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Tanith Lee Roundtable

The roundtable discussion, entitled Storyteller: The Legacy and Work of Tanith Lee panel discussion is now available for your viewing pleasure on YouTube. The Outer Dark hosted the panel, which will be on the OD podcast sometime in the future. I had a blast talking with and listening to fellow panelists editor/author Terri Windling, scholars Lisa Kröger, and Melanie R Anderson. The panel was…

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Players and Characters | Peru Prologue

Leslie Visser

Player: Kory Banning Occupation: Deep-sea Diver Age: 33 Sex: Male Birthplace: Johannesburg, South Africa Residence: The Black Star, currently docked in Lima, Peru

Notable Investigator Skills: Swim, Psychology, Diving, Spot Hidden

Recent History: Leslie lives and works on the Black Star, a mid-range trawler, as an amateur treasure-hunter and deep-sea diver, with his best friend, Arno Trembley (Captain of the Black Star, and self-proclaimed smuggler), and his pet tortoise, Boris. Leslie is a child of the world, always quick to drink and laugh. He’s highly intelligent, but poorly educated, resulting in strong instincts and a keen understanding of what makes people tick. After a dismal attempt at locating a promising shipwreck, Leslie and Arno get themselves stuck in Peru, in need of cash, a job, or with some luck, a little of both.

Agenda: Leslie’s reasons for joining Larkin’s expedition are no secret. Journeying into the Andean highlands in search of ancient pyramids and mountains of lost gold could sway any man. The money has its uses. But fame and adventure also await. How could he say no to a dive upwards? This could be the thing he was born for.

Camilla May

Player: Justin Hamot Occupation: Dilettante Age: 20 Sex: Female Birthplace: Manhattan, New York Residence: Ossining, New York

Strongest Investigator Skills: Credit Rating, Firearms (Rifle), Intimidate, Animal Handling

History: Camilla has lived a rather privileged life, but having wealthy parents does not a rich life make. Feeling sequestered, either in her family’s estate outside Ossining or in their duplex in Manhattan, she throws herself into various hobbies and esoterica. Including horseback riding, rifling, skiing, and collecting exotic and wild animals as pets (such as Bernard, her “domesticated” mink).

Agenda: Camilla fled from home under the dark of night, leaving her family to find her bed neatly made, with a pithy farewell letter resting on her nightstand. They didn’t see her when she was right under their noses. Maybe they’ll see her now. And, who could resist such a call to adventure?

Roger Lynch

Player: Lucas Lampke Occupation: Laborer Age: 33 Sex: Male Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland Residence: Lima, Peru

Strongest Investigator Skills: Electrical Repair, Mechanical Repair, Operate Heavy Machinery, Fighting (Harpoon/Spear)

History: Roger has lived in Lima for over four years, and most of that time he’s been looking over his shoulder. Resigned to live a life in exile, he uses his advanced engineering skills to earn a meager living helping out the harbormaster in Lima. As far as he’s concerned, his only other reason for being on this earth is to look after a local girl named Ana, whose tragic history is far too recent, just like his.

Agenda: Something has happened that Roger thought impossible. And life outside Lima might be attainable once more. That is...if he can manage to raise the funds he needs to leave, and if his paranoia turns out to be unfounded.

Jon Michael Stevens

Player: Cameron Mascari Occupation: Explorer Age: 26 Sex: Male Birthplace: Green Bay, Wisconsin Residence: (until recently) Valdez, Alaska

Strongest Investigator Skills: Natural World, Navigate, Firearms (Handgun), Writing

History: Jon found some fame (and notoriety) by participating in an expedition into the wilds of Alaska and the Yukon Territory. He was accused of stealing artifacts from a proposed archaeological site in the region, though this has never been confirmed. Jon believes it all to be a big misunderstanding.

Agenda: The prospect of an expedition in South America is intriguing to Jon, and he is hoping success here may help repair his reputation among his fellow explorers.

Benjamin Brock

Player: Ouray Nealon Occupation: Student of Archaeology Age: 17 Sex: Male Birthplace: Arkham, Massachusetts Residence: Arkham, Massachusetts

Strongest Investigator Skills: Archaeology, Appraise, Occult, History

History: Benjamin’s sheltered childhood seems to be carrying into adulthood. Born with no legs, he feels his disability has blinded his parents to his potential. This has yet to hold him back. The only thing standing in the way of his Doctorate in Archaeology is first-hand field experience. After promising to visit antiquity sites within the country, Benjamin left in an act of defiance for South America, with his long-time friend and manservant, Eugene Eckler, at his side. The only question that remains is the doubt he’s been burdened with for years...can he really do this?

Agenda: Though Benjamin’s reasons for joining the expedition seem readily apparent, he harbors a secret reason for answering Larkin’s summons...one he hasn’t told anybody.

Keeper of Arcane Lore

Name: It’s me, guys

Notable NPCs in Peru: Augustus Larkin, Jesse Hughes, Luis de Mendoza, Eugene Eckler, Ana Sofía Escribano, Arno Trembley, Marquis Carstairs, Nayra

Style and House Rules:

Luck points can be spent to improve skill checks (except combat and sanity)

If it’s said in character it’s canon (jokes included, though I’m lenient)

Story/Character > Mechanics

Occasional pulp content w/o pulp rules (Pulp Cthulhu is a little more action-oriented, and I’ll trickle some in without changing the mechanics from standard 7E)

I allow off-screen actions that sometimes will not be revealed to all my players until much later (if at all), and it’s up to them to dig a little deeper

My pacing slower but deliberate. Our current pace will see this campaign finished in two years or more. (I intentionally did this because, at the time of episode one, most of my players were just acquaintances, a sort of mashed two groups together. I figured slower pacing might give them time to warm to each other.)

Zero tolerance on murder-hoboing (if my players want to do this, they’ll find the repercutions of their actions have realistic consequences)

I try to give everyone the spotlight now and then. Players/characters will shift in and out of focus. I can only prod them to do so much.

Agenda: I consider myself a good person, but I’m gonna try to make them cry.

WIP DEBUT | Topiary Black

There was a post on the downs no one was taking seriously. A bot or a user everyone thought was phishing, but their profile stood out to me because it was unique. Simple. I couldn’t get a clear picture of their real identity. Amateurs don’t stumble into privacy that good by accident.

This was on purpose. It was almost certainly bait.

But what sort of bait was it?

I brought their program into a dummy frame to look at the code in terminal so it couldn’t seed my hard drives, and at first glance, it was sloppy. Redundancies. Disorganization. But the longer I looked through the code, the more spooked I got. The chaos seemed to serve a purpose, hiding functions and data that couldn’t be detected by my applications.

They let me get a little farther before they pushed back.

A cryptic post on a deep-web forum leads an agoraphobic computer specialist into a web of intrigue, crime, and terror. Before long, she’s put on the shortlist for a mysterious underground game referred to as Topiary Black, the nature of which begins to unravel her understanding of the world as she knows it.

Tagging: @writingmyassoff, @erinisawriter, @midnightstreetwanderings, @byjillianmaria, @bethwrotethis, @doux-ciel, @hilunawrites, @ghost-possum, @zmlorenz, @doubleviewfinder, @veronicadent, @els-writes, @dantedevereaux, @tlbodine, @hypotheticalwriterquestions, @hazeywrites, @reeseweston, @dor-rose-love, and @katabasiss. (Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from tags future tags).

If you like cyberpunk, alternate future history, 80s tech, weird mysteries, LGBT+ characters, violence, crime, cursing, acerbic narrators, and world-toppling revelations with a dash of urban fantasy, you’ll dig this one. I’ll be tackling Topiary Black during NaNoWriMo. More to come on this, and more.

CHAPTER I | The Man in the Bottle

The ticking of a pocket watch carried over the churning of an air pump and the huffing of carbide lamps; none of the fellows dared speak a word, lest the doctor fail to hear one stroke of the second hand as it marched toward the top of the hour, signifying twenty-five minutes below.

Tagging: @writingmyassoff, @erinisawriter, @leofailsatwriting, @bethwrotethis, @doux-ciel, @hilunawrites, @ghost-possum, @zmlorenz, @doubleviewfinder, @veronicadent, @els-writes, @dantedevereaux, @tlbodine, @hypotheticalwriterquestions, @hazeywrites, @reeseweston, @withered-rose-unbreakable-lotus, @katabasiss, @byjillianmaria, and @james-stark-the-writer. (Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from tags future tags).

Back soon with more.

CHAPTER II | Welcome to Stanley

“All we do is the best we can,” he said, with little conviction, but I must have been unable to hide my discomfort, for he stepped back into my cabin, and his indifference turned to outward concern. “Are you unwell?”

“It’s a bit stodgy in here.”

“Traveller’s sickness, I’ve seen its like before. A strong cup of tea would d-do you well. I’ll ring the attendant.” When he stepped inside, a strong odour pummeled my nostrils. It seemed as though he’d steeped his jacket in too much alpine-scented cologne.

“I’d just as rather go to the dining car myself, thank you.”

“As you wish. But step lightly. If you need to call on me, ring the attendant and ask for Dr Greysmith, that’s me. And you are called?”

“Livingston.”

Back soon with more.

CHARACTER SNAPSHOT | Blake Livingston

Please, brother, if I must have walls, let me come and stay with you. They do nothing here that could not be cured by sunlight, and fresh air.

I’d so much rather be with you and Sabine, and Gabriel, than spend the summer cooped up in this place. And there are others, Connor. There are those that seek what I have seen, and wish to steal what I freed from that hole. I can see it still, the city in the dark. How I wish I could describe it to you. Maybe I can paint it for you, when I get there, because I do not know the words.

Age: 29 | Vocation: Governess | Hometown: Gloucester, UK

Blake returns in The Devil from the Outer Dark. Following the horrors she witnessed in Coldwater Sound, she spends many months in convalescence, mending her shattered psyche. She journeys to France in hope, but also in doubt, that the cracks around her may close. Perhaps, now, she can live the life she’s always dreamt of.

Tagging: @writingmyassoff, @erinisawriter, @leofailsatwriting, @bethwrotethis, @doux-ciel, @hilunawrites, @ghost-possum, @zmlorenz, @doubleviewfinder, @veronicadent, @els-writes, @dantedevereaux, @tlbodine, @hypotheticalwriterquestions, @hazeywrites, @reeseweston, and @dor-rose-love. (Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from tags future tags).

More to come, on this, and more.

Tag: First Line II

Thanks for tagging me, @zmlorenz. Finally getting to all of these.

Rules: Share a first line! It can be the first line of a chapter, the first line you did in the most recent writing session, the first line of a story, the first line a character says, any kind of first line!

This is from the first draft of The Devil from the Outer Dark I wrote during NaNoWriMo.

At the end of a street labyrinth inside the ramparts of the old city, a man emerged from Hôtel Safran with a gait just perceptibly more crooked than when he entered two hours earlier.

Tagging: @mercurialscoundrel, @kindofwriter, @writingmyassoff, @sassypandacandy, and @erinisawriter.

Back with more soon!

#writeblr #writing community #writing #my writing #p:tdftod #the devil from the outer dark #the outer dark #tag game #tag games #first line #first line tag

I’ve been quiet because finishing the first draft of The Devil from the Outer Dark has been difficult. Not difficult in a meaningful way. But life takes the reins sometimes. I’ve been recovering from my annual head-cold, and catching up on other obligations over the last week or so, and hitting 50K words on the 12th slowed me down considerably, because suddenly I didn’t have a target to aim for anymore.

But I persevered, and I just scratched out the last few lines of the first draft, and it’s sitting pretty disfigured in my Google Drive.

I want to thank all of you for being my personal cheerleaders over the last few weeks. Your support made the whole of it easier to bear.

Soon, I’ll be editing, and I’ll be looking for readers, but first, I’ll be going back to Coldwater Sound, and giving it the update it deserves.

Tagging: @writingmyassoff, @erinisawriter, @leofailsatwriting, @bethwrotethis, @doux-ciel, @hilunawrites, @ghost-possum, @zmlorenz, @doubleviewfinder, @veronicadent, @els-writes, @dantedevereaux, @tlbodine, @hypotheticalwriterquestions, @hazeywrites, @reeseweston, @withered-rose-unbreakable-lotus, @katabasiss, and @byjillianmaria. (Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from tags future tags).

See you next year, NaNo.

#writeblr #writeblr community #thank you #thank you all #follower appreciation #nanowrimo #nano #nano 18 #the outer dark #p:tdftod #the devil from the outer dark #drafting #writing #amwriting #amwritinghorror #dylan speaks