Somewhere beyond the Great Beyond lies the Akashic Library, its magnificent shelves stretching from the cracked tile floor to a ceiling so high you can’t even see it. What arcane esoterica and esoteric arcana shall we uncover today? Read on, traveler, and see . . .

It’s February, and that means just one thing: It’s Zine Month. Or is it Zine Quest? I’ve done both. The point is, since 2020 I’ve run a Kickstarter campaign for an RPG book every February. This year is no different! But be warned, this year is a year of EVIL. A year to enter the VAULT OF VILLAINY.

OH GOD LOOK OUT, IT’S THE VAULT OF VILLAINY!
My good friend Josh Burnett and I have previously collaborated on such beloved RPG books as Leopard Women of Venus and Million-Colored Sun. He had the idea for this book, we’re co-writing it, and he’s doing the illustrations.

Vault of Villainy is a collection of antagonists and vile evil-doers for use in your sword & sorcery game. While it's written for use with the Million-Colored Sun ruleset, these perfidious ne'er-do-wells could easily be dropped into any game system with just a few tweaks.

This slim-but-savage volume contains 10 villains, including classic archetypes like barbarian warlords and evil wizards, but also weird and uncanny foes like luck-eating imps. In addition to their game stats, each entry provides you with a brief overview of the villain's history, as well as guidelines on how to role-play them and ideas on how to bring them into your ongoing sword & sorcery sagas. There are also entries for the villain's notable henchmen and underlings, as well as some of the powerful artifacts they may wield. 

For example, there’s Mandagor the Mighty . . .

In the murky mists of prehistory there was an age of demi-gods, the spawn of incomprehensible elder beings birthed from the loins of the earliest humans. These demigods rampaged across the world as though it were their playground, none moreso than Mandagor the Mighty. There are still fragments of his legend told on every continent, of the quests he undertook, the beasts he slew, and the legions he slaughtered.

It wasn’t long before Mandagor grew bored of traveling the world and set himself up as the tyrant king of a nation. He ruled for a century, before a cabal of his advisors locked him away for the good of the world; now, ALAS!, he’s free once more.

Learn more about Mandagor, and 9 other malevolent misanthropes—click the link! And consider backing the campaign.

HEY, WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUR LAST KICKSTARTER?
Oh, Prison Pits of Larubia? Thanks for asking!

You may recall that Josh finished the front cover a couple months ago, and it looks like this:

Josh also did the layout—I’ve been relying on Josh a lot lately, I should send him a fruit basket or something—and Stacy and Steve did a final pass of editing. We got the PDF finished and shipped out to all the Kickstarter backers. Now I just need to take care of a few things so I can order a proof copy, and then I’ll be able to make print copies available. It’s almost done! And I’m really pleased with it.

One thing that’s encouraging is that, as I sent out copies to Prison Pits backers, and I watched people back Vault of Villainy, I noticed a lot of the same names on both lists. Which is to say, we’re building an audience of Million-Colored Sun fans. Love it! That audience is much, much smaller than I hoped it would be at this point but, well, the economy has been doing things and I think everyone’s Kickstarters have suffered. I know I’ve personally cut back on the number of Kickstarters I back, so can I really blame other people for doing the same thing? Right now I have to focus on making the books the best we can make them and getting them into print, so they’ll be there waiting in those happy future days when people have disposable income and a willingness to try out a new game.

SOMETIMES I DRAW ON INDEX CARDS
Here’s an index card drawing I did:

And here’s a set:

Those were just for fun. You may be wondering—do I ever sell drawings? My friend, you are in luck.

THE RUMORS ARE TRUE, I HAVE ART FOR SALE
There are 9 original drawings for sale in my Etsy shop, and one book. That book is a handsome hardcover graphic novel and I’m proud of it, so maybe check it out? And the drawings, those are all one-of-a-kind, suitable for framing.

As always, all money I make from selling art is donated to help Palestinian children. It’s a good cause, and I’d appreciate your support.

WHAT A DEAL!
If you act now, you can subscribe to this newsletter ABSOLUTELY FREE, and get an update from me every month. There’s no set-up fee, no additional charges. You can’t afford to pass up a deal like this! Act now!

BOOKS I'VE READ SINCE LAST TIME
Thanos: The Infinity Revelation, Jim Starlin
Lies Weeping, Glen Cook
Last Stand at Saber River, Elmore Leonard
We Called Them Giants, Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans
Bowling With Corpses & Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown, Mike Mignola
I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom, Jason Pargin
Hombre, Elmore Leonard

Lies Weeping is the 12th book in the Chronicles of the Black Company series. I bought it from the author himself at Archon last October. Generally, fantasy series do not maintain a consistently high level of quality when they go this long. So I was a little worried going in. And while I did enjoy most of the scenes in the book, I was frustrated by the pacing. As with so many other fantasy series, things have slowed down. In the first book, lots of things happened! In this book, only a few things happened. It starts out establishing a new status quo, introducing characters, setting the stage, and that’s all well and good, until I got to page 100 and realized we were still setting the stage, waiting for the plot to really kick in.

And while many fantasy writers turn out 1000 page volumes to compensate for how slow their story moves, this one’s under 400 pages. In terms of plot, it’s half a novel. The next book is already available for pre-order and, based on the plot description, it’s what should’ve been the second half of this book.

That said, I enjoyed the characters and their antics, and I will buy the next book when it comes out.

If you’ve been following this newsletter you may remember that I’ve been reading Westerns—for instance, Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage. And while there were aspects of that book I liked, it also made me want to read a Western novel by a, how do you say, better writer. So one day I was browsing the Library of America catalog and discovered that they publish a collection of Westerns by Elmore Leonard. I knew that Leonard was a top-notch writer—better known for writing Crime novels, but he started out in Westerns—so I let it be known that I’d like this book and, what do you know, I got a copy of it for Christmas.

The book includes four short novels. So far I’ve read Last Stand at Saber River and Hombre. In fact I just finished Hombre minutes ago and, DAMN! What a book! I’m always bad at plot summaries so I’ll just share the one-sentence description from the back of the book: “In the stagecoach adventure Hombre the passengers’ survival depends on the mysterious Apache-raised white man they disdain.” That is accurate.

Hombre was a fast read and the ending was very satisfying. Moving, even. The dialogue is better than in the Zane Grey or Louis L’Amour Westerns I’ve read, but that’s almost an unfair comparison, given that Elmore Leonard is widely considered one of the best dialogue writers of all time. So I knew the dialogue would be good; but I was pleasantly surprised by how good Leonard is at plotting, pacing, and action. The man knows how to stage a gunfight.

TV SHOWS I’VE WATCHED
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 season 3
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Leverage: Redemption season 1
Fallout season 2
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury season 1
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury season 2

My child and I are still watching Deep Space 9 every day, unless there are extenuating circumstances like one of us being out of town. We’re racing through season 3. We love it so much!

MOVIES I’VE WATCHED
I haven’t actually seen any movies since last time, as I’ve been too busy watching TV shows and reading books (see above). But there are movie adaptations of Last Stand at Saber River and Hombre so I might be looking into those soon.

In conclusion, please remember, back my Kickstarter and you shall receive rewards in Heaven. Thank you.

Your Pal,
Leighton