This’ll be my last post until BL Live, as I’ll be away until then on a much-needed break. In the past few days I’ve been pressing on with the second book of my Sword duology, trying to flesh out the character of Kurt Helborg and bring things to a suitably climactic conclusion. This, and the Schwarzhelm characterisation, have been fantastic opportunities to flesh out major players in the Warhammer world.
It might be worth saying something about this. I’ve been acutely conscious that Warhammer players and readers will already have pretty clear views of what Schwarzhelm and Helborg are like. They have stats in the game, and brief bios in the Army Books. Schwarzhelm is a grim dispenser of justice; Helborg a flamboyant commander of the finest knightly order in the Imperial Army. The challenge for me has been to try and develop these outlines, adding depth without distorting the essential elements.
Obviously, doing so is fraught with danger. Getting it wrong risks making a character that many people cherish look out of place, wrong or foolish. On the other hand, doing nothing but produce a slightly more verbose version of what’s in the Army Books fails to make the most of the opportunities a novel-length treatment presents. So, what you try to do is to develop the character in a way that’s consistent with what we already know while taking him in new directions. When Sword of Justice comes out later this year, I’ll wait for the feedback on Ludwig with more than the usual interest. By the time the duology is finished, he and Helborg will have walked a long and dark path together…
Until then, apologies if I don’t answer any comments until after the 13th – but give me a shout if you’re at GWHQ on the day, and I’ll look forward to posting about it when I get back.
Chris Wraight 