Fast approaching the New Year here and with it the month of January. Best wishes to all for MMXIII!
January is named after Janus (Ianuarius), the Roman god of the doorway, pictured as looking both forward and back. We will revisit the themes of doorways, transport and travel for January. What with stepping into the New Year. As usual, if there is something on this theme you would like to see, let me know.
Looking back over Novermber and December, we see two months of light posting:
The Genius Guide to: the Magister is an update and expansion of Genius Games’ earlier product then called the Magus, the name was changed to avoid confusion with the Pathfinder base class of the same name. The Magister is an interesting class, but not one for casual play. It will take study of the available options, spells especially, and a careful build to use the class effectively. The Magister does provide a unique path as a dual-natured caster base class which is quite intriguing and should appeal to players looking for an interesting challenge.
“Fear not, your majesty, your courtyard shall be full of wonders in the morning!” promised the mountebank sorcerer.
Sneaking out at midnight, he seeded the snows of the courtyard with whispered instructions and seeds of ice.
The next morning, the courtyard was populated with an entire caricature court in snow. The tired-looking sorcerer presented them all to the king with obvious delight; less delighted were several members of the court . . .
Snowman Seed
These items are made of ice, shaped like a seed, they will not melt unless shattered or exposed to temperatures above the boiling point of water.
Caliphate by Tom Kratman is a fable disguised as speculative fiction.
Set in the early 22nd Century where Europe has fallen to the tide of Islam (from their greater birthrates and immigration), America is an expansionist near-fascist state after terrorist nuclear weapons destroyed several US cities, the rest of the world is rather ill-defined except that the whites are back in power in South Africa and China is a kingdom again. Primarily it serves as a warning of what the author thinks will happen to Europe if they do not wake up and take the Islamic demographic threat seriously (this is made explicit in the afterward).
“Tonight we claim the Dark for ourselves and forever!” called out the High Priest.
Around him his followers silently raised their sickles to the winter stars, only the edges reflected the starlight.
“Darkness now, darkness forever!” the High Priest called, leading them to final battle.
Winter Solstice Sickle
These sickles’ blades are forged from a black metal, dull and unreflective, yet the edge is as bright as the crescent moon. The grip is usually dark wood or bone wrapped in dark leather. The metal of the blade is always cold to the touch and if left out in cold weather, will often be found with a rime of frost.
Buy Me!
This is a collection of magic items for Pathfinder with wonderful illustrations from Tamás Baranya and written by me! Go and buy someone a Solstice present of wonderful magic items!
It has been quite some time since our last episode and we see a shake up of our core cast with this episode, losing Defender and DeLorean Martin and gaining Mirror, Rollin and Serrin (see the revised characters page).
The characters (the new one plus Bradley and Thea) are called before the Shaper who let them know that Defender has vanished from the Complex with a variety of valuable items that have been gathered. They have located which portal he treveled through and wish the item returned and an explanation if possible. Each of our heroes is given a set of three bottles marked with honeycombs and they are lead to the gateway.
“Uncle Nobble, Uncle Nobble!” shouted the children as the older man made his way into the common room.
“Be patent children,” he chided with a smile, “there will be enough for everyone.”
He made his way to one of the central tables. His niece Cember spread a table cloth over it. He raised his cane over it and said a word and pieces of candy rained down from his walking stick to cover the table cloth. “Enjoy all!” he said with a broad smile.
Cane of Candy
These canes feature an ornate handle, often carved in festive scenes and a thin metal arm though this often cannot be seen as the length of the arm will be covered by crystalized sugar.
Advanced Arcana and Advanced Arcana, Vol II are a pair of spell and magic related sourcebooks for Pathfinder published by Necromancers of the Northwest. The majority of both books is new spells, including new types of spells, with support material of various sorts for those who use spells. Both are good resources for a Pathfinder GM but all choices should be reviewed before adding them to a campaign.
“This is not just salt, but the finest of salt, the very perfect flower of salt!” called the merchant. “Harvested under the light of the dawn sun, this salt will bring out the purest of flavor!”
“How much?”
“Only 12 gold sol for a pound, good lady.”
“Eight,” she countered.
“Ten and a half,” the merchant spun the jar, the crystals of salt flashing.
“Nine and a half.”
“Done!”
Fleur de Sel Sieve
These sieves are made of copper, usually stained with verdigris, with a heavy handle sometime padded with cloth.
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