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earth:people:joe_parish

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Joe Parish

ASL: Forty-something, M, Beaumont TX USA
Occupation: Environmental Analyst, southeast TX
Khavikanum: From 'Kavik', Inuit for 'wolverine'; from 'Cave Canum', Latin for 'beware of dogs'; from kavi and kanum, kavi being hindi for 'poet' and kanum being urdoo for 'gentle'.

In the Fall of 1994, I was introduced through Kenneth Cotton to a strange group of gamers that met every Friday night to play IBM PC games over a local network connection. I met Chris Altnau, Todd Antill, Alan Apperson, and several others with whom I would spend many hours blowing one another away at Duke Nuke'em 3D, Command & Conquer, WarCraft II, and even Doom 2. We spent close to a year's worth of Friday nights playing until dawn, and developing good friendships. Over the tops of our computers, we talked smack, and also talked about our hobbies, likes, school, work, and more. Chris and Todd played Dungeons and Dragons – some game that I likened to a Live Action Role Play, and didn't pay much attention to. Indeed, Chris played AmptGard – what I thought Dungeons and Dragons was (either that, or it was some kooky board game that I wouldn't enjoy). After awhile, though, my yearning for high fantasy got the better of me, and I took Chris up on an offer to play.

In the Fall of 1995, I drove through torrential rains to Chris' place, and let him create for me my first Player Character with the 2nd Edition version of Dungeons and Dragons, set in the world of Oerth. After several sessions, I began taking notes, and even told the story from my character's perspective. I lacked any real audience for my writing, save to print off the story, and let the other guys read it at the gaming table, the next time we played. I rather enjoyed the story-telling element of the game, but I also enjoyed the hack n' slash nature of Dungeons and Dragons.

By the Summer of 1996, I was itching to do something, but I had no idea of what. My brother, having long voiced his disdain for my new found hobby, was finally bored enough to ask me to play Dungeons and Dragons for him. I had to become a Dungeon Master, armed with no more than a Player's Handbook and a head full of Fantasy novels. A tiny map began to grow, even as my brother's fondness for the game grew. Chris even began to play under me, coaching me along as a Dungeon Master while he relieved his burn-out by being on the other side of the table. Others soon joined – and my obsession began.

But I still yearned to play, as well. Todd invited me to be a Player Character in a Forgotten Realms campaign set in Erlkazar. In watching a masterful story-teller, I discovered my passion, and began working all the harder on my own campaign world. Todd's story was as deep as the dungeons we traveled, and as high as the dragons we feared. If I wasn't in school or at work, I was fantasizing at work about this strange new hobby of mine: Dungeons and Dragons.

Todd coached me along as a DM, and I learned as much as I could before leaving Texas for parts unknown. I discovered GeoCities, and began publishing my campaign materials there. After several years, though, I had to get my own site: the SisterWorlds.

earth/people/joe_parish.1503876356.txt.gz · Last modified: 2021/09/28 15:47 (external edit)