100!

 

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

― Oscar Wilde 

“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”

― Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince and Other Stories 

Forever Searching for Inspiration

Yeah, wow. 100! I never would have thought I’d make it this far; but I never once thought about it, either.

My original intent was never what this blog was going to be. I presumed I would tackle Ratik, that supposedly lonely, isolated spot on the Greyhawk map, after hearing Mike Bridges and Anna Meyer call out to others in the community to fill in those undeveloped spots on the map. The works I was familiar with were all crammed into the Core, and the Western half of the map, with nary a delve into the East at all. Surely no one has done anything with Ratik!

The Ratik That Was, Wasn't, and Was Again

I can do this, I thought. I had run a campaign there. Kinda. See my earlier post: The Ratik That Was, Wasn't, and Was Again, for details about my dubious history with my isolated pinprick on the map.

Such hubris! I soon discovered I’d taken a bite too big to chew for one so long absent from gaming. I had no idea how much work had been done to develop this make-it-your-own setting in my absence. I had to postpone my original intent as I refamiliarized myself with a history I had never known. There is so much of it! I’m still learning, even now. And man, I’ve so much yet to absorb.

I very soon met others in the Greyhawk community, and am humbled by a great many of them. Truly. Their depth of knowledge is as expansive as mine is meagre—and still largely myopic at present, if truth be told. Some had been regular contributors to Dragon Magazine. Indeed, some had actually written the lore I was immersing myself in, and until now, altogether oblivious to their effort.

Shall I give them thanks?

Yes.

All gratitude goes to Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson for having created this game and this world, without whom we would be immersed in something else entirely, I imagine.

I’m equally in debt to Lenard Lakofka, who I was fortunate to have met and engaged with briefly—albeit only virtually, sadly—before his passing. Few know how great his contribution was in those early days of TSR and D&D; he was too humble to admit to it, even if his fingerprints are everywhere.

Other notables are Roger E Moore, Carl Sargant, Jim Ward, Eric Mona, Gary Holian, Sean K Reynolds, Laurence Schick, and Tom Moldvay, without who’s collected works this hobby would be a very dull thing indeed. This list is far from exhaustive.

Endless Inspiration

My heartfelt thanks to those who’ve both inspired and influenced my humble work.

None of this would not have existed at all if it weren’t for Mike Bridges (who we all hope will once again take up the reins if his Greyhawkery blog, should he ever be so inspired to do so), and Anna Meyer (whose map has likely surpassed Darlene’s as the quintessential version).

Special thanks to Jason Zavoda (Hall of the MountainKing, and Canonfire!), whose prolific imagination has also inspired, and without whose celebrated Index (now hosted by Greyhawk Online) my work would be impossible; and without whose timely paraphrased advice of, “Fuck ‘em. You have to enjoy what you are doing. Don’t concern yourself with whether anyone else likes what you do,” saved me when I needed those words most.

Thanks also to Jay Scott (Lord Gosumba on Twitch.com) for encouraging my efforts and hosting the roundtable discussions I’ve participated in; to Tom Kelly (Greyhawk Stories) for his adding to the wealth of Greyhawk fiction when there is so little of it; and to Kristoph Nolen for inviting me to contribute to the Oerth Journal and its wealth of wonder. To Gary Holian, whose writings and enthusiasm and efforts to his chosen fandom is unparalleled, in my opinion.

And I forgetting someone. Obviously. You know who you are; or maybe you don’t; if you don’t, I thank you too. But these are those most deserving of my thanks.

Below, these are not just the lyrics of a song, or the ode all lyrics inevitably are, when they aspire to be the work of art they are.

These lyrics are dedicated to you, dedicated readers, whose continued visits have silently urged me to continue having the fun I’ve most definably had in the past year and some, entertaining you.

And maybe enlightening you.

Ahead by a Century

By The Tragically Hip

Gordon Downie, Johnny Fay, Robert Baker, Joseph Paul Langlois, Robert Gordon Sinclair

First thing we'd climb a tree and maybe then we'd talk

Or sit silently and listen to our thoughts

With illusions of someday cast in a golden light

No dress rehearsal, this is our life

And that's where the hornet stung me

And I had a feverish dream

With revenge and doubt

Tonight we smoke them out

You are ahead by a century (this is our life)

You are ahead by a century (this is our life)

You are ahead by a century

Stare in the morning shroud and then the day began

I tilted your cloud, you tilted my hand

Rain falls in real time and rain fell through the night

No dress rehearsal, this is our life

But that's when the hornet stung me

And I had a serious dream

With revenge and doubt

Tonight we smoke them out

You are ahead by a century (this is our life)

You are ahead by a century (this is our life)

You are ahead by a century

You are ahead by a century (this is our life)

You are ahead by a century (this is our life)

You are ahead by a century

And disappointing you is getting me down.

No dress rehearsal, this is our life...

The Art:

link-and-midna by muse-kr

Fragile by t1na

Autumn-Out-again by grivetart

Sing-A-Song by kate-fox