Need More Grimdark Tales? I've Got My Own Playlist Over On "A Vox in The Void"!

For all the books I've written and short story anthologies I've been a part of, it seems like most people who know my name recognize me from the work I've had featured over on the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void. From tales of the grim darkness of the far future like Waking Dogs or The Final Lamentation, to installments like my Pacific Weird War story Where The Red Flowers Bloom, or the Dead Space tale Black Marks, literally tens of thousands of people have heard those stories because they appeared on the channel.

But I've hit something of a milestone recently, and I wanted to share it this week... because enough of my tales have appeared on A Vox in The Void that I now have my own playlist!

Seriously, go check it out if you haven't yet!

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!

13 Tales of Blood, Death, and Vengeance!

I've been working with A Vox in The Void for several years now, and I've watched their channel grow, and their professional career take off. I won't say I'm responsible for it by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm glad to have done my part to help grow things, and I'm glad the audience seems to like my work overall. However, given how the Internet is these days, it's entirely possible that there are regular readers here who haven't been over there yet... and if you're one of those folks, take a moment to, at the very least, give my stories a listen!

Additionally, if you find a story on that list that you really like, consider leaving a comment and saying what appealed to you about it! And if you want sequels to any of the stories, make sure you let me know. I only add to things that it seems folks want to read, so your voice is what helps me lock-in to make more stuff!

And Once You're Done With Those Stories...

I will admit, I've only got 13 stories on that playlist. For most folks, that's going to be a long day of chores, or maybe half a week of commuting. If you need more, I have two specific recommendations for you to check out, both of which would help me a great deal!

The first is the ongoing audio drama YouTube channel I just launched with Alice Liddell titled The A.L.I.C.E. Files. In addition to the individual, stand alone stories we're presenting, there's also an ongoing narrative about the new "Alice" who just accepted a job with the mysterious Carroll Institute which is finally starting to rev up a little bit. We've had trouble getting eyes on this channel, and any subscriptions and views would be greatly appreciated!

If you managed to get through all of that, and you still find yourself wanting to listen to more audio fiction from yours truly, I have a rather sizable playlist on the Azukail Games YouTube channel. This is where I first started refining my skills, and if you listen to the playlist from back to front you can actually watch as my audio dramas evolve in real-time. All views are appreciated, as they help put pennies in the jar for Azukail Games, which is my main employer and publisher these days.

For all the folks who check these stories out, upvote, and subscribe, thank you. I like writing stories, and I like making audio versions of them... but doing it for free takes a lot of eyes to make the wheels turn. So if you're willing to put your shoulder to that wheel to help push, I (and all the other folks who work to bring these stories to life) are very grateful for it.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Table Talk. 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 more involved audio drama channel The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

"Old Soldiers" Has An Audio Preview (And You Should Absolutely Check It Out!)

Folks who regularly stop by this blog are probably aware of the fact that I have written a slew of space marine fan stories for the grimdark future of Warhammer 40K. And if you're one of the readers out there who has enjoyed The Final Lamentation (my story of a Lamenter savaging a Black Legion ship), Blackest Knights (a story of Kill Team Errant for the Deathwatch), or even my Waking Dogs series (featuring a renegade World Eater), then I wanted to take a moment to let you know about my sci fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers.

Not just that, but it now has an audio reading for the first two chapters from Altered State Adventures!

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 New Update (While I Work On Some More 40K Nonsense)

For folks who haven't come across this book before, Old Soldiers is a novel of mine that's been out for some time. In this book we follow Pollux, one of the myrmidon, who is attempting to survive in a world that was not meant for him. A genetic experiment who was one of hundreds of different doomsday weapons created by humanity, these gigantic, albino shock troopers weren't meant to survive their clash with the alien Hyperion... but some of them did. Ghosts of their former selves, the myrmidon have become relics of the past, mostly forgotten by the world they fought for. Pollux is just about to get his life together, when assassins come for him, and the woman he's formed a connection with.

Their bullets weren't enough, though. And when he gets the remnants of his squad back together, they'll tear apart the city until they find the answers that have been buried for far too long.

So grab your copy if you haven't yet!

And I bring this up this week because this is the second piece of mine that's been dramatized by Altered State Adventures. The first one of mine the channel put together was my Warhammer 40K Knight story Broken Heroes, whose video is approaching 10K views as of this reading...

So, you know, go check that out if you haven't!

I've Got Some New Stuff on The Horizon!

While I'm currently getting ready for my last event of 2025, once I pack up and get back home I have plans to settle down and to work on the next installment of the Gav and Bob series, which tells the tale of the Imperium's Bravest Ogryn! I don't know if I'm going to manage to get the next installment done by Sanguinala this year, but I'm going to do my best!

And for folks who haven't come across this series yet, check out this playlist over on A Vox in The Void!

And, of course, if you want to help me make a little extra scratch for the holidays, you can read my contributions to the series directly on Vocal.media:

- Gav and Bob Part IV: The Emperor's Hand

- Gav and Bob Part V: Faith and Martyrs

- Gav and Bob Part VI: The Laughter of a Thirsting God

Lastly, if you've already read these stories, consider sharing them around on your social media site of choice! It's tough to get eyes on these stories, but the more folks who cheer for Gav, the more of these stories I'll be able to put together... so raise your voice, because it matters!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Table Talk. 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!

"Showdown in Sector 33" Presents A New Story Format... Should I Stick With It?

Roughly 5 months or so ago, I came out with 100 Station Security Officers, which was my first Starfinder supplement that I'd worked on in years. And with how busy things were, I didn't get around to putting together a little audio drama for the intro fiction until fairly recently. Thanks to the algorithm being such an issue, though, I wanted to take a brief post to talk about what I was trying to do, and to ask all the readers and listeners out there to give me your thoughts on the matter!

Real talk, your opinions could very much shift how I make my content going forward, so please weigh in on this one.

Seriously, give this one a look if you haven't yet!

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!

Taking Inspiration From A Warhammer 40K Creator

Showdown in Sector 33 was something of a challenge for me as a creator, and I tried to put everything I've learned over the past few years into effect so I could differentiate the characters as much as possible! A nasty, brutal little story about station security standing off with a collection of gangers, I'd like to ask everyone to give it a listen, and to subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel if you haven't yet!

However, in addition to trying to go all-out on the SFX and voice effects, I wanted to try a new format for the video itself. Because up until now I've mostly used either still images, or switched between different full-screen images when making my dramatizations. However, for this story I tried to do something to make the flow of conversation and story look more like a throwback to a classic video game RPG. I'm thinking about trying to refine this for future videos, and perhaps adding in some text blocks for the dialogue being spoken by characters in order to really lean into that classic RPG feel... but this is not an idea that came to me out of nowhere.

And this is where I recommend everyone reading this check out the channel Warrior Tier... and specifically his ongoing series regarding the Horus Heresy for Warhammer 40K!

He's currently 3 videos in on this series, with Horus Rising Part One: The Path of The Luna Wolves, followed by Act II: The Emperor's Children, and then with Part III, The Sons of Horus. It's beautiful, has a talented cast, and from what I know about making audio dramas like this, there is a lot of work put into this series! So if you're a fan of grimdark sci fi in general, and Warhammer 40K in particular, please go and check that series out. It deserves all the love, and it's an absolute joy to behold!

I probably won't end up going quite that far with my own productions... but if I could get a couple thousand people to raise their voices and demand I make something that big for Starfinder, I suppose I could expand on what I've made so far! So if you've got thoughts on Showdown in Sector 33, please leave them in the comments below, but even more importantly, in the comment section of the video over on YouTube! Stuff that shows up over there will be seen by my publisher, but it will also help tell the algorithm to boost the video, and show it to more people.

As always, any and all help is appreciated! So if you enjoy these stories, make sure you share them around and let folks know about them!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Table Talk. 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!

The Transformative Properties of Pain (Delving Into Zon-Kuthon, Slaanesh, and Others)

There are things that exist in our favorite fictional universes that can leave our skin crawling, and our minds rebelling. Things with mutilated flesh, who are seemingly unbound by moral precepts, and who are a dark mirror to many things we hold dear. They are not just monstrous, and not just evil, wicked, or blasphemous... they are alien. They are so removed from our experiences that the only way we can categorize them is to say they are insane... that only the mad would see logic in what these things are, and the actions they take.

Despite that, though, many of us feel drawn to them. We want to see more, to understand more, to experience more... and this is both the power of these things, and a cornerstone of what makes them what they are in many ways.

Because to desire, to want, is the gateway. And even if what lies beyond that threshold is pain, we will endure it precisely because of the want that made us open the door in the first place.

Come... I have such sights to show you...

As always, 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!

Pain and Transformation

Zon-Kuthon. Slaanesh. The Cenobites. The Godhand. Even my own god Tensa found in Gods of Sundara (available for Pathfinder as well as DND 5E). Our fiction, and our games, are full of creatures shaped by alien forces and impossible desires... things that corrupt you, twist you, and which bring their followers to the other end of madness.

And while that works well enough for antagonists in a story, things and people we want to see as cold, alien, and unknowable, it doesn't work as well for our characters. Because we need to understand them, and we need those around us to understand them. Which is why it's important to think of desire, pain, and the transformative nature of the experience that comes with these things.

Consider for a moment seeing someone in middle school or high school who is in their first official relationship. You've never seen anyone that happy, riding high on a fresh emotion that has them walking on air. And then when they have their first break up, it is devastating for them. They bawl, they kick, they scream, and they might even break things. To adults looking on, it seems so petty, and unimportant, because most of us have gone through this process many, many times before. We might remember what it was like when we went through this when we were children, but it's so far removed from who we are now that it often feels like it happened to someone else.

Going through that pain, and recovering from it, changed us. We shifted something in ourselves. Some of us heal, and some of us limp, but we continued on.

Alternatively, think of the original Little Mermaid. She was given legs, but every step was agony, akin to walking on razors for the rest of her life. A bargain she made with her eyes open because she wanted that so badly. She knew that to be changed would bring agony, but the change was worth the pain.

These are two halves of the same coin. On the one hand we have pain that transforms us, and on the other side we have transformations that hurt us. In either case, we will become a different person than who we were... and in some cases we may no longer even recognize what we've become. Or who we used to be.

This is a philosophical basis that can act as a starting point with characters attached to a philosophy of pain, darkness, or even depravity. However, it's important to remember that even in the case of a penitent being remade by the cenobites, or someone rising to become a member of Berserk's Godhand, the transformation doesn't begin with the dramatic final step... the transformation began down a long and winding road that led to where they wound up.

A Thousand Resurrections On The Path of Corruption

Even if you are not a drug user, you're familiar with the idea of building up a tolerance. The first time you take even the smallest dose, the drug hits your system like a freight train, and you feel it pretty intensely. And if you only indulge every now and again, that level of intensity will be your normal experience... but if you use a drug regularly, your body and mind will get used to it. You'll have to take more, and more, just to move the needle. It's why a child being allowed to have a normal caffeinated soft drink might be bouncing off the walls, while their aunt or uncle can drink 2 cans of Monster before they start to shake off feeling like they need a nap.

Alternatively, think of how muscles grow. When you exercise, you create a small tear, and when your body fills that small tear back in the muscle grows in size and power. This allows you to easily lift something that would have been far beyond your capacity even a few years ago, because you have slowly transformed yourself through regular rituals of suffering and self-inflicted pain.

And when we take these relatively mundane things, and apply them to a darker path, we begin to see how characters might walk into the shadows deliberately and with great purpose.

No one comes to sit where I do by an accident of fate...

Through a steady diet of pain, bloodshed, suffering, or even torturous rites, a character might become something new... something different than they were before. Perhaps they were seduced, as we see with hedonists who had exhausted earthly pleasures who pursued the Lament Configuration to experience the next level of sensation. Or they were told there was a way they could overcome an earthly weakness, but only if they followed the path of the Black Spiral, and reached the end.

If these characters simply swallowed a mouthful of this poison, it would kill them, or cripple them. But if they swallow a little at a time, over and over again, year after year, soon they would build up a functional immunity. This is how they might accept the early rites or requirements of these dark gods or strange philosophies, building up the tolerance, determination, and iron will that will see them through as they pass over the threshing blades that will tear them apart, and allow them to reborn anew.

Others may stare at them in horror. They may see what they're doing as an abomination, a desecration of morality, or a grievous sin. But they have not seen what the one on the left-hand path has seen. The naysayers have not walked where they've walked, and done what they've done. And while the dark pilgrim might try to explain these truths, there are certain experiences that words fail to properly convey. It is only through first-hand knowledge that one can truly understand what lurks beyond pain, and beyond the transformations it heralds.

And on a final note, those who haven't seen this article should check out my Pathfinder character conversion for the cenobite Pinhead!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Fluff post. 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!

Assigned Motivation in RPGs

Oceans of ink have been spilled by people writing about character motivation. From lists of potential motives, to questions to ask about your character, to story concerns, and the intricacies of the unfolding plot, few aspects of the game are as important as figuring out why your characters are doing the things they're doing.

Hell, it's why my supplement 100 Character Goals and Motivations is an Electrum seller, after all.

However, while characters should always have personal motivations that come into play throughout a campaign, a lot of Game Masters overlook the expediency of a game that comes with assigned motivation... often to the point that a lot of people are completely unfamiliar with the idea, or they consider it a form of unacceptable railroading.

So let's talk about that this week, shall we?

Forward! Go, go, go!

As always, 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 Mission IS Your Motivation

The standard model of many RPGs is that player characters form some kind of party, and then go off on an adventure. Sometimes they're mercenaries, and sometimes they're brigands. They might be wandering around looking for a reward, or for good deeds they can do. In these kinds of games the characters' personal motivations are often what takes center stage for each of them. Maybe there's a holy warrior attempting to follow their god's will, they team up with a former soldier trying to find where their next meal is coming from, and they cross paths with a savage warrior seeking some trial grand enough to act as a rite of passage for their people. These motivations are all very personal to the characters in question, and wildly different from one another. Generally what a GM will do at this point is figure some way to weave together all the characters' independent goals and motivations into the unfolding plot, dangling hooks for each of them to get them to work together.

And that is a lot of work... both on the players' parts, but also on the GM's part.

Assigned motivation works differently. In this structure, every character is part of a unit, an organization, a group, a cause, and that cause has the ability to assign them to handle matters on its behalf. You and your fellow party members aren't necessarily going to handle the current issue du jour because it fits with your moral code, or because there's treasure to be gained, or a reputation to be won... you're doing it because your commanding officer assigned you to go and take care of it!

Now, this is the method I used for my own RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, precisely because it's a military-themed game. Because yes, your characters should be individuals with their own wants, their own goals, and so on, but you're in the squad to do a job. And sure, maybe your medic joined up because they couldn't afford to go to medical school, and a tour of service will help them do that. Maybe your grunt is fulfilling a family tradition, and he's a third-generation soldier. Maybe your ordnance specialist caught a charge for arson and weapons trafficking, and he'd rather join the army than do time. Whatever the reason, and whatever goals someone is shooting for, they're still going to go and deal with the missions that command sends them on. They don't have to like it, but that's the agreed-upon framework for the game and story.

And this isn't a new idea by any stretch of the imagination. You see this same setup in the Warhammer 40K RPG Dark Heresy, where the PCs are all part of an inquisitor's retinue, and expected to complete the tasts and assignments the inquisitor gives them. You'll also see something similar in Spycraft, which is a game that I personally took a lot of inspiration from when designing Army Men. However, this same setup can be used in any RPG if your GM sits everyone down and says, "Okay, I want you all to be part of a mercenary company, a squad of town guards, conscripts in a current war," or whatever other flavor they've come up with.

On the one hand, there are a lot of players out there who do really well with assigned motivation in a game. Being told by the GM that they need to make a member of a knightly order, or a soldier in an army, or someone who works for this fantasy world's secret service takes the pressure off of them when it comes to character motivation, and it allows them to color within the lines they've been given. However, there are also players (and even Game Masters) who really don't care for this approach to character building and game management. They often feel that it means they can't make their own, individual characters with their own, individual goals, and that they're expected to just fall in-line, and to go along with the motivation that's presented to them.

Now, just to reiterate, preferences in your game are perfectly fine. But if you've never tried using assigned motivation in your campaigns before, consider giving it a shot if it sounds interesting to you. Just remember that it's something you need to bring up with your players early on in discussing the game, and you need to make sure you have full buy-in from everyone.

Or, if you really want to, you could try any of the games I've mentioned here, and see if they agree with you!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Fluff post. 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!

"Waking Dogs" Had A New Release... Do You Want To See The End of The Series? (Warhammer 40K)

Roughly 4 years ago, I wrote a little story titled Waking Dogs about a World Eater space marine who simply decided he had enough. Enough of his legion, enough of the blood god, and enough of the godsdamned Butcher's Nails... Crixus was going to put down every rabid dog he'd once called brother, and wipe the entire legion from the galaxy. He was going to erase the mistake that Angron had made, and if he was very lucky, die in the process of trying to complete this fool's crusade.

I'd originally written it to be a stand-alone piece of fan fiction, hoping it would maybe drag some eyes over to my novel Old Soldiers, which is a dystopian sci fi thriller about 9-foot-tall albino super soldiers dealing with their own dark conspiracy that I figured would appeal to some of my fellow Warhammer 40K fans. However, several years later, Waking Dogs is now a 3-part series with several hundred thousand views on YouTube, and it seems to have made a far bigger impact on folks than I could ever have predicted.

And it's not done just yet.

The Warhounds rise... but will they fall once more?

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!

The Old Warhound's Saga Continues... Or Does It?

Originally, Crixus's story was a fun little what-if story. It was a question of what would happen if a World Eater went rogue, and dedicated himself to wiping out all those like him. What would it be like if their personal rage was so constant that it attuned itself to the Butcher's Nails, and those terrible engines became a weapon he was capable of wielding rather than becoming a mere slave to?

And overall, those who read it seemed to like it. They didn't buy any copies of my novel, though, and I would have just abandoned the project as a good try... except that I crossed paths with Paul Graham, the individual behind the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void. He was looking for unique, grim stories to read, and this was one of the stories I said he was welcome to put on his channel. All I asked was that he link the original story on Vocal so I could maybe get some extra traffic.

The story honestly did a LOT better than I ever expected... and looking back at it today, it just crossed 101,000 views. Which still boggles me a bit!

While this wasn't the first story of mine Paul had dramatized (if you check the archive, it's the second story of mine on the channel), it did make a pretty big impact. And it led to me writing additional stories for him over time. And as I read the comments about Crixus, and I saw there were folks who had really enjoyed his tale, I figured I'd add to it. So I wrote a sequel, Broken Chains, which has him hunting down his former Brother Sergeant to settle a grudge, and it gives us a psychic flashback to his childhood, before he was made part of the Warhounds legion in the days of the Great Crusade.

Folks welcomed Crixus home with roars of enthusiasm, and this story did even better than the first one had... in terms of YouTube views, at least (most folks don't read my stories in text format, even if they really enjoy listening), and at time of writing, that story has over 167,000 views!

Since a few years had gone by, I felt it was time for injecting a little fresh blood into Crixus's saga. My most recent story, which involves him being taken prisoner by a World Eaters warband and forced to fight for his life in the arena against several daunting opponents to the roars of the crowd, dropped a few months ago... Waking Dogs, Part 3: War Hounds.

Though this story just rounded 37,000 views, it's only been up for 3 weeks... and if you haven't checked it out yet, you should!

While Crixus hasn't met his end just yet, I do have a plan for how I'd like to end this particular series... but for folks who'd like to see it draw to an epic conclusion, I'm going to need your help to make it happen!

How You Can Help Give The Old Warhound A Proper End

Over the past few years I've had a lot of time to think about Crixus's stories, and where I'd like him to go. And while I acknowledge I could treat him like Conan, and just add a few more stories here and there until there was no longer an interested audience, honestly, I don't want him to just fade away like that. I'd much rather give him a proper and deliberate sendoff...

But I'm going to need all of your help to make that happen!

So, here's how you can help!

So, here's a list of things that would really help me get the last two parts of Crixus's tale slotted into place:

- Read the original three stories on Vocal (Waking Dogs, Broken Chains, War Hounds), and share them on your own social media pages to help boost the signal!

- Check out the audio dramas over on A Vox in The Void, subscribe to the channel, and leave some comments on the videos to let them know I sent you!

- Consider picking up a copy of my novel Old Soldiers, then when you leave a review mention that you bought a copy because you wanted me to have the time and energy to finish Crixus's story.

This list is in descending order of free-to-you as the reader, but in reverse order of what will help me most as a writer. So, just something to keep in mind... because if I could get 10,000 people (to say nothing of 40,000 or 150,000) to grab a copy of my novel, I would have all the time and energy to dedicate to bringing the old Warhound's saga to a satisfying close!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Table Talk. 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!

Climbing YouTube's Mountain (And Boosting The Signal For Some Other Creators)

As most folks around here know, the Azukail Games YouTube channel finally got monetized at the start of 2025. It was a 3-year struggle to get it to that point, but with all of your help (and a little dash of luck) we managed to get over the hump! However, we don't want to rest on our laurels, so we're trying to push forward to hit our next goals, and to expand beyond where we are now.

That's why this week I wanted to give folks a break down on where we're at, what we're doing, where we'd like to go, and how you can help us make it happen! And after all that, I wanted to give a shoutout to some other channels that could use your help climbing up the mountain as well.

A hand up can make a WORLD of difference.

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!

Where Azukail Games Is, And Where We're Aiming For!

When it comes to YouTube, numbers and statistics mean a lot to you as a creator. At time of writing we're just shy of 1,600 subscribers (tiny in terms of the platform, but really impressive for us as a very small channel), and our video views garner roughly $25 - $35 a month on average.

It's definitely not nothing... but we've got a lot of room to grow! I also talked about the process a little while back on an episode of Tabletop Mercenary, for those who are curious.

Where would we like to go, though? What is a reasonable, achievable goal? Well, I have some ideas.

What I would love to pull off is, by the end of 2025, to have the channel's subscriber count up to at least 2,000 people. 3,000 would be amazing, but I'm trying to set some reasonable expectations. And, ideally, I'd like to double the amount of videos getting seen so that we can bring in a minimum of $50 a month from our views.

More would be nice, but again, I'm trying to keep things reasonable.

What's my plan for making that happen, you might ask? Well, first and foremost, I aim to keep our current content going on a fairly regular schedule. That means more episodes of the shows Speaking of Sundara (where I talk about the Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting for DND 5E and Pathfinder), Discussions of Darkness (where I talk about the World/Chronicles of Darkness setting and games to provide insight for those running and playing them), Tabletop Mercenary (where I talk about the behind-the-scenes aspects of working in the TTRPG field), Tactical Plastic Report (where I talk about my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic), as well as the audio dramas and short stories that regularly go up on the channel.

You can't get new results just doing the same thing, though, so I have some additions to this plan!

First and foremost, I'm still plotting additional video essays (since The Problem With Pentex blew up so big, and is the main reason we're currently monetized). The next one I have on the list is going to be regarding Radio Free Fae, which is an aspect of Changeling: The Lost that I feel often gets overlooked. And that particular video essay ties neatly into the upcoming audio drama podcast (which will be backed up on the channel) Windy City Shadows! The first season of this show is going to put us squarely into the world of Changeling, and if the first season goes over well, then I intend to do at least 2-3 more.

If you're interested in the show, then check out the AMA I did for it a little while back!

What Can You Do To Help Make These Things Happen?

If you want to help keep the Azukail Games channel going, and you want to make sure I can bring these projects to fruition, the two main things you can do are subscribe to the channel, and actually watch the content we make. While we have nearly 1,600 subscribers, new videos barely break 100 views most of the time... which is a problem, because the views are what earn us ad revenue. The subscriber count, bu contrast, is what lets the algorithm know that we're growing, so it should kick our videos out to more people.

Both of these are necessary, and we really need to increase the numbers on them!

But what if you're already subscribed to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and you already watch our videos regularly? Well, you can hit the bell to make sure you get notifications, which will make sure you don't forget about us, and that our new videos show up on your feed. You can also leave comments of at least 7 words on our videos, because that's the number of words the algorithm needs to kick into gear. Lastly, share our video links on your social media platforms to help boost our signal... you might only be able to watch a video once, but if you've got 10, 50, or even 100 folks on your friends list, or in a FB group, discord, or subreddit that would like to check it out, that can make a big difference for someone that's still in the minor leagues on the platform.

As always, thank you in advance. Without you checking out the stuff we make, we wouldn't be able to make it.

A Few Other Channels You Should Check Out!

Before I go today, I wanted to give a shout out to some other folks on YouTube who could use a bit of a signal boost. My hope is that folks reading this can lend a helping hand, and give a few other creators a much-needed boost!

#1: Owen KC Stephens

For folks not familiar with the name, Owen KC Stephens is a fellow whose name is on a wide variety of RPG projects. Perhaps best-known for Pathfinder and Starfinder, he's been doing this at least twice as long as I have, and most folks refer to him as the favored uncle of the RPG space. He struggled recently with a cancer diagnosis, then beat the cancer, but is still fighting to pay down debt, cover bills, and keep his prescriptions filled.

He's got more than enough subscribers to get the channel monetized... but you can always use a few more. So stop in, watch some of his videos, leave some comments, and see if a sharp spike in his figures will help his YouTube presence!

#2: KHR Arts

If Alice looks (or sounds) familiar to some folks, it's because she's been in several of the videos over on the Azukail Games channel in the past. KHR arts is her video gaming channel, and it's packed full of Minecraft, classic SNES games, and more that can just be fun to listen to and relax. She has sort of the opposite problem of a lot of folks, though, in that she has plenty of views, but she's really having a hard time hitting the subscriber count (she's just past 600 at time of writing, and needs 1,000 to get fully monetized). So drop by KHR Arts and subscribe... and go through the archive while you're there!

And if you're more of a writer and board game enthusiast, you should also go by her second channel Alice The Author, which is full of unboxings, book reviews, and advice for folks who want to make a living as creative professionals.

#3: Altered State Adventures

Folks who know me know that I have a soft spot for the grim darkness of the far future. Forever and a day ago I wrote a story about a long-forgotten knight, and his return to the fray with a new pilot on a world that had forgotten him, and which had fallen into barbarism and darkness. If you never got a chance to read Broken Heroes, I'd highly suggest you check it out, along with my other stories over on Vocal... and then go subscribe to Altered State Adventures, and check out some of their audio dramas (including their production of my story) because they are a lot of fun to listen to!

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!

"Broken Heroes" Is Finally Available (And You Should Check It Out Immediately!)

For all the folks who've been awaiting fresh Warhammer 40K content from yours truly, you're going to have to wait just a bit longer... but I do have something that turned out phenomenally I want to share! Because a majority of my stories have been about space marines, ogryns, and the imperial guard, but I have had a single story that really stuck out for me as a writer. A story about a feudal world that had, once upon a time, been a knight world... and which might become one again!

A story about a one-armed smythe's apprentice named Renn who finds a weapon lost to time that is ready to get back into the fight against the insectoid creatures that have overrun the world, Broken Heroes has always had a soft spot in my heart.

Even better, it can now have a special place in your ears, thanks to Altered State Adventures!

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!

There's More To Come (But Only So Many Hours In A Day)

As I said late last year in Hungry For More Warhammer 40K Content? You're In Luck!, I've had a lot of plans for working on additional stories from the grim darkness of the far future. However, I've got a lot of stuff on my plate right now with running two blogs, needing to put out two RPG supplements out a month, working on at least one video per week for the Azukail Games YouTube channel, putting together a Chronicles of Darkness podcast, and dealing with other, miscellaneous projects... and there just isn't a lot of free time to pen more short stories with all of those plates spinning.

Doesn't mean I'm not gonna try, though.

Forward! For the Emperor!

While I'm going to start working on the third story in the Waking Dogs series of tales about my renegade World Eater Crixus (Waking Dogs and Broken Chains are the first two stories that are already out), there is another, small achievement that I want to acknowledge in this week's update. Because now that Broken Heroes has debuted, that means there is only one original story of mine that hasn't been given an audio version yet; my Death Watch story, Blackest Knights!

(And technically my Leagues of Votann story Pyramid Scheme hasn't been dramatized yet, either, but that was a two-person job, so it gets its own category.)

So, if you want to stay tuned for more great audio dramas based on my work, definitely subscribe to Altered State Adventures, and dig through their archive of content! And if you're hoping to catch Blackest Knights when it finally comes out, along with listening to a lot of my older stories, you should also subscribe to A Vox in The Void if you haven't done so yet!

And in the event you didn't see the video about some of my other goals for 2025, please take a moment to check that out, too!

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.

Playing Warhammer 40K, Trench Crusade, Or Army Men? Adrian Has Your Terrain Covered!

Many RPGs take place in the theater of the mind, using the pure imagination of those around the table to play out the story. And while that's all well and good for the cinematically inclined, other games focus on distances, cover, strategic maneuvers, and small-unit successes. These games can't rely on the imagination alone, because they depend on all the players viewing the same battlefield, and having the same understanding of what's happening. And whether you're assembling a table for the grim darkness of the far future in Warhammer 40K, you're joining the war against (or for) the heretic legions of hell in Trench Crusade, or you're taking up arms on behalf of the Plastos Federathion in my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, you owe it to yourself to check out the terrain crafting videos being done by Adrian Kennelly over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel.

From Vracks to the Somme, you'll find something you like!

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!

Table Terrain To Make Your Battles Blaze!

Before I go too much further, I wanted to offer full disclosure for folks who aren't regular readers. I'm a contributor to the Azukail Games YT channel, and I'm an author of several of the game supplements the publisher has released. And while I make a majority of the shows that are hosted on the channel, when we really started gaining momentum, Adrian started doing semi-regular crafting videos for tabletop gaming. And while several of the early videos were very much geared toward traditional fantasy gaming, a lot of the more recent additions are for terrain pieces that are much more at-home in modern warfare scenarios.

Such as the first video he made for Army Men about how to make barbed wire!

In addition to the tutorial for barbed wire, Adrian has also covered videos for making a Czech hedgehog tank trap, how to make craters, how to make ruined walls, and even how to make supply pallets for your table terrain! All of which I happen to think is pretty damn neat, and were I a craftier sort of gamer (and had more space to assemble and store this kind of terrain) I'd likely have a bunch of my own examples to show off by now.

However, I wanted to give Adrian's content a shout out this week because I know exactly how much work it takes to make videos like this. From lighting and setup, to making sure that you have just the right angle and just the right voice overs and music to keep your viewers watching while also giving them value for their time isn't easy. Not only that, but a lot of the stuff he makes also gets me fired up to play (and design) more gaming stuff... which is important when the creative side of things starts to feel like a slog!

So if this is the sort of content you enjoy (whether it's because you like crafting tutorials or you just enjoy checking out the tips and tricks of the trade), subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel today, and while you're at it watch the Crafting Playlist that has a complete run of all 35 of Adrian's videos on it. I'm urging folks to watch the videos, upvote the ones they like, leave comments of at least 7 words (because that's what tickles the algorithm's fancy), and maybe share them around on your own social media pages... because few things encourage folks who make videos, blogs, and games than hearing from our audience, and being told loud and clear that they like what we're making, and we should keep going!

Lastly, if there's a particular type of terrain you're interested in, make sure you leave a comment on the videos asking for a guide! Whether you want full trenches, bombed-out buildings, sniper nests, or anything else, making a suggestion (and getting it upvoted by others) is a great way to let us know what you want to see!

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!

Hungry For More Warhammer 40K Content? Well, You're In Luck!

It's time for another Table Talk update! And while I've got a lot of things going on behind the scenes, this week I wanted to draw folks' attention to a very specific plate that I'm spinning. Because I mentioned this a while back in Gathering The Grimdark (Tying My Warhammer 40K Shorts Together), but I wanted to give my regular readers an update on progress!

And if you haven't read any of my tales of the grim darkness of the far future, the full list can be found at the end of this article.

I've been waiting to start on these for a while, now...

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!

Expanding My Current Series Offerings (Ogryns and Renegades)

First things first, while I love the grim darkness of the far future (and adding my own little touches to it), one reason these stories come so slowly from me is that these aren't an independent endeavor. When I write one of these stories, it's because I'm working with someone else (usually, though not exclusively, the YouTube channel A Vox In The Void, whom you should follow if you haven't), so I have to take their workload and schedule into account. As a result, folks tend to only get these stories from me a few times a year.

But after some talks, I have the next two installments figured out, and I'm currently working on the first of them!

This tale is something that I'm sure regular readers will be excited for... a new Gav and Bob story! As we draw closer and closer to our own Winter holiday, we're also approaching Sanguinala. And since it's become something of a tradition now, both Paul and myself thought it would only be appropriate for Gav to have a new adventure during one of the holiest days of the Imperium's calendar.

And while I don't want to say too much about our boy Gav's latest adventure (though it is a Warhammer Christmas story, so be prepared for elves to be involved somehow!), I also got the greenlight for yet another tale which will mark the triumphant return of the Old War Hound himself, Crixus!

The third tale in what I guess I'm now calling the Waking Dogs series (the first two are below), this tale will feature Crixus in a fight for his life aboard a World Eater vessel. Turned loose in the gladiator pits, he will face trial by combat... but will he be fighting alone? And what horror awaits in the bowels of the ship that his erstwhile brothers will loose on him after all the death and destruction he has sown among their ranks? Stay tuned and find out in Waking Dogs: War Hounds!

And isn't THAT just a pair of tales?

While I still have quite a lot of other projects that I'm working on, these are the current pieces of fiction I'm planning on finishing up while I try to push the Azukail Games YouTube channel over the finish line to get it monetized. Once that happens it will be time for me to break ground on the audio drama series Windy City Shadows, which will take place in the world of the Chronicles of Darkness! If you haven't heard about it, I did an AMA for it a while back, and I could use all the help folks can give me to help make it into a reality!

My Grimdark Tales (Many of Which Have Audio Drama Versions)

- Waking Dogs- A World Eaters Tale: When Crixus awakens from the haze of the Butcher's Nails, he decides he has had enough of being a dog for one warband after another. The old Warhound is awake, and he means to put down the rest of the World Eaters like the rabid dogs they are.

- Broken Chains- A World Eaters Tale: Crixus settles a grudge with his former brother sergeant... and a part of him that he'd long forgotten is rekindled in the soul of this vengeful renegade.

- Blackest Knights: The debut tale of Kill Team Errant, this squad of Blackshields assists a captured inquisitor, only to find this situation is larger, and more dire, than they'd anticipated.

- The Final Lamentation: When the Black Legion takes a Lamenter prisoner, they quickly realize that the cursed luck of his legion is also their problem when he's present on their ship.

- Field Test: An inquisitor claims to have a secret weapon that can wipe out an entire ork waaaaugh... but no weapon seems to be in evidence. Just her retinue; a Catachan, a tech priest, and a hollw-eyed young man who may be far more than he seems.

- Broken Heroes: A scouting party is trying to recover an experimental piece of ammunition... but they find something far more dangerous when they're surrounded by a swarm of enemies, and they stumble upon an ancient bunker where a terrible weapon has waited to finish what it started.

- Gav And Bob, Part IV: The Emperor's Hand: An adventure of the Imperium's Bravest Ogryn, Gav Smythe finds himself on a world in the midst of a war. When he crosses paths with a strange, black sword, he hears the voice of the Emperor, and knows what he has to do.

- Gav And Bob Part V: Faith And Martyrs: Gav is brought to a shrine world where he speaks with a Canoness Confessor of the Sisters of Battle. She will be the one who weighs his sanity, and his soul.

- Pyramid Scheme- A Leagues of Votann Story (Part One and Part Two): When the Ironbeards hear of great wealth on a jungle moon in an uncharted corner of the sector, they rush in to try to earn a big payday... the danger that awakens, though, might mean they never survive to spend it!

- 50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories, Warhammer 40K Edition: The second installment of my 50 two-sentence horror stories project, this one was quite popular before the algorithm started excluding Vocal links from being shared. Still, check it out if you're looking for some short, snacky scares!

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.