Greedy Fish

 

Once upon a time there was an evil fish. He loved to feed on the desires of man, especially greed. He would trick the beach goers with promises of treasure. All he told them was to walk to ankle deep waters and they would be able to reach the treasure. This particular beach, however, was prone to quick tide changes, so that if a person spent too much time in ankle deep water, they would end up in waist deep water and before they knew it, the rip tide would pull them far out into sea. The fish was successful in drowning everyone he had met so far, as it was easy to play with man’s greed.

One day a little girl skipped by the fish. The fish called out to her and caught her attention. She noticed the fish and ran to it.

The fish told her, “If you follow me into the water, I will show you where a magnificent treasure lies.”

The little girls asked the fish what a treasure was, as if she had learned a new word. Frustrated the fish explains to her what a treasure was, but by the time we was finished with his explanation, the little girl had lost interest, and had started digging into the damp sand with a nearby sandstone rock she found. The fish then decides that he would show her some coral reefs, telling her that they are toys.

He told the little girl “Stay here, I’ll show you what kind of treasures you can have.”  

She nodded her head in agreement. The fish came back shortly with many different kinds of coral and showed them to the girl.

The girl tilted her head when looking at them, then her eyebrows shot up and she smiled. She holds up the sandstone rock that she was holding and adds it to the fish’s collection of coral he had made.

The fish, frustrated, asks her, “Wouldn’t you want more of this treasure?”

The child had lost interest again and started digging into the sand again. The fish swam around in the shallow water, and wondered else to tempt her with. He noticed the small bright red bucket that she carried. He peered inside of it and noticed the many different shells that she collected, and watches her place a new shell she had been digging for into the bucket.

The fish quickly dove under water and retrieved the most beautiful shells that he could find. He arranged six of them on the beach in a semi-circle, pinned up behind him as if he were a vendor showing off his wares. The fish then called to the girl. The girl turned around and becomes delighted at the shells, glancing at them as they were brand new toys. She walked up to the fish and admired the shells.

The fish then tells her “If you take two steps behind me, you can find all of the shells you want.”

With that, the girl reaches into her bucket and pulls out a large, bright orange shell, and stands it up next to the other shells in his collection and smiles broadly.

The fish, aggravated now, figured that he could not lure this little girl in, and decided to give up. As he turned around to swim back to sea, he noticed how shallow the water had become. Worried, the fish swam as fast as he could, but ran into his line of shells, he quickly turned to the side to swim around them, but fell on his side instead, as the last remaining surf disappeared. The fish looked up at the hot sun, trying to catch his breath with the thin air around him. He felt his skin drying up, and his eyes glazing over in the hot sun. He looked around and noticed the girl, now very blurry, squatting beside him and staring at the fish. He could not let a single word out to the girl, as his mouth was completely dry. He wondered if the people he led into the sea had felt the same way. On his last gasp of air, he felt himself lifting into the air and into the light. With a splash he landed back into the cool ocean, his breath returning to him, and his vision clearing. He glanced back to the shore and saw the little girl waving at him. Around him he saw the shells he collected floating downwards, including the large orange shell that the little girl had given him.

Since then, there had not been a single drowning on that beach.

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Just some practice.

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Storyteller

Telling a story is one of the hardest things to do. Some people are naturals at it while some are not. I never thought as myself as one who could and I still don’t. When it comes to telling stories of my own personal life, I always feel like I fumble about, pulling bits and pieces of the story in strands that would make a tailor go crazy. Telling stories of the mind comes easier, with practice it becomes clearer.

A lot of my story telling begins as imagination while i’m busy with another task. Sailing through the world while sitting in an office chair can easily be distracting, but that’s how it starts. Usually they end there too, unless I take the time to paste it on to a sheet of paper, and then that’s when it starts to take shape. It starts off as a blob, a piece of clay that resembles some crude beauty and slowly, i’d whittle it down to something coherent. Usually that’s where it ends, I leave it open ended and prepare it for a D&D session.

I think I’d want to take the time to start sculpting it into something beautiful. To do that, though, I need to practice. Just like all things in life, the more you do the better you become, and that is a great reason to do things.

 

 

Roll for Imagination

I always have had an overactive imagination. I don’t remember when it started but ever since I was a child I would daydream. I guess every child daydreams, the difference is when that child would stop.

I wouldn’t just pretend to be some hero, I would invent an entire world that fit the idea. Inspiration came from everywhere. From my favorite movies ,video games and especially books.

I’ve always appreciated the power of books. It taught me storytelling. It fed my imagination like treasure for a dragon. It let my imagination run wild, free, and untamed. I imagined the bluest of skies swirling with dancing clouds. It let me think about the darkest of dungeons and the unseen shadows that stalked its edges.

D&D let me put this power to use. It let me knit together ideas, stories, and themes. I was able to be free and just imagine, and better yet, I was able to share these worlds with my friends, to let them free into something that I had created. I made characters up on the spot, created lasting personalities, and crafted drama out of thin air. And I was good at it.

Inspiration would strike at the strangest times. Driving to work, sitting in a meeting, in the middle of playing a video game. Half of it would be forgotten, great ideas gone, because I didn’t record the thought. Other times they would stick with me, attach on to my everyday life, like a magic cape, billowing in the stresses of the day.

Telling a story is one of the hardest things to do. Some people are naturals at it and some are not. I never thought as myself as one who could. I would like to use part of this blog to write, and to practice this skill., to expand my imagination and explore the depths of writing.

 

Zaedriel

Preface: I’m using this blog to practice my writing, so I want to try and write the recap with a storyteller style. This is a backstory i wrote for a character I want to play.

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Zae slaps the trainee’s sword out of his hand with a quick parry.

      Zae laughs, “That’s enough for today.” Cal turns around and heads back into the quarters. He’s good, but needs more experience, Zae thinks.

Zaedriel, the head of the Aubade, Queen Azure’s elite guard, oversees recruitment and training of her special protection team. He had been with her since they were children as he was born into the role and the queen considers him her best friend.

He scowls as he sees the council’s attendant cross the courtyard to him. It was a bright sunny day, with an overcast quickly approaching him. Out of breath, Tarek stops and stands at attention.

      “At ease Tarek, what is it?” Zae asks.

      “Council’s requesting your presence at the inner meeting this afternoon. General Arloc is specifically requesting your plan for escorting the Lady through the Fey Wilds.”

      Zae sighs. Why would the council need that?

      “Alright, I’ll be there, this is my official response,” he says, “and Tarek, breath once in awhile”.

The portly elf grins, nods and runs off.

Entering the queen’s hall, Zae lets out a breath as he looks upon her. He had fallen for her a long time ago and she still took his breath away.

      “Zae! Are you done with your training today?” she asks as she crosses the hall to him.

      “Yes” he replies “I’ve been requested at the inner meeting.”

      She frowns. “Boring. Try not to fall asleep on your feet. And return quickly to me, my champion.”

The Inner Council is the light kingdom’s governing body. They enforce the laws and lead the people with a lawful, balanced hand. The queen fits in as more of a public figure then being involved with anything political, however, she does have the ability to sway the public support, as she is revered and loved by the people. The Aubade keeps her safe from any outside influences.

Leaving the Inner meeting Zae gets a strange feeling in his gut. They had asked about a routine trip into the Fey, something the queen does quite frequently. Is this part of the storm that he’s expecting?

      “I love this part of the forest,” Queen Azure says, “reminds me of winter.”

      “It just seems cold to me.” Zae says.

      “You have no imagination, Zae, you think everything is plotting something.” she says.

      “Well, it’s mostly true. I always follow my instincts.” He says.

      “Yeah and that’s your problem.” She says.

Zae always enjoyed these trips. Serving and protecting her and what she stood for seems like a great life. He wondered how long it would last.

      “Sir, the way ahead seems clear,” Col says as he approaches the queen’s carriage.

      “But I did notice these things in the air.” He holds out his hand and shows black feathers in his palm.

Zae scowls “These are…”

The hiss of an arrow cuts through the calm air and the sound of pain from behind as one of his men goes down.

      “Get down!” he yells, “Ambush!”

His men scrambles into formation, but before they could a bright light flies from the forest and strikes the middle of his small band of protectors. Fire explodes and consumes half his men as others are thrown through the air.

      A wizard in the Fey Wilds?

      Magic, though common in the Fey is usually natural and not in a controlled manner, especially not enough to be made into a fireball. Only a trained magic user could pull off the feat. They were definitely getting ambushed and he had only brought a small handful of men with him on this trip.

      “Az, my love, I’m sorry, I need to send you off. Remember what I taught you.” He pulls out a scroll from his bag, a scroll of teleport he had made.

      “Zae, you’ll return to me,” he had expected to see fear in her eyes, but instead he saw fiery passion. “And when you do, they will pay the price.” She kisses him as the spell scroll activates and she fades away.

      “Now,” Zae says as he draws his sword, “Let us see who’s behind this.” He disappears in a cloud of mist.

He reappears in the forest through another cloud. An arrow whips past his ear as he runs forwards. He quickly ducks as another arrow wizzes by and he flicks his sword in an arc to cut down the bowman. Another arrow flies past him on his right. He can hear the sound of his men in battle on the trail he left. Zae darts into the brush and flanks an attacker. Blades flash and Zae easily parries a dagger offered to him and he sinks his sword under the rib cage of his opponent. He rolls over the elf and prepares a firebolt cantrip in his mind and hurls it forward has he flips over the dying elf. It flies ahead of him, striking another in the brush and he rushes in to finish him off with his sword, right through his liver.

      “Enough!” a booming voice thunders through the forest. “If you like your men alive, then come out.”

      Zae pulls his sword free and curses. Why were they targeting the queen’s regiment? Who was behind this? He walks out of the brush.

      Captain Eoren grins. “I’ve always envied you, Zaedriel, always taking advantage of the queen’s kindness. At least now she’ll be mine.” He says.

      Zae doesn’t reply. He sees almost half a regiment and guesses the other half in the surrounding woods. His remaining men were rounded up in the middle of the trail. Cal stares knowingly at Zae.

      Zae had expected this. His network had provided him with information about a rising political shift, he just didn’t know who was targeted, or what was planned. But he did have time to prepare. And now he knew the Queen’s regiment was being targeted.

      “Captain Eoren” Zae says, “Who’s holding your leash, I wonder. I didn’t pen you as the type to take orders.”

      “It’s not orders if you had a hand in planning the extermination.”

      Ah, thought Zae, there are others. Only half of Zae’s expertise included protection, the other was information gathering.

      “I’m sure the Inner Council reveres your role, Captain.” Zae muses, “A dog at the dinner tables is still a dog.”

      “You know nothing. I don’t give a gob’s ass about the IC, I have bigger plans. Now tell me where your beloved queen is or you and your men will be dead.” He brings his sword up to Cal’s neck.

      “Fine, I have the return spell in my bag.” Zae starts reaching into his bag.

      “Stop.” Eoren says, “I know your tricks.”

      Zae sighs and holds his hands up.

      Eoren motions a soldier next to Zae.

“You. Grab it,” he orders.

      The soldier reaches into the bag and gives a confused expression, and his arm starts shaking violently, followed by his entire body. The shocking grasp on his bag activated.

      Zae pulls his other hand free and brings out his ace. Literally pulling a deck of cards from his bag he flicks them one by one to each of his men’s feet and lastly his. He sings out an incantation and six dimensional doors grow from his cards.

      “Go!” Zae shouts as he falls into his door. At the last second he sees Eoren’s blade sink into Cal’s back.

“No Ca-,” he yells and he falls.

Zae’s plan was to scatter the Aubades. He had figured if things started to point against the Queen then there would be nothing that he or his regiment could accomplish on their own and that they would need go into hiding. The dimensional door spell would send them to random locations around the world, except for the Queen, who was sent to a secure location. All of his members were given a card and once it was activated, they would all activate at the same time.

 

It has been a year since the incident and Zae has been taking random mercenary work in the realms, and trying to find out more information about what happened. He, however, is very far from home and can only communicate through magical means, if at all.  

 

Zephyr Nation

Preface: I’m using this blog to practice my writing, so I want to try and write the recap with a storyteller style. This is a recap of one of my D&D sessions.

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The Ride

The Wreckers, a diverse party consisting of a dwarf, A dragonborn, two humans, a tiefling, a goliath, a seafolk and a cat person. They had just completed their journey through the cursed lands of Ravenloft and now they are figuring out where to go next.

Elessar, their wizard friend, had suggested that they travel to Zephyr Nation to help establish a main base for their new mission, which is to defeat the dark powers that they had helped smuggled out of Ravenloft, the cursed realm. A story worth telling another time, they had agreed to terms that they had not understood completely to gain some much needed power and now must pay the price of the unwritten contract. They agreed to his suggestion and he proceeded to shoot a magical flare into the sky, only stating that they needed a ride.

Wind rustles the forest trees around the party as they wait impatiently, Elessar usually doesn’t bother with explaining the details of any of his ladened plans. After a while the ground suddenly goes dark around them from a looming shadow. They can hear the sound of flapping in the wind, like a dragon’s wings beating against the air. They look up and they see an unfamiliar sight, a ship bursting through the clouds above them, splashing off the blue skies. The large wooden ship is flying low, soaring right above the tree line. Three figures jump off of the ship as it passes with opened parachutes and descend like feathers from a bird. They land and immediately go to their knees, head bowed, with one arm across their chest.

They say “Captain Elessar, we are here to receive you.”

Elessar rolls his eyes as he returns a half-hearted salute.

The Adventuring Party

Gathering the players to start was like assembling the Avengers. I called, texted and messaged my best friends to see if they would be interested in playing. I was met with excitement, aversion, and hesitance.

The first person I asked was my friend Jeff. I’d known him since middle school and his answer was of reluctance. (“A role playing game? I guess…”) I said just one, one game and if you dislike it, we’ll stop. The next person I asked was John, my best friend and brother.He agreed quickly, after some convincing, he’s always up for anything. His brother, Jesse, was the one that brought me into his D&D session so he was up for it, however, he had his doubts about me Dungeon Mastering(DMing) so soon after playing my first game. He told me that it was a hard and difficult thing to do, and that I should get a bit more experience before running it. I agreed. But I was infatuated.

Next was my friend Bobin. I called him and he said, “I have been waiting my whole life for this phone call.” And there we go, an adventuring party assembled.

I had gathered the materials for playing; the rule book, character sheets, the first published adventure: Lost Mine of Phandelver, a bunch of dice and my excitement.

What happened that day, was magic. I stumbled and struggled trying my best to lead the players through the narrative. We got through a difficult beginning, and we were hooked. I didn’t have time to wonder how I did, since we were so busy scheduling the next session. Bobin had brought his brother with him, and at first he wasn’t approving of the game, at the end of the evening, he asked me for a character sheet.

I knew that I had found something magical.

 

 

Dungeons and Dragons

Beginnings are always the hardest part. Following that is staying on the journey. The first and second proverbial steps, at least for me. I only have a small list of things that I have started and continued doing, in a long list of past hobbies. Dungeons and Dragons is one of them, and I have been thinking about writing a blog about it.

When I first began my adventure, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. That is what makes the best kind of adventures isn’t it? It wouldn’t be an adventure if you knew exactly what you were getting into, now would it? It would take only one game, one session with mostly strangers to hook me into the realm of fantasy role playing games.

I had heard about D&D and I’d always wondered what it was. I remember finding a rule book when I was younger and trying to figure out what video game guide I had just found. At the time I couldn’t even comprehend a role playing game. Like what, I had to play this game using my imagination? It seemed ridiculous to me as I went outside, picked up a stick and pretended to slay undead zombies. Crazy indeed.

Fast forward a few years and I’m in my mid twenties, with time to spare, and one of my friends invited me to his D&D session, and how could I resist? I felt like a kid going into his first amusement park, nervous and excited at the same time. The 5 hour session flew by in a rush of excitement and wonder, and I came out of the DM’s apartment with a wide grin craving for more. He had crafted stories, and described wonders that couldn’t exist, and had us fight off evil. It was like a fantasy wonderland. He made it seem so easy, guiding us through his imagination, crafting enemies, and illuminating fresh threats. Our party navigated through it all, hacking slashing and wooing the characters he spun at us. It was magnificent. The boundaries limitless. He had created a living, breathing world, filled with unique characters, and he let us loose into it. He described our senses, our desires and thoughts, he was the narrator of a shared world. It seemed impossible, overwhelming.

 

I remember thinking, “I could do this.”