mementomoripod

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Have you ever wondered what the logo design Columbus University is? No? Too bad, here you go!  This is the best graphic design people could come up with after the apocalypse, absolutely top of the line stuff. The entirety of the conversation that led to it’s design went something like this:  Person 1: So the only college things we have left over are these sweatshirts form something called ‘Perdue’ and something called ‘Michigan’  . . . Which one should we use for Columbus?  Person 2: Why not both?  Person 1: You’re a genius Person 2: And don’t forget Bo Person 1: How could I ever forget Bo, the Banana Slug the mascot that we unironically chose to represent our college

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Session 13: Act 1  This week, Nat, Dante, Eli and House explore Rogelia's dungeon, where they have to pass a series of musical trials. Then the crew does a little bit of poking around upstairs, as they search for more clues as to what set Rogelia's shadow off, and how they might be able to help her. 

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The Emperor

This week the gang learned that their favorite little stalker might be more dangerous than they bargained for. A quick breakdown of Hakeem’s Arcana Card: 

This was one of the tarot cards that came really easily to me. I knew from pretty early on that Hakeem was a little stalker/big brother type. I wanted to convey his need to watch people through his card. The motif of eyes in various inter-locking circles felt both a) pretty cool and b) pretty accurate to a stalker.  I also wanted to go for something that was less’ human’, i.e. that didn’t have any of the hand elements you might see in other cards. Despite Hakeem’s desire to always be in the know, he regularly places himself outside of actual person to person interaction. Instead he’s deeply in tune with technological/digital mediums. When I imagine the ‘app’ that he’s downloaded on the gangs’ phones it looks like the eye at the center of the circle. 

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Session 12: Secrets Secrets Are No Fun

This week, after Rogelia was snatched before their very eyes, and the metaverse was revealed to a handful of their friends, Eli, Nat and House get together to talk next steps. Meanwhile, Dante confronts an old acquaintance.

Then Eli finally makes good on his promise to take a loot at Hakeem's system and what he discovers threatens to rock his world. 

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The Death Arcana

Hey, in light of the end of our first arc in Memento Mori, I wanted to post Kay and Dante’s shared Arcana, the Death Arcana! 

Click below to read more about what choices went into designing the death arcana card! 

I struggled for a while with the death arcana.  I am Dante’s player, and while this may sound a little backwards it’s harder for me to make things for him than it is for me to make things for other characters. With the Star (Eli) and the Chariot (Nat) I have what I see right in front of me, so it feels a little easier to isolate components. There’s not as much about what’s yet to be revealed swirling around in my head. Anyways, that’s a round-about way of explaining why I took so long to write this post.  For this card I really wanted to show the Death arcana as a really passive card, and to emphasize what I saw as common points between Kay and Dante. Often Death is seen as a foreboding card, one which implies a physical death. In reality it’s meant to represent a metamorphosis: deep change. In the tarot deck, the Death arcana separates the ‘small mysteries’, the human things in the world, from the ‘great mysteries’ the symbols governed by angels and gods. For our players as a whole the Death cards helps symbolize that they have truly stepped into the Metaverse, with the ending of the first dungeon.  

Both Kay and Dante are hyper perceptive of the world around them, hyper attuned to the way things change and the risks that life presents. They have an intense sensitivity to the thin line between life and the other side. They know from experience just how fast things change, how ready you have to be.  And yet both are deeply self-blind. Both are so eager to believe that they are fine- that the strategies they developed for a part of their life they couldn’t control would protect them now. However, as much as they both want to look away from their pain they can’t help but catch sight of their own reflection in each others’ eyes. 

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Session 11: Curtain Call

In this episode, Kay finally confronts the group about what exactly happened in the metaverse. When they press Llenos for more information however, everyone is left with more questions than answers.

Then, everyone is going to try and be a normal student for once. Eli helps Nat, Dante, and House get ready for their big events! Between shopping, and a little play prep, these guys barely have time to think about the metaverse, let alone the school’s rising drug issues. 

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Episode 10: On the Rise

It’s the first episode of Season 2, and the gang is back!  In the wake of Kay's Dungeon, Nat, House, Eli and Dante face down the school's arising drug issues as they try to grapple with the emotional and mental fallout from the Metaverse. However, their friends are slowly becoming suspicious of their increasingly strange behavior. They'll have to decide for themselves how they proceed.

Check us out here

Or wherever you stream podcasts

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Last Friday a new episode of Memento Mori aired! 

Episode 9: Let the House Burn 

In this season finale, House, Nat, and Eli face down the Butcher to buy Dante enough time to talk Kay down. As the realities of Kay’s life set in, Dante must decide how much of himself he's willing to expose if it means getting everyone else out alive.

Check us out here

Or wherever you stream podcasts

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New Arcana

Here is the next round of Character Arcana: 

If you follow us on Patreon you’ll know that House has been talking quite a bit to Lyla and has finally unlocked her Arcana- the Tower. 

For the Tower I wanted to highlight how Lyla is a character whose life is on the precipice. She’s spent her whole life trying to keep everything together, as she slowly dies. However no amount of work can stop things from coming apart, as most of her difficulties are outside of her own control. In some ways the pressure to look and live ‘like everyone else’ is what leads to the collapse and what leads in to the fractures in her. I imagine that so many people always pressing her and treating her like she’s fragile must be frustrating and exhausting. 

Next we have one of the cards that I really should have released earlier: the Chariot. This belongs to Torsten. Nat hung out with him a few times at fight club and gained his trust. Interestingly Nat is also represented by the Chariot. 

I wanted to pick something that I felt reflected Nat’s single minded determination, so and arrow pointed directly at the top of her tarot’s number felt right. In addition I did a little bit of symbolism with the color. The Chariot card usually has two lions on either side, one in either color. I aligned the white holly to represent the things that Nat can control- herself, her drive, her actions, while the gold represents the things she cant- the structures around her that both facilitate and trap her. 

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Episode 8: Logic Puzzle

For those of you who have made it to the end of episode 8, you’ll know that there was a logic puzzle!

(TW: death, mentions of death) 

Most of the people in Kay’s life have passed on. The puzzle consists of the names of her relatives, the dose of pain medication they received (the type is unimportant), the city they lived in and the fortune they were set to inherit. There are three elimination answers: a fortune, a city, and a dose. However the dose is easy to guess, as it goes up in increments of 3. The names of the elimination answers were given on the podcast, so pay close attention to the end of the episode if you would like that little hint!

 Written below are the instructions and a handy site where you can plug in the information to work through it. Good luck! 

1. Uncle Duke received 11 milligrams of OxyContin.

 2. Of the relative who lived in Mannheim and the relative who was pumped with 20 milligrams of Morphine, one received the Fuller Rise fortune and the other was Auntie Jessica. 

3. The person who worked in Columbus received 3 milligrams more pain killers than the relative receiving the Laurel Ridge fortune. 

4. Uncle Joe was either the person who worked in Mannheim or the person who received 11 milligrams of OxyContin 

5. The relative who worked in Tegucigalpa didn't receive the Laurel Ridge fortune. 

6. Aunt Benny didn't receive the York River fortune. 

7. Of the person who worked in St. Petersburg and the relative who received the Culver Gorge fortune, one was Aunt Margaret and the other found 23 milligrams of Codeine 

8. Aunt Benny was either the relative receiving the Laurel Ridge fortune or the person who worked in St. Petersburg.

You can draw your own grid (it’s a 4x4) or you can use this helpful cite to work on the puzzle

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Episode 8: Midterms Year 1

On Friday a new episode of Memento Mori aired! 

The crew has to face down finals week, but luckily they have some nerd friends that have their back. Then, Dante and Eli have to make good on a promise to an unsavory friend. 

Fin us here! 

 Or wherever you listen to podcasts

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The Arcana

So you might have seen the tarot cards that we made for this show floating around, but what actually are the Arcana? 

The Arcana are NPCs based on the major arcana of a tarot deck. Every major arcana serves a role in telling the story of the deck. 

 The first arcana is the Fool, and it represents the beginning of the journey. In this case, the player characters (Dante, Nat, House and Eli) are all represented by the Fool. 

Each arcana is defined by a set of traits, or a metaphorical archetype. For example the fool is characterized by new beginnings, naivety and a general feel of self importance. 

Or take Death for example. While the card Death might sound scary, it's actually just about endings. Often, it can represent rebirth. So a character might need to grow into that role after experiencing loss, or they may struggle with previous loss and learning to let go. 

There are twenty-two major arcana, and are usually labeled zero (the Fool) to twenty-one (the World). Every major NPC in the game is associated with a tarot card. For the most part the tarot cards are designed to represent the NPC as much as they are the traditional tarot set. I’ll probably talk more about the process of creating the cards at a later date, but for now! 

We have only unlocked a handful- I think maybe 8? You can see the ones that we’ve unlocked over on the ‘arcana’ tab on to blog. (There are a few more we’ve unlocked but designing tarot cards is Hard Work and there’s only one of me behind this endeavor. 

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Welcome

Welcome to Memento Mori, a ttrpg fantasy adventure podcast based loosely on the JRPG series Persona. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, where the last bastions of human civilizations are centered around Universities. Our group goes to Columbus college, where they quickly realize that there is more to this place than meets the eye.  There is an entire subconscious underworld and it’s their destiny to save it! 

Come check out the episodes released so far: 

Podbean // Spotify // Apple // Google Or wherever you stream podcasts!