This is dedicated to my father, after a realization hit me. My creativity, all of my intelligence and ability to understand and reason... It's thanks to him. He taught me all sorts of little bits of knowledge on all sorts of things, over the years. But beyond that... He was the one who introduced me to fantasy and creativity itself, and even roleplaying in a way.

When I was a little kid, he would read stories to me. Not dinky little children's books. No, he would read novels. Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Real stories. It's largely because of him that I have my interest in fantasy, and my imagination.

Roleplaying... Well, it was just offhand mentions of things. He had played Dungeons and Dragons in the distant past, and I knew of it. That knowledge alone was enough to draw me in. And so... My imagination soars unrestrained. Unfocused, disorganized... Yet such heights I can imagine and reach for.

And so, for laying the foundation for everything I pride myself on, I have to thank him. Though, as of the moment of this writing, he's in Texas slowly wasting away from brain cancer, no longer even truly himself... That doesn't change who he was or what he did.