An introduction to the Silver Road.

Here is a little bit of background to the story "The Silver Road."

I take the title of this blog from the organization that the main character belongs to - the Traders of the Silver Road. The traders are a bit like stereotypical gypsies combined with pirates, traveling in huge caravans all across the realms, seeking out items of both magic and mundane nature to add to their offerings. Each trader has a staff that depicts a bit of their soul, the very fiber of their being used to craft it. The materials it is made out of varies from trader to trader, but they all have a silver cap on the bottom. Those still learning the ropes, so to speak, have their caps plain, or with something very simple carved into it, such as bands or geometric shapes. Fully vetted traders have more complex designs, and those with the highest honors have magical or valuable items bonded in it.

The story takes place in a RPG mechanics world. Characters freely reference experience points, levels, classes, hit points and other RPG staples. I make the parallel that we know that if you eat foods with alot of calories, you gain weight. They know if you gain a lot of experience points, you go up in level. Though I may make D&D style references, and use some of their races, I do not pretend to know enough about the game and world to use it for my own setting. This is an semi-original universe with heavy borrowings from others writers and story tellers.

I write by the seat of my pants, and though there are a few events that are planned out, most everything is flexible. Hell, right now ( 4PM on Thursday, September 30), I don't even have the names of any of the other characters. I don't even know what SPECIES they are. I have some traits that I want them to have, but I won't know what they're really like until I sit down and write them.