Shiron Intro

The Memoirs of Father Shiron

Introduction

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away - about 19 years ago in Nottingham actually - a strange adventure took place. Nottingham is of course famous for a guy called Robin who liked - well - robbing, and running around in green lycra shooting arrows at passers by. It is therefore perfectly apt that it should be the setting for my initiation into the dark and mysterious world of AD&D - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

At that time I was young and full of the joys of life. I was also an accountancy foundation student at Trent Polytechnic ( now Nottingham Trent University ). However, my insidious metamorphosis into an accountant had already begun. I increasingly found myself strangely drawn towards grey suits, briefcases and calculators. I begun using phrases like "No provision has been made for this purchase, I can't afford it," and "You can claim the price of that pint back under sundry expenses." I needed help and fast!

One of my college chums who is still a good friend now - Dave Hems - said he might just have the solution to my problem. I had heard dark rumours of a 'game' called Dungeons & Dragons. Some said it was a board game like Monopoly and others that it was a load of weirdoes dressed up in silly costumes hitting each other with wobbly plastic swords. Neither appealed all that much but when Dave assured me it wasn't like that I said I would give it a go. The rest, as they say, is history.

When I came to work for my present employer it didn't take me long to find others of a like mind and they too became Fellow gamers and good friends. I have not played regularly over the years but rather have had several spells at it ( pun intended ) with some extremely enjoyable and memorable adventures, set mostly in the TSR 'Forgotten Realms' campaign world. TSR have now been bought out by Wizards of the Coast, those responsible for the 'Magic' collectable card game and the 'Dungeons & Dragons' movie.

I have kept all my alter egos' character sheets over the years, writing some of them epitaphs when they met their end or retired. The memoirs of Father Shiron is based VERY loosely on the exploits of my earliest characters and was originally written by myself circa 1986 in what I hope is an imaginative and humorous style. As I in effect hold the copyright to this material I reserve the right to amend, omit and add stuff where I think it beneficial or appropriate. It contains various in-jokes and period related references to things, events, music, people and places which may go straight over your heads, for which I apologize in advance.

I will post periodic updates of the story until I reach the end of what already exists. This will take some time as there is quite a lot of it. I may well continue the story with new material if my creative juices are revitalised along the way or if you, the readers, want to see more. Please let me know if you like it or if you think it's complete crap but be nice as there has been / will be a lot of effort involved on my part.

If the text on this and subsequent pages appears in a boring ordinary font then you are not really appreciating it as it was intended. It is written in a special Tolkien typeface but you will need to have the correct fonts installed on your system to see it. Download an updated set of 14 Fantasy style fonts - they look superb.