Shadowbane: Legend Notes

Shadowbane: Legend Notes

I'm very glad the Legend is finally done.

I started work on it last Fall, and have come back to it time and again as my duties have permitted. Warden and I came up with our presentation strategy (reverse order) right before we started putting it up, and I was happy to use the Legend (along with a few other interviews and things) as my introduction and "debut" to the SB community.

I've gotten lots of feedback, here and elsewhere. All of it (even the gripes!) have been useful and satisfying. I figured that now that the tale is told I would (if you'll pardon me the presumption) offer up some insight into the creative process that went into creating the Legend, clarify some questions that have come to me, and ask you all if there's anything still unclear.

Sit back, this is probably gonna be a LOOONG post...

First off, I have to acknowledge a few people and some primary sources. When I joined the SB team, the general framework of the history had already been laid, and just looking at the race and class lists gave me a good idea of the kinds of events the backstory would need (every race needs an origin, after all).

I got to fill in the details, and had wide latitude to follow my nose and my instincts. Gratifying as it was, I must humbly admit that many of the really good parts aren't mine - the creation of the Sun as the product of the Dragon was Scorn's addition to the story, an idea he threw out during a brainstorming session what feels like an Age of the World ago.

When the idea came to me to write the Legend of Shadowbane as its own independent offering (rather than integrating it into summaries of the various ages), I had several goals in mind: first, to write a really good yarn of a read. Second, to cram as much World history and mythology into the Legend as I could. Now that you know the Legend, you know most of the history of the World. There are some details that have been left out, but very little can escape the shadow of the Sword of Destiny. My last goal was to emulate several different styles as closely as I could. To impart a sense of antiquity to the Legend, it became a collection of stories, each with its own feel and flavor. Warden has always been adamant that the SB world fiction should draw from as many sources as possible, and resonante with Earthly myth. He wanted Arthurian Legend, a la Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur, and also Classical myths, like the stories of the Celts or Greeks. To that list I added my beloved genres of Norse mythology (the Curse is, of course, directly inspired by the curse of the Ring in Wagner's Ring of the Niebelung), sword and sorcery, and epic fantasy.

The first part (actually written last) is Arthurian, the tragic tale of hubris born of Virtue. In the middle we get a nice re-telling of the Perseus story, with more than a dash of Conan added for flavor. Part three was the first material I wrote, and it is firmly rooted in the Silmarillion and the Lord of the Rings. I don't think I can adequately assess how much impact Tolkein's fiction has had on my style, at least in terms of word choice and vocabulary. I've heard Tolkein's name thrown around quite a bit in these forums, in contexts good and bad, but the way I figure it, he's built the finest myths since Mallory, and the Return of the King chapters 4 through 6 (Book V) are some of the finest use of the English language I've ever run across.

Some readers have commented on the gaps and holes that appear in the tales, and I'm afraid they were intentional. Yes, Caeric's Quest seemed a bit rushed over, and the details of Beregund's trials could have used more meat. Issues of time and length took precedence - rather than release the Legend in eight parts, we went for three, each under ten pages in length. It's a long read, but I hope worth the effort.

These unfinished bits - the story of Caeric and Heloise, the last words of Ymur the Giant... these are all stories within stories, and deserve to be released on their own as individual vignettes or sagas. And they will be, rest assured...

Okay, I figure I've rattled on enough. Are there any lingering questions or concerns that you have about the Legend? I'm listening.

Thanks again for the attention, thanks for the kudos and praise, and thanks for bearing with me through this ludicrously long post. I never thought I'd get paid enough to live writing game fiction, and on days like today I feel like the luckiest guy in the world.

Your humble Narrator,

Meridian