Introduction

 Originally this entry and the eight that follow were posted during the winter to summer of 2006. I recently tracked down the abandoned blog and have copied it here to pick up where I left off.

For almost 25+ years I have been running players through the Valley of Ar-Live, and for almost as long players have been asking me to write the setting down. So this is finally my attempt to put down in words my world.
I started the Valley in 1978 using a map and some notes from a Greg Costikyan wargame called Swords and Sorcery as a starting point. I went off to the Navy and each time I changed duty stations I reworked what had gone before so each new group saw a more concrete setting than the last. Over the years I found many things that worked and made some major mistakes, and along the way I left many happy players with memories and a thirst for more.
I have always been a seat of the pants Gamemaster writing down only the notes I needed to keep the current situation fresh between sessions. The bulk of the campaign has always stayed locked up in my head, much to my more munchkin players dismay.
While talking to people about the setting has always been easy, I have spent hours at a time detailing histories and politics, writing has always been harder for me. So here I will try to set this material down and hopefully some of you will read and ask questions so I can give my ramblings some direction. And together I will try to unfold what has literally become my life's work.