Foster Fenbattle sat on his horse and studied the rich river valley below. From where he sat on the slopes of the Gargano Mountains in southeastern Forkanza he could see plainly the amassing armies of the Torkan Caliphates and the ships of their corsair allies that had ferried them here. For months the tension had … Continue reading Power in Prayer
An End to the Writing. For Now.
Next week will signal the final chapter in "The Gopher King" and that in turn will bring about a close to the weekly literary updates in my "nerd fiction." More and more of my time is being consumed with working on the detailed minutiae of the Dungeons & Dragons campaign and I have found less … Continue reading An End to the Writing. For Now.
The Gopher King: Chapter 32
Malindra’s excitement grew as she descended the final flight of gently curving stairs. “There it is!” she cackled as she pointed to a set of huge iron double doors. “Behind there are the larvae!” The night hag fairly sprinted for the doors. Her monstrous hands worked with amazing speed and soon the latches and locks … Continue reading The Gopher King: Chapter 32
Your Mission, if You Choose to Accept it
Yeitic Morte was a busy man these days. For the last several weeks he had been puzzling over a conundrum that had been presented to him by a distant relation to a foreign prince. This in and of itself was not really that unique or interesting. Yeitic spent a lot of his time puzzling over … Continue reading Your Mission, if You Choose to Accept it
Don’t Judge Me…
Ok so yesterday's game involved nearly a dozen Non-player Characters getting killed and nearly everyone else in the group nearly dying in a Spelljamming vessel crash. The fun part was that all of the deceased were children. Orphans, to be precise. In the course of a game I actually went ahead and incinerated orphans. I … Continue reading Don’t Judge Me…
The Gopher King: Chapter 31
The hobgoblins continued to do their work for Malindra in between their own packing and preparations for departure from Maelonbourg. They maintained their pickets along the borders and kept watch over the actions of the orcs in the north. They alerted Malindra to the crossing of the troublemakers from Chute de L’Ombre into the barren, … Continue reading The Gopher King: Chapter 31
Whenever Things go too Well You Know There is a Catch
Dungeons and Dragons is by my estimation the most entertaining way to waste a person's time. Unlike any video or computer game the options are essentially unlimited for what the players can or will do. Of course this means that the Game Master also has more options than they can reasonably be expected to react … Continue reading Whenever Things go too Well You Know There is a Catch
The Gopher King: Chapter 30
The wheels of progress moved slowly in the days and weeks that followed. The Viceroy kept a close eye on everything that transpired by keeping on the move constantly and using every scrying spell he had access to. True to Malindra’s predictions the Fanolanians were gathering an army to move into Maelonbourg to restore some … Continue reading The Gopher King: Chapter 30
Who Do You Trust in This Game?
There is a tendency for players in Dungeons & Dragons to be taken wholly by surprise when a Game Master begins to reveal subtleties about their Non-Player Characters. These are NPCs that the players have been dealing with for months or even years, but the players have never taken the time to deeply delve into … Continue reading Who Do You Trust in This Game?
The Gopher King: Chapter 29
The Viceroy teleported back to his tower room in Malindra’s rundown manor house and sat in his chair for a few hours to rest his mind. The spells he had just cast to transform Druuna from a dragon to a dracolich had weakened him in a manner that made him uncomfortable. He could still wreck … Continue reading The Gopher King: Chapter 29
