ZILLAH [14 Feb] All going well, we should arrive in Kelsen tomorrow. All going well... Gah! Who am I kidding? Nothing ever goes well for us. It's taken us a week to get this far and it's cost a lot of gold. I guess I'm lucky I'm not in this for the money, because this … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Making friends (and not friends) in Kelsen
ZILLAH I’m staring into the fire in Climber’s camp of outlaws, searching desperately for light in the depths of my shattered soul. They want me to tell the tale of our recent adventures. They want it to be full of heroic action and rousing arse-kicking. They want me to banish their despair and replace it … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Tale of the Dark Tree
ZILLAH We camp a few hours upstream from the goblin village. I have the goblin chief's dirt map memorised -- the all important directions to the troll lord we seek, and the Dark Tree as well. We will likely face at least one of them tomorrow. I try to mentally prepare myself for the task … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Triumph over the troll lord
Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat leapt to the top of my to-be-read pile the instant I heard about it last weekend, because it ticks three of my current preferred boxes: It’s a secondary world fantasy, written by an Australian woman (meaning I can review it for the Australian Women Writers challenge), and it’s centred on … Continue reading Review of Captive Prince and Prince’s Gambit by C.S. Pacat
ZILLAH Trees. The stream wending silent on my left. My companions spread out in front of me, talking in low voices, stepping on twigs. This is all I see. All I hear. They are making tough going of it, but I don’t care. I don’t care that none of them are likely to see the … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: The fireball and the goblin chief
ZILLAH -- The Broken Forest I'm on watch with Squirrel in the dead of night when the tree moves. It's a massive tree in a loop of the stream. We've camped here because it seemed safer to have the water on three sides. We've been attacked so many times at night. But now it sounds … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Death of an animal companion
Earlier this year, I pledged to participate in the Australian Women Writers Challenge — essentially a commitment to read, review and generally plug published works by Australian women. It’s taken me a while to get my act together, but here — finally — is my first official review towards this challenge. I selected Dreamer’s Pool … Continue reading Review of Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier
ZILLAH - The Broken Forest Tomorrow at first light we head deeper into the forest in search of a troll lord. I've never encountered a troll before, and hoped I never would. This one, name of Quagmire, is by all accounts immensely powerful. (And I thought things couldn't get much worse.) We have pledged to … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Fighting through the Broken Forest
ZILLAH -- Royal Rose inn, Lhangessa Outside, the distinct trample of the city watch. Squirrel twitches to his feet. Alix throws an apprehensive glance. I’m on my feet too, not quite knowing why, but I’ve drawn my swords. The door opens and six armed guards storm in, brandishing weapons. We’ve had a fair few ales, … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Chased out of town. Again.
Having just completed a fairly hefty mission, some of the party members muse on recent events and what's going to happen next... and size up their new companions. SQUIRREL Standing on the outskirts of town, I’m at a border between the known and the unknown, on a couple of levels. We are returned from ranging … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: At the crossroads
Ellen Gregory 