The Parable of the Prodigal Blogger

I take no credit for this crude illustration of the ancient scribe.

Once upon a time, there was an ancient Allansian scribe who wished for all the brave adventurers who ventured the lands to have their exploits recorded in the form of a blog for Earth-folk to read and marvel at. He was the great William Shake-A-Spear, and he hired many scribes from Earth and gave them Fighting Fantasy books to read and generate adventures to be recorded. And so it was that these scribes went about the business of recording such epic adventures, from being a contestant in the deadly Deathtrap Dungeon to travelling among the stars in search of a black hole that will bring them back home.



However, not long after beginning his duty as scribe, the youngest (I believe) one decided to go to University, with the hope of furthering his writing prowess. It is at this point where things went wrong for the young man. He neglected his duty to the blog, being partly bombarded by the sheer demands of a Univeristy degree, but also due to laziness settling in, as happens to pretty much every student in the history of all time and space at some point. The scribe told himself he would continue his blogging duties but kept finding reasons to procrastinate from doing so, until he eventually reached the end of his degree with just a single post in the three years he'd spent doing it. Feeling somewhat remorseful, he returned to the ancient William Shake-A-Spear, and fell to his knees in front of him.

A perhaps slightly inaccurate recreation
of what the Prodigal Blogger got up to.

"Oh great skaker!" he cried. "I have sinned against Libra and before you. Your other scribes have produced many a great blog and I have left you with nothing but disappointment. I am no longer worthy to be called your scribe. Throw me to the Moon Dogs and be done with me." He then arose and awaited William's response. To his great surprise William tossed his spear aside, and embraced the young scribe.
"My friend, do not fret. Take this robe and ring, and feel free to take my pair of sparkly wellies. We must celebrate!" At this the young scribe looked positively stunned.
"I don't understand, your shakiness. Have I not done wrong?" William smiled, then shook the young scribe rather violently.
"Wrong? Of course not my boy! You were dead, and now alive again; you were lost, and now found." And so it was the whole of Allansia started to celebrate.


If you'll all forgive paraphrasing a parable from the bible and giving it a Fighting Fantasy feel, I decided that was the best way of explaining my absence from this blog over the last three years. Last week I sent off my dissertation (hooray!) and am now infused with new vigour to venture back into Allansia/Space/Orlandes/Valeron/Or.. (Shh it's a secret!) Whether my writing will be better and more witty following my degree remains to be seen, but I must admit I felt my stories produced in the second year of my degree were better than this years. My list of gamebook bloggers on the right of the site are likely outdated - if you have a gamebook blog and wish to have it listed here let me know and I'll add you to the list. I believe back in October 2012 I promised you all the next quest in Act 1 of Destiny Quest's first book, The Legion of Shadow, so that will come next. I'm hoping to try and do a post a week but I've learned my lesson to not make any promises in my second coming. For my moral of the post, I shall leave you with the words of Nelson Mandela. I'm back!

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. 

I've missed this guy. Hopefully you all give my return a seal of approval too!