Introduction to Welgar the Cursed

To give an indication of what to expect in my collection Welgar the Cursed from Tule Fog Press, here is my Introduction:

 

“Ossani the Healer and the Beautiful Homunculus” was the first story I wrote involving Welgar, a young mercenary, short of funds, who enlists in the city watch in Assabarr, which just happens to be undergoing a puritanical revolution at the time.

 

The main character in this story, though, is Ossani the Healer, who previously made a brief appearance at the end of “The Storyteller of Koss” (Summer of Sci-Fi & Fantasy, 2022). Ossani has been hired by the city’s merchants and the prevailing priesthood to help bring an end to these puritanical disrupters.

The inspiration for these was based on the Florentine monk Savonarola who, along with his fanatical supporters, plunged Florence in 1497 into a similar plight, culminating in the infamous Bonfire of the Vanities, an event mirrored in this tale.

 

Unlike any of the other Welgar stories, “The Dark Priestdom” is narrated by Nadrain the Storyteller, who previously appeared in the above mentioned “The Storyteller of Koss.” In this tale I wanted to give Welgar a bigger role, showcasing his heroic capabilities, and also to explore the dark, demon-haunted city of Agrypt, which I had previously alluded to in other tales without any of them visiting it.

 

I realised after “The Dark Priestdom” I could not leave Welgar like he was and had to continue his blighted saga. In “Welgar the Cursed” (published in Swords & Heroes, 2023) Welgar realises how cursed he is, not only in becoming the image of an unwrapped mummy, but in the extreme bouts of insane violence the demon god that has possessed him makes him carry out.

 

Again, Welgar was left at the end of “Welgar the Cursed” in a predicament that needed further exploration, and thus came “Mask of a Mad God” which serves to reveal even more vividly how unmitigatedly evil the demon god that has possessed him is.

 

At the end of “Mask of a Mad God” Welgar is determined to end his life or destroy the Agryptian demon god that has possessed him. Afraid to be anywhere near people because of the mad god’s murderous tendencies, he can see only one course of action: to trek to the arctic north and find the demon-haunted city of Cyramon. For me, the story related in “The Forbidden City of Cyramon” represented the logical outcome to what poor Welgar had undergone.

 

The final story in this collection, “Emerging from Their Twilit Realms,” was a difficult one to write and I have to admit I made several false starts. In the end, I decided to come full circle with Welgar meeting Ossani again. The old sorcerer-cum-healer has moved to Oriaska, where he awaits the mercenary’s return, having divined what happened to him in Cyramon. Along with Ossani, though, another character from Welgar’s past is awaiting him, one the mercenary is far less pleased to meet.

 

 

New stories to be published in 2025

Yesterday I posted about the new stories of mine to be published in 2025 but I forgot about those that will appear in my collection Welgar the Cursed, to be published as a paperback and ebook by Tule Fog Press. This will include six stories:

Ossani the Healer and The Beautiful Homunculus

The Dark Priestdom (first published in Savage Realms Monthly #19, 2023)

Welgar the Cursed (first pubished in Swords & Heroes, 2023)

Mask of a Mad God

The Forbidden City of Cyramon (first published in Swords & Heroes One Story at a Time, 2024)

Emerging from Their Twilit Realms 

 

 

 

 

My other new stories will be: 

Essayan's Terrible Machineries of War in Crimson Quill Quarterly #5. This is a sword and sorcery story, which includes a recurring character of mine, Nadrain the Storyteller, who narrates the tale of the great artist Essayan when he branched out into designing "machineries of war" and of the terrible fate that befell him.

Visit Fungosia in 4Star Stories #30 is a humorous science fiction tale.

Lies and Treachery is to be serialised in two parts later in the year. This is a sword and sorcery tale involving three recurring characters Horbeck, Brud and Asner, who first appeared in The Demon from Another World (Anthology of the Damned: Necromoirrium). I have written a number of other tales about them in the last couple of months which have yet to be placed.

Welgar the Cursed - cover reveal

Cover artwork by Rizky Nugraha

It is with great pleasure I can reveal the front cover for my collection of Welgar stories: Welgar the Cursed, which will be published later this year.

As an appetiser I am including below the Introduction I have written for it. 

The book will be published in the States by Tule Fog Press. 

INTRODUCTION

 The six stories in this collection chronicle the gradual descent into darkness of the northern barbarian mercenary hero Welgar.

“Ossani the Healer and the Beautiful Homunculus" was the first story I wrote involving Welgar, though he is very much a secondary character in this tale after the rather bizarre sorcerer-cum-apothecary Ossani the Healer. In this novelette Welgar is a young mercenary, already distrustful of sorcery, who becomes embroiled against his will in thwarting an attempt to take over the city he has been employed to protect as a member of the city watch. By sheer chance he and Ossani meet in a prison where they and others have been incarcerated by a puritanical religious movement that is threatening to tear the city apart. Though disliking anything that even hints of sorcery he is gradually persuaded to see Ossani in a better light than others of his ilk and together they collaborate to save the city from the sinister plot to bring it down.

"The Dark Priestdom" (published in Savage Realms Monthly) sees an older, more mature Welgar who has moved northwards to the “wealthy but licentious” city of Oriaska in a bid to improve his fortunes. There he pitches in to help Nadrain the Storyteller, who he notices is being set up to take the blame for the abduction of the king of Oriaska's daughter, though there is an element of self interest in this, as Welgar sees it as an opportunity to gain the king's gratitude for helping save the princess. In pursuit of her abductors Welgar and Nadrain sail southwards to the benighted city of Agrypt where Welgar is tricked into being possessed by the spirit of a dark, Agryptian demon god. Although this demon god endows him with increased strength, speed and stamina it is at the expense of his appearance, which is transformed into a wizened, bleached, deathlike travesty, looking more like a corpse than a living being.

"Welgar the Cursed" (published in Swords & Heroes) sees Welgar realising how truly cursed he is, not only in becoming the image of an unwrapped mummy, but in the extreme bouts of insane violence the demon god that has possessed him makes him perform. Insatiable in its appetite for slaughter, there is little Welgar can do to prevent it.

An incident in "Mask of a Mad God" reveals to Welgar even more vividly how evil this curse truly is. The horrific events in this story are what lead Welgar to undertake the hazardous trek to the far north to "The Forbidden City of Cyramon" (published in Swords & Heroes). In the arctic wastes beyond the Jagged Mountains in which this demon-haunted city is situated he hopes either to be killed or to free himself from his curse, though what he encounters there is far from what he expects.  

The final story, "Emerging from Their Twilit Realms", reveals the full extent of Agrypt's insane ambitions to create a dark empire, which will cause ruin, mayhem and death around the Azure Sea. Despite his desire to lead a normal life once more, Welgar is forced to oppose the Agryptian forces that head north in a way that only he can manage, reuniting him once more with Ossani the Healer in an apocalyptic tale of terror, death and destruction.

All of these stories chronologically detail Welgar's transformation from a carefree mercenary more interested in the quality of the local beer to an obsessed and cursed pawn in the kinds of sorcerous machinations he hates, distrusts and quite rightfully fears.

David A. Riley, Oswaldtwistle, UK, 2024

Welgar the Cursed

Illustration by Rizky Nugraha

Publication of my collection of Welgar stories is getting closer, with drafts of the cover and its artwork already in the pipeline.

The collection includes six stories in chronological order. The first, "Ossani the Healer and the Beautiful Homunculus" sees Welgar as a young mercenary, already distrustful of sorcery, who becomes embroiled against his will in thwarting an attempt to take over the city he has been employed to protect as a member of the city watch. "The Dark Priestdom" (published in Savage Realms Monthly) sees a slightly older, more mature Welgar pitch in to help Nadrain the Storyteller, who is being set up to take the blame for the abduction of the king of Oriaska's daughter, though there is an element of self interest in this, as Welgar sees it as an opportunity to gain the king's gratitude for helping to save the princess. Welgar and Nadrain sail to the benighted city of Agrypt where Welgar unwittingly earns the nickname of Welgar the Cursed when he is possessed by the spirit of a dark, Agryptian demon god. "Welgar the Cursed" (published in Swords & Heroes) sees Welgar realising for the first time how truly cursed he is, not only in becoming the image of an unwrapped mummy, but in the occasional violence the demon god that has possessed him will make him perform. "Mask of a Mad God" reveals even more to Welgar how truly evil this curse is, and leads to "The Forbidden City of Cyramon" (published in Swords & Heroes) where Welgar travels to the arctic north in a desperate bid to rid himself of his curse. The final story, "Emerging from Their Twilit Realms", reveals the full extent of Agrypt's insane ambitions to create a dark empire, which Welgar is forced to oppose. The stories detail Welgar's transformation from a carefree mercenary more interested in the quality of the local beer to an obsessed and cursed pawn in machinations he hates and distrusts.

The illustration above is from Swords & Heroes by Rizky Nugraha.

Update on my collection of Welgar stories: Welgar the Cursed

Image of Welgar used in Swords & Heroes

 

Work is progressing on a collection of my Welgar stories, Welgar the Cursed. My publisher recently sent me some first drafts of the cover artwork for my approval.

Hopefully the book will be available soon. 

 

The collection features six stories which detail the ongoing problems that my mercenary character has to endure, opening with Ossani the Healer and the Beautiful Homunculus. This is followed by The Dark Priestdom, Welgar the Cursed, Mask of a Mad God, The Forbidden City of Cyramon and, finally, Emerging from Their Twilit Realms.

The Forbidden City of Cyramon

The complete story can be read online for free courtesy of Tule Fog Press: The Forbidden City of Cyramon

Later this year Tule Fog Press will be laujnching a kickstarter to publish all of my Welgar tales, which will include Sorceries in Assabarr, The Dark Priestdom (Savage Realms Monthly), and Welgar the Cursed (Swords & Heroes), plus others.