12/19/2024
It’s been a while since the store has posted. Closing will do that.
I thought I would post a fun Christmas themed story about the birth of The Hero’s Tale.
We are going far back, kids. I was using a dial-up modem, we had incandescent lights (also known as fire hazards) on our tree, and Tim Burton’s Batman was out on VHS. It’s December 24th, 1989. I was 15 and it was my favourite night of the year. Christmas Eve was always exciting to me. Even then, when my clothes were all black and The Queen is Dead album was playing non-stop in my room, I just loved Christmas Eve. For me, it was always about the spirit of the day, the excitement of simply good feelings towards everyone. When we talk about super-heroes, Santa is really the first super-hero that I loved. The true embodiment of selflessness and goodwill towards all humankind.
It was Christmas Eve and there wasn’t a party or anything. Just my mother and me that night. My brother was probably with a girlfriend and my step-father….meh, I don’t care. It was a tradition to get a gift on Christmas Eve and historically my mother was very good at choosing one for me to open. Probably because it would occupy me and give her time for a glass of white wine before my step..meh, she needed the wine. That year it was a game for my computer called, Hero’s Quest: So You Want to Be A Hero. It was a fantasy RPG adventure game published by Sierra On-Line and designed by Lori Ann Cole. They had to change the name to Quest for Glory due to some rights issues, but at that time it was Hero’s Quest. I loaded it on to my computer that night and I want to say it changed my life. Even as I write this, I can see the eyerolls of some people reading that. A video game changed your life? It did. It changed how I saw video games and storytelling. I loved playing as different characters and experiencing the same story, but from different perspectives with different solutions to the same puzzle. It was funny. It was hard. It eventually caused me to call tip lines on my modem. To California. From Canada. Several pay cheques from my job washing dishes at Elias Bros Big Boy paid for that phone bill. Totally worth it.
One of the first places you’ll encounter in the game is The Hero’s Tale Inn. The name has stuck with me since 1989. I don’t know why. Two screens to the left of The Hero’s Tale Inn, is the Guild Hall. This was my original inspiration for the concept of the store. I quickly realized that I could never afford to design it that way. Also, a fireplace in a paper-based product store is probably asking for trouble. But the trophies turned into art by local artists, the fireplace was going to be a TV and couch (that I never did get done), and I was going to have a book for people to “sign with a flourish”, but it never seemed to quite fit. But that was the original inspiration. It was going to be guild hallish. I love what my store became, but that was the idea. The large space was to fit a large guild type table for events, drawing, reading, or questing. I didn’t quite get there, but that’s where I was headed.
35 years ago, this Christmas, The Hero’s Tale was planted in the brain of an excited kid about to play one of the greatest games he’ll ever play. This Christmas the store is closed, and The Hero’s Tale is gone. But the memory of that Christmas 35 years ago, and the memory of the last two years will live on. Those are happy memories. And what greater gift is that?
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!
