Herein you will find some information about these stories, and where they come from.
For those encountering these stories for the first time, the End of Hate cycle is based on the settings and lore of the game Everquest. Everquest is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game that I played for a good five years. There were many things they did well, and many they could have done better.
One of the things they did that attracted my attention, and filled me with fascination, was introduce the race called 'frogloks.'
The froglok race is a race of, yes, large, intelligent, somewhat humanoid frogs. Introduced as a player race with the expansion "Legacy of Ykesha," this race became my instant favourite, and inspired me to create a culture for them, as was not really done in game.
To make a long story short - this series of stories came from that love of frogloks.
What Makes My World Different?
There are some changes between the world of Norrath as it appears in the game Everquest, and as it appears in my stories.
I stopped purchasing expansions with the Omens of War. It is my personal opinion that that expansion - and to some degree the one before it - are where the company lost their way, and I refused to follow along any further. Therefore, the in-game lore and events that have occured past that point will not be reflected in these tales.
Most notably, the gods have not turned their backs on their followers. Since their power comes from those worhippers, such an act would be suicidal. Likewise, Gukta will not fall back to the trolls, as has just occured.
There are a few differences with the way healing works: Those healing spells that do 'complete heals,' such as the "Complete Heal" of the clerics, and the "Lay on Hands" of the paladin*, come directly from the god that is involved with said cleric or paladin. Any other healing spells come from the caster themselves, from their own personal energy.
Resurrection requires a body that is in good enough condition that the small amount of healing provided by the resurrection spell itself will keep it alive long enough for more healing to happen. Leftover random bits of person are unrestorable. A headless body is unrestorable. A legless body is not, since the upper body can sustain life long enough for the healer to repair the lost limbs. A body that has passed through the digestive system of a creature is also unrestorable.
As well, people are not limited to ONLY the spells that one finds in game. If it is something that is an obvious sort of spell, or an obvious sort of magical device, or an obvious sort of potion, or.. or... or....? Well, you just might find it in there somewhere.
*Yes, I know it's only high level paladins in game who can use their LoH like a complete heal. That's another change.
This is a little habit I picked up from some pagan friends of mine. Magic is stage magic. Blackstone, Copperfield, Henning and the like perform magic. They get on stage, and perform elaborate illusions that are all misdirection, smoke and mirrors.
Magick is real magic. Magic that really changes your neighbour's noisy dog into a statue would be magick. Magic that lets you touch a person, and double their strength would be magick. Pretty much all of the magic you will find in any fantasy story is magick.
You'll find this convention used throughout my stories.
Questing Norrath: Pond to Planes
So, I like to read webcomics. I follow a few, and I'll probably put up a links page that will allow you to find them. This one will be up in the top three.
One of the ones I read, WTF Comics, put up a link one day, to Questing Norrath. I followed it, and was delighted to find a webcomic about a froglok.(See above for my opinions on frogloks.) As the strip progressed, and the story and art got better and better, I found myself being inspired by the artist. Corey Geloneck's imagery flows well with my own mental imagery, and I found myself being pulled into his world.
I wrote a story as a gift to Corey. He aided me by letting me ask a thousand and one questions about some of his background characters, and the result is Beginnings. I used my own Norrath, as I had defined it in the End of Hate cycle to set his characters in, and, surprisingly enough to both of us, the mesh worked wonderfully.
So wonderfully, in fact, that I've been asked to write the script for the ongoing webcomic. I expect to add a little more depth to Corey's already laid out bare bones of a story. Feel free to comment on it in the forums there. You'll find a link to the comic in the links page of this website.
Beginnings is included here, with some of Corey's artwork, by his permission. In time, there may be more along this line, as he has other characters that I wish to explore outside of the script.
With Sony's Everquest slowly decaying from its past glory, I have turned to a new frontier: The World of Warcraft.
As you can see, the first of the fanfiction based on Blizzard's game system has arrived. They seem to be a little more friendly towards fanfiction in general, and I am looking forward to seeing what new stories my (occasionally warped and twisted) brain will pull from their inspiring world. Azeroth awaits! You have been warned.
Also, some small dialogue was started a bit ago with Jeremy Waller - Straha of WTF Comics. I have a germ of an idea there, and am working on a little piece set in HIS world. There is no estimated time of completion at this time; it's a small idea that I'm toying with. We'll have to see what happens.
I fully intend to publish some day. The works here, however, (with the exception of Feryn's Tale) are unpublishable due to the fact that they are fan fiction.
Fortunately, I and my husband have a story set in a world of our own devising, that I am at work on at this time. It will never appear here, alas, as that would prevent it from being acceptable to publishers who might otherwise buy it. But we are working on it, so you might someday see it in print. We'll let you know here if we ever sell it.
If we don't, well.. we can always self-publish. If only to satisfy those of you who have begged me for a solid book, and, I suppose, to satisfy myself.