Chapter 1

Jimmy had always been a bit of a loner. He was that skinny, ginger lad near the front of the class, getting all the questions right, getting good marks, but not fitting in with any of his fellow pupils.
He was the boy who always got to play in goal, because no one else wanted to, then he'd get wrong for letting a ball go passed him. He was no sportsman.
But in his head he could be anyone he liked! He could be a skillful fighter using a weapon that had not been invented yet! He could be a nimble little thief or a musclebound knight.
He could be a buxom, scantily clad female martial artist, or he could be a pious priest with a sideline of healing potions and deadly poisons.
In his dreams he rode dragons across smoking red skies, or ventured into dark damp tunnels, treading carefully to avoid traps and on the lookout for vicious green orcs. He could be looking for treasure, or he could be the handsome prince out to save the beautiful princess from the witch who had kept her locked up and enslaved for most of her life.
His world of fantasy was more important to him than who was at the top of the league or who the latest manager to get sacked was.
He liked music, but he didn't know who was number one. He didn't know which artist played which song, but he knew what he liked when he heard it.
He liked animals, but he didn't go out of his way to pet them. The same went for younger children. He preferred to keep himself to himself and lose himself in the fantastical world if make believe.
He liked to read books. Fiction was good. Historical fiction was better. Historical fiction mixed with fairy tales and a good dollop of fantasy was a good mix.

He was.always teased at school. Skinny jimmy they used to call him. He had tried to fit in once or twice by going to the local youth club after school. But out if school uniform his fashion sense was just as bad as his sporting ability.
Even though he was still a teenager, he'd started to go to the local gym, with the idea of bulking up with muscle. He didn't want to make himself huge. He just didn't want to look like a ginger weed any more.
Once he got to the gym though, he was put off by the body builders showing off their sweaty torsos in skimpy vests. He could hardly lift the lightest weights. There were even women who could lift more than him! He didn't go back.

When he left school, he left home, went to university, studied hard, while trying to spend minimum money to keep his student loans to a minimum.
After university, he managed to come back to his home town and rent a small flat. There were not many graduate jobs to be had, but until he found one, he started working at the local games shop.
It sold one or two computer games, but computers were not their focus. Their focus was on tabletop gaming. The sold dungeons and dragons style games, board games and miniatures to go with them.
He'd spend days painting tiny little figures and showing others how to do the same. Some days, they'd set up a game on the huge gaming table in the middle of the shop and he'd spent all day playing. Customers sometimes had the Gaul to actually come in the shop during a game and expected to be served!
Saturdays were always the best. He would often go in early to set up with the gamesmaster. They would play all day and not close until late at night.
One day he wanted to be a gamesmaster. That was better than some graduate office job anyway.
The money at the shop was not great, but he managed and as long as he could lose himself in the fantasy world, he didn't care too much about thereal world. He paid his bills. He ate because he had to. He didn't go out on dates. He didn't drink, he didn't take drugs.

There was a games convention coming up. Jimmy's name had been put forward to go. It meant a weekend away from the shop, but there would be gaming all the way! He couldn't wait!