Short Summary
The Abyssal Tournament of Champions has begun. Achilles has proven himself worthy of his place through his clash with the first hero Gilgamesh! However, Achilles' return to peace has been stalled as Hades makes an offer he just can't refuse. He now joins the ranks of the Champions of Hades alongside Theseus, slayer of the Minotaur, and Herakles, the mighty hero who conquered the 12 labors. Together they will fight to win this tournament, and their next opponent is a foe that has yet to be defeated in the arena.... the champion of Egyptian Lord of the Dead, Osiris.
Victory is the only way forward and the stakes are higher than any of the heroes realize! Welcome to the Pyramid Gambit!
54 pages of story and a Character Glossary in the book!
Story: Michael Oden
Art: Marcelo Oliveira Costa
Lettering: Es Kay
Editor: Katrina Roets
Main Cover by Marcelo Oliveira Costa:
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What We Need & What You Get
We need your support to make this dream continue. We had a successful funding on our Zero issue of almost $9,000 USD. But for this book we aim to go even further, while we have a much lower stretch goal so we can hit In DEMAND sooner, we are hoping to breach 10k and maybe even hit 20k if possible! To aid in this process we have MANY different perks for this book and have established stretch Goals.
For the main book you will get a squarbound graphic novel with around 60 pages of story as well as a character glossary to give the reader context and information about all the champions in our story! There are 5 Variant Covers of the main book to give plenty of variety and choice to our readers.
Art Preview Lettered by Es Kay
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The Dragon Guard Variant by Kevin Sharpe and Alonso Espinoza (Art Team for The Dragon Guard on INDIEGOGO)
Inks:
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Creator Variant by Michael Oden and Marcelo Oliveira Costa
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A limited 100 copy print Hardcover (cover art done by the talented Scott Rosema) that collects the Zero issue AND The Pyramid Gambit. This book also includes an art gallery of all character concepts, covers, and pinup art between the Zero issue and Pyramid Gambitt and will be signed by me.
Scott Rosema Deluxe Edition Cover:
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Tedd Lehman and Farah Nurmaliza Support Our Troops Variant
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Justin Hunt Pin Up:
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(Final Will be Colored by Alonso Espinoza)
Joe Tolliver Mailing List Exclusive Pin Up:
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Luke Stone Trading Cards:
Unlocked by Stretchgoal 2!
Retailer Perk Have the Liberty Guarantee!
9 Realms Publishing values the Retailers that are willing to invest in ourproducts and as such we value them just as any individual customer. It is because of this that we wanted to make sure we found a way to make sure that those Retailers that support us get their books with extra care taken to ensure they are safe. Enter Liberty Distribution! We are excited to announce that all our distribution to retailers will be handled by Liberty Distribution, an up and coming distributor that uses a specialized mailer to ensure high volume books make it to the retailers with extra care and damage free!
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CLICK ME TO KNOW MORE!
www.ledg.us
Stretchgoals:
-Fully Funded (2,000): Every copy of Elysian Fields: The Pyramid Gambit will be signed by me, the humble creator of Elysian Fields!
-March to 10k (5,000): Trading Cards with art drawn by the fantastic Luke Stone will come with each basic tier of the book!
- Surpassing the Zero Issue (10,000): Mark of Hades Sticker for all backers!
-The Story Endures (20,000): 10 additional pages of story will be added to Pyramid Gambit!
-30k ?????????
-40k ?????????
-50k ?????????
Additionally, as we did with the Zero issue, 20 copies of the main cover book will be donated to the Special Forces Warrior Clinic at Walter Reed Hospital.
The Impact
Elysian Fields is more than just a book at this point, it's a statement of change. That the industry is becoming a place where the fans of these books no longer have to be ignored by the Big 2 and instead of having their criticisms ignored, they can instead strike out on their own and make a book that appeals to themselves and other likeminded fans. There is a dire need of Escapism in the world right now, a break from all the misery and darkness, an escape to a world of heroes that preservere and the rules of reality need not apply. This is what is at the heart of Elysian Fields, a fantasy for its readers to escape to and enjoy as mythic legends clash in a grand, epic scale!
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The impact we have is going beyond the industry, however. While we eventually added a Support Our Troops tier to the Zero Issue Campaign, we did so late in the game and so sadly we were not able to do much in that regard. However, we are thrilled to announce our partnership for this campaign in The Special Forces Charitable Trust. This brilliant organization provides relief to not only the veterans of this very elite communtiy, but their families as well. To help them in their mission we will be donating $10/ sale of any Support our Troops Package or The Whole Enchilada tiers, along with the wholesale of the Justin Hunt Original Art for his pinup to The Special Forces Charitable Trust.
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CLICK ME TO KNOW MORE!
https://www.specialforcescharitabletrust.org/
Risks & Challenges
The biggest risk is not raising the money needed to move forward, I want to keep making this book, but if the support isn't there than the consumer has chosen. We hope to continue Elysian Fields as long as possible, but that cannot be done without your support. So let's make Elysian Fields the success I know it can be together!
Other Ways You Can Help
I realize that the times are trying for a great deal of people, so If you're looking for ways to help then please share around! I have listed below some great places to share the campaign:
-Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram... you name it the platform of Social Media is the most efficient form of marketing to spread the word. Posting the campaign in Comic Related groups, or as your status and tagging people potentially interested would be greatly appreciated.
-YouTube: There are lots of Comic Reviewers on Youtube, repeatedly posting the campaign in the comments on Comic Reviewers Youtube increases our footprint and could potentially sway some of these Youtubers to look our direction and put a spotlight on us!
Thanks for checking us out and I hope to see everyone on our contribution list!