio dramas. And while the ones most folks see are taken from the introductory material in my TTRPG supplements, there are some longer, more in-depth stories out there. Some bigger, complete tales that are just waiting for you to come check out.

And if you haven't given them a look yet, I'd highly recommend stopping by my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary, in addition to following the Azukail Games YouTube channel.

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!

A Few Examples From "The Rejects"

Most of the audio dramas I've put together, like the one above, are only a few minutes long. Typically they're dramatized versions of vignettes that set the scene for a supplement, but even when I put together a series of these little shorts they can feel more like eating several small, bite-sized candies instead of a meal.

However, for folks who don't know, I write more than just TTRPGs. In addition to the nearly 200 supplements and games with my name on them, I've also written several novels, and even a few collections of short stories. And in my free time a while back, I started dramatizing some of the short stories from my collection The Rejects, which is a book that features all the short stories I wrote that kept almost getting chosen by publishers, but which were ultimately passed on.

The first story that received this treatment was Dead Man's Bluff, a weird Western tale that was inspired by the TTRPG Deadlands. The story features a traveling gambler using his winnings to pay his way home, until one night when a ghost from his past steps out of the darkness for what might be his last hand of cards. This short story is one of the oldest in the entire collection, and it was first published years ago on Yahoo! Voices before that site went down, and I decided the tale belonged in a real book rather than just sitting on the Internet somewhere.

The second story is Suffer The Children, which gives us a glimpse into the dark underbelly of a modern fantasy setting subtly unlike any other you've come across before. We meet Malachi, an angel walking the shadowed back alleys and nasty streets of Los Angeles, as he attempts to stop a cult of child stealers. This is, technically, the second story featuring Malachi and his adventures, but it gives readers a glimpse into the sort of hard, nasty choices he often has to make. While I haven't added to Malachi's world since this tale, there were plans for more stories (as well as a few novels) featuring additional cases that he had to handle. If it turns out more folks are interested in Malachi's saga, though, it's something I could squeeze in if folks wanted to hear/see more!

What Other Stories Would You Like To See?

My original plan with these tales was to give my readers (and potential readers) a little taste of the stories that could be found in The Rejects. However, I would like to dramatize at least half of them, leaving the other half as a mystery for readers to uncover for themselves... but which stories would you like to get this treatment?

Would you like to hear the tale of the young boy, his uncle, and the dark, dangerous secret no one else would ever believe that we see in Bloody Bones? Perhaps the gritty, sword and sorcery tale Champion For Hire is more your speed, with weaving steel and dark plans in a city desperate to avoid a bloody war of succession in its underworld? From the steampunk gruesomeness of Eyes, Hands, and Heart, to the strange, harsh reality of The Mark of The Legion, there are a lot of options in this book... but which ones would you like to hear?

And, lastly, if you haven't left a review of this book yet, please consider dropping by Amazon and leaving me some stars and a review so more people can find these stories!

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.

My "100 Kinfolk" Project is Now Available as a Bundle!

As some of my readers out there are no doubt aware, I spent roughly a year and a half tinkering with what I called the 100 Kinfolk Project for Werewolf: The Apocalypse. For those not familiar with the project, I went tribe by tribe out of the core book, and created a list of 100 kinfolk for each of them. The series was capped off by me teaming up with Clinton Boomer, providing a blowout 200 kinfolk for the Black Spiral Dancers!

Anyway, the project's finally finished cooling, and High Level Games decided it was time for the next phase... putting all the tribes together in a single bundle!

If you've been waiting, now is your chance!

What You Get in This Package

 

For those who just want numbers, you get 13 separate kinfolk lists in this bundle, which amounts to 1,400 kinfolk total! Normally this would run you about $26 if you bought them individually, but the bundle is up for $15. While it means a cut in my royalties, I'm more than happy to take that hit if it means more players are willing to take the dive and put some of these characters in-play at their tables.

Ah, but there's something else, too.

If you're still not sure about the 100 Kinfolk Bundle, though, let me reiterate what I said about it not so long ago in A Response to The "Flaw" in My 100 Kinfolk Collection. In short, I first started this project because I was tired of so many players and storytellers leaning on the edginess of the 90s aesthetic, and using the bad faith excuse of, "it's a horror game," to justify exclusion and poor treatment of players. Since werewolves come from everywhere in the world, and the tribes extend into every part of humanity, I wanted to create a reference that was more inclusive and more welcoming than a lot of the "typical" setups we see. Especially from when the game was younger.

And for those who complained that I ignored too many of the usual archetypes and cringe-worthy things that were tolerated in the game nearly three decades ago, well, I found a place for them. The white-power Get of Fenris kin? The Red Talon kin who wants to murder any human they see? The Black Fury kin who tortures men for no reason other than because they are men? The Shadow Lord kin who abuses their power and makes others suffer for their own personal enjoyment? All of them wound up in the Black Spiral Dancer book.

Because if everything is dark and awful all the time, then what's the point of the game? Werewolf, perhaps more than any other World of Darkness sphere, is about battling the chaos, trying to find the balance, and saving the world. And the only thing that let the tribes succeed for so long was the unity of the pack... without that, everything falls apart.

Just some thoughts to consider, if you weren't sure about whether or not this was a bundle you'd be interested in!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like 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!