Big Move

Despite my best intentions, I haven't had the opportunity to update my blog for a while. The reason being, we made a huge move.

We now live in Austin, Texas. I work for KingsIsle Entertainment as a Lead Designer on  Wizard101. I can't tell you how exciting this is. Ever since I started making games professionally, I've wanted to be working on a role-playing game. And now I get to work on a great one.

The move to Austin was a huge move. We're getting settled in, and I'm working on getting into a new routine both at work and at home. It may be a little rocky for a while, but I promise I'll start posting more stuff here in the near future. I have several more short stories to post, and I mean to start writing again.

Short Story 003 - Terra Immortalis Story - The Order of the Kirisau

Another of the short stories I wrote for my role-playing game Terra Immortalis.

The Order of the Kirisau

His eyes travelled to the gray Mantii above the roaring fire. Its carapace was flawless, a shining chitinous armor that danced with the reflected orange glow of the flames crackling beneath it. The thing must have stood as tall as a man, but twice as long. The razor-edged serrations along its forearms gleamed in the firelight. Its compound eyes stared out in a shivering gaze perfectly preserved in its death.

How had Dolomy done it? Staloph wondered, taking another swallow of the rich ale in his stein.

The renowned knight Dolomy had travelled into the lands south of Redclaw, into the daunting territory of the Mantii, where few if any ever returned to tell the tale. The Mantii were rumored to possess but one mind among their race, and they all knew what each experienced. Yet the knight from the Order of the Kirisau had returned with his trophy. Intact. No indication of sword-mark or arrow having penetrated the creature's armored exoskeleton.

How am I to top that? the young man wondered further. How am I to top any one of dozens of similar feats?

He turned his back to the flames roaring in the hearth and looked out over the grand Hall of the Kirisau, the home of his order here in the land of Fauna. It was an impressive structure, both inside and out. The only windows lined the very tops of the walls, allowing ample wall space for the vast arrays of trophies and tokens. It was still fairly dark, as the sun had risen but a short time ago, and the day was barely beginning. Only the fire in the massive hearth cast sufficient light by which to see. There was still a bit of a haze from the previous evening’s pipe smoke, for the farewell party, and the spiced smell of Jade tobacco still lingered. The scent added a bit of mystery to one of the city's most beautiful and imposing buildings. It was a hall of great renown throughout the East. The Kirisau were the best of the Monster Slayers in the entirety of Charon. And he was their youngest member.

A small smile played across Staloph's mouth as he looked at the head over the entranceway. A lavender-scaled head of a Kirisau gazed back at him, fearsome and formidable, even in death. That was his father's greatest trophy. His father, the mighty and renowned Stanol, whose exploits were lavishly recounted in numerous volumes of the order's history. The shelves of accounts and tales lined the walls of the room, below the order's many trophies.

Staloph gazed at the Kraa battle standards (some of them his own, how he had gained entrance into the order), the stuffed Grotterlings, the tail of a Crichter, a maw from a young Gnawer, mounted heads, stuffed bodies, weapons and shields from numerous foe. And their greatest trophy of all, the great Kirisau skull seated over the Hallmaster's throne. Three men could hardly lift the relic. He shivered at the thought that such fearsome creatures had ever roamed the land he knew.

If he had been any other member of the order, he would have felt that he had earned his place among this elite of elites, this order of knights. His conquests against the war bands of the Kraa were no small feat. But he wasn't any other member. He was the son of Stanol, one of the greatest among them. And though none of the other knights would say it directly, he saw in the eyes of many who felt that his father's merits had contributed greatly to Staloph’s acceptance into the order. He knew it was foolish to think so, but he had to prove himself, to step out from under his father's shadow. For that, the farewell party had been thrown.

The outer door opened and another entered.

"Greetings, young knight," the deep voice echoed through the stillness of the room. It issued from the throat of an imposing Barol, outfitted in Charon Half-Plate Armor adorned with sigils and crests. Black leather creaked beneath the high-polished metal plates, and his claws clicked across the tile floor.

"Good morn, Garilus," Staloph greeting, a genuine smile on his lips. "I take it you are to join me after all?"

The Barol nodded, a smile also tugging at his normally stern visage. Garilus stood a full head taller than the young human, who was not small himself. Garilus was one of the order's most loved members. The Barol, it seemed, had seen most of the surface of Charon during his years. He was one of the older members of the order, having been in these halls for nearly forty years. His tan fur was graying slightly, contrasting with the bright maroons and teals of his fur-dyed tattoos. But, at times, it was Garilus's gaze that brought him the most attention. Many claimed that his eyes had seen much more than his years could account.

Staloph was one of the few in the Barol's lifetime who knew exactly how old the knight was. Garilus was Immortal, and the young human knew the knight had seen nearly four centuries pass.

"The preparations are almost complete, my friend. We will be able to depart within the hour." He paused, and his deep voice grew a little softer. "You know that no one would fault you if we were to change our itinerary. There are other expeditions we could undertake."

The same argument, but he also knew that Garilus didn't really expect him to change his mind. A nod and a small smile were his only answer. They stood in silence for a few moments, lost in their thoughts.

Staloph knew that Garilus was not only one of the Kirisau's more accomplished knights, he was also a member of the legendary Order of Catompic, an order of knights who were all Immortal. The fact that Garilus had revealed his secret to the young man only emphasized his esteem of Staloph's character. Most Immortals lived in fear that their nature would be revealed. When found, many Immortals were killed. Superstitions and folklore contended that they sucked the life away from those around them, but Staloph knew the fallacy of all this. And if the Immortal were to perhaps leech away a few days of his life's expectancy, it was a small price to pay for the pleasure of his company.

A log popped in the hearth, the blaze intensifying suddenly before sinking down once again to its comforting warmth. Garilus stretched his clawed hands out towards the fire, warming the hands that had seen nearly so many years of battle and exploration.

"Your father is very proud of you, you know," Garilus said. "I'm sure he won't tell you himself, but he relayed it to me. He thinks that, in the years to come, his name will be eclipsed by your own, and he will no longer be known as a great knight, but as the man that trained you in your youth."

Staloph snorted. "You have no need of flattery, Garilus. I have few reservations of our expedition."

Garilus looked at the young man seriously. The raven-black hair and equally dark eyes were a mirror of Stanol's own. The young man was even beginning to gray at the temples, exactly as his father had thirty years earlier. And the resemblance went beyond facial features. Stanol was a man of integrity and courage, one of a rare breed upon whom one could place their trust. Hard found in a world where most concentrated solely upon survival.

"You should, my friend. This is no light undertaking we're on." And that was the truth. They were to meet a party of ten strong from the Knighthood Order of the Cordovans, in Smierthin. From there, they were to go towards Moonfall. No one else, from either order of knights, nor from the Order of Catompic, had returned from such an expedition. "Your father himself charged me to look after you. He is terribly concerned for your safety."

Staloph snorted again, disbelieving, but the Barol continued. "He told me he wished his accomplishments hadn't been so grand, for your burden is now that much greater."

The man looked at the Immortal knight beside him, trying to determine his motives. Finally, he smiled and placed his arm on the Barol's shoulder and placed his empty stein upon a table near the fire. "Let us go, Garilus. We have much ahead of us. And you will not have much need to watch over me. My father taught me well enough. As I recall, it was I who saved you from the Kraa war chieftain."

"What?" Garilus cried indignantly. "Saved me..?"

"We must be off, my old friend. Are you sure your old bones can manage the trip?"

"Now you go too far," the Barol grumbled, adjusting the sword at his hip as he followed Staloph outside. "Old bones indeed. You'll be happy to have these old bones along once we get near Moonfall."

Staloph's laughter echoed behind them as they left, ringing in the hall among the trophies after the door had shut.

What I'm Playing

I thought I'd just mention a few of the games I'm currently playing. Surprisingly, the majority of my game-playing is on my iPod recently. In no meaningful order, here they are:

Ninja Fishing

This game is great to kill a few minutes at a time. The kids loved to play it too. Simple to play, fun, the art style is great. I definitely got my dollar's worth out of the game.

CityVille Hometown

Ah, CityVille. I successfully quit playing the Facebook version of the game. The relentless spamming to add friends, buy energy, etc. was too much to enjoy. The iOS app is much more enjoyable. It's a shorter experience, for sure. I wish I could just buy the game in order to get more energy at my disposal, but at least I'm not hit over the head with being asked to buy more. And I spend some time on this one every day, so it can't be too bad.

Doodle God

I wish I could tell you why I love this game so much. It is literally nothing more than tapping two icons to mix them together to make something new. But the combinations are fun, the pacing is great, and I think it just completes some happy part of my OCD-ness that makes me want to find all those combinations.

Ascension

I love the physical card game of Ascension, and this is a decent port of the game to the iOS system. It definitely could use wifi multiplayer, especially given how much it costs, but I'll play a couple games before going to bed at night.

Tomb Raider Legend

Xbox 360.

I made a goal to play through some of my unplayed games before buying any new ones. And I have a lot of unplayed games. I tried Resident Evil 5 for about an hour and gave up. Then I pulled this one out of the pile. There are definitely a few things I have problems with, but I'm really having fun playing this.

Funny side note: I used to have Tomb Raider dreams back when the first one came out. Now, most guys, saying they have Tomb Raider dreams probably means dreams about intimate explorations with Lara. My dreams were nothing like that. Really! I had dreams that my entire world was divided up into 10x10 grids, I would walk 2 strides per grid, it was all about how the space was built. Sigh.

Red Dead Redemption

Xbox 360.

I do love this game, but I've started it about 3 times and never finished. I get distracted just riding the horse around (which is funny, because that is one of my least favorite things to do in real life). When I would get a few spare moments at work, I would occasionally fire this up and do a mission or two.

But... my save file is at my old work, on a different gamertag. So if I want to continue, I'll have to start over. Again. For any other game I probably wouldn't bother, but I doubt I'll be able to resist the lure of the Old West much longer!

Short Story 002 - Terra Immortalis Story - The Decision

This is a second short story based in the world of Charon, the world setting for my game Terra Immortalis. Again, the intent with these stories was to provide a little introduction to the world, motivations and characters that players could use in their own adventures. Here, a local ruler is presented with a devil's bargain.


The Decision


Dorimor stared out the window, lost in thought. He looked at the peace that reigned in the squalor of his city -- the peace during daylight hours at least. He was the leader of this community. He held the title of Baron, though in Riepirth that didn’t amount to much: enough of an income to keep himself in food through the year, and entertain any nobility that might happen to get stranded in the area, and the responsibility for several dozen villagers and farmers in addition to those hundreds huddled together in the town.

“How many were killed last night?” he asked the deputy at his side.

The Baron returned his attention to his office. It sat in the lone tower of the keep overlooking Ptolem, a small rural community in Riepirth. His town was as poor as any in the country, but he honestly strived to improve the quality of life for his townspeople. The fact that people were being killed was extremely distressing to him.

“Four, milord,” the deputy said. “Four were killed.”

Dorimor sighed wearily and sat in his oaken chair. The chair was the only luxury he afforded himself. He had heard of other Barons who used their people’s taxes to buy themselves riches, but he had not the conscience for it. His keep was minimally staffed, the walls bare though sound, and all his coffers were used for only the most essential necessities.

He dared not turn to the Carpathian moneybrokers for aid. Riepirth hadn’t fought for its independence only to buy back their servitude. The community could get by, the crops they harvested and the livestock they raised would eventually earn them enough to make them financially stable again.

If they lived that long.

The deputy continued, “There were reported sightings of Shadow Grifters, milord. Within the city walls. One of our guards was killed trying to defend a citizen.”

“Hitmur’s Whims,” Dorimor swore. They only had a garrison of six men to guard the town, and all of them were irreplaceable. But without the money to hire Seekers, there was little they could do. The only Seeker the town had been assigned, a kind man evidently at odds with his own order to have been assigned a town of such little consequence, had disappeared two nights past. Dorimor had appealed to the King, but help would not be soon in coming. Ptolem was not of strategic importance in the realm.

“The Peddler, he is still here?” Dorimor asked.

The deputy grimaced distastefully. “Aye, milord.”

The Baron paused, not wanting to speak these next words but not seeing any alternative. “Send him in.”

The deputy made as if he would object, but bowed to his lord’s wishes. He left the room.

The Peddler. A bitter taste came to the Baron’s mouth. The Peddler, as the man called himself, had arrived in Ptolem about three weeks after the creatures first started plaguing the town. During the night, Grifters and other creatures Tainted by the Corruption had appeared within the walls, killing and abducting citizens. The guards had been powerless to combat them. For every creature they managed to kill, two or three more would take their place. But this Peddler... he claimed to have the solution to their problems.

The mysterious man entered the room, trailed by the suspicious deputy. Truthfully, the man did little to inspire confidence. His complexion was deathly pale, his body cadaverously thin. His eyes had dark circles beneath them and they bulged with a sort of maniac gleam. The sunlight glared off of his bald head, but the rest of the light seemed absorbed by his dark, raggedy clothing. The sleeves hung in tatters down to his wrists, a threadbare cloak obscured the bags and pouches about his body. He leered at the two men in the room, chuckling to himself and breathing heavily.

Dorimor reacted with a start. He detected the Corruption oozing off of this man. Before having assumed the rank of Baron, Dorimor had given a try at becoming a Seeker. He left the guild at the death of his father, when he had to assume the role of leadership for Ptolem. But he had learned some of the basic Seeker Manipulations and senses.

“Milord,” the Peddler greeted, his voice a wheeze of breath that seemed to slide around the ears.

“You claim you can rid us of these creatures attacking our town,” Dorimor said. Is was not a question.

“Of course, milord. I will free you from your fears of the night.”

Dorimor sat silently, regarding the figure before him. His senses were telling him that he should not, could not trust this man.

“Are you a Seeker?” the Baron asked, knowing the man was not.

“No, milord, nothing so noble as that. But my talents lie along similar lines. I can guarantee you protection from these things.”

Dorimor nodded. He glanced at some of the items about the Peddler’s waist, causing the man to pull his cloak tighter about him.

“What would you charge for your... services?”

“Ah, milord,” the Peddler whispered, bowing humbly. “If I wanted riches, I certainly would not have come here.”

Dorimor smiled indulgently.

“I came here out of your need. My only wish is to save the lives of your people. I wish only the cost of putting modest food on my table, and a roof over my head, for the duration of my stay.”

“A modest price,” murmured the Baron.

“I am a modest man, milord.”

“How long would you expect your services to take, sir?”

The Peddler shrugged, a calculated smile on his lips. “I cannot say for certain, milord. Services of this nature can be somewhat... complex.”

Dorimor nodded and rose. “I see. My deputy will see you to our commons, where you can receive a meal. I will get back to you this evening with my decision.”

The Peddler bowed and followed the deputy out of the room. The deputy looked back at his lord, urging caution with his gaze.

The Baron settled back into his chair and turned his gaze once again out the window. The sun would set again, in a handful of hours. And with its setting, death would once again stalk his town. But could he trust this man, this Peddler? The object that had caught his gaze, the item at the Peddler’s waist had been a dagger. A simple dagger, but a blade Dorimor knew had belonged to the missing Seeker. What was the Peddler’s connection to the Seeker’s disappearance? Was he connected even to the appearance of the creatures?

He doubted he could trust the fellow, but as the sun continued its course to night, what choice did he really have?

Upheaval

Sorry for missing a post last week. I really am committed to getting at least one major update a week on this site. But last week was an exception. I got laid off from my job at Disney. So I've been spending my free time getting my home office set up and deciding what I'm going to be doing from here on out. As soon as I figure that out, I'll let everyone know!

Short Story 001 - Terra Immortalis Story - Beginnings

One of the goals of this blog is for it to be a place for me to post short stories both old and new. I'm going to start writing a serialized piece of fiction, but before I start it I want to make sure I have a few installments in the bag. So in the meantime, I've got some old short stories laying around I'd like to post. I want to make sure I'm providing a new story here at least once a week. And what better way to kick things off than with a story entitled "Beginnings"?

This is one of four short stories that were printed in my role-playing game Terra Immortalis. The idea behind these stories was to provide a glimpse of life in the world of Charon, where the game takes place. Each of the stories is very short, intended to tantilize the reader. Here, an explorer leading an expedition from a university runs into a small challenge.

Beginnings

The dust finally settled from the structure’s collapse. Maron coughed repeatedly, trying to clear his lungs and breathe fresh air. He had been the last one to make it through the doorway, out into the clearing before the ruined structure. Two others had been behind him. They had not made it out.

"Blood and Death!" Maron swore. He looked around at the rest of his group. The six men and two women with him all nursed various wounds and injuries, but they were all glad to still be breathing.

"No secret passage, eh?" Laur asked sarcastically. She was Fierthi, from the university in Pelarné-Moln, and had been sent to oversee the expedition. Maron was the guide that was supposed to keep everyone alive and get them to where they were going. He had been doing poorly at both so far.

Maron limped as he stood up and walked over to the rest of the group. Dargin was Kintahl, a Barol who had been using his skills almost exclusively for healing injuries the entirety of the expedition. He approached the guide and bent to tend his wounds.

The guide had no words. Nearly a year ago now, Maron had found a tome in the ruins of a former city. He hadn’t been sure who had lived in this city. It didn’t appear to have been inhabited by any of the major races still existing. There hadn’t been much left to find in the city, as looters had already picked most of it clean. Still, he had unearthed enough to make him a sizable profit when he brought his finds to the renowned university. He had helped in the translation of some of the text, as he was an expert in the Old Speech of Charon. And what he had read there had excited him.

The book spoke of an underground passage in an ancient city. Even at the time the tome was written, it claimed that the city held untold wonders. Brave merchants and traders would risk the voyage. The tome mentioned nothing specific of the dangers, but alluded that the journey was fraught with peril. The prospect of such a city made Maron’s bones ache. He had considerable renown as an accomplished archeologist (and an equally disreputable reputation as a tomb robber). But a find of such magnitude would be the crowning achievement of his career.

The university had agreed to fund the expedition, and several hardy individuals had agreed to participate in the voyage.

Maron looked over what remained of them. Laur and the other two from the university were tired, miserable and near mutinous. Just like scholars, they expected to be lead directly to where they could study. Dargin and the others at least had field experience in these matters. Still, Maron had to admit this expedition was more hazardous than most.

They had started from some of the more well-known ruins west of Goldava. It was a rugged and dangerous terrain, but not necessarily lethal if one took the proper precautions. Grotterlings could be avoided, and with Dargin nearby the Undead they ran into were merely a nuisance. Still, various creatures had killed two of their party before they reached the end of charted territory.

They reached the limit of Maron’s previous expeditions two days ago. He had successfully lead them to the ruins of this city. The other explorers had been impressed, for the trail had been exceptionally difficult to follow. Still, they were all disappointed when they discovered that the ruins had already been looted. The only thing of any note left in the ruins was the Trapper that had killed one of their number and had forced them to cave the structure down atop it to give them a chance at escape.

The other explorers realized the difficulty Maron had faced in getting them even this far. Many of the maps and trade routes mentioned in the tome dated to before Moonfall. The lay of the land would be considerably different now. He had avoided several predators throughout the journey, or his knowledge of them had aided them in defeating the creatures. Still, they had little to show for their journey thusfar. A few relics, a handful or pottery and jewels from pre-Moonfall. But no Aura Gems. And they had yet to find their prize.

"What now, oh great leader?" Laur asked. Maron gave her a withering glance and was tempted to tell her where she could put her funding. Fortunately, Dargin interceded and calmed everyone down.

The party waited for Maron’s decision. Though they had met with limited success the past few days, the other explorers recognized Maron’s experience. He had unearthed more discoveries and lead more expeditions safely than the rest of them combined.

"Let me consult my maps," he said. They set up camp in what had once been a town square. Maron poured over his sheaf of maps and charts. He looked to the stars, and performed small Manipulations to determine the direction.

By morning, he had made his decision.

"We are in the right place. This must be Fal-Halon, a small outpost spoken of in the book. This is the starting point for the tunnel to our goal."

Laur shook her head in exasperation, crossing her arms. "Fie. There is nothing here. You have wasted our time and money, quite possibly our lives. We are no closer now than we were at the beginning."

Maron smiled. "Ah, but there you are wrong. You see... I know where the tunnel is!"

The others shot to their feet, looking wonderingly at him. A dozen questions assailed him at once. Finally Dargin’s drowned out the others.

"Where, man?"

Maron pointed to the recently collapsed ruins. "It is there. I am now sure this is the gateway."

Laur laughed, her feline eyes blazing. "There is nothing there but rock and a recently fed spider."

Maron’s smile grew even wider. "Exactly."

The others were confused, so he continued. "Where exactly do Trapper’s make their homes?"

One of the explorers exclaimed, "It’s using the tunnel! Of course."

Several of the men began packing up their supplies. Maron was excited, looking over at the ruins. There would begin the greatest expedition of his life.

Laur walked over to join him. "Do you think the Trapper’s dead?"

Maron shrugged. If it wasn’t, they would finish the job.

"Even if it is," Laur continued, "there’s no guarantee the tunnel hasn’t collapsed since Moonfall."

"Of course," Maron replied, grinning. "But that’s the beauty of what we do. We won’t know, no one will know, until we find out."

Maron walked towards the fallen structure as the others fell in behind him.

NPR's Top 100 Books of Fantasy and Sci-Fi

NPR recently polled their readers, and after receiving around 60,000 responses, they posted their list of the top 100 books of fantasy and science-fiction. For the most part, I'm very happy with the choices. I think in a lot of surveys like this, it's the "Flavor of the Month" that scores more highly than it deserves. But this list contains an impressive amount of classics in their fields. I think the Elric series by Moorcock and the Conan series by Howard deserve to be way higher on the list, though.

NPR's Top 100 Books of Fantasy and Science-Fiction.

I consider myself fairly well-read in these areas. How many of the top 100 have I read? By my count, 59. I've started creating a new reading list based on the books I haven't read from this list. I'm looking forward to it!

Pardon the Dust...

You'll have to pardon the dust here. No, not the dust of neglect and disuse. The dust of I'm redesigning this blog and I'm going to start using it again. I'm going to be adding some new pages and do some reorganization and repurposing. So bear with me, I hope to soon make this blog worth the stop.