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Absentia

G. Derek AdamsLeave a comment

2014-04-14 13.57.20Okay, Oklahoma! is complete and as I slowly nurse the post-show hangover and emotional detritus, time to start sorting through the rubble of the rest of my life. Big things on the horizon for The Riddle Box as I finish the final re-writes, start getting the first drafts of the cover design – I had my first public appearance ever as a writer at Avid Bookshop, here in Athens – that was a crazy thing that happened. Participating in a ‘bloghop’ next week, got three Pathfinder games to prep, a new house to find and rent, visits to plan, and dishes dishes dishes laundry laundry laundry.

Sometimes I wonder about the gigantic energy dump that directing a show is — it effectively puts everything else creative in my life on hold. As I start to get more and more involved in the writing aspect of the manga-adaptation of a Faulkner novel that is my life, I do wonder if it’s something I’m going to be able to keep doing as – hopefully – writing and promoting myself will require more and more energy. I find directing enormously satisfying – but as with most art I do – there’s also some odd psyche resonance and strange internal machinery involved that leaves me feeling a bit odd in the wake of it.

But yeah, expect more rambling in this space.

Apocryphile

G. Derek Adams2 Comments

My friend across the table muttered something in passing and my blood went cold.

“Did you just say, Apocryphile?” There was no reason she could possibly know what it meant, I tried to stay calm, hands flat at my side.

“Uh, what? No,” she replied.

The ‘Apocryphile ‘is a name of ill portent, a character from a set of stories I thought I had escaped, a year-spanning tabletop of four-color glory. A villain of quiet wit and patient menace. One of Steven Carroll’s devils. For a split second, I legitimately wondered: am I still playing that same game? Have all the stories and games and dungeons and adventures since that game been nothing but a long con? Am I still wandering through the streets of New Babylon? Any moment now my phone will buzz and razor-sharp letters will blaze.

get to waffhut, funtime back in town, dont tell liz

The devils we create, the stories that we tell — the strange grip an imaginary name can squeeze from it’s imaginary heart. These worlds were ours and they linger. They linger indeed.

World Under Construction – Matters Divine

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Pray to the Gods if you must, but do not mention my name if you catch their ear.
—  Dwarven saying.

Cynus is a strange land, filled with an extremely diverse population both racially and culturally. Some scholars have made note that the widespread worship of the Balance across many geographic and ethnic divides is less than likely – but those same scholars keep these observations private. This pantheon of primal gods are not known for their positive attitude towards criticism or mortal interpretation.

The Six, as they are sometimes called, also provide ample proof of their existence on a regular basis. Sometimes in the form of a vicious sandstorm or a unexpected drought or an earthquake on the eve of winter. Other times in the blessings of a bountiful harvest or a sudden break in a heatwave or a gentle breeze on the eve of summer.

The foremost are Father Order and Mother Chaos. Their names are never spoken, one out of respect, the other out of fear. These deities affect and scope are so beyond the mortal ken that they have never recognized any sort of church or acolytes. A few have appeared throughout the centuries, but none were able to display any sort of true connection or divine power, so they soon were discredited and forgotten.

Mortals have much more luck with the other four gods, the children of the Two. Or perhaps it is misfortune, because the other gods never tire of meddling in the affairs of the world. And much like the four elements they represent they can bring great bounty and great destruction to the world in even measure. It is said that Father and Mother ceased their tireless battle only once to couple, but only with the foreknowledge that their children could multiply the conflict between Chaos and Order a thousandfold.

Seto – Goddess of the Sun [Fire]
Banu – God of the Sea [Water]
Marrus – God of the Sky [Air]
Jocasta – Goddess of Stone [Earth]

The gods are neither malevolent nor benevolent, not truly. Human experience and custom has lead many to consider Seto and Banu as generally more giving and understanding than their siblings — but a flood can still drown, and the sun can still scorch.

The Children of the Balance speak when they have a will, through their chosen vessels – clerics, paladins, druids, oracles. But any can invite the gods’ attention through the proper rituals — though this is usually done only at times of great need.

A few other deities are recognized in some locations throughout Cynus, and they seem to have similar influence to the Balance. The worship of these minor gods seems to have begun during the Blank Time, a period of years where the the entire pantheon of the Balance seemed to have vanished entirely.

World Under Construction – Matters Divine

G. Derek AdamsLeave a comment

Pray to the Gods if you must, but do not mention my name if you catch their ear.
—  Dwarven saying.

Cynus is a strange land, filled with an extremely diverse population both racially and culturally. Some scholars have made note that the widespread worship of the Balance across many geographic and ethnic divides is less than likely – but those same scholars keep these observations private. This pantheon of primal gods are not known for their positive attitude towards criticism or mortal interpretation.

The Six, as they are sometimes called, also provide ample proof of their existence on a regular basis. Sometimes in the form of a vicious sandstorm or a unexpected drought or an earthquake on the eve of winter. Other times in the blessings of a bountiful harvest or a sudden break in a heatwave or a gentle breeze on the eve of summer.

The foremost are Father Order and Mother Chaos. Their names are never spoken, one out of respect, the other out of fear. These deities affect and scope are so beyond the mortal ken that they have never recognized any sort of church or acolytes. A few have appeared throughout the centuries, but none were able to display any sort of true connection or divine power, so they soon were discredited and forgotten.

Mortals have much more luck with the other four gods, the children of the Two. Or perhaps it is misfortune, because the other gods never tire of meddling in the affairs of the world. And much like the four elements they represent they can bring great bounty and great destruction to the world in even measure. It is said that Father and Mother ceased their tireless battle only once to couple, but only with the foreknowledge that their children could multiply the conflict between Chaos and Order a thousandfold.

Seto – Goddess of the Sun [Fire]
Banu – God of the Sea [Water]
Marrus – God of the Sky [Air]
Jocasta – Goddess of Stone [Earth]

The gods are neither malevolent nor benevolent, not truly. Human experience and custom has lead many to consider Seto and Banu as generally more giving and understanding than their siblings — but a flood can still drown, and the sun can still scorch.

The Children of the Balance speak when they have a will, through their chosen vessels – clerics, paladins, druids, oracles. But any can invite the gods’ attention through the proper rituals — though this is usually done only at times of great need.

A few other deities are recognized in some locations throughout Cynus, and they seem to have similar influence to the Balance. The worship of these minor gods seems to have begun during the Blank Time, a period of years where the the entire pantheon of the Balance seemed to have vanished entirely.

World Under Construction – Notes

G. Derek Adams2 Comments

An adventure needs a place. A simple place, to start — familiar, but just barely. A starting place, a place of no particular importance other than it is the place where We Began.

I want this one to have trees. A forest, though not an old one. A forest and a small town, a simple town.

Or is that too easy? Is that too much of a cliche?

I already did that one, in Riddlewood and Creon. The Young Heroes.

I’ve already done the Prison, and the Festival. The Devil’s Forge, a stone prison locked in by heat and thirst — -the Festival of the Grove, celebrating bounty among the dust and death of the endless desert.

What else is there? They Meet in the Bar? Drawn by Destiny? A Final Request?

Eh, if the cliche is boring, I’ll add an adjective. The trees are tall, the spire pines. They grow as fast as bamboo, you can hear them groaning in the night — tumblr_mrfenj0Axx1rcagdmo1_400but they never break, except by the touch of crystal axe. Does the town mine the crystal? The wood is useless, it burns poorly, and once cut from the trunk it becomes brittle and gives off a pungent smell, like stinky leather shoes left in the rain.

The town was once a city, but now the vast expanse of it is in ruin.The Spire Pines were summoned by a vengeful [druid? demon? god?] because the people angered him, most of the population migrated because of it — only a small…mine keeps the town in operation.

Is the mine too obvious? Because clearly the first adventure would take place there. Hmm.

What if the mine is suspended in the air by the spire pines? The metal contained there was so dense, that the pines could not pierce it, pushing it higher and higher into the air every year. The miners must first ascend the trees, and take great care, because a cave-in could result in a thousand foot drop to the city below. The denizens of the town take great care that their homes are outside the blast perimeter, as clearly one day the mine will fall. Should it be adamant? A precious resource in Pathfinder, but maybe too useful to give the party access to this early. But it would be unrefined…maybe.

There would have to be an inn directly  under the mine, the Pancake. Hard-scrabble miners and unsavory types. Last call is always the toast ‘Fall flat! or ‘Squish me before I have to go home.’

Why is the party there?

The Sage is In [Round One]

G. Derek AdamsLeave a comment
I put up a status on my FB fanpage asking for questions to fuel my next blog post. It’s been a while since I’ve activated my Sage prestige class, so please enjoy the shiny wisdoms here for your consumption. I’ll put up more as they come in.
Why do fools fall in love?

– Laura T.

What is a fool but an empty head?

Unencumbered by malice

or worry

or thought

they fall because

they fall without pause

gravity puts them

where they need to be

safe in the grooves

the record-turn of destiny

while we

the wise resist

our brains heavy and thick

with proud lines and numbers

clatter across the vinyl

while the fools

fall deep

into the simple clasp

of moss and time and

the slow revolve.

If you were going to play a pirate character in Pathfinder would you a) go Rogue or Fighter? b) what two weapons would you use? c) Drow or Tiefling?

– Daniel D.

Interesting question – I suppose it all depends on what type of ‘pirate’ that you have in mind. Are you thinking Errol Flynn – swashbuckler? Or more of an Edward Teach/Blackbeard – hardass murder dispenser? For the sake of this response, I’ll try to take the average of the two extremes.

a) Neither. I would go with a Ranger/Gunslinger multi-class. Dump most of your levels into ranger for the Two Weapon Fighting Style, and then focus all your Favored Terrain and Favored Enemy slots on aquatic types. Also training up a suitably vicious Animal Companion that could fight alongside you at sea would be wise, I recommend a Dragon Turtle.  Stack on 3-4 levels of gunslinger for the firearm proficiency and Grit points – a true swashbuckler could continuously fuel the Grit pool with all their feats of derring-do.

b) Falcata for main hand, Dragon Pistol for off. Your primary damage is going to be through melee, the spray effect of the pistol is mainly to soften up low-level mobs and disperse damage across a large group.

c) Tiefling. The bonuses to INT and DEX are key for a nimble fighter build, as well as the racial bonuses to Bluff and Stealth. Also Drow haven’t been cool since 1997.

The Riddle Box Beta Reader Worksheet

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I’ve been working on a series of questions for my Beta Readers of The Riddle Box. The idea was for them to not read them until after they finish reading the draft, but I realized that if I carefully obscured the character names — and a few entire questions — it wouldn’t really matter if they read them beforehand — AND was sort of a backhanded way of revealing some of the things that all readers have to look forward to in the next book. Plus, I’m going out of town for the weekend, and felt guilty about my slow posting of late — and this is an easy cut-and-paste affair. This may be a huge mistake, but you can safely ignore the disclaimer at the top. OR CAN YOU? 

I also thought this might be an interesting ‘behind the scenes’ look at MY PROCESS. [Trumpets begins to blare.]

 

DO NOT LOOK AT THESE QUESTIONS UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE FINISHED READING

 

The Riddle Box.

 

Seriously. Don’t do it.

 

These questions are chock-full of spoilers and things that could influence your first read for better or worse. I have some specific concerns about the book, and specific areas that I’m less than pleased with, that I want to make sure you mentally target as you give me feedback. I’m not expecting you to actually respond to these questions ‘in-line’ as if this were some sort of high school worksheet [unless you’re in to that], but please be thinking about them as you prepare your feedback in whatever form you prefer it to take.

 

1. Do you feel cheated by the solution to the mystery?

  • Did I break the rules of the ‘locked room’ mystery?

  • There are a series of murders, did the explanation for any seem thin, unconvincing, or illogical?

  • Which of the murders did you need more information about?

 

2. Did Jonas or Rime act in a way that seemed incongruous with their portrayal in Spell/Sword?

 

3. This book introduces more ‘world’ information than the previous, how did you react to it?

  • What, if anything, would you have liked to know more about?

 

4. Overall, The Riddle Box has much less action than the first book — or at least it’s nearly half-way thru before there’s a big fight scene. Did you notice the lack?

 

5. I introduced two ‘love interests’ for the leads in this book, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. What were your thoughts about Jonas’ and Rime’s reaction to these characters?

 

6. With regards to [REDACTED], I was playing around with the trope of the ‘Damsel in Distress’ — too heavy handed?

 

7. [REDACTED] is a  [OBFUSCATED] character. Were you aware of that? Should you have been aware of that? What thoughts do you have about his portrayal, in relation to sensitivity?

 

8. The entire novel takes place in one location, the Manor. Were you ever confused by the layout or description of the locale?

  • Did the passage of time seem reasonable and easy to follow?

 

9. The repeated conceit of the ‘flashback’ chapters, i.e. Who was [REDACTED]?  to reveal more information about the murder victims — how did you react to these chapters structurally? How do  you think they impacted the flow of the novel?

  • Did you have any individual issues with these interludes?

 

10. How did you react to the further revelations of Jonas’ past? Does it contradict anything established in the first book?

 

11. [KILLER]. Discuss.

  • Was [REDACTED] scary?

 

12. The denouement of the novel is a bit rushed. Do you feel any explanations were hurried or glossed over when you wanted more detail?

  • Does Rime need another beat where she processes [REDACTED]’s death?

  • Jonas doesn’t approach Rime with the knowledge that they are going to [REDACTED], is this a problem?

 

13. [ENTIRE QUESTION REDACTED]

 

14. [ENTIRE QUESTION REDACTED]

 

15. Jonas manages to subdue [REDACTED] twice via headbutt. Is this funny or lame?

 

16. The scene of [REDACTED] in the [REDACTED], did you find this scene effective?

 

17. Any other flaws in logic or plot?

 

18. What would you say the theme of The Riddle Box is?

  • How effectively was this conveyed?

 

19. Compared to the first book, how did this one measure up against your expectations?

  • If you have not read the first, how well does this novel operate as a stand-alone experience?

20. What do you expect to occur in the next novel? What would you like to see explored in the future?

 

Normal caveats. These are all questions about the rough draft, the novel can change massively between now and publishing.

The Scariest Place

G. Derek AdamsLeave a comment

A friend posed this question online yesterday.

“What is the scariest place you have ever been?”

I started to write a glib answer, but then my brain started to sputter and whir. How would I actually answer that question? Where was it? And in traditional manner, some words clattered out of the hopper onto the floor. [I didn’t post them, as I try to avoid looking like too much of a psychopath on Facebook.]

The space between lights.

That’s it.

Between street lamps, and nightlights, and the bathroom and the bedroom covers.

The dark, the Dark, the knowledge of the unknown. The light makes things obey, makes things serve the rules of this world.

The dark breaks. Breaks the rules. The skin of the world growing thin between the lights, who knows what might slip through into our world. What gibbering, sharp-toothed horror?

Happy Halloween.