Shores of Night

 Yesterday, I went to a new writing group here in Bournemouth. I don't usually go because more often than not they're held during the week, when I'm at work, which is blimming annoying. I got the start of a couple of short stories when we were writing but utterly failed at an acrostic  poem about Spring, despite starting off with lots of interesting ideas (and the discovery that my brain works better with abstracts than concrete things - asking me to work off the senses only leads to images that are abstractions).  The poem I was happy with was another acrostic based on my first name which I've placed below. I hope you like it.   Silent for years and shadow-bound Trigger warnings from a telltale heart Eternally searching, a head full of dreams Visions of darkness, as I stand apart. Errant and wild, walking a path to Gods know where

 "Jesus, have you heard yourself? You don't know what the f*** you're talking about." Background: John grew up in Saint Roch, one of a small army of children fostered by the Landry sisters, Hope, Faith, and Charity. They were poor but somehow there was always enough money to feed everyone. Looking back, Shango took an interest in his son even then and would arrange for funds to be available for the basics. Cheques would arrive occasionally, or one of the sisters would attract the attention of a local pastor who supported the family. Once, the local press ran stories about the family, prompting charitable donations from across the city - and even the state.  John was oblivious to this for most of his childhood. He had other concerns - not just the ones he shared with other boys, about sport, school, who liked who, which girls (ew, gross!) had a crush on him, but others that were very specific. The pale, translucent man who appeared in his bedroom and watched him, the ...

 "Honestly, you'd think they'd protect their valuables a bit better, there only used six guards and four traps." Background: Fidelity grew up in a loving but poor family in Ballenmouth, where the river Ballen enters the Dalthem Sea. A bustling port with a lot of financial power in the area, Ballenmouth has strong trade links with Gallanburgh, which lies about fifty miles away to the northwest. While the university city is devoted to knowledge and magic, for the most part, Ballenmouth is an industrial hub, bustling with trade, artisanry, and crime.  Crime caught Fidelity's attention as a young woman, and she began to pickpocket in the Griffin Market and lift small items from market stalls. In time this attracted the attention of two people, Silver* a preeminent member of the local Thieves' Guild, and Watch Captain Talbot McGregor who was in charge of the Market Guard. Within weeks both these figures intruded into Fidelity's life in very different ways.  The...

"You're kidding, a swamp monster's snatching tourists? Ugh, and I thought it was a night to wear my new boots." Background Violet wasn’t meant to be a scion. Her mother didn’t succumb to Loki’s wiles, in fact, Loki never paid any attention to Violet’s mortal family. In another world, she would have lived a perfectly normal life. Unfortunately, soon after graduating from the police academy and moving to New Orleans, Violet came to the god’s attention when he overheard her talking about what she and her partner would do if they had more powers while on patrol in the French Quarter (Loki likes to visit, he enjoys the city’s ambience), and he decided to put one of them to the test. He claims he tossed a coin to decide who to make into a scion Violet or Raoul - and the former “won”- but she doubts that. Something about him choosing her feels personal. He visited her apartment that evening to break the news, presenting her with a Quill of Ma’at he’d won in a card game by wa...

 This year I'm trying to get out to have more adventures. I started by going to  Pause Cat Cafe , the cat cafe here in Bournemouth. It's a small step and I have been there before. but I'm easing myself into it. I was hoping to go there with someone I like, but she said it wasn't her kind of thing, so sadly, that didn't happen.  So, I went alone and had a nice time, drinking tea and having some Dorset apple cake with soya ice cream. It was lovely because the cats at the cafe are beautiful and amazing. This time, the "alpha" cat, Clifford, was awake which always means that things are going to get hairy because he has to prove he's the biggest, badest cat ever (what is it with "alphas" and having to reinforce the idea that they're so important?). He had to assault a couple of other cats and while going out into the cafe's chill-out room did mollify him a bit, he did feel the need to menace the others when he came back.  He even woke Mich...

 "Please don't treat the book like that, do you know how long it took to find?"  Background: An Elven Wizard from a good family, Talisker is a young woman working at a Wizard's University in Gallanburgh. A promising young student, she graduated from her class in the top percentile and was all set to embark on an academic career as a researcher in the Graduate School. The path of life never runs smoothly though, and after a year, it was clear that her dreams of becoming an accomplished Research Magus wouldn't come true.  Uncertain about what to do, she applied for a job in the university library, working her way up from a lowly assistant responsible for finding and returning books to their correct place on the shelves. While more dangerous than it sounds, if only because of the magical nature of the place and the frequent attempts to rob the place, she knew it was a stopgap and not what she wanted to do with her life. Plus, the pay sucked, and she had to take up ot...