Robert J. Kuntz is an author and a game designer who has contributed to (or created) numerous roleplaying games, strategy games, and board games over the years. A friend and co-DM of Gary Gygax, he contributed to some iconic D&D publications, like Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes and the first edition of Deities & Demigods. Since 2006, he has run Pied Piper Publishing, a company which publishes his latest adventures modules. He is now turning his creativity toward fiction. His first Sword-and-Sorcery novella, Black Festival just came out.

Here’s the prolog and back page matter posted on his blog, Lord of the Green Dragons:

The main character, the Frank barbarian Wolfar, was created by Mr. Kuntz in 1989. He teams with his off-and-on companion the rogue, Thekela. A few words by the author on the setting:

The action for Black Festival takes place in historical Aquitaine, Lombard and other remote parts of the area as the action shifts. The story has many fantasy elements and thus can be considered a “historical fantasy,” but I chose the locale mainly due to the colorful nature of Francia at that time and the admixture of pagan and Carolingian Empire spices. It does not compare to Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne in as much as it follows the bent of a Fafhrd minus the Gray Mouser, with some attention given to the far-ranging story line which even touches upon Wolfar’s past wherein he was a Moorish galley slave.

Robert Kuntz also acknowledges affiliations to Robert E. Howard’s Conan and Gardner F. Fox’s Kyric in another blog post. He intends to publish a line of fantasy fiction. Upcoming titles include, after the Black Festival novella, The Drystaff Cycle: Three Short Stories, The Twelve Labors of Drystaff (novel), and a compilation of SF&F short stories. You can read excerpts of his Drystaff stories here and here.