The Twice Born: The Tome of Aster, #0.5

By TW Johnson

My name is Aster Idir Z'vedi of the Dream Warrior Tribe, and I was born in the Between.

I was conceived between two worlds, my mother's, Tibernum, and my father's, Validor.

I was birthed between two moons, on the darkest night.

I was raised between my Majka's first and last child.

I was trained to walk between two worlds, the awake and the asleep.

I was gifted between two magics, the magic of men and the magic of the gods.

And I lived a life between good and evil. I was created a Siva'pešca, a Graywalker, to be neither good, nor evil. To do the things needed for balance, the things the good cannot do and still maintain a life within their world perception.

And I was born twice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Etched in Darkness Publishing, LLC
• Release date: Jun 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393072980

TW Johnson

TW Johnson is the creative writing team of Teddi and Wulf Johnson, a spouse writer/creator duo. Living in the wild and wonderful mountains of West Virginia with their mini dire wolf (a Norwegian Elkhound) named Finn, they have combined their talents to bring The World of Serenia to life.   Wulf Johnson has been creating stories through his own role-playing game for over 35 years. He has lead scores of gamers through 1000s of hours of storytelling, artistic landscapes, individual character building, and world development. He has published historical research articles, self-published his RPG, and created song lyrics, and tales that are still shared at late night campfires across the known world. He has spent over twenty years of training and developing his hands-on knowledge of pre 15th-century sword techniques to help create more believable fighting scenes. Wulf is currently working on bringing The Possible Dream: Tales of Wulfric Grimbeald to life as he takes the reader on a journey through the medieval life of a pilgriming Laird.  Teddi Johnson has been giving Wulf’s musings the longevity that can only be accomplished by putting them to paper. She has created collections that can be passed on and replicated for years to come. She has three projects, and all will take you on an adventure through the eyes of her characters in a realm of wondrous magic, perilous journeys, deep intrigues, and living characters; a world born in Wulf’s imagination. Her gritty realism and vividly descriptive prose come from a lifetime of experience, her characters touch the survivor spark in all of us.  

Book preview

Dedication

The World of Serenia stories would have never left the mind, or the gaming table if not for so many people telling us we could. It started in the mind of a child, trying to cope by building a world for himself. The three who started it all are Sue Mom Nicholson, Theodore Dad Smith and Jill The Master Murphy.

Mom, thank you for fighting for the green flowers to exist. We see you in every single one. When narrow-minded people tried to stifle my creativity, you fought for me. You gave me words and worlds to explore in books, and then you gave me paper and pencils to create my own. From all-night D&D games to taking me to my first re-enactment you were there, and you will always be a part of Serenia.

Dad, you said a book about your life would begin, Theodore, when he was born, he was very young... I will write that book, it just might not be in the world you were initially born in, Theod Bugbear's Bane lives. Thank you for teaching me your life 'isms.' Murphy was an optimist, so things can always be worse, and the sun always comes up tomorrow. You remind us that it is our duty to make our kids outlive us. But, until our time comes, we should grow, learn, make mistakes, apologize for them eventually, and then, occasionally, blow something up.

Jill, you turned your world into a game that is as real to us now as it was then. You didn't like the rules, so you made your own. We miss that world sometimes. Your encouragement made Serenia come to life for many new gamers. Every character from that first game is still with us...literally...in a binder on my shelf...right behind me...just sayin.

Chapter One

The Awakening Begins