Welcome to December, au revoir November

A storm blew through this morning and it is supposed to drop below freezing tonight, a good start for December.  Appropriately, the first of December is the meteorological start of Winter and it certainly seems that way here.  December was, unsurprisingly, the tenth month of the Roman calendar and it is a month filled with holidays for us moderns.

So, the themes for this month on the Sea of Stars design journal will be Winter, festivals and gifts: cursed gifts, divine gifts, magical gifts or whatever else we can think up.

If there is a particular idea that any of those themes inspire, let me know and I will try to realize it.

Looking back over November 2022, we saw the following posts here:

Tuesday Magic Item – Self-heating Frying Pan

Voddick tossed in some bacon and smiled in happiness as it sizzled.

Gollaon handed over some fresh eggs.  “I must say, cooking on the road has become so much easier since you acquired that pan.”

“I told you it was a good investment,” said Voddick, deftly cracking the eggs.  “And no smoke to give us away.”

“Though the smell of frying bacon might.”

Self-Heating Frying Pan

These frying pans are usually made of iron but sometimes of copper, sometimes decorated, sometimes not, depending on who it is being made for.  But there are always solidly constructed to survive hard use.

Tuesday Magic Item – Cook’s Cornucopia

Gollaon accepted the bag from the baker.  “We will make sure it makes it safe to the orphanage, Madam Sugarfoot.”

“See that you do,” she said with a wink.  “They need it more than scruffy rogues like you.”

“You wound me!” said Gollaon with an exaggerated gesture.

Voddick shook his head and smiled.  “Thank you again for your kindness.”

“We were all children once,” said the baker.

Cook’s Cornucopia

These cornucopias are woven from straw with great care and often with decorations honoring the harvest and powers thereof.  They are quite large but still moveable by a single person.

Superheroes – Once upon a Time in 1968 – Issue 15 – Double Feature

Sometime after Issue 14, maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months, time is strange in the comics.

Cover:  A man in a tacky suit with a bow tie and a woman in a formal black dress pulling back the curtains on a movie screen showing our heroes scattered and unconscious. “Welcome to your defeat, heroes!” they say in unison.

Opening page:  Vulpix and Shadowfist in considerably fancier clothes than normal in front of a mirror.  “I am not sure if this jive is my scene,” says Shadowfist.  “It’s not mine either but if it keeps my uncle off my back for the next few weeks it is worth it, yes?” replies Vulpix.

Tuesday Magic Item – Warrior Band Tattoos

Gollaon watched as the young warrior was inducted into the war band by receiving an intricate tattoo.  “I find such things both fascinating and disturbing.  To permanently mark one’s flesh in such a way . . . beautiful in its own way but not for me.”

Voddick nodded.  “If it was not vital to membership in the war band, they might not have done it either.  But those tattoo are far from just symbols, they contain magic to allow the warriors to work as a whole.”

Gollaon pondered.  That does make them more intriguing but still, I think, not for me.”

Warrior Band Tattoos

These tattoos are intricate works of craftsmanship showing membership in a particular warrior (or occasionally criminal) band.  Those who are from the same culture are likely to be able to glean some knowledge about the nature of the group through the imagery incorporated into the tattoos.

New Monster – War Band of the Undying Lament (for D&D 5E)

War Band of the Undying Lament

Emerging from the mist as they climb up the rise are a set of once people, their skin white and bloodless contrasting with the blue glow of the tattoos that wreath their bodies. Their hair is spiked and their eyes share the same blue glow as their tattoos. They carry rectangular shields and spears or swords, a few have javelins as well. They start to spread out in a loose line, the lament never wavering in their dead voices.

A thrown axe takes one square in the forehead, it starts to topple and the tattoo snakes up to cast out the axe and reknit the dead flesh, which is now tattooed as well.  Its head snaps down and it continues to advance.

War Band of the Undying Lament
Medium unliving (undead), usually evil

Armor Class 12 (14 with shield)

In Remembrance of those Who Served (2022)

It is fitting the weather here is again grey and sullen as another Armistice Day (in modern parlance Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the US) is once againhere.  As Armistice Day it originally served as a remembrance of the end of the Great War, the Armistice that ended the war starting at 11:11am on 11 November 1918, and those who served and died there.  Since then, it has been expanded to include the many others who have served and died for their country in honorable service through the years.

If you remember, pause for a minute of silence to honor the brave soldiers and other members of the armed forces that have guarded us -and still do- at 11:11am.

While it has been my wont in recent years to find poems from lesser-known war poets, for this year, an Irishman:

Tuesday Magic Item – Shaping Garment

Gollaon sipped their tea.  “The fashions certainly change quickly around this court.”

Voddick nodded.  “We go away for a season and everything is different.  I am glad we, as uncouth mercenaries, only need to nod in the direction of fashion.”

“Agreed, those wigs look dashedly uncomfortable.”

“Not to mention the high heels.”

Shaping Garment

People in all ages see vulnerable to the whims of fashion.  These garments are designed to make keeping up with such much easier.

Tuesday Magic Item – Talent Testing Kit

Gollaon and Voddick made their way through the fair, Voddick sipping at a mug of local ale.  “Entirely competent,” he remarked as his friend drew to a stop.

“Look, the local academy is seeking those with the ability to work magic,” Gollaon said.  Under a multicolored tent, a set of richly robed men and women were instructing older children in various tasks to see if they could create minor magical effects. Glass cylinder held various elements: water, earth. a candle which -when lit- provided fire, and some that seemed empty, but obviously contained air as well.

Only a very few of the children were able to cause anything beyond the most minor of effects, though they did see one snuff and relight a candle while simply toughing the glass cylinder it was surrounded by.  “That one will get into the academy,” said Gollaon with a nod.

Talent Testing Kit

These kits are usually quite bulky, as they must carry breakable things without letting them break.  Glass cylinders, collections of crystals, complexly shaped bottles, or any of dozens of other designs.  Usually, each of the items contains a sample of the elements or other pieces of potential magic.

November Shadowrun Campaign News and a new Seattle Scream Prop (#80)

Shadowrun has been a bit slow this month for various reasons, we did not even get in our usual Halloween-themed game!  But looking forward to GMing at Tyche’s Games this coming Saturday, so please come and play if you are in the Athens, Georgia, area.

I did realize that I am going to have to totally revamp my Songs in the Key of X campaign (pitch here for those interested).  it is an investigation-heavy and themed game and I did not force that focus hard enough leading to a set of characters mismatched to the problems at hand.  So, need to recast it for a second pilot and see how that goes.

Read all about it, the latest Seattle Scream (#80)!  News from near and far!  Sadly, nothing locked into actual runs but some good background stuff including international news!

Started work on my review of Hack & Slash, the new Shadowrun Matrix book, and hope to have a review of that up soon.

Notes: Photo from Seattle pi and is probably owned by someone and is from the real Seattle Fashion Week.

Update!  Due to the UGA/Tennessee Football game locking up traffic, we are trying the monthly Shadowrun game at Tyche’s again on the 12th.