Command Post

Greetings fellow Lone Wolf fans. Allow me to introduce myself. My real name is Jonathan Blake. I'm an electrical engineering student at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas hence the pseudonym Desert Lynx. I maintain this page instead of studying. I'll do better I promise.

Desert Lynx, as the story goes, is a Kai Lord sent by Lone Wolf to establish an outpost in the Vassagonian Dry Main near the borders of Casiorn. This outpost was to provide a waystation along a caravan route to protect merchants from marauding bandits. More importantly, it was intended to provide real battle experience to Kai Masters and Savants that had never been thus tested. Although not given official sanction, the Vassagonians looked the other way in exchange for the protection of their merchants.

Desert Lynx was chosen for the job for his leadership, diplomacy and battle-skill.

Instead of boring you with my life story, let me tell you about my experience with Joe Dever's Lone Wolf books.

In the beginning. . .

My first glimpse of a Lone Wolf book was in elementary school. The school library was having a book sale and I was wandering in a rather random way through shelves of books that didn't interest me. Then a deliciously dark cover caught my eye. The stooped, malicious-looking man on the cover compelled me to open the book. That was the beginning of the end.

That book was the Berkeley/Pacer edition of The Caverns of Kalte. I was familiar with the choose-your-own-adventure genre but immediately I recognized that this was something special. I came back the next day and purchased that fascinating book.

When I got home, I closed myself in my room, alone with my discovery. The rules at the beginning of the book were daunting. I would for years ignore the rules of combat and simply enjoy reading the books. My imagination was let loose in the barren environs of Kalte. From the ice barbarians to the baknars and Vonotar himself, Joe Dever gave me a world that took me away from mundane reality. This was book three; it told me of the adventures that Lone Wolf had had before and at the end it alluded to adventures to come. I was not resourceful enough in my youth to find those other books. I looked for them in all the book sales but they were never there.

Eventually, the book was abandoned. I don't know what happened to that original copy.

The Reawakening

I was in junior high school when I walked into a local bookstore. My eye was caught by a familiar cover. I felt as if I had seen a lost childhood friend. Along side it were books one, two and four. That was a good day.

I soon acquired enough money to buy all four books. I finally knew what happened to Lone Wolf before Kalte and could continue with The Chasm of Doom. I fell in love again.

The Dark Ages

Joe Dever's creation became an important part of my life. The junior high years were dismal for me. I could live the exciting life that in reality I did not have through Lone Wolf. Magnamund took up a dangerous amount of my freetime. When I wasn't playing, I was daydreaming about it.

I salivated over the Magnakai books when they first came out. The first one that I purchased was Castle Death instead of The Kingdoms of Terror which preceded it; I guess that I was cursed to begin in the middle of every story. I didn't have the cash flow at the time to support my habit. I began to shoplift the new books including the World of Lone Wolf Series and the Freeway Warrior Series. This was the cause of the end of this era of my relationship with Lone Wolf. Lone Wolf stood for honesty and all that's good. How could I read the books and be reminded of how I had got them?

I gave all my books back(including the Magnamund Companion!!) to the bookstores. I even gave them the books I had acquired honestly. That was a good day.

The Golden Age

Lone Wolf was out of my life for several years after that. That respite from Lone Wolf was good for me and whet my appetite when again I saw those familiar friends in the bookstore. I was older, a little wiser and I had the money to buy the books. My collection slowly rebuilt itself (with a few exceptions) and new books added to my experience in Magnamund. The books are now a matter of nostalgia; they take me back to fond memories of my youthful dreams.

The Gathering

All that was available on the internet until a few months ago about Lone Wolf was a few scattered references on personal web pages and some rather "adult" fan fiction. None of this satisfied me.

Julian Egelstaff recently created the Kai Monastery, a website that has brought together fans from across the world. At the time of this writing, there are new projects cropping up including this website. There is a mailing list where fans can talk to each other. A true gathering is taking place.

Jonathan Blake
24 October 1997

The Saga Continues. . .

Recently, Joe Dever contacted me about my site. You can imagine how I felt. My mind raced faster than my heart as I thought of how many times I had wished that I could talk with Dever. Now it had come true. I had a hard time sleeping that night. Not only was this good for me, but a whole new world of possibilities opened up for Lone Wolf online. The fans and the author could interact more directly like when the newsletter was around. Things are very good.

28 January 1998

Apparently, Vampirium has been dedicated to Julian Egelstaff. Congratulations!!

Jack Leung has started a Lone Wolf webring known as The World of Magnamund.

5 March 1998

A year has gone by. Can it really be only a year?! A lot has happened in that time and the online Lone Wolf community has only become bigger and better. Over 200 fans have put their names on the Register. The Oasis has prospered under the generous contribution of its visitors. What will the next year hold?...

13 October 1998

Who is Dusty Shelf anyway?

He is my bookish alter ego. He is a Kai Lord who keeps me company in this lonely outpost. He was originally assigned to the Library in the Kai Monastery as an assistant. Then Rumbold was asked to come to the Library. You know how those acedemic types can be! They didn't hit it off well and Dusty Shelf requested a transfer far, far away from Rumbold. His superiors chuckled as they assigned Dusty Shelf to Desert Lynx's Oasis. . .

Then who is Marduk?

Yet another alter ego. Marduk was a Border Ranger in the service of the King of Sommerlund and fought alongside Lone Wolf on several occasions. In the last war against the Darklords, he lost his weapon arm to a hungry kraan. Forced to retire from soldiering and not being much of a domestic type, he took up wandering across Magnamund. He was travel-weary when he stumbled across Desert Lynx's Oasis. At last he had found a place where he could do what he loved most of all: tell tales of bravery and valor long into the night. He has never left since.

Who's the new guy, Silent Angel?

Three years after Lone Wolf's defeat of the Darklords, a young warrior-lord from Durenor named Angus was severely wounded in a battle with Darkland forces near Ruanon. A Kai Journeyman tended Angus' wounds and soon discovered his innate Kai powers. The Kai Lord was unprepared to see these powers in someone from Durenor until, after some questioning, Angus told him of his paternal grandfather, a Kai who died in the seige of the Monastery. The Journeyman sent Angus to the Monastery with a letter of introduction. Under the tutelage of Lone Wolf and the Kai Masters, Angus developed his warrior skills and became Silent Angel.

Realizing how austere the Oasis was and seeing Silent Angel's artistic talent, the Kai sent Silent Angel to far off Vassagonia with the purpose of brightening things up a bit.