Introducing Elleronne Hatchet and the Interdimensional/Time-traveling News Agency
Good evening, I’m Elleronne Hatchet, reporting from the Interdimensional/Time-traveling News Agency’s new studio at the Nexus Between Worlds. Our mission is to give you, the reader, the latest news and updates from the myriad worlds and timepoints within them, so that you are never without current stories.
Tonight’s top story comes to us from the Kingdom of Novania, where witnesses claim a dragon has been sighted for the first time in well over thirty years. Our sources indicate the dragons moved on from that world several decades ago, when they opened an interdimensional gateway with powerful magic in order to find a new and more accepting home for themselves. Given this information, the stories coming out of Novania today are perplexing, indeed.
The appearance of the so-called dragon coincides with the public execution of King Colin Marsden’s younger brother, Alexander, who was condemned to death for harboring the Mage’s Mark. The resulting commotion surrounding the dragon’s appearance led to the escape and disappearance of Alexander, who is now considered Novania’s most wanted fugitive.
The King is offering a reward of one thousand gold marks for the return of his brother, so that justice may be served. When asked about the dragon, the King declined to comment, though he reminded us that under Novanian law, it was perfectly legal to hunt dragons for sport.
And now, breaking news from Seattle, Washington.
A series of strange events leaves residents rattled and concerned about the underground passages that lay beneath the heart of downtown. One resident described what he heard as “a roar like a fairy-tale monster” followed by shouting and gunshots. Another claimed to have seen a group of people fleeing through one of the sidewalk entrances used by the Seattle Underground Tour shortly after the gunshots were reported.
Though police are investigating the event, no details have yet been released to the press.
Finally, I recently had the opportunity to return to the Five Kingdoms, eleven years after the events now known as The War of the Nameless. The people have rebuilt much of the destruction that was wrought during the war, though many remain wary that the Vile Ones may yet return. In spite of the residual fear, the kingdoms are experiencing a time of peace and renewal while the being known simply as “the Nameless One” remains in prison.
That’s all for this evening’s news. Until next time, this is Elleronne Hatchet with ITNA, wishing you a good night.
Author’s note: I originally came up with the idea for Elleronne (Elle) Hatchet and her unique interdimensional traveling capability somewhere around twenty years ago. I liked the concept, but never came up with a suitable storyline to accompany her talent. I shelved the project, came back to it, shelved it again…And the cycle repeated for a number of years.
Recently, I was looking at some content to add to my newsletters, and it was suggested by one source that giving readers an “interview” with one of my characters was a means of providing new content when I don’t yet have another book to promote. I thought about the idea for a while, and then realized I didn’t have to go about it in a literal sense – I could write a story about my books, using the interview and a fictional reporter as the conduit. And so, Elleronne Hatchet has now found her place within the realm of my other writing. Since I am working on a related series to The Caein Legacy that is set in a different time period for that world, I decided to add time-traveling to her repertoire.
In the course of writing this piece, I decided to stretch my Illustrator skills a bit more and create some artwork for the posts that will feature Elleronne. I believe this will be just the first of many posts featuring this character, and she will make an appearance in my next newsletter (scheduled for end of June). If you’d like to sign up to receive my newsletter, you can do so here. (The photo used as a background for the Live in Seattle image is one that I took myself, during my visit there in March of 2009. We were somewhere downtown, though at this point in time, I don’t recall the exact location, and I failed to make a note of it).
Each of the “news stories” featured in this post relate to a different book. The first, regarding the dragon sighting, comes from Exile. The second, from Seattle, relates to Hunted, and the last from War of the Nameless.
On a side note, for those who know me from online gaming, I’ve been using Elleronne as one of my in-game character names for many years (most notably in Lineage II and LOTRO, though I also used it in SWTOR and Anthem for a while). Now you know the origin of the name.
I hope you enjoyed this goofy little post and the artwork that went along with it. Thanks for reading!