To the sound of cheering, Onorata moved away, and handed the halberd back to Guilhem. “Let us move from Gioco Largo to Gioco Stretto, from the long game to the short game. I hope you don’t mind getting a bit closer to this poor member of the weaker sex.” She retrieved her own blade from Bernhard. Despite its length, she unsheathed it with a light and mobile movement.
“The King’s Condottiere” plays its fifteenth century derring-do straight, bringing us a feminist role model we might not believe, were she not lifted from the history books.
Onorata Rodiana appears in the short story ‘The King’s Condottiere’ by Emily Care Boss, published in The New Hero: Volume 2.
Emily Care Boss is a role playing game designer, writer and editor living in Massachusetts, USA. Through her independent publishing company, Black & Green Games, Emily publishes Breaking the Ice, Shooting the Moon, and Under my Skin, winner of the Audience Award at Fastaval 2009. Her essays on role playing game theory have been published in Push Vol. 1 and Playground Worlds, from the 2008 nordic Nodal Point conference. Emily edits the RPG = Role Playing Girl Zine, annually featuring essays and articles on and by women in gaming. You can find Emily and her games at blackgreengames.com.
All New Hero artwork by Gene Ha.
The Stone Skin Press Kickstarter and more information can be found here.
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