A Short Explanation

Okay, maybe this won't be a short one, but it is not a synopsis (or synopses) either. The stories I've been writing were originally short stories written for a message board on a RPG site. No, that's not rocket-propelled grenade; RPG means role-playing game. The site is called The Forgotten World (http://www.forgottenworld.com), which, not coincidentally, is also the title of the first book I hope to get published. The game and web site were developed by survivors of the first-ever MPORPG (that's multi-player online role-playing game), which was SSI's computer verion of TSR's Neverwinter Nights on AOL. I was one of the guides (NW Exeter) in the game until AOL took it off their servers in 1997. The survivors wanted to recreate the sense of community the players had on NWN and started Forgotten World as a turn-based, graphical, MPORPG (not a MMORPG).

In my book, The Forgotten World, I've taken the character I played on AOL's NWN (Cedric Taramon) and made him the main character of this story. He, his brother, two cousins, and a few friends travel through a gate from Ireland to, what is for them, a whole new world. In actuality, it is the old world, because Cedric's ancestors left the forgotten world long ago. Now, he and three of his relatives are back...but a 400-year-old creature is hunting them.

This story is intended as an introduction to the realm of Forgotten World, some of its towns, races, and classes. Is it just like AD&D? No, but it was inspired by NWN, which means it was also inspired by AD&D. The game engine was built from the ground up, so there is no copyright infringement, but the game has the feel of the old NWN, which is what many wanted. The community is small right now and nostalgic, but the nostalgia I guess is what we all wanted. Maybe my book will bring some old players back, and maybe a lot of new ones too. I hope so.

The Book of Lore was actually the first Forgotten World book, but after I had expanded the short story and finished the first draft, I realized that I needed to explain a lot of things. You see, I hadn't laid the groundword for the world at all. I just jumped in with a ranger (Flynn O'Reilly) saving a half-orc for, slaying a wyvern, and befriending a bronze dragon. So, I added chapters to the beginning to explain how the characters came to this point in their lives. But then I realized that, in doing so, I was creating a truly separate story. That was when I broke out the beginning chapters into a new book altogether. In The Book of Lore, Flynn, a "defender" who combats the corrupt guards of the City of Gideon, is captured and tortured by Tanis Albright, the insane Lord Mayor of Gideon. He is left for dead in the Twisted Forest, but is saved by a bronze dragon. Five years later, Flynn is reunited with his friends, but Tanis Albright has received word of a prophecy that says Flynn possesses a magical artifact known as the Book of Lore, which he believes will allow him to subjugate not only Gideon, but all of the forgotten world. Now Flynn and his friends must once again confront his nemesis and stop Tanis Albright before he gains control of the Book of Lore.

I haven't worked on the pitch or synopsis yet for either book, so these are just off-the-cuff descriptions of the books. If anyone reads this and would like to comment, please feel free to do so. For now, though, that's it. Signing off from Maryland.

Shaun