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.

Another sword and sorcery tale finished

 

Just finished what I hope are the final touches to a new sword and sorcery tale, tentatively titled Lies and Treachery.

It's quite a long story (11,100 words) and is my third involving a northern mercenary called Horbeck. He first appears in an as yet unpublished tale called The Unhappy Inquisitor, in which he is a secondary character. The second is in The Demon from Another World, in which this time he is the main character. This is to be published at the end of October in Anthology of the Damned: Necromoirrium from Treeshaker Books. 

From the opening paragraph of Lies and Treachery:

"It was less than a day since the four mercenaries on their stolen camels reached the end of the Great Desert. Scorched by the sun, they were a desperate-looking band of men. Horbeck, their erstwhile leader, was a huge Northerner, fully a head taller than any of the others, his plaited beard and long hair bleached almost white and filled with dust. The scarred mail beneath his leather jerkin showed through rents in the badly worn garment. Like all the others he wore a plain, much dented steel helmet. The other northerner, Brud, was slightly shorter but built to the same hardy proportions, with a notched battle-axe swinging from his saddle. Back in his homeland he would usually have had the severed heads of those he had vanquished hung alongside it but in more civilised lands he had been persuaded to forgo this touch of vanity. Asnar, a Josanian archer with a sharply-pointed blue-black beard in need of a trim, wore lacquered leather armour, though its colours had been dulled and the bright designs on his broad breastplate were barely discernible. A scimitar hung in a gaudy sheath across his back. Completing their disreputable quartet, Bolbo, a balding Kossanian with a savage scar on one cheek, was the oldest of their group - and a poor rider of camels. Even after weeks of travel across the desert he clung onto his mount with steely desperation, his teeth gritted. His scarlet tunic had been drained of all but the faintest hint of colour by the sun while the old steel breastplate beneath was scored and dented from all the blows inflicted on it over the years."

The Storyteller of Koss is reprinted in this month's Schlock! Webzine

My sword and sorcery story The Storyteller of Koss, first published in Dustin Bilyk's Summer of Sci-fi & Fantasy is reprinted in the October issue of Schlock! Webzine, which is available now as an ebook and paperback. 

Kickstarter Project - Anthologies of the Damned

I have an interest in this kickstarter project as I have a 8000 word sword and sorcery yarn in Anthology of the Damned - Necromoirrium called The Demon from Another World.

I have been struck by the sheer enthusuasm and energy of those behind this project and wish them well.

Treeshaker Books

 

 

 

 

Three stories to be reprinted in October

It looks like I'll have three of my stories reprinted in October.

These are:

The Storyteller of Koss, which originally appeared in Summer of SciFi & Fantasy in 2022 edited by Dustin Bilyk. This will now be in the October issue of Schlock! Webzine edited by Gavin Chappell. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Oddity, which was only published for the first time this year in Schlock! Webzine, January issue, edited by Gavin Chappell, will now be in Strange Aeon 2024 edited by M. Keaton in the States. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A very old story of mine, Terror on the Moors, will be in The Complete World of Horror Volume 2. This will be a facsimile of issues 4, 5 and 6 of the 1970s magazine, World of Horror, which is now being reprinted in hardcover by Confessions Press. My story was in issue 6, illustrated by Jim Pitts.

Another new fantasy story finished - Ossani's Apprentice

Although the title might change by the time I send this story out for consideration by potential markets I have now completed another new fantasy tale. This one stands at 4,600 words and is called Ossani's Apprentice. It's a sequel to a couple of other stories, Emerging from Their Twilit Realms and The Moneylender of Oriaska, neither of which has so far been published.  

An Oddity to be published in Strange Aeon 2024

My Medusa-themed story An Oddity, which appeared in the January issue of Schlock! Webzine, is now scheduled to be reprinted in an American anthology, Strange Aeon 2024. I was emailed the final proofs today, which had just a couple of minor edits, all to the good. I am looking forward to this story being published again later this year, probably next month.

An Oddity was first published in Schlock! Webzine in January 2024. I was especially pleased with the cover illustration of a particular painting by the brilliant Sixteenth Century Italian artist Caravaggio as my story is about a Gorgon's head.

Another new Sword and Sorcery tale finished: The Ghoul-Catcher

Five days after my last story, I've finished the first draft of a new sword and sorcery tale: The Ghoul-Catcher.

8,800 words long, though it may end up a little shorter by the time I've finished editing it. On the other hand it might not.

New sword and sorcery story finished: Emerging from Their Twilit Realms

Just finished a new fantasy story called Emerging from Their Twilit Realms at 4000 words, another instalment in my ongoing saga about Welgar the Cursed, a character who, I must admit, I treat very badly. Now I need to psyche up to start another, knowing that from next month I won't be able to get any writing of my own done while I'm reading submissions for Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 9.

Two more stories to be reprinted next year in brand new anthology

It now appears that two of my oldest stories are set to be reprinted next year in a brand new anthology. I can't say anything more about the project yet as the publisher has still to announce it in public, but I hope to be able to give further details soon.

Visit Fungosia accepted for publication

I don't know what anyone else's experience has been with submissions sent off a long time ago into seeming oblivion, only to resurface unexpectedly with an acceptance years later, but I had one this week.

 

I submitted a very short humorous science fiction story called Visit Fungosia in October 2019. Never hearing back about it I eventually wrote it off as rejected - till this week, when I learned the editor wished to include it in the next issue of his magazine if it was still available.

 

To be honest, I put this story to one side and had more or less forgotten all about it, so, yes, it is still available.

 

I still find it hard to believe that after nearly five years it was still in the slush pile and has finally made it.

 

More details later when I've exchanged contracts, etc.  

(This also marks my tenth story acceptance this year so far.)

My science fiction tale Floating Free is in the September issue of Schlock! Webzine

 

My science fiction tale Floating Free is in the September issue of Schlock! Webzine. 

amazon.co.uk