The old myths are dying. We gods fade from the world as mankind turns to their machines, their magic-killing science, their virtual worlds, filled with new gods and monsters. They do not need us anymore and we are forgotten.
We sleep. We dream. We fade into eternity.
But I, Vulcan, the god they once entreated to gift them their machines, their science, their god-forged weapons, will not go quietly. I will embrace their new myths, their invisible worlds, their daemons who speak in code of webs and nets and chains. I will forge a world that will be greater than the mundane ambitions of mere mortals. I will use their science to create a virtual world born of a god, a world beyond the fickle, ephemeral dreams of mankind.
I, Vulcan, will create a new Olympus!
The Houses of the Dead
The underworld was once ruled over by the death god Hades, but he sleeps now in his immortal tomb, weakened by centuries of neglect. What is to be done with his realm? Who will refurbish its sepulchral halls, sweep away the corpse dust that coats its tenebrous terraces, and revitalise the dead that once walked its cheerless cloisters? Who else but you?
And what is to be found in the underworld?
Bone-chilling winds sweep across desolate plains, carrying the despairing moans of lost souls to every corner of the realm of the dead. Swamps fester in the pale nacreous glow that rises up from the decaying earth, tombs litter the landscape like broken teeth, shadows walk the land, muttering in the darkness.
Here lie the houses of the dead, home to the shades of the deceased – and other things.
The Hammer of the Sun
In the desert’s fiery heart, secrets and wonders await you that even the gods have forgotten. Brooding sphinxes, whose centuries of stony sleep only the most resourceful hero dare disturb. The skeletal Spartoi, consumed with cold hate, waging perpetual war against all living things. Proud Amazons, who may make you their monarch or their sworn foe. And seers and demigods who will guide you through the hidden reaches of this fabled realm – at a price.
Defy the ravages of time to restore the ancient city of Iskandria to its former grandeur. Hunt monsters among the stars. Uncover the mysteries of sand-covered ruins. Range out into the wilderness to face primordial dangers and strange creatures out of deepest dream. Venture into lost tombs and haunted temples to uncover the truth about what threatens the Vulcanverse – a danger from the dawn of time that now stirs and plots in the darkness.
The Wild Woods
Arcadia. The garden of the gods of Olympus. Once they walked its sylvan paths, sipping ambrosia, drinking the wines of Dionysus, and filling the arboreal groves with their laughter. Satyrs and centaurs gambolled in the sunlit groves, sprites and dryads tended to the trees and flowers. Even mortals, those chosen of the gods, enjoyed the revels. Everywhere life blossomed with joyous abandon.
But Pan plays his pipes no more, Artemis hunts not in the deep forests-green, dryads and nymphs dance no longer in dappled moonlit glades to the music of the spheres. Silence reigns over the weed-infested garden walkways. Ancient trees, long untended, clog the forest trails, roots rise up from the ground to topple the statues, fountains and sundials, cracking open the conservatories and summer houses. The great rivers, babbling brooks and simple streams have long since dried up, nothing sleeps in their beds now but desiccated earth and bleached bones.
Yet what is to be done? The gods sleep, so it must be the mortals, feeble though they are, pitiful even, to whom the task must fall. Who can restore the wild woods to their glorious, arboreal splendour? Who can rebuild Arcadia and wake the sleeping gods? Who but you?
The Pillars of the Sky
In the high peaks that stretch to the floor of heaven, amid howling winds and engulfing blizzards, lurk mysteries that have waited since the dawn of time. Labyrinths of a lost civilization, now crumbling and almost deserted but still home to treasures and dangers. The mountain stronghold of the Halizons, as distrustful of strangers as their sister tribe the Amazons. Mechanical marvels built to plumb the depths of the cosmos. The fortress where Boreas, once lord of all this land, has been trapped by the forces of darkness that are working to conquer all.
Find the keys to unlock a vault that has lain unopened for millennia, sealed with curses that even the gods fear. Seek out the last of the Argonauts and enlist him in your cause. Fight a pitched battle on an inland sea against brutal raiders who will give no quarter. Twist time in a loop and steal from the messenger of Olympus. Avenge your brother’s death. Raise your adopted city to the heights of glory. Quiet the restless dead. Hunt mammoths and sabre-tooth tigers on the storm-blasted plains. Or visit the carnival of crossed destinies and learn why gods and titans have picked you out as their champion.
Workshop of the Gods
Vulcan City is a place of striking contrasts. A metropolis where marble palaces and gilded rooftops soar against the sky, whose walls and towers seem to approaching travellers like the flanks of mountains, where gold and jewels overflow the coffers of wily merchants, and where nobles in silk finery indulge in epicurean pleasures to rival the banquets of Olympus.
But it is also a place of teeming streets and plazas where cutthroats and spies hide themselves amid the crowds, where narrow alleyways can lead to stinking, maze-like warrens where the unwary visitor is soon as lost as in the deepest wood. In candlelit taverns you may overhear whispered secrets that can make a fortune or ruin a reputation. And here in the magnificent hub at the centre of the Vulcanverse, life is often as cheap as a trinket sold on a marketplace stall.
Meet up again with old friends and bitter enemies. Uncover long-buried secrets, hunt down thieves and murderers, wrestle with demons, cross swords with assassins, join criminal gangs – even come face to face with the spectre of your own death.
Visit the puppet shows where you’ll find hints about the fate of a universe. Seek counsel from the oracle who is privy to the insight of the gods – if you can afford it. Venture into the prison that holds the cleverest man alive, knowing that you must either befriend him or kill him. Lay claim if you can to a mansion brimming with treasures and traps. Rise in society, making alliances among the ruling factions. And attend the glittering party at Vulcan's palace, whose location is hidden from the eyes of ordinary mortals, where you will set out on a perilous journey through space and time to reach the crucial, cataclysmic battle between light and darkness towards which all your choices have been leading.
This is the city where all possibilities meet, where destinies are made, where the fate of the Vulcanverse will finally be decided.
The series
As you explore the Vulcanverse you will forge friendships, meet companions, make enemies – all of whom have long memories and will help or hinder you throughout your adventures. In this vast open world you will find hundreds of amazing quests, make choices with lasting consequences, win glory, cheat death, and face challenges at every turn.
Every decision is in your hands. Start in any book, be whoever you choose, go anywhere you please, and do anything you want. The only limit is your imagination.
hardcover editions
At Blackwell's UK:
- The Houses of the Dead
- The Hammer of the Sun
- The Wild Woods
- The Pillars of the Sky
- Workshop of the Gods
And at Barnes & Noble in the US:
- The Houses of the Dead
- The Hammer of the Sun
- The Wild Woods
- The Pillars of the Sky
- Workshop of the Gods
paperbacks
Here is an online Adventure Sheet for all the books.
