Introduction to Vakasi-Ya

Vakasi-Ya is a dark, apocalyptic fantasy world, created by author Nate Sugar from a hospital bed, over the course of several years. It could be described as "Middle-Earth by way of H.P. Lovecraft," further influenced by others, like the *Malazan* and *Black Company* series of works.

Vakasi-Ya is a world in trauma. As a TTRPG setting, it is a land desperately in need of its few and dwindling heroes. Despite this, stories in Vakasi-Ya (as a setting for TTRPGs - specifically Pathfinder2e, via *Dice Imitate Life*), are about hope. Cosmic horror, gritty conflict, difficult choices are merely the framing device for a focus on **survival**, **endurance**, and the relentless pursuit of hope in darkness.

***Dice Imitate Life: Thrice Sworn*** is our debut campaign, a tale of brotherhood in calamity, with a group of survivors as they unify against a world coming undone. It’s about the promises we make; both to one another and ourselves. It is about locking arms with your allies, questing toward light through what can seem to be an overwhelming dark.

## Meet the Cast - In Their Own Words

### Nate - A Stubborn Spark

Hello, I'm Nate! I should be dead -- but I'm not. Every day is a dice roll against life to keep that statement true.

People, things, and random chance have conspired to turn every chapter of my life story into an epilogue. But as literature goes, I'm into horror, not tragedy. In that spirit, I've decided to go ahead and keep staying alive for as long as I have left. I don't know how long that is, but I'm fighting tooth and nail to make sure it's long enough to see my daughter grow up.

But look back a little bit further than today, to explain some things.

I grew up poor, and steeped in the deepest levels of extreme fundamentalist religion. I've survived every category of abuse from just about every angle. As a kid, I didn't have the voice or agency to do anything *but* survive. I was a scrawny, reclusive "indoor kid," but I made friends in the rotting attic atop a derelict college building. Mary Shelley, C.S. Lewis, H.P Lovecraft, J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen King, and others became my friends in the dusty rays of sunlight through the whole in the roof and broken windows.

I was not drawn to the macabre itself, but to characters suffering trauma they could not control -- nor understand -- and struggling to overcome it. I knew exactly what existential terror felt like, and so did they. So much of their fantasies were a mirror to my mind. People like me, waging a war for their own hearts and minds against an often incomprehensible universe. The words showed me an empathy I needed.

Over the years I clawed my way out of the church, struggling to build a life apart from my own secret horror story. But trauma leaves its mark, and in my twenties it culminated in a stroke that nearly took my life. Left with nothing but brain damage, I spent the next decade re-learning... Everything. Hope was hard to come by, but medical debt sure wasn't.

I created Vakasi-Ya in a series of hospital beds, hearing over and over about the impending end of my life. I turned a lot of spare time into a place about and for people like me. People who survived, *despite*. Originally (and still) intended as the setting for a series of novels, it evolved into a project combining my love of storytelling with a lifetime drive to show people they too could survive, no matter the odds.

So, here we are. *Dice Imitate Life* is one part of that journey, a fireside tale with fellow survivors and friends, for the others out there who may think their story is over. It's about the raw obstinance of hope, and the way it grows when we give it to one another. If you want to know who I am, it is the distillation of that vision.

For myself, for my daughter, and for you.

### Morgan - Cuff

Heyo, I’m Morgan, pronouns he/him! But you, and most folks, can just call me Momo! I’m an American boy, raised in Missouri and transplanted to Kansas and live happily with my significant other. Not all moments growing up were pleasant, but they taught me valuable lessons.

I am an immunocompromised individual who escaped a narrow death in hospital during his time in university, and has permanent hearing loss on one side.

I started my TTRPG experience in college, discovering a world of fun that I wished I had available growing up. I’ve spent most of my time playing D&D 4e and 5e, but have also delved into the world of Monster of the Week as the Keeper of Monsters and Mysteries, letting me flex my creative whims! Now, with the campaign using Pathfinder 2e, I’ll be learning another wonderful system to explore a wonderful world in.

### Kenny - Kearve

I have been an actor, singer and voice actor for the last 14 years. I've been playing TTRPGs for 18 however, with my first game being Call of Cthulhu at age 13. So I'm no stranger to eldritch horrors. I'm an avid video gamer and very recently started streaming and uploading let's plays to YouTube.

During my career I have found myself having to deal with my fair share of trauma, including the tipping of a cruise ship with a fractured arm and being stranded for 66 days at sea during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. I suffer from PTSD and a tick left over from a serious health complication I suffered when I was 16 years old.

I strive to bring joy and hope to any and everyone I can through my performances, no matter the medium, and strongly believe in the message that Dice Imitate Life stands for and hopes you enjoy the eldritch fun that comes along with it's stories.

### Jon - Ras'Van

I’m Jon (he/him), and I’m Australian! I'm in my 40s, married, and a father of five fantastic kids. Our entire family is neurodivergent in some way, shape or form. As for me, I am Autistic. I spent my childhood being the 'weird' one, as terms like 'Autism' and 'Aspergers' were not very well known back then. I didn't get diagnosed until my early 30s - and I am very glad I did. It helped answer a lot of questions about myself, and opened some avenues to getting the kind of support I needed.

I love TTRPGs. They are a great source of fun, escapism, creativity… and a means to explore emotions and interactions - which has proven especially useful (even therapeutic). I have been playing TTRPGs (mainly D&D, but also FFG Star Wars) for well over 10 years. Pathfinder2e and Monster of the Week are recent discoveries as well, and I very keen to get into them more. My favourite pastime is running D&D games for my kids and their cousins (or being a player in games that they run themselves).

I grew up in a deeply religious family in a fundamentalist environment. I survived childhood trauma, as well as a tropical virus in my 20s - and a literal cult. While I did eventually get help (medicine, therapy, deconstruction, etc), I found an escape in creativity as well. I would often disappear into the forest outside my parents' farm, with a notebook and pen, and dream up worlds, stories, songs, poems... which would later turn into world-building and role-playing in games like D&D and Pathfinder.

That is how I met Nate - and soon after, the other members of Dice Imitate Life. They are family, now.

Dice Imitate Life is much more than a chance to play a great game with people I love (although that is very true); it’s a chance to share in a story of hope, survival and comradeship that just might help someone else who is also struggling. It is a privilege and an honour to be involved, and I absolutely love it.

### Conor - Tavin

Greetings I’m Conor, and I am really bad about writing about myself so I procrastinated and let my arch-nemesis write my “Meet The Cast”, so be prepared for many lies.

“What can we say about Conor that wouldn’t boost his confidence to an all time high (and somehow higher than his hair stands) -

Conor is an unstoppable force against anything that isn’t himself. He will throw himself headlong into anything he is passionate about no matter the amount of stress it causes him just to make the result of his work be as perfect as he can make it. While he puts up this tough guy facade he really is a caring guy who recognizes his own faults and is too hard on himself sometimes. Though I have only known him for a few years, it feels like we’ve been friends for years - granted we give each other fairly unfiltered harassment anytime we can.

Conor works harder than anyone asks him to - From graduating with a BS in biology and working in STEM(nerd) to acting in several films (Trust me y’all they’re at worst “okay” films so go watch them) and even rounding out the acting with ballet dancing and singing to be a true triple threat. Even with being this overachiever he finds time to go to the gym on days that end in “Y” and read some decent literature.

Conor will bend over backwards for his family and friends without question, even to the point of driving an hour each way to have a weekly dinner and play rummy with his grandmother just to make sure she’s doing well.

Condor knows that we all struggle with the darkness in us all and uses it to motivate him to help others see that while today might be a low day, better days are coming and sometimes all it takes to help get you started on the path to better days is just a laugh from a friend.”