"Maker of Monsters"

Son of Frankenstein (1939)

Remember, "There is nothing so unsettling as stillness" as certain hypervigillant village officials might say. Nevertheless, we are relaxing, and watching the 1939 Universal films classic "Son of Frankenstein".

It is delightful seeing film sets so influenced by German Expressionism.

See for yourself:

The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari (1920)

Fresh Off The Boat, Again!

Howard Fielding's Figurative Map - Penom is center-right
http://thetekumelproject.blogspot.com/2011/12/
sample-picture-map-penom-and-pan-chaka.html

On Saturday, I was able to rejoin the Aethervox Gamers for another session of Rob Leduc's Old School Empire of the Petal Throne campaign. Our PC group are the most able-bodied, derring-do members of a clan from near Haida Pakala on the Southern Continent. We arrived in Tsolyanu in the port of Penom, the so-called armpit of the Empire, and almost immediately began our Marine basic training.

While I missed out on the introductory basic training session a couple of weeks ago, I was able to get back into the action this past weekend for the capstone of our Marine basic training. The denouement was rather like the show Survivor. We were "fresh of the boat" again, this time sent for a survival session on the Marine's training island in the Bamesa Bay.

This session we had a small playing group: three players and a GM. (This is actually the standard size of my regular roleplaying group, but fairly small for the Aethervoxes, who often have eight or more players around the table at Jeff Berry's house.) But it was fun. We set up camp and started to explore the island.

In the swamps at the foot of the mountain on the Southern side of the island, we heard something go squick-squick in the swamp muck. My character Tsuralnali is a magic user, and used clairvoyance to see what was making the sounds. She saw one of the Swamp Folk, a friendly race.

http://www.tekumel.com/pic_nonhumans13.html

Howard Fielding's Miniature of a Swamp Folk
A more traditional "look" than the one above.
http://thetekumelproject.blogspot.com/
2011/02/swamp-folk-getting-there.html

Good thing we hadn't reacted to the sound by hurling spears in the direction of the squicky sounds! Having friends who know their way around swamps is useful, especially when you're in one!

Fun session!

Monstrous Monday: The Faceless Deck

http://www.bgamers.com/gameparts.htm

Not all monsters are creatures; some are things. Outward signs of inward despair.

One of the countless cellae of the Gate House contains a completely blank deck of cards. At least, the other sides are blank as far as we know. The cards have never been turned over, and have never been touched. So we merely surmise that both sides are blank.

One day, centuries ago, this deck materialized inside its arcane prison cell in the Gate House. So it has to be a Monster from Beyond, in spite of the fact that it gives off no Radiance, unlike all the gods and demons in the other cellae. In fact, the cracks and fissures in the exterior walls of its cella all crater inwards. So it is possible that the cards are draining Radiance from other nearby cellae in the Gate House.

The exact nature of this deck of cards has been a subject of great controversy for centuries, but the Copyists and Visiting Scholars of the Gate House have reached some preliminary conclusions: The Faceless Deck must be some kind of Anti-Fortune Deck, a Misfortune ir Calamity Deck.

Each card is believed to be the antithesis of one of the Major Arcana, the Greater Forces that represent and govern the Multiverse, and give the million spheres their shapes and individuation. Yet they are not a true Antithesis, since the cards' energy blocks any Synthesis. There is no change, transition, evolution, growth, or development with these trumps - no Aufhaben - only the silent species named Annihilation.

These trumps have the power to make Arcana never have been.

If these cards were released from their cella - or even simply turned over and viewed  - entire worlds might disappear. The Deep Horizon might advance, consuming Otherway and numerous other worlds near the periphery. Eventually, the multiverse itself might unravel entirely.

And so the Nothing in this cella remains the Gate House's greatest secret - and trouble. Its walls are cracking; eventually they will crumble and fall.

The Copyists and Visiting Scholars who have contemplated The Faceless deck and its failing prison cell speculate that the Fall will come within 10 years - and possibly sooner. From their anonymous study chamber close by the failing cella, they have advanced possible solutions:

• Build a new, stronger cella, or perhaps a cella within a cella within a cella
• Build one new cella for each trump
• Burn the cards, one-by-one, in Dragon's Fire
• Drop the each of the cards into The Jar of the Ink Absolute
• Return the cards to their Source, each Copyist and Visiting Scholar who has seen the cards sewing one into their flesh and hurling themselves into the Radiance

Something must be done soon. A bulwark must be build against Annihilation.

The Bestiary: The Ba-Birds

http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Post/1202942

The Ba-Birds are the spirit forms of the perfected dead who have returned to reside among us. It is said that after their deaths they flew to the very boundary of the Deep Horizon and gazed into the shining void beyond it. Rather that wing their way through into chaos and oblivion, their reflection in the void stopped them and spoke to them, commanding them to return to the land of the living.

A few of these embodied spirits return to the Multitude of Worlds to take-up a home in the City of Otherway. Not a single Ba-Bird was born in this realm, but somehow they make their way to reside in Otherway's avian city-within-a-city, the The Towers of the Wise. There they keep company with other winged creatures such as Jaculus, or javelin serpent which lurks in trees awaiting passers-by, and the Syrens, white winged snakes "whose venom is so fierce that you will die before you feel the pain of their bite."*

Only the bravest of wisdom-seekers and those who crave to learn the mysteries of the Deep Horizon dare to seek an interview with the Ba-Birds. Those few who are fortunate or skilled enough to evade the Towers' winged serpentine guardians will be granted an audience with one of the Ba-Birds.

*T.H. White's The Bestiary: A Book of Beasts, pp.180-181

The Bestiary: The Unicorn-Elephant War

These posts are inspired by bestiaries and creature books. This one was inspired by two facts presented in T.H. White's "The Bestiary."

Art by xPureLayouts
http://s225.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/xPureLayouts/
?action=view&current=blood_uni.png&sort=ascending

Unicorns are well known as bloodthirsty creatures, but their hatred of Elephants is legendary. This is something of a paradox, since the Elephant is a creature entirely without lust. Nevertheless, when the Purple Traders secretly brought War Elephants over the Ice Mountains against the Republic of the Red Cloaks, the Red Cloaks Virgin Seers detected this ploy and summoned the Unicorn King to array his forces in a great battle against the invaders.

The result was that hundreds of Unicorns were trampled under the Elephants' great feet, while dozens of War Elephants were gored and slain by the Unicorn King's armies. The lowland plains where this battle was fought are known today as the Red Mud Flats.

The Purple Traders' ploy was nevertheless successful. Dozens more War Elephants survived the battle and descended on the Republic of the Red Cloaks. The Elephants tore down the Republic's City Where All Roads Lead, and that state was destroyed in its entirety.

The Purple Traders' sea empire thrives to this day. Because of the Unicorn-Elephant War, the empire's two symbols remain the Red Elephant's Heel and the Broken Unicorn Horn.

Posting This Week

No post today or tomorrow, due to a B-I-G Federal grant.

We resume our normal schedule on Thor's Day.

Monstrous Mondays: The Eurypterid Kings

http://zoltantakacs.com/zt/pw/in/album.php?idx=2

The Eurypterid Kings are close cousins of the giant sea scorpions of the realm of The Shallow Seas. They ride on the backs of their giant cousins, looking for ships, barge-temples, or dry land upon which to crawl and find their true prey.

When they find someone of great discipline and skill - a patient fisherman, a martial nuns, or a deft swimmer - the Eurypterid King will mount that person and sting them. Their venom causes the victim great agony, but only the first time. With the second sting, the victim begins to hear the thoughts of the Eurypterid King. S/he will then be able to reinterpret the pain as great pleasure, as the ecstasy of the focused mind.

Concealment is the key. On an arm, a back, a torso, a thigh. Both the Eurypterid King and the person it rides will stay together and stay hidden, sting after sting. Together, the victim and his/her passenger will do great things - become a Fisherman-King, a Poison Abbot, or a Legendary Dragon-Road Swimmer.

Eventually, though, the poison becomes too much. After a few years, the victim must go into hiding. It's the smell... they retain their discipline, skill, and focus but their body is rotting, covered in suppurating necrotic flesh wounds. Skin finally sloughs off limbs, and the victim collapses into a final fever. The Eurypterid King dies with its victim. But just before their mutual deaths, a thousand small eggs burst open on the victim's body - one from inside each boil made by a scorpion sting.

Dozens of these will escape detection and slip into the sea, so that the Eurpterid King's life cycle can begin again.

Everway Mechanics:

Eurypterid King (Creature)

The Elements:

• Fire 2 - Skitter to Safety (3)
• Earth 2 - Exoskeleton (3)
• Air 6 - Coach for Greatness (7)
• Water 6 - Sense Greatness (7)

Powers:

• Ecstasy of Focus (2 point power) - The scorpion's sting brings its victim intense focus, excellence, and joy in creation
• Concealed Ride (1 point power) - Scorpion is gifted at concealing its presence on the human person