Chapter 4 - Meeting in Shalerton (Continued) “The monster brother was a great pain,It bit at me with its fangs,I slashed and cut with mine sword,And bled the monster to its core,” “The monster shed its blood,It flooded like a river in its flood,I rejoiced in my victory,But the monster revived through some trickery,”

Chapter 4 - Meeting in Shalerton (Continued) As the conversation flowed Galandir and the others realized they had the same goal. They’d all heard the call from Shalerton and were responding. Naturally they decided to travel together. There was always safety in numbers on the road. Galandir bed down for the night with his feet towards the fire. His smooth bedroll was warm and he liked watching the stars before falling asleep.

History Snakeshifters existed in Cimmeria before the Olympians came. Their race originated in India. They were the children of Kaliya, a poisonous snake god. Kaliya was slain by Krishna. After Kaliya's death, his children fled the country north across the mountains. They traveled until they reached the Aractrashan Jungle in Cimmeria. They settled down there along with the ogres and humans that already lived in the forest.

This entry highlights one of the weird parts of National Novel Writing Month. While the intention is to write constantly to get to 50,000 words, that writing is not always linear within the story's chronology or in how the story is presented. I realized I should add a scene about Blendegad's romance to the end of his chat with the town elders from my Day 8 writing.

Chapter 3 - Blendegad (Continued) Sandra got Blendegad's clay cup from the table at the foot of his bed. She poured water from the pitcher there and handed him the cup. “Drink. You’re exhausted.” Blendegad drank it down quickly. Sandra sat on the edge of his bed. “I’ll make you a drink to restore your energy. You used too much last night.” Sandra stroked Blendegad's cheek, one finger crossing his skin while the rest went touched his beard.

Chapter 3 - Blendegad (Continued) He’d hunkered down on a hillock overlooking the sleeping flock. They were laid out below in sleeping groups of two or three. Blendegad laid down on his stomach. He had no blanket, but he’d borrowed a few sheepskins to stay warm. His hope was that the skins would also mask his scent. The wolf would just smell another sheep instead of a human protector.

Chapter 2 - Galandir (Continued) Galandir stopped his run. His muscles were warm and tight. He sheathed his sword to stretch. His arms and then his legs. Flexibility and avoiding cramps were just as important as conditioning his body for heroism. After the stretch he redrew his sword. A thought flickered across his brain, “Should my sword have a name?

Chapter 2 - Galandir (Continued) Galandir lived in Valor’s Forest along with other elves. Their homes were among the trees and branches. Galandir’s room was in the hollowed base of a giant living oak. His parents, Caldigroth and Vendumion lived in the tree house above him. The house was made from branches grafted together over years, so it was living as well.

John tells us about his campaign setting, Tahlvaen. The world was something he dreamt up in childhood that he's now turning into a campaign setting for D&D. Tahlvaen is threatened by eldritch entities known as the Outer Five. These nasty beings were cast out beyond the Veil that separates them from the Tahlvaen. The eight Veilborn gods protect the world from the Outer Five, but all planar travel is cut off as a consequence.

Chapter 1 - Tereman (Continued) “Oh right! This was your last patrol. No longer a slave after you report to the captain.” Karl stroked his long dwarven beard as he said, “I should give you one last command to send you off.” Tereman stood straight. One more command, that’s all it was. “Ah, nevermind. I’d ask for that deer haunch, but that’s yours by right.

Chapter 1 - Tereman (Continued) Tereman looked at the animal. It had a brown coat with a white region along its back. At least he thought it was brown. He could barely see in the dark. Tereman felt his shoulders. The left shoulder was fine. Bruised from the kick, but he could feel nothing worse. The right shoulder ached. He hoped it wasn’t broken from the bite.

Physical Description Snakeshifters are trickster people that live hidden within Cimmerian society. Each snakeshifter has a humanoid body, but with various snake-like features. These features vary depending on how old a snakeshifter is. At birth they are almost entirely human in appearance. The only physical reminder of their nature is a small feature such as slit pupils, a forked tongue, or a small patch of scales.

Chapter 1 - Tereman Tereman crouched behind the bush and set down his pack. His tall frame was covered by a bronze breastplate. A sheath carrying a steel longsword was buckled to his belt. His pack held various supplies for his patrols in the wild along with a bow and a quiver of arrows for hunting. Tereman lived roughly while on patrol so his dirty blonde hair was truly dirty.

Djeiclay heard the porthole click as it cycled through to another world. He examined his fingernails as the porthole continued to click. Every twenty seconds a new world appeared in the porthole. Djeiclay glanced at each world for a moment. Too dry, too wet, too cold, too early, too late. He pressed the reject button over and over again. Every day he lived twenty seconds at a time.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is approaching! Every year, people across the world, not just the nation, try and write that novel they've always said they'll write. The official charity that supported the event imploded earlier this year. But the event goes forward with or without official support. There's tons of other organizations, businesses, and charities that are trying to pick up the pieces, but I don't have much to say on that.

Relations with Other Races Githyanki have poor relationships with all other races. To a githyanki, another species is a means for entertainment and nothing else. They rarely interact with other races outside of demanding something. Those githyanki that form more equitable bonds are likely to leave githyanki society and become githzerai. The one exception to githyanki disdain for other races is blue dragons.

John tells us about his actual play show, Blittle League Blaseball! The show is based on the now passed internet phenomenon, Blaseball. In Blaseball, baseball teams play against each other while using magical and technological powers. Their furious battles satisfy the Elder Ones and prolong the time before the Antediluvians rise and consume the world as we know it. So if there are professional Blaseball players...

Subraces There are two subraces of githyanki, those that are loyal to the Lich-queen and those that are not. Loyal githyanki are the overwhelming majority and referred to as githyanki. Dissidents are known as githzerai. Githyanki: Githyanki serve the Lich-queen and live in the Astral Plane. They raid other dimensions for food, water, and entertainment. All githyanki serve the marauding army in one way or another.

If I ever found a genie in a bottle one of my selfish personal wishes would be to have perfect eyesight. I hate wearing glasses. And the genie is the best way for me to fix that. Maybe I'd wish for world peace or to end world hunger before perfect eyes. But if I had a wish just for myself, it's going to be perfect eyesight.

History The origin of the githyanki race is lost to time. They existed within a mortal realm at one point, but moved to the Astral Plane. Were they escaping a threat? Or had they consumed all resources in their home plane and moved on to find greener pastures? Whatever their reason the githyanki abandoned their home dimension and took up permanent residence in the Astral Plane between dimensions.

I've been thinking about writing a novel set in Cimmeria for a while. I've always wanted to write something set in the campaign world, but it took me a while to land on the idea. The basics is to cover the story of Blendegad, Galandir, and Tereman that I outlined in the First Vampire of Cimmeria series. After writing that series I knew I had my novel's concept.