Daily Cosplay

Imaginarium ~ Hidden Valleys

Weapon of the Day- Owlbear Spear

So we have a wolf spear in the PHB. However, there never was such a thang as no wolf spear. There were boar and bear spears. These spears were longish, about 5-6 feet in length, fairly hefty and the haft was made of some stout wood. The blades were another for long or so and point or even almost leaf shaped. What makes the bear and boar spare cool are the two nuts coming off the base of the spear.

The nuts were used to keep the charging boar or bear at bay and not move down the shaft of the spear and strike the person holding it. To be effective however the spear would  have to have been firmly grounded - and not into the dirt I would not think. Maybe the bowl of a tree or some such. Earth would be better than nothing but, it is just dirt and a 500lb bear at full charge carries some weight.

anyway boar/bear spear

Now imagine a world full of fantastical beast, immensely strong and hungering for human blood.

And you hunt them!

And there are smiths and metals that rival those found in our world.

So if I were hunting owl bear, I would want some longer nuts on the spear and more of them, with forward facing points as well. The grounding side would have a lug or pick like protusions to help ground it in the earth if necessary.

And longer!!!

Just saying.

Davis

Armor Up (Templar)

I can't remember if I put this one up or not, but if so, it deserves another spot.

Kurt "Darkezekiel" Knittelfelder

Let the Dead Sleep

I don't know why its begun to bug me in recent  years, but all this digging up the dead from the ancient world to study what they ate or how they brushed their teeth is a little bothersome to me. These people have laid at peace beneath the cold earth for hundreds, in some cases thousands, of years. Resting comfortably in the bosom of the earth...for thousands of years at rest...only to be pried out of their repose by some grubby hands and steel bards. Then to be propped up in labs and museums for all to see your final form.

Its just rude.

Let the dead lie.

Let them be still.

In the news today, they unearthed a monk who has been in the lotus position for 200 years, took him to a lab and took pictures of him. I hope he was not communing with his god.

Discovery.

He he is . . .

Movie Trailer ~ The Terminator

Word of the Day -- Peryton

The Peryton is a mythological hybrid animal combining the physical features of a stag and a bird. The

The Peryton is said to have the head, neck, forelegs and antlers of a stag, combined with the plumage, wings and hindquarters of a large bird, although some interpretations portray the Peryton as a deer in all but coloration and bird's wings.

According to Borges, Perytons lived in Atlantis until an earthquake destroyed the civilization and the creatures escaped by flight. A Peryton casts the shadow of a man until it kills one during its lifetime, at which time it starts to cast its own shadow. A Sibyl once prophesied that the Perytons would lead to the downfall of Rome.

Peryton was created and described by Jorge Luis Borges in his Book of Imaginary Beings, using a

supposedly long-lost medieval manuscript as a source.

In Borges' original Spanish edition, the word is given as peritio so the presumptive Latin original would be peritius, which happens to be the Latin name of the fourth month on the ancient Macedonian calendar, (Peritios, moon of January). The connection of this, if any, to the peryton is unclear.

Uh, Guys. Run!

Found on chaoyuanxu.deviantart.com

Daily Cosplay

Well now, Daphne...

Fantastic Hits #1

We released Fantastic Adventure on Monday and it shot to the number 1 slot on both RPGNow and Drivethru RPG. Its consistently stayed there since then. To celebrate we launched a site wide sale on both RPGNow and Drivethru RPG.

Everything is marked down 60%...through Sunday and only through Sunday. Then all the ship rights. So head over get 'em while you can.

Imaginarium ~ Raiders at Dawn

Its Never Good Enough

Astronomers have found a gigantic planet, much larger than Jupiter with a ring system that dwarfs Saturn's. The rings have cloud spaces in them that indicate multiple moons spinning in the rings, much like our own ringed giant.

I wonder if that means that have to reclassify Saturn as a dwarf ring giant.

On yeah, I'm still smarting from Pluto's reclassification. 

Originally delved up at space.com.

© Provided by Forbes Artist’s conception of the extrasolar ring system circling the young giant planet or brown dwarf J1407b. Credit: Ron Miller

Movie Trailer ~ The Seventh Son

Weapon of the Day - Spank you spank me

When I first saw this image

I thought... well, I won't say what I thought.

This is a club/paddle, bladed weapon. Its about 15 or so inches long, made of jade or stone and weighs about 2 pounds I think. The broad end is bevelled sharp - as sharp as jade can get anyway. It is held at the short end and used in thrusting motions or alternately as a clubbing weapon. However, I doubt the clubbing was used as often as jabbing for fear of breakage. They could be made of bone or wood as well.

In combat it is used to strike in jabbing or stabbing motions at vulnerable or soft areas like the neck, ribs or head.

It was used by the Maori of New Zealand.

mere in the background.

I lived with a Maori for a while back in the 80s. That dude was bad ass and knew no fear, funny as a whip and probably got in a fight every weak for a year. He was instrumental in convincing me to join the army.

Armor Up (Orc Hunter)

Max "Amon" Richiero

Indie

So they want to make Chris Pratt the new Indiana Jones...either that or they are just testing the waters with the fake announcement to see how vitriolic the internet can get.

For my part, I'm cool with it. Pratt is a good actor and has a fantastic sense of timing. Check him out in Parks and Rec. He has the ability to do slap stick without it being slap stick, which is what such a role as Indie takes. And that opening sequence from Guardians is really just Indie in space...it was awesome.

What I wish they would do is stop remaking all these movies. I know why they are doing it. They have IP that is huge and can make them tons of money. They can't use the old actors because they are getting on in years. Its the same reason that RPG companies (aside from TLG mind you) release editions. You do a new edition to refresh the IP, tap old and new customers. You release Indiana Jones for the same reason.

Its sort of cool, getting to revisit the movie again...but its not the same movie. It never is. It might be better, it might be worse, but its not the same.

And I'm not criticizing. I think Pratt would make a great Indie, but there are also 400 million other characters he'd be great at...lots of stories out there Hollywood.

Pick one.

Beyond Pluto

As you probably know by now the classification of Pluto has been changed to a dwarf planet. Astronomers have gone on to find more dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt, one of which has been named Ceres.

Here's some video of the little giant...

Word of the Day -- Lake

A lake (sometimes called a loch) is an area (prototypically filled with water, also of variable size), localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land apart from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are also larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams, which are usually flowing. However most lakes are fed and drained by rivers and streams.

Natural lakes are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of the world there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them.

Many lakes are artificial and are constructed for industrial or agricultural use, for hydro-electric power generation or domestic water supply, or for aesthetic or recreational purposes.

The word lake comes from Middle English lake ("lake, pond, waterway"), from Old English lacu ("pond, pool, stream"), from Proto-Germanic *lakō ("pond, ditch, slow moving stream"), from the Proto-Indo-European root *leǵ- ("to leak, drain"). Cognates include Dutch laak ("lake, pond, ditch"), Middle Low German lāke ("water pooled in a riverbed, puddle"), German Lache ("pool, puddle"), and Icelandic lækur ("slow flowing stream"). Also related are the English words leak and leach.

After the End

Daily Cosplay

Crossword Puzzle at Troll Lords!

We've added a new feature to the website today. If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you can join in on our first formal crossword puzzle! Its playable here on line, you never have to leave the Troll Lord website.

www.trolllord.com

Mythic Monsters and Beasts of Legend has some pretty far fetched clues, but some fairly well known beasties. Check it out and see how you fare! First one to finish it gets a signed copy of the Andanuth by Stephen Chenault. Take a screen shot when you are done and fire it over to us here.

Ghostbusters 3 We have a Cast

It looks like they've picked the cast for the new Ghostbusters movie. None of my top picks are on the list and the one person I was hoping to not see in the movie...not because she's not talented, but rather her brand of humor is a far cry from the low key sarcasm that marked the first Ghostbusters. That is not to say that she can't do it either, we'll have to wait and see.

But here ya go: Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon. I have no idea who McKinnon and Jones are, (SNL cast members for sure) and Wiig's done some very cool stuff (loved her in the Secret Life of Walter Mitty), McCarthy was fantastic in that Sandra Bullock movie.

Hopefully they'll make this as good as the first.

Weapon of the Day- Exceedingly Deadly

The Bubonic plague. So the mongols or tartars brought it to Europe through the siege of Feodossia. From thence, it is purported to have spread to Europe killing 20 or 30 or 40 million people. The bodies of those who had died of bubonic plague were routinely used to lob into besieged castles.

Biological war.

This

to this

UFO Files

A fellow in Tennessee had a close encounter of the third kind this past week. He recounts a tale of a mundane drive home that rapidly turned into a wild ride trying to escape two helicopter-like UFOs. His story makes for an interesting read, and you can do that here.

It almost sounds like someone was harassing him with drones, but I'm not sure they have that range. Probably.

Drones will change the landscape a bit, now people will see all kinds of things, and many of them will be drones, flying to and fro.

I need an EMP device for the house.

Armor Up (Anglo Saxon)

Francesco "Franciuus" Farabi

Movie Trailer ~ Fantastic Four

I'm a bit late on this one....

Word of the Day -- Pundit

A pundit (sometimes also called a talking head) is a person who offers to mass media their opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically political analysis, the social sciences, technology or sport) on which they are knowledgeable (or can at least appear to be knowledgeable), or considered a scholar in said area. The term has been increasingly applied to popular media personalities.  In certain cases, it may be used in a derogatory manner as well, as the political equivalent of ideologue.

Not to be confused with the band, Talking Heads

The term originates from the Sanskrit term pandit, meaning "knowledge owner ". It refers to someone who is erudite in various subjects and who conducts religious ceremonies and offers counsel to the king and usually referred to a person from the Hindu Brahmin caste but may also refer to the Siddhas, Siddhars, Naths, Ascetics, Sadhus, or Yogis.

Dragons in Rain

 Ellan-black-Mor

Daily Cosplay

Some Beach, Somewhere

When Did Mr. Hand Come to Be

It would seem that we haven't quite pin pointed when homo sapiens developed precision use with thumb and forefinger...meaning, they can put pressure there. Our neighbors the chimpanzees cannot manage this. Anthropologists have tied it to tool use or climbing trees or both. Tool use appears way before homo sapiens wander on the scene, so its hard to say when it was.

The bone adjusts quickly to new uses...you can see this in archers... so the transition may have been very rapid.