Throughout my artistic career I’ve received countless letters and emails from people all around the world about my work. Most have been from fans telling me how much they’ve enjoyed my latest albums, and how my music has enriched their lives in various ways. This is for me, one of the most gratifying aspects of being an artist. Receiving this kind of appreciation and knowing you’ve affected someone in a positive way makes all the hard work, strife, and everything that goes into creating well worth the effort. 

Although this is a common occurrence when it comes to my musical works, it is not something that had often happened to me regarding my prose – that is, until Karnov. After this book’s release, I began receiving emails from several readers who were not only praising the story and congratulating me and my co-authors Howie K. Bentley and Byron A. Roberts, but also asking very detailed specific questions about Karnov and his universe. There seems to be something about the character that leaves people wanting more. I don’t think it is because things are not explained as they should be in the book. I think it is because Karnov is so interesting with his vampyre soul absorbing and dimensional traveling ability, that along with the aspect of parallel universes, it leaves so many possibilities open.

One particular reader, Matthian, was relentless in his enthusiastic questioning. Not only was he extremely kind and personable in his great long letters, but also came up with some excellent and very thorough points to consider. Many required me to deeply ponder over and really think about in order to answer, as they were things even I had not even thought about before. With his permission, I have compiled all of his thoughtful questions into a single interview to share with other Karnov fans via this 2022 DMR Blogeramma.

Questions by Matthian 

You say the armor can only absorb the souls of the undead, and thus Karnov must kill vampyres.  What about other undead?  What if he came across and slayed a lich, for example?  Is it only evil undead he can absorb?  Maybe your universe doesn't have liches, and all undead are evil? 
I wouldn’t rule out that liches of some sort might rear their ugly heads one day in Karnov’s world, however; although zombies, liches, etc. are considered risen dead, when we refer to The Undead in Karnov, we are strictly talking about vampyres. It is the vampyric lifeforce – the souls of The Undead that give him his ability. So if Karnov were to slay any of these above mentioned non-vampyric creatures, it would not activate his cosmic powers. Karnov would not feed on their energy by killing them. He would first have to hunt out and slay vampyres in order to activate his powers before fighting them.

What if Karnov was fighting a lich king, and the lich king controls the souls of the people he kills? Would it be a control fight over who ultimately attained a soul?
If the souls this lich king enslaved were vampyre souls and Karnov wanted to attain them, he would probably need to use some sorcery to make that happen (and indeed, I suppose it would be a battle for control!). The soul-absorption process with Karnov usually takes place in battle when he is hacking vampyre heads from bodies with phantom-clad steel. The act of slaying makes that happen automatically. 

Are the souls of the vampyres destroyed after being used to empower Karnov's armor?
Yes, the souls would be destroyed since they "feed" the Cosmic Ice with energy. I think I actually wrote a line in one of the segments where Karnov says something like "absorbing it to join the other tainted wraiths in my armor – rather than to burn in the fires of Hell"... So it's not quite like Elric where when his sword Stormbringer absorbs the soul of an enemy it feeds him with vitality, and sends the soul to his patron demon Arioch. These souls would get used up and exterminated when the armor is no longer charged. 

Is Karnov's magic/armor "evil" since it's powered by evil creatures?
I would not say it is necessarily "evil" since it is actually destroying vampyre souls. At the same time, it is created by black magic in a blood ritual, so it wouldn't be completely "good" either. I think of it as being rather chaotic. It is really a neutral power that could be used for either good or evil.

What if a paladin tried to heal an injured Karnov with a holy spell?  Would that hurt Karnov, or be deflected by his armor in some way?
In essence, Karnov is an enchanted warrior who has magical abilities. Again, he is not evil because of his powers, and didn't cross over to any dark side to obtain them. So I'm sure a healing spell of a white wizard would help him if he were injured, and would not be deflected by him. I don't think of Karnov's armor as being living or sentient so it would not be able to deflect a spell on its own.

How does Karnov fit into the old D&D alignment grid?
I personally feel that the classification table you mention is more suited for high fantasy type characters. Sword and sorcery is different because the lines of good and evil can sometimes get a bit blurred. Most sword and sorcery characters are fighting for their own motives rather than big world changing events. Many are anti-heroes as well. Karnov is fighting for his own retribution, but at the same time is trying to rid the land of vampyres, so I would say he is "Neutral".

Would a “turn undead” spell hamper him in any way due to his armor being powered by undead energy? Or are the vampyres’ souls immediately destroyed into some neutral magical force which is then used by the armor?
Though Karnov feeds on vampyre souls, he is not undead. When the souls are absorbed into him, they become imprisoned within the Cosmic Ice during the time he is energized. If a wizard were able to draw the souls out by means of sorcery, then a spell such as you describe should be able to work. This would, in theory, temporarily deactivate and “uncharge” the Cosmic Ice, causing Karnov to lose his powers until he was once again able to slay more vampyres. To answer the second part of your question: The vampyre souls are still “whole” when they are absorbed, thus their ghost matter can be seen writhing within the glowing ice armor.

If the vampyres are still “whole” while being used by the armor as power, could a force that purposely interacts with undead energy potentially depower or gain control of the armor (like a necromancer for example)?
This is an interesting concept and I would not rule out the possibilities. Although Karnov’s armor is mighty and magical, I suppose there could be other powers of sorcery that would be stronger and could perhaps manipulate the souls in his armor. Remember – in the second episode, the vampyric life force was stripped from Karnov by Esmadrunga, Queen of the Earthly Demonic. This left him temporarily powerless and unable to do battle. If different sorcery was used to affect his armor in a like way, I don’t doubt something similar could occur. Also, the necromancer Nesodomntha was able to enslave the powerful Esmadrunga, just as the vampyre Lord Ghormanteia was able to control many using the Eye of Orlock. This just shows that there are definitely powerful beings in Karnov’s world that could be capable of doing such a thing.   

Could a strong enough vampyre potentially resist the armor’s pull, like a vampyre demigod or ancient vampyre archmage? Conversely, can it be overloaded, like if Karnov killed some demigod creature who had been vampyre-ized?
It could be possible. Perhaps there is a vampyre lord in Karnov’s world who is so strong, it can resist the Cosmic Ice’s powers – though Karnov has yet to encounter one. As for the armor being overloaded, I would say that if he were to slay such a creature as the vampyric demigod you mentioned, it would just make him that much more powerful when he absorbed its ghost.  

How is the armor repaired? Does it need regular old maintenance at the local dwarven smithy or does it require the special attention of some kind of magical artificer when damaged? Or does it self-repair using the energy it sucks up?
Karnov and his armor are rejuvenated once his powers are reactivated by slaying vampyres. It is not just the armor itself that is enchanted, but Karnov himself as well. When the Cosmic Ice is activated, they become one. Because of this union and the armor’s magical qualities, it is not quite like a piece of gear that could get damaged in battle and would require maintenance.

Does the armor provide magical defenses in addition to physical ones? For example, is Karnov any more resistant to a demon attempting to take control of him than the next stout heroic warrior? Or mind control spells of any kind?
The armor absorbs vampyric souls and grants Karnov the ability to travel through dimensional gateways. It does not protect Karnov against magic spells, though its frosty essence is toxic to the touch for the Undead. This is a great defense mechanism when he is in close combat with nosferatu hordes.

How well is cosmic ice magic known throughout Karnov’s world? It was cast by a hedge witch but is that knowledge in the great magical libraries of the learned societies of the world? Is it something a wandering wizard would recognize upon seeing?
It would be something that was known amongst wise sorcerers who possess knowledge of dark sorcery, and have focused on that particular type of magic. The witch D’Vartha has greater knowledge and a deeper connection to the magical arts than she appears to at the beginning of the story. She is someone who has studied manipulating the Earthly Demonic and using it for her own benefits. We see an example of this when she transforms a shrub from her luminescent garden with blood and water into a giant plant monster in order to gain knowledge. Also, of course, when she mixes the blood of the Living, Undead and Earthly Demonic to create a potion and grant Karnov his powers.   

Is magic entirely decentralized in Karnov's world, the realm of isolated witches and traveling wizards?  Or are there big magical libraries, magical societies, etc., in addition to the more provincial magic users we've seen so far?
There are indeed. In the second episode we learn that Asenthine stayed and studied with a secret society of holy clerics after escaping the clutches of Ghormanteia. That is where he learned of Esmadrunga and the forces of the Earthly Demonic. There are other societies as well. In the same episode, it is told that before Karnov returns to Duros Zuil, he ventured to the far east where after ridding a kingdom of vampyres, he rose to power in a great kingdom, and banished a corrupt newly established religion. So we see mention of these organized groups in various parts of the world that he travels to. That being said, Karnov’s homeland is a poor, dreary farm town.

What institutional forces, if any, exist for good in his world?  Are there holy orders of paladins, or arcane watchers over potential incursions from darker realms? 
Again, there is the mention of the clerics. But what we’ve seen more of (so far) are different types of characters uniting for a positive cause. Even D’Vartha, a witch of dark magic, and Asenthine, a nosferatu nobleman, are fighting the good fight alongside Karnov. When your world is filled with blood sucking vampyres that will feed on anyone, the lines of good and evil don’t matter so much. It’s more about exterminating the problem at hand, and saving your own neck!

Does Karnov's home world have a name? (I may have missed this)
Karnov’s world is intentionally undefined though it is part of a planar universe. One of the reasons for this is so that each author could connect various aspects of their own mythos (or others) if they wished. When D'Vartha performed the blood ritual, changing Karnov into the phantom-clad rider, I had her call upon the dark deities of realms from each of the three authors' different stories. I did this to connect everything, and make it clear that Karnov would be able to travel through the Cosmic Ice portals to all of these realms and beyond. It is great having this freedom because if any one of us wished to incorporate Karnov in any of our other writings we could do so since everything is connected.

Are there any sentient races other than human and vampyre?  Elves?  Dwarves?  Dragons?  etc.
Again, not being “high fantasy” we don’t see many of the types of creatures you mention. At the same time, we encounter different races of vampyres. The Alunai are a race of noble vampyres from an ancient sky kingdom. They made great inventions and created blood out of the ether so as not to have to feed on humans. The Niaughu are a mutant humanoid vampyre race spawned by the necromancer Nesodomntha. He enslaved the Queen of the Earthly Demonic in his subterranean breeding ground in order to create them as a weapon against mankind. These are the kinds of “races” we see more of in Karnov.

Is vampyrism ever reversible through an exorcism, intense holy magic, or anything similar?
This is possible from a magical standpoint but not so much in the traditional sense. I wouldn’t put it past a powerful wizard being able to manipulate vampyres, or “change” them with a holy spell of some sort. The vampyres in Karnov are not known to be repelled by crucifixes or holy water though, as those kinds of things are not used or mentioned in the story. There is a section in the 2nd episode where Asenthine dispels to Karnov the various myths that are often associated with repelling vampyres. In the same chapter we see his vampyric elk steed, Merklethenon cross running water. This is something that would’ve killed Dracula in the old Hammer flicks, and that is why I added that clarification. So though the basic principles remain the same, the vampyre mythology is a little reinvented in Karnov.

Are there evil creatures other than vampyres in Karnov's world?  I know the "earthly demonic" is around, but that seems to be more of a fundamental force of existence and not something that would roam around razing villages like vampyres.
Certainly. Remember that Karnov’s world has a strange balance between the Living, Undead and Earthly Demonic. This balance yields many strange results and mutations. In the story there are all kinds of otherworldly creatures that appear. Even in the very beginning of the tale when Karnov is returning from battle, it is described of the "unnamable horrors" he encountered while abroad. Other such things are mentioned throughout as well. We see hellish beings in Lord Gormanteia’s lair, serpent monsters with time-displacing venom, a race of alien vampyres with flailing tentacles, mutant plant monsters, a vampyric elk, and many other strange entities. The possibilities are endless.

Will there be more Karnov stories?
Yes! I definitely plan to write more, and in fact am currently brainstorming for a new story. I’ve spoken to Howie and Byron as well about possibly doing another round-robin in the future. They have both agreed to be a part of it when the time is right. So whether it is another epic sword and sorcery novella by the three or us, or a stand-alone tale by just me in the meantime, more adventures with the Phantom-Clad Rider will be surfacing soon!

Matthew Knight is the lead vocalist of heavy metal bands CAULDRON BORN and ETERNAL WINTER. The upcoming CAULDRON BORN album “Cold Steel for the Necromancer” will feature a song based on Karnov. This video features clips from the song’s demo in addition to audio commentary by Knight, in which he describes the writing process and inspirations behind the book.