ISSN: 1089-3636
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LightRaider NET No. 11 September 1997
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
~ Welcome ~ the webzine version!
~ Feature ~ the Arena of the Imagination by Dick Wulf
~ the librarian's desk ~ Fiction and Illustration
~ WordRunes ~ The Tongue in Cheek WordRunes
~ DragonRaid News! ~ Adventures for Christ Group
Welcome to the LightRaider Net --
an electronic newsletter for adventurers!
This issue, Number 11, is our first webzine version of the
LightRaider NET. We wanted to be able to include some
illustrations and even have longer articles than we could
manage with an email version. But we plan to continue to
send out an email version as well! It may be abridged if the
length gets to long. But if you think you are missing
something, let us know!
As far as the webzine version goes, we think we have it
set up with both frames-capable browsers and browsers
that don't do frames. If not -- let us know! The frames
version is at
http://www.alaska.net/~cass/draid/lrnet/index.html If
you don't want frames, point your browser to this welcome
page: http://www.alaska.net/~cass/draid/lrnet/lrn-
welcome.html
and at the bottom of the page are buttons to link to other
pages.
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Getting Tough With Satan in the Arena of the Imagination
by Dick Wulf
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A few believe the Christian imagination is evil and its use
ought to receive no encouragement. Their belief is
based on such verses as Genesis 8:21 which says,
"every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood."
(The King James version uses the word "imagination11 for
such contemporary words as "inclination", "persist",
"what they are disposed to do", "desire", etc.) Truly, the
emotions, thoughts and decisions of the unregenerate
man is evil. The imagination of man, apart from God, will
leave God out and be continually evil, whether
encouraged or left to its own course.
DragonRaid is grounded on the truth that in the
unregenerate man corruption completely rules, but that in
the regenerate person, the Christian, the Holy Spirit and
the law of God have dominion (see Romans 8:5-14 and I
John 4:4). To ask Christians to count their imaginations as
evil is to insult the Holy Spirit and the resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ who died that we might live, who gives
us a new mind (I Cor. 2:14-16), a new heart (I Jn. 4:7-21; II
Cor. 1:21,22; I Pet. 1:22; Col. 3:1-4), and a new will (Rom.
6:11-13,18,22; Gal. 5:1).
Because we are a new creation in Christ (II Cor. 5:17), we
have a new self that must wage war with the old self. We
face continual warfare in the areas of our minds, hearts
and wills. This warfare is best fought by fully embracing
the new self and renewing our minds, not by denying our
imaginations but by actively utilizing them in righteousness.
By so doing, we train the regenerated mind, heart and will
in the things of God. DragonRaid actively fits in with
God's sanctifying process. Cooperating with the Holy
Spirit, DragonRaid players stretch their imaginations
toward God's thoughts and God's ways.
We can claim the promise of Jeremiah 3:17: "No longer
will they follow the stubbornness (KJV: imagination) of their
evil hearts." Jesus Christ purchased freedom from sin by
His death on the cross. The Holy Spirit lives in us to help
us wage war against our old nature. We should exercise
our new freedom not in rules against use of the new
imagination but in exercise of it that the old imagination
become more and more foreign to our Christian lives.
DragonRaid can help reclaim the imagination for the Lord
of Heaven and Earth. We are not willing to stand idly by
and let Satan take away from us things that God has
given. This includes our creative minds designed in His
image. Satan has misused the Bible, but we do not back
off from using Scripture. Instead, we make sure that we
use the Bible correctly (II Tim. 2:15). Similarly, we should
train ourselves to use our minds and imaginations
correctly.
(Editors Note: One of our group acquired a copy of this
article rummaging through Dick's basement. This a reprint
of an older article that Dick wrote some years ago.)
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~ the librarian's desk ~ by David Staley
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How can your favorite fiction help
inspire your DragonRaid adventures?
Fictional Inspiration
Can a teaching situation for your Raid be inspired from a
section of your favorite piece of fiction? I'm sure you can
answer that in the affirmative, but just in case, let me
share an illustration.
What will follow first is my alternative to the piece of fiction
with a situation in the DragonRaid world. Now, bear in
mind that this situation is done up in a story format, and
wouldn't probably run as smoothly as it's written below. But
the point is not to take you step by step with the AM and
LR actions and responses, but to provide an easier read
illustration that will spark the imagination with what could
happen.
Next, the actual piece of fictional work that inspired my
storyline idea. I hope that you will enjoy it, and that this
example will be ample to help you think about what you
have read and been inspired from, and will prove to help
to enhance your creativity in DragonRaid.
The DragonRaid Illustration
After visiting Branwell, the SaltWarrior, all of the Raid Party
was in high spirits! They ascended the foothills of the Grey
Mountains with heads up and grand songs in the air. They
were also well accompanied in their songs by the beautiful
harp that was a gift that Branwell had given to the
youngest group member the night before they departed.
The harp jangled gaily under their fingers as they took
turns playing the beautiful instrument. It was truly a
treasure, as Branwell had said, for its tone and its
craftsmanship was perfect.
They also discussed the section of the Sacred Scrolls that
Branwell had talked about with them; the part about
singing to the Lord a new song. Indeed, they sang and
sang, all the songs that they knew and even made up
some new ones as they traveled along.
Branwell had also given them instructions about what the
OLMN desired that they do next. The LightRaiders were
to travel to the town of Talion, one of the few populated
towns high in the Grey Mountains, and seek out a man
named Selston, a Salt Warrior who was in need of some
fellowship that the Raid Party was to winter with.
>From the journeys start, the group saw that winters
onslaught had already begun to take its toll on the
surroundings. The harp music and songs kept them joyful
for some time into the foothills, but after a few days travel
into the more rocky and steep passageways of the
mountains themselves, the group began to despair of ever
making it to Talion before winter hit in force.
The group handled the harp with care and it helped to
bring some cheer around the fire at night while they strived
to seek out the meager warmth the flames provided. Day
after day, they traveled onward and upward, and night
after night they huddled closely around the flames as the
cold found its way through their thick cloaks to chill their
skin. The strings of the harp rustled gently in the drafts of
the wind, but after about a week in the mountains nobody
was in the mood to pluck a tune too often.
According to the mapping the group had done, Talion was
shown to be within a days travel from where the group
now was camped, but the blizzard that stormed against
the party the following morning was very vicious. The
blasts from the blizzard nearly knocked them off the
narrow mountain passes into the deep chasms below, and
they were prevented from continuing their travels time and
time again. The group fought to maintain their footing, but
as the day waned on, the fuel for their fire also dwindled
until their was hardly any left. At night, the storm had
worsened and they were forced to halt their traveling.
Thankfully, they were able to find shelter in a shallow
cavern that was set back a few feet from the narrow trail.
The cavern kept the buffeting winds from its direct assault
on the group, but the cold could not be so easily diverted
from chilling them to the bone. They gathered what tinder
they could from their belongings and built a fire to try to
keep themselves warm.
The group fervently prayed to the OLMN, but soon they
realized they would surely freeze before the night was
over because they now stared at the final pieces of
burnable material left, save the clothes on their bodies and
the harp. Closely they huddled and prayed as they
watched the flames slowly loose their intensity.
The group began to play the harp to try to keep alert,
because despite all their attempts to keep warm, the
freezing drafts worked on them steadily until the
beginnings of slumber began its attack. Realizing that
sleep would mean death the group prayed and sang all
the harder to keep themselves alive, but after awhile
drowsiness found its way into each of them.
The youngest member of the group held the harp, drowsily
strumming its strings as he watched the flames that were
about to finally die into grey ash. Nobody was yet
completely asleep, but many were on the very thresh-hold.
Nobody had strength enough to sing, although a few
weeped.
"We should burn the harp!" The youngest one finally said.
"It won't give us enough warmth now, it will burn too
quickly. Keep strumming it, or hand it to me and I will play
it. It is our only hope to stay alert." Another group member
said.
"Play something new. We've got to fight this slumber, we
must stay awake! A new song would be just the thing."
Said another.
The words that Branwell had shared with the Raid Party
from the Sacred Scrolls before they had left him crept to
the forefront of the youngest ones mind. "Sing to the Lord
a new song". As much as he tried to think of a new song
to sing the more he stared at the dying fire. He also saw
how beautiful the harp looked in his hands, and another
thought began to enter into his mind. "The harp is yours, it
is your Gift. Don't give up your precious belonging." He
thought back again to the words that Branwell had shared
from the Sacred Scrolls.
"I don't need a harp to sing a new song, but we do need
warmth to stay alive" The youngest one whispered to
himself. "If I have a gift, it is this harp to give, and my
voice to sing".
A new song began to form inside his head now, but his
fingers did not strum on the harp strings, although he held
the harp firmly. His words were faint at first, but after a few
verses it was as if he had gained some strength and he
sang a bit louder. The others were roused by his song of
praise to the OLMN, nd they looked at him as if waiting for
him to begin playing the harp.
He raised the harp gently up, and then in one swift stroke
brought it down upon the ground breaking its beautiful
shape in a splintering crack and pang of strings. Then as
the group gasped he quickly picked up the ruined harp
and placed it on the smoldering embers of the fire. He
blew on the scraps of wood until, slowly the embers
lighted upon the wood and began to grow again.
As he sat back he began to sing the new song again.
Slowly, the rest of the group pulled themselves up around
the small fire. Huddled together, they joined in on the new
song and raised their voices in praise to the OLMN. The
fire continued on for longer than they had anticipated, but
they remained singing until the pale shades of light began
to illuminate the shallow cavern.
They had not only made it through the night, the storm
had subsided, and the morning sunshine was actually
shining brightly! The group moved out of the cavern into
the warmth of the new day sun and loudly praised the
OLMN! They also noticed that the trail outside the cavern
began to descend into a beautiful valley where they saw
the smoking chimneys of the scattered brown buildings of
Talion!
All knew that the OLMN had been with them, and that the
sacrifice of the harp, and the joy of the new song from
their lips that had kept them from perishing during the
night. With the new song on all their lips, they began their
descent down into the beautiful sunlit valley.
The Fictional Work
The main source of inspiration for the story/situation
above came from the Newbery Award winning book, The
High King by Lloyd Alexander.
Below is an excerpt from that book that contains the
portion that had the most influence.
Taran, his face drawn with anxiety, shook her roughly,
"Don't sleep!" he cried. "If you sleep it will be your death."
Eilonwy did not answer him, but only turned her head
away and closed her eyes. Gurgi had curled up beside her
and could not be roused. Taran himself felt a fatal
drowsiness spreading over him.
"Fire," he said, "we must build a fire."
"From what?" Doli brusquely replied. "There's not a twig
to be found in this wilderness. What will you burn? Our
boots? Our cloaks? We'll freeze all the faster." He
flickered back into sight. "And if I'm going to freeze, I
won't do it with hornets buzzing in my ears."
Fflewdder, who had been silent this while, reached behind
him and unslung his harp. At this, Doli gave a furious
shout.
"Harp music!" he cried. "My friend, your wits are frozen
solid as ice!"
"It shall give us the tune we need," replied Fflewddur.
Taran dragged himself to the side of the bard. "Fflewddur,
what do you mean to do?"
The bard did not answer. For a long moment he held the
harp lovingly in his hands and gently touched the strings,
then with a quick motion raised the beautiful instrument
and smashed it across his knee.
Taran cried out in anguish as the wood shattered into
splinters and the harp stings tore loose with a discordant
burst of sound. Fflewddur let the broken fragments drop
from his hands.
"Burn it," he said. "It is wood well-seasoned."
Taran seized the bard by the shoulders. "What have you
done?" he sobbed. "Gallant, foolish Fflam! You have
destroyed your harp for the sake of a moment's warmth.
We need a greater fire than this wood can ever give us."
Doli, however, had quickly taken flint from his pouch and
had struck a spark into the pitiful heap of splinters.
Instantly, the wood blazed up and sudden warmth poured
over the companions. Taran stared amazed at the rising
flames.
The bits of wood seemed hardly to be consumed, yet the
fire burned all the more brightly. Gurgi stirred and raised his
head. His teeth had ceased their chattering and color was
returning to his frost-pinched face. Eilonwy, too, sat up
and looked about her as though waking from a dream. At
a glance she understood what fuel the bard had offered,
and tears sprang to her eyes.
Concluding Thoughts
The possibilities for allowing parts of your favorite fiction
(or even non fiction) are limitless. Even with the passage
above from "The High King" there could be a number of
different scenarios that it could inspire. Instead of a harp, it
could have been a favorite or 'blessed' sword, and a need
for a bit more metal to repair a link of a chain the plight. Or
even a life of one of the LightRaiders needed to face
certain death to preserve the life of the rest of the group. I
just chose to keep certain specific elements of the
segment of fiction for my DragonRaid illustration.
Of course, the most need will be the original creative ideas
that you think of yourself. These will help make
adventures whole, and link together those parts inspired
by other sources.
Also, one source of inspiration, one not of fictional nature,
yet filled with many, many examples that could easily be
adapted into the allegorical world of DragonRaid, is none
other than The Bible. You will see many uses of this type
of inspiration in great works by Lawhead, Tolkien, Lewis,
MacDonald, and many others . But, that is yet meat for a
whole other article!
May the OverLord of Many Names be with you and bless
you!
In Christ,
David Staley
aka - The Librarian
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~ The Tongue in Cheek WordRunes
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(For Optional and/or Humorous Use)
Chuckling sounds came from down the hall. I carefully
listened (LIS DL 4) to discern which room the sounds were
coming from. The sounds reminded me of an older
gentleman thorougly enjoying a good joke. I peaked into
the room and found no one present. The woodstove
emanated certain heat. I sat at the table to ponder where
the merry soul had gone to. I found this on the table...
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Pizza Feast TeamRune
JO 4 DL 3
Matthew 13:33
He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of
heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed
into a large amount of flour until it worked all
through the dough."
Matthew 13:33
The RaidTeam that can say the Pizza Feast TeamRune
can stop play to order and/or eat much pizza.
JO+1 mu SS +1 mu
May be used once per game play session
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Gotta Slurp WordRune
PA 4 DL 3
Matthew 25:35
For I was hungry and you gave me something
to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and
you invited me in,
Matthew 25:35
Any LightRaider who can say the Gotta Slurp
WordRune can get something to drink.
PA +1 SS +1 mu
May be used often as the urge hits.
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Private Necessities WordRune
SC 4 DL 2
Titus 3:14
Our people must learn to devote themselves to
doing what is good, in order that they may
provide for daily necessities and not live
unproductive lives.
Titus 3:14
The RaidTeam that can say the Private Necessities
WordRune can stop play to order use the facilities.
May be used once per game play session.
SC +1 mu SS +1 mu
May be used often as the urge hits.
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Great Joke WordRune
FA 4 DL 5
Psalm 126:1-3
When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion,
we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were
filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of
joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The
LORD has done great things for them." The LORD
has done great things for us, and we are filled
with joy.
Psalm 126:1-3
Any LightRaider who can say perfectly from
memory the Great Joke WordRune can stop the game's
play to tell a joke.
FA +1 mu SS +1 mu
May be used once per game play session.
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Answer the Phone WordRune
GE 4 DL 2
Psalm 4:3
Know that the LORD has set apart the godly
for himself; the LORD will hear when I
call to him.
Psalm 4:3
Any LightRaider who can say the Answer
the Phone WordRune can answer the phone.
He should try to do all of this before
the phone rings three times.
GE +1 mu SS +1 mu
May be used once per game play session.
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Munchies WordRune
KI 4 DL 1
1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,
do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
Any LightRaider who can say the Munchies WordRune
without his or her mouth full can get something
to eat.
KI +1 mu SS +1 mu
May be used once per game play session.
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~ DragonRaid News! ~
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The Adventures for Christ (AFC) Group:
DragonRaid Director: Jeff Smith
Assistant DragonRaid Director: Rich Sezov
Secretary: John Dorman
DragonRaid Consultant: Dick Wulf
Rules Committee Director: Joe Revesz
Adventure Committee Director: Jill Oviatt
Communications Director: Steven Carrington
Playtesting Director: Jack Ray
Marketing/PR Director: David Staley
Feel free to contact any of the above with
questions/comments that you may have.
The AFC is compiling the DragonRaid Advocate List! This
list will better enable us to communicate and keep track of
those who are really interested in DragonRaid and support
it. Click here to fill out the form so that we can add you to
the list!
Also, join the DragonRaid email discussion list! On this list
you will be able to converse with other DragonRaid users
to discuss the game and get your questions answered. It's
very easy to join! Simply send a message to
LISTPROC@ASSOCIATE.COM with no subject, and in
the message body SUBSCRIBE DRAGONRAID and that
is all there is too it!
The AFC group has had their first meeting for subjects
pertaining to the DragonRaid 2nd Edition. Plans are being
made to set up more meetings. Work is also being done to
possibly find a distributor for the remaining 1st Edition
Boxed set. This will help to make obtaining DragonRaid
products easier.
Please keep all of us in your prayers. Text file Source (historic): geocities.com/heartland/5268/dragonraid/lrnet
geocities.com/heartland/5268/dragonraidgeocities.com/heartland/5268
geocities.com/heartland
(to report bad content: archivehelp @ gmail)
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