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I have posted a new gallery of public domain fantasy art called, John Anster Fitzgerald takes us to Feyland. Fitzgerald was a Victorian illustrator who specialized in fairies and other fey creatures.
https://gamerplus.org/photo/useralbum/hairylarry/94
After looking at these pictures sound and I started discussing fairytales. Fairytales predate history and yet are still being written in the 21st century, often melded with other types of literature. Click the link to join the discussion.
https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/3306
Please welcome our newest gamer, TabletopBellhop, creator of blogs, vlogs, and podcasts about tabletop gaming.
https://gamerplus.org/user/TabletopBellhop
I hope to chat with you tonight about fantasy literature and gaming. As always, bring your own topic. All gaming is on topic.
https://gamerplus.org/groups/9
Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
hairylarry@curators.mixremix.cc
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com
Caper and Bones found a bench under an oak tree and sat down to rest while Ari and the witch made the squamish salve.
They ground the squamish mushrooms into a paste with wild cherries and sage to make the salve which is good for treating carbuncles and other skin ailments and can also cure light wounds. About 2/3 of the salve filled a jar the witch had set aside so she went and got a smaller jar which she filled and gave to Ari.
With that task done Ari and the witch walked over to Caper and Bones and the witch said, “The items are for the Ogre up in the foothills Northwest of Milyagon. He has been under pressure from orcs and hobgoblins moving in. The branch makes a magic quarterstaff to fend them off and the mushrooms are the important ingredient in a salve for his carbunkles. And the feather? That's for his hat. The Ogre has a magic hat and the owl's feather, willingly given, is a component of the spell. He is smart for an ogre because of the hat so it is very important that the feather in his cap does not become bedraggled.”
Enlightened but still very tired the party made their way back to the inn where they ate a hearty supper and turned in early for the night glad to be sleeping on beds under a roof instead of on the ground under the stars.
#SixWordStories is a thing.
Xan is an expert.
Here’s my first shot at #SixWordStories.
And then the sun went nova.
- by Larry Heyl CC-BY
There’s a website.
And a Flickr group.
https://www.flickr.com/groups/sixwordstory/
Prefaced by “Just as a reminder here is the story that started it all. For sale: baby shoes, never worn. “.
Cross posted from SFF Short Stories.
Tonight the Related To Geeks Book Club will be discussing "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman. Starting at 9:00 PM Central we will be in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord.
Join the group here and help us pick our next three books.
https://gamerplus.org/groups/28
Last Monday on Inspired Unreality Vivian spoke (through a microphone) and we discussed memories of Kendrick.
And there has been a lot of game development going on at Gamer+.
FollowMeAndDie says "My series Roll20 For The Absolute Beginner is linked on the getting started page for Virtual Gary Con!"
https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/2108
DragonMac says "I'm proud to announce that my rpg game system Adventure Maximum is now on sale at DriveThruRPG."
https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/2107
Here's a discussion about DIY card decks.
https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/2104
Stay in touch,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com
Tonight! On Inspired Unreality! It's the Related To Geeks Book Club.
We are reading "The Tower Of The Elephant" by Robert E. Howard. One of the first Conan stories.
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600831h.html
There's still time to read it. It's a short story.
Coming up in February and March we will read.
February 17 - Little Brother by Corey Doctorow
https://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/
March 16 - The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Available on Overdrive and at libraries and booksellers everywhere.
If you have ideas about what you want to read after that we have a group for that.
https://gamerplus.org/groups/28
You are invited to join and participate.
Imspired Unreality is held in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. It's a book club and a podcast so we will be recording.
We posted two podcasts last week recorded on Inspired Unreality.
Related To Geeks - 2019 Geek Agenda
https://anchor.fm/relatedtogeeks/episodes/Related-To-Geeks---Season-2-Episode-5---2019-Geek-Agenda-ea77l4
Ask The Glen anything (about cyberpunk)
https://anchor.fm/dashboard/episode/ea9k16
Back at work organizing If You Play You Win actual play podcasts. Spark wants to run a game. Anyone else?
https://gamerplus.org/groups/26
I now have three Mini Zines up at DriveThruRPG/Fiction. "Just Quest" is a very minimal OSR rule set. "Chaos In The Eye Of God" and "Yon Rogar’s Hat" are super shorts. They're free on DriveThru and on my Mini Zines website.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/15994/MiniZines
https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse.php?author=Larry%20Heyl
http://minizines.cc
What have you been doing? Let me know. Let us all know. Post your links to Gamer+ and I'll include your project in Gamer+ News.
Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com
January 20 - The Tower Of The Elephant by Robert E. Howard
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600831h.html
February 17 - Little Brother by Corey Doctorow
https://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/
March 16 - The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Available on Overdrive and at libraries and booksellers everywhere.
To make suggestions for April, May, and June join the Related To Geeks Bookclub group.
If You Play You Win Monday night!
Swords and Wizardry - Lost Lands
DM SD Houston
Monday, 2019-11-25 6:30 pm
The game is held in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord and is preempting Inspired Unreality this week.
If You Play You Win last Friday night!
We played The Chronicles Of Ember, Mine. We explored. We discovered. We nearly got killed. Some of us did get killed. Fortunately we had a wand of ressurection.
ZDL wrote Fringe Review: Spark, on her blog. She says "This is like RPG meets collaborative fiction with a dash of improv..." I hope she does more Fringe Reviews. Give it a read.
https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/74
On Inspired Unreality, November 18, 2019, Masked and Danger, Vivian, and I discussed Keeping It Real. This may be fantasy roleplaying but the DM and the players can't let it go too far over the edge without ruining the willing suspension of disbelief. A lightly redacted transcript can be found here.
https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/97
Come and play. Come and chat. Write some stuff. Keep us up to date on your games. Promote your products. Spread the word. Stay in touch.
Thanks,
Hairy Larry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com
We discussed:
Universe Unleashed by RobboG
Star Wars: Edge Of The Empire
Dread
ARPGCON
https://tabletop.events/conventions/arkansas-rpg-con
Home School Game Club at Game Goblin
Dragon Truck
Isaac Asimov
Mary Shelley - Frankenstein
Greek Tragedies
Shakespeare
Edward Dunsaney
Gilgamesh
Beowulf
Honor Harrington
Martha Wells - Murderbot Diaries
Isaac Asimov - The Robots Of Dawn
J. Jacques - Questionable Content
https://questionablecontent.net
Chrome
Sylvain Neuvel - Sleeping Giants
Nicky Drayden - The Prey of Gods
China Mieville
Neal Stephenson - Seveneves
Jim C. Hines - Janitors Of The Post-Apocalypse
Ann Leckie - Imperial Radch
Clarks Law - Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Poul Anderson - The Chapter Ends
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41064
Neal Schusterman - Arc Of The Scythe
Yu Godai - Avatar Tuner - Digital Devil Saga
C.S. Lewis - The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe
Pratchett, Gaiman - Good Omens
Chuck Palahniuk - The Fight Club
Tamora Pierce - Tortal
James S.A. Corey - The Expanse series
Nicholas Eames - Kings Of The Wyld
J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit, The Trilogy
David Eddington
Terry Brooks
Jack Vance - The Green Pearl, The Dying Earth
Anthea Sharp - Feyland
Fritz Lieber - Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser
Poul Anderson - The Broken Sword
Fred Saberhagen
Dungeons and Dragons
Edgar Rice Burroughs
L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt
Robert E. Howard - The Tower Of The Elephant
Jon Peterson - Playing at the World
George MacDonald - The Princess and the Goblin
Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels
T.H. White - The Once And Future King
E.A. Wyke-Smith - The Marvellous Land Of Snergs
Capetta, McCarthy - Once and Future
Brandon Sanderson - The Emperor's Soul, Mistborn, Wheel Of Time, The Edgedancer, Steelheart, Skyward
Robert Jordan - Wheel Of Time series
Rick Riordan
Cressida Cowell - How To Train Your Dragon
Hairy Larry's Super Shorts
William King - Trollslayer, Skavenslayer - Gotrek and Felix
David Gemmell - Legend - Drust
Terry Pratchett - Good Omens, The Last Hero, Guards Guards, Tiffany Aching, The Wee Free Men, The Witches, Wintersmith, Equal Rites, Soul Music, The Monsters Regiment, Small Gods, The Luggage, Rincewind, The Hogfather, Mort, Going Postal (books and characters discussed)
Earthbound
Undertale
Neil Gaiman - The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, A Study In Emerald, American Gods
Gene Wolfe
The Wheel Of Time Companion
Max Gladstone - Three Parts Dead
Samuel R. Delaney - Nova
Hillary Bell - A Matter Of Profit
William Morris - The Well At The World's End
Andrzej Sapkowski - The Witcher Series
Douglas Adams
George R.R. Martin - Game Of Thrones
Serpents Fall
caeora.com/product-page/serpents-fall
"Here is the finished Serpents Fall map! The colossal remains of a dead sea serpent, twisted around a few dark rocks and shallows just off shore. When I was making this I imagined that the serpent has been killed by something even bigger in the ocean like a Kraken! And the creepy statue in the top right was brought to the rocks by a kraken worshipping cult, using the blood and organs of the sea serpent for dark rituals."
Caeora will be our guest on the Gamer+ Inspired Unreality open game chat at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord next Monday, August 12, at 9:00 PM Central.
Artwork by Arthur Rackham - public domain
Sweet Mary
by Larry Heyl
Sweet Mary was born in the spring. Her parents were well off and unconventional. Which in itself was strange because Mary was quite conventional. She occupied herself with being a very normal baby until Christmas. Even though she was only nine months old when Kris Kringle came she got a big sparkle in her eye and you could see joy radiate from her and light the room. She was brighter than the tree.
As she grew she remained very conventional. She would read, draw, and walk in the forest. And when Christmas came each year Kris Kringle brought her books, paper, charcoal, crayons, and walking boots. It wasn’t the presents that made her glow. She just loved Christmas in an extraordinary way. It is normal for children to love Christmas but for Sweet Mary her joy of Christmas was unconventionally exuberant.
And so Mary would walk in the woods, reading and drawing, and the years drifted by. Until one fall, at the top of the hill, she found a fairy circle of big beautiful mushrooms and unknowingly she walked through it. She made friends in Feyland, Puck, Took, and Willow. For fairies they were still young and the four of them would romp through the woods playing fairy games almost as if Sweet Mary belonged there. But she loved her parents very much and after a few hours she would always go home. She was still conventional enough not to eat between meals so she could always find the fairy circle and the path back to her house. When she greeted her parents she had that sparkle in her eye they had only seen at Christmas and they very much approved. They quickly grew used to her radiating joy after returning from her walks in the woods.
Then one year she grew up, as girls do, and in the fall when she found the fairy circle she was a maid, even though she didn’t really know what that meant yet. Puck, Took, and Willow knew what it meant and since they were in Feyland it wasn’t long before they were enjoying themselves as fairies do for fairies have no thought for the future and no concerns about morality, they live and love in the present moment only concerned about their own pleasure and enjoyment.
And Mary in Feyland was the same. Conventional no more she also lived for pleasure in the present and greatly enjoyed Puck, Took, and Willow.
When she came home for supper her glow would light the room. Her parents could see she had changed but they were unconventional and left Mary to her pursuits. Mary said nothing of her time in Feyland to her parents. It was her secret.
But when winter came and the fairy circle was gone and her belly began to swell it could be a secret no more. Her mother loved her very much and took her into her confidence explaining the ways of the world to Sweet Mary. But she did not ask after the father because she feared if they found the father he would soon become a husband and take Sweet Mary away. And Mary did not talk about the father either, whether Puck or Took she did not know, and she certainly did not know how do explain her time in Feyland.
In early summer the babe was born and it was a good thing Mary’s parents were unconventional because little Pookie was clearly fey. Her parents were well aware of the dangers of raising a fey child and so they set up all night, every night, taking watches, so the fairies could not steal the babe away. And Sweet Mary, with a babe at her breast forego her trips through the fairy circle, perhaps Puck, Took, and Willow missed her, perhaps not.
In fact, her parents were well pleased with their grandchild. They were unconventional and aware of the fey blood in their own ancestry, weak as it was. They married each other to preserve their heritage and were glad for the fresh infusion of fey blood into their family line. And they were overjoyed when they set up the tree and the babe just smiled and giggled, loving the Christmas spectacle.
So when little Pookie was three and safe from abduction they encouraged Mary to go back to the woods where she once again walked through the fairy circle. Puck, Took, and Willow were most pleased to see her and Sweet Mary once more enjoyed afternoons full of pleasure and companionship. But she said nothing of little Pookie. She had learned, in her life, to keep secrets.
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