The second Dračí Hlídka gamebook: An interview with the author

Gamebooks from the Hrdinové Domoviny series have captured the hearts of fantasy and adventure fans alike. In this interview with the author, we take a look at the sequel titled Ztracené město Galadu, as well as the creative process, inspiration, and future plans.

Hrdinové Domoviny now has a second installment. Can you tell us what awaits readers in Ztracené město Galadu?

The story takes place a year after the events of Hrdinové Domoviny: Dáma z Agor-Nhat. The introduction provides a quick summary of the first book, so you don't necessarily have to play it first. However, for the sake of continuity and a full understanding of the story, it is certainly recommended.

And what can readers/players expect? Ztracené město Galadu is my tribute to gaming classics like Lone Wolf or Fighting Fantasy books. Still, I remain faithful to my writing style, which I fully embraced after finishing Druhá Země, and I intend to stick with it. The story is what matters most, not the game mechanics. Mechanics are just a means to provide different variations, and from my perspective, they shouldn't take precedence over the narrative.

On the other hand, some changes to the mechanics have been made. This makes sense based on feedback from some readers.

How do the first book, Dáma z Agor-Nhat, and its sequel differ? Where has the story moved – and where have you moved as an author?

Ztracené město Galadu is the heart of the "cleric trilogy." It serves as a bridge between the first steps of an ordinary cleric from the Ardan Abbey and their involvement in the grand finale that will take place in the third book. I planned the trilogy from the very beginning. Back then, however, I had no idea it wouldn't just be "three parts with the same hero," but that it would evolve into one epic, interconnected story.

I say it often and I'll say it again: I wrote the first book in 2 months! That is incredibly fast, and I think you can feel it in the text to some extent. It's so… innocent. Sometimes hesitant, modest. Just like the main character. In Ztracené město, not only Eiryon but also my writing has moved somewhere I feel comfortable. I can only hope this style finds its fans.

I also illustrated the gamebook myself.

Gamebooks are a unique format. What do you enjoy most about them as a writer and as a reader?

Like in narrative games, I love the tension of choice. The fact that I never know what a decision will bring.

It's strange that simple decisions – like whether I take the tram or the bus – are completely trivial in reality. But if I get the same choice in a gamebook, I dread what will happen in each of those variations!

I enjoy the same thing as an author. I love to surprise, to shock. Is the most difficult path also the least advantageous? What if an extra drop of blood means I gain a huge advantage at the end of the adventure? That is the question…

In the world of Hrdinové Domoviny, player choices play a big role. Which decisions in the story gave you the most trouble while writing?

I'm not exactly a true crime fan. Rather than what happened to the victim, I'm interested in how the police work and how they evaluate evidence. In one of the side-quests in the gamebook, there is a small detective case, and it was a challenge to keep track of who has all the information at what stage of the narrative.

Fortunately, I have a skilled mechanical proofreader, my husband Tomáš, who knows how to find errors and point them out.

My husband is also the architect of the grandeur of the city of Galadu and its individual corners. But I won't say more about that! Perhaps just that I tasked him with coming up with a "journey" worthy of some Fighting Fantasy books. Since he knows those books very well, that is exactly what he designed for the adventure.

You mentioned that you illustrated Ztracené město Galadu yourself. What led you to that?

Costs (both financial and time-related) led me to it, as well as a desire for more experience with a different type of drawing. Professional illustrators need to be properly valued – the time and energy they put into their work is enormous. I am just a hobbyist doodler, so I am actually "cheap." I didn't charge myself anything. And gamebooks are definitely not at the top of the world's bestseller lists to make a fortune.

Once, at a lecture at a festival, young students asked me if I also have a job besides writing. It was cute, because that would only be possible if I were a 100% breatharian with no hobbies. :D In the Czech Republic, there are only a handful of authors who can make a living from writing. The rest of us just tell stories, hoping someone will like them.

But… I still have a beautiful cover by @LeRastislav and I think it turned out great! So Ztracené město Galadu got a professional touch as well.

What inspired you to create stories in the Domovina world? Do you have any personal roots or role models that you projected into it?

When Dračí Hlídka was rising to prominence, it didn't have that much public lore yet. The author of Hlídka certainly has it full in his head, but a big fantasy world is, to some extent, an unwritten book. It's not expected to have been created yesterday. It can be hundreds of thousands of years old and, apart from basic "physical" laws, it is very malleable.

So – does Eiryon Severin's story take place at a time when RPG players are having their adventures? Or earlier? Or later? That's up to the Game Masters. I tell a story that could have happened at any time.

Plus, at that time, no one was even thinking about a gamebook in Domovina.

And did I project anything into it? Probably my tendency to see something good in things and also my love for positive heroes. Everyone loves villains and anti-heroes. But I think being evil is easy. Having a flawlessly functioning moral compass regardless of how much adversity you have to face is much harder, because revenge, hatred, and anger are a natural part of human nature. And suppressing them for the sake of a higher good often seems unthinkable.

That's also why I rarely comment on anything publicly on social media. Sometimes it seems to me that there is so much negativity in the world that I don't understand how some people can even exist with it. If I were to be annoyed by every casting of a series, every weird band at a festival, every statement by politicians, every new technology, every change in festival organization… I don't know how that would end.

I guess I feel like I have more fun things to do than deal with something that is beyond my control. :D

What moment in Ztracené město Galadu are you most proud of as an author?

The last entry. It annoys a lot of readers, but it has its reason. And building the right tension in that last entry took me almost an hour. I knew what the last words would be. There was no budging on that.

Do you plan to continue developing Hrdinové Domoviny? And what can we look forward to from you next? Even outside the world of Dračí Hlídka.

There are plenty of plans. The cleric trilogy will be concluded with the third part, which will be titled Hrdinové Domoviny: Učedník světla a mistr stínů. It will introduce a new character whose existence will prove crucial. I assume the book could be created in the next 2 to 3 years, because I am, of course, planning a sequel to Druhá Země, and I am also working with friends on developing a game – a narrative RPG from the near future. It's our first game, so it will be quite fun. But I'm looking forward to it.

It will be very hard for me to say goodbye to Eiryon; in my imagination, he is as real to me as the people around me. However, I feel that with the last part, his story will reach its conclusion and will have nothing more to offer. Domovina, however, is full of heroes.

Hrdinové Domoviny was a title I came up with because I planned to write a gamebook for every Dračí Hlídka class. Will it happen? Well, maybe. Everything is ultimately up to the fans and whether they will want more "solo" adventures to be created…

author Karel Krajča