Some astute readers have certainly noticed relationships between Tournament of Death and several other of my stories. Crimson is the most obvious example, but I thought I’d give a brief run-down of the connections between this story and my other Blue Kingdoms work. Sometimes, Iike Robert E. Howard before me, I feel like I’m tapping into a vast reservoir of stories from a world as real as our own, and I just have to wait for the right time for them to reveal themselves to me. This project, written on the fly from very few notes, felt that way a lot.
BRAK – The basilisk (lizard-man) warrior appears in “The Blood Red Isle” in Zombies, Werewolves, & Unicorns (which appears in shorter/adapted form in “Court of the Blood Red Queen” in Blue Kingdoms: Shades & Specters).
CRIMSON – The main character in “Forever Crimson,” a short story collected in Martian Knights & Other Tales. Crimson also appears in an unreleased short story (I’m shopping it around), where she meets Captain Ali al Shahar, another of my ongoing BK characters (see Martian Knights & Other Tales and Blue Kingdoms: Buxom Buccaneers).
BARONESS LINDY GRIFFENHOLT – And the Golden Order appear in my unpublished novel A Reliable Dragon. The Golden Order has also been mentioned in BK stories by other authors.
CAPTAIN HAMMACK – Is named for my old friend & game designer, Alan Hammack. Al wrote “The Ghost Tower of Inverness,” the first D&D module I edited (and wrote some of the background for). With the tower setting for this story, I thought it would be a nice tip of the hat to mention him. “Ghost Tower of Inverness” is mentioned in the 2nd D&D movie — Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God — which is a good film, much better than the first D&D movie. He hasn’t appeared before, but I wanted to give him props here.
MIDKNIGHTS – Uldred & Erisa are the latest in a string of Midknights (amoral, mercenary knights) to appear in my stories. There’s a trio of Midknights in “Shipmates,” in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms, and two more in “The Blood Red Isle” in Zombies, Werewolves, & Unicorns (which appears in shorter/adapted form in “Court of the Blood Red Queen” in Blue Kingdoms: Shades & Specters).
REX REGUS – Is original to this story, but Al Kabar have appeared in stories by Lorelei Shannon (who really nailed her portrayal of the race I envisioned) in Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms and Blue Kingdoms: Buxom Buccaneers. I think there might even be an Al Kabar in Robert E. Vardeman’s tale, and perhaps some others, in Blue Kingdoms: Shades & Specters.
VALARD GOLDENWING – Is original for this story, but sirens have appeared in other stories, including “The Gift of the Dragons” in Martian Knights & Other Tales.
SIR WILLIAM OF AVALAND – Though Sir William hasn’t appeared before, his “boss” Lord Avalard appears in the story “The Girl in the Mirror” from the upcoming Lilith anthology from Popcorn Press.
Be the first to comment