Last year Phil Athans at Dungeons and Dragons asked me if I might be interested in writing a short story based on one of the Dungeons and Dragons worlds. I’d always wanted to learn a bit more about the continuing appeal of D&D, and I figured this would be my best chance.
The world I chose to write in was Eberron. In Eberron, magic drives technology. Such as a weapons forge powered by dragon shards.
Ravon Kell is an ex-soldier, a cherished slave, a bad ass survivor. But wait until you meet Stonefist . . .
Ravon looked up at the massive factory: An arms mill the size of a fortress; soon to produce an endless weaponry of lances, shields, cudgels, maces, swords, crossbows, spears—not to mention magic-infused spike wire, lightning spheres, and thunder shock implements. . . . From the jungle, the misshapen fortress looked like nothing more than a vine-covered crag, not a hulking factory ten stories high with massive iron walls studded with bulging armories and effluent towers disgorging steam and rank smoke.
My story, “The Forge of Xen’drik” is up now at Insider Magazine. It’s outside the subscription wall, so it’s free. Take a look.