DOCSLIB.ORG

Tales of the Seven Fingers These Stories Were Originally a Collaborative Effort Between Myself and Another Writer on the RP World Website

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Tales of the Seven Fingers These Stories Were Originally a Collaborative Effort Between Myself and Another Writer on the RP World Website Tales of the Seven Fingers These stories were originally a collaborative effort between myself and another writer on the RP World website. Sadly my writing partner dropped out before the tales were done, and the site has been inactive for quite a while. I have re-compiled the tales, editing out his characters as best I could and adding a few of my own to fill in. It is set in modern times, in an alternate universe where supernatural creatures exist, magic works, and gun powder was never developed. Nominally it would be referred to as 'Steampunk'. The story is incomplete, ending where the project died. Still, I believe that it is an enjoyable tale to read and so I've added it here. The story presented here is purely fictional, and a result of compiling my own archives of the tale. Enjoy! Tales of the Seven Fingers Prolog - Sonny's Tale 1 - Seven Fingers Down 2 - A Dead Run 3 - A Dark and Stormy Night 4 - A Pirates Life For Me 5 - Devil's Play 6 - Liberty 7 - Abduction! 8 - Rouges in the Parlor 9 - Trey of Cups 10 - Love Boat 11 - Smoke on the Water 12 - Right in the Eye 13 - Captain Brassman 14 - Offin' the Score Sonny's Tale It was a cool morning. The humidity of the previous day, along with the night's gentle mist, hung dripping from the branches and clung to each blade of long grass. The moisture steamed off of Sonny's warm skin as he chugged along in search of the mushrooms that Momma so loved. He stopped, perhaps to savor the moment, or perhaps to get his bearings, and wiped the gathering dampness from himself with an old oily cloth. His eyes scanned the mottled greens of the deep forest for his colorful prey, he sensed the fungi close by. It was a sense almost like smell, but augmented by Momma's magical talents when she delegated this task to him. She delegated most of her tasks to him now, her strength waned with her advancing age. Sonny built the fire, chopped the wood, fixed her meals, carried her to the porch on warm days. He performed all the manual labor associated with Momma's duties as the valleys only Mambo, an unlicensed hedge- witch. Today he was picking mushrooms, but not just any. Oh no, Momma had specified the particular type. It was the main ingredient in a hallucinogenic potion meant to deaden the worst pain and ease someone into death. Locating his quarry, Sonny stuffed them into the sack he carried and weighed it in his hand. Yes, that would be enough for Momma's needs. Happy now that he could get away from the dampness he turned on his heels and headed home. Home was warm, as it always was now. Momma said the cold seeped into her bones, so Sonny did his best to keep the cold at bay. Soon the sun would be high in the sky, the sea breeze would flow up into the hills, and the air would warm up and dry out. He could carry her to the porch then, if she was up to it and the weather suited her. She liked to sit in the sun while taking visitors, the people of the valley who warily stopped by for spells or potions. Even at her advanced age people approached her with a little awe, she had been Mambo for their parents, grandparents, and probably great-grandparents. He went to her bed to see how she was doing. Breath rattled deeply in her chest as her rheumy eyes opened, she had sensed his presence. He knelt by her bed so she could see him. “Sonny,” she whispered, stroking his bare head gently, “dear Sonny.” Her ancient hand stroked the smooth brass carapace lovingly. “Not long now, no. No time left to brew the potion.” She breathed deeply and coughed. “Be a good boy, Sonny. Try to blend in once I'm gone, it will be hard. You're different, use that. Remember momma loves her Sonny.” “I love you too, Momma.” The ancient crone laughed, probably a mistake as it morphed into a bone shaking cough that lasted several minutes. Finally, catching her breath, she sighed. Stroking the smooth warm brass of his chestplate she said, “Poor Sonny, you don't have a heart dear. Momma couldn't give you one, just a little steam plant to run your gears and drive linkages. Remember to keep your firebox stoked and your water level up, if you run down there will be nobody to top you off.” She smiled at his nearly expressionless faceplate, “And keep your brass polished, you know how to keep the verdigris at bay. Wear clothes at all times outside, it will help to hide your strangeness as well. Oil your linkages... “ The witch closed her eyes, if there were more to be said she took it with her. After several minutes she gasped, then Sonny felt her heart stop. Sonny opened his firebox and took out a flaming piece of coal. The flaming bit had no effect on his shiny metal hand. “I do have a heart, Momma, you gave it to me. You lit the fire that burns in me still, it keeps me warm.” He placed it on the bed beside her. “Now I leave this part of my heart with you. It is yours forever, to keep you warm as well.” He gathered the clothes Momma had made him to hide his strangeness, along with a sack of coal and a large jug of water. He left the collected bag of mushrooms, along with everything else of Momma's, in her cottage. He donned his clothes, a simple workman's outfit and a broad hat, and put his supplies into a back pack Momma had given him long ago. He remembered using it for collecting mushrooms at one point. Momma's last delegated task given, the mechanunculus, a collection of mechanisms and homunculus know as Sonny, left the only home he had know to accomplish it. He walked toward the world he had never seen with one final task- blend in, stoke firebox, top off water, polish brass, wear clothes, and oil linkages. His thaumamechanical processor compiled these multiple tasks into simply 'maintain self'. As he walked along moisture condensed from the humid air onto the cool surfaces of his ocular sensors and a tear formed. He wiped it with his oily cloth, remembering 'maintain self'. Somewhere far behind him Momma's cottage finally caught fire from a carelessly placed burning coal. ~ Sonny walked quite a while, in the opposite direction from most of his foraging trips. He knew that area and there was nothing there to help him maintain himself, but in this direction was the unknown. This was the direction that coal and oil came from. Water would not be a problem, there was plenty of it around. The day wound on, the sun beat down on his broad hat and dried the moisture from his skin and clothes. By mid day, the time he would have fixed Momma's lunch, he had discovered an anomaly in the terrain and identified it from her books as a road. Processing the memory of learning at her knee caused a momentary involuntary shudder in his mechanisms. He attributed it to low resources and topped off his coal and water. While maintaining self he pondered the road. It wasn't so much a road as a leveled, widened path with two wheel ruts ground deep into the packed soil. In one direction, right, it wound into the hills, generally in the direction of the cottage. Although he had not encountered it in that area, he was fairly certain that it would eventually take him back. Sonny turned left down the road and began chugging along with his steady clockwork gait. Within less than a mile he encountered tilled, fenced fields and cottages. There were a few people working in the fields, they generally paid him no mind unless they were close enough to make out his face or hands. If they were close enough he elicited mostly silent awe. Only once was he spoken to, by a small boy of no more than eight. "Hey mister," the lad asked staring wide eyed, "you look funny, what are you?" It was an innocent question, seen by Sonny as nothing more than an observation followed by an information request. Still, the interaction with someone was a welcome diversion. Their was a faint creak as long unused linkages lifted the corners of Sonny's mouth. It had been a while since he smiled, and he made a caveat for his next service break to lubricate the area. "I am a mechanunculus, a machine made in the form of a man. I can perform any function that a man can, but tirelessly as long as I have fuel, water, and regular maintenance." Sonny replied flatly. "Ya don't sleep? Do ya eat?" the child asked. "I have a dormant period. I don't really sleep, I usually just don't have anything to do while," he caught himself, he had almost said Momma. He wasn't sure why he couldn't refer to her, and made another caveat to be entered into his service log book. "people around me sleep. I do not eat, but I burn coal much like your body burns food." The boys eyes got very large, "Wow, can I see?" Sonny's metal digits deftly opened his shirt, then unlatched the little door in his belly plate.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Germany As We Saw It
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 045 000 FL 002 074 TITLE Germany as We Saw It. INSTITUTION Stanford Univ., Calif. SPONS AGENCY Office of Education (DFFW), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 18 Aug 61 NOTE 173p.: Report of 1061 NDEA Institute held at Bad Boll, Germany EDRS PRICE EDRS "Price MF-$0.7c HC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Area Studies, Churches, Cross Cultural Training, Cultural Background, Cultural Context, Elementary Education, Employment, Family Life, *Foreign Culture, *German, Housing, Inservice Teacher Education, Institutes (Training Programs), International Education, Religion, Secondary Education, *Secondary School Teachers, *Second Language Learning, Study Abroad, *Summer Institutes IDENTIFIERS *Germany, NDEA Language Institutes ABSTRACT Close-up studies of German life in the Stuttgart area are reported by participants of Stanford University's 1051 National Defense Education Act second-level institute for secondary school teachers of German, held at Bad Boll, Germany. Topics covered include: (1) religious life, (2) political life,(3) problems of settlement, (4) occupational problems and the family,(5) aspects of the German educational system, and (6)general cultural life. 17.or related documents see ED 027 785 and ED 027 786. [Not available in hard copy due to marginal legibility of original document.) (WR) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. -report presented4the'partic.ipants n--the1961 Stanford -NDEA Institule '. eld...at -Bad. Boll,. Germany.. TABLE OF CONTENTS A. Religious Life in Airttemberg p.
    [Show full text]
  • The Guild and the Swordsman
    Acta Periodica Duellatorum 27 DOI 10.1515/apd-2015-0013 The guild and the swordsman Jean Chandler with translations by Jack Gassman and Christian Trosclair, edited by Willy Rosencrans, and special thanks to Willy Rosencrans, Marjorie Dalton, Olivier Dupuis, Christian Trosclair, Jürg Gassmann, Kel Rekuta, Ariella Elema and Jake Norwood. Abstract – Guilds have a well-established association with the fencing systems of medieval Europe, and the phenomenon of guilds has been the subject of a great deal of new academic research in the last 20 years or so. A thorough summary of the recent scholarship on guilds and their structure and history will help provide context for what may be loosely described as armed guilds. Though armed guilds have not yet been the subject of a proper systematic analysis, it is possible to tentatively identify four types. Combining the summary of ‘civilian’ guilds with the emerging evidence of armed guilds, including the fencing guilds, may help us better understand the social relevance of martial arts in medieval and Early Modern Europe. This may in turn contribute positively to the ongoing efforts to interpret the medieval fightbooks. Keywords – guilds, armed guilds, societates armatae, fencing guilds INTRODUCTION This paper has two purposes. The first is to summarize the recent scholarly work on guilds, in order to help provide an accurate context for fencers and researchers in the historical fencing community who may be interested in the links between fightbooks, fencing masters and guilds. A great deal of work has been done in the academic community on the subject of guilds in the last couple of decades which changes the perception of them to no small degree.
    [Show full text]
  • Read an Excerpt
    Copyright 2020 Golden Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved. LASSA ERIKSON was absolutely terrified, completely and utterly terrified because he was standing in the middle of a Danish battlefield surrounded by an ocean of the fiercest, nastiest, toughest, meanest, ugliest Viking warriors the world had ever seen… and technically, for the past seven and a half hours he was supposed to be one of them too. Lassa’s palms were sweating, his heart was pounding and his thirteen year old legs were trembling so much that he had to lean on his shield to stop himself from falling over. Any minute now he knew he’d be dead. Stabbed - slashed - squashed - burned - boiled - or lanced through the heart by an enemy Saxon spear, dead. Lassa didn’t stand a chance. He looked nothing like the real Vikings. He wasn’t taller than a bear, didn’t have scars, muscles or missing limbs, and he still had all of his own teeth. Lassa wasn’t a warrior he was a worrier. And worrying was exactly what Lassa was doing. He kept thinking, hoping, praying that any minute now he’d wake up to another boring day, in his boring little room above the boring and uneventfully safe hay loft on the family farmstead. He scrunched his eyes then opened them, but the army was still there. Leading the Viking army was the hulking great wall of flesh - General Gorn Skarsgood. He was the six foot four embodiment of the Viking name; broken nose, forked beard, iron plated armor and a four foot long broadsword that he wielded as if it were a toothpick.
    [Show full text]
  • Crucibles of Virtue and Vice: the Acculturation of Transatlantic Army Officers, 1815-1945
    CRUCIBLES OF VIRTUE AND VICE: THE ACCULTURATION OF TRANSATLANTIC ARMY OFFICERS, 1815-1945 John F. Morris Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2020 © 2020 John F. Morris All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Crucibles of Virtue and Vice: The Acculturation of Transatlantic Army Officers, 1815-1945 John F. Morris Throughout the long nineteenth century, the European Great Powers and, after 1865, the United States competed for global dominance, and they regularly used their armies to do so. While many historians have commented on the culture of these armies’ officer corps, few have looked to the acculturation process itself that occurred at secondary schools and academies for future officers, and even fewer have compared different formative systems. In this study, I home in on three distinct models of officer acculturation—the British public schools, the monarchical cadet schools in Imperial Germany, Austria, and Russia, and the US Military Academy—which instilled the shared and recursive sets of values and behaviors that constituted European and American officer cultures. Specifically, I examine not the curricula, policies, and structures of the schools but the subterranean practices, rituals, and codes therein. What were they, how and why did they develop and change over time, which values did they transmit and which behaviors did they perpetuate, how do these relate to nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century social and cultural phenomena, and what sort of ethos did they produce among transatlantic army officers? Drawing on a wide array of sources in three languages, including archival material, official publications, letters and memoirs, and contemporary nonfiction and fiction, I have painted a highly detailed picture of subterranean life at the institutions in this study.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fight Master, Spring/Summer 2003, Vol. 26 Issue 1
    Marshall University Marshall Digital Scholar Fight Master Magazine The Society of American Fight Directors Summer 2003 The Fight Master, Spring/Summer 2003, Vol. 26 Issue 1 The Society of American Fight Directors Follow this and additional works at: https://mds.marshall.edu/fight Part of the Acting Commons, Other Theatre and Performance Studies Commons, Performance Studies Commons, and the Theatre History Commons MMARTIALARTIALAARTSRTS ONON TTOUROUR BBARAR FFIGHTSIGHTS In Voice of the Dragon, Miao Hin (Philip Silvera, left) battles with his nemesis Red Phoenix Manchu Warrior (Bilqis Benu). Martial arts choreography and photo provided by Jose Manuel Figueroa. The 24th Annual Society of American Fight Directors National Stage Combat Workshops July 7-25, 2003 SAFD and University of Nevada-Las Vegas College of Fine Arts, Department of Theatre ForFor moremore information:information: LindaLinda McCollumMcCollum atat (702)(702) 895-3662895-3662 oror www.safd.orgwww.safd.org www.safd.org Actor/Combatant Workshop (ACW) Train in the foundation skills of stage combat. World-class industry professionals teach tech- niques in Rapier and Dagger, Unarmed and Broadsword. Additionally, participants will receive an introduction to Quarterstaff, film fighting, and other weapon styles. Participants may opt to take an adjudicated Skills Proficiency Test at the end of the workshop. Intermediate Actor/Combatant Workshop (IACW) Move past the basics in this exciting workshop. Study many weapon styles and other issues of fight performance for stage and film. Build onto your existing knowledge of stage combat under the tutelage of a wide array of world-class industry professionals. Participants may opt to take a combination of adjudicated Skills Proficiency Tests or Renewal Tests in up to six weapon forms at the workshop.
    [Show full text]
  • The Conflict of Idealism and Naturalism in the Works Of
    Ouachita Baptist University Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita Graduate Theses Archives and Special Collections 1968 The onflicC t of Idealism and Naturalism in the Works of Katherine Anne Porter: Fiction in Search of Reality Frances Cantrell Wolber Ouachita Baptist University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/grad_theses Part of the Fiction Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Wolber, Frances Cantrell, "The onflC ict of Idealism and Naturalism in the Works of Katherine Anne Porter: Fiction in Search of Reality" (1968). Graduate Theses. 32. http://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/grad_theses/32 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Archives and Special Collections at Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE CONFLICT OF IDEALISM AND NATURALISM IN THE WORKS OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTERa FICTION IN SEARCH OF REALITY A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Ouachita Baptist University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts 1'Y Ltbr~ry OuactH td baptist ~niv_ersit~ ( by Frances Cantrell Wolber August 1968 THE CONFLICT OF IDEALISM AND NATURALISM IN THE WORKS OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER: FICTION IN SEARCH OF REALITY by FRANCES CANTRELL WOLBER TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED • • • The Problem • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
    [Show full text]
  • Pietro Monte
    THE COLLECTION OF RENAISSANCE MILITARY ARTS AND EXERCISES OF PIETRO MONTE A TRANSLATION OF THE EXERCITIORUM ATQUE ARTIS MILITARIS COLLECTANEA BY MIKE PRENDERGAST AND INGRID SPERBER THE COLLECTION OF RENAISSANCE MILITARY ARTS AND EXERCISES OF PIETRO MONTE Translation © 2018 Mike Prendergast Translation by Mike Prendergast and Dr. Ingrid Sperber. This translation is freely available for non-commercial use. THE TRANSLATORS MIKE PRENDERGAST Mike Prendergast has been researching, practising and teaching historical strategy and martial arts since 1999. His main focus is on the art of fencing of Renaissance Italy. Initially studying Bolognese fencing, he moved to specialise in the system of Fiore dei Liberi (c. 1410) and the rapier style of Nicoletto Giganti (1606), before embarking on his study of Monte. Having initially started with Japanese martial arts, Mike discovered historical European fencing through the international medievalist group, the Society for Creative Anachronism, where he has received the society's highest award for research, the Laurel. In 2015 he was appointed one of the three premier Masters of Defence for the European branch of the society. Mike instructs in rapier and longsword with SCA Dun in Mara and interprets and teaches the martial arts of Pietro Monte, as chief instructor with the Historical Combat Academy, in Dublin, Ireland. He also teaches internationally at Historical European Martial Arts events and hosted the 2015 International Rapier Seminar. Mike competes internationally in tournaments and has taken medals in a variety of weapon forms including gold in rapier and sword & buckler. He also trained for several years in Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu, the traditional Japanese style of swordsmanship founded by the famous duellist and strategist Miyamoto Musashi.
    [Show full text]
  • Violence and Genre in Cervantes a Dissertation Submitted In
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Sacred, Epic and Picaresque: Violence and Genre in Cervantes A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Languages and Literatures by Alvaro Molina 2012 © Copyright by Alvaro Molina 2012 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Sacred, Epic and Picaresque: Violence and Genre in Cervantes by Alvaro Molina Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Languages and Literatures University of California, Los Angeles, 2012 Professor Teofilo F. Ruiz, Co-chair Professor Efrain Kristal, Co-chair This dissertation analyzes selected texts from Cervantes and his classical and early modern sources, focusing on his treatment of violence. It aims to respond to Nabokov’s famous indictment that Don Quixote was ‘the cruelest’ book ever written. Building on a critical framework that includes the work of René Girard, Steven Pinker and Frederick de Armas among others, my study looks at violence specifically from the perspective of genre – primarily the chivalric, the epic and the picaresque – emphasizing how the author’s thinking about violence was inevitably colored by pre-existing fictional paradigms. Instead of approaching violence by bringing ethics and philosophy to bear upon literature, such as the debate over the role of humor in the early modern period, I am more interested in examining how various literary categories inflect and nuance the author’s treatment of sacred, chivalric, epic or picaresque violence. To this end I examine 1) the particularly quixotic conjunction of chivalry and hagiography manifest in the episode of the saints in Don Quixote Part II, 2) Cervantes’ frequent, conflicted and evolving use of Virgilian formulas for the purpose of epic characterization, and 3) the tendency of the picaresque genre to feature prominent facial and bodily scars on its protagonists, a marker for social stigma that the author adapted quite cleverly in his Prologue to the Novelas ejemplares.
    [Show full text]
  • Andrews, Nicholas G
    The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project NICHOLAS G. ANDREWS Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: April 12, 1990 Copyright 2015 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born in Romania of American parents Educated in England, US and Princeton Military intelligence, US Army WWII, Bucharest, Romania Entered Foreign Service 1950 Berlin, Germany 1950-1954 Consular work Conditions in East Berlin Free University of Berlin Sydney, Australia 1954-1956 Consular work Serbo-Croatian language training and Columbia University 1957 Belgrade, Yugoslavia 1958 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia 1959-1961 Few US interests Some Yugoslav political problems Muslims not very active Communist influence Ethnic rivalries Department of State 1962-1965 Bulgaria-Albania desk officer Yugoslavia desk officer Ambassador Eugenie Anderson Bulgaria's fear of Turkey and Greece Tito's visit to US not a complete success Tito's Non-aligned Meeting in Belgrade Tito's anti-American speech 1 Ankara, Turkey 1965-1968 Political officer Threat of Turkish intervention in Cyprus Vance efforts to calm situation Greek-Turkish rivalry Warsaw, Poland 1968-1971 Political counselor Ambassador Walter Stoessel Rise of anti-Semitism Polish-German treaty on the Oder-Neisse border Poland's political and economic problems Gomulka voted out, Gierek voted in easing of restrictions after Gomulka's defeat Washington DC 1971-1973 Senior Seminar Office of Science and Technology, the White House Department of State 1973-1978 Deputy Dir. Office of Northern European Affairs Keflavik Air Base on Iceland agreement Eastern European Affairs Poland first in importance Dealing with Romania under Ceausescu Bankers close window on East Europe Hungary and the Crown of St.
    [Show full text]
  • Great True Spy Stories )
    GREAT TRUE SPY STORIES ) Books by Allen Dulles Great True Spy Stories The Secret Surrender The Craft of Intelligence Germany’s Underground Can America Stay Neutral? (with Hamilton Fish Armstrong GREAT True Spy STORIES Edited by Allen Dulles A GINIGER BOOK PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND EVANSTON ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “Stealing the Plans,” from Ten Thousand Eyes, by Richard Collier. Copy- right © 1958 by Richard Collier. Reprinted by permission of E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., and William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd. “The Spy the Nazis Missed,” by Edward P. Morgan. Reprinted by permis- sion of True, The Mans Magazine (July, 1950). Copyright 1950, Fawcett Publi- cations, Inc. Cicero—The Case of the Ambassador’s Valet,” from Operation Cicero, by L. C. Moyzisch. Copyright 1950 by L. C. Moyzisch. Reprinted by permission of Coward-McCann, Inc. “The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Agent,” by Edward R. F. Sheehan, The Saturday Evening Post, February 15, 1964. Copyright © 1964 by The Curtis Publishing Company. Reprinted by permission of the author. “The Playboy Sergeant,” from “The Playboy Sergeant Who Spied for Russia,” by Don Oberdorfer, The Saturday Evening Post, March 7, 1964. Copyright © 1964 by Don Oberdorfer. Reprinted by permission of the author and Theron Raines Agency. “The Colonel Turns West,” from The Penkovskiy Papers, by Oleg Penkovskiy, with an Introduction and Commentary by Frank Gibney. Copyright © 1965 by Doubleday & Company, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the publisher. “Spymaster George Washington,” from A Peculiar Service, by Corey Ford. Copyright © 1965 by Corey Ford. Reprinted by permission of Little, Brown & Co.
    [Show full text]
  • Song of Swords Beta 2.0 from Opaque Industries
    Song of Swords Beta 2.0 from Opaque Industries © Zachary Irwin, James Lacombe, 2014. All Rights Reserved. Beta Rules for Song of Swords Roleplaying Game Song of Swords is a fantasy/historical tabletop roleplaying game that emphasizes the harsh reality of battle, the human motivations that drive heroes to adventure and danger, and the gripping narratives that arise from conflict and struggle to provide great roleplaying campaigns. The focus of the game is on enjoyable realism. We have drawn from historical sources and research to create a game with gritty, in-depth combat and arms and armors taken straight from the annals of history. You’ll find no madcap fantasy weapons here, just the goods. Cold steel, the way it was really wielded and worn. Sometimes, though, you may find that truth is stranger than fiction. Whether you play campaigns set in our own history or in the far-flung realms of fantasy, the grounded realism of Song of Swords will bring you straight into the game and make you feel each tooth-jarring blow and battle-cry in your bones. The system is D10 based and highly modular, facilitating campaigns from historical fiction to low-magic realism to robust fantasy. A core fantasy setting our own creation, called Tattered Realms, will be included in the core book alongside a guide to playing in 15th century Europe, and many expansions and supplements are to follow, detailing new venues for your games and providing resources for your own creations. The first production of Opaque Industries, Song of Swords is to be our flagship product, the foundation upon which our company is built, and the core of our productive enterprise.
    [Show full text]
  • Th'jlp'» Note Ready
    one lad, standing by an Improvised Official Buchenwald a pingpong table, with a new racquet Army Report Symbol of Nazi Indecency and ball in his hand furnished by (Continued From First Page.) i the Red Cross, looking up at us with a smile as we entered the room. I Lists Buchenwald as they turn their affairs and their asked an interpreter to find out from mm « lives a over to superstate. the boy where be came from and Weimar, in normal times a city where his parents were. He was a Extermination Factory of some 50,000, is the approximate Polish Jew. He said his parents geographical center of Germany. killed. And all the rest of By EDWARD had been KENNEDY, Its name long has been associated the time we were there this little Associated Press Star Correspondent. with the best in German culture, in boy stood there, with the new ball in music and literature. It was the PARIS, April 28.—Buchenwald one hand and the racquet in the concentration camp is termed an home of the founder and the birth- other, trying to keep saddened tears of the movement which re- “extermination factory” in an place away, occasionally brushing his eyes official report to Supreme Head- sulted in the establishment of the with his coatsleeve. On his face first German republic. It lies in a quarters by Brig. Gen. Erich F was written all the tragedy and all beautiful countryside of perfectly Wood, Lt. Col. Charles Ott the wrong that this camp stands for. and tended farms and parklike forests.
    [Show full text]