Short Fiction – Introduction and Setting
These short stories are pastiches I wrote, mostly published in & Magazine and similar Dungeons & Dragons-themed free magazines. The first one written – Gree-Kin – was written about the grandparents of one of my children’s AD&D characters. I wrote the pastiche as a way of making Marissa and Trajan come alive, and as a means of entertainment for both my sons and me.
From there things grew on their own, until I was writing pastiches about the trio Marissa, Trajan, and Etjar to introduce various monsters – for articles published in & Magazine, and later in other magazines including Footprints.
The collection is broken into four sections, based upon the characters involved:
Marissa, Trajan, and Etjar
This trio adventured together for seven years, encountering many obscure – and deadly – beasts.
The Company from Kerr
Initially composed of Jake, David, and Bisonbit, this party of AD&D characters is my sons’ first characters. The pastiches I wrote involving them are based upon actual play. While I fictionalized the story, the basis is from our game.
The Council of Rendelshod
These characters are from my original campaign from the mid-1980’s. Most of the characters are from that game, although some were added to flesh out the history of my mythological campaign world.
Other Characters
In addition to the above characters, I’ve written about others – mostly single-use characters to illustrate articles for & Magazine.
The Setting
These tales take place mostly in Trivana, a land in which magic – the circumvention of the normal laws of physics – works.
While much of the land is dominated by various groups of humans, they are by no means the only major sentient race. The elves, dwarves, halflings, and other “demi-human” races control their own ancestral lands. Other areas are infested with numerous “goblinoid” races, creatures such as orcs, goblins, ogres, and giants. The remaining wilderness is inhabited by various lesser races and creatures, both mundane and magical.
Trivana is a land of many wonders and many dangers.
Marissa, Trajan, and Etjar hail from Kerr, the largest independent city/state located in the southern reaches of the Grav-Lach Mountain near the eastern coast of Trivana. This is the largest of the city/states, claiming all lands within a hundred miles or so of the city, including some smaller cities.
The remainder of the arable land in the mountains is held by other city/states, and by dwarven and gnomish cities.
The lands to the south and west of the Grav-Lach Mountains belong to the Empire of Sathea, and the lands farther west are claimed by the Empire of Mathailda. Sathea would likely be looking to take lands in the mountains, but its continuing conflict – not quite war – with Mathailda keeps that empire distracted. That, and previous failures to take and hold lands in the Grav-Lach Mountains.
To the East? The Lowlands between the mountains and the ocean contains relatively small city/states, whose allegiances vary over time. The one thing that unites them is when forces from the Sathean Empire invade. While this area lacks the benefits of mountainous terrain, long supply lines have historically been the cause of failure for Sathea to hold the lands they’ve taken.
Tales involving the Council of Rendelshod may take place at the Castle Rendelshod, which is near the dwarven city Rendelshod situated in the north end of the Grav-Lach mountains.