If you elected to receive communications from Ubisoft, the second edition of the Chronicles of Ashan should be in your inbox right now. It includes an article about The Skull of Shadows (written by Jeff Spock and Erwan Le Breton), an update on the Hammers of Fate fan manual, background information about the "Red Haven", Heroes of Might and Magic V wallpapers and a report on Nival Interactive. Also, our own Myythryyn answers a few questions about mapmaking:

"Making a map can be compared to painting a picture. Except you don’t use paint, you use objects and terrain. With the terra morphing of the editor and the multitude of objects, I do find inspiration just from the editor itself. I also find ideas for maps from the lore of the [Heroes] universe. For the map Playground of the Gods, I used information from the Celestial Heavens website to create the dragon gods and to provide background information about the races. The Daughter of Sylanna provided me with the idea for the Fury of the Elements map. And for the map I’m currently making, the Undead Converter becomes a plot mechanism and an inspiration for story telling."

If for some reason you did not receive the newsletter (the December issue never reached my inbox), you can view it online (thanks addicted).