Monday, August 3, 2015

The Settlement of Pilor-Salath

Another day, another odd little town out among the fringes:

Source

Thanks to David Lewis Johnson for putting this one out there.

Out on the periphery of the Blightlands stands the hamlet of Pilor-Salath, an odd assortment of stacked homes. The hamlet, situated on a barren alkali flat, is partially stilted, as to withstand flooding. But everyone knows that the land has not been inundated since the Blight rained down on the land generations ago...

Some say the flats amplify the mental acuity of those who seek certain truths, whether due to strange geometries of the land, or from magical residue within the biting dust blown across the playa.

Samsul Quin, a desitiute cleric/seer lives in a suspended ball-hovel referred to as the Hive with his three wives.  Each morning he ejects the "three harridans" and meditates, awaiting the Word of Truth from a Rosartia, a goddess of things long forgotten.

His son, Ager Quin lives in two stacked balls on the ground level, below.  He, in turn, meditates in search of revelations from Attrecoppea, a goddess of very small spiders, who reveals small truths through the little black eyes seen gleaming in the shadows, or from beneath the cabinet.

Vyswar Veloje lives in an observatory perched atop the central apartment tower.  He watches for the return of a foretold comet, at which time he will lead his followers in a group ritual of self-immolation to ride the comet to the fabled Greensward Lands.

The Kroger Family lives in the Balanced House, suspended atop the stacked longhouses. They spend most of their time carefully rearranging furniture and knick-knacks to keep the house in place as they sing lilting hymns to Diit’Wentii, a god of minutiae. Dinner parties are a nightmare.

Near the center of the village is the 'tower hut,' the first structure of the community. It shows the architecture of a wet land, thatched and built on stilts. Its thatching is periodically refreshed by pilgrims visiting from humid, tropical lands.  An old woman named Semina crouches here, silently communing with Tlacotani, a god of sudden inundation. She hasn't spoken in years, but is ready to reveal one of the Ultimate Truths. Either that or request a long-desired delicacy.

Apartments fill the tottering tower at the right end of the settlement. They are filled with travelers seeking the wisdom of the resident ascetics, and individuals seeking revelation or insights from their own gods and prayers.

Anchoring the left end of the village is  Ume Polck in his cramped store. Each morning he opens his awning to let in the morning breeze as he sends his nephew Abelo with the oxcart hauling old brewery tuns to bring the village's water from a spring at the edge of the playa.

Rou Banwright, a blacksmith, stumbled upon the settlement during a blinding dust storm.  She remained to craft intricate fittings to suspend the walkways between the dwellings. They are light but sturdy in the desert winds. Rou is an avowed atheist, but her dreams are disturbed by songs in a thousand voices.

The community's halfling barber, Azid Tull, holds forth in a cubby within the balanced houses.  He believes that hair may be a conduit to evil spirits, and attempts to shave everyone's head, or at least leave them well-tonsured. Oddly, he has waist-long dreadlocks.

All deities supplied by Expanded Petty Gods

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Saturday, August 1, 2015

Article repost:Total Party Kill: The Architects of Dungeons & Dragons


Found this morning on medium.com: an article with brief profiles (and game philosophies) of three game writers: Bill Webb, Vince Howard and Wolfgang Baur

Total Party Kill The Architects of Dungeons & Dragons

Nuggets of wisdom include why all dice rolls ( including the DM) should be made in the open, the joy of creating back stories, and why it's OK to kill off your 8 year old's PC at a con.

Monday, July 27, 2015

Do Something Scary...

Ok, so we all need to get out of our comfort zone, out of our box occasionally...

Like a lot of us - I'm an introvert - painfully so, sometimes.  And it does get in the way of my personal and professional communication.

I needed to try something to break some patterns, to pick up a few tools.  To scare myself a bit.

So, a voiceover class...

There are about 20 of us in a room - sometimes with pre-prepared scripts, sometimes cold-reading. We read to the group - a disparate mix of students, actors, salespeople, a construction worker, a couple of engineers, a couple of homemakers, under the tutelage of our instructor.  We are about halfway through the seasons - essentially a survey of the various applications of voiceover - ads, dramatic, cartoon, narrative, gaming, etc.

So how does the concept of standing in a recording booth, reading a script off a stand, apply to the real world?  Well - I (we) get coached to slow down, relax, convert nervousness to energy. Make any script our own by interposing our personality and interpretation. All applicable to face-to-face communication, as well, I suppose...

I'm not sure if anything will come out of it, but I definitely feel a spike in energy throughout the class and afterward.

And for your entertainment, some behind-the-scenes of Antonio Banderas voicing Shrek's Puss In Boots....


So, anyway - remember to step out of the comfort zone occasionally.

That said, I realize this is my 200th post - throwing my little ideas out into the aether... Hopefully a few of those ideas have found homes on other's tables...  Enjoy.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Legendary weapons - July 2015 RPG Blog Carnival



Scott at Of Dice and Dragons is hosting this month's RPG Blog Carnival, with the subject of 'Legendary Weapons.'

Initially, I reblogged an old post on "Catholic +1 swords" - several historic or semihistoric weapons of kings and warriors that are hallowed relics for their association with alleged deeds. However, I also wanted to contribute something original, so will now commence to wandering about in another thought experiment....

Serendipitously, Talysman recently also discussed the creation of legendary weapons. These are not weapons enchanted by arcane or divine magics, but by powers gained through great, or perhaps infamous, deeds. He outlined a few criteria for the weapons, both mundane and esoteric, to make the weapon grow in power and capability as it was wielded.

Thought experiment time - three fates of the same weapon as it absorbs powers en route to becoming legendary...

Our weapon - a simple, but well-crafted, longsword, its grip wrapped in pebbly ostrich hide, a massive gold nugget capping the pommel, adding value, the dense metal giving the sword a well-balanced heft.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Found on Youtube

A pair of dragons fend off knights bent on rescuing the princess...