Behold the wonders of Tales From the Magician’s Skull #11!
Strange realms of horror and adventure lay in the pages ahead, spun to life by master tale tellers recruited by The Skull himself for your entertainment! Do not delay in the expression of your joy; instead, shout from your rooftops and tell all you know of his magnificent accomplishments!
Eight new narratives fill the pages of issue #11 and include material crafted from these yarns for the Dungeon Crawl Classics role-playing game.
Tales From the Magician’s Skull is the premiere magazine of sword-and-sorcery fiction, providing all-new stories from some of the industry’s top writers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editor’s Introduction by Howard Andrew Jones
The Skull Speaks by The Skull Himself
Test of the Runeweavers by H. T. Grossen
With every parried blow long ropes of runes unravel from their weapons, both ruby and sapphire, whipping into the sky and crackling across the ocean with the force of their fighting.
Lady of the Frost by C. L. Werner
From the Tales of Shintaro Oba • The soft, coaxing melancholy evaporated and in its stead came a frigid wrath. An icy mist began to gather all around him, boiling out from the frozen skeletons. The freezing fog plucked at him, raking his body with chill claws. He could feel the cold stabbing through his kimono and into his flesh.
The Eyes of Rath Kanon by Bill Pearce
Daryellow hesitated only a moment. Then he turned the mask and lifted it to his face. Again, he felt the mask crawl across his head. Again, the god Rath Kanon raged into his soul.
Ghostwise by Caias Ward
Obba reached into his bag, pulling out a ghostly knife. It was stout and sturdy; he could see through the ghost of the blade, feel the murders in it.
Melkart and the Whore of Babylon by Mark Mellon
The King of Babylon drew close and whispered to Melkart. “When we have the Hieros Gamos, I won’t pretend to marry Inanna as if I was Marduk and she was Ishtar. I’m going to rape her and then kill her. And she’ll never expect it until it happens. Isn’t that funny?”
Kick in the Door and Improvise by Dawn Vogel
The throne was empty, but I knew I was near the king by the stench of wine. He was easily a head taller than me, by my estimation. I extended my arms and reached toward him, my eyes squeezed shut in spite of the darkness, hoping my fingers would touch nothing but metal and gemstones…
The Lens of Being by Daniel Amatiello
His hands were outstretched, working on something atop that altar, and when he stepped back to assess his handiwork Vilimut’s grey eyes went wide. Her treasure!
Bound in Brass and Iron by Matthew X. Gomez
The shape under the robes stretched and distorted. The mouth opened, jaw distending to accommodate the lengthening fangs. Claws sprouted from hands turned curved and cruel. Bony protrusions erupted from skin turned black and cracked.
The Monster Pit by Terry Olson
Enter the monster pit! Down here in the pit, we provide tabletop RPG fans with playable DCC RPG game statistics for the creatures in this issue of Tales From The Magician’s Skull.
