The Inner Circle was founded in 2001, but the seeds of the Inner Circle were sown many years prior. Chris and Jeff began work on Violet Dawn as a series of novels in 1995. D&D has always had a big influence on our creative process, and when Wizard’s released 3rd Edition as open content under the Open Game License, it seemed like a natural progression for Violet Dawn to take. The talents of Bob and Jason brought a new perspective to the project, and before long the Inner Circle was joined.
Those who know us well know that the journey has not been an easy one. We have all paid an enormous emotional debt to bring Violet Dawn to you. Our foremost desire is to stay true to the spirit of what we believe is a compelling dark fantasy setting that breaks the mold of traditional fantasy settings. We may not have the most prolific catalog of releases, but each product we release has been perfected down to the tiniest detail.
In the coming months the Inner Circle will release our first foray into 4th Edition, and we welcome you to join us on our travels as we look to the future of the RPG industry and beyond.
Jeffrey Visgaitis
Jeffrey is an artist and writer who has always had a deep love for fantasy and science fiction. As a child, he spent every waking hour drawing and creating characters and environments from his own stories and adventures. When his sister received Dungeons & Dragons as a Christmas present in the early 80s, he became even more enamored with fantasy and eventually decided to pursue art as a career.
Jeffrey graduated from a local community college with an A.S. in computer graphics and animation. In 2000, he and several of his closest friends founded the Inner Circle, a small publishing company. The Inner Circle’s acclaimed Violet Dawn product line has been nominated for several awards and was excerpted for a year’s best collection. Jeffrey continues to perfect Violet Dawn and add to the wealth of material that has been amassing for more than 10 years.
His influences include Frank Frazetta, Larry Elmore, Todd Lockwood, Robert E. Howard, R. A. Salvatore, Frank Herbert, and countless others.
Jeffrey lives near the Poconos in Northeast Pennsylvania with his wife and two daughters.
Bob Gallagher
Bob Gallagher uses his ability as an artist and sometimes writer to bring fantastic worlds to life.
He has done artwork for books, magazines and for web. One of the founding members of The Inner Circle, he is most proud of his work for the Violet Dawn product line. Where he has seen a basic story idea grow into a unique, ever evolving fantasy world.
Drawn to art at an early age by his love of comic books and fantasy. His influences include, Frank Miller, David Mazzuchelli, Jeff Easley, Frank Herbert, and Michael Moorcock, to name a few.
Bob lives a quiet life with his daughter in a small Pennsylvania
town.
C. D. Bennett
Chris is an author and aspiring screenwriter. Since childhood, he was drawn to scfi-fi and fantasy and dreamed of one day bringing a world of his own to life. In the summer of 1990, working on a cheap word-processor on a table in his backyard, Chris began his first steps into the world of Avadnu with a short story that before long spiralled into a torrent of material for an ever-evolving world.
Chris has tried his hand at many different genres from poetry to horror and everything in between, though fantasy has always been forthright in his mind.
The years since have been long and arduous, and to say that Avadnu has not felt the change would be an exaggeration. Change it did, but much for the better. With the forging of The Inner Circle in 2001, Chris found himself in the company of many gifted people, and Avadnu and the entire Violet Dawn tale as a whole is now a much more cohesive and compelling saga than ever.
His influences include Clive Barker, H. P. Lovecraft and R. A. Salvatore among many others. One of his favorite books has been The Inhuman Condition, though The Great and Secret Show ranks a close second.
Chris makes his home in a small Pennsylvania town near the Poconos.
Jason Rosenstock
Jason Rosenstock lives in New York City where he does his best to balance his time and energy between illustrating, pursuing a masters degree and working full time. He spends his free time jaunting around the world and getting into adventures.
Jason has been drawing since he was a child, and is constantly searching for ways to satiate his obsession with monsters. Though his work as an artist often takes him to strange places, it always leads him back to his first love - fantasy. HIs biggest influence is, without a doubt, Frank Frazetta. But his love for painting alien environments comes mostly from the way he looks at the world around him.
Jason latched onto the Violet Dawn project almost eight years ago and considers it his duty to help portray the visual reality of Avadnu. This other world provides the kind of real estate he needs to let his imagination loose.
