Lyryk is one of those fun characters I’m not sure what to do with. She started life as a backup character for our campaign, so I began writing her backstory to get to know her. Most of these stories started as writing prompts I was able to use to flesh out the character. That day’s … Continue reading Signs Of False Spring
Lyryk Starsong might be young, but she has seen and experienced more life than many half-elves her age. Her advantage is the magic of her music, although sometimes a little validation helps her trust it more every day. In this excerpt, Lyryk stops for the night at the hut of a weather witch who warns … Continue reading Listen to the Wind
A few weeks ago, I posted a story about Lyryk. In the past few weeks, I started her backstory from the beginning. This is where it would fit in the progression. This story came from another writing prompt I read shortly after my husky got loose from her leash and ran the neighborhood. At the … Continue reading Doggy Humor
Most of the characters I write start off young and (mostly) innocent. They have experience in some areas of debauchery, but not much. Like most young adults, they think they know it all until they learn that their knowledge is incomplete at best and harmful at worst. In this excerpt of Lyryk’s story, she is … Continue reading The Cost of Naivete
Last week, I introduced Lyryk Starsong, a bard I played. She helped one of our weekly players catch up to the rest of the party (he was half-level behind, and we were only 3rd level). When Lyryk introduced herself, I had a vague idea that she could be a backup character if Skrie got exceedingly … Continue reading Lyryk Starsong
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun As our online Dungeons & Dragons group became more cohesive and took more risks, I decided to create a “just in case Skrie dies” character. (Skrie is the halfling healer with more than a pinch of rogue that I play in our game.) When I created this new character, I chose … Continue reading Getting to Know New Characters
At the beginning of the year, I started a spreadsheet to track my word count. Seven months into the year, I’ve noticed that my word count is slowing down for the summer. While I managed to write almost 4500 words for this blog in June, I realized that I hadn’t written a new story since … Continue reading Writing Season
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun This past weekend, I held Session Zero for a group of youngsters wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons. The age range of most of my players is 11 to 15. Needless to say, it was a little like herding cats. Session Zero is where everyone creates their characters and gets to … Continue reading Session Zero
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun For the past six months, the “tweens” of the family have been clambering for me to play Dungeons & Dragons with them. For various reasons, the timing hasn’t worked—until now. This coming weekend, I will introduce six novices to the world of the Forgotten Realms. I decided to use a pre-generated … Continue reading Introducing D&D to a New Generation
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun Today marks another milestone for this blog—this is my 1000th post since beginning this weblog on June 5, 2016. It’s hard to believe it’s been six years, but here we are. A lot has happened, not all of it ‘good.’ I began this page as a way to share my (admittedly … Continue reading Another Blogging Milestone
A piece of my scattered mind.
Tavern Tales
Poetry BLOG By Edge of Humanity Magazine
New Writing Engaging with the Sacred
50,000 Monkeys at 50,000 Typewriters Can't Be Wrong
J.J. Shaun 