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SPIEL.TALKS 
- FINSTERWACHT

SPIEL.talks

- Finsterwacht

Finsterwacht is a great collaboration between musicians, book authors and game editors. Together they have created a cross-genre project in which the different art forms interlock perfectly and support each other.

At SPIEL, an entire day will be dedicated to this fantastic project and the creators of the project will present various aspects of Finsterwacht in a panel, an acoustic set, a reading and a live role-playing game, as well as signing autographs.

THE SPIEL.talks – FINSTERWACHT TAKE PLACE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3rd 2024, STARTING 11:30 AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS.

Check out the program below and come along. Registration is not necessary, as long as there is room, everyone is welcome.

THE MINDS BEHIND THE FINSTERWACHT PROJECT

Quelle: Ingmar Wein

The band - Saltatio Mortis

SALTATIO MORTIS have been impressing their fans with their hits and spectacular live shows for almost 25 years. Their curiosity has always led them off the beaten track and into cross-genre features with a wide variety of artists. As avid gamers, they conquered the gaming world of Bethesda with their cover of the mega-hit “The Dragonborn Comes” and lead singer Alea was allowed to sing the in-game songs for “The Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle” and the band releases the song ‘Pray to the Hunter’ together with the game publisher. Together with the German role-playing game classic “Das Schwarze Auge” (Ulisses Spiele) and the fantasy book authors Bernhard Hennen and Torsten Weitze, Saltatio Mortis will release their Finsterwacht Box, an unprecedented concept album, in 2024.


Quelle: Stephan Sasse

The authors - Bernhard Hennen

Bernhard Hennen is a well-known German bestselling author. Since his first novel - The Year of the Griffin from 1993 - he has published over 60 historical and fantastic novels, as well as a number of short stories and novellas. His books have been translated into ten languages, have sold more than five million copies worldwide and have been on the bestseller list in Germany for more than 100 weeks.
In 2019, his book “The Chronicles of Azuhr - The Cursed One” was awarded the Seraph for best novel (fantasy) of the year at the Leipzig Book Fair.
In 2024, he won 1st prize in the official German album charts with the band Saltatio Mortis for his collaboration on the music album “Finsterwacht”.


The authors - Torsten Weitze

Torsten Weitze discovered his passion for reading at a young age and his penchant for literature eventually led him to start an apprenticeship in publishing.
Since 2017, he has been constantly imagining and writing new worlds and characters, including the Thirteenth Paladin series, the Nebula Convicto and, most recently, the stories of Daetril, the world of the Warring Gods.
To relax, he enjoys the stories of others, be it as a book, movie, series or in a story-driven video game. He devotes the rest of his time to jiu-jitsu training and training with traditional Japanese weapons such as the katana or the bo.


The game editor - Nikolai Hoch

After his dream job as a marine biologist turned out to be not-as-great-as-expected, Nikolai Hoch turned his hobby into a career in 2015 and became editor-in-chief for the best-known German pen-and-paper role-playing game Das Schwarze Auge. A few years ago, he struck up a conversation with the guys from Saltatio Mortis at a hotel bar and contributed to the elaborate fan box for Saltatio Mortis' #1 album Finsterwacht as author and editor.


PROGRAMM

11:30 - 12:30 Panel ABOUT THE ROAD TO Finsterwacht (GERMAN)
SAAL ESSEN CONGRESS CENTER EAST

Quelle: Ingmar Wein

How do you come up with the idea of working with ten people on a project involving music, a novel and a role-playing game, all in the world of The Dark Eye? How do you coordinate so much creativity and how long did it take? In the panel with the creators of the project (the band Saltatio Mortis, the authors Bernhard Hennen and Torsten Weitze as well as the games editor Nikolai Hoch), moderator Manuel Fritsch will guide you through all these questions and is sure to elicit anecdotes about the project from the participants.

13:00 - 13:30 AKUSTIC SET WITH SALTATION MORTIS
GOOD WEATHER: OUTER AREA 2 / BAD WEATHER: HALL 7

Quelle: Ingmar Wein

Back to the roots! Saltatio Mortis will unpack their bagpipes for you and play a short acoustic set at SPIEL Essen. Come along and listen to one of Germany's best-known rock bands.

14:00 - 15:00 SIGNING SESSION
ULISSES SPIELE HALL 1 F811

Meet the artists behind the album and the novel and get your copies signed. Or your favorite character sheet for the Finsterwacht adventure or anything else you can think of. The band Saltatio Mortis and the authors Bernhard Hennen and Torsten Weitze will be signing for you for an hour.

 

15:30 - 16:30 READING OF FINSTERWACHT WITH Q&A (GERMAN)
SAAL ESSEN CONGRESS CENTER EAST

Quelle: Ingmar Wein

<<„Fass!“ Die Stimme war vor Kornai erklungen. Aber er wusste, dass der große Hund noch hinter ihm war, und er nahm die Beine in die Hand. Warum war er nur so dämlich gewesen, dieser Sache nachzugehen? >>
Immerse yourself in the novel “Die Feuer der Finsterwacht” with a reading with the authors and two band members of Saltatio Mortis. Afterwards, you are invited to ask questions about the book and the project.

 

17:00 - 19:00 PEN & PAPER LIVE SESSION ABOUT FINSTERWACHT (GERMAN)
SAAL ESSEN CONGRESS CENTER EAST

Cancelled.
Due to the large crowds at the autograph session, the stars did not want to send anyone home without an autograph. As a result, the program as a whole has been postponed, which would have meant that the role-playing session would have run over the closing of the halls. So unfortunately it had to be canceled.

Quelle: Ingmar Wein

Forget Critical Role, with us you will experience a very special pen & paper live game round! The characters of Finsterwacht will be brought to life before your eyes by the people behind the project. Follow Alea, Falk, Bernhard Hennen and Torsten Weitze as they master the challenges of game master Nikolai Hoch, the game editor for The Dark Eye at Ulisses.

Slight changes in the times can still occur.