Daily Cosplay

Aufstrag & the World of Aihrde

Aufstrag is the iron will of evil. It is a house of terror where dwell the shadows of Darkness, named the Fell Beast, Unklar, the Horned God. From that bastion he ruled the world of Aihrde for a thousand years. Those long centuries saw Aufstrag grow into an edifice like to a mountain and one filled with all the nightmares and shadows of his, nay, the world's despair. Over three thousand feet tall and a thousand wide, it is a catacomb of unbelievable dimensions. Torn from the ruins of glorious Al Liosh, lifted on high by his very might, it stands a heap of slag, dominating the sprawling swamps that cover the ruins of the old world. Aufstrag is like to a tower, but so great its size, it is more like to a fortress, to a city than ought else. But there dwelt the Horned God for his long reign and to it came the damned and he housed them in dungeons of horror and madness. And thus men call it, more than the pit of the Horned God, or his city, or his throne. Men call it Hell, and so it is.

Aufstrag is a multi-level dungeon/city complex that is both huge and ever changing. It is designed for use for any level of play, though low level characters may suffer a higher mortality rate than higher level. Within the tower and city there are hosts of different terrain, from swamps to forests, to streets and because of this any character class is ideal for the setting.

Aufstrag is a city in the world of Aihrde that served as the capital of Unklar's Empire.

The World of Aihrde

ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT!!!!

 

Not Surprising. They Mastered Fire

Somewhere, somehow, one of our ancestors had the thought to take some stick, insert it in a hole in a piece of wood and rapidly rotate it until the friction of it caused a little bramble to light on fire.

That was perhaps the most astounding feet mankind has ever achieved. Everything after builds on that one man/woman's endeavor. The mastery of fire.

The media is reporting what Archeologists have been thinking for  years. Studying the living patterns of early man in several caves of South Africa reinforces the idea that our early ancestors had greater cognitive abilities than one might easily assume. Archeology.

They were living in a cave because they were focusing on mastering fire.

Wizard's Tower

Pretty cool 3d Model Set. Can't find who made it.

Stumbling at the Movies

Young movie goers shied away from the theaters this year, an overall drop in 15% for movie goers 12-24. That's quite a few. The analysts have not quite determined whether it is a content problem, or if younger audiences prefer to stay home and watch the movie on the television, computer, iPad, phone etc.

More than likely it is a combination of both, with a heavy dose of price of movie thrown in. I took one of my youngins to the movies the other day and we spent $40.00 before we even sat down. That's a chunk of money for that. You can rent the movie on any number of platforms for half that, if you wait a few months, you can rent it for 5.00.

Of course I'm not sure how all that pricing would match with tickets 20 years ago. 5.00 was a lot of money in those days . . .  but heck. Its still a lot of money.

Armor Up (Greek Hoplite)

Viktor Osipenko

SETI On the Lookout

SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) has launched a study of 86 candidate planets, searching for radio signals that might be emanating form some of our neighbors. There were over 1200 candidate planets. They picked those that lie in the area that most closely resembles earth…the habitable zone. Using broad bands they attempted to listen to any chatter that might have come from afar. Space.

Nothing yet.

But stay tuned.

Movie Trailer ~ Cinderella Spot 2

Word of the Day -- Morion

A morion is a type of open helmet used from the middle 16th and early 17th centuries, usually having a flat brim and a crest from front to back. Its introduction was contemporaneous with the exploration of North, Central, and South America. Explorers like Hernando de Soto and Coronado may have

supplied them to their foot soldiers in the 1540s.

The crest or comb on the top of the helmet was designed to strengthen it. Later versions also had cheek guards and even removable faceplates to protect the soldier from sword cuts.

The morion's shape is derived from that of an older helmet, the Chapel de Fer, or "Kettle Hat." Other sources suggest it was based on Moorish armor and its name is derived from Moro, the Spanish word for Moor. The New Oxford American Dictionary, however, derives it from Spanish morrión, from morro 'round object'. The Dictionary of the Spanish Language published by the Royal Spanish Academy indicates that the Spanish term for the helmet, morrión, derives from the noun morra, which means "the upper part of the head".

In England this helmet (also known as the pikeman's pot) is associated with the New Model Army, one of the first professional militaries. It was worn by pikemen, together with a breastplate and buff coat as they stood in phalanx-like pike and shot formations, protecting the flanks of the unarmored musketeers.

Someone Found Excalibur

Word of the Day -- Black Eyed Peas

In the Southern United States, eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day is thought to bring prosperity in the new year.

There are several legends as to the origin of this custom.

The "good luck" traditions of eating black-eyed peas at Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, are recorded in the Babylonian Talmud (compiled circa 500 CE), Horayot 12A: "Abaye [d. 339 CE] said, now that you have established that good-luck symbols avail, you should make it a habit to see qara (bottle gourd), rubiya (black-eyed peas, Arabic lubiya), kartei (leeks), silka (either beets or spinach), and tamrei (dates) on your table on the New Year."[citation needed] However, the custom may have resulted from an early mistranslation of the Aramaic word rubiya (fenugreek).

A parallel text in Kritot 5B states one should eat these symbols of good luck. The accepted custom (Shulhan Aruh Orah Hayim 583:1, 16th century, the standard code of Jewish law and practice) is to eat the symbols. This custom is followed by Sephardi and Israeli Jews to this day.

Another suggested beginning of the tradition dates back to the Civil War, when Union troops, especially in areas targeted by General William Tecumseh Sherman, typically stripped the countryside of all stored food, crops, and livestock, and destroyed whatever they could not carry away. At that time, Northerners considered "field peas" and field corn suitable only for animal fodder, and did not steal or destroy these humble foods.

In the Southern United States, the peas are typically cooked with a pork product for flavoring (such as bacon, ham bones, fatback, or hog jowl), diced onion, and served with a hot chili sauce or a pepper-flavored vinegar.

The traditional meal also includes collard, turnip, or mustard greens, and ham. The peas, since they swell when cooked, symbolize prosperity; the greens symbolize money; the pork, because pigs root forward when foraging, represents positive motion. Cornbread also often accompanies this meal.

Happy New Year Everyone! --Tim