#From the Library of Leng

[beatsandskies]

Goblin Recruiter

As the article itself says, after this column “Leng” moved online, where I’ve been able to unarchive one more deck list — there were at least two more that I haven’t though, sadly. From the Library of Leng Visions’ Goblin Recruiter Welcome to the last installment of “From the Library of Leng. “You can find more “Leng” at The Duelist website at <http://www.wizards.com&gt;. Thanks for all the…

[humunanunga]

Paraphrasing myself from a youtube comment on an analysis of Signalis:

if Lilith was erased from records and public memory, that would definitely contribute to why her relation to Anja and the twins is unclear. Anja could've been her sister or cousin, but when I tried to prove/disprove whether it was possible that the Itou twins weren't too old to be Lilith's own children, part of the challenge is translating the calendar format to Vinetan days and years.

If I did it right, I was able to calculate that a "cycle" is ~22.61 hours (the fraction I got was 240000/10613), and a 365-day year contains ~8766 hours, which would round up to 388 cycles… however, regarding how long it's been since Lilith's dispatch when Ariane was a radio officer, a span estimated at ten years was extrapolated from Ariane Yeong and Rebecca Liang's medical files, which actually just state how far apart they are in age relative to the Rotfront calendar. In the Rotfront calendar system, S doesn't seem to align with its local solar rotation. Maintaining the assumption that Rotfront is Europa, a Jovian year is 4,333 Earth days, or almost 12 years. If S were a Jovian year, Ariane would be 47 years older than the Itou twins, so that can't be it.

In the patient records, dates range as follows: S = -6 to 18, P= 6 to 76 and a-d. Notably, Roswita Fong*, the one with the same brow marks seen on KLBR units, was born a negative number, which may suggest she was born 6S before the installation of the Rotfront calendar. (This would support the assumption that S is counting from the founding of the Nation.)

Now, if S is the year, that makes Ariane older than Nikolai Nguyen by 3S and younger than Rebecca Liang by 10S. But as for those last letters in Rotfront dates, a-d may correspond with quartering Rotfront's orbit around Jupiter (~84 hours) into four 21-hour spans. The only catch is, while the patient files only list a-d, ADLR-S2301 dates his journal entries as days 6-9 preceding A-C, until finally dating all entries 84-21-D. This may or may not set the events on Sierpinski when Ariane would be 66S, but if a cycle is estimated to be 22 hours and 36-37 minutes, that's pretty close to 21 hours. (It is also possible that a cycle is 21 hours.) Those entries were written leading up to and during the distortion, so Adler may have been getting mixed up between Leng's and Rotfront's dating formats at that point.

So back to Ariane. If she and the twins were close enough in age at 4S apart to have been schoolmates, S still has a chance of being a conversion of a Vinetan (Earth) year from 365 days to 388 cycles. Anja Itou said to look at the last six digits on her daughters' PKZ and recall their homeworld (Vineta) when mentioning that the passcode to the library was their birthday.

If Isa and Erika were born May 24, '56, and that date = 14S 52P c, -6S 20P a = Feb. 2, '35 and 8S 12P b = Jan. 6, '50. And if -6S = year '35 and and 8S = year '50, then 15 Vinetan years = 14S. That may disprove S = 388 cycles, but cross-examining that with Rotfront = Europa is probably the key to finishing the translation of a Rotfront calendar. This is as far as I could get by myself (ft. wolframalpha).

*Regarding the theory that Roswita was a neural donor: it all depends on the extent of that level being a recreation of the past built from Ariane's memories and whether the Kolibri line was already in production. That medical record may have been destroyed by 84-21 (Leng calendar? Rotfront calendar?), but with her being a "retired" Replika technician, that snapshot of Rotfront may have been based on the timeframe between Roswita's "neural archival" and the manufacturing of KLBR, such as if her candidacy were under final assessment at the time.

The red starbursts (tattoos?) are probably how the Eusan Nation marks known bioresonants. They're featured on the cover of Bioresonance Technology and its Limitations, and Falke has them too. The shape and placement are almost identical, just slightly elongated and partially covered by her hair. Kolibris' hairstyle may leave their starbursts so exposed as a reminder not to underestimate them just because they're short, but Falke already has halos and kotinos, and she towers over everyone. She's already decked out in reminders for everyone to know their place around her.

[inklings-challenge]

2023 Inklings Challenge Participants List

This is an ongoing list of writers who have expressed interest in participating in the 2023 Inklings Challenge. I will be updating this list until October 1st, 2023, at which date everyone on the list will be assigned to one of the three Challenge Teams.

This will likely be the last updated list to be posted before the teams are announced. If you sign up before October 1st, you will be put on a team list, but it probably won't show up on this main list. Fair warning: I'm about to start assembling the team posts. You do still have time to sign up, but if you've held back on joining, I'd advise you to sign up sooner rather than later.

I have erred on the side of including people, so if you’re on the list and you do not want to participate, let me know and I’ll remove you. And it’s very possible I’ve missed names in the shuffle, so if you’re not on the list and you do want to participate, let me know so I can add you.

@ablatheringblatherskite

@allisonreader

@angedemystere

@aparticularbandit

@as-dreamers-do

@ashknife

@atlantic-riona

@batmantaking-hobbits2gallifrey

@brievel

@butterflies-and-bumble-bees

@bytes-and-blessings

@caffeinecath

@caitriona-3

@casa-anachar

@catkin-morgs

@challenger2013

@christian-latte-anon

@clarythericebot

@confetti-cat

@cuppatealove

@cygnascrimbles

@delightfulstrawberrygalaxy

@dimsilver

@dragonladyzarz

@dragonteaandfairyhoney

@ellakas

@enchanted-prose

@enjoliquej

@esters-notepad

@ettawritesnstudies

@faeriefully

@fairytale-lights

@fictionadventurer

@five-more-minutes

@frangipani-wanderlust

@freenarnian

@friendrat

@frominsidetheblanketfort

@gailyinthedark

@galahadiant

@glassheadcanon

@graycedelfin

@heniareth

@iamwritehere

@iminlovewithpercyjackson

@incomingalbatross

@justhereforthesherlock

@kanerallels

@k-she-rambles

@lacycardigan

@ladygobpire

@lady-merian

@ladyphlogiston

@larissa-the-scribe

@lemonduckisnowawake

@leng-m

@lilflightlessbird731

@lover-of-the-starkindler

@lydia-hosek

@madamescarlette

@magpie-trove

@maltheniel

@mels-library

@mentallydatingahotcelebrity

@misscrazyfangirl321

@mrgartist

@muse-write

@musicofthedaylight

@olyia-stories

@onewingedsparrow

@on-noon

@phoebeamorryce

@physicsgoblin

@plainshobbit

@poetry-vs-depression

@politicalmamaduck

@popcornfairy28

@praise-the-lord-im-dead

@pinkbanditmusings

@queenlucythevaliant

@rachellesedai

@reneethegreatandpowerful

@ripple-reader

@rockinlibrarian

@ru-tabega

@saxifrage-wreath

@scarvenartist

@screwtornadowarningsimsouthern

@scribbly-bear

@secretariatess

@secret--psalms--saturn

@septembersung

@shaylalaloohoo

@siena-sevenwits

@smokeyloki

@soulwindproductionsblog

@sunshineandrosesnoraincamemyway

@swinging-stars-from-satellites

@taleweaver-ramblings

@teabooksandsweets

@thatsastepladder

@thatoneweaver

@thebirdandhersong

@thejonderettegirl

@theworldiswhispering

@toothanddraw

@tzarina-alexandra

@ughnofreeusernames

@west-toasty

@what-the-dickens

@wildlyironicbee

[aimlessfellow]

So I've been playing signalis and am now a little bit into chapter 2.

Here are some of my current thoughts and questions i have based on everything i have read and found so far

So I think we play as two(?) different LSTR replikas. From what i think the Elster we play as in the tutorial is the one every other Elster replikas are based off of after the original neural pattern were destroyed/lost.

I also think that Alina and Ariane are somehow connected. Like they are related or they're the same. Both of them have a close connection with an Elster replika even though alina shouldn't even have seen an Elster replika on Leng.

From the diary of the falke it seems like she gained memories of/about Ariane and also got infected with something that spread throughout the entire base.

There is also the fact that the book the king in yellow is found in the intro and the library of the base that concerns me. If i remember right the king in yellow has something to do with eldritch horror or something eldritch adjacent and this alongside with the ominous plates(eternity and balance) that i found probably means that there is some kind of horror waiting at the end.

There is also what happened after the Mynah boss fight. Why did Adler just shove us down the elevator shaft and how many did he shove down there? Why did he mention we returned when everything else points towards it being our first time there as even the kolibris don't know about us.

And the corpses in the elevator shaft. They are all not reanimating which indicates they are all not corrupted/infected. Which type of replika are they and why is elster so composed about the corpse fulled elevator shaft when she even wondered about a singular corpe in the beginning.

There is also the mention of cycles after entering the mines. Does that mean everything is repeating or something else. If it is repeating are all the corpses in the elevator shaft Elster units?

[maiaszecket-grad604-2023]

W8 - AGI Open 2023

On Monday I had the privilege of attending the Alliance Graphique Internationale with a free ticket from AUT! This was a super exciting opportunity and I walked away from it with lots of insights and ideas (and freebies). Below are the notes I made for (most) speakers, a well as some highlights which I will expand on further:

Day 1 - 18/09/23

Taku Satoh

Hodo hodo - just enough

Balance and elegance when just right

Furoshiki

Everything in moderation

Knowing when to stop

Leave room for things to resonate

Water-based glue

Changing the rep of chewing gum so packaging design cannot look like gum

Astrid Stavro

Leap before you look

Curiosity and doubt

Eli wiesel

Interview magazine

Penguin education - type as image

Grid notepads

Fear and making mistakes

Dont work for money

Azimuth festival - saudi arabi

Keep it simple stupid

Starting over

Irene Pereyra

Anton & irene ux

To seel something new, make it familiar and to sell something familiar, make it new

M+ museum - hong kong

We judge usability by its beauty and aesthetics

Atm interface study

Aesthetic usability effect

We dont mind making the effort

Shantelle martin

Henrik Kubel

Important to have a clear brief in kahoots with client

Paul Garbett

Seeing things book

We create whatever we observe

Paredolia - seeing faces in things, seeing meaninful images in objects and patterns

Presence - paying attention with intention

The act of observation is an act of creativity

Dean Poole

Nz’s elemental nature

Raw sophistication

Humanism

Culturistic rituals

Meaning in materials

Doesnt have to be loud

Design is about making decisions

Diecut leaves

Tracing shapes in landscape photography

Southern hemisphere snowman

Good shit soda

Ahn Sang-soo

Gaphis magazine

Anthropocene

PATI - students are taught to design their own lives and let their lives be completed by design

Pur ideas should stem from our hands

Elongate design by bodily experience

Just play!

A flower flourishes, spring comes

Alejandro Paul

Roma cafe in buenos aires

Balneario

Inspiration - travel - photography

Varietta

Rigatoni - bodoni

Sudtipos design agency

Paul Boudens

Fun is fundamental

Eddie Opara

The landcape, origin, history, life around really is what egins a bespoke desing process

Rectilinnear

The Joslyn, scott Pavilliam, hawks

Each building only uses the typeface desinged for it

Also desinging glyphs for omaha-ponca - native american language of the region

Animations

Regenerative narratives

Book Showcase

James Goggin

Ubi sunt

Titus kphar ted talk

Redaction.us - free typeface

Irony of this typeface being used in the legal system - unauthorised

Book is soft-bound bc hardcover still considered contraband in prisons

Cold glue vs hot glue

Minmin Qu + Qian Jiang

Stuart Geddes

Need to take advantage of books that are thick enough to write sideways on the spine

Jumping He

Carpets from art

Designing the life cycle of a book - another reading

Arch MacDonnell

Inhouse design

Books with john reynolds - “cloud of new zealand language”

Climate change - apocalypse o’clock

I want you to panic

Nikki Gonnissen

Thonik

Phil bloom - first naked woman on int. Tv

Inspirational women

Day 2 - 19/09/23

Paula Scher

marking something recognised + understood

silk-screen theatre posters

Public Theatre

page of scribbles - type made from scribbles

'banal'

digital, moving billboards

dingbat/scribble 'library' to use in system

find something and run with it

Stefan Sagmeister

the critic with bad news is seen as smarter than the critic with good news

embedding blocks of statistics in old paintings

mosaic insects on bike path

kids' hospital tunnels - Toronto

Now is Better - book

design should have a function

Lars Müller

Super Normal - book

sensations of the normal

Thomas Widdershoven

Thonik

the power of design

social

strategic

experimental

best iconic building award for their studio

Yah-Leng Yu

how do you get people to come into your museum?

look at the city - what do people like doing?

drawing the people of Singapore like to shop, so give them something they can shop for

what makes something look childish?

Kris Sowersby

Matarongo typeface with Johnson Witehira

Tatai Kapu Toi = typography

type is so subtle

distilling the essence of a rich culture and history into type

glyphs = wh, ng in cap-cap, cap-lower, lower-lower

Jonathan-Castro Alejos

Peru -> Netherlands

Panel

nomads set free + being a tourist

taking on international clients

cultural sensitivity

global climate

global market

country's politics

country's history

balance between corporate/client projects and projects that we do for ourselves

making money vs making things that make you happy

student = authenticity, purity

graduating = getting corrupted

how to stay relevant

where would you go first upon landing in a country where you don't know anyone and you don't speak the language?

Kenya Hara

'un-know the world'

using squares + circles to make sense of the universe

Re Design - daily products of the 21st century

long-life design

becoming

visualise + awaken

rhetorical figures

fruits disguised as other fruits

make things unknown and visualise it

muji

"frugal, but not feeling inferior to luxury"

muji 'concept' applied to other things

humans + cleaning

global vs local

"architecture must be the interpreter of the richness of the land"

cream knit turtleneck with yellow edges -> like working military gloves

mango (clothing brand) book

Stanley Wong

AnotherMountainMan

MTR: 'there are some things in life you can always count on'

Asaba's Diary - posters!

self-talking

"time will tell" - Einstein

creativity x values x time

Ariane Spanier

known knowns

known unknowns

unknown knowns

the free brief

feelings mixer app - Heavy Mental

colour

Fukt magazine

having facial blindness and drawing portraits

Highlights

It was really neat to see how real designers are always using what they know and what they are good at to influence their design process, no matter if it is a commercial or personal project. It was comforting to me to see that there doesn't always have to be this immense pressure to try something that you don't know anything about, or that you aren't good at, just for the sake of going out of your comfort zone. Although this is useful and can really expand a designer's horizons, it is not always necessary to be uncomfortable at all stages of a design process. Drawing on your interests and strengths is also a good way to create a successful outcome.

The calibre of presentations were top tier - they were engaging and 'guided your eye', and embodied all the tips we go over in class, such as limiting the number of words on a slide.

I was pleased at how this international conference still allowed for freedom of the hosting country to incorporate any necessary traditions or honours that are encouraged in that country. The conference opened with a Mihi and Waiata, which communicated to me that it was important for Alt Group and AGI to create a safe Māori space.

Kris Sowersby's talk was a huge highlight of mine. He broke down a new typeface that his is collaborating on with Johnson Witehira, called Matarongo. It was fascinating to see their process (iteration on iteration on iteration), right from the deep, rich research they did through to the varied typefaces that were created. So many things were considered - lower/upper case, sans/serif, extra glyphs, etc. I found that I gained a whole new appreciation for typography through watching his talk.

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Ideas #32: Game of Thrones, but make it Horatio Alger

My favorite part of GoT is the worldbuilding - just the massive scale of peoples, backgrounds, and cultures that exist and are encountered by the various POV characters. There are two massive continents worth of places to explore... and most of the time characters stay in a relatively small part of it.

Which got me thinking: what if Jon Snow pulled something out of Horatio Alger or one of Heinlein's youth novels? Which is to say: what if Jon packed his things, went on a wild adventure across Essos, and returned with riches and dragons?

Aka: The Aemon the Adventurous Fic

Just imagine it:

The Greyjoy Rebellion lasts on for longer than in canon. The Iron Islanders are better prepared in all respects and the fighting drags on for almost three years.

Lady Stark doesn't set out to use her husband's prolonged absence to isolate her husband's bastard - consciously at least - but that's what ends up happening. She's wrapped up in her own young children and honestly doesn't think that a baseborn child needs or should have access to the same level of education or training his trueborn siblings do.

Forbidden from joining Robb's lessons, Jon spends a lot of time training with the rank-and-file soldiers and the rest of it in Winterfell's library. One of his earliest discovery's there is an account of the nine great voyages of Corlys Velaryon. This, combined with the ongoing war with the Iron Islands, convinces Jon of the might of sea power.

In 291, after two years of war and two years of being essentially ignored by the inhabitants of Winterfell, Jon decides to just leave. He's eight years old, but Corlys was six the first time he sailed the Narrow Sea, and he can surely find a position as a ship's boy in White Harbor.

And that's exactly what he does. It shouldn't be so easy for a child to cross half the North on his own, but Jon manages it. (He cuts and dyes his hair to look less obviously like a Stark, in case anyone is looking, and calls himself Aemon after the Dragonknight.) And since ship's captains are used to unwanted sons trying to make a life for themselves at sea, Jon finds a job on The Septon's Daughter two days after he arrives.

Despite the blasphemy, the captain of The Septon's Daughter, Jasper Stone, is a lowborn man of the Vale who is an honest, pious follower of The Seven. He treats his crew well, and trades up and down the Narrow Sea, taking longer voyages to Ibben or Volantis every couple of years to trade for exotics. Jon learns a lot under him and comes to see Captain Jasper as a father figure.

In 294 they sail to Ibben. Jon's exploring the port when a conflict with Jasper's trading rival in the port forces The Septon's Daughter to leave without him. Jon ends up wintering in Ibben, learning the local customs and fighting style, and gaining a lot of goods he can resell at high markup in Pentos. Luckily, Jasper and The Septon's Daughter come back for him the next spring after wintering in Ifeqevron, and Jon rejoins his ersatz family.

Jon is able to make a tidy profit off his Ibbenese goods. So does Jasper with the woods he brings back from Ifeqevron. Together they decide to use it to expand their trading fleet. Just 12, Jon is made XO of one of these, Northern Lights.

In 297 they decide to sail south. Skipping past Slaver's Bay, they visit Qarth, Asabahd, Yin, Leng Yi, Jinqi, Asshai, Turrani, Zabhad, and Vahar before returning the Free Cities three years later. Several ships worth of exotic goods make them all very rich - especially Jon, who is by now captain of Northern Lights and second in command of the trading fleet.

But Jon, 17, has been plagued by Dragon Dreams since he first sailed past Valyria. After their return to Volantis, Jon takes the smallest ship in their fleet, Seasmoke, to Valyria on his own.

This should be a disaster, but somehow Jon manages to reach the ruined city. He enters a temple whose tunnels lead him straight into the heart of the volcano the city was built in the shadow of... and there Jon finds dragon eggs. Acting on instinct, he takes three - one pitch black, one pure white, and one ocean blue - marks them with his own blood, and builds a fire for them to rest in. He intends to do the same with a fourth - silver speckled gold - but ends up falling asleep with it before sticking it in the fire.

When he wakes up, the gold egg hatches into a full-grown woman, whom is eventually called Alyssa Belaerys.

What follows is an info dump (there are four kinds of magic in the world, fire and ice magic are opposed; Valyrian seers saw the coming of the Long Night and thought to prevent it by strengthening fire magic, but overdid it and destroyed their civilization instead. Without dragons, balance is lost. To restore balance, dragons must return. Dragonlords are descended from dragons who took human form like Alyssa, &c).

In the midst of all of this, the three other eggs hatch into actual dragons - called the Valyrian for Darkness, Snow, and Sea respectively.

Jon, Alyssa, and the dragons return to Volantis. Jasper is thrilled to see his adoptive son again, but less thrilled with his seemingly nonsensical plan to strengthen fire magic by strengthening dragons by becoming ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Or: reconquer Westeros, save the world.

And so... Jon conquers Westeros.

Westeros is in shambles - long story short, Robert declared Cersei's children bastards and has been fighting a long war against the Lannisters over his choice to summarily execute his wife, her brother, and their children; Stannis died in the Greyjoy rebellion, so there's no strong admiral to counter the Ironborns' renewed raiding; the Vale has is own succession problems; &c - and Jon has lots of money, a loyal fleet, dragons, and a fierce Dragonborn bride in Alyssa.

They start with the Stepstones, take the Stormlands easily since most of their fighters are in the west with the Baratheons, and just... conquer one kingdom after another.

The truth - that Aemon Snow (as he's been going by all these years) is really Jon Snow, is really Rhaegar's second son - doesn't come out until it's time to replay Torren's submission of the North. It's a bit of a surprise, as Ned thought his nephew was dead after all these years, but ends well enough - though Jon is somewhat surprised to learn it took Lady Stark three months to notice he was missing.

Bonuses include: 1) Jon replaying the Field of Fire with the Lannisters and Baratheons; 2) lots of detail and expansion of the culture, history, and religion of every place Jon visits; 3) Captain Jasper really being the best adoptive father a boy could hope for, and 4) Jon going down in history as The Sea Dragon and Aemon the Adventurous and kicking off a new era of sea exploration for Westeros, including the discovery that sailing far enough west will bring you to the east.

...and that is far, far more than I thought I had. As always, feel free to adopt this bun, just link back if you do anything with it.

Other Jon Snow Headcanons: Aegon the Unyielding | Aemon the Adventurous | Baelor the Brave | Lady Arryn | Lady Baratheon | Lady Lannister | Lady Stark | Prince Consort | Prince of Summerhall | Queen Mother

More Terrible Fic Ideas

[dailycharacteroption]

Planar Tour Guide: Ethereal Plane part 2

(art by Erik Nykvist on Artstation)

Geography

 As mentioned yesterday, the Ethereal plane doesn’t actually have a lot going on in terrain-wise. In fact, it doesn’t even have gravity. With barely any solid matter and no gravity, one would imagine that there’s no way to move. However, because of the psychically reactive nature of the plane, visitors without flight can will themselves to move at about half their normal speed in any direction.

When matter does appear in the In-Between, it takes the form of matter either brought in from another plane by magic, or as a psychic reflection of an emotionally resonant site on the material plane. What’s more, material objects and creatures can also be vaguely seen as indistinct and translucent shadows.

In any case, these structures that are brought in are often former or current strongholds of powerful mages, or else the creation of it’s denizens. The House of Itinerant Souls, for example, is a cathedral-like structure where lucky souls that haven’t moved on further along the path can find respite and collect themselves before continuing on, free from the fear of being consumed into true undeath. Meanwhile, phase spiders and xill alike have their own realms, such as the ether-spun Whisperweb and scavenged Varesk Gul respectively, or the structure-creature Xevnorvex, which serves as a living library and habitation for the caulborn.

Additionally, a vast mountain of sinister Phantasmagoria’s Maw, a mountainous complex of ectoplasm and manifested matter which is a labyrinth of traps, fear-maddened undead, and worse. This complex is the foothold of sakhils on the Ethereal Plane, with portals to their home realm of Xibalba and to the material plane. Worse still, the Maw moves, disappearing and remanifesting elsewhere so that sahkils can plague the entirety of the material plane.

It's also worth mentioning ectoplasm, which is a substance formed when the mists of the ethereal interact with a soul, particularly when said souls push against the veil between ether and material. This can result in undead creatures coated in or made from the stuff, or web-like masses of the odorless, tasteless, cold gunk.

 Moving on from the ethereal, the Dimension of Dreams can be vague and misty at times, but within dreamscapes and the Dreamlands, one can expect nearly anything, the terrain, the gravity, the terrain, and such all vary by who’s dream you are in. What’s more, because they are dreams, a person cannot normally travel their by plane shift, but rather, by lucid dreaming. Once you are in such a state, the impossible becomes possible if you have the will to make it so. However, normal magic can sometimes be wild and unpredictable.

 The exception to this is Leng. While technically part of the Dreamlands, it is its own separate demiplane inhabited by it’s own set of horrors. It may be technically the dream of something so immensely powerful that it took on a life of it’s own, or perhaps a horrific playground made by one or more elder gods. Either way, the Plateau of Leng gives way to the Dreaming Shore and further mountains, and contains many settlements. However, they are filled with creatures of malice and madness, where a quick death a mercy compared to the horrible tortures, slavery, and madness that awaits survivors, all in the name of the Elder Gods.

 Moving from one horror to another, Xibalba is the realm of the Sakhil. While one can find Phantasmagoria’s Maw and enter there, Xibalba can also be entered entirely by crossing over the demiplane’s border in the Ethereal or plane shifted into directly, to the horror of those who wander in. It appears to be a massive jungle hilltop on which rests a massive ruined city, where sakhil enjoy tormenting mortals and souls they have in their clutches, stripping them of hope and joy in this, the home of fear. There are even caverns below filled with even more horrors, including the Cave of the Bat, one of the homes of the bat god Camazotz. At the center of it all is the Black Pyramid, the great meeting place for Sakhils and the greatest of their kind, the tormentors.

 There are also several other demiplanes attached to the Ethereal plane and connected dimensions, such as the Harrowed Realm, an offshoot of the Dimension of Dreams created by Sonnorae the Storyteller, who filled it with beings embodying the many stories and folk tales of the Varisian people. This wondrous fairytale land was not to remain pristine, for some of her creations rebelled and slew her, gaining free-will and self-awareness, only to realize they were trapped in that realm forever with only themselves for company, aside from extremely rare travellers who arrive by accident or by somehow learning of the obscure realm.

 As you can see, Despite being mostly empty, the Ethereal Plane and it’s neighboring dimensions offer many wonders and horrors to visitors, even if they normally just use it to walk through walls. Tomorrow, however, we’ll take a deeper dive into the entities that dwell there.

[bethnalgreen]

The Preston and Child Books

Welcome to my corner of Tumblr, and my first-ever post. Sorry about the length!

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

I can't even remember when I first read "Relic," the first novel in what became the Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It was probably sometime in the 1990s. I do have specific memories of reading "The Cabinet of Curiosities" in the summer of 2002. My sister and I had just moved to New York City, and I was working at Barnes & Noble. You could borrow any hardcover book from B&N to read as long as you put a protective book cover on it. I spent several late nights reading it in our sublet, scared half to death and definitely entertained.

For the next six years, I was a passionate fan of these books. I even managed to snag an audiobook version of "The Book of the Dead" before its official release date (not from B&N) because I was going to be on a plane that day and wanted desperately to read it ASAP.

It's hard to believe that's been almost 15 years ago. I'm still reading the P/C books, and looking forward to them, but I've found myself increasingly disappointed in them.

I don't want to just dump on them. I write for fun but have never finished a story, and I truly applaud the imagination and dedication evident in even the books I truly dislike. (And there have been a few. I give every P/C book a second chance, but it doesn't always make me like it more. The novels I love have been read at least half a dozen times.)

The sticking point for me in the last half-dozen books or so has been the character of Constance Greene (she's so special she can't just be a Green, she has to be a Greene.) She's like a female version of Agent Pendergast, minus the empathy, charm, and any other personality trait that makes him tolerable.

Pendergast can be a pill, that's for sure. But I always manage to root for him, because he does occasionally show signs that he's human. Constance may as well be a robot ... actually, that could explain a lot. Pendergast's outrageous intellectual and physical feats can be explained to some degree by his wealth, his education, his experience in special forces, and his FBI training.

Constance, on the other hand, was picked up off the street at age six by a sociopath. He molded her into exactly what he wanted in a companion. She had more than a century to practice the harpsichord, study languages (Gaelic, really? How convenient), and read hundreds of books on esoteric subjects. She apparently never left the house during that time, which is why her physical feats really beggar belief.

As much as I like "The Book of the Dead," this crap with Constance started then. She'd been a long-term shut-in, but she somehow was able to track Diogenes all around the world, get the better of him in Florence despite his meticulous planning, and outthink him on the slopes of Stromboli.

From there, it's only gotten worse. She's become an "all-knowing ninja," to quote someone on Reddit. She can fire a machine gun after watching (with ill-concealed boredom, no doubt) a man show off the weapon for a few minutes. She can swim, even though she couldn't just a few weeks earlier. She becomes an adept at Chongg Ran after a few lessons (of course she does!).

And what makes it all worse is this gross quasi-romance that's taken up too much time in the series. Constance has convinced herself that she's in love with Pendergast, and she won't take no for an answer. (He's told her "no," with words and body language, more than once.)

If Pendergast has to have a romantic partner, doesn't he deserve better than a short-tempered, monomaniacal sociopath? This woman threatened to kill him in "Blue Labyrinth" for reminding her about her dalliance with Diogenes, then planned her own suicide as he lay dying in the hospital. She saves his life because she's obsessed with him and is dependent on him.

I haven't yet read "The Cabinet of Dr. Leng" -- given how Constance-centric it sounds, I've decided to get it from the library instead of spending my hard-earned money on it -- but I'm hoping the trilogy is a way to gracefully get rid of her. Have her fall for a man back in the 1880s and stay there. Hell, have Diogenes pilot a spaceship from Area 51 back into the 1880s and whisk her off to Mars!

She's taken up enough space in this series. Please, guys, just ditch her already ...

Favorite P/C Novels

Relic, Thunderhead, The Cabinet of Curiosities, Still Life with Crows, The Book of the Dead, Fever Dream, White Fire

Least Favorite P/C Novels

Brimstone, Cemetery Dance, Crimson Shore, Obsidian Chamber, City of Endless Night, Crooked River, Bloodless

[beatsandskies]

Duelist 13: Phyrexian Dreadnaught vs Pirate Ship

No doubt if you’re reading this you probably know what’s up, so I’m just going to get stuck into it. The full PDF for this issue is here. From the Library of Leng Phyrexian Dreadnought and Prismatic Circle of Protection It’s interesting how the title, and full piece refer to Prismatic Circle as Prismatic Circle of Protection. It makes sense, since the COPs are obviously what it was modelled…

[carpenoctemzine]

Hello Vampires, Vampire lovers, and unsuspecting strangers who wandered into this dark alley! At long last we are announcing our full contributor list for Carpe Noctem: Vampires Through the Ages! We have a very talented group of contributors onboard, and we're excited to see it all come together.

The main zine will feature writing, art, and poetry spanning human/vampiric history from the Stone Ages all the way to the early 2000s. Our Merch Artists are responsible for creating pins, stickers, keychains, prints, and more to accompany the zine. Finally, our 18+ Booklet, "Fine Dining," will be available as an add-on for all your sexy vampire needs.

Individual spotlights will be coming over the course of our creation period, but for now you can follow the links below and see their wonderful work for yourselves!

-Carpe Noctem Mods  🧛‍♀️

Guests:

A. J. Ramsey: Twitter | Tumblr | Website

Beidak: Twitter | Instagram

Chelsea: Twitter | Instagram | Website

Mallaidh Anne: Tumblr | Instagram

Nadine Lawton: Twitter | Tumblr | Website

Main Zine Artists:

Aisling: Tumblr | Instagram | Website

Alice: Twitter | Instagram 

Apollo Avery (apollinares): Twitter | Instagram | Website

Carissa: Twitter 

Clara M.: Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

Corpsecrow: Twitter | Instagram

Del Borovic: Twitter | Tumblr | Website

Dol Ay: Twitter 

Eleheba : Twitter | Instagram

Emory Kjelsberg: Twitter | Website

Endrae: Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

Gabrielle Kari: Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

Gaelen Elliott: Twitter | Instagram | Website

Ghoustea: Twitter | Instagram

HY Leng: Twitter | Instagram | Website

Knack Whittle: Twitter | Instagram | Website

LeSoldatMort: Twitter | Instagram | Artstation

Luis Correa: Twitter | Instagram | Website

Mar: Twitter | Instagram 

Marcel: Twitter | Website

Maria Ku (grrrenadine): Tumblr | Instagram | Website

Melissa Eder: Instagram

Mossling: Twitter | DeviantArt | Website

Natalia Lopes: Instagram | Website

NIL: Twitter | Instagram | Website

paperbrain: Tumblr | Instagram | Website

Sadie Lappin: Tumblr | Instagram | Website

Shaiylo: Twitter | Tumblr | Website

Sierra Barnes: Twitter | Instagram | Website

soosdubus: Twitter | Tumblr | Website

Teradiam: Twitter | Instagram | Artstation

XXXenia: Twitter | Artstation

Main Zine Writers:

Caroline Ryan: Twitter

Cross: Twitter | Tumblr | Website

Ersatz: Twitter | Instagram | Website

eskandarrohani: Twitter | Tumblr | AO3

Florence V: Tumblr

Hanna A. Nirav: Twitter | Website

Ilinca Barbacuta: Twitter | Website

Kathryn Hemmann: Twitter | Instagram | Website

Kris Wise: Twitter 

Library of Gage: Tumblr | AO3

Nick: Tumblr | AO3

synthpoppy: Twitter | AO3

T.H. Vásquez:  Tumblr | AO3

theultimateburrito: AO3

Vincent Pritchard: YouTube | Website

Main Zine Poets:

Archita Mittra: Twitter | Website

Charlie Bean: Tumblr | Instagram | Website

Corrin McCullough: Twitter | Tumblr 

Gild Rose: Twitter | Instagram

S. Tennant: Instagram | AO3

Tamara Jerée: Twitter | Website

Thea Nikolova: Twitter | Instagram

Merch Artists:

Alina: Tumblr | Instagram

Briku: Twitter

Chuang Wang: Tumblr | Etsy | Website

EliTanDark: Twitter | Instagram | DeviantArt

Hound: Tumblr 

Klimtsonian: Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

Marlo Musa: Tumblr | Instagram | Website

Miles Jonathan: Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

Nicole Alt Delete: Twitter | Instagram | Website

rosefinchie: Twitter | Instagram

saz: Twitter | Instagram

S. Tennant: Instagram | Website

tsuyuus: Twitter

Fine Dining Artists (Links may contain 18+ material):

Charleimu: Twitter | Instagram | Website

Crayola_hell: Twitter | Instagram

Decas: Twitter | Twitter (SFW) | Artstation

Eb Ball: Twitter | Instagram | Website

Mossling: Twitter | DeviantArt | Website

Paige Hender: Twitter | Instagram

Starmoths: Twitter 

Strange: Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram | Website

The Druid (M. McGee): Twitter | Instagram | Website

Fine Dining Writers & Poets (Links may contain 18+ material):

eskandarrohani: Twitter | Tumblr | AO3

Maria Helena: Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

Pasiphae Dreams: Twitter | Tumblr | Website

Petrachord: Twitter | Tumblr | AO3

Victor Hannibal: Twitter | Website

WillfulAbyss: Tumblr

F A Q  ☽  M O D S  ☆  T W I T T E R  ☾  A S K

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

My understanding of the whole "the Reapers preserve organic civs before synthetic races can overthrow them" idea is that each full Reaper is basically a massive library containing the genetic and cultural records of a single civ. The Reapers periodically save all civs while the Intelligence works on the synthetic-organic problem so that once it solves it all those civs can be reconstructed. They probably can't rebuild them exactly but there's enough to get started.

This feeds in to the endgame opportunity the Leviathan DLC opened up that I wish we'd gotten to take, namely, if the Leviathans can locally override indoctrination, the most efficient use of that ability would be for a strike team to drop in and get one of those orbs near TIM to snap him out of it. Assuming TIM's already jacked himself up with Reaper tech, this opens the fantastic opportunity of RECRUITING HIM AS A SQUADMATE.

If TIM's already got all that Reaper control tech built into himself, plus a signal boost from the Leviathans, it opens up engineer gameplay based around locally overriding Reaper-controlled combatants. Since in the Paragon resolution of the final confrontation with TIM you basically talk him into using a moment of lucidity to kill himself, I feel like he'd be onboard, especially if the alternative is, y'know, arrested for like three hundred war crimes.

Move one of his other Cerberus folks into his old spot but give you an overall reduced Cerberus presence but an increased Reaper-tech presence (which gives you more opportunities to use TIM, too). Kai Leng's just an asshole so he'll keep going regardless. Then in the Synthesis ending TIM can move into a Reaper liaison position as presumably said Reapers are now able to release and begin reconstructing the "harvested" civilizations, since you solved the original synthetic-organic "problem."

Shepard dropping into a Cerberus base and just beans TIM in the head with one of the Leviathan orbs.

This is a super interesting concept especially for the question of how far Shepard has to go with unlikely allies trying to get help to combat the Reapers - like, Aria and her mercs are one thing, but the fucking Illusive Man who's been responsible for so many scientific crimes against humanity, and it's like - yes, the Reaper indoctrination is being counteracted, but what if the Leviathans want to use him to get up to shady shit. What if TIM decides to do shady shit anew. Can you trust him and the information that he has and the information that he can provide to you going forward? It's the moral question of the Collector base all over again - is this what it's worth to save the galaxy, but also can you trust him with this to save the galaxy?

Like, TIM is shady as shit but in ME2 I still felt I could "trust" him inasmuch as I knew he wanted humanity to be saved from the Collectors and the Reapers. If he were able to continue in that vein in 3, then that's the question of: we know what he wants, but what about after? Should we be afraid of if he takes this knowledge and sets up contingency plans for after the war - is it worth letting that happen because if we don't have his help, there may not be that after the war to worry about.

Anyway I thought that was a super interesting dynamic in 2, where I was like "I hate this man, I wish for him dead, I dislike everything he stands for, but on some level I also 'trust' him because saving humanity means saving the galaxy so in this regard we are after a similar goal." So then this would have much the same in 3, except more personal. The Normandy could not be deep-cleaned enough if he ever set foot on it. Shepard ends up beating him to death with the orb and pitching him out the airlock.

My biggest question for hypothetical squadmate TIM is: Citadel party. You invite him and literally everyone else declines to come because they hate him and also he declines to come because he thinks a party is a waste of time and Shepard ends up drinking alone.

Re: what harvesting means, that makes sense. They've melted people down into paste for Reaper-building, but if their knowledge is still contained in there, like the way the Protheans could store information in their beacons, then there's a lot to learn about the long-gone galaxy past when every Reaper contains the collective knowledge of hundreds upon thousands of people. Some kind of fucked-up time capsule/encyclopedia.

[miskatonicaquarium]

Weird Fiction/Cosmic Horror Recommends

In a time of general uncertainty and anxiety, one thing that is certain is that weird fiction/cosmic horror has got your back. If you like to combat your growing sense of existential dread by reading about other people’s growing sense of existential dread, this is a list for you. Where texts and shows are available online, I have included links. Where they are not, I have included links to where they are available to buy.

Books

Agents of Dreamland – Caitlin R Kiernan

Government agents, ritual murders, a doomsday cult and a glitch in NASA’s interplanetary probe all feature in this deeply frightening and deftly written novella that takes classic Lovecraftian tropes and expands on them with mesmerising skill.

Wanderers – Chuck Wendig

When a sleepwalking epidemic hits America, those affected head towards a destination known only to themselves. Desperate to keep their loved ones safe, ‘shepherds’ follow the growing group to protect them on their journey. This is an incredibly rewarding read stuffed full of complex characters, apocalyptic horror and a long hard look at human nature.

Winter Tide – Ruthanna Emrys

After the government raid on Innsmouth, Aphra and Caleb Marsh are the only inhabitants of the town to survive the desert internment camps. When confidential, dangerous magic is stolen from Miskatonic University, the FBI are forced to turn to the last of the Marsh’s for help. An evocative and sympathetic novel that takes the antagonists of Lovecraft’s works and paints them in a new light.

The Fisherman – John Langan

This is considered to be a modern classic of the genre and for good reason. It’s best to go into this one as blind as possible so I’ll just leave you with this little quote: "I know Dutchman's Creek runs deep, much deeper than it could or should, and I don't like to think what it's full of."

Carter and Lovecraft – Jonathan L. Howard

A homicide detective turned Private Investigator finds himself embroiled with the last known descendant of H.P Lovecraft, Emily Lovecraft. When deaths that have an eerie resemblance to the writing of Emily’s ancestor begin to plague the area, the investigator finds himself drawn into a world he thought didn’t exist beyond fiction.

Rosewater – Tade Thompson

The first in an award-winning trilogy that blends science fiction into the weird in near future Nigeria. When an alien biodome manifests in the landscape, a select group of people in the surrounding area begin developing psychic abilities. A winding, disturbing tale with an original setting, voice and characters; this is the perfect read for those looking for a fresh take on the genre.  

North American Lake Monsters: Stories – Nathan Ballingrud

I am hugely obsessed with this – Ballingrud uses tropes and characters we are all familiar with and uses them to tell stories that shed light on the plight of rural, poverty-stricken America. He is a masterful author with a true gift for atmospheric writing (‘Late summer pressed onto this small Mississippi coastal town like the heel of a boot. The heat was an act of violence.’) and this collection will appeal to fans of Ligotti and Barron as well as those who are unfamiliar with the genre.

The Ballad of Black Tom – Victor LaValle

This is essentially a retelling of Lovecraft’s The Horror at Red Hook (but without the blatant racism, hooray!). A slow burn, cosmic horror noir featuring a who’s who of the Cthulhu Mythos, for those interested in the genre who do not get on with Lovecraft’s writing or the man himself, this is an excellent way to get all the good stuff without the bad.

Anthologies

A Lonely and Curious Country: Tales from the land of Lovecraft

Seventeen stories about Lovecraftian horrors in the most unusual of places. Lots of these work as mini-sequels to Lovecraft’s original stories so this is a good companion for those familiar with his work.

Lovecraft Unbound

As I’ve said before, Ellen Datlow is a powerhouse of anthology editing. Featuring a great spread of familiar mythos faces and more thematic takes on the genre, Lovecraft Unbound is one of the best collections out there.

Book of Cthulhu

There are a couple of these! All feature some of the best contemporary authors writing weird fiction. Quality of individual stories sometimes varies in Lovecraftian anthologies but that is not the case here. The first is particularly good as it also contains stories from older, more obscure writers who are hard to get in print.

Shadows of Carcosa

Twelve short stories that feature everything from the land of carcosa to the traditionally Lovecraftian setting of the cursed hills of New England. All of these are shorts written by classic writers such as Poe, Stoker, Bierce, Chambers and Blackwood.

Lovecraft’s Monsters

Another collection edited by Datlow. This one is particularly fun as it features illustrations, as well as a story by Neil Gaiman. Lovecraft’s Monsters is amongst my favourite of the anthologies as it is based solely around the creatures that crawl and squirm through the mythos. It’s also available as an audiobook!

Children of Lovecraft

Fourteen short stories including authors like Stephen Graham Jones, Orrin Grey, Caitlin R. Kiernan and Livia Llewellyn. Full of body horror, dread, surrealism and one of the best opening sentences to any short story.

She Walks in Shadows

A monumental, fascinating collection comprised of exclusively female authors. Offering a long overdue look at and development of the female aspects of the mythos, this collection gives a voice to the previously unheard. For those looking for a diverse, original and often deeply disturbing reading experience, this is your anthology.

Available online for free

The Lovecraft Ezine has a great archive here of all its previous issues

Weird Fiction Review is an excellent resource for online fiction – both excerpts from books and stand-alone short stories.

The Online Books page has direct links to the issues of Weird Tales magazine published between 1923 – 192. 

TOR.COM is an amazing resource for all kinds of science fiction and fantasy shorts. This is a link specifically to Lovecraftian fiction. There’s also lots of interesting things to read under the tag cosmic horror here.

Graphic Novels

Fatale - Sex, violence, cults, cosmic horror, imaginative period settings and gorgeous artwork. Fatale is one of the best comics set in the mythos out there.

Locke and Key - Many of you will be familiar with Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s hugely popular (and now televised) series focused on a house above a portal to the plains of Leng.

Harrow County - Creepy, rural-based, folk horror series centred on a young woman who finds herself to be joined to the forest and the land in ways she could never have imagined.

The Squidder - A postapocalyptic Lovecraftian mess, I have included this because it is worth buying for the artwork alone. Ben Templesmith is an acquired taste but an incredibly talented illustrator whose work is uniquely suited to the mythos.

I have talked about these several times before but it is always worth checking out I.N.J Culbard’s graphic novel adaptations of Lovecraft’s stories, as well as the two anthologies that were released several years ago.

*** 

Films – Cosmic Horror

I have linked to the trailers for each of these, some are classics you will know, some are new. 

The Colour out of Space 

Die Fabre

The Dunwich Horror

The Endless

Event Horizon

The Void

Europa Report

Black Mountain Side 

Films – Folk Horror

The Ritual

They Remain

The White Reindeer

Night of the Demon 

Apostle

More generally, some good online resources for old/weird/out of print books are

Project Gutenberg – an online library of over 60,000 books in the public domain

Internet Archive – a great resource for obscure books (particularly historical)

Europeana – items from Europe’s galleries, museums, libraries and archives

Digital Public Library of America – similar to Europeana, but for America

Classic Literature – lots of 19th century gothic goodness in particular, but great for all the classics too!

And when it all gets too much and you feel like being your own creeping dread,  Here is a link to a fun game where you can be the rats in the walls. 

[dailyadventureprompts]

New Plane: The Miasmic Plateaus of Leng, 

Setup:  

A realm of dimension hopping smugglers, slavers, madmen and monsters. The gods and planear mages that steward the world of mortals strive to keep Leng’s pollution far from their cosmic shore. Still, some corruption seeps in wherever those with the power to travel beyond their world put a thirst for power above their warryness of poison. 

Adventure hooks: 

In the library of a mad wizard, the party finds a travel journal that speaks of a port full of heretical wonders, of the vast riches to be gained there and the forbidden pleasures to be had. It also contains within it instructions on where to find a portal to such a place. The book has an odd spell, and is greasy to the touch, as if the paper itself was in some way sick. 

People have been disappearing, and an arcanist antagonistic to the party has recently become flush with wealth, throwing blood-red rubies around town as if they were going to spoil. Investigation reveals gangs of hired thugs with magical items intended to let them subdue their victims without a fight, and dealings with abberant slave masters willing to make folk disappear in exchange for chests heavy with the same crimson stones.  

Following sightings of alien creatures having seemingly appeared form nowhere, the party tracks them to the wreck of a strange, black-sailed ship far from any source of water. Within its hold are exotic goods the like of which no local has ever seen,   cages that once contained the beasts, and glimmering star-charts that point the way to an unknown horizon. 

An antiquities dealer has fallen into a fevered sleep after aquiring a strange idol, and her family reaches out to the party’s healer in the hopes that they may be of some aid. Research and divine questioning reveal that her dreaming mind was caught by the net of some astral skiff, and while her spirit languishes in another realm, her body has begun to waste away in the meantime. Rescue will require travel beyond the world the party knows, and into a domain of plagued imagination. 

Background:

Leng is a sour dreamscape, a realm where will becomes reality, but that will belongs to something other than you: old and cruel and diseased.  Its shifting geography is made up of eroded mountain ranges sandwiched between two different clouds of miasmic poison, above and below. In the wide valleys between these islands of relative safety: scouring deserts, oily seas, and gangrenous swamps.  

Civilization clings to what little untainted air it can, with harbors, palaces, fortresses and prisons carved into the yellow-grey rock, each ruled over by whatever tyrant or sinister intelligence can bend the rabble to its cause. Leng is a port of infamy for many worlds, where those of mystic persuasion can rub elbows with fiends, horrors in faltering guises, and sinister divinities unwelcome in more hospitable worlds. 

In all the myriad of planes, Leng is perhaps the one where commerce is at its cruelest. Slavers rip people away from their homes and sell them to otherworldy travelers, and those that fail to find a buyer are locked in chains and forced to quarry rubies from the bleeding foundations of the settlements, where the most profitable veins are flooded with miasma.  Looters sell the wealth and weapons of dead worlds, caring not what damage such cursed relics might do in the hands of another. The markets here hold every corruption and pleasure, and no Taboo is observed. 

Nothing is native to Leng, as any people that dwell within this pestulant realm were either banished here for some awful crime or sought it out to practice worse without the judgement of others. Even the flora and fauna are invasive, brought in by poachers and then escaped or introduced in the ballast of numerous world-hopping ships. 

Leng is the be all, end all of black markets, the one-stop-shop for reckless, worldhoping villains or heroes who tarry too close to the dark.  It is best hinted at mid-way through a campaign, a dirty secret among those knowledgeable about the cosmos, before being introduced as an actual location. The sort of monsters and malefactors who call Leng home are best suited to face off against a high level party with the capability to travel there, but the experience and wisdom to know they shouldn’t 

[thecreaturecodex]

Dream Larva

Image by Matt Mitchell, © Wizards of the Coast

[Commissioned by @coldbloodassassin. Apparently there’s something in the air, because I’m getting commissioned for a lot of dream-themed monsters lately. The dream larva first appeared in the 3.0 Epic Level Handbook, where it was a rather inflated CR 31. Like a number of other ELH monsters I’ve converted, I have toned its CR down substantially.]

Dream Larva CR 19 CE Outsider (extraplanar) This humanoid horror resembles a horned, fanged giant with eight arms. Each hand ends in a claw, each claw more distorted and savage looking than the last. Its body is comprised of writhing maggots woven together into a mostly coherent shape.

Azathoth the Blind Idiot God slumbers in the center of the universe, pacified by the hideous music of piping monstrosities. When this Elder God has a nightmare, it spawns in the deepest reaches of the Dreamlands as a dream larva. Dream larvae prey on dreamers and the natives of the Dreamlands alike, carving out desolate fiefdoms of horror. They can travel into the dreams of individuals, and from there attempt to trick or threaten mortals into summoning them into the Waking World. Such dreams can be triggered by reading certain forbidden and highly censored manuscripts, usually found only in the libraries of the insane and wicked.

Any creature that glimpses a dream larva is momentarily struck by an image of its worst nightmare—most beings viewing a dream larva are immediately struck dead with fright. Those that survive the experience are barraged with real and shadowy summons, torn apart with clawed limbs, or dragged into pocket dimensions of nightmares. A dream larva gains sustenance through the suffering of others, and they enjoy dragging combat out to enjoy the suffering and terror of their victims.

Dream larvae are enemies of all sane life, but find other dream associated creatures, such as animate dreams and niliths, to be suitable vassals and subjects. They have an affinity for undead associated with the far corners of reality. Both devourers and nightshades are found in dream larva courts, although the nightshades typically consider themselves allies, not subjects. Despite their great power, dream larvae have somewhat petulant, needy personalities. They thrive on attention, and the worst thing in existence is someone who isn’t scared of them.

Dream Larva         CR 19 XP 204,800 CE Large outsider (chaos, evil, extraplanar) Init +8; Senses darkvision 120 ft., Perception +32, see in darkness, true seeing Aura cloak of chaos (DC 27), frightful presence (60 ft., DC 30) Defense AC 34, touch 22, flat-footed 25 (-1 size, +8 Dex, +13 natural, +4 deflection, +1 dodge) hp 341 (22d10+220); regeneration 15 (good or lawful) Fort +20, Ref +25, Will +24 DR 15/good or lawful; Immune ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, mind-influencing effects, petrifaction, polymorph, single-target effects, sonic; Resist cold 20, fire 20; SR 30 (35 vs. divinations); Weakness vulnerable to area of effect spells Defensive Abilities amorphous, swarm-like Offense Speed 40 ft., fly 90 ft. (perfect) Melee 8 claws +28 (1d6+7/19-20 plus grab), bite +28 (1d8+7) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks mind trap, worst nightmare Spell-like Abilities CL 19th, concentration +28 Constant—cloak of chaos (self only, DC 27), nondetection, true seeing At will—confusion (DC 23), dream, nightmare (DC 24), prismatic spray (DC 26) 3/day—demand (DC 27), greater shadow evocation (DC 27), quickened haste 1/day—dream travel, shades (DC 28), summon (1 nightwing, 100%, 9th level) Statistics Str 24, Dex 27, Con 29, Int 18, Wis 24, Cha 29 Base Atk +22; CMB +30 (+34 grapple); CMD 53 Feats Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (claw), Lucid Dreaming (B), Power Attack, Quicken SLA (haste), Staggering Critical, Stand Still, Stunning Critical, Toughness Skills Acrobatics +30 (+34 when jumping), Bluff +34, Fly +31, Intimidate +34, Knowledge (arcana, planes, religion) +29, Perception +32, Sense Motive +32, Stealth +29 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Draconic, Sylvan, telepathy 300 ft. SQ compression, no breath Ecology Environment any land or underground (Dimension of Dreams or Leng) Organization solitary or court (1 plus 2-20 animate dreams and 1-6 nightshades) Treasure double standard Special Abilities Mind Trap (Su) A creature that begins its turn grappled by a dream larva must succeed a DC 30 Will save or be sucked into a nightmare realm. This ability functions as the maze of madness and suffering spell, except that the dream larva may select which effect the target suffers from. This is a teleportation effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Swarm-like (Ex) Although a dream larva is a single creature, its body is comprised of hundreds of individual maggot-like entities. It is immune to single-target spells and takes half damage from all slashing and piercing weapons. However, it takes 150% damage from spells and effects that deal damage over an area, and is treated as being Tiny for the purposes of wind. Worst Nightmare (Su) The first time a creature sees a dream larva within 30 feet, it must succeed a DC 30 Will save or momentarily view the larva as its worst nightmare. If it fails this Will save, it must make a DC 30 Fortitude save. A creature that fails this save dies instantly; a creature that succeeds this save takes 3d6+19 points of damage and is sickened for 1 minute. A creature can only be affected by the worst nightmare ability of that dream larva once per day, regardless of whether it passes or fails. This is a mind-influencing, fear, death effect, and can be avoided as if it were a gaze attack. The save DC is Charisma based.

[mymothershumility]

neverflownwithme asked: ❝ unchecked kings start massacres. ❞

past transmissions || { always accepting }

{ @neverflownwithme​ }

When she had first arrived in the capital, she had been intrigued. Intrigued by the new land that she had been allowed to journey to. Intrigued by the family she had never known and now had the opportunity to know in her own time. Laira had been hopeful in what she might find there within the fabled kingdoms where dragons had once conquered and forged a new empire after the Doom.

The Princess should have known better... should have paid heed to the whispers that she’d heard echoing among the halls of the castle.

The King does not venture into the gardens.

Her good-sister had mentioned such a thing to her when they first met. The Queen and her ladies have full reign of the garden, free to mill about as they desire within its guarded walls. The King prefers the shadowed corridors of the library, engrossed in ancient prophecy and myth... plucking at lingering threads intent to fashion himself into a hero that he will never be.

Such thoughts are what press her deeper into the grove, steps quick along the brick pathways. She has already left orders with her personal guards to have her ship ready to sail upon the next tide. Her maids had been packing away her things when she had departed her apartments. When they were finished, she would leave the capital behind.

Back to Jayd, it would seem. Or perhaps to Lys, Yi Ti, or Leng. Anywhere but there. Anywhere but the halls where her brother treaded.

Her thoughts caught in a whirlwind, Laira never registers the sound of someone calling for her. It isn’t until a hand lands upon her shoulder that she realizes she is no longer alone.

A strangled noise escapes her as she whirls to face the individual that has come upon her, body tense and eyes wide. Her hands immediately rise, intent to defend herself should the need arise.

She has already done so that day, has left behind scratches upon another’s neck, a bloodied nose, and a deep bruise across a pale cheek. She will do so again if needed... she will do far worse if needed.

Some of the tension leaves her when she recognizes the person behind her. Lord Stark looks down upon her, hands held before him in a non-threatening manner. His expression is worried, mouth set in a deep frown and brows drawn together.

When he moves to step towards her, Laira flinches. The response is involuntary. It makes him stop, though. Part of her hates that he does.

“Your Grace,” he begins, the words soft. He doesn’t attempt to move closer to her, his eyes darting to the line of her arms. He can see darkened flesh peeking out from the sleeves of her gown. “Are you all right?” he asks her.

The Princess’ gaze follows his, darting down until it settles upon the darkening flesh along her arms. Though she dealt her own retribution in her altercation, she has not escaped the fray unscathed. There will be another bruise, she thinks, atop one of her thighs.

“Did someone attempt to harm you?” Lord Stark asks, eyes darting from her arms to look her over from the top of her head down to the tips of her toes. Save for the bruises, he can see no other signs of harm. Her reactions worry him, though. Perhaps there is something that he cannot see. “Do I need to fetch a maester?” he asks her.

Her head shakes in decline, panic rising up within her for a moment. No one needs to know what has occurred. What would happen if they did?

Not to the King, but to her?

“You have bruises,” he tells her. He still does not move, no matter how much he wishes to. He keeps watch instead, watching the way the Princess’ expression shifts.

The reminder has her flinching yet again, arms lowering so her hands can tug at the sleeves of her gown. “No one can know,” she tells him, her voice low and her eyes falling. There are additional rumors that she has heard about the Red Keep.

No matter where one was, they were always under watch. The castle had eyes and it had ears.

Silence follows her response. Even though her gaze has settled upon the brick pavers beneath her feet, the silence seems impossibly tense.

“Everyone should know.”

The man’s words shock her, have her eyes darting up to stare at him again. There is an understanding reflected in his expression that shocks her. She both loves it and fears it all the same.

“No one can know,” she tells him again, stepping closer to him. There is an urgency in her voice, a pleading. “Please,” the Princess begs him.

Already, Laira knows what would occur should such a story be told. She would be labeled a foreign temptress, one that had been intent to seduce the King away from his Queen the moment she stepped foot upon Westerosi soil.

No one would believe that it had been the King who had played the part of the villain.

“Unchecked kings start massacres,” Lord Stark reminds her.

Truer words have never been spoken. And, yet, they matter little. “Do you believe that anyone in this castle would believe the words of Mad Aerys’ foreign born bastard daughter over the words of their precious Silver King?”

Her answer is not the one he wishes to hear. Laira can tell by the way his jaw tightens. Though he will not say so aloud, he knows her words are true.

When he reaches a hand for her, the Princess stiffens. Yet another involuntary reaction. His touch is soft, though, fingers slipping over her wrist and down beneath the silk of her sleeve. The fabric is pushed up until it is bunched around the bend of her elbow, exposing the full extent of what has been left behind in the midst of her altercation.

The man’s expression darkens all the more when he sees the damage in full.

“My guards and my attendants are preparing my ship to depart upon the coming tide,” she tells him. Laira does not imagine the brief flicker of hurt that she sees cross the other’s face.

Others could not know of what happened, yet she could not linger among the same walls as her brother. Not for another moment.

“To where?” Lord Stark asks.

“Jayd,” she tells him. “Or Lys,” she goes on. Somewhere far from the capital. Somewhere far from the King’s gaze.

“What of White Harbor?” he asks her.

“White Harbor?” the Princess repeats, gaze studying him.

“While at Riverrun, you stated that you wished to see White Harbor as well as Winterfell,” the man reminds her. “The Manderlys are my kin through my older brother’s marriage. They would offer you port there and anything else you might require. It is not so far a journey from the port city to the Northern seat.”

She pauses, considering the implications of the man’s words. Then, the Princess asks, “Were I to journey to White Harbor, would you accompany me?”

“If you would allow me,” Lord Stark says, his fingers ghosting over the bruised flesh of her arm. “I would ask that my sister be allowed to join us as well.” After this discovery, he would not be leaving her behind even among Queen Elia’s ladies. “If not, I shall find passage for us and rendezvous with Your Grace at White Harbor.”

“I would be honored to have you and Lady Lyanna accompany me, my Lord,” she says.

Anywhere to put distance between herself and the King. Anywhere that Hal could still be with her.

[imaginependergast]

New Pendergast newsletter names the new trilogy, plus character paintings.

According to the hot off the servers newsletter I just got, the upcoming trilogy kicked off by Bloodless is going to be the Leng trilogy. With that name I think it's safe to assume that Leng is going to be a major player. I missed the livestream just before the book release so it's thanks to you folks that I knew this was a trilogy (and that kinda moots some of my hot take but whatever) but now we have a title. How are we feeling? Are you guys down for trilogies? In the past the only books I've really enjoyed and re-read from Helen and Diogenes was Fever Dream and Book of the Dead, respectively. I'm a little worried I'm expecting to have similar feelings about this Leng trilogy, but I am hopeful that there's at least one truly excellent addition.

And we have character portraits! Artist Bernard Lee has done character paintings of Coldmoon, Pendergast and Constance and they'll be featured in upcoming newsletter. Coldmoon is the first featured now. The upcoming Pendergast painting will have him in his library at Riverside Drive and Constance will be at her harpschicord.

My two cents on Coldmoon: not too bad. In my head I imagined his skin a bit darker and hair shorter but I don't think it's a bad illustration or super off what I expected. I think I'd have preferred him dressed more casually, instead of his proper fed attire, but I think it's a fine enough piece. It's heads and shoulders above some of the art work that's been around. All in all a good newsletter. Go read it, or subscribe and read it.