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#Post#: 1262--------------------------------------------------
Behind the DM's Screen Vol. XIII
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: October 25, 2025, 11:50 pm
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Greetings,
Welcome to Vol. XIII
All my players needed a break, and I stepped away for a while as
well. I am endeavoring to get them back, and while I am doing
that, there are some things that can be posted soon.
In other news, Dan Ayoub, the new head of D&D, posted something
on Twitter, and while I do not know what it means, I think it is
a step in the right direction.
He wrote:
When I took over D&D, I had some very specific folks I wanted to
bring back to The Table. Today, I had the honor of welcoming
these folks back home. Amazing things ahead with Joe
Manganiello, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickmen.
Joe Manganiello had shopped that script around for a Dragonlance
Pilot. I do not know if his involvement pertains to that project
or not. Just don't screw it up, is all I ask.
In regard to bringing Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickmen back to the
table, it could be righting the wrong of not using them at all
during the release of the Shadow Queen game module book, which
did not do well, and the board game that went along with it was
a dud. They might be brought back for a new source book, but
that might be asking too much. Maybe use Tracy to workshop
something new, while bringing Dragonlance back to life? I don't
know, but at the very least, maybe some new Novels beyond what
they are already slated to come out with, that being the War
Wizard and Huma retelling.
While I was not a fan of their most recent Trilogy outing, I am
curious to see what comes next after this new timeline has been
established. I don't know if the Second Generation collection of
stories is even canon anymore. I am very curious to see War
Wizard about Magius. This move has possibilities. It could be
revolutionary or crash and burn. I will always root for them.
I have been in contact with Adam, his time is being dedicated to
school at this time. I have not tried to bother him during this
time.
I am going to work on the Path to Schallsea, I am going to work
on finishing the Fight in Wydara, going to try to game some with
Talidaar and see how things turn out in the Black Thorn
Conspiracy. I will try to get things going again. Talk to you
again soon.
#Post#: 1263--------------------------------------------------
Behind the DM's Screen Vol. XIII Path to Schallsea Discusion,
slowly coming back online
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: October 28, 2025, 8:50 pm
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I have chosen the next chapter of the Path to Schallsea,
entitled Chapter Six: At the Ruins of Solune, to lead off the
return to the forum, at least that is where my heart is located
right now. The chapter is all about Selene capturing Dalamar's
attention and getting close enough to learn his secrets, but in
the process, she will lead the girls of her circle to the
waiting arms of the Dark God of Magic. A character we have known
the name of, and her presence has popped up once or twice before
now, but an exciting new character is making her voice heard and
thereby solidifying their Circle as another one of the girls'
fights also to be included in their new direction they are
collectively deciding they want to try to attempt to learn the
secrets from a dark source that could endanger all of their
future's within the Elven Nations of light.
The character I have been talking about is Inari. The youngest
elf of the circle that came from Silvanesti. Inari sits on the
Conclave of Wizards in 422 AC, but we see her coming to the fore
in this chapter. She is proving to be a stable hand at dealing
with things while Selene is otherwise occupied.
The chapter's story has not reached the ruin, but I am getting a
lot of needed dialogue done, and Selene is enticing Dalamar in
with her intelligence that was provided in part by Inari, who, I
am not sure if I have mentioned yet, is very intelligent,
probably the smartest of all the girls, while Selene is probably
the wisest up to now in this story. This is a story that is set
beside the Dalamar Novel that we get to explore here. It is one
of the strangest Chapters/Gaming Sessions I have ever written,
but it is a tale as old as time. Girls that has been held back
from knowledge, and doing whatever, however they can to learn
what they want so they can become who they choose to be, it's
the calm before the coming storm in the next chapter, but its
filled with important moments with one of them being the
formation of the Circle that holds together until they reach
Karnea's Tower in Schallsea. It solidifies the dynamics between
the girls. It's one of the most consequential chapters I have
written for a Path to Schallsea. I am just taking a few days
with this. to get it right. My friend Adam wrote back to me
after I sent him my revisions
, and he reported back that he thought "It reads really well."
Which makes me feel like I am on the right path. We discussed
recently about how much he has learned about the girls so far
has been worth so much in adding to the richness and the
fullness of the backgrounds of Karnea's students, and what we
can do with them in the future.
It has been among my many goals to make sure Dalamar is handled
with the story with the dignity and grace he should be afforded,
and to feel a great sense of responsibility in doing him right.
I have also been shaping the chapter that comes after, it
entitled Chapter Seven: War comes to Silvanesti, in which
literally all hell breaks loose. The invasion by the
Dragonarmies, the battles that play out on the different fronts,
the fall of House Protector and House Mystic, and they were just
run over by the Dragonarmies. Cities and towns all fall, and the
civilians in all the affected areas migrate south, and the
southern cities' populations swell as holding actions try to
hold against the incoming invasion. A series of holding actions
led by brave elven warriors and wizards fight to give the
civilians enough time to escape in the ships that will take them
away from the fighting. The speaker is said to have a secret
plan that will destroy the Dragon Army, so the mass exodus
begins. The girls have been fighting with the holding actions,
but they too eventually escape to the last ships, just as King
Lorac takes hold of the Dragon Orb. Yes, Chapter Seven is going
to be an amazing blast to game the character's participation
right into the thick of things and depict this epic event.
Putting everything towards getting Chapter Six of Path to
Schallsea out. Speaking to my friend Adam this evening, I am not
sure if he means he is done done, or just done for now, but we
might be closer to gaming chapter two of Karnea III Power Moves,
so that is exciting.
I will throw this out there again: I am looking for players for
a new Knight game coming soon. We game over on Discord. We game
2e AD&D. The Knight Story is set after the Half Giant War in
the Age of Mortals, after 429 AC.
I will be picking up the other stories and see where I am
exactly and get things going, just easing into things.
#Post#: 1264--------------------------------------------------
Behind the DM's Screen Vol. XIII
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: November 3, 2025, 12:47 am
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Greetings,
The Path to Scallsea is taking a little longer than I intended.
I am near done; there is some more I have to do. This is by far
the longest Chapter of The Path to Scallsea so far.
I have also been rereading the Karnea Story II: Consolidation of
Power, and have been sort of astounded by how it turned out and
how happy I am that I can go back and review plotlines and the
little subtle moments, and how Karnea's player really brought it
to bring her to life. What a complex character. He has to remind
me sometimes she's evil, because she is altruistic sometimes to
her pages. I apologize for the glacial pace of Story III. The
First Ten Gaming Sessions are ready to go when Karnea's player
can come back to the game.
I hope to get the Path to Scallsea Chapter Six done this week so
I can move on to other games. It is taking a little longer than
I intended.
Rewatched Excalibur movie again, and I am pumped to do some
writing, so I am plotting and planning, and writing.
I have not been idle. I have added the new island specs in the
Information for Karnea section for the Tower of Blood Sea. Below
the info for the Tower, there is new text talking about the
Island. It can be found at this link: Blood Sea Tower of High
Sorcery and Island Port Town Description
HTML https://thedamnforum.createaforum.com/karnea-master-of-the-black-robe/history-and-recent-history-of-karnea/msg56/#msg56<br
/>
That Karnea's player came up with, and I approved. There is a
huge amount of room left on the island, even room for another
town or two. I think we are sticking with two; any more than
that and things become unsustainable. It is 70 square miles in
diameter; the math is in the link. I had sent him an email about
how the Port town and the Tower coexist, and what goes into
sourcing Karnea's chosen menu choices that he has given me. I
made for him a well-thought-out document detailing what goes
into making her daily meals and how that is affected by the
monthly shipment of livestock to replenish the beef and pork to
make sausage for her breakfast. I broke everything down for him.
We discussed several things after that. The island's size, its
shape. I used the Ageon Islands as a model for the
smallest-sized islands and gave them a size, and he wanted a
rounded-shaped island, which made sense geologically enough for
me. We are currently determining the topography. Are there
unspecified hills, their size, and composition?
Anyway, it's a start. My feeling with it being so big, it seems
like a tempting target, just waiting to be plucked. We are also
going to connect some things that have been established already
and see how they mesh together. I may have mentioned this
before, but I am not an artist; I wish I were artistically
talented to any degree more than I actually am. Or else I would
create a map that I could post.
I have been marveling at fielding enough Wizards to make up the
Conclave, their Hunters, and some of their rank and file. I had
never done this before, really. I left it all pretty nebulous in
the past. But it has felt good to know we have this many
wizards. But we need more.
I hope to be able to do what I have done for the conclave to
field the Knights of Solamnia. It is in the plans. And the
Priest of the Holy Orders. I am so weak in my Priest game. No
one wants to ever play them, but everyone wants to be healed.
I am going to see where I am on the games, and I will try to get
some movement going.
___________________________________________________________________________________
11/4/25 update
I made a big breakthrough today and figured out exactly what the
Ruin of Solune was. It was the home of Parys Dayl, the First
White Robe Master. He also operated a school of White Magic of
Solinari, or Solune. It became a ruin after it was destroyed by
the Red Dragon Army of Crematia the Cruel during the Second
Dragon War. I would say another day or two to fully put
everything together. It's up to Four Pages right now, now I have
a stage in which to build the last act of the Chapter.
#Post#: 1265--------------------------------------------------
Behind the DM's Screen Vol. XIII Update The release of the Sixth
Chapter of the Path to Schallsea
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: November 10, 2025, 6:33 am
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Good Morning,
I am going to crash in a little while. I have needed a couple of
days away from Chapter Six of the Path to Schallsea. There are
some minor things I need to add to the story. For instance, I
did not cover them getting off the Island of, and I misplaced
the King's road, so it is going to take a little bit of work to
fill in that gap and make the alteration. I would say the main
point of the story was accomplished, but they still have to
travel to the Ruin. I will get this done and up as soon as
possible. I was also looking at Lords of Neraka II, and I am a
good way into the next part of the Return to Storm's Keep.
The Gladiator games are still going on.
I am on 262 AC A Druid's Tale: The Story of Talidaar vol. I, The
World of Elves, Chapter Seven: The Summer Home Festival is a
big, important chapter, and it marks a memorable moment that
Talidaar and Kira will always cherish, but it will lead to
Talidaar's first brush with death.
The Tales of the Knights of Solamnia is coming... Tick...
The player of Aravis and Karnea sent me what will be the next
two stories will be about: Aravis and Lucius at the beginning of
their meeting. I had stepped away from the game for a little
while, and I have come back, and I am reading the Aravis and
Lucius stuff, and reading the latest stories in the Tales of
Karnea, and lining up dates with The Timeline of the Conquest of
Soreel Space, and finding discrepancies. Some structural changes
are coming to the Timeline of Conquest.
This includes Lucius and Aravis meeting much sooner than it is
listed in the Conquest Timeline. There would be ramifications to
this, I argued. So, I voiced my thoughts to Robbi and Adam,
saying there is no way that Lucius pulls the stuff he does in
391 AC 21 ST if he meets Aravis in 383 AC 13 ST. I knew it was
provocative, but I did not expect they would both to get back to
me within moments.
Robbi explained that not much would be different, and she would
address it in due course. Adam was replying to me, saying,
"Trust the Process," which made me laugh. It's something as DM,
I might say. But it made me feel 100 % better knowing we were on
the same page about that.
So I was rereading the Reign of the Saint, and seeing as I can
not move forward with that until Adam can come back to the Game
after School.
We have gammed Part One of Chapter Two. I am letting Adam look
over what I have already written out. We still have to game Part
Two. Sorry, there has been little to no movement forward
anywhere on the site. I am hoping to change that. Things are
getting done, and some gaming sessions are being put together.
I am looking for new players
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I have posted the next two parts of the Path to Schallsea.
Warning. They are rated M/A for Mature Audiences. I had to break
the Story into two parts, the First Part being the Plot, and the
Second Part being the Deal.
Selene had to choose to be used instead of any of the other
girls. She also used Dalamar to get what she wanted for the
circle. Dalamar knew that she wanted something and took
advantage of it.
As you can see, it was to be the longest chapter thus far at
seven pages, but I had to break it into two parts.
It gets kind of hot in these two parts. I feel like I should
have known if I put these two beautiful elves together that they
were going to do was to bang. I would say it is the most sexual
chapter yet on the forum. I have known all along that this
happened in Selene's past. I had been dreading it. Inari really
got the spotlight in this chapter and really showed her worth.
Unfortunately, two girls got the short straws; Seraphelle and
Kalana were sacrificed in the development department in this
chapter.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Two entries are close to being edited and posted. They are
Knights of Nerka
Lords of Nerka II
vol. I
Story Two: Dark Covenant
Chapter Three: The Return to Storm’s Keep
Part Two
And
A Druid's Tale: Story of Talidaar
vol. I: The World of Elves
Chapter Seven: The Summer Home Festival
Both of these are nearing completion. I would say Chapter Seven:
The Summer Home Festival has a good chance of being posted in
the A Druid's Tale: Story of Talidaar vol. I: The World of Elves
located in The Hierophant of Chislev After Midnight.
HTML https://thedamnforum.createaforum.com/the-hierophant-of-chislev-29/<br
/>
Return to Storm's Keep Part Two is going to take a little
longer.
#Post#: 1273--------------------------------------------------
Behind the DM's Screen Vol. XIII Update
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: November 29, 2025, 10:45 am
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Greetings, I hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well, and for
those who do not celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you are well.
I am currently working on Grand Empress Zeva, vol. I Reign of
the Saint Story One: Breaking of the Great Peace Chapter
Fourteen: Countermoves, where Grand Empress Zeva begins taking
countermoves against a new potential threat.
We will see a new character in the story, but she has been
around, serving the Greysword for many years.
Working on 280 AC A Druid's Tale: The Story of Talidaar vol. II
The World of Man Chapter Eight.
Working on the next Dark Knights
And the next Wydara.
Talk to you soon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update: I have made significant headway on the Grand Empress
Zeva Chapter Fourteen: The Antiquarian
It is shaping up to be a very interesting story where a lot of
things happen, and start to move into place for the next group
of game stories. A new piece is on the board, a Courtier, a
special agent of Empress Zeva herself, will step into the pages
of this forum. Acting for Zeva when she is keeping herself in
the capital to defend the seat of Power, this agent can enact
Zeva's will anywhere and for whatever Zeva wants. The Empress
has a few people like this in her court; this is the first one.
This may turn out to be a two-part chapter, as it is getting
dense. I have been keeping an eye on making sure it flows and
that things make sense, so hopefully it translates. Zeva's
player and I were able to game a bit, and there is some new
material that I am going to layer in. Almost all of the big
players in the capital have an appearance. I think we might meet
the Holy Mother for the first time in this Chapter is Mother
Elara, the head of the Church. The Religious aspect is still a
nebulous concept that we are still constructing. We meet the
wild rogue oracle of the Free Isles in this chapter, as well as
get a scene with the current Oracle of Tarish. Lady Serena of
the mentalist school, as well as Zeva's chief turthsayer, are
both present in the story, as is the Chief Wizard of the
Wizard's College, Master Mierra Soong.
We also get to meet the new eponymous character, for whom the
chapter is named, the Antiquarian, who will become an important
figure in the coming chapters.
I am including in these last parts a status check on the
Operation in the Deserts of Arun and find out how that is going,
as well as a look at how the 5th Fleet is doing as they head to
the Gas Giants
In all, it feels like an epoch chapter for its significance of
what is to come.
#Post#: 1292--------------------------------------------------
Behind the DM's Screen Vol. XIII We have lost a giant in the
Dragonlance world.
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: December 18, 2025, 1:53 pm
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Greetings to the players and visitors to this site. Your DM lost
an ally in November. He went by Anomalous Thracian on FB in the
Sages of Krynn FB group. I did not know him in real life, but
in the FB group, he was a real one. If he was not the first to
answer a question posed, he would soon join the conversation and
help find the answer. To me, he was one of the greatest Sages of
Krynn ever, and he helped me out with numerous questions I had
over the years. I am so devastated to learn he has passed away.
A Towering figure in the exploration of pre-cataclysm Krynn.
HTML https://dragonlancenexus.com/help-anomalous-thracians-wife-and-son-rebuild-after-tragic-fire/
We here at the Damn Forum salute this Giant of Dragonlance.
The DM
#Post#: 1296--------------------------------------------------
Behind the DM's Screen Vol. XIII Happy New Year! Welcome 2026!
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: December 31, 2025, 9:36 pm
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Another Year Gone. This Year was the least productive I have had
on the Forum since its inception. There are many factors, too
many to list, but I will explain a couple. I had just
orchestrated my first full-fledged campaign involving many
different parties, Dwarves, Elves, Dragons, and long-lost
friends, all the while, death had come for the Elves, and had to
defend them while waiting for the Dragons to arrive. I forgot to
add the Knights of Solmania involvement as well, on top of the
other Epic games I was running.
I ran Three Talidaar Campaign/stories, plus wrote the beginnings
of Talidaar, broken into two parts, something I had been wanting
to do for decades. To be fair, Talidaar's creator did not have
the vision to conceive of what I was having a hard time my self
of explaining very well. So I have written it and sent him the
important things, and after several chapters came out, some
things he knew about Talidaar's history were starting to unfold
in ways he did not believe possible. After some of hard hitting
chapters, he saw what was trying to do under the subtext, and
the messages I was trying to lace into the story, and he told me
what I was doing was special and he finally appreciated what was
trying to do, and at the upmost I was being faithful and
respectful, and that was import for me for him to recognize the
respect I was committed to adhere to.
The other Big Story was bringing the Black Robe, and indeed the
Conclave, to life again. It was the first time I had ever
accounted for the members of the conclave before. Before it was
a nebulous thing, but now I know it forwards and backwards for
the three Orders.
Also Detailed the Towers in the way I have never done before.
The Karnea story II was a dream come true to bring forth, and
now we are about to do new chapters for Story One and Three.
I had to take a long sabbatical or, where I did not even come to
the forum for months or I would have burned out. I came back
with enough time to game the first session of the new story with
Adam, and then he has been unavailable for school (college) for
the rest of the year. After the New Year, we are going to be
back with a vengeance. I have already read Adam's first draft of
the Pretorians of the Grand Empress, and it is fantastic. We
will be gaming soon, and the stories will be coming.
The Three Pillars of the Forum are the Trio: Karnea, Talidaar,
and Zeva. I feel all three have shown their worth and that they
still have adventures to go on. I have tried to be fair,
entertaining, immersive, and surprising. I am a Dragonlance
purist, but I also embraced things in the past and still feel
they have their place in the Dragonlance world. Like Portals and
Planescape, and Spelljammer, but I also try to show some
restraint.
I have tried to expand what is known about Soreel. I have many
balls up in the air going on with the Reign of the Saint Story.
We will start to see those come into play as we head into the
endgame of the first Story for the Reign of the Saint, and
several of those hanging threads will be counted for and come to
pass in Story Two. I have not wanted to move too fast and
overwhelm my player, so I have tried to be measured and have
things come to be revealed at the right time.
I will be wrapping up Tales of the Druid, the Story of Talidaar
Part One, The World of Elves here soon. Part II The World of Men
is ongoing for a ways longer, but there is an endpoint. The
Blackthorn Conspiracy continues Talidaar's New Story One, of a
new trilogy.
I am going back a few chapters for Wydara and changing the
number of fights to something manageable, because it has been
holding me up. I am going to cut the number in half, and we will
try the fights again.
I do have to say, I have a deficit of Players. I have very few
players, so I put out the call. The game is free. We game on
Discord, and I record it here. I am looking for some knights,
wizards, and clerics, even thieves or Warriors. I hope by now
you can see I know the world of Krynn, and have enough
experience to run this many games simultaneously, and have them
be hopefully interesting to look back at.
I want to explore the faiths of the world. I want to explore the
knighthood as it is on the ground in Solamnia after the War with
the Half Giant in the Solamnic Empire.
I am restoring the Knights of Nearka. it slow going. that needs
players.
Happy New Year 2026, hope we survive the experience.
#Post#: 1297--------------------------------------------------
Behind the DM's Screen Vol. XIII
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: January 3, 2026, 8:11 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Greetings to all.
Just an update, had a conversation with Darius Desaad's player.
He is in a better place to be able to rejoin the game, and we
are going to try to get Karnea's player and Darius's player
together in the coming weeks to have their reunion as Darius
returns to the Bloodsea Isle to meet with Master Karnea.
Meeting with Darius's player on Thursday of next week to game
out the session before that reunion.
Meeting tonight, and tomorrow with Karnea's player to talk about
the game and possibly game out chapter two of Karnea Story III
Power Moves. Meeting with Zeva's player to game out the next
chapter for the Reign of the Saint
Talking with Talidaar's player about gaming, the next chapter of
the Blackthorn Conspiracy.
So things are coming back to life on the forum. We stretch out
this time between gaming sessions to accommodate everyone's
lives, so I apologize for these long gulfs of time between
sessions, but it's the time frame that works best for my
players.
I am very excited that my friend Desmond is coming back to the
game. He played Darius Desaad. The player has been away for a
while, but I am so glad he is coming back. He is a Top Tier
Gamer, like my other players.
------------------------------------------------
Update 1/3/2026
423 AC Karnea Master of the Black Robe vol. I Story Three: Power
Moves Chapter Two: Secrets Uncovered Part One
HTML https://thedamnforum.createaforum.com/karnea-master-of-the-black-robe/karnea-master-of-the-black-robe-vol-i-story-three-power-moves/msg1298/#msg1298
This was an amazing session, as you can see. So much character
development, as we are seeing this platonic relationship develop
between Master Karnea and her Majordomo Selene, just two
wizardesses, seeing to order business, as Selene tries to keep
everything in order and running smoothly so that Karnea can
worry about more important things. It's a rare thing, but as I
explain it to Selene knows she will never beat Karnea, and they
had a good working relationship before, and they work together
well now. Something I'm told irritates Kalana. So there is some
internal drama at work with the underlings.
The main thrust of the course is the Arrival of the Spymaster.
Palainess Dakhammer. Someone we have heard about, and seen
glimpses of in the Tales of Karnea in the old days, but here he
is in the flesh. A rare neutral evil Dwarf, and one of the first
characters in my first Game. I should have gone into some detail
about Palainess now. Decades ago, in a fight against the
thieves' guild south of New Ports and the Merchant House Prince,
The Roaring Griffen was burned down, nearly with him in it.
Palainess suffered some burn damage. He saw to the Bar being
rebuilt after he went on a rampage of revenge, taking out the
responsible people and the people who ordered them to do it. He
was rather thorough and was sure to leave no half measures, so
when he snuck into the bedroom of the Merchant Prince, and they
renegotiated their deal. Palainess displayed the heads of all
those who did him wrong and made sure their deal had favorable
terms lest he forfeit his holdings to the dwarf. The deal was
made, and the Tavern Inn was rebuilt as close to what it was as
possible.
Palainess Dakhammer is a fun character that was created by the
same person who created Talidaar.
Palainess has a good old-time relationship with the old dwarf;
their joining forces is monumental. I have mentioned before
about naming a lot of people; this was part of that. That list
of people was drawn up six months ago. The dynamics unleashed
upon the island is umnumerble at the moment. But I am interested
in finding out about some of these henchmen. I am interested in
finding out how the interview between Garrion the Man-at-Arms
and Karnea will go. Garrion will become the leader of the Island
Guards, who will wear black uniforms with white and red stripes
down the pants legs, and white and red striped epaulets.
Standard leather armor for daily wear, with chain and half plate
in the armory in case of pirates or minotaurs. Spear, short
sword, and short bow. Patrolling guardsmen will carry cudgels,
since they aren't really trying to kill townspeople. The guards
enforce the collection of all farm and trade goods.
I am interested in seeing how the Island guards work out. I am
told by Karnea's player that Karnea wants the 7'1 Barbarian to
work with Garrion.
I am fixing some things, and Adam and I are going to get
together and finish part two, and I am wondering now if there is
a part three to this Chapter. I was not prepared for just Aravis
going, and not Karnea as well. So I have to figure out how to do
some things with Aravis and account for what Karnea is doing, so
another week or two. Check back.
I am super proud of the complexity of everything in this
chapter. I know this is all about Karnea and Aravis, but Cael,
the Kagonesti Half-elf, and Darius Desaad had the same master,
but Cael stole from the Master and disappeared, and now has
shown up at the tower as a Caretaker, while Darius Desaad
inherited everything from the Master, even though Darius took
the Black Robe. It will be interesting when Darius gets to the
Island in the next chapter, and we will see what develops in the
drama department there.
IN all, thank you for your patience. I am glad this session saw
the light of day. Now I am going to spend a few days getting
ready to game here soon and get Part Two up here soon.
#Post#: 1300--------------------------------------------------
Behind the DM's Screen Vol. XIII Update
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: January 24, 2026, 5:42 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Greetings,
Part II of Karnea Chapter Two will be out sometime this week;
it's finished for my part, just having Karnea's player add some
lines of dialogue to a reaction I left open for him. We are
going to game Part III of Chapter Two here in the weeks to come.
That Gaming session is finished, just waiting on the player to
have time to game with me.
Darius Desaad is about to move onto the island, been working
with that player, deciding what Darius will do once he moves in.
Darius will become a very important character in the next year
going forward.
I am 98% finished with the next Path to Schallsea, just some
final things to cover. I am very happy I did this back story for
the girls. They were so nebulous before; now, by this last
chapter, I have been working on, I am finally into the girls'
heads, and able to give each girl a chance to show who they are.
Now that I have established who they are in their past, I laugh
at what's going on in the present. Hestia figures out how big a
mark Kalana is with her emotions and drives her insane by
needling her every chance she gets. The girls may walk on
eggshells around Kalana, but Hestia stomps on the eggshells. It
made me laugh so hard because Hestia is a Conclave Member in the
future, when magic comes back. So it makes me laugh that Kalana
is upset she is not a Conclave member yet. It's nice to connect
these dots, because it has also given Karnea's player a chance
to get to know the girls better and how to use them in the
future.
Once I have some of this done, I am moving my attention to
Wydara and going to redo the tournament they are going in. It
was too ambitious, and I need to pull back a bit. Wydara's
player is good with that, so that story will be coming down, and
I will redo it.
That will allow for Lashia, Daera, Sator, Las, and Marilee come
back into the picture in Northern Ergoth.
Then I can move forward with Talidaar's Conspiracy game. His
other two origin stories are moving along. The World of Elves
will end in the next chapter, while the World of Man will
continue.
So Everyone stay warm. Terrible things are happening in the
world, and I try to stay informed, but sometimes I need to step
away and write and get away from things. Take care everyone
#Post#: 1307--------------------------------------------------
Behind the DM's Screen Vol. XIII This is the explainer post for
the Island of Blood Sea Tower
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: February 18, 2026, 2:51 am
---------------------------------------------------------
This is the explainer post for the Island of Blood Sea Tower.
All of the information about the tower was collected over three
years of gaming, creating, and doing a lot of thinking. First of
all, Adam E, the player of Karnea, has been the best partner for
working with you, and though there are gulfs of time when we can
not talk, he was able to confirm some things, and I made the
decision to break the Town and Island Information from the Tower
of Blood Sea Post and allow the Tower to be its own thing, allow
the Town to be its own thing, the same with the Coastal Plains I
termed the Fertile Cresent, my reasoning being the wind coming
off the ocean would be more exterme on the west side than on the
east side, the Fertile Cresent. And finally, I allowed the Port
to be its own thing and allow it space to grow.
I ran into a word limit, and that's what prompted me to allow
the elements of the Island to have their own space to grow.
Ihate naming people, but I must admit it is getting easier with
the internet as a source. What prompted all this was Darius
finally arriving on the island to stay for the foreseeable
future and bringing Christine with him. This has been planned, I
feel like, for years, but it was only when the First Conclave
that we Gamed when Darius talked to Karnea about coming to the
Island, and about Christine.
So I was writing Darius getting on his wagon and going through
the Port, and then I was worried because they were headed to the
Town. I had a good idea what was in the town, and it was all
confirmed by Adam E already, so I decided to go on a naming
spree and name everyone in the Port, and in the Town, and all of
the farming families on the Island, Close to fifty in a couple
of days. My next project is roads, but I have a few written down
already, just going to line them up West and East. I have been
trying to work on the blocks, the corners, and everyone's
houses.
I feel so accomplished publishing everything. When it first went
up, it was not formatted at all, and it was a jumble, but I was
able to piece it all together into its right place, still
tweaking things.
There are some open questions for Adam to opine on, like the
rank of the Leader of the Island Defense. I believe Lord
Commander is the right rank for a host of reasons, one of them
is that it will inspire loyalty from him for Karnea for
bestowing such a rank, and I think that is the most important
thing. I think the most obvious con is that it might go to his
head, but he is not dumb enough to piss off a wizard. He may
think Captain is good enough, but for the record, I think it
would make him more loyal to Karnea, to the Island, to the
people, at least that would be my hope. I am naming it so until
I get a "note."
I am super happy with the outcome of everything with the Island
so far. I have even been injecting hooks here and there all over
the place. The Green Dragon Tavern is new; we will see if that
survives. I had good arguments for its existence.
With Darius moving to the island and opting to live in the Town
rather than the Tower, it forced me to detail everything. I
still don't have all the golems placed around the Town and the
Port. But it's a good start. I have been able to finish all of
Darius's Gaming material for the next Chapter and in fact, it is
Darius's first two-parter and his first crossover with Adam E
and Master Karnea, as she and Aravis host Darius, the island's
newest Artificer, Christine, and the Tower's newest employee:
The Tower's Academician Wizard Arthur Winsome for Dinner at the
Tower in the Gardens on the 17th Floor.
We are also going to find out what Magical Items have been sent
from Wayreth to the Blood Sea Tower that Darius brought with him
on his voyage. They are Magical Items that were sent to Wayreth
when the Wizards cleared everything out of the Istar Tower at
the close of the Lost Battles, and some things that made it out
of the Tower of High Sorcery at Losarcum before it was suddenly
set upon and attacked by Istar's military arm, the Knights of
the Divine Hammer. It was something the Wizards of the Tower of
Losarcum could not allow, and some gave up their lives to ensure
the Tower destroyed all in the vicinity of Losarcum, the City of
Stone, and its complete and total obliteration, enough that it
became known simply as the Ruins in later Ages.
I have little things tucked in there to surprise Adam E. He is
always wary when I give him things. He would say Bad things
always follow, and it makes me laugh that I scarred these people
to such a degree that they feel it in their bones.
There is a life teetering even now, and Kanrea does not know;
they are not even on the same plane, and it is on the list to
do, but other chapters are between then and when Karnea can get
her people to save them.
Alright, all, goodnight, and see you on the morn.
*****************************************************
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