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A retrospective of the life of Fist La’brau
While I am slowly working through the next manuscript in the “Flames of Palamarr” series, I thought it would be a good time to look back where this all started, where we are now, and what we have to look forward to.
Latest cover: Theatre in the Ruins
A little over a year ago, I had a small epiphany. I decided to alter my strategy and pursue some simple goals of self publishing short stories in electronic format I could market on Amazon and similar sites. By doing so, I could get some writing into circulation without getting bogged down in all the work that comes with constructing novels. This has been a boon for me as I have been able to be much more productive in spitting out novelettes and a novella or two very easily. We have seen nine editions in the life of Fist La’brau, the first five comprising “Shadows of Siernod” and the last four delving into the longer series, “Flames of Palamarr”.
The stories officially kick off with The Anvil of Discord which introduces us to Fist and grabs him away from his simple life he has tried to live since the Shadowfall that had consumed his life in the past and thrusts him into another conflict between the forces of Light and Shadow. Something dark is being forged upon a sinister anvil in the bowels of one of the greatest cities of Mann.
The second story takes Fist away from the beaten path and is entitled The World’s Rim. Why so different and seeming out of order in his life? Well, it was actually the first story about Fist but I felt it did not do as good of a job of introducing Fist to new readers therefore I elected to make it the second volume in “Shadows of Siernod.” The story was so entertaining and suspenseful, I did not want to leave it out. While not your typical heroic tale, it is definitely a suspenseful horror encounter readers enjoy.
By the time I wrote the third story, Sewers of Thuron, Fist was well fleshed out and needed a companion to bounce his wild tales off of and someone that could do some of the delicate work and thus he employs such a sidekick in this underground tale of tragedy and revenge. Stinking tunnels, conniving thieves, malicious card sharks, and a drunken oligarchy are all standing in Fist’s way but he will not be hindered as he seeks justice in a dirty lawless city.
Having failed to achieve all his goals in the previous story, he continues on a myopic trek to serve proper justice. The only problem in Barbarians of the Forgotten Pass is that Fist does not listen to conventional wisdom and sets out with his traveling compaion to prove that he can do something no man is ever known to have done. Win a race of vengeance by traversing an impossible pass over an icy ridge in the man-against-nature trek.
By the time the fifth story rolled around, it was time to get down to business. In Castle of Shadows, Fist must confront his nemesis even if it brings with it near certain death or the parting of ways between good friends. Fist must either listen to the advice of an old sage or roll the dice and hope his own urges lead him to success. The game presents a moving target, vengeance versus duty where Fist must make the call to again be the world’s hero or the server of justice. The price is high and Fist must learn a tough lesson in life as he closes out “Shadows of Siernod”.
With the previous saga complete, Fist finds himself in a debased state lacking care for much of anything as “Flames of Palamarr” kicks off with a sword-less vagrant fighting other beggars for strong drink in the dingy alleys of Pearl Bay. In The Legend’s Ebb, a dark warlord emerges in time to test Fist to see if he has any spark left in his heart to ever again be an individual with any self worth. This story questions the soul of a man and how he deals with addiction and depression and the value of a good friend that really cares. Make no mistake about it, this might be the hardest tale of the life of Fist La’brau to stomach as he encounters some of the most mental and physical challenges of his life.
After escaping the grips of a vile warlord in The Enchantress of Limbo, Fist is a shell of his former battle-ready self and is inspired by a new friend. Together they seek the kingdom of Tagabarr only to be sidetracked by their search for sustenance into the tent of an enchantress. There they learn two things: the empowering flames of Palamarr are not as strong as they once were and their lives are tossed into Limbo. The adventure becomes more of a mental odyssey but Fist must work hard to regain his much needed physical strength he neglected for so long. The odyssey is played out in a mysterious ruin inside a bizarre orb.
Fist and his companion Lyrum continue their trek mistaken for spies in Firebrands of Ayon. Their loyalty to a woman who rescued them turns them into the most wanted criminals of the king of Ayon, a dark floating city over a realm victimized by a cataclysm. This is an action-packed adventure and swordplay all the way through as Fist feels his familiar strength coming back and accelerated by the help of his rich ancestral blood of the Daggenites. The action starts as a rescue and ends up in a flee of survival a mile in the sky.
Banished from Ayon, their female friend Talindreah, friend of the birds, is aboard in a mind-wrecking adventure where nothing is ever as it seems in Theatre in the Ruins. Her sudden disappearance is disturbing but there seems to be no answer and that even haunts Fist as he finally decides to journey onward in their attempt to find a gateway back to their home realm, Siernod. Fist is never alert at what fate is currently messing with him as he is thrust from one episode to another at the whim of a deceitful sorcerer whose goals are to be played out in theatrical form upon a stage against his own brother where a thespian is not who he seems. Fist and Lyrum only want to return home form this charred realm but the path to Siernod is loaded with unexpected crescendos and untimely obstacles.
That is as far as the tales currently take us but the scrolls are constantly being updated. Look forward to the next tale in “Flames of Palamarr” to be out soon where Fist and friends find themselves embattled by other flying vessels and land melding barbarians while they search for amber to fuel a gateway to Siernod in hopes of a return home. Unexpected turn of events after a costly aerial battle bring Fist and Lyrum into a barbarian hold where they behold a bizarre mist, an eerie ghost walk, and are eventually led into a Castle in the Mist.
This is where we sit currently. from the initial undertaking of the anvil of Discord to the flight of Talindreah, we are about to see our favorite hero journey into a vaporous haze hoping to find answers that could lead them back home. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the stories as much as I enjoy writing them. Keep checking back for the latest information concerning your favorite hero and swordsman, Fist La’brau.
- by J.Wade Harrell,
author of Shadows of Siernod and Flames of Palamarr
