Ptolus Fiction From Game Trade Magazine

Ptolus Fiction From Game Trade Magazine

Download Saga of the Blade Now!

Saga of the Blade is a serialized fiction series that I wrote each month for Game Trade Magazine from issue 63 to issue 78. Unlike most fantasy stories, however, it doesn't follow the actions of a single character. It traces the history of a magical sword as it passes from wielder to wielder and is used in all sorts of adventures and battles. Some of the wielders are heroic, and some not. Some keep the sword for years, and some for just a few brief moments. With cryptic words, the sword promises to lead every one of them to destiny. As the story unfolds, we learn more about the sword, who created it, and what extraordinary powers it has.

Fans of Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire will be interested to know that the series takes place in the world of Praemal. Near the beginning of the story, the action takes place about 1,200 years ago—before Ptolus is even built! However, by the end, the plot catches up to the present day.

The series reveals interesting secrets about Dwarvenhearth, Castle Shard, the Fallen, the Wintersouled, and other mysterious Ptolus topics.

Saga of the Blade followed up my Call of Cthulhu fiction serial, "The Shandler Chronicles," which ran in Game Trade starting in issue 29 and came to an end in 2005. Game Trade Magazine is available from your local retailers. Discussion of the Saga of the Blade takes place in our Ptolus forum.

Download the entire saga for free!
Download now! (240k PDF)

You can use Adobe Reader to view the PDF file. Download it free!

Related Articles

Dark Tidings Dark Tidings is a short dungeon adventure for characters of 6th or 7th level. It is set in Ptolus but utilizes the feat rules, magical disciplines, and spell progression system from The Books of Experimental Might.	Ptolus Map Products From SkeletonKey Games We are pleased to announce the release of Ptolus Adventure Maps: Madame Kaethea's House in PDF format from SkeletonKey Games. Inside you will find 13 terrain tiles detailing the three levels of this unassuming dark elf hideout nestled among the slums of the Warrens. This and other official tie-in map e-products are created by cartographer Ed Bourelle. Take a look at the whole lineup here...
Ptolus Wins Four 2007 Gold ENnie Awards! This has been quite a year for Malhavoc Press, starting with the release of Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire at Gen Con 2006 and culminating with the book winning four industry gold awards at Gen Con 2007. The annual Gen Con/EN World RPG awards ceremony was held Friday, August 17th, at Gen Con Indy's Indiana Roof Ballroom. Sue and I were excited to be there with many of our Ptolus playtesters, contributors, and publishing partners. Over the course of the evening, the book was recognized with gold medals in four categories...	Ptolus Earns Four ENnie Nominations! It's time once again to vote in the Gen Con & EN World RPG Awards, and Sue and I are proud to announce that Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire has been nominated in four categories! They are...
Ptolus Comic Book Sheva Callister is a former adventurer and treasure hunter who is supposed to be retired after the death of her partner, Parnell. But when a noble from the city of Ptolus offers her a special, mysterious reward in exchange for her retrieval of a seemingly unimportant brooch, Sheva takes the job -- against her better judgment. She soon finds herself caught in a complex web of deception as some of the city's most infamous residents attempt to kill her and steal her powerful hungersword. Will this adventure finally be Sheva's last? Get the whole story in the new trade paperback from Marvel Comics, in stores now.	Lilith of the Fallen In issue 6 of the Monte Cook's Ptolus: City by the Spire comic, we witness the conclusion of the latest plot by the succubus Lilith to increase her fell power in the City of Ptolus. As a preview, check out her description and game stats. This article comes from the Forsaken section in Chapter 6: Organizations of Ptolus.
Malhavoc Deals for April!! White Wolf has just announced several cool deals for the month of April for those of you interested in Ptolus or Iron Heroes. Here are a few specials available from now through the end of April, only at the White Wolf online store: the Ptolus bundle, Iron Heroes bundle, and Iron Heroes singles.	Secrets of the Delver's Guild Overview Many of you have been in on the Delver's Guild exclusive Ptolus bonus material for more than a year, thanks to your early preorders of the Big Book. But to those of you who have not yet discovered it, take a look at the table of contents for the 76-page Ptolus sourcebook Secrets of the Delver's Guild.
The Amalgam Armor of the Iron Mage In issue 5 of the Monte Cook's Ptolus: City by the Spire comic, Sheva crosses swords with her nemesis Kevris Killraven, aided by the timely appearance of the cryptic Iron Mage. Find out the outcome of this struggle in issue 5, published by DBPro/Marvel Comics and in stores now. Meanwhile, here's a closer look at the game stats for the unique armor of the most powerful wizard in Ptolus. It comes from the Iron Mage's section in Chapter 14: Oldtown of Ptolus.	A Grand Finale Up in the Balacazar box, Aliya attacks the mage Arkhall Vaugn another six times, dealing him a nasty blow even as he was attempting to ensorcel her with a suggestion. Menon looks over at this and tut-tuts, shaking his head. Zophas seizes the opportunity to slice at the cord holding the pearl and little Destor around Balacazar's neck....
A God, a Curse, and a Wish The Sorn sorcerers complete a spell and there's a great rumbling as -- Holy Mother Teun! -- two enormous purple worms burst up through the floor of the theater. Where did they come from? Each of them seems to have been fitted with an artificial tooth. One of them is emanating a yellow glow. One hits Feruch, who just barely manages to wriggle out of its grasp.	Download This New Bookmark for Free! While assembling the new all-in-one PDF edition of Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire, Sue made up a new bookmark for you to print out and use with either edition of the book. This bookmark features the spine artwork of Todd Lockwood -- part of the book that, if you have the PDF edition, you never got to see until now! (The image here is just a snippet from it.) Printing on card stock and/or lamination is recommended.
Ptolus Goes on Sale Thursday as a Single PDF! Some seven months after the print release of the deluxe Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire, the author has agreed to grant fans' repeated requests to release his landmark setting book in PDF as a single giant eBook. The book debuts on Thursday, February 22, at www.DriveThruRPG.com and www.RPGNow.com.	And Now Back to Our Story... Although the Runewardens had been through a lot in their careers, the experiences in Jabel Shammar were among the most harrowing, the most trying, and -- as it turned out -- the most scarring. After exploring much of the fortress, the group confronted the Malignancy, a semi-sentient force of utter corruption growing out of the Book of Inverted Darkness, as well as some sliver of a shadow of the spirit of the Dread One himself....
To Meet With Evil Up the stairs we march to the next level, which holds many, many tall bookshelves filled with books. A 9-foot-tall winged humanoid figure approaches us, clanging as though made of metal. Its fiery sword causes awful harm to Sercian before the elf's twin brother manages to wall it off with a wall of force; then the monks take it down. But it seems we are not out of the woods yet -- two metallic creatures who exude lightning approach from the other direction....	Ptolus Sketchbooks From The Forge Studios We are pleased to announce that The Forge Studios is releasing beautiful Ptolus Sketchbooks to use at the game table alongside the Ptolus book. These official tie-in accessories are created by the artists who set the architectural tone for Ptolus. Every sketchbook focuses on a different district and together they expand Ptolus with illustrations of buildings not pictured in the core book. New: Nobles' Quarter!
Sanctuary The door seems to hold, so we begin exploring the rest of the chamber here in the Tower of Malice. We can find no mechanism to turn off the wheeled bladed trap, but Serai and Sercian evaluate it, proclaiming it a difficult trap to disable. We find a number of bedchambers here but not much else. While we discuss various options for disabling the wheeled and bladed trap, Sercian shoots the works with viscous globs from his brother's chaositech gun to jam it. We rush in.	Gattara Vladaam In issue 4 of the Monte Cook's Ptolus: City by the Spire comic, Sheva Callister chances upon a clandestine meeting of the crime lord Kevris Killraven with the sinister Gattara Vladaam, sister to those responsible for the destruction of her adventuring partner Parnell. Is this the architect of the plot against her? Discover the truth in issue 4, published by DBPro/Marvel Comics and now in stores. Meanwhile, here's a closer look at the game stats for this conniving noblewoman, taken from Chapter 6: Organizations of Ptolus.
Welcome to the Tower of Malice We have rested a while in a Mord's magnificent mansion at the lowest level of the Tower of the Misbegotten -- Canabulum sets it up in the crevice we found earlier. We think we hear occasional strange sounds scraping along the walls outside the mansion, but our wizard friend tells us that shouldn't be possible. Still, we think something is trying to get in.	Misbegotten Exploration It takes us a long time and quite a few terrible injuries before all our undead foes have fallen at our feet here in the Tower of Blasphemy. Coating the floor is a layer of mummy dust -- all that is left of our recent enemies. It seems that these mummies were the defenders of impiety as a concept. They are the very opposite of religious. Investigating the blues shafts of light here, we learn that they are magical rays of intense cold. We experiment in disrupting all the raylike columns, but it has no effect that we can see.
A Dire Call In the three years since we left the Runechildren, Aliya and Zophas spent some time clearing out the Dark Reliquary. Gaerioth took off on a quest for the Word That Began Creation. Serai led a team down to the Banewarrens to recover and raise the Company of the Black Lantern. Later, he and the recovered Sercian went off on a voyage in their new ship. The restored Tellian went off looking for the birthplace of Navashtrom but recently returned to protect Urlenius. Canabulum remained in the city researching more arcane secrets in his underground laboratory. Sister Mara spent a good deal of time in Dreta Phantas helping repair the Dreaming City and studying its magical nature. Now restored to its proper place in the world, north of Ptolus, it has become home to elder elves and modern elves alike. Shurrin is married to Tellith, hostess at the Ghostly Minstrel; today the happily domesticated former adventurer lives a quiet family life in Ptolus.	Bashing Heads Next to the chill room where we fought the obese ogre-mage and the ice demons lies a chamber with a big pentagram inscribed on the floor. The pentagram and a full-length mirror seem to be magic; Sir Feruch says the pentagram is evil, too. The mirror seems to have a mesmerizing effect....
Daersidian Ringsire and Brusselt Airmol In issue 3 of the Monte Cook's Ptolus: City by the Spire comic, the stalwart team of Daersidian Ringsire and Brusselt Airmol bring their friend Sheva Callister to the local Temple of Asche for healing following a harrowing battle. Then, of course, the three of them turn right around and charge into battle anew, this time in catacombs below the city of Ptolus....	Slavers, Beware! Sir Feruch drops a stone down the passage beside the Pit of Insanity. It falls into magical blackness. Then we hear a crunch emanating from the passage that sounds like something just pulverized the stone. We wonder whether there's something incredibly heavy down there that one could handle only with telekinesis and magic-impervious materials. After another test, the knight declares that there seems to be a great force at the bottom of the passage that pulls strenuously on anything that enters the passage....
An Old Friend Found It's been five days since we teleported out of the Vault of the Elder Brain, which now serves as its sepulcher. It took us three days to recover from the ordeal, and we spent the last two seeking information and tidying up loose ends....	Going Hunting for Brain Shilukar has a weapon that will kill an Elder Brain?!? "Would you mind giving it to us?" asks Diethan of our dark elf guest, "since we're going to try to kill it and all? Shilukar reminds us that this Elder Brain has become so powerful from steeping in the godsblood of a dead Galchutt deep underground. The Galchutt, though, were a paranoid lot and wanted a means to neutralize a resulting Vested. So they created a device that will divest someone of godlike aspects it has absorbed. "I happen to have that chaositech item."
The Enemy of My Enemy Is My . . . Shilukar We collect the possessions of the Cinderpriest and his warrior associate. Among them is a book praising decay, entropy, and strength through disintegration. We decide to explore further. Voices are talking down one hallway, and we run smack into a group of foes including the Balacazar mage Arkhall Vaugn and a beholder ally!	To Aid and Avenge Bright and early we go down to the rubble where the Siege Tower once stood to help out following the devastating explosion. No one has been able to locate Phadian's body, but the knights want to try to get her raised once they find her. Sir Othun is missing, too, but Sir Mirauch is alive and trying to organize the search and rescue mission.
Get Your Copy of Ptolus Before They’re Gone! As the year approaches its end, so too does the supply of Monte Cook's Ptolus: City by the Spire. With just over 500 copies remaining in our warehouse, Ptolus may not make it to see 2007. With no reprint in the cards, the holiday season is your best time to make sure you snag your copy of the coolest roleplaying book of the year.	And Things Were Going So Well... Down in the Generator Room of the Tower of Science, Barbatos, Feruch, and the Cobbledman ably disable the generators, but the small blue dragon is still all trussed up. The wizard tries to speak to him in Draconic, but all he can make out in response is a small voice that whimpers, "Mother..." Barbatos tries to teleport out again with the dragon and the others, but the spell fails. And then they hear banging at the door....