Crowlight Cartography

Onto Adventure

The world is a strange place and it’s not just this one. You never know what path you’ll take in life or what hole you’ll fall into. But even the darkest of pits can open the way to a new adventure… whether you’re willing to go or not.

The Ritual

As you go about your daily life, you feel a pang of wanderlust, a sudden desire to see what life has in store for you. This may or may not be the result of some bad food you have eaten or a disease you have contracted, but it is at least a pleasant sensation. Until… you hear the crashing of waves, the rushing of water, and the grumble of ancients far too tired for this. You are swept up into an invisible tide of magic, dulling your senses as you are dragged across the infinite void of all that does and does not exist. As you fall across an endless, empty abyss, all you can hear are these words.

“By the name of those who bore the sun, moon, and sky, in your deathly slumber across the forlorn tides, hear my cry! This world crumbles, its people suffer, and the light of their souls flickers in finality. Antek’edns! Awake from your deaths for a mere second and reach across infinity! Bring a noble soul to our world and let our story, once more, be told!”

As your senses return, you hear the sound of storm, feel the slickness of the stone, smell the scorched offerings to primal magics, and taste the tingling energy of the lightning hanging in the air. As your eyes finally focus in, you see a ruined site, potentially the foundations of an old keep still standing despite the years of wear. Above you swirls an otherworldly, purple light, a cluster of images flashing within its depths—some of your home and many of worlds you cannot imagine.

And then it all goes quiet. No lights, no crackling thunder, even the black clouds roll away to reveal a clear sky. As you take in your surroundings, you see a tent, out of place for these ruins. Maybe whoever is about to step out will explain where you are.

What is this?

This is a much shorter story than i have been putting here. It is simply the opening hook to a TTRPG campaign i am planning for friends. It is all very much a work in progress and won’t be considered done until the day i present it. But it also demonstrates the kind of grand adventures i like to create. I love to take readers and players to entirely new worlds, a place where they can get lost in all the mischief and mystery. As much as i love to tell stories, one of my favourite things to do is start a whole new one.

And that is the primary reason i am sharing this story today.

Next up?

To everyone who has read and enjoyed this work so far, i thank you again as i always do. Writing these stories is a great way to express my creative side and share the wonderful weirdness that pops up in my brain on a daily basis. So what’s up next may excite some of you.

What i really want to do is write and publish stories, writing series of epic fantasy to entertain, intrigue and help anyone who reads them. Taking people along on a lovely adventure that lets them escape the day to day stresses for just a little bit. It’ s what i have always wanted to do and this is just the beginning.

So stick around for more things to come. I will be moving off of a dedicated weekly schedule as i have found my focus beginning to slip. I only have so much to use and making sure it works to my benefit is the difficult part. These short stories will still be a frequent showing so if all you want is those, check back in every so often. If you’re more interested in long-form content, i will be starting to show off some teasers to a new project that i have currently named,

The Legends of Ascha: Thornscar

That’s enough talking on my part. I hope to see you all again very soon.

If you’ve read this far, thank you so very much and get ready for plenty more.
– Jakko