Red Wolf Blogs

 AI (Artificial Intelligence) is an unavoidable hot topic these days. It's hard to go anywhere online without running into it in some form or another. Virtual assistants exist on most browser platforms. Its applications for science research and business management are up and running everywhere. We're constantly bombarded with ads for its use. AI is here to stay--and it's only going to get more prolific. Even though it's becoming familiar--thus breeding contempt--it's still scary. It can out-think and out-perform every human on the planet, and that should make anyone justifiably nervous. As a sci-fi writer with an overactive imagination, I admit to constantly searching faces in a crowd for Terminators sent back in time by the machines that are surely taking over in the not-to-distant future. Perhaps a more realistic fear is that AI will soon replace humans in nearly every creative endeavor. For an artist--which I call myself on a good day--that's an End of Days s

 (From the 05/16/24 newsletter ...) 4th Day of Winter Moon, 1218 th year, Human Age of Magic … After my unfruitful confrontation with the faerie Floreze in the Forest of Baeth, I’ve been consumed with mounting concerns for the prospects of completing my mission and, indeed, for my own personal safety. However, I think I’ve found a good place to lie low while I contemplate my next move. A day’s journey by cargo barge south of Holly’s Landing, I parted ways with the friendly and well-meaning barge captain. We were nearing the great swamp into which the River Wiste disappears before emptying into Lake Ozua. Once the barge entered the swamp, there would be no turning back from continuing on to the city of Zemburith, where the warlock Mazuom holds sway. So I had the captain drop me off on the west bank of the river, and I began to make my way south through the jungle on foot, avoiding both the swamp and the warlock, in hope of finding a likely spot for a semi-permanent camp on the sout

 (From the 03/14/24 and 04/18/24 newsletters ...) 1st Day of Winter Moon, 1218 th year, Human Age of Magic … Holly’s Landing, named for the giantess Holly Trill who runs the inn and trading post there, is deemed the only safe place to dock along the stretch of the Wiste River that runs through the Forest of Baeth. Having met the alleged giantess—I suspect she is not at all what she seems—and having had a most disconcerting encounter there with the faerie Floreze, I would argue there is no safe place to spend the night in that Enchanted Forest. The inn and trading post reside within a walled castle, which looms above the thick canopy of willows that line the western shore of the river. I think the purpose of the fortress is less for defense against an attack from the outside—the forest and river are sufficient barriers to an invasion, and there’s nothing much there to attract invaders—and more a means of keeping unwilling residents in. The long dock extending into the river from

(From the February 16th, 2024 newsletter ...)  1st Day of Witches Moon, 1218 th  year, Human Age of Magic … I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the foot of a goblin is a shining example of the gods’ design. Wide, flat, and thick-soled, it distributes weight perfectly throughout a stride. No matter the surface, nor the weather, we goblins have no need for cumbersome footwear. We can carry many times our weight over long distances. Give us a road, a path, rocky terrain, or shifting sand, we will walk upon it and revel in the sheer joy of movement. Notice I said walk—the mode of travel the gods of Urgule intended. There are no roads, no paths, nor even maps of the terrain between Azurith and the Forest of Baeth that I can find. There is only the River Wiste, winding its way south through the Enchanted Forest on its way to Ozua. I hate boats. Yet, if I wish to investigate the two faeries, Fauche and Floreze—to verify they are flooding the black market here in Azurith with neleh berry wine,

 (From the January 19, 2024 Newsletter ...) 22 nd  Day of the Frost Moon, 1218 th  year, Human Age of Magic … The dragon Pieter has become a regular visitor here at the late Alchemist’s estate, and I’m not entirely comfortable with that. Rather than go into hiding—as I assumed he would—he stayed in Azurith overnight in his human guise and got a room at the Royal Goose—the very inn where the mercenary Tsing stayed when he was in the city! Then—as if to purposefully draw attention to himself—he seems to have grilled the staff there about the activities of both Tsing and the dream walker who’s been assigned to “take care” of the man. There’s something that dragon is not telling me—some scheme he’s cooking up with his human cronies—and I’m afraid he’s trying to draw me into it. However, his question about the neleh berry and its side effects have led me deeper into investigations of the activities of the two faeries inhabiting the Enchanted Forest to the south, which has become the home ba

 (From the 12/22/23 newsletter ...) 21st Day of the Frost Moon, 1218th Year, Human Age of Magic ... The days have been hectic since my last journal entry. The king has appointed me executor of the late Alchemist's estate until he can find and appoint a replacement, and the sorcerer left his accounts in such disarray that I've been bombarded from all sides with petty claims for payments or for services left unrendered. Plus, I've had several unwanted visits from a powerful member of the Protectorate, the dragon Pieter. Well, the first visit was not entirely unwelcome. I'd requested help removing the Eye of Ellindrell from the forehead of the sleeping golem, and I was grateful the Protectorate sent a dragon to do it. But I wasn't expecting someone so high up in the hierarchy, and we've had a few conversations that I've found disturbing. For anyone reading this journal that doesn't already know, the dragons co-founded the Protectorate, along with the elves,

 (From the 11/17/23 newsletter ...) 18th Day of the Frost Moon, 1218th Year, Human Age of Magic ... The mercenary, Tsing, arrived yesterday afternoon having procured the Eye of Ellindrell. However, he does not carry Ka'il Idreth. The rumor that he has a sword that sings seems merely to refer to his prowess with the blade. Still, I was counting my blessings when he turned over the Eye to the Alchemist ... ... until the feces hit the fan. Tsing delivered the Eye, and the Alchemist paid him half his fee, promising the remainder once he had balanced his ledger--part of the spell he worked up to conjure the god, Vale. My master was up all night completing his work, and when Tsing arrived this morning to collect the rest of his fee, the Alchemist apparently chose to demonstrate his work. I have no idea exactly what happened, but I knew something had gone terribly wrong when the screaming began. Shortly thereafter, Tsing emerged from the workshop in very much of a hurry, murmured a curt g

 (From the 10/20/2023 newsletter)  14th Day of the Harvest Moon, 1218th Year, Human Age of Magic ... I've been busy--too busy to keep up this journal as I had hoped. It has taken me nearly a year to bring my plan to fruition, but I'm finally on the verge of retrieving the Eye of Ellindrell and Ka'il Idreth.  I arrived in Azureth almost a year ago. I sought out the Alchemist and was able to persuade him to employ me as an assistant, convincing him of my ability to translate and otherwise interpret most of the Fae manuscripts he has accumulated. At first, I was little more than a glorified housekeeper--and let me tell you, some of the chores around here are thoroughly disgusting. When I first came on, he had me collecting hundreds of frogs daily from the marshes around Lake Marin and then cleaning the messes he made using them in his experiments with spells. Thank the gods I've been able to discourage some of that experimentation with more accurate translations of the man

  27th Day of the Frost Moon, 1217th Year, Human Age of Magic ... Humans are so willing to babble on and on, pretending to be experts on things they know nothing about, especially when their tongues are loosened with a bit of wine. However, intermingled with their babblings are often hidden gems of valuable information. I've been sitting around the evening campfires as our caravan makes its way south, pouring cups and listening, and I am convinced there are two extremely valuable elven artifacts in the area that need retrieving as soon as possible--the Eye of Ellindrell and Ka'il Idreth (The Sword That Sings). The Eye of Ellindrell appears to be a particularly large ruby with a mesmerizing, pulsating bubble trapped inside. Its intended usage is a power source for the creation and opening of portals. As unlikely as it might be that some human may discover its true purpose and use it to travel the realms, a human mule--sorry,  sorcerer --can easily tap into its power to conjure a

 From the August 18, 2023 newsletter ... 19th Day of the Frost Moon, 1217th Year, Human Age of Magic ... After only a few days spent in the human port city of Arleanne, it has become obvious that  faerie spawn  will be too dangerous to work with. I need to find a  mule . Perhaps I should take a moment to explain my use of the above pejoratives. Not that I care so much whoever reads this might be offended--I want to leave no chance for misunderstanding in this diary. You see, the problem of having Fae artifacts in the hands of humans is compounded by the fact there is now a good bit of Fae blood present in the human gene pool and therefore humans who possess some powers they call magic. I call such half humans  faerie spawn  for obvious reasons. Okay, if it's not obvious, I'll tell you straight. The Faeries have been primarily responsible for inserting non-human DNA into the local population. I know there has been intermittent intermingling among humans and elves, some dragons,

  (From the July 21, 2023 Newsletter) 12th Day of the Frost Moon, 1217th year, Human Age of Magic ... My name is Trevor, and I should have kept my mouth shut. As any goblin will tell you, a good idea should not be voiced until all ramifications have been considered. Yet, knowing well that axiom, I could not hold my tongue when no one at the Conference of the Fae Protectorate addressed the elephant in the room--the plethora of Fae artifacts that have come into the hands of humans, and the dangers of not retrieving them before the Protectorate implements its plan to release the Vampire Scourge. Fool that I am, I should have known that as soon as I brought up the problem, the task of implementing the project to retrieve such artifacts would have been assigned to me. The Protectorate, under the present direction of the dragon Damocles, is famous for using the term  implementing the project  as a euphemism for  doing all the work. So, here I am, living among the humans for the next century-