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hairylarry
Schedule shift for the New Year.

Inspired Unreality open game chat will be held on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month at 11:00 AM to Noon, Central Time.

The Holidays may be over for you but we've got one more Holiday to go. We have a birthday party on January 14, so Inspired Unreality will resume starting on January 28.

If You Play You Win actual play will be held on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays at 1:00 in the afternoon at Eclectic Geekery and on the internet. Some days we will be Cozy Adventuring In Tobbins Shire. Some days we'll have a one off with guest DMs. Some days I'll be livestreaming chill jazz piano in Beatles Park. On those days we will skip the actual play.

We hope to resume If You Play You Win in February depending on the weather and the Covid stats. If You Play You Win is also subject to Eclectic Geekery availability so, as always, we will send a Gamer+ News announcing our events.

In my other newsletter I discuss Bebop Beatniks new album, "Church".

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4998

I also talk about it some on my podcast, From The Archives Of Something Blue.

https://sbblues.com/2022/12/31/dj-hairy-larry-presents-bebop-beatniks-playing-gotta-lotta/

I got a nice Christmas present from my granddaughter, DM Lizard.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4997
https://gamerplus.org/user/SearchingForGyphons

Did you ever want to run an adventure in colorful mountains? Here's a photo gallery of free culture and creative commons photos taken right here on Earth.

https://gamerplus.org/photo/useralbum/hairylarry/138

Please forward this email to your gaming friends and share this link.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/997

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

hairylarry
As always, changes are afoot.

When we started doing Inspired Unreality open game chat every week we were younger. And yet, somehow, even though we're retired, we now have more responsibilities. So we're going to have to scale back.

Instead of weekly we are moving to twice a month. On the first Saturday we will discuss fantasy and science fiction. On the third Saturday we will continue questing in Milyagon or Tobbins Shire.

So, tomorrow is the third Saturday and we will be questing. Please join us to play or just stop on by to say hi and chat for a few minutes. We're always glad to hear from you.

Inspired Unreality is held in the gamerplus chat rooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. There's more info and a link here.

https://gamerplus.org/index

Eclectic Geekery has changed their hours. And, starting in November they will have Holiday hours and be open every day except Monday.

https://eclecticgeekery.com/

You may have noticed that they are opening on Saturdays at noon now instead of 10:00 AM. So, Inspired Unreality will no longer be hosted at Eclectic Geekery for our quests.

We will, however, do other projects with them in the future. What exactly that will be, we shall see. Our daughters run the store and I am committed to resuming our visits after the current surge dies down.

FollowMeAndDie posted about the Gateway To Adventure Trilogy For Old-School Essentials Kickstarter.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4888

And Blues Fest is back. On October 9 at the Craighead Forest Bandshell my friend Doug Butler is continuing the Blues Fest tradition. We don't have a full schedule yet but I will be playing chill jazz piano as well as with my family band, Hairy Larry and The Flying Hungarians. I will post the full schedule and more details in the next Gamer+ News.

Which will be in two weeks. Because Gamer+ News is going on a twice a month schedule too. We will continue to remind you of Inspired Unreality on the Friday before we gather together to chat and play. So, see you there. Saturday September 17, at 11:00 AM. This is your reminder.

Please forward this email to your gaming friends and share this link.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/989

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

hairylarry
Well ... we missed last week. Our water heater broke and our daughter and son in law were here helping us put in a new one and by the time we were done we missed.

So. This week on Inspired Unreality our topic will be fantasy and science fiction kicked back one week. Please join us to discuss this niche that now dominates popular entertainment.

Inspired Unreality is held every Saturday morning at 11:00 Central in the gamerplus chat rooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. For more info and a link go here.

https://gamerplus.org/index

While browsing tumblr I found some more great fantasy artwork. Here's a link to a link.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4885

Even though we missed last week we did discuss science fiction. My daughter read a column she had written about a generational shift away from personal contact where younger people prefer to order for themselves in an app rather than call in an order and talk to a person.

That reminded me of my super short.

AI Autocomplete
by Larry Heyl CC-BY

In the future everyone will have AI Autocomplete, first for writing, then for talking. The AI will be so good that it soon starts guessing right 100% of the time. People select the Just Say It For Me option since their AI Autocomplete always guesses right.

This is the future of humanity, packhorses for AI Autocompletes talking to each other.

Or is it already happening now?

https://sffshortstories.com/?x=entry:entry180208-201254

Click the link for some great artwork that really fits the story well.

Please forward this email to your gaming friends and share this link.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/988

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

hairylarry
Inspired Unreality! Open game chat. Saturday morning at 11:00 Central. Bring your own topic. All gaming is on topic.

Inspired Unrealiy is held in the gamerplus chat rooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. Go here for more info and a link.

https://gamerplus.org/index

Next Saturday the topic will be fantasy and science fiction.

We had family game last Saturday with DM Carl, Courtney, Emily, Connor, Hairy Larry, and Vivian. I was having too much fun gaming with my grandkids to follow Vivian's lead into a much more creative ending. She was Clair the Cleric and she was converting the Spider Monsters. But we killed them first.

Not really my style. I find dice marathon combat boring but like I said I was right in there with the rest of the fighters. I do have to say the spiders had kidnapped the farmers son. They weren't really good spiders. But I need to pay closer attention to Vivian's lead. She comes up with the best stuff.

I'm back in school with three projects under way.

I am rehearsing for a jazz recital with five of my original songs. Bebop Beatniks at the Craighead Forest Bandshell. We will be livestreaming the band rehearsals and the performance plus videos and an album. At least that's the plan.

I wrote two woodwind quintet pieces last term and the Astate woodwind quintet, the Howling Winds, is going to play them. They have a bari sax instead of a bassoon so that will take a few adjustments.

We are working with the trombone studio this term as part of our composition lessons. I'm going to do an arrangement of "Bunnies" for a jazz band with a trombone front line.

Exciting!

Talking to Megan she told me many indie authors are doing audiobooks of their own work and posting them on Youtube. So I thought I could do that with my stories. I could even take some printouts along when we're Guerilla Livestreaming Scenic Northeast Arkansas and Guerilla Livestream some audiobooks.

Fun!

What have you got in the oven? Inquiring minds want to know. My contact info is below or better yet post to Gamer+.

Please forward this email to your gaming friends and share this link.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/984

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com



hairylarry
Join us for open game chat on Inspired Unreality, Saturday morning at 11:00. This week it's bring your own topic, all gaming is on topic. Sometimes we write dice tables. Sometimes we just chat.

Next week we'll be adventuring in Tobbins Shire again at Eclectic Geekery in Walnut Ridge. This is a hybrid game played around the table and on the internet. Turns out the technical side of this may be easier than I thought. We shall see.

Inspired Unreality is held in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. For more information and a link go here.

https://gamerplus.org/index

Last week we discussed fantasy and science fiction, mostly fantasy. This week I've been reading Science Fiction, "The Calculating Stars" by Mary Robinette Kowal, winner of the Hugo and Nebula best novel awards in 2019. It's an alternate history based on space exploration and it is also an experiment in writing old school science fiction assuming that the novel is contemporaneous with the story. It's been very interesting and like all great science fiction it deals with a lot of difficult social questions concerning America then and now.

I continue working on "The Story Of Mister MistMeister And His Many Transformations" proofreading for typos and doing minor rewrites for clarity. Here's the link to the pdf files.

https://hairylarryland.com/milyagon/

I timed it last night and it takes a half hour to read aloud. Great story with a lot of humor and you can clearly see the game behind the adventure.

Saturday NEA Gamers Guild is holding a library game day in Jonesboro and Sarah and Kier will be helping with that while Megan holds down the fort at Eclectic Geekery. I am looking forward to visiting with family both this Saturday and next when we'll take the drive to Walnut Ridge for more visiting and Just Quest.


https://www.facebook.com/events/1176261366287803


https://www.minizines.cc/flat/?x=entry:entry200105-065552

https://eclecticgeekery.com/

Please forward this email to your gaming friends and share this link.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/982

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

hairylarry
Saturday morning at 11:00 Central we will be chatting about Fantasy and Science Fiction on Inspired Unreality. And have I got stuff to talk about. I just finished a TOR Anthology of short stories. Now, for me, novels are too short. I need at least a trilogy to get excited. But I really liked this collection, Some Of The Best Of tor.com 2021.

And then they hit me with a free Brandon Sanderson Wayne and Wax novel, "The Alloy Of Law". And coming out in November, "The Lost Metal" will conclude the Wayne and Wax series.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4862

Inspired Unreality is held every Saturday morning at 11:00 Central in the gamerplus chat rooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. For more info and a link go here.

https://gamerplus.org/index

I also want to mention that "The Sandman" by Neil Gaiman is on Netflix.

Vivian and I started our Tobbins Shire campaign in February and it was so much fun it turned into a monthly feature on Inspired Unreality. In May we moved our table to Eclectic Geekery while still maintaining our presence in the gamerplus chat rooms. And last month we finished our first story arc.

So I took all of the session summaries and background info and turned it into a 16 page booklet, "The Story Of Mister Mistmeister And His Many Transformations". It's a hoot!

Just today I added Acorn People illustrations by Dubanci. Here's his website.

https://dubanci.cz/

And here's a link to the pdf files for the booklet and, if you can't print duplex or want to read online, to an 8 1/2 x 11 version.

https://hairylarryland.com/milyagon/

Please share "The Story Of Mister Mistmeister And His Many Transformations" by forwarding this email to your gaming friends and sharing this link.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/981

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

hairylarry
It's open game chat on Inspired Unreality Saturday morning at 10:00 Central. Bring your own topic. All gaming is on topic.

Inspired Unreality is held every Saturday at 11:00 AM Central in the gamerplus chat rooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. For more information and an invite link go here.

https://gamerplus.org/index

Next week is the first Saturday in August so we'll be discussing Fantasy and Science Fiction.

For an opening topic this week I am turning to "The Wizard and the Djinn", a setup for a D&D one off that I wrote almost 2 years ago.

https://sffshortstories.com/?x=entry:entry201125-112710

I don't really write modules. I do a setup, then goals, and I try to have assets ready, like pregens, NPCs, monster stats, maps, and pictures, to keep the gameflow smooth. I think it's more fun if the PCs determine the arc of the quest with their decisions in game.

So, we can chat about this awhile and then move right along to your favorite prepared or unprepared topic.

Here's a nice painting of Neil Gaiman and a link to his free short stories on the internet.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4856

And I found some acorn illustrations for "The Story of Mister MistMeister and his Many Transformations". I think I've got everything I need but we'll see when I do the layout. In addition to my blog post I'm going to do a PDF file that will print a pamphlet with all the text and illustrations.

https://gamerplus.org/photo/useralbum/hairylarry/127

I love this stuff.

Please forward this email to your friends that love this stuff and share this link.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/979

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

hairylarry
In Tobbins Shire there are Tobbins and Mubbins and Muffens plus an occasional Baggins or Took. It is a trading Shire, on the river, with docks, warehouses, and stores. On one street there are big houses for biguns whose kids like swimming in the river off the docks. Some of the Tobbins, Mubbins, and Muffens join them but you won't catch a Baggins or a Took in the water.

Mr. MistMeister
---
Ari and Caper run across Mr. MistMeister, a dangerous water elemental, on a hike outside of Caper's Shire.

Before he was Mr. MistMeister he was a water sprite. One day when he was flying a potion maker, greatly afraid, threw a potion of gaseous form on the sprite. The combination of magicks locked the elemental into it's gaseous form and Mr. MistMeister was born.

He used to enjoy coralling loads of fish into fishermen's nets so they became so heavily laden that they would break or even capsize the fishing boat. In his mist form he has been corraling people by showing them abandoned houses from the past and luring them into his misty form. He is not evil. He just does what he does because he doesn't know what else to do. He could be convinced to take up another avocation but he can only be destroyed with very high level magic that counters both the potion and fey magic at the same time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:August_Malmstr%C3%B6m_-_Dancing_Fairies_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Pictured is Dancing Fairies painted in 1866 by the Swedish painter August Malmström. Unlike the faires pictured Mr. MistMeister cannot return to the water but is locked above ground as a mist.

Background material above was written by Larry Heyl aka DM Hairy Larry


Cast Of Characters
---
Ari is a human healing sorceress who is bossy and good at reading people.
Caper Tobbins is a halfling bard who is likable.
Tude is Ari's pet wildcat who is protective and obnoxious.
Clairen is a friendly bouncy dwarf.
Edge Bravestone is a cautious, friendly fighter.
Wyleth is a soldier who was raised on a farm.
Snurgi Snurgison is a dwarf who is a fighter and a poet.

In The Shire
---
Ari is Vivian's PC
Tude is Ari's pet wildcat and also Vivian's PC
Caper is a Larry's DM PC
---
At Inspired Unreality Ari and Caper visit the Shire. So now we have a Milyagon Shire and we'll have to place it on the map. Probably through Wilken Woods and across the river.

We used Shire friendly dice tables found in the Hearth & Hillside Home.pdf, a name your own price download.

https://weirdandblue.itch.io/hearth-and-hillside-home



Caper's Hobbit Hole


First we rolled up elevenses from the Sweet Treats table. Caper rolled Tart rhubarb pie with clotted cream and an extra flavour that everybody either loves or hates and Ari rolled Sticky honeycomb fresh from the tallest oak this side of Woolshod Hill which Caper had recently rescued from the bees.


As a good hobbit would, Caper suggested they follow up on elevenses with Breakfast for Dinner. Caper rolled Spicy sausages with flavours from the distant empire of Man and Ari folllowed up with a still-twitching boiled crab that always goes for the nose. So sausages and crabs it was after Caper detwitched the crab with a single blow.

Unable to eat any more Caper suggests a walk through the woods to enjoy the sun. Before they get out of town they meet weary halfling travellers trekking into town wearing the scandalous fashions of a distant March. In fact their garb is brightly colored and entirely inappropriate for the shire. They said some fairies had played a trick on them changing their sensible clothes for this rubbish.

Ari escorted them into a second hand clothes shop where, Mr. Muffen, the owner assured them all he could arrange an exchange for more suitable attire knowing that the brightly colored clothes would sell well when caravans of humans passed through town. No accounting for the tastes of humans. Brightly colored scarves just assure that you'll be seen in the woods.

After walking a short way out of town Ari and Caper met A well-groomed pony with courtly ribbons, plodding under the weight of a pompous Shirrif and his tall feathered hat.

The Shirrif was complaining about the fairies who he said, "Tied the ribbons to my pony and gave me this stupid hat. Caper said Mr. Muffen will trade that hat for a better one and he probably knows where you could trade the pony for a sturdier horse. They talked on for a while, as one does well met in the woods, and then Ari and Caper continued their hike while the Shirrif plodded on to town.

The Rescue
---
Ari is Vivian's PC
Tude is Ari's pet wildcat and also Vivian's PC
Caper is a Larry's DM PC
---
Last week the Shirrif was plodding on to town and Ari cast detect magic on him. All the ribbons on his pony as well as his hat and the feathers in his hat glowed with fey magic. Caper thought, "Interesting" and he also thought the Shirrif's stout little pony might make a good gift for the Jenkins kids.

Ari explains aura colors to Caper. Red means blood, white means blind or a child, no aura means the human doesn't care about colors. Ari said the Shirrif had no aura which didn't surpise her.

They continue along the trail and coming to the top of a ridge they see mist filling a field that opens up before them, evening light glinting off the dewy roof of a distant cottage. (from Scenery On Your Long Treks d12 table)

They walk through the field towards the cottage and Ari, feeling like something might be wrong here recommends caution. Tude's fur ruffles up on the back of his neck, a sure sign of danger.

Caper suggests they drink some farseeing tea so they can see through the windows from a safe distance. He quickly gathers twigs and builds a fire boiling water in the teapot from his hiking pack. Ari sprinkles in some of the tea and Caper tends the pot while Ari looks around, wondering.

Caper pours two small cups and Ari without thinking stirs her tea with the silver wand from the fairy, King Groad, that enhances teas and potions. After putting out his fire Caper is quickly running about exploring the house through the windows and open door from a distance of about 100 feet. He can tell the house is empty and in some disrepair.

Ari, however sees something completely different. Lost in the mist are human men, women, and children. Ari starts making notes in her notebook for future reference.

She glances up and notices Caper sneaking into the house with Tude following ready to protect him. In the cottage Caper finds a lavishly illuminated tome chronicling a time when the Commonwealth was a wild land of barrow-kings and bigfolk. (from the Heirlooms Of The Estate d10 table)

He can't wait to show Ari the book and rushes out to her. Ari glances at the book but she is more concerned right now with the lost souls in the mist. She describes them to Caper who can't see them.

Ari suggests that Caper finishes the tea and gives it a stir with her silver wand. Caper chugs tea straight out of the cold pot and now Caper sees the people too. Ari asks if Caper has brandy and Caper grins tapping his hiking pack.

Ari thinks the minimal amount will help Caper move the people out of the mist and away from here. Caper says he'll take the minimal amount which is usually one good chug followed by another. Ari says take half the minimal amount and then lead the women and children out because we don't want a lot of dead bodies which is where this could go.

So Caper takes a wee nip and then starts playing his flute and dancing with the children in the mist. When he leads them across the field they follow enchanted by his flute. The women follow the children and the men follow the women and soon Caper has them all heading across the field toward the path with Ari and Tude bringing up the rear.

There are seven kids, five women, and six men that follow them out of the mist. Some of the men are younger, without whiskers yet, but full grown.

Ari now sees from the trail another even bigger cottage across the road that is also unlived in.

The people still have no clue about where they are. Some of them gripe and complain about the people running a village. They all calm down and start to get along after fussing awhile. Caper says the fussing is a good sign that they have returned to normal. Big folk are always fussing.

Ari is determined to make sure that the people she's with go a different direction. She's afraid of danger to them. They could be hurt, killed, or locked up.

Caper wants to examine this bigger cottage on the other side of the path. He can't wait to see if there are more books for Ari stuck up on a shelf somewhere. He still feels the effects of the farseeing tea and he's checking out what he can see from here on the trail.

Fey Enigma
----
Ari is Vivian's PC
Tude is Ari's pet wildcat and also Vivian's PC
Caper is a Larry's DM PC
---
After the eighteen people who had been trapped in the mist recovered their senses Caper and Tude looted the big house across the road and (after rolling another one on the Heirlooms table) he found another book. This looked to be a book of Kings with pictures of Kings surrounded by text. It's very fancy. Caper grabs it and takes it back up the hill to Ari. Tude nuzzles Ari's hand.

Caper shows Ari the Book of Kings and Cyndre, the lady boss of the rescued humans, pops over to look. She says, "Oh, aye! I ken him. Old King Cartyr, he died last year."

Ari and Caper look at each other and Caper says, "King Cartyr is legendary. He died 400 years ago."

Cyndre looks up noticing details in Ari's clothing she hadn't see before. Finely woven cloth with rows of silver buttons. She also notices Caper's well made boots, made by the cobbler at Tobbins Shire. She bows to Ari and says, "Sorry, my lady, but I worked in King Cartyr's Castle and he died just last year.

400 years ago, Cyndre and her party left Tobbins Shire and when they crested a ridge they saw a beautiful field covered in mist with an abandoned farmhouse. When they went to see the farmhouse they walked through the mist and that's the last they remember until Ari, Caper, and Tude led them out of the mist and back up to the road.

Ari and Caper have a short confab and decide that there's nothing for it but to take these people back to the shire.

Caper shouts, "Time to eat", thinking they must be hungry if they haven't dined in 400 years and he takes off down the road back to Tobbins Shire singing a merry tune. With Ari's encouragement they follow and Ari and Tude bring up the rear being careful that no children stray from the path.

When they get to the shire Caper takes them all to the Inn where they have a hearty stew. The rescued people still don't believe 400 years passed but they can tell that things are much different then they were when they left Tobbins Shire, as it seems to them, just this morning.

Caper arranges for rooms and breakfast. The Inn only has five man size rooms so the two families take a room and the others bunk up 2 or 3 to a room.

Caper takes Ari aside and says, "It's not too late. Let's check Muffens Used Clothes and see if he bought that hat."

They enter the shop and Caper makes inquiries. "Yes, indeed,' says Muffens, "the Shirrif did come by and I bought his hat." Caper asks the price and pays 4 silver without bartering which kind of bothered Muffens. He's never know a Tobbins to pay asking price once in his life.

Caper also asks about the pony. "Ah yes," said Muffens, "I directed him to Old Took on the south road not a mile from the shire. He may have sold it there. I tell you he looked a sight on that poor little pony."

Caper, thinking of the Jakobs kids and those magic ribbons decided to check on the pony in the morning. Ari and Caper continued on to Caper's Hobbit Hole where they had a nice repast of crab, mutton, and vegetables and decided to end their adventure for the day.

Caper's Pony
---
Ari is Vivian's PC
Tude is Ari's pet wildcat and also Vivian's PC
Caper is a Larry's DM PC
---
At Inspired Unreality Ari and Caper once again adventured around Tobbins Shire. Ari enlisted the help of Dood a th Wood (pronounced Dude ah th Wude) to divine the spells on the hat and the feather. The feather is a large owl's feather, probably from Wilken Woods and it is enhanced with fey magic to be a magic augmenter. The hat makes the wearer lighter. The hat takes 25% off and with the feather 50%.

They went to see old Took where Caper bought the pony with the magic ribbons and also bought some light tack for the pony.



Caper's Pony


Then back to the Inn to see the people they rescued. They now realize they have been thrust 400 years into their future and are at a loss. Ari suggests they make furniture since antique furniture from their era is valued. Turns out a couple of the men are furniture makers and most of them have carpentry experience. They decide to go into business making genuine reproductions with the slogan, hands from the past.


The Ghost Of The Shire
---
Ari is Vivian's PC
Tude is Ari's pet wildcat and also Vivian's PC
Caper is a Larry's DM PC
Clairen is Liz's PC
---
Adventuring in Tobbins Shire at Eclectic Geekery

Our granddaughter Liz joined Vivian and myself at Eclectic Geekery to play Just Quest. She's playing a dwarf, Clairen, who is friendly and bouncy.

We woke up in Caper's hobbit hole and had a fine breakfast. Roughly-chopped turnips, baked crispy brown and served with a selection of chutneys. Also Beastie-shaped roast veggies that create visions of long-forgotten magic.

Then Caper served a sweet treat, A suspensefully swaying tower of sponge cake, liqueur, orange pieces and custard, topped with a layer of syllabub cream. (Now if I just knew what syllabub is)

Clairen wanted to head to town and make new friends so off we went. On the way we met Pogbert Piper blowing spectacular smoke rings in his garden. His smoke looked like soot from a roaring black hearth.

We all heard the ghost of the shire making smart ass comments about the game. (When we are playing in Tobbins Shire and a non player kibitzes they are providing the voice of the ghost of the shire.)

Not to be outdone Caper asked Pogbert  for a pinch of bacca and he started blowing smokerings resembling long-gone monsters. He blew a huge ring which floated above their heads and then he blew a Gryphon that flew through the center of the ring.

Caper played a merry jig on his flute and every one was tapping their feet or hoeing in time to the music except Clairen who was bouncing up and down.

Then on to town and a visit to Mr. Muffen's second hand store. Clairen bought a yellow headband. Caper bought a black saddle for his pony. Ari looked at a brown saddle for her brown horse streaked with white but she wasn't convinced she needed it. Then back to the hobbit hole to try out the saddle. When they passed Pogbert Piper's garden he was nowhere in sight. Probably inside for elevenses, which made Caper start to think about what they would eat for elevenses when they got back home.

Acorn People
---
Ari is Vivian's PC
Tude is Ari's pet wildcat and also Vivian's PC
Caper is a Larry's DM PC
Clairen is Liz's PC
Edge Bravestone is Anthony's PC
---
Acorn People and Mister MistMeister

Adventuring in Tobbins Shire at Eclectic Geekery on June 18, 2022

On their way back from Mr Muffen's Second Hand Store Ari, Caper, and Clairen met Edge Bravestone, a cautious fighter. Caper said "Well met" and invited him to his hobbit hole for elevenses. They had a floral mix that, when steeped, thickens the air with love and tea infusing aromas from across the Four Marches.

Caper mentioned that he had heard of an interesting tree across the river in Wilken Woods and when everyone said they were up for a hike anyway off they went.

They took a short cut along the riverbank and soon were crossing the bridge and entering Wilken Woods, a magic forest. Ari and Caper had been to the tree before so Caper led the way, a little over a mile on the road and then a slight veer to the north following a barely used woods trail.

Soon they came to a large oak tree with some owls perched in the upper branches and acorns covering the ground. Caper gathered a bunch of acorns in a pile and stirred them with his finger and up popped an acorn man who said, "We are acorns from the sentient oak. When met with intelligent interest we wake up and talk. The sentient oak can talk too but time runs slow for him. We acorns can understand him but other living creatures cannot."

Caper continued talking to the acorn man and Ari, Clairen, and Edge gathered acorns together. Soon they were all talking to acorn men.

After talking about the tree, the owls, and everything (including fairies) Caper's acorn man stepped to the fore. He said, "We need your help. There is nothing we would like more than to lay on the ground and wait to be an oak tree. But acorns lying in the shadow of a sentient oak cannot grow. The owls sometimes help by carrying acorns or acorn men to other parts of Wilken Woods but they never cross the river. We would like to expand our horizons and answer our constant conundrum, which came first, the magic forest or the sentient oak trees?"

Caper said, "I know just the spot.", turning to Ari, "Remember the hill above the mist where we rescued those people from the past?"

Ari agreed that the hill would be more than suitable. Caper said, "We have some unfinished business there too and maybe we can make the misty valley safe with the help of Clairen, Edge, and our new friends, the acorn people.

So each of them carried an acorn man on their shoulder and trekked back to Tobbins Shire and then up the road leading to the misty valley.

When they got to the top of the hill they could see the mist in the valley below and the two ancient houses on either side of the road. The acorn men loved the spot and they jumped onto the ground and ran in different directions looking for a nice place to lie down and wait to be an oak tree.

Caper filled everyone in on the danger of the mist while he started boiling water for tea.

"Ari and I drank this tea before and then we braved the mist and pulled about 20 humans out and guided them to the top of the hill. They wandered into the mist 400 years ago and when we brought them out it was still the same day to them. It wasn't until the next morning that they began to believe they were 400 years in the future."

Everyone wanted to solve the mystery of the mist and dispell the danger.

Ari pulled out a bag of tea and four cups. Caper made the tea and poured it. Ari stirred each cup with the silver wand King Groad had given her in feyland. Caper added a drop of Brandy.

"So drink this down." said Caper, "It's not safe in the mist and we don't want to be waking up 400 years in the future, if we're lucky enough that someone comes to rescue us."

Ari said, "The tea protects against fey magic and when enhanced by the fey magic in the silver wand it is very powerful protection, indeed."

When the party entered the mist it was Edge Bravestone that started a conversation, calling out to the mist believing there was a persona involved.

The mist was soon showing multiple faces and waving hands. Although his conversation was disjoint and punctuated with oooos and ahhhs here's the essence of his story.

"I was a water elemental and one night I took to gaseous form to explore the dry land near the river. I got in a fight with a mage and his magic crossed my fey magic wrong and I got stuck in gaseous form. That's how I became Mister MistMeister."



Mister MistMeister


"Time doesn't mean much to me so I don't know how long ago this happened. Later a party of humans wandered into the mist. They were lost and distressed. I liked them and I didn't want to hurt them so I froze time for them."


"Later on two of you came into the mist and took them off. I don't know why you weren't lost and distressed. I tried to freeze you in time anyway but it didn't work."

"And now here you are back again with two others. I like you and I'd like to keep you but my magic isn't working on you again."

Caper kept an eye on Mister MistMeister while Ari, Clairen, and Edge tried to come up with some ideas to fix things. Disperse the mist? Turn it back into water? What kind of spell could do something to a water elemental?

Ari said, "Ah, but you forget, I am Arimeth, and I am not new to this game." She picked up a D20 brandishing it in front of us and then she made it disappear. It reappeared on the floor and it was a 5.

Checking the Entirely True Tales From Beyond The High Hedge dice table we read.

The Dwarf-King’s royal artisan has a secret technique for brewing molten metal into heavenly spiced mead.

Clairen the friendly bouncy dwarf is still a dwarf and she could read between the lines. Maybe we need to get Mister MistMeister drunk. That seems to solve most problems for dwarves.

That got Caper's attention. He tipped his hat to one of Mister MistMeister's many faces and said, "I believe we're going to help you out in a bit."

Then he led the party out of the mist, to the top of the hill, past the resting acorns, and on towards Tobbins Shire to get a keg of ale.

Mister MistMeister Gets A New Name ... Twice
---
Ari is Vivian's PC
Tude is Ari's pet wildcat and also Vivian's PC
Caper is a Larry's DM PC
Clairen is Liz's PC
Wyleth is Conley's PC
Snurgi Snurgison is Carl's PC
---
Tobbins Shire July 16, 2022
Session summary (with some additions for narrative flow (or jokes))

The party went to town for a keg of ale to get Mister Mistermeister drunk. In town Edge Bravestone got called away and Wyleth, a soldier who was raised as a farmer and Snurgi Snurgison, a dwarf who is a fighter and a poet, joined us. We carried the ale in our pony cart back up the hill towards the valley.

On our way we saw two farmers taking a picnic break from their toil. Wyleth hailed them and asked if we could join them. They said, "Sure." and asked about the ale so Caper poured a round. Clairen was happy to have an impromptu picnic with new friends.

Snurgi was inspired to compose a poem on the spot.

We was walking along and found some farmers
We knews they was safe, they wore no armors
Our friend sat down plop, to eat a potluck
And we was confident, no one would harm her

One of the farmers was an idiot but they were both really nice and we enjoyed their company.

And then off we went to the top of the hill overlooking Mister MistMeister in the valley. Caper quickly brewed some tea that protects against fey magic and after Ari stirred it with her silver wand and Caper added a drop of brandy we all drank the tea.

Then we filled buckets of ale and tankards for ourselves. Mister MistMeister was quite curious about the buckets. Caper called out, "We brought you some ale." and everyone set the buckets down on the ground. Mister MistMeister liked it and he made a face for every bucket and then some smaller faces started trying to steal the ale from our tankards. Caper covered his with his hand but everyone else just chugged their ale down. Snurgi emptied his whole tankard in one quaff with most of it going down his throat but some spilling onto his beard. Mister MistMeister made a dozen little faces to drink the ale from his beard.

After drinking nearly a keg of ale Mister MistMeister was drunk. Pretty soon the mist started thinning revealing a yellow rivulet cascading down the valley towards the river. The party decided to follow him down to the river to see how he was doing.

When they got to the river his face popped up out of the river as yellow as can be. He said, "I used to be Mister MistMeister but now I'm Mr. PissMeister. Clairen suggested that he could try some cranberries. Nobody had any cranberries but Ari had some Panacea Berries which look like cranberries and have general healing properties. She tossed one to Mister PissMeister and he turned pink. Everyone thought it was an improvement. He certainly smelled better. Mister PissMeister said, "I used to be Mister PissMeister but now I'm The Red Headed Rascal." He did a series of swoops and dives all the time remaining careful not to take his gaseous form and become mist again.

He asked if he could do something to repay us. Caper said, "I know time is different for you and you don't think in days and years like we do but when those people wandered into the mist that was 400 years ago for us. Can you show us this valley 400 years in the future?"

The Red Headed Rascal said, "Easy as pi. In fact I can take you there if you want."

Caper demurred, "Oh please no, I just want to look, I'm happy enough in my own century."

The Read Headed Rascal said, "Look." and he looked up the valley. When the party followed his gaze they saw a large circle colored green and yellow and some colors they didn't know. In the circle was the valley, fully populated by sentient oak trees. And when they looked under the trees their was a village of acorn people with houses, roads, and carts pulled by beetles. The sentient oaks did so well growing in the valley that the acorn people lived lives of their own before finding a final resting place where they could lay down and wait to be an oak tree.

And looking up to the top of the hill they saw four giant sentient oaks that must have grown from the acorn people they had carried across the river. They decided to name them the sentinel sentient oaks.

After bidding fare thee well to the Red Headed Rascal the party climbed to the top of the hill and looked around. No more mist. And no more houses either. When Mister MistMeister returned to his liquid form he must have lost all connection to the time when he captured the humans in the mist.

On the way back to town they saw the same portly shirrif wearing a hat with a feather and riding another pony all bedecked in ribbons. Caper talked to him for a while but he told Caper he was the shirrif and he could ride a pony if he wanted and it wasn't any business of his. The shirrif said, "The last pony I had wouldn't carry me after I sold my hat to Muffen. I'm keeping this pony and the hat." After the shirrif passed Ari detected magic and sure enough the hat, the feather, and the ribbons glowed with fey magic. Caper shook his head and said, "Those fairies have been having fun with the shirrif again.

They made it back to town before dark and returned the empty keg to the tavern. They saw some of the people they rescued in the tavern and they decided to join them, have a drink, and fill them in on The Story of Mister MistMeister and his Many Transformations.

---

We played using the dice rolling tables in Hearth & Hillside Home, Being a book of pastoral pleasures for Halflings and Bigfolk alike.

https://weirdandblue.itch.io/hearth-and-hillside-home

During play at the last session dice were rolled against the Idioms For Idiots D20 table for all conversation from Farmer 1. He was the idiot.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/968

Thanks to DM Kier for the Mister PissMeister joke.

Thanks to Eclectic Geekery in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, for providing gaming space.


Ari and Caper have been campaigning together for over 30 years.


---


Illustrations

Gamer+ Photo Gallery
https://gamerplus.org/photo/useralbum/hairylarry/127

Capers Hobbit Hole
by jawajeziorski - Pixabay License
https://pixabay.com/zh/photos/the-land-of-the-hobbits-new-zealand-6314749/


Caper's Pony
from FREE*SVG
https://freesvg.org/cartoon-pony-color-drawing


Dancing Fairies

by August Malmström - public domain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:August_Malmstr%C3%B6m_-_Dancing_Fairies_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
hairylarry
Join us for actual play in Tobbins Shire Saturday morning at 11:00. Eclectic Geekery is hosting Inspired Unreality in a hybrid game. Play around the table or play over the internet. We have met Mister MistMeister, the water elemental, who held 20 humans in stasis for 400 years, and we are trying to make sure that doesn't happen again. Or, even worse, next time it could be hobbits.

Eclectic Geekery is my daughters book, hobby, and game store located in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. Their relaxed atmosphere is perfect for sitting around a table and enjoying an RPG.

https://eclecticgeekery.com/

Inspired Unreality open game chat is held every Saturday at 11:00 AM Central in the gamerplus chat rooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. First Saturday - Fantasy and Science Fiction. Third Saturday - actual play. All other Saturdays - bring your own topic. For more info and an invite link click here.

https://gamerplus.org/index

Tobbins Shire is part of the Milyagon locale created by Larry and Vivian. I will be the DM running Just Quest, my own rules light OSR RPG. If you can't make it to Eclectic Geekery join us online.

Last week Vivian and I discussed a variety of topics while I built the Idioms For Idiots D20 dice table. Whenever either of us said an idiom or reminded me of an idiom I would write it down in the text chat. When I finally stopped to count I had 19 of them so I added one more and Hooray!

Idioms For Idiots

 A d20 dice table

1. I bit my tongue
2. a stitch in time saves nine
3. butter side up
4. stupid is as stupid does
5. a rose is a rose
6. I let him have it
7. has the cat got your tongue?
8. don't look a gift horse in the mouth
9. the squeaky wheel gets the grease
10. live and let live
11. if it ain't broke don't fix it
12. it's the singer not the song
13. young and in love
14. let it slide
15. an apple a day keeps the doctor away
16. if you don't play you can't win
17. the cow's in the corn
18. closing the barn door after the horse is out
19. you don't want to know how the sausage is made
20. winners never quit and quitters never win

The idea is when the party is collecting information at the local tavern or at the fair the DM designates one of the NPCs an idiot. He might look all wise and ancient but whenever a PC asks him a question he replies with one of the idioms on the dice table. The DM can scan the table to find an appropriate idiom or just do it the old fashioned way and roll a D20.

It could be a girl too. I'm for Equal Rights! Girls can be idiots too.

What I'm wondering is if the party will get value from these conversations in pursuing their quest. I mean, let's face it, we all know someone like this. Whatever comes up they've got some idiotic saying to add to the conversation.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/968

My grandson, Conley Hunt, is related to geeks and he joined me Wednesday morning Guerilla Livestreaming Craighead Forest Lake, part of my Hairy Larry Guerilla Livestreaming Scenic Northeast Arkansas project. I played piano and Conley played cajon. Some geese sang along. You can see the video here.

https://deltaboogie.net/

Please forward this email to your gaming friends and share this link.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/972

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/index
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

hairylarry
Saturday morning at 11:00 AM Central we'll have Inspired Unreality open game chat. Everyone is welcome. Bring your own topic. All gaming is on topic.

Inspired Unreality is held every Saturday in the gamerplus chat rooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. For more information and a link to Tenkar's Tavern go here.

https://gamerplus.org/index

Last week was the first Saturday in July so our topic was Fantasy and Science Fiction. We discussed how difficult it is to write children's fantasy and how difficult High Fantasy RPGs are. And Duca posted some good links about the High Fantasy game Eberron.

Inspired Unreality Summary
https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4734

Order of the Emerald Claw
https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4735

Eberron Timeline
https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4736

The funny thing is that in "Malazan Book of the Fallen" the Empire's assassins are also called The Claw. Are there other Assassin's Guilds called The Claw?

Inquiring minds want to know.

On the 4th of July we had family game day at Eclectic Geekery. Here's the link to their new website.

https://eclecticgeekery.com/

Before that I Guerilla Livestreamed Beatles Park.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4737

Youtube link
https://youtu.be/q2n6n5y1y9M

They say that word of mouth advertising is the best. That's good because it's all we can afford. So ... please forward this email to your gaming friends and share this link.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/967

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

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