Progress

My website comes along nicely. On the technical side, I've figured out how to make FrontPage do what I want it to most of the time for several of the neat things on the site.
On the content side, I've been developing information specific to a campaign. Most of the previous work was worldbuilding, which is fundamental to the campaign, but does not really set the tone of the campaign, merely supplies the background.
Something I've started to do, which is an important step for me, is make characters. For the non role-player, any character that isn't played by a player is a non-player-character aka NPC. I've created a couple of NPCs that the PCs (Player Characters) will interact with and they will help me understand the world. (I'll post about world development in general later to help you understand statements such as this one.)
As I develop the NPCs and I start to get a feel for their personalities and motivations, I'll start to see the world from their perspective a little. For example, there is a character named Eliath. He is a young Goblin who has a strong hatred of Saurians (basically dinosaur-men). Now, I could just leave it at that and every time he gets around one, he mouths off or throws a rock at them. But if I understand the reason behind his prejudice, I gain more insight into him and the rest of the world. Since it's a role-playing game (RPG (acronyms save keystrokes)), I'll role-play it. I simply ask Eliath. "Eli, what's the deal? Why do you scowl every time I mention Streggen (who is a Saurian btw)?" Eliath answers "You know I'm a pretty easy-going guy, I like just about everyone. But when I was nine..." he rolls up his sleeve bearing an ugly circular scar on his forearm, "you see this hole? It went all the way through" he says, twisting his arm so I can see the exit wound. A group of Saurians drove a spike through my arm and into a tree down in Mudwhistle. They were preparing to eat me when a slug farmer chased them off." Looking around nervously, "you hear me? They were going to eat me!"
Ok, ok, I'm getting carried away, but you see my point. Now I know the background on Eliaths intolerance of the reptilians. Now it has some substance to it, and it's something I can use in the future. Also, look at the rest of the filler (aka me getting carried away), now we know there are slug farmers (what ever that is) in Mudwhistle.
Anyway, overall, the development is coming along at a pace that I am pleased with. Please check out the site and let me know what you think.

It Begins

Tonight was the first gathering of the minds for this rebirth of my Fantasy world. My friend Alan, whom I've not seen in far too long, and my friend Steve, whom I see more often than I see any other person not living in my home, both came over as the foundation of this game. Many of the greatest gaming memories of my life involved one or both of these two people. Gaming or not, I was happy to be here.
So, on with it.
We talked a lot about my ideas and how things have changed as a result of the dark cataclysm, and how things were during it. Many ideas wandered their way back and forth across the table. A few notes were taken to solidify some of the more abstract or to prompt more detailed work on my part afterward.
Amongst much catching up, we did manage to butcher my PC Race list (the list of races allowed for a player to play; things like Dwarves and Gargoyles made the cut, while such things as Water Elementals and Zombies got cut.), establish the foundations of some flourishing religions, and create a few racial and spiritual fears and superstitions which are always happy finds for a GM (Game Master).
From here, a few e-mails and conversations will take place, they will both make characters, I'll whip up a basic plot, establish a couple of story-arcs, a few NPCs, maybe a map, and in two weeks we'll actually get together, hopefully with one or two more players, and carve out a history for the new world.

Lygath Reborn

Background you need to know to understand what I'm talking about.
I'm a gamer, a role-player, I run role-playing games. Exclusively, I run and play GURPS which is a game "system" that enables me to use the same rules for a multitude of genres. I've been using GURPS for about 17 years and one of the main genres I've run is fantasy.

To do so, I created my own fantasy world and as time went on, more detail was added thereby helping to make the world more dynamic and many adventures were had in this world.
One such adventure pitted a band of fairly powerful mercenaries against a near omnipotent necromancer bent on ruling the world. Unfortunately, this band of adventurers failed to comprehend the magnitude of their opposition and were sumarily thwacked for it.
Nearly a year later, the religious order that funded them assembled a new, more powerful band of characters chosen from the finest heroes from all over the continent. They set out, with a small army at their disposal, and sought a weakness in the defenses of the psychotic that now ruled an entire kingdom and showed no signs of stopping there.

As you will soon see, the details get a little hazy from here on out. Storytellers speak of a great battle that cracked the sky and tore the earth as if it were rotten flesh. Some say the Dark Overlord defeated these new saviours, but skeptics ask where he is now. Others say the heroes defeated him and scattered his remains to the elements. In either case, neither the heroes nor the Overlord were seen again.
Of course, no one really had time to consider where they had gone and how. This had been the epic battle betweeen good and evil. A conflict of that magnitude takes it's toll on its surroundings. The world suffered greatly. The people were free from the threat of an undead ruler, but now their very existence stood on the brink. The sun was cut from the sky and the world saw an unending twilight. The evil minions, plucked from the nether dimensions to be used as pawns, now were freed without their master to control them. Many other hells set upon the earth. Entire kingdoms cast into eternal flame, volcanoes and earthquakes gutted the landscape. Plagues and famine drove entire civilizations to starvation. And mana, the very essense of magic, of life itself many believe, mana was drained from the world. Used up in the final war they say. Great archmages, once able to summon a feast for a city could no longer call upon their magical powers for even the most menial of tasks. All that gave the world life was gone.
This eternal twilight became the new home to everyone. Entire races were wiped out by starvation, exposure, and predators. Those that found a way to survive would be forever scarred by the atrocities necessary to sustain them.
Suddenly, as if everyone at once awoke from the same terrible nightmare, the sky parted and the sun rose.
Most thought the great fire in the sky was a new horror set upon them by their acursed world. With the sun brought back the seasons. A new spring came, plants once again answered to those with the knowledge. Clusters of people turned into villages, trade routes were established, and a semblance of a society began again. But as the peoples spirits rose, the minions of the dark sought once again to supress all that is good and natural.
A new order of heroes must be summoned. New magics are to be found and harnessed, and this evil must be vanquished, lest we return to the eternal twilight.