Author: Madeline Crane

Fantasy writer, tabletop gamer, wearer of hats.

Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Chapter XV

Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea cover image: a wide, still river with forested mountain peaks rising on either side, underneath a clouded sky.
In which there is a fire-breathing lizard, a display of power, and a night spent in peace.

Table of Contents

Aysulu kicked her horse forward, nocking an arrow to her bow. I followed, keeping Khalim and Garvesh behind me. The salamander looked at us with one eye, small and shiny like a glass bead, and then turned its head to examine us with the other. Steam poured from its nostrils. 

It was customary, I learned, for the entire team to face their beast, even those who had no skill for combat. Khalim’s value to us in this fight was obvious, but I was less sure about Garvesh. 

He soon proved his worth. “I have read of these creatures,” he said, peering out around my shoulder. “They live in caves—it will be nearly blind in daylight. And watch for its tail! That will trip you as sure as its breath will burn you.”

Continue reading “Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Chapter XV” →

Song of the Week: Double Feature

Loreena McKennitt, “The Lady of Shalott” (poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

Emilie Autumn, “Shalott”

Happy Monday!

Here are two very different musical takes on the same figure in Arthuriana. I hope you enjoy them.

I’ll be back on Wednesday with another chapter of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea. See you then!

Chapter Three: The Singer of Tales (Part Two)

The Well Below the Valley cover image: A dead tree stands on a field of short grass, against a blank gray sky. Bottom text reads, "A fan-made Call of Cthulhu module."

Table of Contents

The investigators are in Dublin, seeking an artifact and some information from the late professor’s demolitions team. The cult is here as well, and they are planning something even more terrible than they attempted in Oxmoor. A young woman, Grace Callahan, has already gone missing. The investigators are running out of time.

(All page numbers refer to the Seventh Edition of the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Rulebook, published 2015 by Chaosium, Inc. I am in no way affiliated with Chaosium or the writers of the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game system. Content notes for this chapter: violence, kidnapping, murder, blood sacrifice, eldritch horror.)

Continue reading “Chapter Three: The Singer of Tales (Part Two)” →

Song of the Week

The Silent Comedy, “Bartholomew”

Happy Monday! Please enjoy this song. You might recognize it from the trailer for Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition.

I’ll be back on Wednesday with the rest of Chapter Three of The Well Below the Valley. We’re coming to the end of the module! When it’s done, I may start posting another project, or I might just post chapters of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea until it’s also done. I’ll have more updates on that later.

Have an excellent week.

Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Chapter XIV

Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea cover image: a wide, still river with forested mountain peaks rising on either side, underneath a clouded sky.
In which blood is spilled for the Ascended.

Table of Contents

The contest of oratory was a quiet reprieve from the activity of the day. When it concluded, there was a rush to find something to eat and to heal those who had been injured in the duels. A greater test of strength and skill was coming. Aysulu slipped out to fetch her horse from the Darela estate, accompanied by a few of the house guards, who wore surcoats of sapphire blue. She returned, horse in tow, as the crowd applauded the last speaker.

I waited until Khalim woke on his own to get up. When I came back with food for the team, he was pacing the length of the bench restlessly.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“There are others who are hurt,” he said. “I should help them.”

Continue reading “Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Chapter XIV” →

Song of the Week

Shona Foster, “Oh Patience”

Happy Monday! We have survived January, here in the semi-frozen North, and a small rodent has declared there will be an early spring. I’m off to get the next chapter of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea ready for you, so I will see you here Wednesday!

Have an excellent week.

Chapter Three: The Singer of Tales (Part One)

The Well Below the Valley cover image: A dead tree stands on a field of short grass, against a blank gray sky. Bottom text reads, "A fan-made Call of Cthulhu module."

Table of Contents

Having thwarted the cult in Oxmoor, though perhaps not without casualties, the investigators now know they must travel to the island in order to stop them once and for all. Before they can do that, however, they must first stop in Dublin to obtain the “key of the hierophant” from the professor’s former demolitions team, who stole it when they learned they would not be paid. This is a momentous and bloody time for Ireland, and the investigators will find themselves in the very tense quiet between storms. As temporal politics rage on, the cult is still making plans of the supernatural sort—and by now, the investigators are starting to experience the effects of the terrible island as the artifacts they have obtained plague them with nightmares.  

(All page numbers refer to the Seventh Edition of the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Rulebook, published 2015 by Chaosium, Inc. I am in no way affiliated with Chaosium or the writers of the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game system. Content notes for this chapter: mentions of WWI, the Anglo-Irish War, the Easter Uprising, and the Irish Civil War; mentions of terrorism and bombings, homophobia, and blood sacrifice; references in folklore to rape, incest, and infanticide.)

Continue reading “Chapter Three: The Singer of Tales (Part One)” →

Song of the Week

Amaral, “Llegará la tormenta” (cover of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”)

Happy Monday!

This week, I’ll be posting the first part of Chapter Three of The Well Below the Valley. We’re getting closer to endgame, and I’m very excited. See you on Wednesday!

Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Chapter XIII

Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea cover image: a wide, still river with forested mountain peaks rising on either side, underneath a clouded sky.
In which there are several duels.

Table of Contents

From where I stood, I could see the high seats where the Seven observed the games. They shone in the sunlight, their skin and their draped garments shimmering as though woven of metal, their faces serene and unmoving. At the center sat Andam the emperor and Shanzia his consort, father and mother to all of Phyreios. Watching them there in all of their finery, I felt I understood their haughty assurance that they could command all within their borders, including the worm under the mountain. 

They had already once been wrong, however. I was certain that during the night they believed Khalim to be dead, but he had overcome. Now, of course, they knew the truth: he yet lived, and he was mostly unharmed, his magic having overcome the Serpents’ poison. If they still wished him ill, they would have to try harder. I had slain two Serpents, myself, and Aysulu had taken the third. I would only have to be faster and more vigilant the next time. 

The arbiter called me forth to the ring. Were the Ascended watching me, studying my performance in this contest to find the means by which I could be bested? There was nothing to be done about it but to win the contest and the approval of the citizens, and make certain that the Sword of Heaven was awarded either to our team or to an ally.

Continue reading “Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Chapter XIII” →

Song of the Week

Bat for Lashes, “Horse and I”

Happy Monday! Also, happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

I’ll be back on Wednesday with a new chapter of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea. See you then!