It flows anew within me when I pass the old men and their pipes, the tobacco in my nostrils tugging on the memories of my childhood nights. In those cherished evenings my grandpa would gather his children's children in the parlor room, that place of whiskey and smoke and well dressed gentlemen, vacated at the late hour and taken over by the giggling band of loyal conspirators. Through the kitchen and up the stairs and past the hall table with the fresh cut heliotropes lay my parents in their bed, unaware of our gathering below, or perhaps simply playing at such in their love for us. We settled at grandpa's feet, and he lit his pipe, and the smoke curled gently upwards around his whiskers, caught here and there in the yellow caress of the lamplight. Past his shoulders and out the window could be seen a row of houses with neat trees square in front of each, and a moonlight glow upon all without that spoke of shape and size but not of color. So still was the night, so silent...only the distant whistle of a train on the wooded hill that took up where our streets left off, and perhaps the muted clip-clop syncopation of a horse drawn carriage taking a weary traveler on his way home. We were in a world of our own, and held in trust with the silence by keeping our voices low.

Grandpa would draw deep on his pipe and lean forward to exhale, washing us in that sweet fragrance. The light of his pipe would gently spark on his eyes, orbs come to life as he was again one of the young and brave. And quietly, so quietly, he would begin. And we spent those sacred nights in the excitement of tales told of Roman legions, ships at sea, dragons in flight and things that go bump in the night.

And then I am jarred back again, to my present life. Walking past the old men, past the memory born on fading scents. But I still delight in that fond remembrance of my youth, those tales told softly...

Tales Told Softly is the title of my role playing game system and sourcebooks:

1. Beyond Island Rome: Set in the year 1400, and complete with the core rules for playing the game.
2. Renaissance of the Transmaritanus: The second chapter, set in 1600.
3. Empires Industrious: The third chapter, set in the year 1750.
4. Towards the Luminiferous Ether (deftly upon a gossamer string): The fourth chapter, set in 1850.
5. Quest for Luna Viridifuscus: Fifth and final chapter of the Tales Told Softly. Set in 1925.

Current Alpha release: coming soon.