hairylarry's blog
Inspired Ureality is held in the gamerplus chat rooms at Tenkars Tavern on Discord. Here's a link to more info and an invite.
https://gamerplus.org/index
Last week on Inspired Unreality. Actual play at Eclectic Geekery.
Acorn People and Mister MistMeister from hairylarry's blog
On their way back from Mr Muffin'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.
"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 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."
"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.
---
https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/956
Dice tables from Hearth & Hillside Home
https://weirdandblue.itch.io/hearth-and-hillside-home
And I posted some photos of Wilken Woods. (Taken in our yard.)
https://gamerplus.org/photo/useralbum/hairylarry/40
Please forward this email to your gaming friends and share this link.
https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/957
Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com
Adventuring in Tobbins Shire at Eclectic Geekery on June 18, 2022
On their way back from Mr Muffin'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.
"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 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."
"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.
---
Dice tables from Hearth & Hillside Home
https://weirdandblue.itch.io/hearth-and-hillside-home
For more information about Inspired Unreality and for a link to Tenkars Tavern go here.
https://gamerplus.org/index
Tobbins Shire is the home of Caper Tobbins, Ari's sidekick. Caper, Arimeth, and Tude, Ari's wildcat have been adventuring together for over thirty years. If you include The Ghost of Tobbins Shire this will be a three generation RPG game at Eclectic Geekery alone. Come and join us and we'll see how this works.
Last month 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.
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.
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. Muffin's second hand store. Clairen bought a yellow headband. Caper bought a black saddle for his pony.
And that ain't all ...
https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/929
Eclectic Geekery is a book and hobby store with a focus on sci-fi, fantasy and all things geeky. Here's a link to their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/eclecticgeekerystore
And on the music side of my life Vivian and I were joined by Carl and his family for my Guerilla Livestream of the Black Oak, Arkansas, mural in Black Oak Arkansas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyCaMnt39As
And I have a new album out, Hairy Larry Livestreams, available for streaming everywere and soon to be available in CD form at Eclectic Geekery. Listen or download here.
https://archive.org/details/hairylarrylivestreams
Please share.
https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/950
Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com
Inspired Unreality is held every Saturday at 11:00 AM Central 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. Viv and I started with author recomendations and then went on to discuss the problems with making Fantasy and Science Fiction blockbuster movies and TV series. And then I totally went off on my idea of how to produce a very low budget youtube D&D series. It was great.
https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4627
Next Saturday we'll be gaming at Eclectic Geekery playing a hybrid game around the table and on Discord. If you're up for a relaxing morning exploring Tobbins Shire with Ari and Caper plus Tude the wildcat and Clairen, the friendly bouncy Dwarf join us. It literally takes less than two minutes to roll up a new character in Just Quest and join the fun. We've decided that any kibitzing heard over the wall is The Ghost Of Tobbins Shire.
More here.
https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4637
And if you're in the area here's a link to Eclectic Geekery.
https://www.facebook.com/eclecticgeekerystore
Vivian and I have started a new project, Guerilla Livestreaming Scenic Northeast Arkansas. Saturday afternoon we'll be streaming from Black Oak, Arkansas. If you're as old as me that name might ring a bell.
I'll be livestreaming from in front of the High On The Hog mural painted on brick. I've been a fan since their first album came out and I finally got to meet Jim Dandy at the KASU Arkansas Roots Festival. Now I get to play in Black Oak, Arkansas, in front of a mural memorializing the band.
Here's the website for our Guerilla Livestreaming Scenic Northeast Arkansas project. All of our new videos will be posted here.
https://deltaboogie.net/
Please forward this email to your gaming/livestreaming friends and share this link.
https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/944
Let me know what you've been doing, gaming or otherwise. Join us at Inspired Unreality, post on Gamer+, or contact me directly. We have so many creative people on Gamer+. I want to know what you're doing.
Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com
Now Viv and I are old, so we came to Fantasy and Science Fiction reading books and magazines. Some of the authors we read were Isaac Aasimov, Robert Heinlein, Fritz Lieber, Arthur C. Clark, Clifford Simak, and Andre Norton. If none of these names are familiar to you perhaps you need to spend some time with us.
There's a whole new world of the future out there in the past and there's not much new under the sun that wasn't predicted by some author 50 years ago.
I still read a lot of these golden age authors and none of them age as well as Jack Vance. In my opinion. Maybe you have an opinion too. Bring it with you to Inspired Unreality, open game chat, where, this week, all Fantasy and Science Fiction 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. There's more info and a link here.
https://gamerplus.org/index
Sarah and Megan have got the ball rolling at Eclectic Geekery with multiple events every weekend. They say "Join us for Dungeons & Dragons Sundays at 1 p.m." Sounds like a plan to me.
https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/4622
In two weeks we'll be adventuring in Tobbins Shire at Eclectic Geekery on Inspired Unreality. This will be a hybrid game with some players on Discord and some players sitting around a table. I'm always up for a challenge.
Everyone is welcome at Inspired Unreality. Come tomorrow, come to adventure in Tobbins Shire, come any Saturday at 11:00 AM Central. It's a blast.
And now, veering off topic, I've got a new project, Guerilla Livestreaming from scenic Northeast Arkansas. The idea is we take a short trip for a picnic and some chill jazz piano with plenty of nature in the background. Here's my Twitch link.
https://www.twitch.tv/hairylarryland
And my Youtube link.
https://www.youtube.com/hairylarryland
Do me a favor and click on the Youtube link and subscribe. I have a goal of reaching 1000 subscribers this year and I need your help.
Please forward this email to your gaming and livestreaming friends. Share this link.
https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/937
Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
https://mastodon.social/@hairylarry
hairylarry@gmail.com
Archives
Links
Groups
