A chill wind scoured the highland moor, shrieking as it rent the knifelike plinths jutting up from its eastern slope. A lone halfling pulled his cowl tight around his tear-tracked cheeks. Slurking forward, he ducked down beneath the wind into the sunken fen, pulling a glowshroom from his sack to survey the crumbled gravestones before him.
''Where are you now, o heroes of old, when all seems lost and abandoned?''
The wind caught his forlorn plea and cast it across the moorland, echoing into a cacophony of ravens’ calls. Why had he come here? What hope was there in these ancient sorceries?
He stiffened at the hand on his shoulder – and looked left and up with surprise – for the hand was not chill and sere, as he expected in this timeforsaken necropolis, but warm and living!
A round face with penetrating eyes gazed down at him with the hint of a smile. Dillard started; he knew the face of this wizard from his father’s books. And behind him, the legendary sorceress; the famed thief in jester’s garb, a wooly sage with fine new magic robes; great warriors in polished ancient maille bearing softly glowing swords - and new faces as well, men from the far continent and its isles, full of new magic and fight; the daughters of great heroes ready to make their own mark on this vast and untamed land.
And behind them, the macher, the mogul himself: balding, bespectacled, and, if truth be told, rather dumpy; exceeded in gifts both natural and earned by many of the others; yet none doubted his creed. He smiled at the halfling more broadly and pointed towards the capital, from which Dillard had fled in horror and desperation, seeing so many trapped in games that gave no freedom and little joy to those who played them.
''You should not have worried, young Capwell; as long as The Game remains, there will always be those who return to Fight On!''
Fight On! is back! We are a journal of shared fantasy. We who read and write for this magazine are a community of role-playing enthusiasts unified by our love of the freewheeling, do-it-yourself approach that birthed this hobby back in the 1970’s. We are gamers who write our own rules and fantasists who build our own worlds, weekend warriors sharing dreams of glory, artists bringing our visions to life, and authors collaborating on tales of heroism and valor. We talk, paint, draw, write, act, design, costume, build and roll dice in service of our visions. We game. And you’re welcome to join us.
– Ignatius Ümlaut, Publisher and Editor
Fight On! Returns
Published: 30 September 2024