Our Story

The Dark Return is an original fantasy world created by Michael Bielaczyc and Dane Clark Collins.

I have been plagued by weird dreams for as long as I can remember. Strange dreams of demons, fey, and other creatures. As I got older I began to write stories about them. these stories developed into what I named the Dark Return.

I get to explore, often as I drift off to sleep, this distant world of Uteria living just on the edge of dreams. These visions of other places are all collected here, a story that is constantly revealing itself to me. A story I am sharing with you.

-Michael

 

MICHAEL BIELACZYC BIO

Michael Bielaczyc has been working as a professional artist since 2002, in various media and subjects.

He has been selling and showing work since 1995, when he self published a comic book written and illustrated by himself. Going back to college at 25, he decided that art was going to be his main focus in life.

In 2001, he started his own art company, Aradani Studios, which is owned by both him and his brother. Together they have shown and worked in shows across America selling both their artwork and costuming. Michael has worked for such popular roleplaying franchises such as Dragonlance and Castlemourn, but his real passion is in his personal work. He works in mediums from oil paint to latex prosthetics, video to graphite. You can see much of his new work at www.aradani.com .

DANE CLARK COLLINS BIO

Dane Clark Collins has been an avid reader and gamer since he was a young boy. Attracted to the darker side of the fantastical, his influences range from Frank Herbert to Michael Moorcock. In his adult life he has studied philosophy and world religion and often incorporates both personal narrative and broad far reaching concepts into his writing.

He has also been a lifelong friend of Michael Bielaczyc and has helped him form his artistic ideas for the past twenty plus years.

He has contributed to the Tomb of Kochun, the first printed book based in Uteria, and is an active author and world designer on the Lone Wanderer Entertainment team.

 

Dark Return RPG

SHONN EVERETT BIO

Shonn has been a sci-fi and fantasy fan since childhood and began playing FRPGs around 1980 and has been writing campaigns and DM’ing for over 30 years. He wrote adventures and developed game materials, magic items, ships and monsters for TSR set in the Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, Spelljammer, and Ravenloft settings and is published in DUNGEON magazine and Encyclopedia Magica as well.  Shonn is a professional photographer and artist who studied watercolors under master watercolorist Laurie Whitehead, and oils under fantasy masters Larry Elmore, Boris Vallejo, and Julie Bell. By day, Shonn works at NASA in computer graphics, 3D modeling, animation, videography, and robotics. Shonn recently joined with Lone Wanderer Entertainment to help bring the Dark Return to life.