Short Stories Archives - Nicholas Woode-Smith

Change: Tales of Chiid (Fantasy Short Story)

Featured Image Source This short story was written as a high school English assignment years ago. I still enjoy it. I hope you do too. Ash fell as it always did and always would. Every day it was the same scene – ash falling from the sky, blanketing an already drab landscape in a depressing […]

Pleasure and Pain (D&D Adventure)

Previous installment: Undercover A dark cloak concealed the drug dealer’s boss. Only his white teeth could be seen, shining from underneath the seemingly enchanted cowl. “Gentlemen, I see you brought a guest.” “Yes, boss,” the drug kingpin responded. “He’s looking for a big shipment.” The man smiled and looked Kenshin in the yes. Kenshin could […]

Undercover (D&D Adventure)

Previous Installment: Only the desperate beg Kenshin stepped over a prone man as he entered the bellows. He was not sure that the dirty human was alive. He didn’t stop to find out. His hand never left his hilt. This was not only for readiness, but to prevent theft. The law didn’t seem at home […]

Only the desperate beg (D&D Adventure)

Previous Installment: God is Dead Gold didn’t mean much to Kenshin. It was a means to an end. When he needed arrows, gold bought them. When he needed to fix his blade, gold paid the smith. When he needed food, gold converted to coppers to buy bread and tip the servers. He had enough gold as […]

God is Dead (D&D Adventure)

Previous installment: Desk Jockeys and Pencil Pushers in Crestfire (D&D Adventure) The party faced difficult circumstances. To cross the desert to the north, they needed water to last a month, but by the looks of it, the city didn’t have that much to spare. The party knew that they would need to solve the city’s […]

Desk Jockeys and Pencil Pushers in Crestfire (D&D Adventure)

Previous installment: Crestfire “Please remain in the queue, foreigner,” the half-orc guard ordered, once again, as Kael tried to jump the queue. The line snaked all the way out into the sandbox streets, starting at the top of the pyramid that housed the magistrate of Crestfire – a representative of the interests of the local […]

Crestfire (D&D Adventure)

(Artwork by Darkcloud013) Previous installment: Diving in the Desolation The golden sandstone towers of Crestfire were revealed upon the horizon long before its pyramids. The monuments of the once glorious port town were still famous across the lands – even in the high elf, Kael’s native Aulsan. Upon drawing nearer to the settlement, the city […]

ID (Dystopian Short Story)

ID was written for a short story competition with the theme of life under a surveillance state. In the vein of 1984, I wrote this story describing a future world where crime has been eradicated by stripping us of all privacy. Enjoy! “ID?” the black-clad patrol officer asked, his eyes not shifting from the computer […]

Live by the Sword

In my Matric (final High School) year, I was asked to write a lot of short stories in English. Many of these have been lost, but this very short one was found in one of my old files. My task was to write a short story starting with a feeling. The feeling I chose was […]

Diving in the Desolation (D&D Adventure)

Previous installment: Songs of Desolation The group was still panting after the skirmish with the sirens. They had lost a crew member, but no one else. The Captain didn’t seem overtly saddened by the loss of his first mate. This must have been a usual occurrence. “Damn sirens! Thought we’d be going around them. No […]