Monday, April 25, 2016

Difficult Decisions

            Lately I’ve been playing Skyrim – one of the best video games out there. There are a large number of factors that make this game so good, but one of them is the amount of choices you have in the game.

            At the beginning of the game, you go through a brief introduction to the main plotline accompanied by learning how to play the game, then you are sent out into a massive world. From that point on, you can do whatever you want. You can follow the main quest to get to the end of the game, or just go off exploring and doing minor side quests. If you want to go around stealing from all the residents of the world, you can (although you may find yourself in jail). If you want to ignore the quests and focus on skills, go right ahead.

            However, the brilliance of Bethesda (the company that made the game) shines through the most when it comes to the decisions you have to make as part of a quest. Some of them are black and white with a clear right and wrong, but some of them... some of them just have no good choice to make.

            There are a number of big quest lines alongside the main one, and one of these is a perfect example one of these challenging decisions. It’s a decision so hard to make that I have yet to make it once – even though this is my third time playing through the game and it is the second most important plotline.

            Basically, the nation of Skyrim is part of an Empire which recently signed a peace treaty that, among other things, outlawed the worship of one of the world’s gods. That particular god was particularly revered by the people of Skyrim and it has incited a rebellion against the Empire.

            It falls to you, the player, to choose the side of the war. Empire, or rebellion? Well, it may seem like a simple choice at first, but as you delve deeper into the plot, you discover more about each side of the war.

The rebels are in their homeland, being banned from worshipping one of their gods, thus their cause is just. Of course, the leader of the rebellion killed the High King of Skyrim – there is debate among the populace as to whether it was a legal challenge or outright murder.

            On the other hand, the Empire only banned the worship of this god because it was the only way to save the Empire from a more powerful enemy. That particular enemy is in the background watching and even fuelling the civil war as it weakens both sides. That means it would be better to side with the Empire because it consolidates power for the future when the lurking enemy takes to the offensive again – at which time, presumably, the god could be worshipped again. Yet, to take that side is to go against the freedom of the people.

            As you wander the world, you receive propaganda from both sides of the war. The Empire is weak and wants to rule Skyrim with a puppet queen. The rebel leader is a murderer and just wants power. When you enter one of the Empire controlled cities you witness a public execution. When you enter the city of the rebel leader you discover that the humans living there are extremely racist against the elves.

            The more information you receive, the harder the decision is to make. Because, there really is no good decision – either choice has negative consequences. Now, of course, this is only a game. It doesn’t really matter what choice you make.

            However, many real life decisions are just as complicated and convoluted. Choices are only rarely black and white – in spite of how we often treat everything as if it is. And that is what is so amazing about Skyrim.


            Fantasy reflects reality. It is a tool we can use to observe and reflect upon our lives and our world. In the end, it may give us better understanding. Or it could just infuriate us. It’s all up to how we choose to look at things.




Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.



Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Fish in a Jar

            Today I shall share with you a story from my LARPing days. Earlier this year, I told you about how I sometimes make joking suggestions that people take too seriously. This is a story about that, too.

            Firstly, for those who don’t know, LARPing stands for Live Action Role Playing. The one I was involved with is called Amtgard – a fantasy themed game (surprise, surprise). If that still means nothing to you, once a week my friends and I went to a park in costumes and beat each other up with pool noodle swords. Kind of like Dungeons and Dragons live. It’s significantly more awesome than it sounds.

            So, as part of this game, sometimes quests are run – usually only during events with guests from other groups because more people is better for quests and they take a lot of energy to put together. During a quest, people are split into two groups PCs and NPCs. NPCs are the people running the quest – the monsters and characters that tell the story – while the PCs are the players who try to solve the puzzles and defeat the monsters.

            Now, for years, as core members of our group, my best friend and I were usually NPCs, if not the people writing the quest in the first place. This time, however, we were PCs – which, to us, was an opening to have a lot of fun.

            For a few months, we’d been planning a couple of new characters to play – a pair of eccentric gnomes. These characters had no interest in solving the quest. No, they just tended to be around, sometimes helping, sometimes throwing a wrench in the gears. We planned all kinds of antics, such as fishing in a pile of leaves or setting up a “machine” that enchanted weapons (which really had one of us inside casting the spells). The overall intent was to mess with people enough to make them think we were NPCs rather than PCs and have them wondering what our part was in the quest.

            Well, we got word in advance that this quest was taking place during a fair scenario – where there would be games to play and prizes to be won. How perfect was that? All we had to do was come up with some items that we could trade to people, or give them as prizes, with the hope that they’d be fooled into thinking they were some significant part of the quest.

            I have no memory of how the conversation led to it, but this is where – after the laugh I have that indicates my idea is to ridiculous to do – I made the suggestion I never thought would happen.

            Fish in jars.

            However, as usual, I underestimated my best friend’s willingness to run with my crazy ideas. The idea stuck. Why? Because it was perfect for the scenario. In a quest situation, why on earth would there be live fish if it wasn’t an important part of the quest? We would hand them out to people and they’d go insane trying to figure out what they were for. What more could we wish for?

            So, the project began. We went and scouted fish prices, then went to the grocery store and bought four jars of baby food. It was while my friend was eating his way through these jars that I giggled and said the next thing I shouldn’t have.

            I said, “You know, people might ask what the fish is for, and if they do, you should do this.” I proceeded to mime drinking the contents of one of the jars.

            I should have known. He looked me in the eye and declared that he would do it. He then said that he hated me, because he didn’t want to do it, but it was too perfect an opportunity to miss.

            And so, on the day of the event, we went out and bought our fish. We bought feeder fish because of a combination of them being cheap, and that they were intended to have short lives and we had no idea what would happen to them once they were given away. My guilty conscience – still protesting at the plan to swallow a live fish – hoped that they might end up living a better life than that of a bigger fish’s meal.

            We sorted out four fish into their four jars – leaving the lids loose when we could to keep oxygen in the water – and headed for the quest. The game started, and we set to work. One by one, we went up to random people (one of them even an NPC), asking riddles or offering trades – then presented them with live fish.

            They had no idea what to make of them. The expressions on their faces were priceless. Luckily, no one asked what they were for.

            We were having so much fun messing around that I honestly have no idea what was going on with the rest of the quest. At some point, monsters attacked, and the carefree gnomes hopped inside a protective circle and watched the battle. Then the quest was over.

            The best part, though, is that during the quest, one girl had traded her way into owning all four of the fish. She told us how delighted she was with them and that she planned to take them home to the states with her and keep them as pets. It was wonderful – if not for that, I would likely still feel guilty about those fish to this day.


            At the same time, I’m a little sad that no one asked what the fish were for.






Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.



Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Monday, April 11, 2016

A... Welcoming Village

Of Dice and Glen is a story being written following D&D 5th Edition rules and using Minecraft as the battle mat (and to set the scene). Each of the two writers control their own characters and share the job of Dungeon Master (controlling the environment, story, monsters and background characters). As a result, neither of us has any clue of what's going on or where this is going. So, let's have fun!

This story is split between episodes being posted on the second Monday of every month. You can find the first episode here and the previous episode here.


Of Dice and Glen Episode 12: A... Welcoming Village


Their journey to the edge of the woods took two more days, and from there it was another day to the nearest village. When they arrived, with the noon sun rising above their heads, they paused, staring at the small community with trepidation.

"It's really... Big," Luna stated, eyes scanning the protrusions of stone with just a shade shy of disgust. "Think maybe I could stay here and get a part-time job as a gargoyle?"

The Teifling sneaked a glance over her shoulder at the dragonborn hopefully.

Shaddar was digging around in the bag of holding, searching for the note with the skull signature they were here to ask about.

“Ah, but you would miss the fun if there are any goblins about,” Shaddar said with a chuckle. “Besides, you won’t get those boots I promised you if you stay out here. Ah! Here it is. What… is it stuck to something? What is…”

Out of the bag, he pulled the note which was stuck with dried berry juice to the empty-yet-sloshing ceramic jug. He glared suspiciously at the tiefling.

“Why is there berry juice on the very important note?”

"I've had enough of goblin smell for this whole season," Luna snarled, crouching as she turned from him. Nose to the ground, she crawled on hands and feet, long tail in the air, sniffing in the dust. Suddenly, she sat up, nose wrinkled. "Don't like this smell either."

"Berry juice?" She asked, head cocking to one side, like a dog wondering politely if perhaps someone was mistaken about the chewed couch, that clearly any wandering vagrant could have broken into the house and chewed the arm off. "Berry juice... BERRY JUICE!!!"

Diving for the bag in his hands, she began tearing through it, pulling out everything she could find.

"I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, YOU SCALEY COBALT DROPPING!"

Afraid Luna would tumble into the extradimensional bag, Shaddar pulled it away as fast as he could.

“I’m right here, you nasty imp, how could I be in the bag too? Look at the mess you’re making!”

"Not YOU!" Luna screeched at her friend, tail thumping the ground in fury. "That gods cursed flying menace to sanity! The one we thought we left back in the forest. It must be curled up in that magic sack of yours!"

“Ohhh,” Shaddar said, pulling the bag further away. “I understand. You would never eat berries or rummage around in the bag of holding. It couldn’t have been you, it must have been the tiny dragon prankster. I completely understand. Come on, imp, help me clean up this mess so we can get into town.”

He got to work tossing the odds and ends Luna had scattered back into the bag.

"It's been nothing but you and me since we left that... That thing," she pointed out, one hand on her hip. "Do you really think I could have picked berries, gotten into the bag, eaten the berries, and put the bag back without you noticing?" Her tail tip shivered in the grass near her feet.

"We've both done our fair share of foraging," Shaddar pointed out. "The bag has been out of my sight many times and we both have possessions in it. It doesn't matter, though," he said, peeling the note from the jug. "The note and signature are still legible. No harm done."

He turned his attention back to the jug and, frowning, gave it a shake. Liquid seemed to splash around inside, but he knew it was empty.

"I'd forgotten about this. Did you ever figure out what it was?"

This slight would not go unanswered. Turning from her companion she glanced about for any spark of life nearby. A fat pigeon burbled on a branch close by and she strode over to converse with it.

"The cold-blooded can be so hard-headed," she informed the disinterested bird. "But I can be too. You just watch, I won't talk to him until he admits it wasn't me who stained the note and apologizes."

Jaw set, eyes steely, Luna crossed her arms across her chest and glared, silently, at a point just over the dragonborn's left shoulder.

Shaddar rolled his eyes and flicked his tongue. This teifling was like a dog with a bone.

"I'm sure you had nothing to do with it," he said as convincingly as he could.

Nodding her approval, she marched back to Shaddar and stared closely at the jug.

"That's a jug," she said, finally.

"Yes," Shaddar said, giving it a shake. "And it's magical. It sounds like something is in it even though it's empty. Isn't it one of the magical items you examined when I was... unconscious?"

"Ye-no..." Luna amended, hanging her head in shame. "I'm sorry, Shaddar."

The moods of the tiefling were as changeable as a cloud.

"Nothing to worry about," the white dragonborn said, tossing the jug back in the bag. "We'll have time to figure it out later. For now, let's go find out about this letter."

"A?" Luna enquired, looking up, once more cheerful. "B? Ceeeeeeeee?"

With a grin and a spring in her step she jumped up from her slouching pose to gamble about Shaddar as they started off toward the city. Then, suddenly, she remembered where they were going and whom they would meet.

"Hey!" she cried, glancing about them frantically. "Isn't that a faerie dragon over in that bush?"

To emphasize this distraction, she scurried over to the nearest bush, on all fours. So desperate was she to divert Shaddar's attention that her escapade was instantly obvious as a ruse.

Seeing through the desperate ploy Shaddar shook his head and continued on, turning his head to call over his shoulder.

"Oh, my, I guess I'll get all the sweets and boots to myself."

“Boots?!”

The horned head flicked up from her wild dragon chase and pelted after her friend.

“That was our deal,” Shaddar said. “Boots to make up for being around the horrible ‘civilized’ people.”

"Yes, yes, I remember," Luna said, her tone making it clear this deal had been much more appealing when she wasn't faced with her end of it.

Sighing, she looked up at Shaddar with a final, pleading glance, then, with resignation, pulled one foot from the dirt, lifted it, and planted it in front of herself.

"There."

The village was a cluster of thatched cottages on a hill with a few larger buildings mixed in. A low stone wall surrounded the homes, though it wouldn’t be good for much other than keeping animals out. The surrounding land had several farms spreading out along a river that wound around the base of the hill.

As they approached the gap where the road ran through the wall, Shaddar hailed a human crossing the road from one building to another.

"Excuse me," the white dragonborn said. "Where might we find the local guards or whoever maintains law and order around here?"

The man's eyes flew wide as he observed the pair closing in on him, shifting from one to the other but lingering longer on the wild tiefling.

"J-just down the road," he stammered. "The building with the red bricks, y-you can't miss it."

"Are you ok...?" Luna enquired, staring at the human with deep concern. He looked as though he might lose control of his bowels at any moment. She tilted her head to observe him closer, the sunlight glinting on her sharp little horns.

Arms flailing, the man turned and fled back to the building he'd come from.

"People," Shaddar said, shaking his head. "C'mon, let's go."

"But..." The tiefling said, moving slowly after the dragonborn. "He looks so scared! Maybe if I gave him a hug...?"

“We don’t have time,” Shaddar said, not wanting to explain. “Let’s get to that red brick building and see if anyone there is smarter than he is.”

"Yes!" Luna said, leaping around to walk abreast with the dragonborn. "Maybe I can hug one of them!" She suddenly found herself simply wanting a hug, not just to comfort the clearly terrified human.

The tiefling cast Shaddar a sidelong glance, then, without warning other than her sneaky look, she stepped sideways and flung her arms around his thick torso. She squeezed with all her might, closed her eyes, and rested her small, horned head on his shoulder.

"Mmm..." She sighed, contentedly.

Thinking Luna had figured out that the human was afraid of her and needed comfort, Shaddar patted her on the head awkwardly. Mammals were so strange.

“Come on,” he said gently prying her off. “We have a forest to save.”

"You aren't a very good hugger," Luna commented, examining him critically as she slid away from his armour and fell into step beside him. "But that's ok because I make up for that."

Her long, dirty tail made sweeping impressions in the dust as she finally walked into the town of her own free will. The idea still didn't appeal to her, but she knew anymore whining might just push Shaddar over the edge so she had decided to make the best of it.

Most of the villagers were off working, but there were a few flitting around the town. Most were humans and halflings, with the odd dwarf or half-elf thrown into the mix. When they saw the travellers, they all drew away into tight clusters, watching warily and muttering.

Looking around, Luna tried to make out which building in the small village was most likely to contain boots.

"So is that it?" She said, eager to get to the reward part of the errand and mostly forgetting about the errand part.





The building was one of the bigger ones in the village and it seemed to be the only one built with red bricks. It was also the only one with a slate roof, rather than thatch, and the windows were nothing more than glaring slits. It looked like a miniature fortress.

“Red bricks, he said we couldn’t miss it,” Shaddar said, his tongue flicking nervously. He didn’t like how many people were around and he liked how they were looking at them even less. “This must be it.”


Discover what happens next in Episode 13: Unhelpful Help





Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.




Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Monday, April 04, 2016

Are You Awake?

            Sometimes I wonder if a good portion of the world isn’t walking around with their brains half asleep. It’s like people are somehow completely unaware that other people are... well, people.

            I hear stories of news site editors claiming writers do better work if they aren’t being paid. At my old job, I had a regional supervisor who proudly talked about how the first business he ran hired immigrants straight off the boat got away with paying them less than minimum wage because they didn’t know any better. People protest about minimum wages being raised because people flipping burgers have it easy (meanwhile, food service is an extremely high-stress environment).

            Yet, all of those people are people. Where are they supposed to get their money, if not from their jobs? Everyone needs to pay bills and feed themselves. Everyone deserves to be paid for the work they do, everyone deserves to be able to live a decent life. Not all business owners are rolling in cash, but if the business isn’t making enough to pay the workers a decent amount, why is it still running?

            Across the world, people are tossed aside as being part of a group. Is their skin a different colour? Do they speak differently? Is their religion different? Obviously, everyone who falls into a category is exactly the same as all the others from it.

            Except that each of those people is an individual person. They have their own life, their own views, their own beliefs. Few people actually fit their stereotypes.

            While waiting in line, people get mad about the people in front of them who are holding them up, without considering that those people are just like them – or that they themselves are holding up the people behind them. When driving down the road, people honk and swear at the person in front of them for going too slow, without even pausing to think – that’s a person. Maybe they’re a new driver, or there’s a pedestrian in front of them, or they have some other reason for going that speed.

            Each person out there is a person and deserves consideration. How can anyone possibly not recognise that the people around them are not just organic obstacles?


            Perhaps their brains really are half asleep. What will it take to wake them up?




Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.



Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.