Just such a scene was revealed on the 9th stop of the Werewolves in the Renaissance blog tour. As part of a guest appearance Tracy Falbe the author of the historical fantasy Werelord Thal introduced the mercenary character from the new werewolf novel.
Battle Creek, MI -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/27/2014 -- At her latest stop on the Werewolves in the Renaissance blog tour, Tracy Falbe wrote about 15th and 16th century mercenary leaders known as condottieri. She researched the subject to develop a character in her new werewolf novel, a historical fantasy titled Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale.
In her February 26th guest post at Wandering Around the Words, the blog of Cynthia Ravinski, Falbe explained the role of condottieri in Renaissance warfare. As nation states developed and commercial empires competed, Europe entered an era of extreme warfare, even by European standards. Kingdoms were hard pressed to gather larger armies and their rulers turned to the marketplace and contracted with mercenary leaders called condottieri.
For the tour Falbe wrote, “Many men were needed to fight the incessant conflicts, especially since ‘canon fodder’ was a new class of combatants. Armies are terribly expensive for kings to keep handy. So like today, rulers started outsourcing to private contractors to save money.”
Condottiere Valentino from Milan is the character born of her research. His purpose in Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale that is set in 1561 Bohemia was to illustrate the growing pool of military men ready to profit from the contentious times.
The relationship between Valentino and the werewolf hero Thal begins because Valentino wants Thal’s supernatural powers under his command. Thal is not enthusiastic, but he needs powerful allies as he hunts the men who tortured and executed his witch mother.
The tour host Ravinski praised Falbe’s research efforts in developing this historical fantasy. Ravinski is also an independent fantasy author who has contributed to the Scribings Anthologies and is currently working on a serial fantasy novel beginning with her short, Lingering in the Woods. She blogs her thoughts and experiences as an author at Wandering Around the Words.
The Werewolves in the Renaissance blog tour includes coupons to save 25% off the ebook or 20% off the paperback. Werelord Thal is available at numerous retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords, and the author’s web store Brave Luck Books.