Chime’s Expedition

I once participated in a D&D d20 campaign run by game writer and editor Steve Creech. We were allowed to use any d20 sourcebook and my first character was a d20 Modern stuntman (Fast and Tough) named Duncan who specialized in fight scenes. He (and the other characters) were Taken to another world where they had to work together to survive.

After a couple of months of playing, I told Steve that I wanted to create a second character, one using the Psionics sourcebook, which was already being used by another character. I created an offshoot race of humanity genetically engineered for psionic abilities and created the character of Chime for the campaign. After several more games, I wrote this story about her return to her own world to acquire things she would need but could not get in a fantasy world.

No writing is ever wasted: I am presently adapting much of Chime and the world I created for her as an independent novel.

Chime appeared in a grove of crystal trees in a public park near the University. She chose not to try to return to her student quarters: after missing such a long time, they would certainly have been transferred to another student and her few personal possessions returned to her family. Nor could she return home, because possibly one of her parents, or certainly a sibling or close cousin, would be there, and she explicitly did not want to involve them in her plans. Seeing them, it would be hard to avoid the temptation of staying, thus forgetting her commitment to Nigel and his dream. No, she chose this place, largely for its privacy but also for its personal familiarity with it: she was learning that the more familiar the location, the easier it was to reach.

Seeing the pale sun still high in the afternoon sky, Chime decided to wait there until seeing her friend in the evening. To pass the time, she decided to spend the afternoon hours in quiet mediation, a common sight on her world, especially here in the peaceful park. While her exploration garb, so different from the flowing robes her people favored, would draw a small amount of unwanted attention, if she turned her back to all observers and spread her silver hair across her back, she would easily be able to disguise it. In any case, the polite Ellori society would refrain from overtly noticing her so occupied in the intensely private practice of personal meditation. Plus, she would be able to recover the energy drained by the dimensional travel, which she deemed might be needed later.

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