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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master.

@musing-mage.bsky.social
239 followers 485 following 670 posts

I'm a Canadian writer, streamer, and game designer. I have a series of 12 novels currently in progress, as well as a campaign book and TTRPG system that I've been designing for the past four years.

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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
When you lose everything good in your life and you end up viewing yourself through a lens of how destructive you can be to the enemies of the one person you're still trying to keep alive...yeah, warped by darkness is a kind way of putting it.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Serenn, finally, has a good head on her shoulders. She is the shamaness of her tribe and she knows who she is and what role she is meant to play. She plays it dutifully and never loses sight of it, knowing that her role is central to the continuance of her people, their traditions, and way of life.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Iedan, Cailean's older cousin, is interesting in that he starts off with an overly inflated self-image that gets brutally torn apart. He then has to rebuild himself from the ground up and becomes both a brutal realist, but also carries a view of himself warped by darkness.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Kai, on yet another hand, is a brutal realist. He knows who and what he is, yet he can at once be a harsh critic of himself and of others. Never without cause, but his expectations of himself are warped by a need to prove himself instilled in him by his narcissistic stepfather.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Cailean, on the other hand, is very young. He's still learning who he is. He's been thrust into a position of leadership that he doesn't feel ready for, and he often feels as if he's failing because he has this notion that he needs to be perfect, otherwise he's worthless.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This will be a bit of a doozy, but let's hit up my main cast and see what they have to say for themselves. Rhiannon is easy. She's very self-aware and aware of everything around her. And while she's felt powerless at times, she knows she isn't. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Rather appropriately, I've been getting my worldbuilding in as part of prepping for D&D sessions. I've recently taken over DMing for a youth group, which means I now spend my Saturday mornings with rascaly kids who love to test the limits of what I'll let them get away with. #SeptemberWorldbuilders
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It's looking more and more like these kids are going to be following in your footsteps my sith-kitty.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Now the wizard has a new spellbook. The monk knows herbalism. The sorcerer has a necklace that gives 19 charisma. The warlock has a holy sword that might turn him into a paladin. And the barbarian has a glaive that does 4d4 force damage on a hit. I've created a party of tiny monsters.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
THE BARBARIAN AND THE MONK JUST SNUCK PAST ALL OF THE ZOMBIES AND STOLE THE LOOT BEFORE YEETING THEMSELVES OUT OF THERE! ...I think my soul left my body at that point. But they succeeded the rolls and I couldn't find it in myself to rain on their parade. They, of course, were utterly ecstatic.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Now, while getting them to the quest itself felt like herding cats, once they got there...that's when the problems started. Or rather, didn't start. These little trolls managed to avoid my giant rats encounter, no one fell down the crumbling stairs, and when they got to the boss room...
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Meanwhile, the party's OTHER dragonborn had somehow managed to be utterly blind, deaf, and unfeeling when a mastiff wandered up behind him and started chewing on the dragonborn's tail. They had begged me to give them a pet, and I couldn't very well say no to a room of 12 and 13 year olds.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Unbeknownst to the dragonborn monk, he inadvertantly stumbled onto my homebrewed herbalism skill while everyone else was exploring Karsthag. The last time this skill was used, my best friend's character used it to create 300 potions for use in the last few boss fights of the campaign.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
So, I pulled the first chapter from my Tales of Eriathra campaign that I ran for a table of absolute hooligans a few years ago, and which I am still working on refining so that I can boast a campaign book of my own one day. These kids proceeded to start dismantling my story in short order.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
To preserve the illusion of democracy, I let the kids vote on whether they wanted to continue on the sidequest they'd undertaken, or whether they wanted to try something new. They voted to try something new. ...Which meant it was time for me to break out the zombies and a mountain of homebrew.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Tales From the Dungeon - Episode 1 I'll admit, I walked into my first session a couple of Saturdays ago expecting to just pick up where their adventure last left off doing a simple sidequest from the Adventures in Faerun book. I should have expected the kids to derail me immediately. #ttrpgs #D&D
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It's been a pleasure to DM for Authentic Dungeons at two past GameCon Canada events, and hanging out in their shop for the past couple of Saturdays has been a blast, and I look forward to many more adventures in the future. Look forward to me sharing a few stories of shenanigans from the table.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
As a bit of a happy announcement in my life, I've taken up with the adventurers at Authentic Dungeons to tackle their Saturday youth #D&D sessions. It gives me the chance to create crazy stories with wonderful kids, even if I'm a little worried about their laughter shaking the building. #ttrpgs
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
So far, we have quests involving a feisty bird and a missing gem, a pair of violently mating snow wyverns disrupting research and accidentally terrorizing a village, and the conclave's menagerie looking for owlbears for research and breeding purposes.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
As part of my latest #ttrpg project, I'm working on creating bounty boards to act as quest hubs so I can run sessions where parties can pick their own oneshot adventures. It also means I'll be able to offer oneshots at different levels which will open up the table to a variety of players.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Fires were the most common way that humans produced light that didn't come from the sun, moons, or stars. However, after the human rebellion, humans began adopting fae magic, and crystal lanterns became commonplace over the course of 1000 years. #SeptemberWorldbuilders #WritingCommunity
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
What a wonderful day to be creating a world of oneshots. The sun is shining, the breeze is nice and cool, and I have approximately two thousand characters at a magical university that need names. And then little profiles and backstories. Ah...the life of the Forever DM. #D&D #ttrpg #worldbuilding
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The boys were wonderful chaos gremlins, completely derailed my plan to run them through the rest of the adventure they started next week, plowed through the first chapter in my Tales of Eriathra homebrew campaign, and walked away with amazing loot. I look forward to seeing them again next week.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
A wonderful and chaotic update! I ran my first paid #D&D game at the Authentic Dungeons hobby shop today. I've participated in their Dungeon Masters Challenge, earning second place my first year and first place my second year. #TTRPG #Dungeons&Dragons
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
So tell me, who do you think is most justified in their anger? Therrea, who was imprisoned by her sister for being able to create life? Undalas, whose body was shattered? Or Arhavel, who was chained and neglected by his father? (The sister moons are mostly just chilling, they have one another).
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
And so in earnest began the eternal feud between Undalas, Goddess of the Ocean, and Therrea, The Earth Mother. Undalas in her jealous fury and her rage at her body being melted into water, and Therrea in her calm anger at being so betrayed and imprisoned by her sister.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
However, from this accidental union, forces of creation struck, raising landmasses from the sea and returning the smallest traces of life to Therrea's skin. Undalas, jealous of her sister's fortunes once more, gathered Arhavel's essence left behind by his fall and used it to create life.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It was Therrea herself who stopped Undalas in her tracks. Ancient and powerful, just like her sister, Therrea took Arhavel into her arms and brought the young sun god beneath the surface of the earth, heating her veins with warmth and light. And there she protected him as he healed from his ordeal.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
When Arhavel crashed into the surface of the world, the heat of his body melted the body of the goddess Undalas, the ice goddess who had kept Therrea asleep for eons. Ice turned to oceans and Arhavel plunged deep into the icy waters. About to be drowned, Undalas would snuff out Arhavel's light.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Arhavel, son of Gwynhal, broke his chains and soared freely through the stars, swept up in his newfound freedom. But Arhavel did not know the stars, did not know the universe beyond Gwynhal's light. And so, in a moment of distraction and carelessness, Arhavel crashed into the surface of Therrea.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Gwynhal, the sun, was a powerful, yet distant protector, guarding the stars against the darkness. Eons passed in silence. Until a drop of his power grew sentient, a force of light and creation that longed to be free of Gwynhal's silent neglect. And so, this drop of sunlight broke free.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
So Undalas used her magic to draw the three close to Therrea and bound them to circle this world for eternity. And so, five goddesses were trapped together. One eternally asleep, and three eternally imprisoned by the ice goddess's jealousy and wrath. ...Until a huge cosmic accident happened.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Now, Undalas, as an ice goddess, had been jealous of her sister, Therrea, who could create life upon her skin, and so she enveloped her sister and killed all life before putting Therrea to sleep. Undalas then grew jealous of the Sister Moons, who floated freely through the skies.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
*cracks knuckles* Time for some more lore! Undalas is Therrea's goddess of the oceans and seas. Once, she was a goddess of ice that blanketed the whole world, enveloping Therrea (The Earth Mother) and coating the world in a layer of ice. #SeptemberWorldbuilders #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Eventually, Iedan is going to become the sort of character where you go from wanting to punch him...to wanting to punch someone WITH him. Or getting him to punch someone for you (or more likely stab someone). He's the reason I'm now rewriting my first book's manuscript. Attention hog.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Iedan is the type of character to grasp for attention and popularity solely because he's been raised to think that he's better than everyone else. And his mother is definitely to blame for that. Life is going to teach him some hard lessons, though, and his punchability will be reduced. Somewhat.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Oh this is DEFINITELY an Iedan post. Right, so Iedan is Cailean's cousin, and he definitely starts as a minor antagonist/bully in the first book. He's going to be arrogant and childish and very quickly irritate everyone who reads about him. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
And on Saturday, we'll see what sorts of shenanigans I can cook up for those kids to make their day awesome. Now the only question...is whether or not to wear my witch's hat, cloak, and dress to the session and go the full extra mile to be a magical DM.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
So yes, lots to do over the coming days, and I'm actually looking forward to being creative again and getting back to writing my work in progress and posting some chapters for my Twitch community to read. Right, so now I'm exhausted, but it's time to delve into the Adventures in Faerun sourcebook.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Tomorrow I've got a tech meet-up to go to, so more networking, yay. I might have been ghosted by a place I interviewed at. But most importantly, I think, is that my spark for writing and creating feels like it's coming back after fighting off most of a wisdom tooth infection this past week.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Alright, looks like I've got a lot going on this week. I've locked in a DMing session this Saturday to play D&D with some youngsters, managed to fight my way through an ID verification mess, got another job application rejection, though at least this time it was a rejection by a real person.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Had a wonderful time at a networking event at a pub downtown. Lots of nerds to be a captive audience as I waxed eloquent about the novels I've been working on. I think I gabbed for a good 45 minutes. It was absolutely lovely. #writing #WritingCommunity
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Been listening to Avicii all morning. It's sad to think he would have been 37 years old yesterday. I remember being a teenager when I first started listening to his music. He truly was one of the greatest voices of my generation, even if he let everyone else do the singing for him. <3
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The job hunt has been grueling the past few months, yet it feels like today is the day everyone wants my attention. - 2 interviews scheduled for Friday - 2 auto-rejections - 1 follow-up call - 1 job fair visit planned - 1 networking event planned - 1 out of the blue headhunting to run a D&D session
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Fiachra would never ask for help, full stop. Too proud. Cailean often finds himself seeking out the wisdom of his elders/peers (if he respects them). Kai struggles with asking for help, he's never gotten any. Rhiannon is the one who offers help. #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #Septversary
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
In addition, Iedan starts off with little to no empathy for others, learns it through harsh trials that help shape him into a better man, and then nearly loses it all again when circumstances conspire to take away his sister. Then, he becomes ruthlessly obsessed with protecting his cousin, Cailean.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Fiachra, on the other hand, feels no empathy at all. Only a desire for power and control. But, let's add in a twist and take this prompt further. Kai. Yes, one of my main characters just about loses his ability to feel empathy at all. slavery can do that when everything becomes about survival.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Alright, so this is a Cailean vs. Fiachra question, technically Cailean is one of the most empathetic characters by far. It hurts him to see others in pain, even if they've actively caused him pain. #writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Septversary
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Cailean and his descendants are who struggle with it the most, because they're the ones trying to convince everyone else that this is how governance should be. It's no struggle for the people who don't believe in it, they can just turn their noses up at it. That's the struggle.
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The Musing Mage - Writer. Gamer. Witch. Dungeon Master. @musing-mage.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A sort of soft leather, yes. For making hide tents and clothing and that sort of thing. It's what the First Nations traditionally do here in Canada.
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