Thursday, December 22, 2022

Happy Holidays, from Orphan Maker?! Dyscrasia Fiction Emerges From the Skull #9

S.E. Lindberg shown here in intern garb & magical holiday helm of hope +1, tickled with his being blessed with a story in Issue #9 of Tales From the Magician's Skull

Dyscrasia Fiction debuts in Tales from the Magician's Skull #9 with "Orphan Maker."

Kickstarter backers are getting their copies now, right before Xmas 2022. Pre-orders for the general public can be done at Goodman Games - Issue 9 link! Obviously, I am honored to be in the same volume as James Enge, Dave Ritzlin, Nathan Long, and others (the full table of contents is below). This publication builds on Dyscrasia Fiction 2022's appearances in DMR's Terra Incognita and Rogues in the House's Book of Blades anthology 

2022 offered a full year of writing/networking: being the Event Coordinator for the 2022 GenCon Writers Symposium & moderating several panels, debuting on the Rogues in the House Podcasts, surviving an internship for the Skull (which earned me the titles of both "the only named intern" and "intern of the year").  Heck at GenCon, in addition to hanging out with Matt John from RitH (and Deane), I even got to chill with S&S/Weird Fiction guru Jason Ray Carney (who, with Chuck Clark, edit/publish Whetstone; Issue #2 of that has a Dyscrasia Fiction entry too). 

Previous posts captured videos of the GCWS 2022 panels & podcast and more:

  1. The Skull from Tales from the Magician's Skull roams the Exhibit Hall
  2. Moderating Sorcery & Sorcery, Horror, Pulp, and Game Panels
  3. Rogues in the House Podcast (with the Skull)
  4. Conan IP Owner and the Board Game - Playing with Rogues
GenCon and Intern Translocation Mystery Reveal
Many of the GenCon events were captured in a photo recap inside Issue #9. There is also a touching side-bar farewell to the only "named intern" who found himself embroiled in other traps/opportunities (that mystery is, in truth, me evolving from being on the organizing committee for the GCWS.... to being the Chair of GCWS 2023. More to come on that early next year as the Translocation Process completes.) 

One of the best honors of getting accepted into the Skull is being blessed with interior art. You'll have to get the PDF or print for high-res versions, but Samuel Dillion and Aaron Kreader created these for "Orphan-Maker"!



Tales from the Magician's Skull #9 (click to order)

STORIES

Three Festivals by James Enge 

A Tale of Morlock Ambrosius 

Kalx, brazen defender of the city, had left a trail of ruins in his wake. Morlock followed the trail until he passed the border of the city — the line that Zlynth had called the pomerium. By the time Morlock caught up to the brazen monster, Kalx was already outlined in scarlet flames, fighting a cloud of Furies. 

The Raven-Feeder’s Tower by Philip Brian Hall

The skeleton was held upright by a tall stake driven deep into the ground, to which support its spine was fixed by leather bonds. The breastplate covered bare white ribs and the helmet’s visor protected merely the empty eye-sockets of a morbidly-grinning skull. 

Blue Achernar by Tais Teng 

An Homage to Clark Ashton Smith 

Lady Magida had slept in the tombs of magicians so feared that their names had never been written down, walking into their death-dreams, leafing through their grimoires that had long ago turned to dust. When she strode through the necropolises the ghûls fled like whimpering hares.

Pawns’ Gambit by Nathan Long 

A Tale of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser 

The monks howled at this violation of their sacred place, and Mouser saw he had been incorrect when he had thought them all unarmed. From every sleeve sprang a dagger, and they held them high as they rushed to encircle him. 

Orphan Maker by S.E. Lindberg 

“It is her time to sacrifice,” Ingrid explained while adjusting her mother’s hair. “Ma resisted. She escaped from the Bleeding Tree.” She laughed while shrugging. “But her blood is stronger than her faith!”

The Necromancer and the Forgotten Hero by D.M. Ritzlin 

The wound was still fresh, but not a drop of blood escaped from it. Hyallbor wondered what sort of necro- mantical energies were sustaining him. 

The Glass Dragon by David Gullen 

Rhayder staggered grey-skinned from the mouth of a labyrinth of seventy-seven turns wielding a felling axe with a head of star-forged iron. 

ARTICLES

The Monster Pit by Terry Olson

Enter the monster pit! Down here in the pit, we provide tabletop RPG fans with playable DCC RPG game statistics for the creatures in this issue of Tales From The Magician’s Skull.

The Skull Speaks by The Skull Himself


Edited by: Howard Andrew Jones
Cover Illustration: Sanjulian
Interior Illustrations by: Chris Arneson, Randy Broecker, Samuel Dillon, Jason Edwards, Tom Galambos, Doug Kovacs, Aaron Kreader, Brad McDevitt, and Stefan Poag