Bethany & Eric (backstory)

I've been horribly quiet recently, for which I apologise. I've been burnt out and tired: the fibromyalgia diagnosis was a bigger stress than I initially realised and coming to terms with it has been harder and is taking longer than I'd expected, and RPGaDay took more out of me than usual as a result.

But I'm working on getting back to normal! And to begin that, here's the tale of Bethany and Eric, which I've been meaning to write up for a very long time (stats for various games may follow).

~~~

The house was small and dank. It would have been dark, but the hole in the wall where the door had been let in the light. It wasn't as if there was anything worth stealing that hadn't already been stolen, and they'd needed the wood for the fire.

Nothing worth stealing? There was one thing, something Bethany's siblings's grumbled to find in the blankets they shared, but no one else knew about. Even if they did, with the battered scabbard and nicked blade it wouldn't be worth much - indeed, the only reason Bethany still had her grandfather's sword was her mother had told her father it had already been sold and had been able to find a convincing sum from the small amount she could earn. An uncharacteristic rebellion from the mousey woman, but important to her daughter. Their father wasn't a bad man, but years of struggle had taken its toil on his temper and ability to control it. He frightened Bethany.

They lived in the room that made up the first floor of the building, Bethany, her siblings, parents, aunts, uncles and a mess of cousins. It was a confusion, at times: Bethany shared her name with an aunt and a cousin, and her sister Lydia, who shared hers with their mother and 2 living cousins, had been heard to grumble they were so poor they couldn't even afford their own names.

To keep food on the table, everyone who could, worked; those who couldn't, begged. This day, Bethany, all of 15, would be doing so in tandem with her 12 year old brother Eric. She knew most of her other siblings would complain to be paired up with him - he wasn't strong and they didn't want to have to defend him if anything came. But Bethany didn't mind. She liked his calm and quiet, and knew he could talk himself out of most problems they were likely to face. But the biggest reason was that he reminded her of their grandfather.

As soon as their father was clear of the street, she ducked back to the area cordoned off as the sleeping area and retrieved the sword, wrapped it in rags and strapped it to her leg - a limp would help bring in some money, and she always felt better having it nearby. Back out, she dusted Eric's ash-grey hair and led him to one of her favourite places - a park their grandfather had taken them to before he'd died. She found herself a good spot near the entrance and let Eric get to work. 

This was the other reason she liked to work with him. People responded to that appearance of vulnerability and she didn't have to do anywhere near as much work. She stretched back and enjoyed the sun on her skin.

And that's when she spotted the smoke, coming from the direction of their home and billowing higher. She made sure Eric was close, but then the flames started to flicker and she knew there wasn't much time - and even less chance for the slums. Most people were standing around in confusion, and she knew then they needed to move before panic set in. She caught Eric's hand and dragged him away, ignoring his kicks and protests. She knew the others would get out or they wouldn't. She knew she couldn't help them. But she could help herself, and she could keep Eric safe.

Halloween Fiction - RIP

The sun is warm against my back, the grass prickly-dry and the ground leaving dust-prints on my dress. My fingers caress the stone: cool and so smooth it feels wet. I trace the sharp letters: no ‘dearly beloved of…’; just your name, your dates, RIP. Your mother chose it. I would have given you poetry. I would have given you everything.

RIP.

Is this epitaph meant for me? To wad platitudes against the gaping hole? To stem the sorrow bleeding from my soul by pretending to know you rest gently?

This is a peaceful place to rest. Trees and hedges mask the main road that’s not that busy, really, except when school ends. The sky, today, is vivid blue with a scattering of cirrus clouds – the ones you said were angel hair. The intermittent breeze has fallen still.

 A pair of racing squirrels break my reverie. I lean back and listen to the bird song – melodic warbles and a cawing crow. The breeze returns, picks up discarded leaves and that crisp packet someone left and I lean back and ponder: is it for you?

The epitaph. Not a wish for peace in repose, but a command.

The breeze is stronger now – strong enough to send a shiver from my neck, and suddenly the peace and stillness feels oppressive, feels eternal like I will be alone forevermore.

Is that it? We’re not trying to comfort ourselves with those words, but demanding that you lie still and do not rise like some vampire to feed on our grief, keep us trapped in some twilight-life; not dead, but unable to live without you.

Here. Have my grief. Have my sorrow. Have my tears. Please, rest easy. Let me live. Rest in peace.

#RPGaDay2016 - Day 31: Best advice you were ever given for a game of your choice

I can't think of an answer for this, which is frustrating as it's the last day and I want to go out on a bang.

So, little bits of advice - not necessarily the best, just the bits I remember - from a host of games and in no particular order.

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - "Yes, thigh-high stilletto boots with stakes for heels would be very cool, but could you actually walk in them?"

2. Aberrant - "Think bigger."

3. Ravenloft - "You need a big gothic tragedy for the players to interact with, and individual gothic story arc for each player to travel through." (ie, you aren't going to change the world, but you might be able to change yourself.)

4. Deadlands - "I like the character development we're building. I don't want this to be a party of individuals."

5. Cyberpunk - "Someone's always got a bigger gun." "If you get into a gun fight, it's your own fault." "Why make guns illegal when bullets can be really expensive?"

6. World of Darkness - "Share the storetelling." "It's all about being a teenager, really. Werewolves = uncontrollable anger, Vampires = numb deadness, Hunter = believing you're unique and special."

7. Exalted - "What does it look like?" "If you can imagine it, you can probably do it. Just not yet."

8. ShadowRun - "Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing to do."

9. Midnight - "You aren't the heroes. You won't survive if you forget that."

 

#RPGaDay2016 - Day 30: Ideal game room, if money's no object

Wasn't this a question last year? I would love the hi-tech room briefly described there, but I think the cosy room is the one I can better expand.

So: big, comfy, flumpfy sofas and cushions for the players; a comfy chair for the GM, with a table the right height for whatever tools they need. A ceiling fan. Blankets. So far, so combining my lounge with my friends' conservatory. Possibly why this appeals to me so much.

A kitty to get in the way

There's more, though, to move into the 'money no object' realm. Mostly, I want a huge library with floor to ceiling bookshelves, andthose cool library ladders that whizz along rails, and a spiral staircase to the game area, which would nested in a top corner of the library on a mezzanine overlooking the main library. And there would be at least one secret passage opened only by pulling on the correct fake book. Maybe that's where the hi-tech game room would be hidden...

 

#RPGaDay2016 - Day 29: If you can game anywhere in the world, where would you game?

The thing is, I prefer to game indoors so it kinda doesn't matter where in the world I am! Gaming outside - if it's windy, dice and character sheets go everywhere. If it's sunny, I sweat and burn. If it's rainy, character sheets get wet. If it's hot/humid, I get ill... Basically, when it comes to weather I'm fussy! So indoors - ideally with heating/ceiling fan - is better for me. And if you're indoors, it doesn't matter where in the world before. As I and many others have said before, it's the people who make it.

There's a lot of places I'd like to visit - Canada, Iceland and New Zealand probably being current top options - and lots of places I'd like to visit and game - like Australia (if Mark Knights can find me space at his table) and Canada (there's a few friends I miss a lot who live there).

The other thing is, I live in a beautiful part of the world with a temporate climate that (just about) suits me, so really, home is where I want to be.

Husbit answers: "Vin Diesel's house. Obviously with Vin Diesel, or that'd be a bit weird." Can't really argue with that.

#RPGaDay2016 - Day 28: Thing you'd be most surprised a friend hadn't seen/read

It's a long running joke in our group that Bells hasn't seen any films that don't have superheroes in them, so I'm no longer surprised when he hasn't seen something.

Other people, though... Labyrinth is the best film ever and I will jelly wrestle anyone who says otherwise (except my brother, cos that'd be a bit weird and I just have to accept he's wrong). It has some nice techniques for building a campaign, too: there's a motley assortment of main characters (Ludo is my favourite, though the one I'd be least likely to play); there's a good motivation for the plot; there's foreshadowing; there's a powerful end where at least two of the characters (Sarah and Hoggle) have grown and learnt about themselves. Oh, and puzzles and traps and dancing and bargaining and a little bit of fighting.

And the fireys. 

Books? Discworld. It's such a common feature of most bookshelves I see, it surprises me when people haven't read any. Similarly, if someone tells me they've never read anything by Ursula K LeGuin, I sit and blink: I grew up breathing her words.

And Swallows and Amazons... I've been craving re-reading those (Dad's keeping his eyes out for ours, but they may have been charity shopped already :-/) and it turns out surprisingly few of my friends have read them - and then a films come out!

Erm... I really ought to twist this back to roleplay but tired and should go to bed instead...

 

#RPGaDay2016 - Day 27: Most unusual circumstance or location in which you've gamed

I have friends who've gamed on beaches and in castles; I've larped in the woods. There used to be a particular student flat in my uni town, a ground floor flat with a leaky cellar that was used by many (though never me, sadly) for horror games, particularly Cthulu.

The castle with this view, in fact. *rainbow not always included.

The most unusual place I've roleplayed was on the coach to Warhammer World the day I met Husbit - the way I met Husbit. The journey is a good few hours and none of my friends were coming so I was bored. Behind me, I could hear some of the regulars from the store a town over, who were sharing our coach, playing some corrupt version of D&D. Even if I hadn't been bored, I'd have probably tried to join them. Luckily enough, they let me. And Husbit (who wasn't Husbit at the time, just Al) wasn't playing in the tournament that was the purpose of the trip and popped round to see how I was doing and we had the same phone in the same colour and he was so goddamn cute...

So yeah. The most unusual circumstance was the process of falling in love. Or lust, at least. Either way, worked out well for me ;-)