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Windhammer
First Book of Haer'al
Shards of Moonlight
Shards of Moonlight Pbem
Torchlight
Song of the Dromannion
Blood and Iron Volume 1
The Book of Scars
Atlas of Arborell
Mapset 1
The Inquisitor's Lament
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NEW RELEASES
First Book of Haer'al
Torchlight
Shards of Moonlight
Song of the Dromannion
The Book of Scars
Atlas of Arborell
The Inquisitor's Lament Version 2
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CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT
The Ultimate Windhammer
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Honour Amongst Thieves
80%
Torchlight Tabletop Adventures
 33%
A Murder of Crows
 60%
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Written and Illustrated by Wayne Densley. Copyright Wayne Densley 2001 - 2008 All Rights Reserved. Updated 3rd April 2008
 An Introduction for New Travellers
Within these pages can be found an adventure that spans a thousand years. If you choose to tread its weathered paths you will find yourself upon a journey, one that reaches from beyond the most ancient of mythologies to the grim reality of a world locked in perpetual conflict. The Chronicles of Arborell is an exploration into a world that has never known peace, where intractable enemies stand against each other in the face of centuries of war and mistrust. In this land the future of all nations hang in the balance, and whether any survive depends on the courage and determination of only one person. In the world of Arborell that person is you.
But do not think that what can be found here is a simple story, spread out before the reader and followed as one might a narrow trail. Here is a tale where it is the reader who chooses their own way, and where success or failure is determined by those choices. In this world your fate is yours to make.
The Chronicles of Arborell is a gamebook series like no other, a wide-ranging interactive fantasy that will ultimately include more than 35 titles. When complete it will not only encompass gamebooks but also novels, table-top role-playing games, companion novellas and a range of supplementary documents. All stand alone as individual titles, but come together as one to take the reader on an epic journey through the long history of Arborell. At this time 11 of these titles are available, with the remainder to be completed in the coming years. The following information will provide some insight into the nature of the Chronicles for new Travellers.
Core Gamebooks
All 35 titles in this series are founded upon three core gamebooks. These three books, Windhammer, Earth and Stone, and The Jotun War trace the adventures of Halokim Vesh, a Dwarvendim thief, as he is used by the Powers of his world to save the Four Nations of Men from destruction. Against the dangers of the Dragon Windhammer, the malevolence of the ShadowWight, or the sinister machinations of the Clavern'sigh, Halokim must draw from his own courage, and the hidden magic of his world, to bring unity between Man and Oera'dim. Only with this accomplished can all stand against a far greater danger, one that none can withstand alone.
Chronicles Companion Series
The Chronicles Companion Series is a range of associated novellas that tell the stories of characters and events that have shaped the world within which you must travel. In the course of your adventures you will meet many characters and be told of great events that have changed the histories of the Four Nations. The Companion Series tells these stories from the perspective of the characters themselves, and gives the reader the opportunity to delve as deeply as they may wish into the background of each gamebook adventure.
Blood and Iron Web Serial
The Blood and Iron web serial takes the reader back into the history of Arborell and unlocks the secrets and lore of its ancient inhabitants. You will be an eyewitness to the journeys of Mallen and Tomas Cael as they travel deep into the wastelands of the Hordim, ultimately to discover the true nature of their mortal enemies. This is a tale of adventure and discovery, written for those of us that enjoy our epic fantasy in regular doses.
Song of the Dromannion
The Song of the Dromannion is the story of the first settlers in Arborell, written from the perspective of a refugee of the Old World named Emmers Nahr. Here is the only remaining record of the Last Fleet of the Free Nations. Within its pages can be found the journal of a great voyage, and the tribulations of a people fleeing a malevolent Enemy. This story uncovers the origins of the Four Nations, and in doing so hints at the strength of those that have found their way safely to the new world of Arborell. This journal is now complete and can be read online, or obtained as a free download.
Jotun of the West gamebooks
The Jotun of the West interactive series is a new selection of gamebook adventures that introduce to readers the character of Tansen'Delving, a Jotun of the Delving Kraal and an important part of the second gamebook in the Chronicles of Arborell series - Earth and Stone. Through the four gamebooks planned for this associated mini-series the reader will follow the quests of Tansen as he rises from committed enemy of the Four Nations to Halokim Vesh's ally in his quest to defeat the Shadows. These stories take the reader to the lands of the Jotun of the West, and deep into the culture of the Jotun themselves. The first book, Shards of Moonlight, is now available. It can be read online, obtained as a free download, or accessed in a Play-by-Email format.
Torchlight Adventures - Quest for the Orncryst
Quest for the Orncryst is the first in a series of role-playing adventures designed using the Torchlight game system. As the first ever card-based gamebook adventure it consists of three main elements; a character generation and combat system drawn from the traditions of gamebooks and interactive fiction; a card-based map creation mode that allows for the generation of unique role-playing settings; and a manual-based set of 200 section references that provide all the information needed to conduct your adventure.
Unlike other gamebook adventures, the Torchlight system allows for an unlimited number of variations to the way the game may be played. No two games will be the same, and each will have their own hardships and challenges to overcome. As the first release from the Chronicles for 2007, Quest for the Orncryst includes the new Windhammer character generation rules and combat system. This system is to be the standard character generation mode for all gamebooks and other role-playing materials developed from this point forward.
Finding your way
At this point it can be seen that the Chronicles of Arborell is a story made of many parts. To help readers navigate the different series and supplementary documents a flowchart has been produced to show how each of the books encompassed by the Chronicles are connected. Because of the number of books that are to be produced it has been designed as a guide for readers on titles available, titles currently under development, and titles planned for the future. If you have any questions regarding this chart please do not hesitate to contact me through my email address.
A note for Visually Impaired readers
Over time I have been attempting to improve access to the Chronicles for readers who use screen reading software. This has meant that there are now text versions of some maps, timelines and the "finding your way" flowchart. With most of the website I am attempting to have text versions available of all graphics that have any type of text content. If a text version of a graphic is available you need only click on the graphic to link to the appropriate text. An example of this can be found at the beginning of this webpage. As I continue this endeavour I would be interested in any ideas readers may have to improve access to all the Chronicles.
The World of Arborell - Year of Settlement 947
Full size versions of these maps can be found at the Atlas of Arborell or by clicking below
- The western ranges of Arborell -
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- The Northern Frontier -
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- The East Coast of Kalborea -
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What are Gamebooks?
A gamebook is a work of interactive fiction that allows the reader to make choices about the path they wish to take within a story. Unlike most novels there are many ways in which the story can be completed, and many different circumstances that can be experienced along the way. It is essentially up to the reader to make a success of the adventure they undertake. To read such gamebooks the same way as you would a normal novel will make little sense. The nature of adventure gamebooks is such that you must jump from section to section depending on the choices you make, the traps or creatures that confront you, and what you have experienced previously in your journey.
To successfully complete one of these books usually takes a number of attempts. An adventure gamebook requires the reader to be mindful of what they find during their quest and where they have trod before.
To complete these books and get the most from them take heed of the following:
- Read the rules thoroughly.
- Complete the character sheet before you start and maintain a record of what you find along the way.
- Read all the introductory information, it will give you considerable information about the land you are about to journey through and provide hints as to what you may encounter.
- Consider carefully all the options given.
- Enjoy your quest, you may not make it the first time but you can be assured that there is more than one way to complete it.
If you have never read a gamebook before then the ability to travel different paths and to encounter new situations on your journey can be a very novel experience indeed. For those of us who enjoy gamebooks a story is almost never read only once. There are simply too many things to do and too much to explore. The books that make up this series have been designed with this outcome in mind. A reader may read and re-read the story, finding a different way each time, and in doing so explore a larger world than may at first be apparent.
Comments
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the production of this series has so far been the excellent comments (both constructive and critical) that I have received. The great strength of this medium is the ease with which a book can be altered and improved and I have used this strength often to enhance the quality of these books. If you find anything about the series that requires comment (again both constructive or critical) please do not hesitate to do so. Comments can be sent using the email address given below, or by using the guest book facility provided at the top of the page. Every email is read and all comments or suggestions are considered in the ongoing development of the Chronicles of Arborell.
This site, and associated books and other documents are the intellectual property of the author, Wayne F Densley, and all rights are reserved by him. Unless otherwise stated all books in this series must be viewed at 1024 x 768 resolution. Any questions regarding the Chronicles of Arborell can be answered by emailing the author at densleyw@shoal.net.au
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JOTUN OF THE WEST
Shards of Moonlight
A Murder of Crows
The Horns of Gorgoroth
Slaves of Creation
The Book of Scars
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CHRONICLES COMPANION SERIES
The Inquisitor's Lament
Honour Amongst Thieves
Kal Murda
The Last Stone King
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