Daily Cosplay

Tales from the Table

I played Kain for years. He was a chaotic evil fighter started in 1979 with one of the older versions of D&D, I think maybe AD&D but it may have been one of the boxed sets. All those memories jumble up in my head and Davis pretty much hobbled together whatever he liked from whatever system.

But Kain was a more chaotic than evil. He certainly did evil acts...though never too the innocent, unless one can count abandoning people to their fate as such...it was more just whatever mood struck him, is what he did and that usually led to everyone around him dying in some form or the other.

I do remember once leading a band of brigands over a mountain pass and encountering a paladin. The NPC shouted out at the column about us being the scourge of the good and proceeded to single out one of my men and kill him. I ordered the others, on pain of death, to not interfere and then ordered the column to keep moving on. He fought the one guy and killed him. The took on another and another. the whole time I kept the column moving. We topped the pass after he had killed four or five of the brigands, but he was sorely wounded. I saluted him and rode on.

He did not pursue for his wounds were bad and if I remember his horse was dead.

That was one of the many actions Kain did that made little or no sense.

He was a wild haired, no armor wearing 18th level fighter by the time I quit him. Converted to C&C he is 19th level.

I'm thinking a new look might be in order. I like this one below....

Armor Up

Pegaso Models

5 Cent Movie Review ~ Interstellar

I had the opportunity to watch this movie over this past weekend, and since its been getting a bit of flap, I thought I'd give it my five cents.

A wholly refreshing storyline that takes an old plot (the earth is dying and we have one chance to save it) and binds the journey of the astronauts with home and hearth in a way that is both touching and powerful. An epic journey of space flight and dimension hoping with really cool scenes of deep space. And this is the real joy of the film, the epic journey of its characters, one that brings them across space and time in search of a new home. To the film's credit it spends little time on exposition, because really, the viewer doesn't need it, and it just serves to politicize things. It cuts no corners, gives you the complete story from start to finish, and has two really cool plot twists in it, making it all very cool.

Take an evening and watch the film. Its worth it.

Secret Life of Dragons

Stumbled on this while looking at the dragon prows of Viking ships (see below). Relaxing read for a Friday afternoon. Not sure about the whole comet and dragons thing, but I can see where a comets tail might be mistaken as a magical beast. What did they say in 13th Warrior...the Fire Wyrm?

Article

Now this is an epic dragon. JJCanvas.

Movie Trailer ~ American Ultra

Dragon Prow

Word of the Day -- Squadron

A squadron was historically a cavalry subunit, a company sized military formation. The term is still used to refer to modern cavalry units but can also be used as a designation for other arms and services. In some countries, like Italy, the battalion-level cavalry unit is called "Squadron Group".

In the modern United States Army, a squadron is an armored cavalry, air cavalry, or other reconnaissance unit whose organizational role parallels that of a battalion and is commanded by a lieutenant colonel.

Prior to the revisions in the US Army structure in the 1880s, US Cavalry regiments were divided into companies, and the battalion was an administrative designation used only in garrison. The reorganizations converted companies to troops and battalions to squadrons, and made squadrons tactical formations as well as administrative ones.

Daily Cosplay

Traveling the Dark Road

As noted Auftrag is no simple dungeon or tower complex, occupied by some evil creatures who sought a place to hide their treasures. It was, for a thousand years, the domicile of the Horned God Unklar, one of the eleven named Val Eahrakun. Steeped in spite, his every thought and deed emanated from a malicious design to remake all that was or would be in his own image. His thoughts were black, his voice one of terror, his actions, in all that he did, evil. Unklar spent of himself to make Aufstrag, so that he was a part of it. And it continued to capture the echos of him, so long as he dwelt there. These echos lingered long after his passing, and they remain today.

The darkness in Aufstrag is not as normal darkness one might find under the ground. It is almost palatable. One can feel it as an oppressive weight that bares down upon you. It comes in the form of a mindless fear that creeps around the shadows of one's thought, a tiny voice in the mind, causing alarm. The longer one is in Aufstrag, the heavier the weight of it becomes, and the more raw the fear, the voice of which becomes louder.

Traveling in Aufstrag is difficult. For each day that someone lingers there they must make a successful primary attribute check (CL 10) or suffer from the weight of it. If they succeed there are no ill affects and they gain a bonus 1 to their next day's check, up to a maximum of +5. Paladins gain a +5 on their attribute check and give anyone in the party a +1. If one fails their check, then the fear of Aufstrag has settled into their mind and nothing removes it short of a remove fear or restoration spell, potion, ring, etc. It lingers even after one leaves Aufstrag. This is called the “clinging darkness.”

Aufstrag

No OSHA Here

But lots of Job Security.

Word of the Day -- Little Wattlebird

The little wattlebird, also known as the brush wattlebird, is a honeyeater, a passerine bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is found in coastal and sub-coastal south-eastern Australia.

The little wattlebird is a medium to large honeyeater, but the smallest wattlebird. The appearance is similar to the yellow wattlebird and the red wattlebird. The little wattlebird lacks the wattles which characterize the wattlebirds.

Juveniles are duller with less streaking and have a browner eye.  The little wattlebird is found in banksia/eucalypt woodlands, heathlands, tea-tree scrub, sandplain-heaths, lantana thickets, wild tobacco, parks and gardens.

Action Reel

The Raid 2

Aihrde Map

There are two main maps for the Codex of Aihrde, the defacto setting for Castles & Crusades. The world map, which depicts the entire world and the Lands of Ursal maps, that depicts the area of play that is detailed in the Codex of Aihrde.

We did a kickstarter to bring all these to life not too long ago.

With that in mind we've been  hammering away on the Lands of Ursal map, bringing it up to speed and hopefully print ready in the next week or so, that way we can get it out to backers sooner rather than later.

If you want a nice preview of the world you can pick up one of the remaining copies of the soon to be discontinued After Winter Dark Folio, the precursor to the Codex of Aihrde for 10 bucks.

Armor Up

Norberto Álvarez "Nor"

Cubesats

Tiny satellites designed to achieve low earth entry quickly and efficiently, they are called cubesats.

These are about the size of a shoe box and way about 30 pounds. Once they been sent beyond the atmosphere they deploy four small solar panels that allow them to be self powered. After that they are able to deploy solar sails, about the length of a school bus, and these pick up the solar winds and serve as the devices propulsion system.

Its cost is negligible because it needs no fuel.

Check out this video for a more precise description.

Movie Trailer ~ 7 Minutes

Looks pretty cool!

Good Morning

Daily Cosplay

Muscle Cars

I"m not a big car guy. I drive a truck and I've driven a truck since 1994. I've had three in the space of those 21 years and I pretty much drive them until the fall apart in the drive way...or TLG falls them apart in the drive way.

However I have to say I have an affinity for muscle cars. Those heavy cars with powerful engines that roared onto the stage in the 1970s....the challenger, chevelle, mustang and so on. These cars had heart. They were unrepentant, powerful, unforgiving machines that were nothing less than primeval.

So it is with some joy I've watched their return these past few years

Here's a good read on the return of the Challenger from Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis. It gives some nice perspective.

Here's that unforgettable sound...it sounds hungry.

UFO Files

Jeff informed us that a UFO was taped while I was out this past weekend....

Keep it up Jeff! Keep it up!

They'll be coming to get you next!

Armor Up

Kirill Kanaev

Conan Finds A New Home

All the Robert E. Howard properties have been purchased from Paradox Entertainment by the owner of Cabinet Holdings, which paradoxically is owned by the old owner of Paradox Entertainment. So he acquired his properties from a few years ago. 

I'm not even sure what any of this means. 

I wish to god that someone would get those properties and try to make a move based on a Howard short story. Also put out a nice hardback collection of his stories. Also, his other stories too.

While your at it, I don't know, do something cool with the Howard properties and name. 

Movie Trailer ~ Point Break

Word of the Day -- Rebus

A rebus is an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. It was a favorite form of heraldic expression used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames.

For example, in its basic form, three salmon (fish) are used to denote the surname "Salmon". A more sophisticated example was the rebus of Bishop Walter Lyhart (d.1472) of Norwich, consisting of a stag (or hart) lying down in a conventional representation of water. The composition alludes to the name, profession or personal characteristics of the bearer, and speaks to the beholder Non verbis, sed rebus, which Latin expression signifies "not by words but by things".

Well Fancy That

It took me a few minutes to see them.

Stormy Weather Socking in the Dens

Bad weather is keeping the Troll Lord hunkered down in the Dens this morning.  That new fangled thing called electricity is not working so the blog will be delayed.  ~ Tim

Daily Cosplay

Mummified Alien Childs

Early on in May there was a UFO conference in Mexico City where a researcher revealed several pictures of a body that he claimed were found in the trunk of a car and purported to be pictures take of a mummified alien corpse. The two images are supposed to be taken in 1947 and presumably from the Roswell site.

The announcement caused a bit of the a stir in the UFO community, hoped for evidence type thing, but that didn't play out once the photos went public as people almost immediately dismissed it as fake.

It doesn't look anything more than a child's body, maybe a mummy from long ago. Regardless its a shame people do this, it doesn't help the truth.

Cool Batmobile

However cool you think your car is, its not going to be as cool as this.

Climb Higher

Well That Seems Rude

Davis Letterman called it quits this week, or last, and wandered on to whatever pasture he finds most warming. But his set, an iconic part of TV for decades, was hauled off and throw in the dumpsters. Most of it anyway, seems that some bits and pieces were saved.

Seems that an auction would have reaped NBC some kind of reward for the set. Surely some fan somewhere would have wanted that, paid top dollar and paid for the shipping.

Such is the life.

More pictures.

Armor Up

Andreas -Feanor- Pettau

Old Tools Are Us

Archeologists have found fabricated stone tools that pre-date modern humans. The thought process has been that tool use, at least fabricated tools, were the domain of the genus homo. But this kind of sets that concept on its ear.

I remember watching a video of chimpanzees where the chimp took this branch, stripped it of leaves and then slipped it into a termite mound. The termites cling to the the stick and they pull them out and eat them. 

You can see that here, it starts about 3.18

So the idea that another genus was actually making tools before our own isn't that surprising. Heck maybe we were like the Ottoman Turks, they were masters as adapting an enemies weapons for their own use that they conquered the Easter Med, perhaps our own ancestors saw some knucklehead making tools and stole the idea!

Movie Trailer ~ Cooties

Okay. This one for the win.

Word of the Day -- Opah

Lampris guttatus, commonly known as the opah, cravo, moonfish, kingfish, and Jerusalem haddock, is a large, colorful, deep-bodied pelagic lampriform fish belonging to the family Lampridae, which comprises the genus Lampris, with two extant species.

It is a pelagic fish with a worldwide distribution. While it is common to locations such as Hawaii and west Africa, it remains uncommon in others, including the Mediterranean. In the places where L. guttatus is prevalent, it is not a target of fishing, though it does represent an important commercial component of bycatch. It is common in restaurants in Hawaii. In Hawaiian longline fisheries, it is generally caught on deep sets targeting big-eye tuna. In 2005, the fish caught numbered 13,332. In areas where the fish is uncommon, such as the Mediterranean, its prevalence is increasing. Some researchers believe this a result of climate change. Much is still unknown about the distribution, interactions, life histories, and preferred habitats of this fish and other medium to large-sized pelagic fishes.

In May 2015, it was shown to maintain its entire body core above ambient temperature, becoming the first known fish with this trait ('whole-body endothermy'). It can consistently keep its body core approximately 5 °C (9.0 °F) warmer than its environment.  So the question remains.  Is it an

or