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Author’s Notes: The Knave of Nodderton, Episodes 7, 8, and 9
Over the last week of October and the first week of November, 2022, I published three episodes of The Knave of Nodderton on Amazon Vella.
Honestly, I won’t even bother citing the stats. They’re dismal. Let’s agree I’m writing for myself and shouting into a void. I have yet to even see The Knave run across “newly updated” or “recently added” stories; I just don’t rank with the algorithm.
Again, I think this is just a failure of Amazon’s platform. There should be a lock against a story categorized as “romance” appearing in “fantasy”; even a “fantasy romance”. It dilutes the algo so that everything “romance” appears at the top of every list. I mean, just let me compete against other “fantasy” stories, okay? Jesh!
Anyhow, these three stories are a dip in the action. I’m moving Gammond around Auchenshuggle and describing it a bit in the process. I’m reintroducing some characters mentioned in the 1st and 3rd episodes and giving Gammond some needed sleep.
I did write a bit about halfling luck in the 8th episode and I really enjoyed that. Luck is a major facet of Gammond stories, and this story presented an opportunity to cover that.
Halflings in D&D are considered “lucky” and I imply as much when I’m writing. They can’t roll ones, and what that means is, during the course of the game, if they fail at something, they get to re-roll. When I wrote about Gammond in Aevalorn Tales, I wrote about the distinction of bravery and luck for Gammond. When I work with Gammond, I’m usually doing an interplay between good and bad luck - something extraordinary can happen with him either way.
In this story, Gammond “luckily” enters Auchenshuggle and isn’t spotted; he “luckily” encounters Gar Pok, an imprisoned sympathizer, who can lead him to Brath Dannig; he’s “luckily” allowed into Brath’s home by his sister who sees a halfling at her door as “good luck”; and he “luckily” gets some free food and a nap. Lining up all of the fortunate coincidences without making it appear contrived is part of the challenge.
Also, in episode 9, Danros “luckily” learns the Chamberlain’s real name, Remus Scorpio, and continues to be burdened with the red-haired halfling dogging his future. Readers can see where I’m setting up an inevitable collision between Danros and Gammond, but first, I have to reveal something out of my hat in the next episode.
Also, importantly, we've learned in episode 9 that Danros used to be a member of a theater troop out of Nodderton; in episodes 2, 4, and 5, I eluded to Nodderton having a theater culture. So Danros used to be a bard who became a thief to survive.
I’ve also revealed a physical toll for using the Palantir. It’s a limitation imposed on Danros to create a little bit of drama.
The story’s about half-way finished. I’ve revealed Scorpio as the actual antagonist, Danros is an an anti-hero, and Gammond’s my protagonist, and somehow these two characters are going to meet up to take on Scorpio. It’s around 16,000 words at the moment so with a little more embellishing, I could spin it around into a 40,000 word novella at some point.
Anyhow, thanks for reading!
Author’s Note: The Knave of Nodderton, Episode 6
On Wednesday October 12, 2022, I published the sixth episode of The Knave of Nodderton on Amazon Vella titled Trapped and Tangled.
My goodness, the stats are just dismal.
It’s a characteristic of Vella given the mysterious alchemy of their search algorithms and what goes in their story carousels. My story shall exist forever in the background. But I’m not going to let toiling in obscurity get me down!
In this episode, we rejoin Danros and I give the reader a wealth of insight into his character. To begin with, he’s looking for a way out of Auchenshuggle and the role he’s been forced to play. His current predicament wasn’t orchestrated and it turns out he’s more of a victim than we thought.
Next, Danros is a skilled thief and he’s sneaking about Rendaldo’s manor trying to find a way out. Unfortunately, a secret door eludes him.
We also learn how he came to possess the Palantir and how the device works. We also get a glimpse of the treasure he’s amassed during his stay in Auchenshuggle.
And a bit of scrying toward the end allows us to see that Gammond has a part to play in his misery.
By now, I think my reader is getting the impression that Danros isn’t necessarily the villain of the story. As always, you should look for the fella with the goatee.
This episode marks a turning point in the story where the reader’s let in on the joke. The wrathwizards are really a ruse disguising real villainy in the background. More of Danros’ plight can be seen in this episode, and why the pressure is mounting on him to get out before it’s too late.
Coming up in Episode 7, Gammond arrives in Auchenshuggle where (from Episode 5) he’s expecting to stay at the Bird & Rye. Well, you can probably guess how that’s going to go.
Thanks for reading!
R
Author’s Note: The Knave of Nodderton, Episode 3
On Friday September 30, 2022, I published the third episode of The Knave of Nodderton on Amazon Vella, “Heavy is the Crown.”
This is the third and last “free” episode offered through Vella; starting with episode four, Vella imposes their token exchange to eke out fractions of pennies from readers.
Like just about everything I put on Vella, readership is practically zilch. I find that there’s a lot of noise on Vella and no real way to put titles in front of readers. If you write YA-vampire-werewolf-BDSM-slash-fic, or romance, it seems like your work bubbles into their featured carousels. Not so much when you’re writing about fun halflings. Yay for you. Not that I’m bitter.
Anyway, this is the third installment of Knave, and the POV shifts back to Danros. It explains the events following the Bird & Rye incident and the predicament that he’s gotten himself into, and can’t seem to find a way out of.
I revealed a couple of truths in the story.
One, it’s apparent from this story that the pearl Danros keeps on him is, in fact, a Palantir - a scrying orb. Unlike the wrathwizard stuff, Danros isn’t making that up. It is ridiculously small and he has trouble actually using it because the images are so tiny. The use of the Palantir has helped Danros acquire power and prestige, and boot Lord Rendaldo from power.
Two, it was also noted that Danros was intimately familiar with the jails and dungeons of Nodderton, and I throw in a couple of suggestions that he's a trim, fit, nimble rogue, who talks too much, and doesn’t do well sitting. He’s most definitely a criminal.
Three, I elude to a runner to Nodderton in this piece as a reference to Gammond’s discovery in Episode 2, and sets up the conflict in Episode 4.
Finally, four, it’s also revealed that Danros, as a character, isn’t necessarily a bad guy. Sure, he’s helping Auchenshuggle for a 10% cut but, for the most part, he hasn’t killed anybody (except for the events at the Bird & Rye).
I pretty much say that Danros is the “knave” of the story and introduce the central arc of the story. He’s a scam artist who got everything he wanted, but, is in over his head and wants out.
Thanks for reading!
R
Author’s Note: The Knave of Nodderton, Episode 2
On Tuesday September 27, 2022, I posted the second episode of The Knave of Nodderton, “The Memory Box”.
Unlike Wattpad, there’s no real way to get useful stats and demographics out of readers on Vella, but the current readership for the story is modest. Probably six views rather than eight; two of ‘em are me :). That’s one of the reasons why I prefer Wattpad as a publishing platform. The stats are far more generous as an author.
Under Vella’s rules, the first three episodes are free. You don’t start earning tokens until the fourth episode. I also don’t think you show up in the scroll for “Recently Added Stories” until the 4th episode is posted.
This episode is an introduction to Gammond and where he’s been since leaving the Aevalorn Parishes in Piskie Sticks. I re-introduce the everlasting bread basket and butter crock, he makes a little money, and he acquires a magic item: a box that stores a memory and replays a memory.
I used these boxes in a recent D&D 2022 campaign and the old dwarf memory is an actual memory that I wrote out for the campaign. I truncated it in the narrative because it’s not relevant to Gammond’s story, but I wanted to convey to the reader what the box is and does. Otherwise, we’re moving Gammond down the road to a conflict that he’ll work through in the third episode.
And of course it’s a plot device :) … keep reading!
Aside from the box, I wanted to give the reader the impression of Gammond as a wanderer, and that he prefers to be on his own, unlike most halflings in the Parish. He’s an adventurous tyke to begin with, even before he gains his animated amulet Vongur - that’s later on in life - so there’s nobody for him to talk to yet, but that’ll change in the next episode.
Nodderton is a city-state that I reference in A Thyme of Trouble. The way I see it, the Free Cities of Gaelwyn compete for protectorates so they can earn taxes from these smaller hamlets like Aushenshuggle in this story, so I’ve briefly talked about “protectorates” in this work. If you looked at the map, Aushenshuggle is actually closer to the Free City of Mumling, but the way I saw it is that Mumling was separated from the hamlet by the Wych and couldn’t respond adequately to convince Lord Rendoldo of Aushenshuggle to sign-up with them. I also introduce Nodderton’s skills in building things and the Alberding Bridge over the Wych.
More’s coming up! There’s a little more action and adventure in the third episode, I promise :)
R
Author’s Note: The Knave of Nodderton, Episode 1
On Friday September 23, 2022, I posted the first episode of The Knave of Nodderton on Amazon Vella.
The Knave of Nodderton takes place in a hamlet named Auchenshuggle - and, gods, I love that name - which is a protectorate of the City State of Nodderton. I haven’t written about the coastal City States in Gaelwyn yet so I was looking forward to it.
This is a Gammond Brandyford story but when the episode launches, my full attention is paid to the antagonist, Danros Genolbo, and his misadventures at an inn named the Bird & Rye. Gammond will be brought into the story in episode two. I’m anticipating ten to twelve episodes in this story at about 2,000 words each.
This is also Gammond’s first stand-alone title. I’ve routed most of his stories under Aevalorn Tales on Wattpad.
When I write stories with Gammond, they’re playful and fun and the narrative in this piece reflects that, especially when Danros corrects the grammar of a Lord’s Guard during a confrontation. I’m also borrowing the Palantir trope from The Lord of the Rings, but I can assure you that it’s got my own spin.
If you’ve read the story, you can probably see that there’s something going on with Danros. He has some knowledge, enough for him to know what would happen when the Lord’s Guard drew his sword, and when to dive for cover. As he said, he knows things, but something about him doesn’t quite fit.
I’ve taken this story to Amazon Vella to play a little more with the platform.
It’ll be a fun romp, I think! Thanks for reading …
R
Who is Gammond Brandyford?
Character Description
Gammond Brandyford is a lightfoot halfling male in his mid-twenties. I like to say that he’s about as much a halfling as a halfling can be.
Born and raised in Pondaroak in Aymes Parish, he left when he was around seventeen to explore the world.
Gammond is a rogue, a pick-pocket, and he’s severely fearless and foolish. Gammond doesn’t give a crap; he’s a smallfoot sociopath. And maybe a tad divergent?
He’s an adventurer and a journalist; he sends his journals back home where they’re published as volumes of popular stories. He has curly ruddy hair and green eyes, or blue? Depends on the light.
He carries a leather satchel with inkwells and parchment and journals. His satchel plays a big part in nearly every one of his stories.
He has a deep scar on his right arm that was earned from bargaining with goblins.
Gammond has a pal, an animated amulet named Vongur.
“What’s the easiest way to get what I need?”
Stories
Gammond Brandyford was a halfling hero in a D&D campaign that I ran between 2013-2018. His stories figured prominently in the campaign and he’s the whole inspiration for Aevalorn Tales. When I write his stories, I’m usually taking a playful voice as a narrator and will occasionally break the 4th wall where I’m speaking directly to the reader. Often I feel like I get into a Douglas Adams headspace with this character. His stories are silly and fun.
