Cover Art by Alison Hunt

The finale of War of Nytefall wasn’t an easy story to write.  Having to juggle the aftermath of the previous volume, I put myself into a rather difficult corner.  Can’t even do a synopsis without spoilers.  I’ll just touch on the memorable challenges.

Eulogy was originally going to have a lot more politics in it.  There were treaties and arguments being made to create the future Clyde wanted, but it was messy.  I couldn’t have him be there since he’s not a diplomat, which is why I created Alexis Nucian.  Putting Titus and Lost in the political situation helped too because I wanted them kept away from the action plots for a bit.  They also ended up being the better characters for this situation since they were inexperienced.  I liked having the Dawn Fang group being more human and relatable than the others involved in the treaty debates.

Once I got that situation settled, I had to tackle the ‘evil Clyde’ storyline where reports of Clyde killing mortals were appearing.  I know evil twins are cliche, but I had a special twist that required this to happen.  A heartbreaking one too.  The original plan was to have the readers unsure if there’s a fake, but I established Clyde as having limits.  So, I went with it being clear from the start and the priest investigating the claims was going to have doubts to keep him viable.  If I made Magrus the Purifier hate all vampires and never believe Clyde could be innocent, he would have been fairly two-dimensional.  Making the ‘evil Clyde’ storyline not be one where everyone believes he’s gone berserk helped me build to the big reveal.

The giant issue of Xavier and Clyde no longer despising each other was the final challenge of Eulogy.  I needed them to have a final battle and it had to be good.  So, I had Xavier fall to jealousy and try to sabotage the peace talks, but that only maintained his role as antagonist.  The key ended up being Nadia Sylvan, who I had left hints at creating a nasty plot against the Dawn Fangs.  Having established that Xavier loves his wife and would do whatever she wants, I kind of moved her into the main villain role.  Still unsure if she was really there the whole time, but it helped with this problem.  By the time Xavier and Clyde faced off, the two of them had freshly hurt each other enough that there was no way to avoid a fight to the death.  I liked this because it was Xavier’s powerful magic against Clyde’s monstrous physical abilities, which ended up having another reveal that I created on the spot.

Do I think Eulogy came off perfectly?  There was a bit too much improv than I liked, so I’m unsure.  The outline became useless halfway through as I dropped political scenes, added fight scenes, and went through eliminating about 75% of the cast.  This was supposed to be a brutal, high body count adventure to create pain for both sides of the conflict.  Not easy to do with a large cast that has remained relatively untouched throughout the series.  I did that because I wanted Clyde pushed to the brink of his humanity by losing so many loved ones.  In that respect, I think it worked out really well, but I changed direction as I went enough that I can never be certain I went the right way with this.  Not many people read it too, which doesn’t fill me with excitement.

Question time!

1. What trait do you think is important for a diplomat?
2. If someone nearly destroys the world, should they be given a chance at redemption?
3. Can a hero lose their humanity finishing their quest and still be considered the victor?