Welcome to Dargon
Welcome to Dargon! Dargon is a small, out of the way fiefdom of the Kingdom of Baranur, situated in the extreme northwest corner of the world. It's separated from the rest of the kingdom by a vast wood and a minor ... [Read more]
Past Stories
A View From Above: The Pier
Summer 1002: The Far South [Editorial Note: This story takes place years before the story "The Sea Hag’s Daughter" by Jim Owens.] The morning sun had barely appeared above the trees across ... [Read more]
Justin Complete
Firil 6 – Naia 10, 1019 Justin sat hunched over in his seat and inspected the wood grain of the bar top. It weaved and swirled like deep ocean ... [Read more]
A View From Above: The Underground
Simon awoke at first light to the sound of someone moving through the brush not far away. Instinctively he lay still as the person first came closer, then moved ... [Read more]
A View From Above: The Sky Above
Simon's feet slapped on the sand in a rough multiple of the waves that washed the beach. The thin bundle on his bare shoulder bounced in time, and ... [Read more]
King’s Key Part 1
As Ashe Leavenfell eased his aching body from the saddle, he wondered that a dead man could make him travel so far. His life was rarely what he expected. He'd grown ... [Read more]
A View From Above: The Ocean
Simon awoke with a shock, then lay in his hammock for a long moment wondering what had awakened him. The warm island air smelled like smoke, sweat, and sea. Then ... [Read more]
A Tale of Dark Endings
Wherever Vanshans went, Banewood was not far behind. He followed him when Vanshans left his tower in the Darst Mountain Range and traveled to Magnus. Banewood waited, watching from nearby while Vanshans ... [Read more]
DargonZine , Issue
Editorial
The fiction published in Dargonzine is set in a medieval world, without wide-scale mechanization or labor-saving devices or much in the way of technology. It is, instead, a world of magic, of sorcery, of mystery. Our world, on the other hand, is filled with technology, the likes of which would seem like magic to the denizens of our fictional world. The very publishing of the e-zine requires a degree of technological prowess, and involves the use of software and network broadcasting. One sort of technology that has been hitting the headlines of late, particularly in regard to the creation of works of fiction, is generative A.I. software. There is a lot of controversy swirling in the online forums, and hardly a day goes by without another dire headline about the havoc this software seems sure to create. As such, I ...[Read more]
Current Stories
The Mocking Automaton of Dargon – Jim Owens
The Mocking Automaton of Dargon By Jim Owens gymfuzz@yahoo.com Nober 11, 2018 “... And do be sure to dust this time,” Arbogast said, his voice ever so slightly chiding. “After grinding all that charcoal in here it is getting hard to read the labels on the bottles.” The old man shuffled through the papers on his desk once more, as if looking for something. “Yes, your lordship,” replied Nessus with a slight bow. He was not entirely sure what rank his employer held in the ... [Read more]
The Mocking Automaton of Dargon – AI
The Mocking Automaton of Dargon By ChatGPT4o Prompted and edited by Jim Owens In the bustling, enchanted city of Dargon, the daily humdrum of life carried on, but not without its peculiarities. Within the labyrinthine alleys and beneath the shadows of tall, narrow buildings, stories of magic and intrigue wove themselves into the fabric of the city. It was here, in a grand, cluttered warehouse filled with the enigmatic artifacts of Arbogast the Magician, that Nessis Romen plied his humble trade. Nessis was a ... [Read more]
Head and Shoulders
“Do you really like this smell?” Racie asked. “I do,” replied Rapinoe. “It reminds me of the woodshed at the temple where I first enrolled.” “Woodshed?” Racie asked, her nose wrinkling. “I have never been inside a woodshed that gave me pleasant memories. What were you doing there?” She was walking just ahead of Rapinoe, swishing her mop back and forth. Her hips and shoulders swayed in time to the movement of her arms. “I was spying,” Rapinoe replied, swishing his own mop ... [Read more]