Following on from a previous post about fantastical sites that surround us, this is an image I captured in La Rioja Alavesa, Spain, near the town of Laguardia. This eerie monolith is known locally as the Witch’s House (or even more awesomely as Shack of the...

Aside from a few sack-clothed figures, they were quite alone in Kirfory’s great library. Balagir had never seen so many books and mused that even were he to read without sleep for the rest of his days, he would still get no further than the end of the top shelf. At...

Inns, taverns, pubs… The social hub of any wayfarer’s existence! Providing respite from the road and, at times, the catalyst for mischief itself. To start this thread I’ve chosen the Flask in Highgate, London (an old haunt of mine). The pub dates back to 1663. Its...

This week I’ve been exploring Cádiz in southern Spain and came upon this isolated ruin. A bit of research revealed its name as Castilnovo Tower, built in the 13th century by Guzmán el Bueno as part of a defence system against the Moorish invasions. Beacons would be...

I cut my teeth on old Atari games—the Secret of Monkey Island making a lasting impression on me—and was subsequently weaned on the first generations of consoles. Things have certainly moved on since then, but I’m still an avid gamer. Rather unsurprisingly my favourite...

At times our surroundings can be as fantastical as any imagined landscape. This is a photo I took whilst travelling in Argentina in 2007. Some photoshopped winged beasts would not look out of place wheeling up there in the heights. Have you ever captured an image that...

We all recall the good old days when the dark lord was omnipresent and cast a sinister shadow over the land; and any number of Bond villains have taught us that plotting global domination and living in a volcano is cool. Well, technically Sauron had a volcano lair...

Life aboard a ship was much more glamorous in the stories. Stories also smelt better. The vintage wine turned out to be less vintage, more vinegar than Murdak had led him to believe, and the window in his cabin was little more than a chink of grimy light. Neither was...

Close my eyes and I can still see Tolkien's lonely mountain flanked by Smaug, and Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea deserves to be framed on a wall. (Interestingly enough I read somewhere that the whole concept of Earthsea started by drawing the map, and then creating the...

At the risk of controversy, I pose the following question: Has it become cliché to write about elves, dragons and orcs? Don’t get me wrong, I love Tolkien. I was weaned on elves and goblins and sought the elusive female dwarf as much as the next guy… But now as a...

When Balagir awakens at the fire with no recollection of his past, he discovers he is an ashen—a mysterious group of black-eyed vagabonds, addicted to the smoke they must pay the ghostly piper in exchange for power. But danger lurks beyond every hub. Distrustful...

It's here. The Ashen Levels is done and ready to go! The release dates are as follows: Fledgling - July 2018 Journeyman - August 2018 Adept - September 2018 Hero - October 2018 Paragon - November 2018 Awake from the fire and heed the piper's call!