New Logo For A Growing Website

As you’ve probably seen by now, I’ve added a real logo to the site.  Moreover, I updated the background to be just a little more exciting than just a wall of black.  I’ve been posting here since 2019 and finally, the site’s grown up!

  

I’ve had this idea for a logo for several years but did nothing about it because, well, I’m not that great an artist.  Recently, however, I’ve decided get serious about growing Tev’s Next Idea and felt it was time to get that logo done.  To make this a reality, I was put in touch with a very talented artist, Rose Wolf.  Above, you can see what I gave her to work with (left) and what she came up with (right).  I’m thankful she was patient, because I could be rather indecisive at time.  Do I want color or greyscale?  What font should it have? And several other decisions that had to be made. But Rose stuck with it and delivered a work of art exceeded my expectations.

Now I’ll admit, the concept of a dragon and dice is not unique -- it’s not hard to find related images all over the internet -- but I think this version fits my site nicely, and I have no desire to consider anything different.

GROWING UP

Above I suggested that the site has finally grown up.  That’s great, but what does that truly mean?  Right now, it means that I want to put more focus on the hobby, helping new players get started, and sharing the many available tools and ways to play. 

I have always taken time in my stories to explain the game and tools I was using, and offer insight into my thought process. I do this for several reasons. Primarily, it’s because it’s how I learned to solo, from other blogs that posted similar information.  I have no intention of stopping these story posts -- it’s my whole point of solo role-playing, after all -- but I’m going to add more features that focus on how to play.

My first project is to help new players get started in the hobby.  Soon, I hope to post a series of articles that don’t necessarily teach a person how to solo, but instead introduces them to the various aspects of solo role-playing.  My desire is to help players find their particular interests and game style. Then, later this year, I want to start posting videos, each highlighting a different role-playing tool.  

In addition, I’m exploring another way to share my gameplay.  I’ve started streaming on Twitch (very infrequently, however) and posting on Youtube. (Video games are sorta like solo role-playing, aren’t they?)

So, that’s just a look at what I have planned.  Who knows what else might happen on site, but I’m excited to see where it all goes.  Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll stick with me.  And if you want to help, please consider visiting my support page to find out ways you can do that. 

D.I.Y.: 7th Continent

This past weekend, I went on another little DIY journey. This time, it was for the exploration game 7th Continent.

In addition to the main game, I own several expansions.  As can be expected, all those extra cards will not fit in the original box.  While the company does sell an official game box for the expansions, as I said in my last D.I.Y. article, I’m cheap. So instead, I started looking for a good box that would work well with little to no reconfiguration.  Shockingly, I found a box that pretty much fit my needs.  It was a single unit that closed securely and had a foam cut out in which the cards fit perfectly.  

Originally, I had planned to just leave it looking as is, white with tape and labels. However, after my recent projects, I felt it wouldn’t take much for me to clean it up a bit.  A graphic of the original box artwork and some photo clean-up, and soon I had printed several sheets to cover the box. I finished it up with a laminate overlay and, by the end of the morning, I had a second card box that paired well with the original game. 

(I really need to remember to take a “before” picture prior to starting these projects.)

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Cyenannore: Chapter 7 - Nen The Wiser

(Read the previous chapter here.)

System: Tunnels & Trolls 
Tools: d30 Sandbox Companion; LitRPG Reads encounter tables; RPGSolo.com

(The above contains affiliate links. Any purchases may help support this site financially.)

[The Story So Far]

Yeah.  It’s been over a year since I last made a post for this campaign.  A little refresher is definitely in order.

Sylralei Lumnum, the elven leader of the secretive mercenary group Kage Gordain, has decided to give up the adventuring life and return home to Cyenannore where her father is the headmaster of a university for wizards.  To accompany her on the journey, she hired three other members of the organziation: the dwarf Dalen Dimflayer; Ex-Outlaw Kristopher Miglward; and the young halfling wizard, Nen Goldmore.

Several days into the journey, the team encounters another pair of mercenaries: Jonik Urilen, an elf, and Fiddlestix the leprechaun.  The two had been hired by a nearby Temple of the Church of Zeriel to retrieve an important artifact from the Crypt of Mindrek, which just happens to be a mile or so from where the two groups meet.  After much discussion, Syl acquiesces and joins Jonik and Fiddlestix on their quest, in hopes of bringing back some interesting items for themselves.  After defeating a demon and his team of imps who had made the crypt their home, the party was disappointed to find that the artifact they were there to retrieve had appeared to have already been taken from the crypt. 

[Scene 1]

“Pack it all up!  We got a long way to go and I’m done wasting time.”  Sylralei barked out the command, making sure everyone was awake and packing. 

“Uh, you’ll raise the demons,” Kris said groggily, trying to shake the sleep from his head.  “Give us time to eat, at least.”

“You have fifteen minutes,” Syl relented.

It was only the previous night that they defeated the demon Beglaxeth and were still discouraged, having realized it was all for nothing.  In silence, everyone rolled up their mats and packed up their belongings.  The rest of the time was spent eating a meager breakfast of stale bread and cheese.

Between bites, Nen whispered the word Hidey Hole and focused on the instructions given to him by the leprechaun Fiddlestix.  As he did, he stared intently at that back of his hand, hoping to see it vanish.

“No luck, huh?”

Nen didn’t have to look up to see that Fiddlestix had made her way over to him.

“I know it’s hard,” she continued, “But try to relax.”  She offered some more suggestions and Nen tried again.

<Nen needs to make a L3 INT SR (target 30) to learn the spell.  3, 4 + 14 INT = 21. Fail.  Because Fiddlestix is helping, Nen will get a second chance today.>

“It’s no use,” Nen slumped down.  “It’s not going to happen.”

“Keep practicing,” Fiddle encouraged him as he finished his bread and stood up to go.  “You’ll get it next time.”

The six adventurers pushed open the chamber door and left.  Just beyond the door, the hall was empty, the corpse of the demon and imps they had drug outside the room having dissipated back to the plane of existence they came from. 

Jonik and Fiddlestix lead the party while Syl and Nen brought up the rear.  When they reached the bottom of the stairs that lead to the surface, Jonik faced the group.

“Fiddle and I have decided to explore the rest of the crypt and see what we still might be able to salvage.  You guys are welcome to . . .”

“What was that?”  Nen interrupted, looking around with the light from his Will-O-Wisp spell.  Seeing nothing, he glanced at the ceiling.  “Roach!” He called out, seeing the giant six legged creature clinging to the roof above them. Three more skittled out of the crevice in the wall where the spider had emerged from earlier and engaged the members of the party.

Nen and Syl, in unison, cast their Take That You Fiend at the roach above them as it dropped.  The twin blasts obliterated the bug, sending roach guts raining down of them.  The rest of the party quickly cut down two of the remaining bugs.  Kris has sliced off several of the remaining roach’s legs and was preparing for the final blow.  He lifted his scimitar when, suddenly, the tip of a staff smashed through the creature, spraying its viscous innards across the boots of those standing nearby.

Syl stared past her staff at Kris. “Let’s stop wasting time and get going,” she said as she wiped a small piece of roach residue from her nose.

<I made one encounter check for the entire trip out of the crypt and got the necessary 1.  Using my same list from before, but eliminating the demon and greatly reducing the chance of undead, I rolled roaches.  The entire battle took 3 rounds, with the roaches only winning by a few points on the first round, which was easily absorbed by the party’s armor.  The TTYF spells took out one of the roaches and the reduction in MR resulted in them always being on the losing end of the battle.  Only a few spite points were distributed among the party.>

[Scene 2]

Sylralei stood in the pouring rain, wind whipping the folds of her cloak around her.  Her face was turned up to the sky in an angered and annoyed scowl.

“I don’t think she’s happy,” Kris said to Dalen.

“That’s an understatement,” the Dwarf corrected.

As Jonik announced, he and Fiddlestix went on to explore the crypt, but Syl was adamant about leaving.  Unfortunately, when they reached the surface, they found a storm raging outside, limiting their view to just a few feet beyond the opening.  In a rage, Sylralei marched out as if to challenge the gods and make them stop the horrible weather.  In apparent response, inch-sized hail began to fall, chasing the soaking wizard back inside, having accomplished nothing other than washing away the remaining roach guts.

<I still have a couple of pending events that I need to resolve. One was Change/Weather.  When I rolled it, I determined that the weather would be storming when the party was ready to leave the crypt.  Using the weather tables in the d30 Sandbox Companion, I rolled on the Multi-Cell, Non-Severe Cluster column to determine how long and how bad it would be.  The whole storm consists of 7 cells and lasting approximately 6 hours.  I had the party reach the surface during the worst cell (cell 3) and will make an oracle roll after each cell to see if they decide to leave.>

Despite her hurry, Sylralei knew that it would be best to wait until the storm was over before moving on.  The rain and wind died down after about twenty minutes, but picked up again another twenty minutes later.  This new event was less severe, but still lasted for almost a half hour. 

<Unlikely check (the chance will improve after each cell): No, and . . . the “and” means the group is really not wanting to leave while it is raining, so the next check will also be at “unlikely” instead of improving.

I’ll also check to see if Jonik and Fiddle return, starting at “Unlikely.”  Yes.>

The rain finally stopped, but the sky was still dark.  Dalen made a strong case for waiting a little longer. Syl argued against him.  Using the knowledge he had gained during years of adventuring and research, the dwarf rebuts with many reasons why it’s too soon to assume the rains were over.  Syl tried to dismiss him, but neither Nen nor Kris were in any hurry to leave so Syl was forced to hand out a little longer.

The Sky Was Still Dark

“You guys still here?”

It was the voice of Fiddlestix as she and Jonik climbed up the stairs to meet them.

“We’re waiting out the weather,” Dalen explained.  “It’s pretty bad out there.”

Jonik grinned at Syl.  “So much for that ‘let’s get moving,’ I suppose.”

Syl just glared back without a word.

“What did you find,” Nen asked Fiddlestix who had taken a seat next to him. 

“Nothing much. Just one room full of statues.”

<The map I was using only had one room left.  It was a long narrow room with columns and three alcoves.  Statues could have been 1-3: Famous Priest , 4-5: Different forms of Zeriel, 6: the three Modern Gods - Roll: 6>

“There were three statues in a row.  The middle one, the largest, was of a man with a rather plain, unremarkable face.  At least I think it was a man. Like the painting in the Preparation room, the legs looked more like a cloud.” As she spoke, Fiddlestix opened her book, found a blank corner of an otherwise full page, and started sketching what Nen assumed were the statues.

“Zeriel?” Nen asked.

“That’s what I would assume.  One was an old man and other was a woman.  If the middle one statue was Zeriel, the others were probably the other two modern gods, Moro and Ilmis. ”

“Was there any treasure?”

“Not much. The room was ransacked like the rest of tomb.  I did cast an Oh There It Is and a Detect Magic spell to see if anything turned up. We gound an empty jewely box and a few other trinkets the church might be interested in.  But nothing exciting like a “Zombie Killing Sword of Fire!”

Nen suspected her comment was influenced by on another sketch on the page that looked just like such a weapon.”

“Anyway,” she said, suddenly slamming the book shut without warning.  “What are you doing?”

“Uh, killing time?  Waiting for the rain to stop.”

“Hmm.  I was kinda thinking you’d want to disappear.”

“Why?  These are my friends!”

“No! Not run away, silly.  Practice your spell!”

<While they wait, this is a good time for Nen to have his second chance to learn Hidey Hole.  L3 INT SR: 1, 6 + 14 INT = 21  Fail.  He needs to make two more L3 attempts before the difficulty drops to L2.>

Nen focused and attempted to magically hide for nearly fifteen minutes before he shrugged and relaxed.  “Not today,” the halfling said.  “How long did it take you to figure out this spell?”

There was no response.

“Fiddle?,” Nen asked before turning his head to find her asleep, her head resting against his shoulder.  Nen glanced across the steps at Kristopher who sat looking at the two with a conspiratorial smile. Nen sighed resignedly and leaned back for a rest himself.

<Bookkeeping:  Each character received 100 Adventure Points for completing the crypt.  While waiting for the rain to stop, I decided the characters would spend their AP and raise their stats:

Kristopher: Raises STR to 18; DEX to 13. Combat adds raise to +13. 105 AP remaining.
Sylralei: Raises LCK to 16; INT to 16; DEX to 13.  Combat adds raise to +5. 67 AP remaining.
Dalen: Raises LCK to 18; INT to 15. Combat adds raise to +18. 84 AP remaining.
Nen: Raises WIZ to 19; STR to 7.  No change to Combat adds. 27 AP remaining.

Finally, by the time they leave, all characters would have been fully healed and all WIZ points returned to full.>

[Scene 3]

Nearly two hours had passed before the party felt the rain had run its course.  The was a momentary panic when their horses were not where they left them.  Apparently, in the storm, they had come loose from their tethered.  Fortunately, they stayed close to the crypt and were easily rounded up. The rest of the  journey back to the main road was uneventful. <Negative encounter check>

“You guys are welcome to join us,” Dalen asked Jonik and Fiddlestix, without giving Syl a chance to object.

“You’re heading north?  Toward Habrycg?” Jonik asked.

“Yep.  We’ll pass right through it.”

Jonik casts a glance at Fiddlestix who returns it with a warding look. “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think we’ll be travelling with you.  We had a job there a while back and, let’s just say, not everyone appreciated our work.”  <resolution of the other pending event:  Malice/Military or the powers that be have ill feelings toward the mercenaries>

“Besides,” Fiddlestix added. “We found some Zerielian artifacts in the last chamber, and we’re hoping the church might be interested in them.  That may justify our fee and possibly earn us a little more.”

The two groups parted ways.  As before, Syl and Dalen took the lead, while Kris and Nen hung back several feet.

Nen glanced over his shoulder and watched Jonik and Fiddlestix disappear down a side road that led toward Millhelm.  “Do you think we’ll see them again?”

“I thought you couldn’t wait to be away from them?” Kris asked.  “Especially the leprechaun.”

“Fiddle turned out to be not so bad after all,” the halfling admitted.  “I think I’ll miss her . . . un, both of them.”

Nen blushed slightly at Kris’ smile before urging his mount to pick up the pace.

<Travel along the road will continue with guidelines set up in Chapter 2. Referencing the d30 Sandbox Companion, I will roll once per hex for a unique feature, encounter, and settlement.  Results are only suggestions and, based on the narrative, I will use and adjust them as I feel appropriate.  If I roll an encounter, I will either use the result from d30 (which tend to be rather basic) or roll on the tables at LitRPG Reads for something more colorful. At this point in the road, the party will be travelling along the outer edge of a forest on one side, hills on the other.  I will be using the Forest options in the d30 Sandbox Companion.>

[Scene 4]

<Move 6: No special features, encounter with a merchant, no settlement
Move 7: Special feature-forked trees, no encounters or settlements.>

Soon after leaving the crypt, the surrounding environment began to change. Flanking the road to their south was a thick forest.  The road primarily skirted the edge, but every so often it did wind in a bit among the trees.  In the distance to the north could be seen the start of foothills, with taller mountains looming beyond.  As the road continued, the base of the hills crept closer.

As it was already early afternoon when they left the crypt, Sylralei was glad they encountered very little along the way except for a group of travelers every so often.  The most interesting encounter was with half-elf merchant from somewhere up north.  Usually, he had packs full of oddities from various locations around Barisea.  Right now, however, his inventory was low and he was going to Baybrook to restock before returning home.  Not surprisingly, the merchant had nothing that interested the party, as they already tended to find all kinds of curiosities during their jobs. However, Dalen did suggest that he stop at the Dragon’s Hoard to see if Garlen had anything the merchant might find interesting. 

With only about an hour of good sunlight left, Syl quickened the pace. As the sun was starting to set, they left the road and found a protected clearing where they could spend the night. Several trees around the edge of the clearing had branches that forked two or three times and Nen was quick to take advantage of them.  He tied some rope between several of the branches, to which he secured his blanket, forming a simple hammock. 

“You guys should try this. It’s nice and comfy” he goaded, knowing full well that the set up would probably not work for anyone much heavier than he. Even Dalen, who was about the same height as Nen but bulkier, would probably fall right through to the ground.

The other three did their best to ignore the halfling as they spread their blankets and cloaks on the softest patches of ground they could find.

<Nightime encounter roll came up negative.>

[Scene 5]

<Again, Syl wants to make up lost time.  Can they? (Unlikely) No.  There turns out to be a good reason later on.>

<Move 8: Special feature-pond, Encounter-TBA, no settlement>

“Sylralei?  I . . . I was wondering if I could ask you for some help.”

The party had on the road a little over an hour when Nen worked up enough courage to approach the brooding elf.  Normally, he felt very comfortable speaking with Syl, but her demeanor since leaving Baybrook had been so offputting that the halfling was afraid the wizardess might use Take That You Fiend against him just so he would leave her alone.

“Help?” Syl asked in response.

“Yes.  You see, Fiddlestix taught me the spell Hidey Hole and gave me some casting advice.”

“She did, did she?”  Syl asked, her voice skeptical.  In reality, the leprechaun had impressed her more than she expected.  While annoyed with Fiddlestix at first, perhaps not as annoyed as Nen however, Syl was glad they had another competent, powerful spell caster with them during the fight with the demon.  In fact, if the elf’s focus wasn’t so directed on returning home to Cyenannore, Syl might have offered the pair a place on Kage Gordain.

“Yes, she did,” Nen confirmed. “I think she’s a pretty good wizard.  And nice too.  Anyway, she was helpful, but I still haven’t been able to disappear, not even my pinky.  I could just keep practicing on my own, but I was hoping you could watch me and let me know what I might be doing wrong.”

Syl thought a moment before responding. 

“Well, with me going home, I guess that means you will be the head wizard for the group, young as you are.  It’s probably my duty to see that you are ready to take on the position.  However, you do know I have not learned Hidey Hole myself.”

“Hmm.  I didn’t know that.  Does that mean you can’t help?”

“It means, I can assist with your general technique, but just don’t expect me to unlock the deepest, darkest secrets of casting this particular spell.”  Syl smiled at Nen, a welcomed but brief sign of the elf he knew she could be.  “Now, let’s hear you try.”

<Will Syl help Nen learn his spell? (Unlikely, due to her mood): Yes.  Nen can try twice today.  However, after I rolled the attempts, I realized that Syl doesn’t actually know the spell.  Technically, that might mean she couldn’t help, however, as Syl’s family’s background is in instructing others in using magic and Hidey Hole is only a second level spell, I figured that she could advise Nen well enough to allow him to benefit from the help.

His first try: L3 INT SR (target 30)  4, 3 +14 INT = 21 fail.>

The halfling tried in vain to successfully cast the spell.  Whenever he looked to Syl for advice, she would only repeat the same word again and again.  “Relax.” He would take a deep breath and try again.

Another half hour passed before Syl stopped the ground.  “There’s a good spot to water the horses.”

The “spot” she to which she referred was a small body of water, not much bigger than a house.  To call in a pond would be generous.  It was probably just a deep depression that had gathered rainwater runoff from the surrounding area.  Everyone dismounted and led their animals to drink while they helped themselves to their water skins.

“I’ll be back,” Nen said as he headed off to a small copse of bushes to take care of some personal business.  “Don’t leave without me!” He laughed, indicating it was a joke. He had no fear of being left behind.

Sylralei had just mounted her steed when they heard a cry from the bushes.

“Rats!”

“A little stopped up?” Dalen chided back as he and Kris chuckled at the halfling’s supposed predicament.

“Let’s go!” Syl ordered, having returned to her previous state of impatience.  “You can hold it till the horses need another break.

“No!”  Nen called back as he burst out running from around the bushes, his hands holding up his pants.  “There’s rats!”

Chasing after him was a pack of seven giant rats.  Kris and Dalen quickly readied their weapons as Nen cry “Oh Go Away!”.  More than just an exclamation, they were the trigger words for one of the first spells he had ever learned. As if severely scolded, four of the oversized rodents stopped, turned tail, and ran back into the bushes.  Three, however, still ran after the halfling, nipping at the back of his legs. (2 Spite damage)

Chasing After Him Were Rats

<To see how successfully Nen cast Oh Go Away, I used house rules to “solofy” the spell. Each opponent has a dice pool of one die. Then, comparing the totals of each opponents INTELLIGENCE, LUCK, and CHARISMA, additional dice are added to the opponent with the highest result; the greater the difference, the more dice.  In this case, Nen added three dice for a total of four.  Both opponents roll their dice and compare the two highest die.  If the spellcaster’s die is higher, the opponent is turned.  I rolled for each rat and Nen was able to turn four.>

“Take That You Fiend!” Kris turned at the sound of Syl casting the powerful spell.  Instead of the confident, commanding wizard he expected to see, Kris thought he saw a touch of fear cross her face.  Could it be that her fear of mice has carried over to similar rodents? (See Kage Gordain, Chapter 2, Scene 3) Regardless, the elf remained on her mount and swatted with her staff at the one creature that jumped up at her. <In order to successfully attack the next round, she must make a L2 DEX SR with a +1 due to her Balance talent.  She succeeds.>

Nen sped past Dalen and Kris who intercepted the two rats chasing after him, quickly dispatching them with a few swift blows from their weapons.  Syl shrieked as the rat jumping at her as it took a bite of her leg. (1 Spite Damage) Hefting her staff like a spear, she drove it down and ran it straight through the critter’s head, the tip sticking into the ground.  As Syl pulled back on her staff, the rat began to rise with it before sliding off the pole and landing in a heap on the ground.

<The battle only lasted three rounds with the rats only landing a few spite points which were recorded above.  I awarded AP to the characters based on all the rats, including the ones that ran away.>

Dalen, Kris, and Syl turned to look at Nen, who had stopped running and was now cinching up and securing his trousers.  Satisfied his pants would stay, the halfling looked up to see everyone staring at him. The look he returned at first was questioning, wondering what the problem was. However, when he saw Syl raise a questioning eyebrow, he understood. In shame, the halfling dropped his head and looked at his feet.

Syl let out a deep sigh.  “Finish up behind that tree.  We’ll keep watch. But hurry up, we’ve got a long way to go.”
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1 Peter 4:9-10

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Help! I Have A Crush On My Rival!?: The Afterpost

(See the previous prompt here.)

 The Afterpost

So, that was my journal for the CARTA game Help! I Have a Crush On My Rival?! by Dice Problems.  While I was enjoying the game and seeing where the story would go, I do think it ended at about the right time.  Due to the nature of the game prompts, it was likely that the characters would continue to go through the “friend/enemy” cycle, which would not only become boring but also difficult to fit naturally into the story I was telling.

This most interesting aspect of the game is how much it ended up parallelling a typical Hallmark movie script.  I made no secret right from the beginning that I expected to fall back on a lot of rom-com, Hallmark tropes. However, because of the randomness of the prompts, I had little idea how or when they would fit in.  Now that it’s done, it appears that they fit in rather well.  A girl returns to her hometown because of a family need, often medical, after leaving for a promising future  (honestly, I didn’t even recognize I had included this trope until after I was done); girl meets the boy with whom she previously experienced animosity; boy and girl soften toward each other through time spent together; a big misunderstanding (usually by the boy) that threatens the relationship; an interrupted kiss; the boy and girl admitting their feelings for each other and kiss right before the movie ends abruptly mere seconds or minutes later. Yep. I wrote a Hallmark script.

Is this the end of Lance and Gwen’s story, at least as far as my involvement goes?  I’m not entirely sure that I’m ready to leave them behind . . . for several reasons. For starters, I like writing about all the characters in this story.  Also, I had a few ideas that I did not get to explore, and I wouldn’t mind having the chance to share them with my readers.  Finally, continuing their story could give me an opportunity to explore and share my faith from the perspective of someone who is not a Christian, but is motivated to learn more about what that means. 

If I do continue with Lance and Gwen’s story, I’m not sure what form it would take.  Possibly I could use another journaling game, however, I feel I would want more control over events than random prompt draws would be able to provide.  I’ve seen some romance and relationship based TTRPG systems.  I’ve never had a desire to look at one of those, but perhaps they may work.  Most likely, however, I’ll just write straight fiction and post it in some form or manner. Which, if any, method I chose, that’s for the future.

One final thing to note before I move on, I included an easter egg in this game that so far has not been publicly mentioned by any reader. It’s not hidden, meaning it’s out in the open throughout the entire story and, somewhere just after the midway point, had a strong signpost.  I’ll keep quiet a little bit longer, just to see if anyone mentions it.

Now it’s time to look forward to what’s next for Teviko604.  Next month marks a year since I last posted for my Tunnels & Trolls Cyenannore campaign.  Getting back to that story is well overdue, and my immediate focus is to get another few chapters done.  More long term plans, however, are to build up this blog to be more than just a place where I post my stories.  For starters, I am working with someone to help develop a logo to spice up the place a bit.  Next, I am planning a series of articles to help with the impossible answer to the question, “How do you play an RPG Solo?” Those will lead up to a video series I’ve been thinking about for a while that will help explore that question even further.  Except for my campaign, all of this will take weeks or months to put together. It’s an ambitious goal, but if it all goes well, I see it potentially being very rewarding.

As always, thanks for reading.
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Jer. 29:11

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Help! I Have A Crush On My Rival!?: Prompt 18

(Read the previous prompt here.) 

Prompt 18 - The Invitation:

I feel like I want to go to the space below my current location.

Card Draw: Joker  - Oh no!  That ends the game, except for handling my one “Save” darw.  Let’s hope it’s a red.

Save Draw: 2 Clubs - Nope. That means that Potential does not increase, and any card that does not increase Potential is ignored during a “Save” draw, so nothing is affected.

Time to determine the end.  I have a total of 5 potential.

From the rules:

The game ends with a confession.

In a moment of tension, the consequences aren’t enough to stop emotions from breaking loose.

If you have “X” Potential…  (Of course, this will remain a secret until the end!)

*          *          *

“Things are going to be rough for the next several weeks,” Erik explained as he and I gathered and sorted cards after our Andromeda Factions demonstrations.

“Really? How so?” I asked.

“I have this programming assignment due before winter break, and it's using a language I’m not that familiar with.  It’s not very intuitive, either. At least not to me.”

Unlike Gwen and I, who are each on hiatus from school for various reasons -- Gwen for family, and me for . . . well, I really just don’t want to go -- Erik and Wayne were both attending Rainger University.  It was located a couple cities away, but close enough for them to carpool together and save money by staying at home.  Erik was working on a Computer Engineering degree, hoping to land a job in cybersecurity.  Wayne was simply going for a Business Administration degree, having heard that such a degree can open the door for almost anything.

“I hope your project doesn’t cut into your Saturday time,” I said.

“Oh, I’m sure it will, but I’ll be here for the Bowl.  You can count on that.”

By now, all the cards were collected and put back into their storage boxes.  It was getting late, so I said goodbye and headed out to my car.  I was barely out the door when Gwen strode up beside me.

“Hey, Lance.  I wanted to thank you properly for saving my skin this morning. That could have been a disaster.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.  “You gotta protect the game.”

“Was that all?”  She asked with a knowing smile.

“You caught me,” I admitted playfully. “I didn’t want you to get embarrassed.”

We reached my car and stopped. Gwen faced me and grasped my hands in hers. “Thank you. I mean it. And thank you for your offer of coffee. I had no idea how important it was to you.  I thought I was saving you some trouble.  I won’t be so thoughtless next time.”

We stared at each other.  I found myself smiling, but not sure what to say.

“You want to meet Fisher?” She said suddenly, her eyes widening as what she believed was a great idea.

“Sure,”  I said. “I’d love to meet him sometime,”

“Sometime?  How about now?”

“Uh, sure. But I don’t know where you live.”

“Just follow me.” And she took off for her car.

*    *    *

“Are your parent’s home?” I asked as she unlocked the door.

“They’re probably out grocery shoppings or doing some other chores,” Gwen explained. “Dad tries to take the whole Sunday ‘Day of Rest’ thing pretty seriously. So, he tries to get as much done as he can on Saturday.”

“Must be nice to not do anything all day.”

“Well, that probably going a bit far,” she admitted as the door opened.  “Let’s just say, he does less.  And, of course, there’s church.”

“Of course,” I agreed, not exactly sure to what I was agreeing.

Gwen pushed the door open and I followed her inside.

“Fisher!  I’m back,” she cried. “And I brought a friend.”

“Morgan?” a hopeful sounding male voice answered from somewhere down the hall.

Gwen motioned to me and I followed her down the hall into another room.  Fisher’s room was extremely neat and clean.  His desk was clear except for a laptop.  All that was on the nightstand was a lamp and a single soda can, sitting squarely on a round cork coaster.  The light blue walls were bare, except for one framed picture of a pack of wolves stalking between the trees in a snow-covered forest. The owner of the room sat in the middle on his bed holding a small gaming device.  He wore a dark-colored t-shirt and shorts and other than being a bit gangly, he looked just like any normal teenager.

A look of disappointed immediately crossed Fisher face as we entered when he noticed I wasn’t Morgan.  However, disappointed quickly turned to curiosity about this stranger standing in his room.

“Fisher, this is Lance,” she introduced me.  “He’s one of the boys from the “Dice & Deck.”

“Lance Walsh?,” Fisher brightened.  “You’re the Andromeda Factions nut, right?”

Nut, huh?  “Yeah, that would be me.”

“I’ll be right back,” Gwen said. “You two get to know each other.”

“You’re friends with Morgan, right?” Fisher asked as I took a few steps closer to the bed.

I don’t know If I’d say friends. “Yeah, she hangs out on Saturday mornings.”

“Okay,” he said warily. “But just so we’re clear, I’ll let you date my sis, but don’t get any ideas about Morgan. She’s mine!” He gave me a knowing wink to let me in on the joke.  Still, I quickly glanced over my shoulder to make sure Gwen was actually gone and didn’t hear her brother’s comment about us dating.

“Trust me, you don’t have to worry about that,” I assured him once I knew we were alone.  “Gwen tells me you like Morgan.”

“We’re friends.  That’s all,” he said, brushing the idea away.  “I’m not going to kid myself that we could be anything more.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.  Gwen tells me you’re a great guy, and if you and Morgan are such good friends, why wouldn’t she be interested.”

“Even if she was, what’ve I got?  Five years at the most.  Nah, she needs to find someone who’s gonna be around.”

“Don’t talk like that!” I said, shocked at his fatalist view, but also remembering Gwen tell me she suspected Morgan might feel the same. “You seem rather healthy.  You can beat this.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Lance.  This is one of my good days.  By Monday morning, I’ll barely be able to get out of bed.  Look, the doctors aren’t sure of everything that’s going on with me, but they try to give me hope.  They say there’s this experimental cure, or that treatment, but I know it’s mostly lip service.”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“About dying?”  He gave a chuckle, of all things.  “I can’t stop it. Dying, I mean.  And honestly, I know where I’m going, and I can’t wait to be done with this.”  He spread his arms and wiggled his fingers at himself.  “Know what I mean?”

“Yeah,” I said, but in my mind, I didn’t understand.  I guessed it was a faith thing. What really took my by surprise, however, was his nonchalant attitude.  Fisher was taking this all in stride, like his was any other life.  I had seen others miserable with cancer, trying their best to appear unconcerned while still emitting a sense of fear.  But not Fisher.

Still, I wanted to move on from what I at least felt was a morbid topic.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointed to the device in his hands.  “An old Gameboy?”

“Nah!  This is one of those retro devices that plays those games old people like my dad used to play when they were kids.  Some of them aren’t that bad, but they’re no Mission of Honor.  But who cares about that?”  He mindlessly tossed the tiny console aside and laid back on the bed, resting his head against the headboard and motioning me to sit.  “What I wanna know is about you. I’ve been wondering how long before Gwen brought you home.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, accepting his invitation to sit on the side of the bed.

“Sis has had a thing for you ever since high school.”

“She has?”

“Yeah. She’d come home every Saturday talking about what ‘game she played with Lance.’ How she hoped you’d be there next week.  I’m assuming you didn’t play with her much once she’d been there a few months, ‘cause I could tell when she was unhappy after coming home. She wouldn’t exactly tell me what was wrong, except to mention how you were too busy with the other kids to play with her. Then came the Turf Wars incident. I was sure it would be all over after that.”

“You heard about that, huh?”

“Of course!” Fisher cried, as though it would be obvious.  “Gwen cried every day for a week after that.  I told her she didn’t need a friend like you and to forget you.  I mean, I didn’t know you, of course, but if nothing else, I was tired of hearing about my big sister’s crushes.  You know what I mean?”  His flashed me a big knowing grin.

Not having any siblings, I could only guess at what he meant. I smiled and nodded back, as though I did.

“But then,” he continued.  You bought her lunch.”

I looked at him puzzled.  “No.  Last week she paid for our lunch at Sand Which?”

“Not last week, silly.”  Fisher rolled his eyes.  “Back then, when you paid for her pizza. My goodness, you'd ’ve thought you were some gallant knight in shining armor, promising to sweep her up on your white horse and whisk her away.  You made a friend for life that day, Lance, and I don’t think you even knew it.”

“I had no idea,” I said. Sure, Gwen told me a little about she felt, but I never imagined she felt this strongly. “Gwen never said anything back then.  In fact, I only thought of your sister as the competition.  She was good and she won almost anything.  And she was smug about it, especially to me.  She liked to rub it in my face. At least that’s how I felt.  I decided it was best just to avoid her.”

“She knew,” Fisher confirmed. “By her senior year, she barely mentioned you anymore.  She went out with a few guys from her school, but nothing stuck.  Then sis left for college.  I think she was seeing someone for a little over a year, but again, nothing came of that.  But shortly after coming back home last spring, do you know what was one of the first things Gwen asked me?”

I shook my head.

‘Do you think Lance Walsh still hangs out at the Dice & Deck?’”

“What are you guys talking about?” Gwen’s voice came from the door and I wondered how long she had been there.  I must have looked worried, because Fisher redirected the conversation without missing a beat.

“Lance was teaching me about Andromeda Factions.” He winked at me for reassurance before continuing our feigned conversation.  “You said there was that really bad card?”

“Uh . . . Um . . . You mean the ‘Black Hole’,” I said, following Fisher’s lead and trying to sound natural.

“Is that all you want to talk about?” Gwen said as she sat on the side of the bed.  Her leather jacket was gone and she had let her hair down. 

“How often to get to talk with an expert?” Fisher asked, even though he had no way of knowing if I deserved that title.

The three of us sat in the bedroom for neary a half an hour as Fisher and I talked about collectible card games and Gwen listened, jumping in whenever she had something to add. Our eyes met occasionally, and she would smile at me, glad that I was willing to take time with her brother.  When we were done, Fisher and I made plans to meet over the next couple of weeks when I could bring my cards and we would play. I said goodbye and Gwen led me back out to the living room.

“So, what do you think?” Gwen asked.

“About Fisher?  He’s a great kid.  I don’t know what I was expecting.  I thought he would seem more . . . sickly?”

“He has his ups and downs.  He’s feeling better right now because he had dialysis yesterday. Still, other than getting dressed, I suspect he hasn’t been out of bed all day.  He’s well rested now, but it’ll be different come nine o’just keep feeling worse until Monday.”

I couldn’t stop thinking about her brother told me about high school. I stood for a moment, wondering what to say next.

“Gwen,” I started.  “Can I tell you something?”

“Sure,” Gwen said, curious.

“I’m really enjoying getting to know you. Thank you for bringing me over and sharing your brother with me for a little while.  These last few weeks have made me realize how stupid I was back in high school and what I missed out on by avoiding you.”

“I was a different person back then,” Gwen said.

“We both were,” I admitted. “But you were kind and helpful to any new kids who came through that door.  You were . . . are honest and trustworthy. The type of person that makes me want to buy them coffee.” Gwen smiled at that. “And I guess that’s why I got so upset last week.  It wasn’t because of whose game would eventually be chosen.  It was because I thought that everything you were, what I wanted you to be, was a lie.”

Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but I held up my hand to stop her.

“I know. I know. Besides that being extreme and an overreaction, what’s more important is that the truth is, you were being exactly those things, making sure your brother was in good hands and taken care of.

“To be honest, I was jealous this morning of Mark.  He was getting to spend the time with you that I wished I was.  Part of me wanted that coffee to fall . . . to break up the game. Luckily, I came to my senses.  I knew doing nothing was wrong, and worse, what it would mean for you.  Embarrassment aside, Mark would probably have been really mad at you.  I don’t want anyone being mad at you.”

I took a deep breath to stop myself from rambling.

“I think what I’m trying to say is, I really like you, Gwen. I want to continue being your friend . . . and possibly, something more.”

I looked away before finishing.  This was the moment.  I didn’t want to look. I wanted to hold off the rejection as long as possible.

When Gwen didn’t respond, I looked up.  She was smiling and her brown eyes were bright.  After the briefest of moments, she closed her eyes and leaned into me as her lips softened. Of all the possibilities that had gone through my mind, a kiss was not one of them.  But it certainly wasn’t unwanted.  I leaned in, as well, as Gwen and I . . .

“I’m getting a soda from the fridge.  You two want anything?”

Gwen and I immediately backed away and straighten up at the sound of Fisher’s voice. Gwen’s brother was passing through the living on his way to the kitchen. I looked toward the door, ceiling, anywhere but Gwen or Fisher.

“Thanks, but we’re okay,,” Gwen answered, even though Fisher was already out of the room.

She looked at me, face red but smiling. Giggling, she grabbed my hand and pulled me out the front door. Outside, once the door was closed, all we could do was laugh.

<I had to get in the proverbial “Hallmark Interrupted Kiss.”>

“Do you think he got any ideas?” I asked.

“That depends. Were you asking me to be your girlfriend?” Gwen waited for my answer with a conspiratorial smile.

“Well . . . um,” I stuttered.  “I didn’t exactly say ‘girlfriend’.  But, yeah. I . . . I guess so.”

“Well then, we better make sure he has the right idea.”

Without hesitation, Gwen reached around and pulled me close.  In response, I wrapped my arms around her waist as we kissed.  Nothing prepared me for this, and it felt wonderful.  We lingered in our embrace, neither wanting to stop.

Eventually, we parted and looked in each other eyes.  All I saw was joy, and I hoped she saw the same.

Suddenly, I had a sensation.  A sensation that we were being watched.  I looked over and saw an older couple standing a few feet away and watching us.  The man was large, with dark hair and a salt-and-pepper colored beard.  The woman next to him stood nearly a foot shorter. Her shoulder-length hair was greying, but you could still see traces of the auburn that had been passed down to her daughter.

I pulled myself away and faced them, jumping to attention like a soldier.

“Uh, hello, Mr. and Mrs. Anders,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

“Hello,” the man said, a question in his voice. “Gwen, dear, would you care to introduce us to this nice young man?” Her father’s emphasis on the word ‘nice’ made it obvious that this was more an expectation as opposed to an assumed fact.

“Mom. Dad.  This is Lance Walsh.,”  Gwen introduced, grasping my hand in hers and pressing up close. 

Then, gazing at me adoringly, she announced,  “He’s my boyfriend!”

===============
The result of the game . . .

If you have 5 or more Potential…

It’s out there. Now they know. For several heartbeats you are sure you’ve ruined everything, but then... your Rival accepts your confession?! What do they do and say? What challenges will you face together, now that you’ve done the impossible?

(Read the Afterpost here.)
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1 Cor. 13:4-7,13

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