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By Root 434 0

of Gateway. He was pleased to meet them and thanked all of us for overcoming the orc situation.

“I am working with the council to deal with the possible problem when the orcs return,” he told us.

David stepped up, “I was wondering, sir, did the last group of guards at Blaze Arrow report in? We found that the message array there had been mislabeled.”

The magistrate looked somewhat concerned, “Hmm ... we will look into that. Any ideas?”

“Oh, nothing specific,” David responded, “I just found it odd.”

“Indeed.”

“There is one more thing I wish to speak with you about, magistrate,” I interjected. I proceeded to tell him my concerns about the curse that had been cast upon us. “Would it be possible to get an escort to the temple of Heironeous, where they may be able to help us?”

“Why certainly! This is most unfortunate.”

“Yes. I think that we should lay low for awhile, magistrate.”

“Yes, yes. Certainly. The council will be meeting soon, and I will put in a request that you be rewarded for your efforts.”

“Thank you, sir.”

After finishing our pleasantries with the honorable magistrate, we were escorted to the temple of Heironeous where I was recognized and well received. We were placed in the hands of an experienced cleric by the name of Brother Timothy. After telling our story, he smudged us with incense, sprinkled us with holy water, and muttered some prayerful words.

“There is indeed a blackness that touches you,” he said. “I have seen many curses in my time, but nothing quite like this, nothing this powerful. Yet, it does not seem to be impairing you.”

“Then there is nothing you can do?” I asked mournfully.

“I am afraid this is beyond me,” he replied, still quite perplexed.

“Then, perhaps a blessing upon us, Brother Timothy?”

“Of course, of course.” He blessed us but refused to accept any offering in exchange. “It is an honor to help you,” he said with a courteous bow in my direction.

My friends insisted on stopping at the temples of their various gods since we were in the temple district. Every stop made me increasingly nervous, for everywhere we went people were staring at us. But the others seemed not to notice and accused me of being paranoid.

At last I relaxed a bit as we entered the familiar surroundings of the Topaz District and Scalamagra’s Tower. The bouncy blonde-haired Ingie greeted me warmly, and once more I introduced my comrades. Poe flew from the back room and landed securely on my shoulder. “’Bout time,” he squawked.

Ingie chuckled, “He’s missed you.”

We inquired about Maureen. Ingie informed us that she was going to remove the tattoo, but that didn’t seem to be the thing to do. She suggested that Maureen try the temple, but had not heard back from her. “I believe she was staying at the Weary Wanderer Inn,” she informed us.

“Thank you, Ingie.” I led the party out of the shop and to the Weary Wanderer Inn where we were given Maureen’s room number. We headed there to meet up with our friend and tell her of our most recent adventures.

Table of Contents

Front Cover

Cover

Contents

Abbreviations, Terms, and Transcription Symbols

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction: Defining the Tabletop Role-Playing Game

1: Early Models of Interactive Narrative

2: Role-Playing Game Genres

3: A Transmedia Tale— The Temple of Elemental Evil

4: The Reconciliation of Narrative and Game

5: Frames of Narrativity in the TRPG

6: Immersion in the TRPG

7: Levels of Authorship— How Gamers Interact with Texts and Create Their Own

8: The Culture of TRPG Fans

9: Conclusions, Definitions, Implications, and Limitations

Appendix: The Orc Adventure at Blaze Arrow

Chapter Notes

References

Index