This week, Quinlan is understating things a bit! Also, how about that cool hood? When you have giant ears like the Tamian, it helps to have somewhere for them to go when you put a hood up, after all. Anyway, with the danger now past (for the moment), it’s time to find Kenosh!

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Not much else to bring up this week — I know many a reader last week thought this Canid soldier would be joining the party, but she’s got a garrison to help defend, remember? Don’t worry, there’s a pretty high chance she won’t be the last helpful Canid we see in this story!

This past Thursday, game developer League of Geeks officially announced my involvement in Armello — an epic turn-based strategy game for PC and Mac with a very similar world aesthetic to Beyond the Western Deep.

As it turns out, being able to write Redwallian grim fairytale all-ages fiction is not a common trait that people max out on their proverbial skill trees. Because of that, and because of my background in game development, League of Geeks ended up bringing me on board to help with the quest writing for Armello. If you’ve been following the game, you might also know that BWD contributor and artist-extraordinaire Jerome Jacinto is also working on it, doing some really fantastic animated motifs for the game’s many cards:

If you’re interested in giving it a whirl, you can grab it on Steam right now for $20!

This week, for guest art, I’d like to share something that just caught my eye the other day! Regular BWD contributor Veigue drew some kick-awesome pieces of his take on modern-day Caldus! I loved the earlier set, which saw Tamian King Dabheid as a kind of high-powered CEO, while Caldus was the head of his security detail.

Veigue_Caldus_01

Veigue_Caldus_02

As he puts it in his description of the art: “[Caldus would be] all street-wise, kicking butt and taking names and body guarding Dabheid during business trips and whatnot. He’d pull his inner Rock Howard while he’s at it too lol.” For those not in the know, Rock Howard is a badass character from SNK’s Fatal Fury series, and regularly kicks butt while simultaneously taking names.

Thanks so much for the amazing art, Veigue! Rachel and I love your alternate takes on the cast :)