https://infodancer.org/Recent content on InfodancerHugo -- gohugo.ioen-usCopyright © 2022 by Matthew HunterFri, 16 Jan 2026 19:16:21 -0600https://infodancer.org/resume/Fri, 16 Jan 2026 19:16:21 -0600https://infodancer.org/resume/Security Engineer I am a Senior Software Engineer and Security Officer specializing in security architecture, compliance, and threat response, with deep expertise in building resilient systems that protect against emerging threats. As a CISSP-certified professional with GIAC credentials in incident handling and forensics, I bring both technical depth and governance expertise to engineering leadership roles. I architect and implement security solutions that balance rigorous compliance requirements with rapid delivery, leveraging AI-enabled development practices (GitHub Copilot, Claude/ChatGPT) to accelerate design, implementation, and security validation.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2026-01-13/Tue, 13 Jan 2026 20:58:36 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2026-01-13/Bancroft Bancroft The jingle of coins in his purse was a happy, heavy sound, a promise of steel and safety. Bancroft, his mind as clear and simple as a summer sky, had a singular purpose. “I have enough,” he’d declared to his friends, his voice booming with the certainty of a man who has counted his treasure and found it sufficient. “We go to Ironguard Motte. I’m getting my plate mail!https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2026-01-12/Mon, 12 Jan 2026 19:29:25 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2026-01-12/Wyz The morning after their return from the shadowmaze, Wyz gathered his companions in his cramped room at the inn. The goblin’s scarred fingers trembled slightly as he worked the clasp on the scrollcase they had recovered from the rats’ nest—whether from anticipation or exhaustion, none could say. “Stand back,” Wyz commanded. “And try not to breathe too heavily. You’ll contaminate the arcane residue.” Perch snorted from behind his fish-head helmet.https://infodancer.org/post/fiction/tin-soldier/Wed, 07 Jan 2026 12:47:09 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/fiction/tin-soldier/Tin Soldier A dark reimagining of a timeless classic, where love defies the boundaries between metal and mortality. A one-legged tin soldier glimpses a beautiful one-legged lady in a distant castle and embarks on an impossible journey to reach her. But what begins as a romantic quest becomes a harrowing test of will, sacrifice, and the true meaning of love. Across treacherous forests, past fearsome creatures, and through encounters with dark magic, the soldier transforms himself—literally and spiritually—in pursuit of his impossible dream.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2026-01-06/Tue, 06 Jan 2026 20:46:35 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2026-01-06/Bancroft The first blow that day came with the ordinary violence of the barrowmaze—bloody, sudden, and oddly intimate. Bancroft planted his feet, cursing his missing shield, and brought his sword down across a shambling zombie’s shoulder. The thing snarled with a voice like dry leaves and spun, its filthy claws raking the cleric’s forearm. “By Sylvanus,” Bancroft gasped, tasting iron, but he kept his footing. Irulan stepped forward without hesitation, her blade ringing true as it bit into rotten tendon.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-12-16/Tue, 16 Dec 2025 20:46:35 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-12-16/The morning sun cast long shadows across Helix as Bancroft made his way through the town’s winding streets, his mind turning over an intriguing conversation from the previous evening. He had encountered a small goblin wizard—scarred and bearing himself with the cold authority of one who had gazed beyond death’s veil—who spoke of an animated serpent trapped near the rats’ nest in the shadowmaze. “An animated snake, you say?” Bancroft had mused, his farmer’s practicality already working through the possibilities.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-12-15/Mon, 15 Dec 2025 19:29:25 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-12-15/Wyz The shadowmaze beckoned once more, and Wyz—still bearing the wicked scar across his belly from his previous near-death experience—gathered his “recalcitrant minions” for another descent into darkness. The goblin wizard’s eyes held that same cold fire that had burned there since his miraculous return from the depths, and his companions could sense that something fundamental had changed in their diminutive leader. “We return to the chamber with the statues,” Wyz announced, his voice carrying an authority that brooked no argument.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-12-09/Tue, 09 Dec 2025 20:54:20 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-12-09/The morning after their devastating encounter with the mimics found the survivors nursing both wounds and wounded pride. Druidly’s absence hung over them like a shroud, but the barrowmaze waited for no one’s grief. Bancroft had managed to recruit four new souls willing to risk their lives for treasure—though their qualifications remained questionable at best. “Right then,” Bancroft announced with his characteristic optimism, shouldering a shovel alongside his sword. “Fresh start, fresh barrow.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-12-02/Tue, 02 Dec 2025 20:44:39 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-12-02/The morning found their company diminished but determined. Druidly, the half-orc wizard whose arcane studies had served them well, shouldered his pack with the quiet confidence of one who had mastered the mysteries of sleep and flame. “The swamp barrow,” he declared, adjusting his spell components. “Those frogs won’t catch us unprepared again.” Bancroft nodded with the simple enthusiasm that marked all his endeavors. Despite his farmer’s origins—or perhaps because of them—he approached each challenge with the same methodical care he had once given to planting seasons.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-25/Tue, 25 Nov 2025 21:19:44 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-25/Bancroft staggered through Helix’s gates like a man touched by plague, his once-proud bearing reduced to a shambling gait. Yellow mold clung to his skin in sickly patches, and his head bore fresh dents from their harrowing escape. Most telling of all, his jeweled sword—the blade that had marked him as more than a simple farmer—was gone, lost to the maze’s hungry darkness. One by one, his companions limped back to town, each bearing their own wounds and disappointments.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-24/Mon, 24 Nov 2025 17:06:42 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-24/The shadowmaze had claimed its victims, and now it hungered for more. After the chaos of the previous session—where skeletal warriors had burst from concealment and Wyz’s own caltrops had become a treacherous obstacle course—the survivors found themselves scattered and desperate. The cunning goblin wizard’s plan to destroy the reforming skeleton had failed spectacularly, leaving him face-to-face with his undead nemesis as torchlight flickered and died around them. Session maphttps://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-18/Tue, 18 Nov 2025 20:39:18 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-18/Session map The stone walls of the Barrowmaze pressed close around Bancroft and his companions, their only known exit sealed shut by mechanisms beyond their understanding. Behind them, the chittering of giant rats grew louder, echoing through the narrow passages like the whispers of death itself. With nowhere to retreat, Bancroft hefted his sword and shield, calling upon Sylvanus for strength as the party formed a defensive line. The rats, however, seemed to sense their desperation.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/characters/Tue, 11 Nov 2025 21:09:20 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/characters/Monday Group Wyz Wyz (2nd level goblin wizard): A cunning but inexperienced goblin wizard, he considers his party to be recalcitrant minions. Knutella: A member of the Monday group who has proven resilient in the face of the barrowmaze’s dangers. Morrigan (1st level thief): Originally from Threshold, she is in Helix hiding from her family and the law, not necessarily in that order. Now a member of the thieves’ guild in Ironguard Motte.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-11/Tue, 11 Nov 2025 20:42:57 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-11/Session map The weight of debt pressed upon Bancroft’s shoulders like a funeral shroud. The church of St Ygg had demanded payment for their divine intervention—the Cure Disease that had saved him from the festering rot of a rat’s bite. Now penniless, the former farmer trudged through the rain-slicked streets to the soup kitchens, his chainmail gleaming incongruously among the ragged masses. His jeweled sword marked him as a man fallen from grace, a warrior reduced to begging for scraps.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-10/Mon, 10 Nov 2025 17:18:17 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-10/Session map The party found themselves in yet another chamber of the accursed shadowmaze, their nerves already frayed from countless encounters with the dungeon’s malevolent inhabitants. Wyz, ever the cautious scout, pressed his pointed ear against the southeastern door, straining to catch any telltale sounds beyond. Meanwhile, his companions busied themselves searching the room for hidden treasures or traps, their movements creating a soft symphony of rustling gear and whispered observations.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-04/Tue, 04 Nov 2025 20:31:00 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-11-04/Session map Just as the party thought their situation couldn’t grow more desperate, the northern door burst open and two terrified townsfolk stumbled into their chamber—Ibri and Itchi, their faces pale with fear and their clothes torn from their own flight through the rat-infested passages. These were clearly not adventurers; their wide eyes and trembling hands spoke of ordinary folk who had somehow found themselves trapped in this nightmare maze.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-28/Tue, 28 Oct 2025 20:42:17 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-28/Session map The session began with an unexpected moment of levity as Irulan found herself locked in a battle of wits with Keelgo, a gruff dwarf from the Outriders of Uleck. What started as casual tavern banter quickly escalated into an elaborate exchange of “yo momma” insults that had the entire common room in stitches. By the end of their verbal sparring match, the two had developed a mutual respect and genuine friendship, proving that sometimes the best bonds are forged through good-natured mockery.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-27/Mon, 27 Oct 2025 19:44:02 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-27/Session map We lowered ourselves into the barrowmaze on a block and tackle — slow, steady, and sensible. The lamps swung and the ropes creaked while the sound of the surface faded. When our boots finally touched the packed earth below, the air was cold and smelled of old things. We pressed forward into unexplored corridors, careful to mark our path and avoid needless rushing. Soon after we passed through a large, empty chamber that echoed our footsteps like empty bowls.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-21/Wed, 22 Oct 2025 01:57:30 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-21/Bancroft and his friends searched the area once the strangers had left. One of the nearby rooms had a table with three polished skulls sitting on top — very strange decor. Druidly thought they might be magical, so the party kept them. A few minutes after they finished searching, a group of adventurers came from a door to the south. There was a tense moment, with Druidly moving his hand toward his pouch of spell components, but the newcomers left without a fight.https://infodancer.org/post/cyberleadership/Thu, 16 Oct 2025 02:04:21 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/cyberleadership/This eight-week CyberLeadership program from the CyberLeadership Institute guides experienced security professionals to operate at executive level, ending with a practical board‑facing capstone project that simulates the presentation of a 2-year plan by an incoming CISO to the board. Each week focuses on a distinct leadership domain, and includes practical action items and templates to be incorporated into the capstone. The course offers 40 CPE towards renewing my CISSP. Week 1 — The role of a CISO Week 1 orients participants to the program and the cyber resilience mindset, and introduces the CISO role through lived experience and practical lessons.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-14/Tue, 14 Oct 2025 21:55:18 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-14/Session map Bancroft contemplated the holes in his gloves from handling gold coins over the past few days and the heavy weight of almost 400 silver coins in his backpack. After some thought he spent 200 sp to buy a chest and a master lock, put his remaining silver in the locked chest, and left it in his room at the inn. Bancroft and his friends returned to the barrowmaze and descended the block and tackle into its center.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-13/Mon, 13 Oct 2025 17:49:26 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-13/Session map Wyz grumbled and groaned. His minions refused to obey him and return to the tomb with the tome. They insisted on opening a new barrow! And of course it was filled with ghouls hiding behind a tapestry. The undead creatures swarmed, striking Lessa and Wyz. Perch blocked the blow with his shield, but the creatures ripped it off of his arm. Wyz fell unconscious, and Lessa just stared into space, paralyzed with horror.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-07/Tue, 07 Oct 2025 21:45:59 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-10-07/Session map The scorpion grabbed at the sleeping toad with its pincer, but the claw splashed uselessly in the water. The stinger followed but was deflected by the toad’s tough hide. Somehow the toad slept on. Bancroft stepped in to swing at the scorpion but missed as the magical light from the last of Helfa’s stones faded. Lacking other options he moved toward the barrow entrance. Druidly cast Sleep blindly at the scorpion but it had no effect.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-30/Tue, 30 Sep 2025 21:00:54 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-30/Session map Bancroft stepped forward with his sling and delivered a rock into a vulnerable point in the scorpion’s chitin, which oozed greyish ichor. Furious at losing its meal and the injury, the scorpion advanced back into the barrow. Bruzra claimed the sling and bag of stones from Bancroft to use in ranged attacks while he prepared to defend with sword and shield. Bancroft followed his friends to the swamp barrow.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-29/Mon, 29 Sep 2025 18:58:16 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-29/Session map Wyz studied his spells while his friends caroused. Then, he studied his spells while they slept it off, pausing occasionally to try to kick them awake. Finally, they woke up, complaining of hangovers, and the group blearily set off for the barrowmaze. Before even reaching the barrows, four giant frogs hopped to the attack from ambush. The rest of the group were surprised, but Wyz had his goblin wariness to protect him, and reacted quickly.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-23/Wed, 24 Sep 2025 12:27:47 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-23/Session map This time the plan came from Druidly: lure rats to the entrance one by one, put them to sleep with a spell, then finish them. The idea worked for precisely one rat; the rest fled deeper into the barrow. A few steps farther in they found more rats. Druidly’s attempts at communication were wasted — the party suspected the rats did not understand Common. He cast a magical missile to strike a sleeping rat he found, killing it.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-16/Tue, 16 Sep 2025 21:21:26 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-16/Session map The squad of risen skeletons advanced upon Bancroft. Two bore sword and shield, closing to melee, while the rest took up positions with bows. Bancroft once again called upon the power of nature to turn them back. One of the sword-wielders fled, but the others remained intent, and their arrows struck from the darkness. Bancroft staggered back up the stairs; their aim would suffer in the light of day.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-15/Mon, 15 Sep 2025 19:25:54 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-15/Session map Wyz stabbed the skeleton next to him in the back and fled out the entrance of the barrow. Wizards have no business on the front lines of a fight and he was too smart to die. Let his minions face the skeletons. El Vis stepped up promptly, matching action to thought. His great sword struck the skeleton that Wyz had already stabbed and shattered it into bone fragments.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-09/Tue, 09 Sep 2025 05:41:04 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-09/Session map One day of carousing quickly turned into two. Bancroft woke the next morning with his head lying on the dirt, a tuft of grass for a pillow. Despite the alcohol he felt surprisingly refreshed; a deeper sense of connection to the earth filled him. A night spent outside of town had done him good. The fog of alcohol blurred his memories of the prior night, but he had been separated from his companions earlier in the evening.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-02/Tue, 02 Sep 2025 05:41:04 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-02/Session map Somehow Druidly dodged the bandit’s blows long enough to put half a dozen of them into a magical sleep. Those left promptly returned the favor and he fell unconscious. While the bandit leader shouted, rats crept up from behind. He screamed as they swarmed him but lived long enough to flee toward the stairs, ordering his followers to keep Druidly inside the barrow. Gravelgnasher saw an opportunity and killed one bandit with an arrow to the forehead.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-01/Tue, 02 Sep 2025 02:25:15 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-09-01/Session map From the top of one barrow, a small green figure cursed and wrung his hands as he watched distant figures crawled around the entrance to another. “My book, my book. My book. Those bastards are going to steal my book!” Hanging from his belt were the implements of a wizard. Especially a new looking scroll case, ink jar, quill pen, rare items worth gold in a town the size of Helix.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-26/Tue, 26 Aug 2025 21:45:29 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-26/Session map Bancroft held the door closed until the sounds of fighting died down. It didn’t take long, just enough time for a quick prayer to Sylvanus to heal Gravelgnasher and relight some torches. The fighting had ended, but there were still rats outside from the sounds, just not trying to open the secret door. In the relative quiet, Bancroft heard a metallic clanking and scraping coming from further into the room, below the floor.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-19/Tue, 19 Aug 2025 22:34:40 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-19/Session map Bancroft and his friends returned to the barrowmaze and inspected two barrows to the far north. Each burial mound had a pair of bronze doors. One set was ornate, bearing symbols of Nergal that matched those on a freestanding pillar to the south; those doors resisted their attempts to open them. Careful inspection revealed a pentagram that could be shifted to reveal a keyhole, but they had no key and any attempts to force the doors resulted in magical repair.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-18/Mon, 18 Aug 2025 20:26:25 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-18/Session map Wyz paced back and forth in his room at the inn, keeping himself awake and annoying El Vis who was sharing the room. The book of magic haunted his dreams and waking thoughts alike. Who could say what secrets might lurk within? Yet, it was hardly safe to brave the barrowmaze alone. When the others were finally ready to return, they weren’t interested in going after the book.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-12/Wed, 13 Aug 2025 01:38:25 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-12/Bancroft stood atop the barrow and looked down upon the tilled earth with satisfaction. Weeks of effort to uncover a fresh barrow had finally paid off: the door had been uncovered, revealing a chamber with four sarcophagi and many giant centipedes. The initial expedition had slain several of the centipedes but not enough, so the entryway had been buried again to keep other parties away. Now it would be dug up, the thin coating of earth removed, the centipedes slain if they were lucky, and whatever treasures the sarcophagi held reclaimed.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-05/Tue, 05 Aug 2025 21:42:15 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-05/Bancroft stood atop the barrow and watched his friends dig. Someone had borrowed his shovel and there were not enough to go around, so he kept watch. It was almost like watching crops grow — slow and steady. Occasionally a frog, scorpion, or skeleton wandered in the distance, but the dig continued until, at last, the clink of shovel on stone resounded: the diggers had uncovered a door. The sound attracted attention.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-04/Mon, 04 Aug 2025 23:33:14 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-08-04/Wyz the smart goblin and a dozen of his closest friends lined up for the barrowmaze, enduring the cold rain. In point of fact, only two of them were very close, the rest were near strangers. But he’d been watching them; choosing them carefully, selecting those who seemed the most competent. One in particular, a dwarven cleric of Fortuna, seemed to have actual supernatural powers. The rest would do for cannon fodder.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-29/Tue, 29 Jul 2025 23:33:14 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-29/Session map Bancroft and his companions returned to the barrowmaze, where they began their investigation with a barrow sealed by a stone door. The party examined the heavy stone barrier, but quickly realized their crowbars would be insufficient to force it open - they would need sledgehammers or similar heavy tools that none of them had brought along. The group proceeded to the next barrow, where Bancroft observed stone doors inlaid with bronze highlights.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-28/Mon, 28 Jul 2025 23:33:14 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-28/Wyz the goblin waited by the side of the road, wringing his hands. His friends had left for the barrowmaze that morning as many aspiring adventurers did. That was hours ago. Now the slow trudge of discouraged feet returning to town rang loudly in his ears. There had been no sign of his friends. As each new group returned. Wyz clutched at sleeves, asked for news, collected whatever tales he could of the horrors that lay beneath the earth.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-22/Tue, 22 Jul 2025 03:42:07 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-22/Session map The adventuring party continued their exploration of the barrowmaze, beginning by excavating a barrow while discussing the construction of a rope ladder for safer descent into the main complex. Using their makeshift ladder, they discovered both old and fresh corpses near the entrance, stripped of gear and flesh except for bone fragments. Their search yielded only a modest pouch containing ten copper pieces. Upon returning to their excavation site, the group welcomed Tohru, who assumed leadership by popular acclaim and was accompanied by her pet duck.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-21/Mon, 21 Jul 2025 21:42:22 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-21/Our group went out to the barrowmaze. Two of my friends, Sidney and Khezzean, stayed to dig; Xanrion the haberdasher and I went to take a closer look at a tomb where others had found a pair of nice vases. That tomb contained a wicker frame surrounding a decaying body. One of the others, actually with a sword and armor, cut off its head. I expected it to rise up and kill us, but the body remained dead.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-14/Mon, 14 Jul 2025 03:26:52 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-14/Finally! Having saved a perfect round number of 100 silver coins as seed money, it was time to seek my fortune in the barrowmaze. Three of my friends were ready to stake their lives on the chance for fortune as well. One of them, a haberdasher, managed to sell two of his fancy hats on the open market and had even more gold burning a hole in his pocket than my silvers worth of savings.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-09/Wed, 09 Jul 2025 00:29:44 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-09/Bancroft and Darmek queued for the barrowmaze with about eight in their group. The day began poorly: they were ambushed by six giant frogs before reaching the barrows. The party ran; three frogs pursued, then only one. They managed to kill that frog, but the group was exhausted and retreated to Helix with nothing to show. The next day they returned and retrieved the possessions of a fallen companion, then selected a barrow to open.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-01/Wed, 02 Jul 2025 01:09:36 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-07-01/I was right. That absurd cloak the halfling had turned out to be worth several gold. Which I promptly turned into equipment. I picked up a Lantern and some oil crowbars. The rope and grappling hook from one of the other dead men Completed the additional loadout. We recruited a few new fellows to replace the Fallen and went back out to the Barrow maze the next day. Our first stop was an open Barrow that had been explored previously by some of our fellows.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/deathtoll/Tue, 01 Jul 2025 12:19:56 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/deathtoll/Orin got a scorpion tail through the chest Whoodelf the halfling died from the scorpions Knutsachson is no more. The noble line of Knutsach is dead… Brak Odo was killed by a skeleton with a gem in its forehead. So was Cronuk … and Jiiib Steelf the dwarf died when the gem skelly reanimated the first time (mission not accomplished) Jaggo died to his deceased zombie wife Ethel, by strangulation, a practice the two had enjoyed consensually in life Vinrin the Halfling was strangled by Ethel the Zombie, non-consensually Borgo dies to a disembodied zombie hand he took with him while running from the rest of the zombie Darmek dies to a giant scorpion Ushlynk died to the same one Becca falls to a skeleton archer on the way to the barrowmaze Asa dies to a skeleton archer and leaves Rex bereft Cami died to a pit trap with spikes and yellow mold Deira dies to the skeleton archer Xanrion and another member of our crew both die to a cursed book Megumi died to yellow mold.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-06-30/Mon, 30 Jun 2025 20:57:47 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-06-30/The trip to the barrowmaze began on a solemn note: the party had lost friends in one of the barrows and needed to retrieve valuables from their bodies. The bodies themselves were not where the friends had fallen; something had dragged them into the barrow and a blood trail led the group onward. Two of the party, those closest to the fallen, lit a torch and entered the barrow to search for remains and valuables.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-06-17/Wed, 18 Jun 2025 00:40:33 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-06-17/Session map Digging is boring. As a dwarf, I know that in my blood. I know that in my bones. I do it anyway because I’m a dwarf. And I stick to it even when other people wander off. When my group of would be adventurers started to dig open a Barrow they thought looked more likely than others to hold treasure. I kept at it. Before long, the halfling Vinrin got bored and wandered off to look into an open doorway.https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-06-16/Mon, 16 Jun 2025 00:40:39 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/shadowmaze/2025-06-16/Session map The barrowmaze opened today. Friends said to come help, get rich, and buy lots of drinks. Good friends. Bancroft followed. There was a line like a race, or like the market. When they reached the barrows, giant scorpions blocked the way; one of Bancroft’s friends was killed and the group fled. Afterward the party handed Bancroft a shovel and told him to dig. It was boring, like farming.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-169/Wed, 14 May 2025 21:53:21 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-169/Bern Snarkscorn let us go, but confiscated my heavy shield and the religious relics we had acquired from the abbey. We needed the money from selling those; the crookhorns won’t do anything with them except desecrate them. St Clewd means nothing to me, but the money would have. He also claimed a prize from each of us, and offered to return it if we completed a task. There would be gold in it for us as well, 1000gp each.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-168/Wed, 07 May 2025 21:04:23 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-168/Bern The sailors wanted no part of any plan that involved fighting, once they heard there were a dozen crookhorns on the bridge. We had the captain drop us off on the east bank and proceed upriver in his barge. Our new plan was to find the path back to the crookhorn camp and set up an ambush for the leader when he returned. While traveling back to his camp, he would presumably leave some of his guards by the bridge, and be more vulnerable.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-167/Wed, 30 Apr 2025 22:14:51 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-167/Session map Bern The first order of business in Fort Vulgar was to collect the information we had paid for concerning the Pillar of Ambule. The local priest had dutifully collected it for us. According to the records he had found, Ambule is a local God of earth, protection and good fortune. His symbol is a single black hexagonal eye. Ambule is reported to make pacts in return for protection from hags and other creatures, and those pacts apparently involve service for life.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-166/Wed, 16 Apr 2025 22:01:28 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-166/Session map Bern Our travels back toward the inn were interrupted by a rain of fire. We paused, took shelter and waited it out, but the delay was costing time we couldn’t spare. It cleared up by noon, and we moved on, but the next day was filled with storms. Normal storms, just rain and lightning and wind, not the burning. It cost us more time. And we were off schedule already.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-165/Wed, 09 Apr 2025 21:19:27 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-165/Session map Bern We made our first few inquiries at the market. The prices inside the walls are no better than those outside the walls and if anything, possibly worse. Asking about sources of ale, the cheapest available was a barrel of old schweissner’s at 20gp each, and we would need two barrels to “paint the walls” of the abbey, but carts are sold for 5x the normal prices. When we asked about renting a cart, they laughed at us.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-164/Wed, 02 Apr 2025 21:19:27 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-164/Session map Bern After a long stay at the inn. I was back in fighting shape. We agreed to rest one more night before continuing on. You hear? And I haunted to build up our supplies, while Pelf spent her time talking with the cook in the basement and doing the accounting for the inn. Pelf concluded that the inn was spending most of its income on raw materials for the cook and that was responsible for its noticeable lack of profits.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-163/Thu, 27 Mar 2025 00:33:28 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-163/Session map Bern We were all in bad shape, even the barbarian. Seeking a place of refuge, we left the area near the abbey and headed northwest following the road. Prior reports suggested to keep in this direction, but we were unsure how far we would have to travel to reach it. When it neared time to camp. We found a tree. Lit by fairy lights. Small creatures. Fluttering about with their wings.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-162/Wed, 19 Mar 2025 16:21:04 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-162/Session map Bern We gave the rag-man his ten skulls. In return, he told us that the portal could be closed by finding “the charge”, a strange creature born of fused chaos magic and divine magic, somewhere in the tomb of St Clewd. The creature would need to enter the portal – willingly or not. Then the portal would close, if the rag-man was being honest. The rag-man also claims his taxidermied creations don’t animate.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-161/Thu, 06 Mar 2025 14:05:04 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-161/Bern Something followed u-Heury and I up the stairs. I still cannot name it. It was a cloud with tentacles, and ominous crackles of lightning, like a storm cloud only smaller and much closer. Plus the tentacles. Spooked by the number of enemies following him, u-Heury called for us to run and hide. We both climbed through the nearby window to take advantage of the natural terrain, and concealed ourselves nearby.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-160/Wed, 26 Feb 2025 20:41:24 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-160/Session map Bern No one felt quite ready to take on the rag man. After some discussion, we decided to investigate the Abbott’s study. The secret door into his study had been smashed open by the party prior to my arrival. Morin and Pish scouted ahead. The study itself was empty, but Pish heard voices from close by and moved to investigate. She was immediately spotted. As it turns out, the next room had a force of knights standing guard, the ones who had refused to flee after the exit was revealed.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-159/Thu, 13 Feb 2025 00:20:39 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-159/Session map Bern After a few agonizing minutes, the rest of the group emerged from the tower entrance. Above, the dark bird-like construct of shadows and rags took flight towards the graveyard. Sensing an opportunity, I remained in hiding, allowing the group to visibly leave the bell tower grounds while the construct presumably kept a suspicious eye on them. Instead, I snuck into the bell tower myself. The first floor was empty aside from an obvious statue, which presumably the others had examined thoroughly.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-158/Wed, 05 Feb 2025 20:46:06 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-158/Session map Bern We rested and recuperated for a few days. I was still hurt, but not badly, when the blood moon was starting to set; Rowan and Pisha worried that might be a time limit for the missing children, so we needed to act quickly. We formed a plan. Morin would sneak trough the window into the gatehouse, grab the monk’s body, and sneak it out the window. Rowan and Pisha would use spells to create a distraction to draw the attention of the gargoyles.https://infodancer.org/post/gcfa/Mon, 03 Feb 2025 00:39:46 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/gcfa/I recently took and passed the GCFA certification exam for forensic analysis. It was an interesting and educational experience, touching on logfile analysis, memory forensics, deep filesystem analysis, and timeline generation. Most of the content focused on Windows (event logs, NTFS filesystem formats, etc); I’m looking forward to finding a matching course with a Linux focus.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-157/Fri, 31 Jan 2025 02:54:55 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-157/Session map Bern I woke up late, with quite a headache. No idea exactly what happened… except there was a waning moon, just a sliver less than full. Pappy’s curse must have taken over. The rest of the group had taken their gear and left, presumably when they saw my empty bedroll and couldn’t find me. No blood or signs of struggle, so I must have managed to get far enough away before the curse took over.https://infodancer.org/post/cissp/Sun, 01 Dec 2024 01:04:21 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/cissp/I recently took and passed the ISC2 CISSP. The certification covered a broad range of topics, most of which I was already familiar with from experience as a software engineer. Those areas I was less familiar with included legal and procedural requirements around risk assessment, physical security, and the theory behind encryption and permissions management.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-156/Wed, 20 Nov 2024 20:47:35 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-156/Bern We investigated the skeleton found at the bottom of the tower where Violet, Lady Harrowmore’s daughter, had been abducted from. It was badly damaged, perhaps from a fall. A dosh of embalmer’s whiskey made it talk; it admitted to abducting Violet on the orders of Mister Rag-n-Bones. It claimed the girl had been taken to “the abbey”. I looked for tracks and found little, just a hint or two of something heading southwest.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-155/Wed, 13 Nov 2024 23:07:18 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-155/Nottanis I woke to Frisky pulling a massive thorn bramble out of my throat. That hurt, but everything else felt better. Our surroundings had changed completely, so I surmised I had been knocked unconscious and my companions had dragged me to safety. A very close call. I thought it over carefully and decided I was done for the moment; learning the spell would be beyond my ability for some time, and I had almost died.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-154/Wed, 06 Nov 2024 21:10:02 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-154/Nottanis We told Aspith about the ghost at the lake, who is known as the Phantom of the Lake. Aspith reacted strongly to the mention of the Druune, who wear tall black robes with cowled holds, smelling of mold; Aspith believes the Phantom is likely a divine figure, trapped by the Druune to guard the place. The Phantom is likely associated with a saint from the local church, Saint Waylani, in Brackenwood.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-153/Wed, 23 Oct 2024 21:20:36 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-153/Nottanis We found some langswith herbs that Nara claimed would cure the strange disease, burned the bodies, then spent the night at a camp. In the morning, Sanfire had recovered from immediate danger. He headed back to Prigswort to convalesce on his own. We discussed other possibilities. Apparantly there’s a ghostly lady in the lake at a place called Gorthstone insisting that the staff of the apostle must be restored. Gorthstone itself is a black obelisk in the middle of a circular, placid pool of water.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-152/Wed, 09 Oct 2024 21:57:40 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-152/Nottanis Sanford and I took in an exquisite dinner at Raptallen’s in company with Aspith Raptallen, the proprietor. We discussed matters of the fae with the lady Aspith, who told us of the nag-lord to the north and his goat-men threatening Prigswort. We told her about the hole in the oak with the cannibal goat-men, and our adventures near black mirror lake with Lady Ygraine. Aspith also mentioned the lady Harrowmoor, who normally trtaveled regularly to Prigswort, but had not been seen in some time.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-151/Thu, 03 Oct 2024 22:26:16 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-151/Nottanis I was wandering the Dolmenwood trying to get as far away from vengeful vampires as I could when two new members of the Glorious Blades asked for my help dealing with a carrion worm. Nara was a barbarian of some kind, and she had a friend with healing magic that could cure paralysis. The halfling Sanford was also along. They had been hired by an alchemist to collect the worm tentacles as ingredients.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-147/Wed, 28 Aug 2024 21:46:41 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-147/Oscar As we waited for a passing person to bring the canoe, Ygnas convinced one of the supplicants to devotre his life to St Anya instead of giving up everything to become a candle. He went off to devote his life to St Anya. The rest of us split up what proceeds we had gathered and returned to our own affairs for some time. The tower of abraxus would have to wait.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-146/Wed, 07 Aug 2024 21:06:47 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-146/Session map Oscar We explored the rest of the small series of rooms that seemed to hold discarded equipment. The four pouches held 400gp, which we did not yet divide up among us. One room had barding for a horse, and another 4 sets of plate mail, along with an assortment of weapons. There’s value in those rooms, if we can get it out safely. The most interestikng room was the last, which had visible (and audible) ghosts along with a bricked-up doorway north.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-145/Thu, 01 Aug 2024 01:05:25 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-145/Session map Oscar Ygnas is still stuck in her niche, now minus her shield and one boot. We dragged her away to try a few things with little luck. We found Warnock in a niche in the north east niche room. I was able to cast Protection from Evil, which made the sand keep its distance from me. Bless failed, somehow intercepted by the power that rules this place. However, while Ygnas can technically cast spells, they tend to fail rapidly.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-144/Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:00:39 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-144/Session map Oscar The St Yggians held their Feast of the Virgins, a festival centered around finding the most pure and unsullied young womewn and putting them on display in a kind of beauty pageant. It seems like a contradictory idea to me, but I have minions who man the concession stands, so I’m all for it… but this time, the pageant winner was abducted by a vampire. At least, that’s what Nottanis told me when he decided vampires were above his pay grade and called me in.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-143/Wed, 17 Jul 2024 21:50:46 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-143/Nottanis When Pusha came running out of the southern corridor yelling about a cleric with a corpse crawler for a pet, we decided the better part of valor was to retreat and possibly come back later. Those crawlers are no joke; we heard about them from Feverborne when he was going after the sewer rats. And getting caught between the cleric and the trogolodytes likely already on their way would have been very difficult to escape.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-142/Wed, 26 Jun 2024 21:14:52 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-142/Session map Nottanis The next room to the northeast had two strange vases, filled with earth and decayed flowers of some kind. u-Heury collected some in case they came in handy, and we found small bones that had been broken as if to suck out the marrtow, but a search turned up nothing else of interest in the room at first. We had posted guards near the eastern entrance, and that turned out to be a good decision.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-141/Wed, 19 Jun 2024 21:33:01 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-141/Session map Nottanis Pusha made crowns for the St Yggian feast of virgins, and then took us to a curiousity shop. We were discussing various job opportunities, and not really coming up with anything local. Without u-Heury to keep the troglodytes’ attention, we weren’t confident of defeating them in a straight up fight, so we brainstormed tactics and evaluated alternatives. Eventually we settled on a strategy for the troglodytes: a chest of rotting fish left as bait, laced with pest-control poison from Nifty’s contacts, followed up with my spell of magical slumber from ambush as they suffered the consequences of the poison, Nifty and Morin to assassinate and backstab simultaneously, and as many hirelings as we can bring to back us up in the fight with the remaining fish-men.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/nottanis/Wed, 12 Jun 2024 20:51:19 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/nottanis/Nottanis is a very average half-elf, with his only notable traits being a slightly better archer than most, and slightly less robust. He’s interested in magic and matters arcane without showing particular skill for them, beyond his elven heritage of dabbling.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-140/Wed, 12 Jun 2024 20:51:19 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-140/Nottanis Feverborne called me in to help with selling three books in elvish the group had recovered some time ago and wanted to read before deciding whether or not to sell. I read a chapter from each, and decided two of them were worth reading more thoroughly. Worlds Beyond described alternative planes and dimensions, and Libraries of the Ancients was all about libraries and why elven libraries were better than all the others.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-139/Wed, 05 Jun 2024 22:49:19 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-139/Feverborne There were three trogolodytes, one for me, one for Punchman, and one for Pusha. Verminbane sliced mine in half deftly; I took only a small scratch in return. The others did not fare as well, both falling to their opponents quickly. Morin, however, struck from the shadows and killed one. The remaining creature fled down the ladder into what I assumed was their hideous larder of rotting flesh. Trusting Morin to hold the lantern and watch over our friends, I followed the creature down the ladder, hoping to slay it before it could find reinforcements.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-138/Wed, 29 May 2024 20:51:06 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-138/Feverborne We spoke with Bryce and Tristan, getting directions to the place their friend went missing. I took the opportunity to buy a bullseye lantern and oil, hoping that the longer range would help our explorations, and the ability to close the lantern to shut off the light would help us avoid notice. We descended into the sewers, following the directions given to us by the guild of sewermen. A slippery path downwards led to a long passageway north.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-137/Wed, 22 May 2024 21:33:34 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-137/Feverborne The amulet and potion turned out to be magical under Pish’s examination, the rest did not. We estimated the value of the dagger at 1500gp, but determined that no one is Eastdale would want to buy such a thing after Retep the antiquities dealer lowballed us. We determined that the best chance to get full value was to travel to a larger city, either Threshold or Prigswort, and determined to go to Threshold as I had other business there.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-136/Wed, 15 May 2024 19:11:18 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-136/Session map Feverborne We spent the next day hunting and recuperating. Nifty and Pish hunted up a nice fat deer, which was roasted over a fire. We kept watch over the entrance to the grotto, hoping to get some warning if the strange ooze creature left. It did not, at least not that we saw. We spent a second night, and Closea’s grace healed my wounds. The platinum ring turned out to not be magical.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-135/Wed, 08 May 2024 21:27:52 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-135/Session map Feverborne We left u-Heury negotiating with the slime monster and headed north, hoping to find the killer frogs by the underground stream and explore further. On the way, Nifty found all sorts of trouble: first she tried to dust the pillar of skulls and nearly died when it triggered some sort of magical effect. Then, in the next room, she bumped into a floating dust ball and had to be tied down with a rope to keep her from floating away.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-134/Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:59:57 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-134/Session map Feverborne We met in Eastdale, hoping to finish exploring the Grotto. With Morin along, we hoped to open a door that had previously been locked and impassable; beyond that, there were areas on the second level that we had yet to explore. While the undead areas might hold serious danger, the river with the frogs seemed possibly safer. Eastdale itself was not at all friendly to elves; Pish had some trouble getting inside the walls, though she spoke little of it.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/nifty/Thu, 11 Apr 2024 00:55:28 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/nifty/Nifty also enjoys journaling our adventures, but is played by another player. She is a 4’ tall, 19-year-old Housekeeper who is obsessed with cleaning and wants to be friends with everyone. She has short black hair in pigtails and loves to wear cute maid outfits. Jack of all trades - Nifty is shown to be talented in a handful of ways. She excels at cleaning, cooking, and sewing, and outside of work, she spends time reading and writing fanfiction.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-133/Wed, 10 Apr 2024 22:37:28 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-133/Bern Somehow we managed to escape the supernatural pull of the henge, and decided it was time for a break from adventure after that close call. I passed the tip about Aster’s fashions and the market in Prigswort to Oscar, who made an obscene amount of money trading on it. Nottanis spent some time researching the ivy ring we found, which turned out to be capable of magically controlling plants. I’m sure he’ll find that very useful.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-132/Wed, 03 Apr 2024 22:37:28 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-132/Bern We traveled further towards the southwest, but ended up walking in circles. I made the best of it and hunted up a small fox. There wasn’t enough left for a hat. Later on we encountered two groups of four strange walkers. We evaded them and watched the two groups meet up and become a circle of eight. They headed off in a new direction together, one close to a weird magnetic pull we were all feeling.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/pish/Wed, 03 Apr 2024 18:18:40 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/pish/Pish also enjoys journaling our adventures, but is played by another player.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-131/Wed, 27 Mar 2024 22:10:15 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-131/Session map Bern We sold the smurf balls and devil’s grease to the herbalist Wyrmspittle for about 50 gp. u-Heury somehow showed up while we were there, asking about herbs of a rather more delicate nature. He was a normal size again by then, and we introduced him around to the new folks and vice versa. I made some inquiries about setting up a trade in fashion garb on Oscar’s behalf, he’ll want to try to take advantage of the trade opportunity in selling Aster’s works in Prigswort.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-130/Wed, 20 Mar 2024 22:10:15 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-130/Bern We went to the Wrinkled Medley to further the investigation into Mr. Klepp. My finely tailored weatherproof cloak and an outlandish haircut got me in past the generally hoity-toity doorman. The bard Hugh was auditioning for a musical act of some time, and the rest of us were tagging along to get information One of the guests, Mr Wyrmspittle, mentioned Mr Klepp, noting that he had been unwell and not getting out much.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-129/Wed, 20 Mar 2024 18:03:02 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-129/Snyfez I’m going to need some more parchment and twine to properly chronicle all these clues- man this party needed an elf. It seems these folks have just been holding onto a mysterious letter- that they didn’t even open?! It seems they got it with a bag of gems from a (deceased?) courier and didn’t realize the real treasure is the written word, and the secrets it can tell us. There was the symbol of the Cobbsworth brewery.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-128/Wed, 28 Feb 2024 16:29:06 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-128/Madtoad After a misspent youth as a seafarer on some, let’s say, less than reputable vessels, I was ready to get my land-legs back under me and spend some time doing some good in the world. I’d traveled about as far inland as I could stand (I still miss the smell of the salty sea-air, and can hardly sleep without the lapping of the waves against the boat) and found myself in a township called Prigswort.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-127/Wed, 07 Feb 2024 20:51:27 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-127/Session map Bern After Ygnas announced that she had used the stone arch as a portal to the elemental plane of fire and burned down the town, we fled. We stuck to the road for about four hours, eventually meeting up with Kiba well outside of town and spending the night there. In the morning we investigated the signs of a battle between mosslings are some sort of winged creature.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-126/Wed, 24 Jan 2024 22:43:18 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-126/Bern Somehow a bunch of fresh faces from the Glorious Blades joined us out here. How they found us I have no idea. Pretty sure I don’t know where I am at this point. But Rowen must have had something to do with it, since she wandered out of town muttering about ley lines about the same time. I let her go without comment. I don’t need ley lines, I need my arm fixed.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-125/Wed, 10 Jan 2024 23:59:26 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-125/Session map Bern Ygnas caught up to join us, and we left town to the south after picking up the weatherproof cloak Rowen had ordered for me. About the cloak, the less said the better. It’s waterproof, and highly visible. I think the designer described it as plaid. Or maybe paisley. I don’t know what those words mean, but a blind elephant could see this cloak from miles away. I’m going to have to pack it back up any time I need to hide.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-124/Thu, 04 Jan 2024 06:57:11 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-124/Bern The “not that simple” part started when Rowen burst through the door. We explained what was happening with the mossy dwarf, and trekked back to Blackeswell, passing a strange black iron cauldron on the way. Someone had hidden it next to a wolf’s den. When we woke up in the morning, it had moved closer to me, apparently by itself. Creepy. Back in Blackeswell, we stopped by the Klepp workshop.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-123/Wed, 13 Dec 2023 23:59:26 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-123/Session map Bern We traveled further south and encountered the town of Blackeswell, which was very fishy. All the food and drink smelled strongly of fish and was quite green. We refused to take more than a single sip or swallow of the stuff, fearing we would turn as green as most of the populace. We spoke to a priest who claimed to serve St Gondyw, but he was completely unwelcoming and would rather be rid of us.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-122/Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:08:19 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-122/Bern u-Heury finally made his wish: “I wish for my beautiful princess, who remains loyal to me through time, to come to me, riding on her mammoth when it is time to form my kingdom.” The kid spent a mighty long time thinking to come up with that. He seems to think he deserves a kingdom, a beautiful princess, and a mammoth. The loyal bit was an interesting twist, and I’m curious how tall his princess and her mammoth will be seeing as he was about 6 inches tall when he made the wish.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-121/Wed, 29 Nov 2023 23:00:49 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-121/Feverborne When the ancient fortuneteller in Cloacina’s congregation told me I had to leave right away to save my friends, I didn’t ask many questions. She said to go to the manse of the lady Ygraine, near Westkeep, and I was familiar with the place. More, I knew Bern had been sniffing around that area – probably literally, he’s as much beast as man – in search of a cure for his withered arm.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-120/Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:10:06 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-120/Nottanis Shortly before we left the rebel camp, a young man named Gareth asked to join our group. He felt that leaving in our company might give him a better chance of escaping whatever curse held Meagre’s Reach in thrall. We agreed, having no real reason not to allow it, and set off at dawn. Despite the dire warnings and Gareth’s presence, we had no problem departing the area, and made our way to the manse of Ygraine.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-119/Thu, 09 Nov 2023 00:49:57 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-119/Nottanis We didn’t make it back tomorrow, or the next day. We dragged our coin, poorly hidden, past a traveling caravan; we paid extortion money to a gargoyle with two mossy statues; we suffered through blood rain and invisible hail and the worst cold I’ve ever had. We did finally make it to town, where absolutely everyone wanted to know what we had in the urns. We did notice a few details in town.https://infodancer.org/post/computing/cisco-remote-scripts/Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:07:21 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/computing/cisco-remote-scripts/What I’ve been working on for a while now: Cisco Remote Scripts With the introduction of Remote Scripts powered by Orbital, a search and response feature of Cisco Secure Endpoint in either the Advantage or the Premier tier, incident responders can respond to sophisticated threats with minimal business disruption, and administrators can provide an overall safer and better user experience. Remote scripts harness the power of Orbital Advanced Search capabilities, which provides hundreds of prepared queries curated by Cisco’s Talos threat intelligence group, allowing you to quickly run complex queries on any endpoint.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-118/Thu, 05 Oct 2023 01:40:37 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-118/Session map Bern Selaena managed to get us an update: the Princess was overjoyed to hear that her True Love yet lived and sought her embrace, but insisted on seeing the ring before actually doing anything. So we tried to arrange another distraction. The guests kept demanding new and obscure dishes (everything from roast swan to pizza rolls) and sending the waitstaff – us – down to the kitchens to get it.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-23/Sat, 30 Sep 2023 20:13:02 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-23/Faran Magebane We negotiated the agreement for oils to protect weaponry from acid in the coming gnomish dessert war. In the meantime, Soggy got stoned, Elania (?) ate some of Creeper’s green dragon jerky and felt sick, and Creeper himself got briefly arrested for trying to smoke Larry the mushroom. The rest of us asked for something we could do to pass the time while the three stooges sobered up, and were invited to go after a shambling mound that had been bothering prime mushroom-land.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-117/Thu, 28 Sep 2023 10:20:49 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-117/Nottanis Rather than return to town immediately, we investigated some of the nearby barrows. While we walked, Rowen had the bright idea to put on the wight-making necklace we found in order to “make sure we kept her safe”. I’m not sure where she got this obviously bad idea but she should stop listening to them. The first had a simple porticullis guarding the entrance, and no skull on top. After inspecting it for traps we managed to lift it and descend, with Rowan’s Dancing Lights lighting the way, and a log holding the gate up so it wouldn’t close behind us.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-116/Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:58 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-116/Session map Nottanis We traveled further down the road, meeting a knight by the name of Richard the Lionhearted and his single merry (and weirdly mossy) dwarf. We discussed the road in both directions, and the dwarf inquired about peculiar mushrooms. Richard mentioned that there was someone already looking into the weirdness of time around the town of Meagre’s Reach, and advised us not to stay there long lest we be caught up in the time distortion ourselves.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-115/Thu, 31 Aug 2023 00:12:00 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-115/Session map Nottanis Rowen had the idea to take a walk into the Dolemwood to follow some sort of ley line she supposedly can see in the sky. I could use a walk in the woods, so I agreed to come along, and apparently Morin was bored too. We wandered into the woods and spend a lovely night by the Dark Mirror Lake. A swan boat was collecting dreams.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-114/Wed, 23 Aug 2023 22:49:39 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-114/Session map Bern We returned to Westkeep for a few days to heal, sealing the tomb again on the way out. On the trip back, we noticed a strange tree shaped like a gigantic foot, and a flock of hawk-deer hybrids. We avoided both. In Westkeep, I passed on the news about the gnome and his grain to the local priest. Seleana volunteered to look for herbs to help our recovery, and I went hunting to help pay for her room at the inn in return.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-22/Sun, 20 Aug 2023 16:32:43 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-22/Faran Magebane We cleaned up the last of the elements attacking us with the help of a Shatter spell. The familiar feeling of hallowed ground told me the mission was complete, and we headed back to the Foaming Mug for some well deserved rest. We woke to an elf removing Creg’s eyes, waving a wanted poster at us when we went to interfere. Not one from the drow, but from the surface.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-113/Thu, 17 Aug 2023 00:18:49 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-113/Session map Bern I had been putting this damn arm problem off long enough. I got the Glorious Blades back together in Westwood, planning to explore the Dolmenwood and make contact with a fae who might be able to fix my arm… somehow. It wasn’t as well planned as I’d like but I was out of ideas and so were the local churches. Oscar offered me the shield he had been using, a huge piece of twisted iron that I was surprised he could even lift, much less fight with.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-112/Thu, 10 Aug 2023 09:18:28 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-112/We made our way back to Thatchem on birdback. The wizards of matwoob were willing to buy what we managed to recover, and expressed some dismay at our description of the current occupants of “their” tower. They did offer us a magical staff that would enable us to climb to the floating island via a stairway to heaven for future trips. Elvinia agreed to take charge of that on behalf of the group.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-111/Thu, 03 Aug 2023 01:02:22 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-111/Session map As soon as we stepped foot into the room below, a magical mouth appeared, shouting a word in some language none of us knew. It was obviously some kind of alarm. We hurried explored to the west, finding a staircase down and another alarm. We opened the door to the south just as some kind of creature entered the room, from the other staircase. With horror I recognized it from the tales of fellow guards: an armadillo with twin antenna, otherwise known as a rust monster.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-110/Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:43:35 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-110/Session map The strange skeletal lampray latched on to u-Heury’s balls and bit down hard. Blood went everywhere, and the kid yelped like a eunuch. Before I could draw my sword, the thing detached and fled. Apparently u-Heury doesn’t taste fishy. I carefully offered prayers to Clocea to clense his body of injuries and his mind of impure thoughts, while laying my hands on his shoulders. It stopped the bleeding, but I wasn’t going to look closer to see what, if anything, was left.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-109/Thu, 20 Jul 2023 00:19:16 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-109/Session map Oscar arrived in Thatchem by ravenback, still looking frazzled. His robes were scorched and burnt, but he had acquired a book of magic that seemed valuable to the mages in the tower of the leaning goose. He asked me to take his raven back to Highfell and help the others bring back more. With my promise to return Verminbane to Forrest fulfilled, it seemed a reasonable way to spend my time.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-108/Thu, 13 Jul 2023 00:53:11 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-108/Session map We set off for the correct tower bright and early in the morning. The ravens flew us south, following the edge of the floating island, and we saw many towers around the edges. There were even ruined fortifications connecting some of the towers. We saw a tower made of sandstone, two more with a strange dome and a peaked roof. About a quarter of the way down, we came to a river, flowing off the edge of the island and disappearing into mist.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-107/Wed, 05 Jul 2023 21:23:26 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-107/Session map We crossed the pit, finding a T intersection with two more doors. Between us, we listened to them all. We heard voices behind one; someone was chanting. Stria opened the one next to it, just a crack, and closed it quickly. She whispered that there were more Vol cultists there, discussing how to get past some monster obstacle. Behind the third door, yet more dragon cultists. There were no obvious valuables or reasons to reveal our presence, so we left.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-106/Thu, 29 Jun 2023 00:53:51 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-106/Oscar I pulled myself to the top of the plateau just as Seleana was promising the ravens we had brought food. Just in time, too; one of them had given the druid a nasty peck on the shoulder that nearly tore her arm off. I laid the seed out according to the directions, while Selaena made silly caw caw noises. I can’t criticize too much, I’ll be doing the same thing later.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-105/Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:15:21 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-105/Session map After bringing Ygnas back, and getting her settled in at the tavern to recover, we reported to the wizards at the tower of the leaning goose. They were so excited by the report that they proposed an immediate return to Highfell, this time on the backs of giant ravens. The wizards claimed to possess a kind of magical birdseed that would allow us to befriend them, for a period of months at least.https://infodancer.org/post/computing/building_go_with_magefiles/Sat, 17 Jun 2023 05:19:31 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/computing/building_go_with_magefiles/Go itself has a built-in set of tools for building go programs and running them. The dependencies and configuration are mostly handled automatically. This makes initial development fast and easy, but eventually, more complex requirements surface and require soome type of automation. I’ve seens lots of different approaches: My work uses a custom-built tool written in go to manage packaging, deployment, signing, etc. This works well but is a lot of effort to write and maintain for a small project, especially multiple small ptojects doing the same thing.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-104/Wed, 14 Jun 2023 21:33:48 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-104/Session map By the time I caught up with the old man and his cart, darkness had fallen. We exchanged pleasantries and agreed to be allies for the night in case of trouble. We both went to bed, hoping to hear my friends catching up, but I drifted off. I woke to Rowen poking me with a stick. The rest of the group had found horses somewhere and caught up.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-21/Sat, 10 Jun 2023 20:35:11 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-21/Faran Magebane The next morning, we explored further, finding a large room with a central pedestal. The pedestal was surrounded by stone pillars, and had a stone structure in the center, covered with sockets as if gems had once been held there. One large gem remained, remarkably similar to the one the earth elemental had dropped. The rest claimed this was a something-something we were supposed to cleanse to stop the dessert wizard.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-103/Wed, 31 May 2023 18:44:06 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-103/Session map We traveled northeast for hours, doffing our armor to make better time for Ygnas’ sake. To be honest northeast was the only real choice for miles. Mountains blocked the north and south, and to the wet were salt plains. At least in grasslands there would be a chance of water and game, not to mention civilization. Eventually we came across a road, with diverging pathways northeast, northwest, and southeast.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-102/Thu, 25 May 2023 00:47:00 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-102/Session map The grinding noise came from the two statues in the hallway. An expected they had animated. As we heard their footsteps stomping towards us, I gave Morin my large sacks and a torch, telling her to stuff anything valuable from the secret room into the sacks as fast as she could while u-Heury and I tried to deal with the statues. u-Heury set himself up by the door, planning to hold it closed as long as possible.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-20/Wed, 17 May 2023 20:35:11 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-20/Faran Magebane We met with the wererats, and despite my best efforts to provoke a fight, ended up with an agreement in principle to mutually defend the city with the deep gnomes. However, the agreement hinged on our group tracking down the source of the ooze and slime invasion nearby. Information from the wererats indicated the pudding invasion had a leader; Speaker for Puddings, or Oozemaster, or God of Slime, or something.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-101/Wed, 17 May 2023 00:16:16 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-101/Session map The last two rats fell or fled as we tore apart their nest, finding a few gold coins in the process, but with that Denara’s blessing faded away. We deferred searching the rest of the nest immediately, though we did make an effort to block the hole to the outside to prevent (or at least delay) reentry. We chose to investigate the secret door in the back of the chamber.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-100/Thu, 11 May 2023 00:16:16 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-100/Session map We had landed in thick forest, so u-Heury climbed a tree to look around. He saw a few flying creatures in the distance and the cloest way out of the forest to the northeast. We headed in that direction, briefly interrupted by a harpy that didn’t seem interested in us. The harpy eventually flew off, asnd we made it out of the forest and approached one of several towers.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-99/Thu, 27 Apr 2023 10:04:55 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-99/A note from Feverborne brought me to Thatchem. He has been flirting with the new goddess of clensing lately, and frankly it seems to be good for him. I sense a new confidence and strength of will in his manner, though the world seeks to test his faith. While Cloacina is clearly no match for the significance of Denara, even a bathhouse must engage in commerce. Mmhmm. At any rate he had found mention of the floating tower my church had requested I investigate some time ago.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-98/Thu, 20 Apr 2023 10:41:26 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-98/We found Thatchem to be very inviting. Their local temple even has a small shrine for the lesser known divinities. I made an appointment with the local priest (following the ritual clensing rites) and had a symbol of Cloacina the Clenser added, so those of my faith would have a place to express their veneration. It’s small, but a beginning. At the inn, we met a man who calls himself Morrigyn and claims to be an adventurer who lost the rest of his party in Highfell.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-97/Thu, 13 Apr 2023 00:08:52 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-97/Feverborne I discussed the matter of what to do next with Forrest, and we decided to explore to the north where Verminbane and Cloacina sensed a threat. A town there known as Thatchem was reputed to be only a few miles away from the danger, so we planned to buy horses and scout the road there. Forrest agreed to lend me Verminbane for a week - whatever I chose to do with the blade during that time.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-96/Thu, 06 Apr 2023 00:07:22 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-96/Feverborne The dwarves melted down the Squeeblade while I watched, after which the high priest thanked me for bringing it to him and conveyed an invitation to see the dwarven king after lunch. I accepted, and arranged to meet with Hammerick on the way out. Hammerick agreed to find Mindy a safe home with a dog just like Kiki. The king asked us to explore the King’s Gate entrance to a dwarven city known as Dwarrowdeep.https://infodancer.org/post/computing/find_exec/Sun, 02 Apr 2023 15:43:55 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/computing/find_exec/One very useful command for locating files and performing operations on them is find with the exec option. find [path] [arguments] -exec [command] {} ; I’ve found this to be particularly useful when adjusting permissions to allow group owners to list a directory: find [path] -type d -exec chmod g+x {} ; The part that’s tricky to remember is the escaped semicolon, hence this post. Applying it only to directories avoids issues with normal files being treated as executable.https://infodancer.org/post/computing/hacker_versus_cracker/Sun, 02 Apr 2023 14:53:56 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/computing/hacker_versus_cracker/In the early days of the internet, and even before that, there was a distinct difference in the terminology used for the people who obtained unauthorized access to computer systems. The term hacker meant someone who created an interesting hack, usually something interesting that used a system – not necessarily even a computer system – to do something outside its design intent. A Rube Goldberg machine is a good example of a hack.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-95/Thu, 30 Mar 2023 08:57:39 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-95/u-Heury and Kiba chose to accompany me to the dwarven town of Hamelet to see the Squeeblade destroyed. This actually caused problems. Hammerick the dwarf refused to allow Kiba’s dog to ride in the carriage, which offended her. u-Heury’s uncivilized nature presented a similar problem. We did eventually resolve the problem by using two separate carriages. The road to Hamelet was eventful. On the second day, u-Heury came across a force of 30 or so men blocking the road ahead.https://infodancer.org/post/gcih/Thu, 30 Mar 2023 01:04:12 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/gcih/I recently took and passed the GCIH Certification. It’s primarily focused on understanding how attackers behave, the tools they use, and why those tools do the things they do.https://infodancer.org/post/computing/giac_certified_incident_handler/Wed, 29 Mar 2023 03:05:43 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/computing/giac_certified_incident_handler/Last weekend, I took the certification exam to become a GIAC certified incident handler. Both the exam and the course material leading up to it were interesting enough to deserve a few comments. One thing I was moderately surprised by in the SANS course was the initial focus on Linux shell tools and Windows Powershell. I’ve been using Linux for a long time, so there weren’t any surprises there. The Powershell material was new to me.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-19/Sat, 18 Mar 2023 23:44:15 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-19/Faran Magebane We made arrangements for the repair of my armor and went off to see the wizard – err, the chief gnomes. On the way we met a musician playing a vast crystalline bowl like a musical instrument; Creeper and I joined in. He had some kind of flute, and I had the god of storms and war, by which I mean thunder. Creg chose that moment to speak up about an animated hand he had been carrying the whole time.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-94/Thu, 09 Mar 2023 00:30:19 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-94/With my soul in a better place and a fresh herbal cleanse, it was time to seek out Forrest and my sword. He was surprisingly eassy to find, having set up a temple to Cloacina in the poor district. He actually seemed sincere, and after we had conversations about the matter, agreed that if the sword found me worthy, he would pass it over to me and focus on administering the church he had founded to spread Cloacina’s glory.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-18/Mon, 06 Mar 2023 08:54:12 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-18/Faran Magebane Turns out there were at least three puddings and dessert was planning to eat us. And, oh yes, the water levels were visibly rising and someone had peaked inside the watery room and noticed large cracks in the walls from which water was pouring in to the whole complex. Someone had the clever idea to use the cube to block the puddings and buy us some time. Well two of them.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-93/Wed, 01 Mar 2023 23:46:55 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-93/We made our way from the temple of Doghma to the Happy Cow Inn, bumping into Sanfire in the process. The halfling offered to join us for the evening, even rented a room, but left to use the outhouse early in the evening. He didn’t return. Rowen and Lyrian were drunk, so I loaned them spikes for their door and went to check on the halfing. I didn’t find the halfling, but someone else was there.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-92/Thu, 23 Feb 2023 00:38:34 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-92/Gradually, very gradually, we regained movement. When most of us had recovered, we moved to the southern room, where Thomas had befriended a kobold. We set the kobold to digging out a new sewer entrance from that room and explored a little to the east, finding a watery area we weren’t ready to explore further. It might still connect to the temple room to the north, but not that we could see from the shore.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-17/Sat, 18 Feb 2023 21:22:13 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-17/Faran Magebane A cave-in blocked off the passageway behind us, and we were forced to look for alternate routes. We found a strange passage into the depths after a brief search, though the passages showed evidence of water leakage. I thought about warning this group of misfits that the caves were likely unstable. But then, it was the only path forward we could find, and we had just had a cave-in.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-91/Thu, 16 Feb 2023 00:02:01 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-91/Feverborne I slew the wounded rat I was facing with one swift blow, but the big fucker stepped in to take it’s place. I gave him as nasty cut with my Yggian borrowed blade, taking a blow in return that destroyed my shield. Kiba stayed long enough to pull some spikes from my backpack to secure the southern door, but then fled. That rat bitch Vee joined the big rat, waving some sort of censor filled with toxic gas.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-90/Thu, 09 Feb 2023 11:13:19 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-90/Session map Of course the second guard paladin at the bottom of the stairs stopped me. I tried to reason with him, explaining that I was on a mission from thew Goddess. He was symapthetic and “let” me knock him over and run past with Kiba close behind. We didn’t get much farther – yet another guard paladin blocked our way and this one wouldn’t let me pass. I wasn’t willing to fight him, so we got frog-marched back into the entrance room and disarmed.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-89/Thu, 26 Jan 2023 22:11:02 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-89/With purses fattened by wererat gold, we set our plans in motion. Ygnas held a party announcing her vacation to Candletown or some such place, honoring her bargain with the rats but leaving the gold they paid her with us. Rowen did the same with a different destination. Pluck was still detained. Old friend Lyrian and new friend Kiba with her dog Kiki joined us from the Glorious Blades. Rumor has it Kiki used to run a delivery service.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-16/Sun, 22 Jan 2023 18:49:10 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-16/Buzz Stonebrew Buzz Stonebrew It all started over a barrel of dwarven ale. My barrel, that is, which I planned to enter in the guild of brewers’ contest. But the night before the contest, I started drinking early – a bit of a pre-celebration of winning. And then I woke up before dawn, head pounding, to discover that my prize-winning barrel of dwarven ale was one of the barrels we tapped the night before.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-88/Thu, 19 Jan 2023 10:37:14 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-88/Joined by Rowen, Clubeck Pluck, Ygnas, and our three bandits, we descended once more into the sewers. I consulted Oscar’s notes and set the valves to drain the swamp around the base of Cloacina’s shrine. I would say vows before her image, and hope for her blessing to bring with me against the rats. When I swore my vows, she appeared before me in a vision, and told me of Arimaniux’s plans to use the sacrifice of children to rise from a demon prince to true godhood.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-15/Sun, 08 Jan 2023 09:30:57 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-15/Alamar Hey, Peanuthead! What’s that? Hey, pesnuthead! C’mere! It’s like my daddy’s voice when he dreams of torturing the souls I eat for him. Except… No, this way! “Can the rest of you hear that?” Apparently they can. This is new. Also, my demonic daddy never called me peanuthead. We decided to investigate. I sent my second son – or was it third? anyways – ahead to scout and he promptly got lost.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-87/Thu, 05 Jan 2023 09:52:06 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-87/We explored the sewer systems thoroughly, looking for any changes from the previously unknown configuration, but found nothing changed in the sewer layout. Except, possibly, the cow-eating tentacle monster was gone. We did happen upon two wererats carrying a young man names Giles (clearly destined for a life of vampire hunting) into the sewers. He called out for help, and we arrayed for battle. But our new friend Clubeck cast some sort of spell to knock them out without a real fight.https://infodancer.org/projects/Mon, 26 Dec 2022 20:03:33 -0600https://infodancer.org/projects/For the most up to date information, see my personal github and my organization github.https://infodancer.org/books/Mon, 26 Dec 2022 05:59:19 -0600https://infodancer.org/books/https://infodancer.org/gaming/Mon, 26 Dec 2022 05:59:19 -0600https://infodancer.org/gaming/Computer Games I jumped into the computer gaming industry in college and spend a lot of time there as well, focusing mostly on RPGs and strategy or tactics titles. Racing games and flight simulators have nostalgia value but have mostly fallen out of regular gaming. FPS type games no longer interest me much, but I did spend a lot of time with the first few Quake games. Mass effect is enough of a crossbreed that I really enjoyed the first, was OK with the 2nd, and hated the third.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-86/Thu, 15 Dec 2022 00:29:14 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-86/Session map Feverborne We left the poor dead wererat girl down in the sewers. Bringing her up to the surface and trying to collect a reward for a dead girl whose wounds matched our own silver weapons would be awkward at best, and very very awkwardly fatal for us at worst. Once back on the surface we took stock of the situation. My magic sword didn’t work, Ygnas’ god was slacking off on the job, and our halfling had just walked off, admittedly after doing well for such a stout fellow.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-14/Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:20:28 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-14/Alamar Alamar I didn’t even get the chance to introduce my son around before we were attacked by four more huge spiders. The goblins promptly fled, leaving us to face them alone. Soggy was drugged out of his mind and did nothing useful. Creg was awake but spent more time wrapped up in webs than casting spells. Faolain was barely managing to keep us alive and Prim was the only star of the fight, killing all four of the spiders herself, though I made large contributions by hurting two of them very badly.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-85/Thu, 08 Dec 2022 22:25:08 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-85/Nottanis Free! I’m finally free of that damned ooze! (Probably). We continued training through rain and wind at the same slow pace.. the pace of the ooze. After several days of this, during which Sanfire departed, we met up with the somewhat confused bard Brad. Brad was confused about the ooze. The ooze was confused about Brad, but I convinced it not to eat him. Temporarily. Brad dumped a lot of random gear in the forest for some reason.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-84/Mon, 05 Dec 2022 04:55:50 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-84/Nottanis We set off towards Threshold, planning to cut through the forest to make better time. Our plan was foiled by the mold, or pudding, or ooze, or slime, or whatever it was. It simply moves slowly. So slowly that it took days to travel a few miles. And every single day was a nervewracking exercise in wondering if the spell had worn off yet, not to mention watching it all night to make sure it didn’t eat Rowen, Sanfire, or Stria.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-13/Sun, 27 Nov 2022 02:41:20 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-13/Alamar Alamar We fought the “puppies”, which turned out to be gnolls. They mentioned Yeegnohu before they died. I ate one of their souls, but still felt unsatisfied. Empty. I was craving… something. Pickles? Ice cream? After a short rest we resumed our journey, and eventually reached a large cavern filled with webs. Two goblins met us at the entrance, Spiderbait and Yum-Yum. Whoever named them had a truly morbid sense of humor, but they didn’t seem to care, merrily using some sort of special grease to surf the webbing around the cave.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-83/Thu, 24 Nov 2022 00:40:17 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-83/Session map Nottanis Feverborne, Sanfire, and Ygnas casme back from the sewers looking discouraged. Ygnas and Feverborne needed a few days to recover, but Sanfire was ready to go, so we gathered a few others and took a side trip to the Caves of Chaos. We traveled to the far western end of the valley, where a natural cave bore claw marks and scratches from a large beast. Sanfire went inside and found an owlbear – and the owlbear found him.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-82/Thu, 17 Nov 2022 00:07:29 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-82/Session map Feverborne With one wererat fleeing from a snoutful of wolfsbane, the rest of us rushed into the room. Alas, we were not quick enough to reach them before we lost the advantage of surprise. Sanfire had told me where to find both of the rats, but I could only see the one choking on herbs. I ran to cut off his escape path, striking a blow with my silver dagger, but the second one fell upon me from behind.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-81/Wed, 09 Nov 2022 22:28:25 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-81/Session map Feverborne We retreated to the surface and arranged to spend a few days at the Druid and Whale recuperating. u-Heury wandered off to tell his tribe about his innovations in urban barbarism, and the by some ill fortune his replacement was a halfling named Sanford. I didn’t know him well and it soon became obvious that the lazy little shit deserved every bit of my diligent efforts to avoid him.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-80/Thu, 03 Nov 2022 01:21:55 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-80/Session map Feverborne The wererats charged us before we could charge them, trapping us in the staircase. Awkward. u-Heury pulled back further up the stairs to force them to come to us. I pulled out my (borrowed) longbow and shot over his head, hitting one of the wererats in the gut with a silver arrow. That pissed them off, but recognizing the poor tactical position, they withdrew and called for reinforcements.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-79/Thu, 13 Oct 2022 00:05:08 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-79/Session map Feverborne Word arrived from Oscar that some of the Glorious Blades had found something interesting in the sewers under Threshold. A small shrine to a nearly forgotten minor goddess of cleansing, lost and surrounded by filth and wererats. The Venus Cloacina, protecting a beautiful sword. The answer to my prayers and my search for meaning. I had never been a healthy child, as my name suggests. but ever since I had taken up the adventuring life, it had gotten worse.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-78/Thu, 06 Oct 2022 02:18:28 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-78/Session map Oscar Our testing of the valve configurations proved fruitful. We rapidly discovered that turning both valves to the right (east) raised the porticullis leading to the shrine, which is located just south of the valve room, and turning the left valve up and the right valve right raises a dam that allows the shrine to drain. Within the shrine of a statue, along with writing. If a hero you would be and see my foe’s filth, vermin and plague destroyed, grant me a weapon and I will grant you the means to see it through.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-12/Sun, 02 Oct 2022 11:23:43 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-12/Alamar Alamar The guards escorted us out of the city, actually putting us out in front of a group of drow. Drow who happened to be looking for us. Well, me. And Creg, I guess. Of course I had already put them out of mind, and they attacked us immediately after leaving the city. In sight of the guards at the gate, even. We killed them, of course. I killed four myself!https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-77/Thu, 29 Sep 2022 02:35:50 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-77/Session map Oscar Rowen opened the east door, but it was empty this time. At least empty of wererats. It did have some kind of sewage channel, and evidence that filthy creatures had camped there until recently. After a quick search we moved to the south door. This one was also empty of rats, but did have a closet, a staircase leaeding to the surface, and some creepy construction methods that made the moaning noises we had noted previously when the wind blew.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-76/Thu, 22 Sep 2022 01:57:31 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-76/Session map Oscar I had a plan. It was a good plan. We would hire a group of mercenaries. Two groups, really. All of them would be armed with missile weapons. One group would take the new entrance into the sewers, and set up on the west side of the pool room where a small platform offered space for three or four archers or slingers. The other group would take the canoes to the east side of the pool room, where a larger platform could support up to six.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-75/Wed, 14 Sep 2022 02:07:55 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-75/Session map Oscar We put together a small group to explore the sewers, looking for the missing children. I engaged two bodyguards, Stria brought herself and her two favorite daggers as usual, and u-Heury recruited the young Thomas, a street urchin and apparently the first member of the Ice Skulls, a new tribe of urban barbarians. I’m looking forward to watching u-Huery explain this to his ancestors or shamans or foster fathers or whoever is theoretically in charge of him.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-74/Thu, 08 Sep 2022 10:08:52 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-74/Nottanis Seasons passed. I had greenleaf tea with Selaena on the regular, after a chance meeting in the woods outside Eastdale. She was talking to the farm cows, which I found charmingly naive. (What could they possibly say that would be interesting?) Turns out they actually did have something interesting, complaining about giant frogs eating their friends. Maybe we will look into that later. Yes, about that, she talked me into getting up off my log in the forest to actually make a difference in the world.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-73/Thu, 01 Sep 2022 00:26:29 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-73/Session map Feverborne We took a few days to heal. U-Huery provided some strange tea that helped a little. Despite going over what we had available, we weren’t inclined to sell anything else right away, and the mysterious elf Landon reappeared, eager to adventure. Perhaps his purse was as flat as mine. We chose to head to the Grotto, as it was close by and there were sections we hade not yet explored.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-72/Thu, 25 Aug 2022 11:52:40 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-72/Feverborne Ygnas got bored and left to pursue her newfound obsession with the language of the fire creatures. She contacted a friend of hers, a druid named Selaena, to help us out. Selaena was not impressed with any of us. Also, it turns out the bugbears are actually hobgoblins. Upstairs was more of the same: filthy goblin trash mostly picked clean. Nothing but bits of copper and a few silver. We did run into three more goblins in the process of looting a crude prison facility.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-11/Mon, 22 Aug 2022 19:59:47 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-11/Alamar Alamar We didn’t really remember the questions we were supposed to ask the derro Drogi. Well, I mean, mostly I didn’t, because I’m not used to handling that stuff. The boss told me to go find Drogi, I found Drogi. Creg remembered a little. Mostly I remembered that the dragon, the dragon priests, and the guard captain all wanted Drogi, but for different reasons. The rest of the group really had no idea of any of this, but they wanted out of the city and out of the underdark, so they were following my lead.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-71/Thu, 18 Aug 2022 07:16:05 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-71/Session map Feverborne Ygnas approached the burning tree portal and tried to speak with the fiery beings surrounding it. She didn’t say what they talked about, but the creatures seemed to respect the holy symbol of Zuul she presented and when we left the area, the fire was spreading to the northwest. The next day brought rain, and Ygnas seemed disappointed. We arrived at the caves of chaos and investigated the entrance where other members of the Glorious Blades had previously encountered goblins and ogres.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-70/Thu, 11 Aug 2022 20:08:57 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-70/Ygnas Me and Barbarian Boy whispered together, trying to figure out how to get Feverborne out. Or whether to leave him there. Ultimately, we decided to try to get him out, but we couldn’t see any way to get his gear from by the leader’s tent. Definitely not the sword, which was strapped to the lead centaur. The kid can be sneaky. I wasn’t willing to take off my armor and try to sneak into the camp to get the gear, risking getting attacked without my armor on.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-69/Thu, 04 Aug 2022 20:36:29 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-69/Session map Ygnas We decided to do some nice quiet exploring on the way to the Caves. Famous last words. Somewhere in the first day of travel, the kid “lost” the bloodthirsty spear while hunting. Kinda think he did it on purpose, and I don’t blame him a bit. On one day, we got up and noticed our waterskins were empty. All of them. And Feverborne and Barbarian Boy have a lot of waterskins between them.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-68/Tue, 02 Aug 2022 19:36:19 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-68/Ygnas We made out way to the wagon, which had of course been pilfered. Finally, we camped. I healed Feverborne. Our supplies in the wagon now gone along with one of the mules, we decided to head south to the closest town for supplies. After more rest and prayers and healing along the way, we were all almost as healthy as we were going to get. We had a disturbing day during the trip huddled in my tent under both tarps, waiting out acid rain.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-10/Sun, 24 Jul 2022 01:56:00 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-10/Alamar Alamar I woke up 15 minutes later inside a bloody cave bear’s guts. No one found me so it all went according to plan. So all of my friends… well they weren’t really friends… are dead. I can say that now that they are dead, right? They were useful, and now they are not useful. Well, not completely useless yet; let me go check their bodies for useful stuff.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-67/Thu, 21 Jul 2022 00:34:44 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-67/Feverborne We fought the ghoul, but the fae blade couldn’t touch it, and I couldn’t attack anything else – it was like I was possessed, even though I kept my head for the first minute or two. I’m getting more and more reluctant to draw that damn magic sword, especially since it couldn’t even hit the damn thing I was so focused on. The sword just passed right through despite perfect form.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-66/Thu, 07 Jul 2022 00:13:14 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-66/Session map Feverborne As it turned out, I found the trap mecvhanism myself, and got a mouthful of poison gas in the process. The kid was busy having a barbarian staring contest with a spirit wolf. Seems he asked it for a gift when it offered a question answered. Wolf spirits are prickly things. It especially did not appreciate being asked to bless Snausages. After he got that sorted out we demonstrated the trap mechanism, and figured out a way to safely discharge the trap when opening the door.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-65/Thu, 30 Jun 2022 00:07:24 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-65/Session map Feverborne Bern sent a message that he needed me to help u-Heury explore some barbarian tribe burial mound, so I went over to check it out and met up with Ygnas and Landon, who were presently dangling u-Heury down a well from a rope. The rest of us followed, and the kid promptly stuck his spear into the wall and opened a secret door, revealing a small group of drunken goblins.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-64/Thu, 23 Jun 2022 00:23:37 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-64/Feverborne (Interlude) So Lyrian and I got to drinking and talking (in that order) and decided to go investigate the strange lack of rumors from Helix, seeing as I grew up there. We signed up with a caravan heading to Ironguard Motte, and managed to get there in just under two weeks. A glorious dinner at The Bloated Halfling led to an attempt at a conversation with the wizard Mazah, but he wasn’t in.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-63/Thu, 16 Jun 2022 00:40:40 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-63/Session map Bern So we stumbled around in the forest for a while, looking for a mound and finding nothing. We did find a nest of phase spiders, which are like normal spiders except they can disappear, and have an absolutely vicious poison that takes ten minutes to kill you. We didn’t realize they were phase spiders at first; the kid shot one with his bow and hurt it a bit, but I put in a solid hit with mine and it just bounced off.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-9/Sun, 12 Jun 2022 20:09:38 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-9/map Alamar So the dragon gave us 31gp (each) for the dragon egg. Damned stingy dragon. We explored further in the underground complex after delivering the egg. I volunteered to take a mushroom and explore the small tunnels, since I can actually hide, unlike Alia. I found zombies, watched over by a humanoid figure of some kind from the top of a cliff. Alia and Thea went after the watching figure, leaving the zombies to Craig, K-9, and my small but still incredibly potent eldritch self.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-62/Thu, 09 Jun 2022 00:29:01 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-62/Session map Bern Oscar sent word that he had found a sword that might work well for me. Apparently it has some history with the White League, a group of rangers dedicated to opposing … things. It’s a little unclear exactly what things. This one is supposed to oppose scales, even though we found it in the barrow of a dead lizard king, and the blade itself is covered in serpent markings.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-61/Thu, 02 Jun 2022 01:17:41 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-61/Oscar Through rain, through mist, through flood and foul weather, we finally made our way to Threshold. U-heary and I camped outside while Stria went to find Basil, and we arranged to meet at the gate in case the guards had awkward questions about our exotic zoo animal. They did, but after taking our names (I gave my real name, and my companions did not) and paying taxes, they let the creature into the city and into Basil’s hands.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-60/Thu, 19 May 2022 00:24:44 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-60/Session map Oscar With the gibbering mouther not where we had expected it, and not visible in the darkness, I had to retreat without attempting to neutralize it’s magical powers. Luckily not all of our group had fallen to the creature’s unholy powers. I hurried back towards the group, swapping places with u-Heury. While the brave boy held off the creature, I called upon Denara, and silenced it’s gibbering. The creature failed to resist.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-8/Mon, 16 May 2022 08:09:09 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-8/Alamar Alamar We wondered around the caverns below the Derro section of the city until we found a large cavern with two multi-tiered mesas. One held a large red egg, which I immediately assumed to be a red dragon egg given my recent memorable encounter (thankfully, not a CLOSE encounter) with one. The other held a derro woman conducting some kind of ritual. She appeared to “summon” a shiny object of some kind, reacted joyfully, and made notes in a book.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-59/Thu, 12 May 2022 05:44:36 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-59/Session map Oscar I spent most of the last year in a sanitorium. They thought my obsession with black sand was unhealthy. Fools. They only taught me to shut up about it. I see a bright new future in carbon trading! By regulating the burning of fuel, the church can tax absolutely everything! Transportation, farming, even lighting your home at night! Ahem. Where was I? After they let me out, I took a role with the church running a small gambling operation in partnership with the temple of Crom.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-58/Thu, 05 May 2022 08:17:48 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-58/Oscar Before we could use the entrance we found, a crazed halfling called to us from the other side of the moat wanting a boat ride. We brought him over to the island once we realized it was Sanfire, a fellow member of the Glorious Blades And Hammer. We descended into the area below the floating tower. Within, a large room with several wall sconces holding candles on top of skull pyramids.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-57/Thu, 28 Apr 2022 07:10:42 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-57/Session map Oscar Lyrian had a damaged sword and no funds to repair it. I offered a loan, but she preferred to look for work in the city instead, a matter in which my own purse – dwindled as it was by inflated city prices and the purchase of a canoe, though not yet completely flat – agreed. We inquired at a noble’s home, who had a package he wished delivered to the temple of Crom.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-56/Sun, 24 Apr 2022 01:14:44 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-56/Oscar Of course, as soon as we opened the east door, we were attacked by giant rats driven by a (presumed) wererat with a set of pipes. We fought them off at the cost of all but one of the hirelings; I was out of spells, the two new folks from the Gray Company were badly hurt, and there were more rats on the other side of the door and a wererat we hadn’t even seen yet.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-55/Thu, 14 Apr 2022 00:54:24 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-55/Session map Oscar Staying at the Druid and Whale proved profitable. We shared our tale with several strangers who happened to share our table, and they committed themselves to the cause. Apparently this is quite the inn for adventurers, as we were also able to find a number of souls willing to sign up to help for a fee. Sadly, none of them possessed silver weaponry. We would need to improvise.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-54/Thu, 07 Apr 2022 10:02:43 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-54/Oscar A strange man named Roger joined us in the sewers. He seems pleasant enough, and a fine warrior, albeit short a few of his marbles. We told him of our plans for the crocodile and he was in favor. The alligator fell to our blades and my mace, and quickly, despite the size of the beast. I give thanks to Denara’s blessing for that. We struggled to haul the creature’s body to the surface, but eventually succeeded.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-7/Sun, 03 Apr 2022 07:59:19 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-7/Alamar Alamar We went poking around the section of the city where the derro are supposed to stay, and where our particular derro might have a home or someplace we could find him or at least we could wander around hoping to see him by chance, which is what we ended up doing after paying street urchins to look for our derro while they urched. Some of them had seen him, but not recently, or at least that’s what they told us.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-53/Thu, 24 Mar 2022 00:13:19 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-53/Session map Oscar We ended up fighting the wererats, of course. Because of course they were wererats. We did manage to get some additional information from their spokesrat first, though. They worship Arimaniux, a sewer god who was thought to be eradicated 30 years ago. Their nefarious plan appears to be to nap kids (more sinister than it sounds!) and raise them to worship their god of filth. Probably infect them with lycanthropy, too.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-52/Thu, 17 Mar 2022 14:53:59 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-52/Session map Oscar We collected our gear from the wagon and headed back towards the cellar, stopping on the way to chat with a weaponsmith. I had him mount the two dragon scales that were Frederick’s legacy to a warhammer, which I will carry in his name. The smith swears the scales will have no effect on the hammer’s actual function, but I am not so sure. Surely a blow from a dragon’s scales is more potent than one without such materials!https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-51/Thu, 10 Mar 2022 00:35:13 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-51/Session map Oscar We made it to Threshold and stored our wagon and gear just outside the gate. We stayed the night at the Druid and Whale, because the alternative inn, a place called The Drunken Knight, only allows women and elves. On our way to the temple of Denara, we witnessed a mugging; a minor merchant had been set upon by three ruffians from an organization called the Debased Currency or something similar.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-50/Thu, 03 Mar 2022 03:29:35 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-50/Oscar So it turns out the knights were in fact bandits; they demanded a toll of three gold each to cross their ford. Honestly, I never knew trolls could be knighted, nor fit into a suit of heavy armor. They complained about barbarian attacks in the area, and questioned u-Heury closely, but I vouched for the boy and he was not of the same tribe causing the problems. They let us pass without issue once the toll was paid.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-6/Wed, 23 Feb 2022 04:21:34 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-6/Alamar Alamar In Grindlebuck we bought some clothes (and I bought a glaive) and were promptly attacked by a stone giant with two heads who didn’t enjoy our fashion sense. We hurt him badly, particularly Alia, who seems quite effective with a bow. I’ll have to make sure to steal her bowstring before trying to steal a kiss. But the fight attracted attention from the guards, who subdued the giant while we returned to our inn.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-49/Thu, 17 Feb 2022 22:15:19 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-49/Oscar Go to Threshold, they said. Bring your wagon, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. Nope. So far, we have been rained on by blood, cursed at by peasants, solicited by naked elven ladies and a golden dragon, and had a very expensive mule eaten by hyenas that were, apparently, better armored than most humans. We ended our trip at a ford guarded by 6 heavily armored bandits… err, knights, until proven to be bandits, which is likely to be shortly.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-48/Sat, 12 Feb 2022 00:47:33 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-48/Oscar I write once more with a heavy heart. The dwarf Girm, accompanied by friends Stria and u-Heury, brought me the ashes of Denara’s paladin Frederick. I knew Frederick but little; we rarely adventured together, fearing that two servants of Denara in close proximity would be too much risk of an irrepairable loss to our goal of founding a temple in this region. I’m inforemed those who knew him better referred to him as “The Apocalypse”, and he certainly lived up to his name, if the tale Girm told is even a little bit true.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-47/Thu, 03 Feb 2022 00:16:11 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-47/Session map Fred We were all badly hurt, so we focused on recuperating while Stria mixed up a lovely treat to feed to the basilisks before we killed them. Some kind of fish stew that came from a faraway land. She said it was poy sin stew. We hired a dwarf named Girm and a man and his toothless dog and set off towards the big tree, with two mules pulling Oscar’s cart that I should really tell him I’ve been borrowinmg.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-46/Thu, 27 Jan 2022 00:01:29 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-46/Fred My plan worked! I took off my armor, lay down my weapons, and armed only with two vials of holy water, snuck up on the ghouls as they feasted on the (relatively) fresh corpse of one of our guards. Invoking Denara, I threw the vial and hit one of them right between the eyes! It screamed and gave chase. I ran all the way back to the rest of the group, who had set up an ambush around the teleporting rug.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-5/Sat, 22 Jan 2022 22:41:33 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-5/Alamar Alamar We finally got to Grindlebuck or whereever we were going, a city filled with dwarves, which is only marginally better than a city filled with fish that got ate by a demon. The first thing we saw was someone get murdered, so of course Alia took their purse. He had only 17gp so he certainly wasn’t killed because he was rich. Getting there was a bitch. We scared off the stirges, or maybe exterminated them entirely (I hope!https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-45/Thu, 20 Jan 2022 00:18:01 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-45/Session map Fred After spending a few days healing in Eastdale, u-Heury felt well enough to walk around town. We visited the wizard and sold him the scroll of dim-in-you-son. I bought some gear and hired a guy and his dog, and we went out to the holy oak to try to trick the ghouls out of their treasure. When we spent the night there, we were attacked by glowing balls of light and had to use our pillows to fight them off!https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-4/Thu, 13 Jan 2022 04:41:11 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-4/Alamar Alamar I hate the underdark. We fought stirges, mermen, a water weird and it’s pet soggy mummy, and something else that I can’t even remember on our way between two cities that I definitely can’t pronounce. At least the mummy had treasure, even if the tapestries were waterlogged and probably now worthless. Do people mummify their ancestors, stuff treasure into their sarcophagi, and drop them down wells? Is that a thing?https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-44/Thu, 13 Jan 2022 04:38:23 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-44/Fred We headed north, finding another beach along the underground river. This one had a gnome tending fish traps. He said there are big lizards that take a tithe of his fish catch just to the east of his Beach, and we saw them for ourselves. Probably basilisks because they have weird swirly eyes. Ogbond the gnome introduced us to Grim, another gnome, who promised a 159gp gem if we killed two basilisks and a treasure map if we got all four.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-43/Thu, 06 Jan 2022 00:57:28 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-43/Session map Fred The ghouls came at us fast. Stria killed one with a headshot, and I landed a solid hit in return, but then everything seemed to go stiff and everyone started moving really fast. Their voices buzzed like flies! I kept trying to talk but no one listened, until somehow I fell into a boat and we sailed away from the ghouls. Everyone slowed down again once they were out of sight, but u-Heury was playing at being a statue, so I gave him a mousetache.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-42/Wed, 29 Dec 2021 00:57:26 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-42/Session map Fred The big hairy ranger called Bern came back with his friends on a stretcher. They said he was dead, but when I asked the head priest of Ygg about him, the priest said Bern was just resting and seemed eager to wash his hands of the man. I don’t understand. Bern’s a bit gruff and uncouth, but his heart’s in exactly the right place, slightly left of the spine and between his ribs.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-41/Thu, 16 Dec 2021 00:24:12 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-41/Session map Bern When I woke up the next morning, the weird barbed sword was gone. We looked and couldn’t find it anywhere. Weird. We took our two mules, 3 fighting men and a torchbearer. Well. Lantern bearer since I paid for a lantern. Feeling guilty about that damned box for some reason. And went back to the grotto after the magic box, in case it was worth something, whether still magical or just as a curiousity.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-3/Sun, 12 Dec 2021 14:21:04 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-3/Alamar Alamar We made our way, with much starvation and thirst, to the underground city of Sloobubaloodoop or something like that. It was on the edge of an underground lake complex which we later learned was filled with fish very eager to eat or be eaten. However, our welcome to the city itself was somewhat lacking. First we met a group of fish people who wanted to sacrifice us to their father-god of fish.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-40/Thu, 09 Dec 2021 00:20:32 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-40/Session map Bern Once we finished picking up the treasure from the box, we took the time to search the bodies of the dead trogolodytes and the rest of their throne room. They were keepin’ skulls of their dead in a display case, complete with little labels. We took four of those. There was a snakeskin map and some blank snakeskin parchments. And, there was a short sword with jagged, serrated edges hidden in the cushion of a trashed sofa of some kind.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-2/Thu, 02 Dec 2021 00:10:30 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-2/Alamar We wandered in the caverns for days, trying to find out way to the Dark Lake. Our fishy guide didn’t seem to know the way very well. And there was no food, no water. I was very hungry! Not something I am used to, normally it is the best of food and drink for the great Alamar. Fine wines and fine dining lead to fine ladies smiling! Eventually we found a mushroom called a barrel-something that held water and could be used as food.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-39/Thu, 02 Dec 2021 00:10:08 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-39/Session map Bern I was itching to try out my new trained wardog Snausages. Got him from Feverborne when I mentioned buying some wardogs, he figured three were better than two and he ain’t wrong. Sanfire mentioned he figured out the riddle of the mystery box, and told me the answer… didn’t make me promise not to go get it first. His mistake. Since the Gray Company had been pestering us to change our name, we talked it over and decided we should become the The Glorious Blades.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-38/Thu, 25 Nov 2021 01:45:27 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-38/Oscar We discussed whether to return to town immediately or proceed northwest to investigate the strange pointing, ectoplasmic hand that Ygnas had reported. I believe she reported something similar in the hollow oak, pointing in roughly the same direction. I wonder if they were the same entity trying to communicate with her, or if she is simply hallucinating. As far as I know, Zuul has no doctrine on recreational use of hallucinogens, neither for nor against.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-37/Thu, 18 Nov 2021 12:12:07 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-37/Session map Oscar We returned to Eastdale with our prizes, having discussed the idea of trying the gibbering mouther and deciding against it. The guards on the south gate were suspicious and did not want to let Sanfire into town, fearing he was linked to the fey because of his (lack of) stature. After a day or so of rest, I asked Denara for her wisdom about the treasures we had recovered.https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-1/Sun, 14 Nov 2021 01:11:58 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/outoftheabyss/session-1/Alamar Alamar Hey, baby! You wouldn’t believe what just happened to me! I was Having a little bit of lovin’ n’ canoodlin’ with the mayor’s favorite daughter up in the hayloft over the stables behind the inn, y’know the place, when there was all sorts of ruckus and such! Well never fear I made some ruckus myself, made the girl scream and say my name .. because they always do!https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-36/Wed, 10 Nov 2021 23:54:53 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-36/Session 36 map Oscar We took some time to bring the new halfling up to speed. He had now recalled that his name is Sanfire and denies any connection with the wizard Invar. I’m not sure if I believe that, where else would he have come from? If a wizard dies from a lightning bolt, and physically reverts to their childhood, do they lose their memory of being a wizard?https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-35/Thu, 04 Nov 2021 02:08:02 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-35/Session 35 map Oscar We argued for a little while about where to camp for the night, and eventually settled for a small room near the skeletons’ room. It had a few rat holes, so we blocked most of them and Ahnjela set up deadfalls at the rest. A very strange mushroom grew from the walls overnight, and Ahnjela caught a rat. While I studied the proper forms for invoking Denara’s healing power, Ahnjela… Skinned, cooked, and ate her rat.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-34/Thu, 28 Oct 2021 01:38:40 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-34/Session 34 map Oscar We loaded poor u-Heury’s body into the wagon, and made it to Eastdale without further incident. The prelate of St Ygg was quite willing to intercede on the boy’s behalf once we emptied our pockets. He will need weeks of bedrest before he can recover fully, and the rest of us were not at our best. I negotiated the sale of my load of lumber from Westkeep at precisely 10gp profit, and we discussed where to go next.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-33/Sat, 23 Oct 2021 20:34:06 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-33/Session 33 map Bern So I was drinking with the Butchers of Helix when a couple of the new recruits stumbled in telling tales of some caves to the north full of treasure (and also goblins and kobolds). Sounded worth exploring so I grabbed Ahnjela and Ygnas (not literally) and we talked out our plan. They didn’t want to pay for any cannon fodder. I don’t get along with people so good.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-32/Thu, 21 Oct 2021 02:15:26 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-32/Session 32 map Oscar I write with a heavy heart. Tragedy has struck our little group. But I will come to that in time. We were staring at three troglodytes, all stuffing their faces with fish. After thinking it over for a few shocked seconds, I decided the wise course of action was to leave them to their meal. I waved, apologized for opening the wrong door, and slammed it closed.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-31/Thu, 14 Oct 2021 01:08:04 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-31/Session 31 map Oscar We left Ahnjela to guard the wagon with the mules and lumber outside the hole in the oak. The rest of us – briefly regretting that we had failed to hire a torchbearer or mercenaries – descended in the space below the tree. The thieving roots had grown back somewhat, but were too weak to actually steal anything, and the special harness I had made for my new set of holy scales kept them safe.https://infodancer.org/whyinfodancer/Fri, 08 Oct 2021 18:54:51 -0500https://infodancer.org/whyinfodancer/When I was a young programmer, I ran across a book called The Long Run by Daniel Keys Moran. This was not the first book I read that featured a programmer as the main character, but it was the first where the programmer was cool. You might say it made an impression. The book introduces terminology for its various characters according to what they do on the Internet. The main character is a Player, what most people today would call a hacker, a cracker, or both.https://infodancer.org/about/Fri, 08 Oct 2021 10:09:14 -0500https://infodancer.org/about/I am a programmer at heart. If you want a formal title, it’s currently Senior Software Engineer. I’m working on software supporting the computer security industry, and I recently became a GIAC certified incident handler (GCIH). I have worked for small startups, large corporations, and governments. Mostly, I write database-driven web applications. Sometimes those are just websites, and sometimes they provide the user interface to a supercomputer. I have also written email server software, blogging software, and many other small utilities.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-30/Thu, 07 Oct 2021 02:17:16 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-30/Session 30 map Oscar Another year flew by. I set up my stall in the Eastdale market and preached the doctrine of Denara, and spent some time commissioning a proper holy symbol to replace the one stolen from me – only this time in good, an upgrade from the previous silver. I commissioned at the same time a silver symbol as a replacement for the wooden one i had borrowed from a lay worshipper in Westkeep.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-29/Sat, 25 Sep 2021 19:44:26 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-29/Bern When I saw that thing with too many mouths behind the secret door, there was only one thing to do. I braced myself to resist it’s gurgling and slammed the door shut, then took a good look around me. Everyone else was nuts, even the jelly skellies. I did the only thing that made sense. I ran to the middle door, the one the skellies didn’t care about, opened it and ran in, closing the door behind me.https://infodancer.org/post/missionapocalypse/session-3/Sun, 19 Sep 2021 05:12:42 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/missionapocalypse/session-3/We had a real milkrun today. Good thing too cause it wasn’t really a paying deal. Billy, alocal kid, wanted about of an escort moving simchips from the plant to his place. He was worried there might be trouble. Smart kid. There always might be trouble. So we – that’s me, billy, and elf-boy, plus new girl miss Theo who joined the team or something – drove to the pickup spot and waited.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/lyrian/Sat, 18 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/lyrian/Lyrian was born a street rat. She was such a pretty child, her parents gave her to the beggars guild. Lyrian made the guild their investment many times over before she was a teenager. Having aged out of the beggar child role, she started begging with fake injuries or diseases. Always moving, never in the same part of town, or the same city or town, more than a few days. She’s seen thieves in action every day, and can spot a con a mile off.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-28/Thu, 16 Sep 2021 03:23:10 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-28/Session 28 map Feverborne So the kid disappeared right after he stepped into the pool. Nobody wanted to try to follow him in. I tried tossing some pebbles where he was, but they passed right through the spot he was standing. No luck with that. I played out some rope and tossed it into the water, basically fishing for a barbarian. No luck with either. Well, hate to say it, kid, but you’ve got a habit of running off and then coming back just fine.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-27/Sun, 12 Sep 2021 05:33:29 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-27/Session 27 map Frederick Well, I do say I had the strangest experience of my life today. I was talking, well drinking really, with one of the newest members of our little band. Odd girl likes to use a sword and a dagger at the same time. Who does that? Anyways she reminded me of some missing members, people who had found some sort of secret thingamajig in the library and gone to explore it and never came back.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/ygnas/Fri, 10 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/ygnas/Ygnas was sold by her parents to the Sage when she was a small child. Intended to be a servant, the Sage discovered that the girl was bright and curious, so she became his apprentice. When she got a little older, she started asking questions about everything. This annoyed him, and he put a gag on her for a few weeks. She learned to find the answers herself in the tower library, and to be quiet.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-26/Wed, 08 Sep 2021 23:52:45 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-26/Session 26 map Feverborne So we dragged u-Heury through the big room with the pillars and the dog statues. Whatever was on that needle really put him out. We left him propped up in another corner to investigate another room. This place has been pretty symmetrical so far, but the Eastern version of this room had statues and a moldy tapestry on the east wall. All the statues had solid weapons, real ones.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-25/Thu, 02 Sep 2021 02:36:42 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-25/Session 25 map Feverborne I dropped Snausages off with the group and headed down to Westkeep, where Oscar has gotten himself off to. I guess the man was chasing rewards from the talking frog. I bumped into him in the Dolemwood,I guess after he interrupted some sort of ceremony. He wanted to make arrangements for some sort of new temple on the woods. I thought his god was all about civilization?https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-24/Sat, 28 Aug 2021 19:32:15 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-24/Session 24 map Stria I searched around town for the three henchmen that abandoned us in the tomb. No one had seen them. Met up with Feverborne. He at least agrees with me that the absconding henchmen need to be dealt with. He got the name of the mother of one. I went with him and he talked to the mother, and learned that the absconder liked to go to another town for carousing.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-23/Thu, 26 Aug 2021 14:17:21 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-23/Session 23 map Ygnas We left the altar the next morning and headed into the hills. Almost ran into a caravan of orcs. Lots of orcs. Luckily, they didn’t notice us, because there were way too many for us to handle. Wonder what they had in their wagons, though. I took first watch twice during our travels. No one was watching me, so I could over-enthusiastically poke the fire all I wanted.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-22/Sat, 14 Aug 2021 23:15:26 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-22/Session 22 map Ygnas I returned to town after not finding any blasphemous dams. Oscar wanted to bring a talking frog home. In return for a promised reward, of course. A druid named Yip agreed to guide us. We came to an abandoned timber mill with 2 dead bodies. Yip was just going to leave them out in the woods, but I said I’d be happy to build a pyre.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-21/Thu, 12 Aug 2021 12:44:37 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-21/Session 21 map Ygnas I was traveling through the woods on a mission for Zuul. I don’t remember what happened after that. I woke up with a splitting headache, tied up in what looked like the inside of a tree, but smelled like a barnyard. There were … things… that looked like an unnatural cross between sheep and men. They had a bunch of other people there. They killed and ate them.https://infodancer.org/post/missionapocalypse/session-2/Sun, 08 Aug 2021 09:53:24 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/missionapocalypse/session-2/Dear Daisy, From Vance So our whole mixed group rode back ta town with Running Dog or whatever his Indian name is. We had our buried box for Johnny the mysterious guard, and we passed that over to Johnny the next morning unopened – not for lack of trying from Pam the drone-girl. I had kinda figured we should hold the box back until he delivered on his favor, but it worked out ok anyway.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-20/Sun, 08 Aug 2021 09:52:49 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-20/Session 20 map Feverborne I stumbled into the common room after a particularly long night of drinking. These damn yggians insist on alcohol only during meals. It doesn’t stop me for a moment; I just order as many cups as I think I will need to drink with my dinner and pour them into my wineskins for later. Amateurs study tactics, generals study strategy, and professionals study logistics. But anyways.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-19/Fri, 06 Aug 2021 14:59:41 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-19/Session 19 map Bern Huh. Grunty’s back. Last I saw him, he disappeared while I was looking into one o them crystals in the grotto for just a moment. (Still a silly name for a silly place). I searched for tracks and eventually headed back to town without seeing any sign of him, then went back with Stria. And then today he shows up wanting to try again. Well, ok.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-18/Sun, 01 Aug 2021 06:49:03 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-18/Stria I spent the off season profitably poisoning farmers who had mistreated their wives. Bern said he had a lead to possible profit, so I tagged along with him after we decided there was no emergency requiring us to look into acquaintances missing behind a mysterious door in the library. We hired a naive fighter named Bran for the trip. He got off on the wrong foot with me by insisting on 3 gold a day as his fee, just because he didn’t like the look of us.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-17/Thu, 29 Jul 2021 00:06:47 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-17/Nolly's Kingdom Oscar Well. Well, well, well. My lady of liabilities and legalities continues to watch over me, despite my unfortunate blunder in the matter of the theft of her holy symbol. I was filling out the proper form for such a thing while making idle chatter with the odd sheep-man Ramius. He was offering everyone tea And crumpets, so very hospitable. Gurg the dwarf accepted, as did Davos the mercenary.https://infodancer.org/post/missionapocalypse/session-1/Sun, 25 Jul 2021 08:06:10 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/missionapocalypse/session-1/Dear Daisy, From Vance Well it’s been a weird few days since you stopped by with that package for me! It was a hoodie. Bright red, the ridin’ roughnecks logo. Some sort of sportsball team. Weren’t nothing I ordered, though I admit I sometimes put your address on stuff when I’m between jobs or houses.. anyways I got a call the next day saying put it on and go to this local sports bar.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-16/Thu, 22 Jul 2021 00:27:06 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-16/Bern Met a new feller today. Short and stocky, grunted a lot. Asked his name, he grunted. Asked how he got ’ere, he grunted. Ask where he wanted to go, he grunted. Asked if he wanted ya pay me ta guide him into the forest and find treasure and kill monsters. You guessed it, he grunted, so off we went. First stop was Jiles. Padawan of Ygg’s Stick he said. Knows about the outlaw band in the forest.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-15/Sat, 03 Jul 2021 20:15:49 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-15/Bern So we decided to stop sniffing around doors and start opening them. The ornate snake door led to a staircase leading down. That’s a nope, at least for now. Maybe when we’re done here. The room without a door led to a small hallway filled with clay snake statues. They all had real metal swords with visible rust, meaning likely they animate if disturbed or somehow activated. We carefully slipped past without touching the statues and checked the far end; nothing noticeable.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-14/Wed, 30 Jun 2021 23:17:57 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-14/Oscar After my brief foray into the world of the adventurer, the rest of the year seemed to just fly by. I had much to learn from the near death experience at the fangs of a two-headed snake, and indeed spent many days and nights in contemplation, filing form after form with the goddess Denara seeking a boon of her wisdom. Eventually I received her insight; I must work on a series of stretching exercises every day, to improve the flexibility and strength of my lame leg; it will likely always be a weakness, but even a little improvement could save my life.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-13/Thu, 24 Jun 2021 01:19:36 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-13/Feverborne After spending the night camped in a secret room, we took stock of our gains and losses and decided it was time to return to town and reprovision. Having scouted the ruins (and more importantly the path to and from) we could plan more effectively for our next expedition, and with more funds to boot. Buying a mule to carry provisions for example. Though I hear rumors of a mule thief in town lately.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/stria/Sun, 20 Jun 2021 14:39:19 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/stria/Born on a battlefield from a prior union between her camp follower mother and a soldier. Not the soldier her lovesick mother originally followed. He died early on. Just a random soldier, because her mother stayed on following the army, having nowhere else to go. Her childhood was spent observing what went on in the camp follower tents, and observing what goes on with an army in between battles. From her mother and her ilk, Stria learned what to do to and with a man.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/leslie/Sun, 20 Jun 2021 14:39:15 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/leslie/“Call me Leslie. Or Les. I’m one or the other. Some days, I’m both.”https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-12/Sun, 20 Jun 2021 12:48:24 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-12/Session 12 map Bern I came to Eastdale looking for guide work, leading people through the wilderness. Don’t really like people much. Animals are much simpler, I know where I stand out in the wilds. Difference between a dog and a wolf and a cat you can see and smell and taste. Humans, well, some of us will lie to ya and cheat ya and kill ya and we all look the same.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-11/Thu, 17 Jun 2021 01:14:35 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-11/Feverborne North of the portcullis were two doors, both closed. We listened and they were both silent as well. Opening the one to the north revealed a closet full of skeletons; someone’s family has a lot of dark secrets. Well, actually zombies. But I couldn’t resist the turn of phrase. There were about 6 of them but they didn’t move when we opened the door. Huh. Punchman worked up his courage, threw a torch at one, and we slammed the door and took off.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-10/Thu, 10 Jun 2021 09:55:33 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-10/archaya Feverborne We left Bayonetta’s body at our campsite. We weren’t ready to return and there would be no point carrying it with us. A simple cairn of stones would do for now. u-Heury collected her possessions (and wages).. we will see what he does with them. Further south and west we found a cavern floored with obsidian. It was slippery. Very odd, obsidian is normally shiny but not slippery.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/bern/Fri, 04 Jun 2021 16:21:04 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/bern/Bern Bern is currently a 4th level ranger. He wields the Azure Serpent Blade, which has two brother blades he seeks, paired with a bent and twisted shield of orcish design. It is reputed to preserve a corpse from decay if laid over the body. Rumor has it that near on a score of years past, a woman mated with a werewolf in the woods west of Eastdale, and the man known as Bern o’ the Wild is the result of their mad, frenzied coupling.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-9/Thu, 03 Jun 2021 06:26:38 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-9/Feverborne We broke camp after a night of bitter cold at the edge of a field of strange black sand. It seems the rumors of an ancient magical disaster there are true. That, or it’s just black sand. u-Heury threw a fit when it was time to go in, and refused. He was packing his bags to head back to Eastdale. I wasn’t having it; it would be desertion in the face of the enemy and I said so to his face.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-19/Sun, 30 May 2021 08:21:53 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-19/Creeper got captured and magically interrogated last time, revealing the location of the camp. The characters had all planned on a long rest; they got a short rest and a drow-spider ambush. All adventurers either fled, or were captured and enslaved by the drow in the Wave Echo Cave, helping make weapons and armor for the forces of evil alongside the missing Rockseeker dwarf. Basically everyone was fed up with the module and ready to end it without bothering to play out the final confrontation.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/morgath/Thu, 27 May 2021 01:50:28 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/morgath/Morgath is a mysterious masked man of magic and m’alliteration. He has scarring on the face around the mouth, wears a mask and some of the scarring comes up above the mask slightly. The mask just covers his mouth.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-8/Thu, 27 May 2021 01:34:00 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-8/Feverborne After the pink slime disaster, we decided it was time to head back to town. We had found some items of value and quite frankly we were all a bit shook up by seeing one of our compatriots have his face eaten. Not to mention the ordeal of puzzle-solving overnight from the fisher king. But our first stop was to fatten our purses, so we headed to Retep’s antiquities… But only after checking them ourselves, of course.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-7/Thu, 20 May 2021 01:35:21 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-7/Feverborne I gave Ahnjela a resounding slap across the face with my gauntlet, and it seemed to sober her up. But it didn’t make the skeletons any more inclined to let us pass. We did establish that they only guarded two of the three doors in the room, leaving the middle door free if we wanted to go that way. We also established that pink would help us kill green if we wanted to go through the green door, but pink skellie is a mean bastard and I would hate to trust his word.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-6/Thu, 13 May 2021 12:40:36 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-6/Feverborne When u-Heury was finished playing doctor with himself, we decided to clear out the two fishy folk playing handsy behind the door before going deeper into the cave system. We set up an ambush outside the door while u-Heury taunted them and tried to get them to come out. It didn’t go well. I continue to prefer a more aggressive approach to take advantage of surprise. We should be listening at doors and kicking them down, then swarming inside to take advantage of surprise.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/ooohhhya-punchman/Thu, 06 May 2021 03:29:25 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/ooohhhya-punchman/Ohhyeah Punchman was forever scarred when his mother told him he was conceived on horseback. One can only guess at what his father said at the moment of conception, but his mother always smiles when she says her son’s name, “Ohhyeah!” It was the same smile that drove him to become a butcher of horsemeat (and other animals of course) instead of taking on the traditional Punchman trade of masonry.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/nottan-assasson/Thu, 06 May 2021 03:28:57 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/nottan-assasson/Definitely not an assassin.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/silverhale/Thu, 06 May 2021 03:28:36 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/silverhale/Information about the town of Silverhale in the OSR Realms campaign.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/elaith/Thu, 06 May 2021 03:27:52 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/elaith/Very pointy…. ears.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/ahnjela/Thu, 06 May 2021 03:27:43 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/ahnjela/Dude looks like a lady.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/u-heury/Thu, 06 May 2021 03:26:47 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/u-heury/A powerful barbarian youth with ambitions of learning the ways of civilization. He is presently attempting to learn to read, and has a budding interest in mycology (mushrooms).https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-5/Wed, 05 May 2021 21:15:28 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-5/Feverborne We managed to break Ahnjela out of the weird trance she was in by dragging her away from the crystals. She woke up and didn’t seem to recognize us, but after about ten minutes she was no more (or less) paranoid than usual. No doubt she’ll murder us all in our sleep later. We decided to explore the other exits before braving that passageway, but we were joined by a few friends first.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-18/Mon, 03 May 2021 01:31:29 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-18/Dean (Jared), Matt (Splinter Paw), Jeff (Ford), Coby (Kyros), Chris (Creeper) are returning cast members. We left the party in the middle of fleeing from a small platoon of zombies just south of the Wave Echo Forge. They quickly finished off the remaining zombies, most of whom were already in remarkably bad shape. After a brief discussion, Ford suggested betraying their agreement with the undead wizard who just wanted some new reading material.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-17/Mon, 03 May 2021 01:18:31 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-17/Dean (Jared), Matt (Splinter Paw), Jeff (Ford), Coby (Kyros), Chris (Creeper), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the party having rested again at the entrance to the cave. Ragash remained unconscious, the stress of having her face eaten by an ochre jelly having delayed her recovery from the ghoul poison. The rest of the group decided to continue to explore the Wave Echo Cave, returning to the large cavern where they had already fought and defeated both ghouls (in the west) and zombies (east).https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-16/Mon, 03 May 2021 01:10:05 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-16/Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Jeff (Ford), Coby (Kyros) and Chris (Creeper) are returning cast members. We left the party separated, with Ragash, Splinter Paw, and Kraygen camped at the entrance to recover from their close encounter with the ghouls, and Jared, Ford, Kyros, and Creeper continuing to explore the cave. With Creeper leading the way, the party returned to the large room where they had first encountered the larger group of ghouls.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-15/Mon, 03 May 2021 01:03:09 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-15/Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Coby (Kyros) and Chris (Creeper) are returning cast members. We left the party having defeated a room full of skeletons. They proceeded to the next room, which appeared to be some sort of accounting hall, with records of ores mined and money paid out. A careful search revealed a lockbox behind a counter, which Jared tried and failed to open. They resolved to return later, and on leaving the room, noticed that Ragash – who had remained behind in the larger cavern – was missing.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-14/Mon, 03 May 2021 00:49:50 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-14/Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Mariel (Ragash), Chris (Creeper), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the party on the run from Magpie Hood and his no-longer-quite-so Merry Band. They managed to escape without any further innocent loss of life, though Kyros took an entirely improbable number of arrows to the butt and Ragash offered to throw down her life to save the rest of the party even when it was entirely unnecessary.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-13/Mon, 03 May 2021 00:45:03 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-13/Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Mariel (Ragash), Chris (Creeper), Jeff (Ford), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the party recovering from indigestion after eating dragon nuggets. After discussing the location of Wave Echo Cave with Reidoth (between his advice and their map, the group feels confident they can find the entrance), the party went to Neverwinter to sell their goods and equip for an expedition. They sold the alchemical vials, diamonds, a set of goblets, and the battle axe they had collected in Thundertree for 1100gp, which was promptly divided up.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-12/Mon, 03 May 2021 00:31:52 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-12/Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Mariel (Ragash), Chris (Creeper), Jeff (Ford), Coby (Kyros), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the party in the middle of combat, Splinter Paw’s caterwauling having woken the entire village and Kraygen’s Thunderwave knocking out the majority of the remaining cultists. Shortly thereafter, an angry dragon appeared, landing at the end of the fog and demanding to know what was going on. It seems he had been having a nap, and something had woken him up.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-11/Mon, 03 May 2021 00:29:25 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-11/Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Chris (Creeper), Jeff (Ford), Coby (Kyros), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the party resting in the ruins of Cragmaw Castle, which they had earlier cleared of occupants. Only the squirrels had moved back in. When dawn rose, the party left the castle and followed Creeper’s directions through Neverwinter Wood towards Thundertree. Miraculously, their journey went unnoticed and unmolested by denizens of the Wood.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-10/Mon, 03 May 2021 00:27:24 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-10/Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Mariel (Ragash), Chris (Creeper), Jeff (Ford), Coby (Kyros), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the party resting in the orc cavern. Near dawn a pack of wolves threatened from the cave entrance, but the party ran them off with loud noises and fire. From there, they returned to Old Owl Well, where the necromancer Kost was busy excavating with his crew of zombies.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/feverborne/Sun, 02 May 2021 15:16:57 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/feverborne/A thin and wiry fighter with a hacking cough and a cynical outlook on life and death. His career started in the village of Helix, working as a town guard. He fled the city when it was attacked by an undead army that rose from the barrowmaze, and relocated to Threshold, signing up with the guard there under the alias “Feverborne” (Helix had been suffering from a plague outbreak at the time of his birth) and serving with honor if not distinction.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/oscar/Sun, 02 May 2021 15:02:19 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/oscar/A cleric of Denara, goddess of trade and bureaucracy.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-4/Sun, 02 May 2021 14:57:00 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-4/Feverborne I met some new adventurers today. Seems one of St Ygg’s bunch had a vision or something and realized they were stuck in the wilderness, needing help, or maybe just an infusion of courage. I’m a fighting man and got no lack of that, so off I went. Turns out they were all alive, just half dead from poison. Some sort of snake creature called an amphi… Something. Two heads, no ass, poisonous obviously.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-3/Sun, 02 May 2021 14:46:22 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-3/Oscar I resume writing after a very long day of events both chilling and deadly! Last night I interrupted two men loitering near u-Heury’s room, pretending to be drunk. At first, my efforts to awaken my companions were in vain. I was forced to carry through on my bluff, taking my chamberpot downstairs to empty it into the water closet. Amazing that a town so small has sewers! After a minute or two I started up the stairs again, hoping to catch the two men in some nefarious act.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-2/Sun, 02 May 2021 14:46:19 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-2/Oscar We started where we left off – sitting in a wagon full of offal, plus a crate of iron ingots marked with the mark of the Silver Citadel. We had just reclaimed it from a band of orcs outside their cave (without actually dealing with the orcs), and then fleeing. The horse was exhausted, as were we, but we chose to press on back to Eastdale. We were delayed by the need to bypass round a field of some reddish flowers.https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-1/Sun, 02 May 2021 14:44:39 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/osrrealms/session-1/Oscar Ten of us and a rented mule set out to discover what befell a missing caravan. The local church leadership believed the caravan had been raided by orcs. Our task was to find out what happened, recover the cargo if possible, save the men if possible, and destroy whoever was responsible for the attack, presuming there was one. One night outside of town we found a henge on a hill with wagon tricks leading in, along with a lot of blood.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-9/Wed, 18 Nov 2020 07:46:07 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-9/The Lost Mines of Phandelver Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Mariel (Ragash), Chris (Creeper), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the group having forced the Redbrands out of Phandalin. They reunited with Ford, who had escorted the prisoners from the Redbrand’s hideout back home. He informed them that there was still a strange tentacle monster underneath the hideout, eating the remains they had found. The party returned long enough to slay the creature and recover the carpenter’s body.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-8/Sun, 01 Nov 2020 23:17:41 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-8/The Lost Mines of Phandelver Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Mariel (Ragash), Chris (Creeper), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the group exploring the Redbrand’s hideout, Ford having left to escort the prisoners home. Ford had declared his intention to take the carpenter’s body with him so it could be buried properly, and indeed when the group returned to the center chamber the body was gone. Creeper led the way, investigating a corridor into the north-west area of the building.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-7/Sun, 01 Nov 2020 23:16:59 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-7/The Lost Mines of Phandelver Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Mariel (Ragash), Jeff (Ford), Chris (Creeper), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the group lurking in the forest near Phandalin, surveiling a small cave that the Redbrands used for some mysterious purpose. Creeper led the way in, finding a passage about a hundred feet long that opened into a rough cavern that had clearly been improved for civilized use.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-5/Sun, 01 Nov 2020 23:15:58 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-5/The Lost Mines of Phandelver Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Mariel (Ragash), Coby (Azza), Jeff (Ford), Chris (Creeper), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the group during a brief lull in the action at Cragmaw Keep. Action resumes as the party engages in running battles with a variety of goblins and hobgoblins. Creeper scouted ahead to the northwest area of the castle, finding the next room empty, but hearing the sound of hobgoblins putting on armor from behind a door.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-6/Sun, 01 Nov 2020 23:15:53 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-6/The Lost Mines of Phandelver Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Mariel (Ragash), Coby (Kyros), Jeff (Ford), Chris (Creeper), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the group fighting with someone or something who looked like Azza. The creature fell to their attacks quickly, and upon dying, returned to a strange almost gelatinous form in vaguely humanoid shape. It no longer resembled Azza at all by that point. Ford took the items from the body, and both corpses were dragged into the room where the party had made camp.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-4/Sun, 01 Nov 2020 23:15:19 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-4/The Lost Mines of Phandelver Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Mariel (Ragash), Coby (Azza), Jeff (Ford), Chris (Creeper), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the group in Phandalin, looking for the location of Cragmaw Keep. They began by speaking with Sister Graele, who did not know herself but did know of a local druid who knew the area. She did not have a way to contact him. However, after discussing the Redbrands (a local group of mercenaries running a protection racket on the town), and getting a feel for the characters, she suggested a mission.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-3/Sun, 01 Nov 2020 23:14:37 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-3/The Lost Mines of Phandelver Dean (Jared), Matt (Spinter Paw), Mariel (Ragash), Coby (Azza), Jeff (Ford), Chris (Creeper), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members. We left the group in Phandalin, having spent the night at the Stone Hill Inn talking with Sildar. Sildar informed the group that Gundren and his two brothers had rediscovered an entrance to the Wave Echo Cave, one of the old mines worked in the region.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-2/Sun, 01 Nov 2020 23:14:00 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-2/The Lost Mines of Phandelver Dean (Jared/Therizino), Matt (Kordaius/Spinter Paw), Mariel (Linaya/Ragash), Coby (Kyros/Azza), Jeff (Ford), and Chris (Creeper/Martyr) are returning cast members. James (Kraygen) joins us for the first time. We left the group having been captured by goblins of the Cragmaw tribe on their way to Phandalin. We pick up the story with Ford, who had successfully evaded capture, heading to Phandalin to recruit a rescue party. Ford’s rescue party consisted of: Martyr (a masked paladin), a pair of bards (Splinter Paw and Kraygen), Ragash (a fighter and bodyguard for Splinter), another fighter (Azza), and the warlock Therizino.https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-1/Sun, 01 Nov 2020 23:12:48 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/phandelver/session-1/The Lost Mines of Phandelver Dean (Jared), Brian (Pryrx), Matt (Kordaius), Mariel (Linaya), Coby (Kyros), Jeff (Ford), Leah (Mari), and Chris (Creeper) are returning cast members. We left the Band of Misfits having solved the Assassins Knot, and move to a new set of characters in a world known as the Forgotten Realms. The party consists of two tieflings, three goblins, a halfling archeologist, and a human artificer. One of their contacts, a dwarf named Gundren Rockseeker, reported an exciting new discovery in Phandalin.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-81/Thu, 30 Jan 2020 06:50:16 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-81/L2: The Assassin’s Knot Dean (Thic Duc), Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Jeff (Amathar), Leah (Ahira), and Brian (Pyrzival) are returning cast members. We left the Band of Misfits watching Pyrcival climb the wall of the inner keep, only to be ambushed by ghouls and paralyzed. Barron polymorphed himself into a dragon and rescued him, dropping Warin off to try to turn the undead… but he dropped Warin right in between the two ghouls, who promptly paralyzed him.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-80/Thu, 16 Jan 2020 06:50:12 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-80/L2: The Assassin’s Knot Dean (Thic Duc), Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Jeff (Amathar), Leah (Ahira), and Brian (Pyrzival) are returning cast members. We left the Band of Misfits having returned to Highport with four corpses and very little actual evidence. After interrogating the corpses, they had obtained two names: Arness and Ascue. Amathar examined the notes in the ledger and compared the handwriting to tax assessments from Garotten, and they appeared to match: Tellish.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-79/Thu, 02 Jan 2020 06:50:06 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-79/L2: The Assassin’s Knot Dean (Thic Duc), Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Jeff (Amathar), Leah (Ahira), Brian (Pyrzival), and Sherrie (Mirabelle) are returning cast members. We left the Band of Misfits investigating a murder in Garrotten. They had recently captured Oscar and Basmar, suspecting the former of being involved with the Duke’s assassination and the latter of delivering the assassin (possibly without knowing his purpose). Basmar was released after being interrogated, but Oscar was retained, receiving religious instruction from Thic Duc and Warin.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-78/Thu, 12 Dec 2019 06:49:40 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-78/L2: The Assassin’s Knot Dean (Thic Duc), Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Jeff (Amathar), Leah (Ahira), Brian (Pyrzival), and Sherrie (Mirabelle) are returning cast members. We left the Band of Misfits resting overnight, preparing for a dawn raid on the Garotten castle. With Barron fully recovered, they hastened to the rear entrance of the castle. The forest entrance led to a long underground corridor, at the end of which waited four zombies – two human, two canine.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-77/Thu, 28 Nov 2019 06:49:33 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-77/L2: The Assassin’s Knot Dean (Thic Duc), Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Jeff (Amathar), Leah (Ahira), Brian (Pyrzival), and Sherrie (Mirabelle) are returning cast members. We left the Band of Misfits investigating a murder in Garrotten. They had recently captured Oscar and Basmar, suspecting the former of being involved with the Duke’s assassination and the latter of delivering the assassin (possibly without knowing his purpose). Basmar was released after being interrogated, but Oscar was retained, receiving religious instruction from Thic Duc and Warin.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-76/Thu, 14 Nov 2019 06:49:31 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-76/L2: The Assassin’s Knot Dean (Thic Duc), Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Jeff (Amathar), Leah (Ahira), Brian (Pyrzival), and Sherrie (Mirabelle) are returning cast members. We left the Band of Misfits investigating a murder in Garrotten. We rejoin the Band of Misfits at the House of Abraham as they try to figure out how to get Barron’s nearly unconscious form, recently raised from the dead and still mostly dead, to the meeting he had arranged with Captain Basmar.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/komenagen/Sun, 03 Nov 2019 13:12:43 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/komenagen/The author of The Stars Came Back, a Heinlein-esque young-adult work of science fiction with a heft side dose of life philosophy, has a new book Komenagen in that same universe. The title is based off of the Platean society’s rite of passage into adulthood. If you like Heinleinian juveniles, this will scratch that itch.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-75/Thu, 31 Oct 2019 06:49:30 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-75/Session Map Session Map L2: The Assassin’s Knot Dean (Thic Duc), Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Jeff (Amathar), and Sherrie (Mirabelle) are returning cast members. We left the Band of Misfits investigating a murder in Garrotten. We rejoin the Band of Misfits at the House of Abraham. The party began by discussing options, and decided to face down loose ends by investigating the third major clue (or perhaps false lead): the ruby that allegedly matched those on Harper’s preferred holy symbol.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-74/Thu, 17 Oct 2019 06:49:28 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-74/L2: The Assassin’s Knot Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Jeff (Amathar), Brian (Pyrcival), Leah (Ahira), and Sherrie (Mirabelle) are returning cast members. We left the Band of Misfits investigating a murder in Garrotten, with a brief interlude. We rejoin the Band of Misfits at the House of Abraham. The party received a note from Abraham over breakfast, indicating he would be traveling to Highport. Shortly thereafter, another note arrived indicating that High Priest Harper had gone into seclusion to study the matter of Krak’s hammer.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-73/Thu, 03 Oct 2019 06:49:27 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-73/Session Map L2: The Assassin’s Knot Chris (Peebles), Matt (Fydillian), Mariel (Crystal), Coby (Gunnar), Jeff (Rumble), and new player Sherrie (Mirabelle) are returning cast members. We left the Band of Misfits investigating a murder in Garrotten. We join now the A-men, summoned to Elmshire to investigate and seek a cure for a plague. This portion of the campaign will be treated as a recurring flashback and training montage, in ambiguous continuity to the normal campaign.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-72/Thu, 19 Sep 2019 06:49:25 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-72/Session Map L2: The Assassin’s Knot Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Jeff (Amathar), and Brian (Pyrcival) are returning cast members. Erica (Theodora) joined us for the first time in a while. We left the party having watched a play (Tiberium, Thic Duc, Pyrcival, and others) and contracted for an assassination (pretty much just Barron) with “Captain” Basmar. Just as the audience was leaving, a female half-orc wandered into the inn and demanded they bring her all the steak available, and shortly thereafter, fell asleep.https://infodancer.org/post/computing/apache_httpd_tomcat_and_free_ssl_certs/Tue, 10 Sep 2019 09:06:27 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/computing/apache_httpd_tomcat_and_free_ssl_certs/So I ran into an interesting problem recently. I run a number of websites with custom software, this blog being one of them. I use Let’s Encrypt to automatically obtain SSL certificates for them, since they are personal sites that don’t do e-commerce and the free cert is fine. They are running on Tomcat, using JSP and servlets, with a database backend, and Apache HTTPD in front handling the SSL part.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-71/Thu, 05 Sep 2019 06:49:23 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-71/L2: The Assassin’s Knot Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Brian (Pyrcival), Leah (Ahira), and Dean (Thic Duc) are returning cast members. We left the party having separated the local armorsmith from his evil hammer. Arrangements were made to store the hammer at the temple of Osphrem, by way of Harmin, who gave it to Lothario. The next step was back at the inn, where a close inspection of the host’s vest revealed that he was, in fact, missing a button.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-70/Thu, 22 Aug 2019 06:05:31 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-70/Session Map L2: The Assassin’s Knot Chris (Tiberium), Jeff (Amathar), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah) and Dean (Thic Duc) are returning cast members. We left the party dealing with a paralyzed half-orc and his hammer. With the help of the local guard, they carted him to the church and inquired about possible remedies for the (presumed) cursed weapon he carried. Unfortunately, the item was quite powerful, and it would take time for the clerics there to pray for the spells they would need.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-69/Thu, 08 Aug 2019 06:05:28 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-69/L2: The Assassin’s Knot Chris (Tiberium), Jeff (Amathar), Brian (Pyrcival), Leah (Ahira) and Dean (Thic Duc) are returning cast members. We left the party having been near-witnesses to the murder of the Duke on the night of his wedding. They captured a fleeing servant, gained access to the crime scene, and interrogated the Princess before being herded into a room to wait for the council to figure out what to do.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-68/Thu, 25 Jul 2019 06:05:24 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-68/Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and Dean (Thic Duc) are returning cast members. Guest stars include returning guests William (Sydney) and Jennifer (Ruby) with new arrival Brieanna (Akida). We left the party having captured a dangerous criminal and sent him in the care of the Highport guards to be imprisoned for trial. With this dangerous man apprehended, Tiberium returned to the inn for a much needed meal. He was joined there by Thic Duc, returning from his seven days of fasting and meditation, and shortly thereafter by Sydney, Ruby, and Adira, curious crew members who wanted to ask about the unusual activities their ship had undertaken in the past few days.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-67/Thu, 11 Jul 2019 06:05:22 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-67/Session Map Chris (Tiberium and Seb), Matt (Barron), Coby (Warin and Gunnar) and Mariel (Leah) are returning cast members. The DM took over Kindjal, a young officer in the Duke’s guard, as a temporarily necessary NPC. We left the party having arranged to smuggle “figurines”, apparently a code word for slaves, into Highport. Among Barron’s hired crew turned out to be a halfling named Seb, who was more than willing to lend a helping hand beyond the usual shipboard duties.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-66/Thu, 27 Jun 2019 06:05:20 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-66/Session Map Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Brian (Pyrcival), Leah (Ahira), and Jeff (Amathar) are returning cast members. A guest played Kinjel, a young officer in the Duke’s guard. We left the party attempting to return a princess to her arranged wedding, then took a short detour. We now return to the main storyline with the princess and her party sailing triumphantly into Highport. While on the ship, the group made the acquaintance of a young guardsman named Kinjel, who had been sent with the ship carrying the group in search of the Princess.https://infodancer.org/post/computing/docker_and_dns/Fri, 21 Jun 2019 17:44:53 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/computing/docker_and_dns/Another recently encountered problem: how to make Docker container DNS work when the configured DNS server is blocked. The answer is simple: /etc/docker/daemon.json contains the docker daemon configuration, and you can specify additional defaults. In this case, I added my local DNS server first, followed by the Google public DNS server (which I prefer not to use generally, but am OK with a docker container using). /etc/docker/daemon.json { “dns”: [“192.168.1.1”, “8.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-65/Thu, 13 Jun 2019 06:05:18 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-65/Session Map Chris (Seb), Dean (Elmond), Matt (Valadin), and Jeff (Rumble) are returning cast members playing alternate characters. We left the party attempting to return a princess to her arranged wedding, but our viewpoint shifts to follow a new group of adventurers, some of whom were last seen in Restenford fighting wererats or fighting undead near Darkshelf, and some who are entirely new to us. Elmond, an elf with attention-deficit disorder, was traveling with some chance-met companions within the Bandit Kingdoms, heading towards Rookroost.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-64/Thu, 30 May 2019 06:05:16 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-64/Session Map Session Sketch Session Note Chris (Tiberium), Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Brian (Pyrcival), Leah (Ahira), Coby (Warin), and Jeff (Amathar) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had captured the Princess, claimed they were agents of the Duke sent to return her to her wedding, polymorphed her into a falcon, and promptly took a vacation to train. Thic Duc still needs to find a monk to train with.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-63/Thu, 16 May 2019 06:05:13 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-63/Session Sketch Chris (Tiberium), Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Brian (Pyrcival), Leah (Ahira), and Coby (Warin) are returning cast members. As we left the party, Thic Duc was in hot pursuit of the Princess, while Leah mourned Pyro and Amathar read through the slavers’ paperwork and prepared the rescued slaves for departure. Thic Duc returned to the rest of the group after an hour or so, reporting that he had lost the Princess in a small town named Garrotten.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-62/Thu, 02 May 2019 06:05:11 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-62/Session Map Session Sketch A1: Against the Slave Lords Chris (Tiberium), Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Jeff (Amathar), Brian (Pyrcival), Leah (Ahira), and Coby (Warin) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had found the slave pits, killed their antaur guards, and rescued 4 captive slaves at the cost of the fifth slave’s life. Their searches of the slaving complex revealed a nearby room clearly intended to hold slaves in bulk.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-61/Thu, 18 Apr 2019 06:05:09 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-61/Cake Sketch Session Map A1: Against the Slave Lords Chris (Tiberium), Dean (Thic Duc), Mariel (Leah), Jeff (Amathar), and Coby (Warin) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they were looking for a safe place and a spare moment to rest following an exhausting fight with the antaurs. Of the Fourth Moonday of the Harvester (Pt. II) The orc witch doctor and his cronies dead, we began to rest and regroup, briefly.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-60/Thu, 04 Apr 2019 05:25:06 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-60/Session Map Session Map A1: Against the Slave Lords Chris (Tiberium), Dean (Thic Duc), Mariel (Leah), Tim (Cyrus), Jeff (Amathar), and Coby (Warin) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they were looking for a safe place and a spare moment to rest following an exhausting fight with the antaurs. Of the Fourth Moonday of the Harvester If we don’t find Barron, and end these slavers, soon, I may lose my mind.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-59/Thu, 21 Mar 2019 05:25:03 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-59/Session Map A1: Against the Slave Lords Chris (Tiberium), Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Brian (Pyrcival), and Leah (Ahira) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had defeated an assault by some sort of repulsive sewer larva from one side and an army of ants from the other. They defeated the ants and decided that discretion was the better part of valor with the larva. However, there are telltale insectoid noises coming from deeper into the ants’ nest, the larva still block that path forward, and From the Diary of Pyrzival the Tutorhttps://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-58/Thu, 07 Mar 2019 05:25:01 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-58/Session Map Chris (Tiberium), Dean (Thic Duc), Mariel (Leah), Matt (Barron), Brian (Pyrcival), and Leah (Ahira) are returning cast members. As we left the party, Barron had magically swapped places with the captured Thic Duc (“I meant to do that!”), and the party was determined to rescue him. Eventually, after they rested a bit, memorized some spells, maybe trained for a few days… Of the Fourth Sunday of the Harvester Progress through the ruined temple is slow.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-57/Thu, 21 Feb 2019 05:24:58 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-57/Session Map Chris (Tiberium), Dean (Thic Duc), Jeff (Amathar), Mariel (Leah), Matt (Barron), and Brian (Pyrcival) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had just defeated a trap set by a gang of slavers inhabiting a seemly abandoned fortress. It was actually a perverse sort of morality test, designed to provoke those who had moral objections to the practice of slavery and slay them by ambush. Perhaps fortunately for them, the party has never possessed the quality of subtlety.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-56/Thu, 07 Feb 2019 05:24:56 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-56/Chris (Tiberium), Dean (Thic Duc), Tim (Otto/Cyrus), Jeff (Amathar), Mariel (Leah), Matt (Barron), Brian (Pyrcival), and Leah (Ahira) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had just finished their trial. Tiberium was convicted of assaulting a tax inspector and given 4 lashes (9hp). Barron was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and evading arrest, sentenced to ten lashes (29 hp; he fainted as they were administered). Warin fainted before his lashes were administered at all.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-55/Thu, 24 Jan 2019 05:24:54 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-55/Chris (Tiberium), Dean (Thic Duc), Tim (Otto), Cody (Warin), Jeff (Amathar), Mariel (Leah), Matt (Barron), and Brian (Pyrcival) are returning cast members. Leah (Ahira) is new. As we left the party, Tiberium and Warin were in prison. The rest of the party spend the night at a nearby inn. Oddly, Otto the halfling was hailed by his cousin, who had heard of his recent involvement in a stabbing and wanted to hear the story himself.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-54/Thu, 10 Jan 2019 05:24:52 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-54/Chris (Tiberium), Dean (Thic Duc), Tim (Otto), Cody (Warin), Jeff (Amathar), Mariel (Leah), and Matt (Barron) are returning cast members. Navin (Simon) is new. As we left the party, they were finishing up their affairs at the inn (now named the Peg Leg Inn^2), and planning to travel to Highport to see what they could do about a wedding. One of the guests at the inn, Simon, overheard their discussion and decided to volunteer, figuring it was safer than traveling alone in bandit territory.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-53/Thu, 13 Dec 2018 05:24:51 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-53/Chris (Tiberium), Brian (Pyrzifal), Dean (Thic Duc), Tim (Otto), and Cody (Warin) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had just survived ambushing an ambush by the skin of their teeth. After disposing of the bodies by piling them into the cave under the tree, they returned to the inn where they believed they had been led into an ambush. Tazking the time to plan ahead, Leah and Barron returned to Restenford.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-52/Thu, 29 Nov 2018 05:24:49 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-52/Session Map Chris (Tiberium), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Brian (Pyrzifal), Dean (Thic Duc), and Jeff (Amathar) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had just returned to Restenford after defeating the wererats, facing down the wraiths, and redeeming the priest of Bone Hill. Barron and Amathar trained with their spells. The unpredictable results of Barron’s magic struck again – first infecting Amathar with a magical fear of Barron (causing him to flee to 60 feet away and observe through a telescope), then summoning a Watery Double from a nearby pond that tried to drown Barron but failed.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-51/Thu, 15 Nov 2018 05:24:47 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-51/Session Map Session Map Chris (Tiberium), Coby (Warin), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Brian (Pyrzifal), and Jeff (Amathar) are returning cast members. New cast member Tim (Otto) is joining us. As we left the party, they were examining the locked door at the end of the corridor and considering their next move. Leah and Amathar, on the other hand, were in Restenford; Amathar was doing the things that wizards do and Leah was drinking herself silly to forget about Barron.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-50/Thu, 01 Nov 2018 04:56:37 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-50/Session Map L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Chris (Tiberium), Coby (Warin), Matt (Barron), Brian (Pyrzifal), Dean (Thic Duc), and Jeff (Amathar) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they were outside the suspected wererat lair. Having fought and defeated the guards on the hilltops, they decided it would be best to return to Restenford to rest and recuperate before venturing below. As they were most of the way there already, it was a short trip back.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/daredevil_season_3/Thu, 25 Oct 2018 13:20:04 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/daredevil_season_3/Daredevil’s Season 3 on Netflix has a lot to offer, despite some early warning signs suggesting it might be overly political. The overall plotline involves the return of Wilson Fisk (now openly known as the Kingpin), and Daredevil’s attempts to keep him from regaining control of the city’s criminal underworld. We have an excellent guest villain from Daredevil’s rogues’ gallery, and there are many well-done and subtle callbacks to that character’s earlier appearances in all formats.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/iron_fist_season_2/Wed, 24 Oct 2018 13:04:47 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/iron_fist_season_2/Season 2 represents a clear improvement over Season 1 of this show in every respect. The dynamic between Danny Rand and Christine (his girlfriend and sidekick) changes significantly for the better, with Christine’s (or rather, the actresses’) noticeably superior martial arts skills getting recognition. Danny’s own moral failings are pointed to and wrestled with. Some problems are recognized as unsolvable, at least by vigilante superheros. Like Season 2 of Luke Cage, there’s some significant moral ambiguity present, but it’s somewhat less drastic.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/luke_cage_season_2/Sun, 21 Oct 2018 13:53:56 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/luke_cage_season_2/I don’t have much to say about this one. It was better than the first season, but had too much focus on the criminals. There was significant moral ambiguity, particularly towards the end, which could either be a bad thing or a deliberate storytelling choice that will be redeemed next season. This season, it left a bad taste in my mouth. The cameo appearance by Iron Fist was good, but did not mesh well with Iron Fist Season 2 as a whole.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-49/Thu, 18 Oct 2018 04:56:34 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-49/L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Chris (Tiberium), Coby (Warin), Matt (Barron), Brian (Pyrzifal), Dean (Thic Duc), and Mariel (Leah) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they were trying to figure out how to escape the comfortable room with food delivery and a vast selection of casual reading materials. Oh, and an animated skeleton. Meanwhile, in Restenford, Leah was drinking herself into a stupor after the baby incident, and Malag woke up in the Adventure Capitalist’s safe room with a really bad feeling about his friends.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-48/Thu, 04 Oct 2018 04:56:32 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-48/L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Chris (Tiberium), Coby (Warin), Matt (Barron), Brian (Pyrzifal), Dean (Thic Duc), and Jeff (Amathar) are returning cast members. Erica (Theodora) is a special guest. As we left the party, they were exchanging shocked looks as Thic Duc ate Thic Duc’s heart. Interlude: Theodora’s Story Dainty maiden Theodora was having a grand time at her best friends’ bachelorette party. She drank, she swore, she smashed things, she danced on tabletops (before and after smashing them), and she got smashed (clubs and drinks both).https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/run_like_hell/Tue, 25 Sep 2018 18:56:22 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/run_like_hell/Elliot Kay’s new book Run Like Hell asks and answers the question: “What is it like to be the monsters when an adventuring party kicks down your front door?” Although the book is technically game-related literature, it doesn’t have the usual hallmarks of character sheets or explicit rules elements. It’s just set very solidly in the generic fantasy game setting, with the perspective reversed. Gaming fans will have a lot to recognize while finding quite a lot of new and interesting elements from the perspective shift.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-47/Thu, 20 Sep 2018 04:56:29 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-47/Session Map L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Chris (Tiberium/Malag), Coby (Gunnar/Warin), Matt (Barron/Lenny), Brian (Pyrzifal/Norsk), Dean (Thic Duc/Thic Duc), and Jeff (Amathar) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they were still split into two groups – one at the top of Bone Hill, and the other having just rescued (well, mostly) a kidnapped baby from a nest of wererats the night before. We begin with the Band of Heroes.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/legion_the_many_lives_of_stephen_leeds/Thu, 20 Sep 2018 07:50:00 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/legion_the_many_lives_of_stephen_leeds/Brandon Sanderson has had a series of stories featuring a character named Legion (real name, Stephen Leeds) whose “superpower” (in a thinly defined world mostly similar to our own, but with science fiction elements) is a form of multiple personality disorder. In essence, he hears voices and sees things, specifically, other people. These “aspects” encapsulate and represent the information and expertise that his own own mind cannot itself contain and represent.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/port_of_shadows/Wed, 19 Sep 2018 13:56:54 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/port_of_shadows/Port of Shadows occupies a strange place in the chronology of the Black Company; it predates almost all of the history we know, picking the story up after the first book and before the second. The author appears to be numbering it 1.5. Thank god for decimals. This is not a good place to start the series. Read The Black Company (the first book of the series by the same name) for that.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-46/Thu, 06 Sep 2018 04:56:27 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-46/Session Map L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Chris (Tiberium), Coby (Gunnar), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Brian (Pyrzifal), and Jeff (Amathar) are returning cast members. Kayli (Ganymede) is a new player. As we left the party, they had split into two groups – one at the top of Bone Hill, and the other just arriving in Restenford after a vivid dream about wererats and undead followed by a fight with pirates on the high seas.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/legion_season_1/Fri, 31 Aug 2018 07:47:58 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/legion_season_1/Legion is a TV-form production licensed from Marvel, set in the X-Men side of the universe. Unless you are familiar with the character from the source material, it’s not going to feature any well known characters. The first season is very odd, as you might expect from a series revolving around a main character whose defining characteristic is his paranoid schizophrenia. Or, in other words, he hears voices. And occasionally sees things.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/odysseus_ascendant/Thu, 23 Aug 2018 13:29:54 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/odysseus_ascendant/The 7th book in Evan Currie’s Odyssey One series, this book adds a few new elements to the series that are less than ideal. Still, the writing is good, and the story remains entertaining. There are still space battles, but less exploration. If you’ve enjoyed the series up to this point, there’s no reason not to continue reading, but I can’t give the series a full thumbs up because of the unnecessary and intrusive virtue signaling.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-45/Thu, 23 Aug 2018 04:56:26 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-45/Session Map Session Map L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Interlude Dean (Thic Duc v2.0), Chris (Tiberium), Coby (Gunnar), Matt (Barron) and Mariel (Leah) are returning cast members. Jennifer (Ruby) and William (Sydney) are guest stars. As we left the party, they were lost in a very realistic dream about a child kidnapped by a giant rat. Tiberium awoke from the dream in a cold sweat, feeling that the lessons he had learned in that dream were solid and real.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/wearing_the_cape/Mon, 20 Aug 2018 00:57:42 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/wearing_the_cape/Wearing the Cape is the first book in a rather interesting, if not especially deep, superhero series. As you might expect, the first book is the origin story, but it covers a bit more than that. It’s obvious by the end of the book that we’re not dealing with a comic-book level plot. These heroes have grown-up problems. It’s worth reading at certain price points. I started the series when it was on Kindle Unlimited, but it’s no longer there, and the books are currently priced at $8 each (about half a traditionally published new release, and roughly the same as an older traditionally published book).https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/serpentine/Mon, 20 Aug 2018 00:24:43 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/serpentine/The latest in Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, Serpentine continues the series with the planned wedding of “Ted” and Donna. Of course, things never go quite according to plan, and there are the usual supernatural complications that seem to follow Anita whereever she goes. Since we’re talking about book 26 in a series, this is not the place for new readers to start. Further, we’re talking about a series where the closest thing to a Dark Lord threatening the world was killed off something like 10 books ago.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-44/Thu, 09 Aug 2018 04:56:24 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-44/Session Map L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Interlude Dean (Elmond Alward), Chris (Tiberium), and Brian (Pyrzival) are returning cast members. Kyle (Pipko) joins us for the first time. As we left the party, they were trying to figure out what to do about a statue throwing hammers. We leave them to their fate, and the camera focus shifts to a tavern in nearby Restenford, where a young paladin and his gnomish tutor are enjoying a well-deserved meal together.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-43/Thu, 26 Jul 2018 04:56:22 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-43/Session Map L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Lenny), Coby (Warin), Chris (Malag), Norsk (Brian), and Jeff (Amathar) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had just defeated a human wizard and his bugbear shaman ally, then kidnapped a baby bugbear after slaughtering his playmates and eating their brains. They searched the wizard’s laboratory, which caught Amathar’s attention enough that he came out of hiding, though he stayed invisible.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-42/Thu, 12 Jul 2018 04:56:20 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-42/Session Map L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Lenny), Coby (Warin), Chris (Malag), and Norsk (Brian) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had made camp in the fortified temple at the top of Bone Hill. Amathar was still missing after taking a nap while under an invisibility spell. The party had left Thic Duc with the wagon to wait for Amathar, but after noon came and went with no sign of the mage, Thic Duc rejoined the group immediately following their battle with the bugbear shaman, drawn by the sounds of battle.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-41/Thu, 28 Jun 2018 18:10:05 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-41/Session Map L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Matt (Lenny), Coby (Warin), Chris (Malag), and Norsk (Brian) are returning cast members. As we left the party, Barron had been traumatized by losing his familiar Alphonso so soon after loosing his zombie pet Mr. Crackers. He returned to Rookroost to rethink his life and try to regain his sanity. At least, that’s what the note said. When they hurried down to the docks to try to stop him, or maybe to make sure he got on the boat, witnesses at the docks reported a diminutive half-elven ranger carrying a hog-tied hobgoblin in a large sack aboard a ship instead.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_wastrels_tale/Wed, 27 Jun 2018 13:51:28 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_wastrels_tale/A Wastrel’s Tale is (probably) the first book in a swords and sorcery zombie apocalypse series. The story revolves around a member of an order dedicated to fighting necromancy with the use of arms and specialized magic, yet for decades now there have been but few necromancers. Indeed, only one of any notable talent or skill, and that one in captivity. An ideal condition for a third son who would dearly love to spend his life training, drinking, and wenching, no?https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/an_airless_storm/Tue, 26 Jun 2018 13:18:42 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/an_airless_storm/An Airless Storm follows up on the adventures of Andrew Cochrane and his security service of interstellar mercenaries. Following their initial success in funding their operations, the company has ordered more ships and larger ships. But their enemies are doing the same. The book has the same vaguely Heinlein-juvenile feel, and the plot armor is less perfect. Mostly it represents an improvement, but the ratio of people talking about their plans and engaging in covert operation shenanigans versus space battles is still pretty high.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_stones_of_silence/Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:22:14 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_stones_of_silence/Peter Grant’s new novel, The Stones of Silence, is set in his science-fiction universe, sharing it with his two other series starting with Take the Star Road and War to the knife. It’s unclear to me if the setting is intended to be the same, or just happens to be similar in a generic science fiction way. The setup for his new series is interesting, but shares the flaws of the earlier works.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-40/Thu, 14 Jun 2018 15:33:10 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-40/L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Chris (Malag), Jeff (Amathar the Grey), and Norsk (Brian) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they were recovering from the ambush that had nearly killed several of the party members. After resting there overnight, with the delay allowing for Leah to catch up with the group, Norsk to refine his methods of assassination, and Barron to learn new spells (this time, to Amathar’s amazement, casting them correctly), the party chose to follow the ogre trail to a cave on the nearby hillside.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/brief_cases/Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:35:59 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/brief_cases/Brief Cases by Jim Butcher is a collection of short stories in the very popular Dresden Files series, named for the central character Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard – or at least the only one with an ad in the phone book. I don’t normally go in for short story collections, but occasionally with an established universe my completionist instincts will kick in. In this case I had already read Side Jobs, a similar collection by the same author in the same universe.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/on_the_shoulders_of_titans/Mon, 11 Jun 2018 02:00:00 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/on_the_shoulders_of_titans/A sequel to Sufficiently Advanced Magic, On the Shoulders of Titans manages to significantly complicate the plot. The number of characters who may not be trustworthy or whose interests may lie in a direction other than that of their allies grows to very nearly equal the number of characters in the book. Thankfully, the “magic school” elements of the plot are reduced almost to insignificance; the main character barely attends class and spends only a limited amount of time on screen taking tests.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/sufficiently_advanced_magic/Mon, 11 Jun 2018 01:34:36 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/sufficiently_advanced_magic/What do you get when you combine an interesting magic system, a lot of influence from video games, a competent but emotionally distant author, a dash of gender ambiguity, a token pinch of political preaching, and yet another book about a child who goes to magic school? Apparently, you get a pretty good stew of a book that’s enjoyable to read, intellectually interesting, and only rarely makes me want to throw it against the wall for brief periods.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-39/Thu, 31 May 2018 15:33:06 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-39/Session Map L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Matt (Barron), Coby (Warin), Chris (Malag), Jeff (Amathar the Grey), Dean (Thic Duc) and Norsk (Brian) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they decided to explore the guest quarters in the keep at Darkshelf. Some of the party had been there before, posing as buyers, but they figured it was best to clear the area fully before considering it safe.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-38/Thu, 17 May 2018 15:33:03 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-38/Image not found: session37-map.webp A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Chris (Malag), Jeff (Amathar the Grey), Dean (Thic Duc) and Norsk (Brian) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had spent the night in Glyrthiel’s room on top of the quarry keep. Bazili was still with them (still charmed). Glyrthiel was either still unconscious from her injuries or faking it well. The day begin with the group receiving a message by courier from their favorite guildmistress, with a wedding invitation attached.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-37/Thu, 03 May 2018 15:33:00 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-37/Session Map A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Chris (Malag), Jeff (Amathar the Grey), and Norsk (Brian) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had returned to town after determining that, yes, the quarry was linked to an underground cavern, the cavern had slaves held captive, and there was at least some involvement between the quarry leadership and the slave trading operation.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-36/Thu, 19 Apr 2018 15:32:57 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-36/Session Map A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), Chris (Malag), Dean (Thic Duc), and Jeff (Amathar the Grey) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had murdered a presumably evil cleric in his bed, and his death cries alerted the rest of the level to their presence. The mining noises to the north had stopped, and the goblins were coming… Leah and Warin were already well positioned.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-35/Thu, 05 Apr 2018 14:24:42 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-35/Session Map A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry Chris (Malag), Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and Jeff (Amathar) are returning cast members. Nigel is a guest. As we left the party, they had followed the tracks from the abduction to the quarry, then returned to town to attempt an ambush on Bazili. The ambush failed, though the party was able to interrogate one of the guards who was left behind, and managed to kill a half-orc who was provoked by shouted insults into attacking.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-34/Thu, 22 Mar 2018 14:24:38 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-34/Session Map A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry The 34th full game session. Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin), and Chris (Malag) are returning cast members, though Chris’s prior character Seb stepped offstage temporarily As we left the party, they had returned to town after their near-death experience with the killer frogs killer frog, mudtigers, ghouls, trogolodytes, and more mudtigers. An argument broke out at the Mayor’s at the Rest Inn Peace as Barron started to sweep all the gold off the table into his pouch.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-33/Thu, 08 Mar 2018 14:24:35 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-33/Session Map A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry The 33rd full game session. Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Warin) are returning cast members. Joining the group for the first time are Chris (Seb, a human thief), Jeff (a grey elf wizard known as Amathar), and Brian (a half-orc assassin). As we left the party, they had returned to town after their near-death experience with the killer frogs. After spending the night in the inn recuperating, they woke the next morning to find the town filled with wanted posters.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-32/Thu, 22 Feb 2018 05:27:24 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-32/Session Map Session Map A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry The 32nd full game session. Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Coby (Gunnar/Warin) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they were leaving the cave system conveniently hidden behind a waterfall. They made it about an hour towards town, towing the boat, before Leah heard hoofbeats coming from further downstream. Thic Duc slipped behind the boat and tossed his gear in to disguise the mudtiger, Barron and Gunnar pretended to be drunk, and Leah took on the role of designated walker.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-31/Thu, 08 Feb 2018 05:25:00 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-31/Session Map A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry The 31st full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and (Coby) Gunnar are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had just killed a bear (definitely on the Do-Not-Kill list) nearby to the ventilation shaft running upwards from the mines. They spent the next few hours giving it a proper burial and hiding the evidence of their (very short) battle before preparing to descend the shaft and investigate near dawn.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-30/Thu, 25 Jan 2018 01:22:56 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-30/Session Map A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry The 30th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and (Coby) Gunnar are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had found rooms at the Rest In Peace overnight. In the morning, Mayor Neistor of Darkshelf was waiting for them in the common room of the inn. He waved them over to his table, recognizing them from a message Elena had sent, and provided them with a copy of his letter to her.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-29/Thu, 11 Jan 2018 01:22:52 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-29/A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry The 29th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Jon (Elion), Nathan (Kevin) and (Coby) Gunnar are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had just returned to Saltmarsh with a cargo of weapons captured from the sahuagin. After selling the weapons in Saltmarsh, the town council wanted to know why they had so many unusual weapons to sell, so the party shared with them the abbrieviated story of their adventures since the haunted manor.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-28/Thu, 21 Dec 2017 01:22:49 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-28/S3: The Final Enemy The 28th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Jon (Elion), and (Coby) Gunnar are returning cast members. As we left the party, they were in dire straits, trapped between a squad of fish-men coming from behind, another squad out front with at least three leaders, their lizard allies absent, and a number of the party dead or missing. Shaggy was shark food, Hargrimm had been knocked unconscious by a blow to the head in the general melee, Scooby was a shishkabob and Fred was somewhere outside the doors where Thic Duc was being dragged, semiconscious, away from his friends.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-27/Thu, 07 Dec 2017 01:22:47 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-27/Session Map S3: The Final Enemy The 27th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Jon (Elion), Adam (Hargrimm) and (Coby) Gunnar are returning cast members. Adam (Hargrimm) and Coby (Gunnar) are new players who have not yet had a chance to introduce themselves properly. As we left the party, they had just beaten back an attack of sahuagin warriors emerging from the watery entrance to the levels below.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/elion/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 12:43:12 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/elion/Elion (Half-elven magic-user played by Jonathan) Elion wears both a robe and a cloak even while at sea, ensuring certain death by drowning in yards of soaked clothing should he fall overboard for longer than a few minutes without the rest of the party nearby to rescue him. He has few qualms about using his magic to influence his party members, though in his defense, a barbarian not under the influence of a Charm Person spell would likely kill him sooner.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/kevin/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 12:43:08 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/kevin/Kevin (Human druid played by Nathan) Traveled with the party from Rookroost to Castle Greyhawk. Decided he hated being a courier and took up a new career exploring dungeons. His personality has steadily evolved from happy-go-lucky nature druid to decidedly unhappy red of tooth and claw nature druid. But the Band of Misfits is all about making the world a better place, right?https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/kriselle/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 12:41:55 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/kriselle/Kriselle (Human Fighter played by Mary) Kriselle’s personality so far appears to consist of an inordinate curiosity about rot grubs and a knack for negotiations with merchants, leavened with a healthy respect for the dead that has helped her to avoid awkward moments like greeting a reborn Fred wearing his armor. In fact, her talent and desire for negotiation has expanded to favor negotiating on behalf of some of the creatures the party has come across in their travels, suggesting that if they harmless and pose no threat, it might not be necessary to exterminate them utterly and burn their corpses.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/michael/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 12:41:46 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/michael/Michael (Human Cleric played by Larry) Michael is a mid level cleric and he’s fine with that. He’s older than some others and a wiser too. He’s also fairly charismatic, not enough to found his own cult, at least not yet, but enough to influence those he is close to and keep the attention of small crowds with short folksy homilies. His holy symbol is shaped like his favorite weapons, hammers.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/peebles/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 09:35:22 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/peebles/Peebles (A halfling priest played by Chris) Growing up in Elmshire is a quiet, peaceful life. Temperate climate and four distinct seasons, it’s everything a young hobbit could want. Peebles grew up happy, the fifth of seven children. He loved tending to fields and fern, but above all, other halflings. With his love for all living things, joining the priesthood of Yondalla was an easy choice. Serving until young adulthood, Peebles met Maeris Tosscobble at his first 26th birthday.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/fydillian/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 09:35:00 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/fydillian/Fydillian (A lupin priest played by Matt) Fydillian the brave is a lupin of the guardian class of shar-pei. Not much is known about his past, as his first memory is waking up on a beach with a no memory beyond that. Fortunately there was a note left with him explaining his name and race. The note vaguely mentioned a higher purpose and that he would know it when it arrived.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/gunnar/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 09:34:20 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/gunnar/Gunnar (Human fighter played by Coby) Gunnar joined the party when they rescued him from a life of servitude and watery home improvement beneath the evil sahuagin. His past, for the moment, remains a mystery, though his travels with the party gained him experience enough to become a formidable fighter.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/lenny/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 09:34:00 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/lenny/“Leisure Suit” Lenny (Elven Mortician and Insurance Claims Adjustor played by Matt) The party first met Lenny as he was assisting the Adventure Capitalists with preparing Malag’s body for a return to the living following a tragic workplace accident involving hungry zombies. Given the frequency of the party’s claims on their insurance, Lenny was assigned to shadow the party and write a report on their adherence to applicable adventure guidelines and safety regulations.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/malag/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 09:33:41 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/malag/Malag (A half-orc fighter played by Chris) Abandoned as a child, Malag was raised on the streets of Rookroost by local gangs. First unarmed, and then with the sword, Malag rose to be a top enforcer for a group of petty criminals. When the gang was found after pulling a job, Malag escaped alone into the night. With his cruel nature, and quick fists, he learned quickly that a lot of coin can be made as a bounty hunter.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/seb/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 09:33:16 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/seb/Seb (A halfling thief played by Chris) Seb hails from Rookroost, where he’s lived all of his life. When he was very young, Seb’s mother became bedridden, growing more sick daily. After she passed, his father, Pimzin, began to take seriously his thieves guild duties. Those duties changed him, however. The once good-natured, calm halfling became cold, methodical, and distant. When Seb was 13, his father left their small apartment, and never returned.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/norsk/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 09:32:57 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/norsk/$$ Norsk (A half-orc life force repossessor played by Brian) Orphaned at a young age, Norsk never really knew his parents and grew up on the streets of Rookroost, learning life’s lessons the hard way – the strong take what they want, and the ruthless get what they need. Norsk did a favor for a merchant by removing a rival merchant, and got enough coin from this job to set out on his own.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/elmond/Sat, 18 Nov 2017 09:32:37 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/elmond/Elmond (A Fighter/Cleric/Magic-User played by Dean) I am the true-born son of Elister Brooks and Nora Brooks (formerly Alden). Unlike my bastard older brother I was grudgingly accepted by my mother’s family. Upon coming of age, I was instructed to find my brother and prevent him from besmirching the reputation of the family. I found I enjoyed travelling. In my travels I have not encountered any signs of my brother. I guess this is good for me since I’m technically achieving the assigned goal.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-26/Thu, 09 Nov 2017 01:22:45 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-26/Session Map S3: The Final Enemy The 26th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Nathan (Kevin), and Mariel (Leah) are returning cast members. Adam (Hargrimm) and Coby (Gunnar) are new players who have not yet had a chance to introduce themselves properly. As we left the party, they had discovered a treasure room filled with magical items and gear . Joined by the Scooby Gang, a small unit of bullywog warriors, and a platoon of lizardfolk soldiers divided into two squads (Leisurely Lieutenant Larry and the Lounge Lizards; Salty the Sargeant and the Leaping Lizards).https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/creationrules/Fri, 03 Nov 2017 21:09:42 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/creationrules/How do I create a character? Creating a character can be a daunting process, especially in 1st edition AD&D, and doubly so if you don’t have the books as a reference. I will outline the basics here to help you at least begin to understand what you need to know. If you don’t have your own copy of the Player’s Handbook, The OSRIC rules are close enough to get you started.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/amathar/Fri, 03 Nov 2017 01:36:20 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/amathar/Amathar (Gray elf magic-user played by Jeff) Amathar the Grey is in exile from the Grey Elves (He does not elaborate on this point, though.). He wants to continue his research among the mammals of Oerth, though, so he has wandered to Rookroost with little coin, but made friends with several associates. (Rumble and Skean). They have a relationship to seek out spell components for Amathar and in return, Amathar will help them when he can.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/barron/Fri, 03 Nov 2017 01:30:03 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/barron/Barron (Half-Elven Property Redistribution Specialist played by Matt) In an illustrious start to his career in Rookroost, Barron was betrayed by his guildmates and sold into slavery on his first day at work. Orientation is a bitch. Elward Alden is his real name, but when he doesn’t trust people he gives out one of his many handles (he is currently using Barron). Raised a bastard love child of a human father and elf mother, he was always looked down upon in the elf community for being a half breed.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-25/Thu, 26 Oct 2017 01:22:43 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-25/Session Map S3: The Final Enemy The 25th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Nathan (Kevin), and Mariel (Leah) are returning cast members. Dennis (Griff) is a new member. As we left the party, they had been planning their assault on the sahuagin lair. Joined by the Scooby Gang, a small unit of bullywog warriors, and a platoon of lizardfolk soldiers divided into two squads (Leisurely Lieutenant Larry and the Lounge Lizards; Salty the Sargeant and the Leaping Lizards).https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-24/Thu, 12 Oct 2017 01:22:41 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-24/Session Map Session Map S3: The Final Enemy The 24th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), and Jon (Elorion), are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had been planning their assault on the sahuagin lair. Joined by the Scooby Gang, a small unit of bullywog warriors, and a platoon of lizardfolk soldiers divided into two squads (Leisurely Lieutenant Larry and the Lounge Lizards; Salty the Sargeant and the Leaping Lizards).https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-23/Thu, 28 Sep 2017 01:22:40 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-23/S3: The Final Enemy The 23rd full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and Jon (Elorion), are returning cast members. As we left the party, their weapons heist had succeeded, and most of the party were hiding out in the Saltmarsh manor with Guildmistress Elena. Michael had previously traveled (with Elorion’s corpse) to Saltmarsh, in order to invoke the Adventure Capitalist’s insurance policy and have him raised from the dead to continue his adventure.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-22/Thu, 14 Sep 2017 01:22:38 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-22/Session Map The 22nd full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and Nathan (Kevin), are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had taken care of a crocodile problem that came with an unexpected dose of dragon. The lizardfolk had the head of their crocodile (something they were perhaps less happy with than the party deserved), and at least a temporary peace was set. The next step was to make up for the weapons the party had intercepted, preferably by recovering the original shipment.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-21/Thu, 31 Aug 2017 01:22:36 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-21/The 21st full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Nathan (Kevin), and Jonathan (Otis) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had just crossed the Dunwater river at the ford, killing three crocodiles that sought to contest their passage, though the battle cost Elion his life (at least temporarily). Michael chose to return to Saltmarsh with Elion’s body to bring him back to life. Otis the Saltmarsh guide chose to remain with the party, seeking a life of adventure.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-20/Thu, 17 Aug 2017 01:22:34 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-20/S2: Danger at Dunwater The 20th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Nathan (Kevin), and Jonathan (Elion) are returning cast members. As an experiment, we recorded the game session. As we left the party, Jonathan was recovering from a day or two of fish stew poisoning at the Saltmarsh Inn, Dean was camping with Larry and Kriselle (all three had been absent the past session, and the latter two are still absent), and the remaining three had scouted the bullywog camp and negotiated a fragile peace and safe passage to the lizardfolk lair.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-19/Thu, 03 Aug 2017 22:41:45 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-19/Frog Village Map S2: Danger at Dunwater The 19th full game session. Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and Nathan (Kevin) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had just survived an attack by a coordinated warband of bullywogs (frog-men) by the skin of their teeth. Michael healed Leah, Barron, and Kevin so the three party members could follow the escaping bullywog and hopefully catch it before it could warn any others.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-18/Thu, 20 Jul 2017 22:41:42 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-18/S2: Danger at Dunwater The 18th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Nathan (Kevin), and Larry (Michael) are returning cast members. As we left the party, they had just arrived at the docks in Saltmarsh, hoping to find out what had happened to the Scooby Gang. The party took rooms at the local inn, and enjoyed the nostalgic comfort food of “fish stew”. The wizard and barbarian they met on the ship took rooms at the local inn, but declined to follow the party into the swamp, at least not right away.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-17/Thu, 06 Jul 2017 22:41:40 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-17/S1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh The 17th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Mary (Kriselle), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and Larry (Michael) are returning cast members. Dean and Mary had to leave early, and Sean (Baroch?) and Jonathan (Elion) entered play for the first time. As we left the party, they had just arranged for the resurrection of Kriselle and were considering a change of venue when they received a message from Chesty the ex-marine.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-16/Thu, 22 Jun 2017 22:41:37 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-16/Session Map The 16th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Mary (Kriselle), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and Larry (Michael) entered. As we left the party, they had killed the troll and retrieved Thic Duc’s ex-head, at the cost of Kriselle’s life. They carried her to the dial-a-diety in the Citadel Union, and asked the priests of Pholtus there to raise her from the dead. As her body was mostly intact, the operation proceeded without problems.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-15/Thu, 08 Jun 2017 22:41:35 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-15/The 15th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Mary (Kriselle), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and Larry (Michael) entered. As we left the party, Thic Duc had been killed by a large green creature. Normally death is a temporary condition for a party that has kept their insurance payments in order. However, the troll had bitten Thic Duc’s head off and swallowed it. This presented a problem for the local clerics, who need an intact body to raise from the dead.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-14/Thu, 25 May 2017 02:57:31 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-14/Session Map The 14th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), and Mariel (Leah) entered. Only Barron and Leah left alive. As we left the party, they were about to return to the dungeon seeking to complete their map of the second level. Since a mysterious case of food poisoning had left Kriselle, Michael, and Kevin feeling less than adventurous, they were also seeking to minimize the risk they took without everyone at full strength and intellectual capacity.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-13/Thu, 11 May 2017 02:56:51 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-13/Session Map The 13th full game session was rescheduled for the following day at the last minute due to cancellations. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), and Mariel (Leah) were present. Kriselle is awarded honorary XP for showing up Saturday even though she wasn’t able to make the reschedule. As we left the party, they were trying to figure out what to do about the minitaurs that had escaped their captivity.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/saltmarsh/Tue, 02 May 2017 23:26:32 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/saltmarsh/Saltmarsh is a small town, though still larger than Dunwitch. It is near the coast, with port facilities and a fishing fleet. The fleet sends its catch from both the ocean and the nearby salt marsh (for which the town is named) to Rookroost, providing a steady supply of seafood for those wealthy enough to afford it (and the necessary salt or preservation spells to preserve it). The road to town from Rookroost brings you to the top of a sea-facing cliff overlooking the town, and you can see the port itself laid out before you, with the bulk of town further inland on higher ground.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/dunwich/Tue, 02 May 2017 23:26:27 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/dunwich/Characters begin in the small town of Dunwitch, named (according to local legend) for its founder, a nameless hag and healer who lived out her years as a hermit outside the nearby walled city of Rookroost. Her cures were so efficacious and her protective spells so potent that she soon had a thriving community established around her small forest hut. As the poor woman was nearly deaf and blind in her old age, she never quite realized.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/rookroost/Tue, 02 May 2017 23:24:02 -0500https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/rookroost/The City of Rookroost Rookroost is one of the bandit kingdoms, a city-state in barely civilized territory that exists in a state of low-level perpetual warfare with most of its neighbors and even its own residents. Half-Orcs are common and make up most of the city guard. Half-elves are common in the outlying towns and forests, but full elves are rare. Leadership Officially, the city follows General Perneti, who is in charge of the city guard.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-12/Thu, 27 Apr 2017 02:56:06 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-12/The 12th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Mary (Kriselle), Larry (Michael), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and Nathan (Kevin). As we left the party, Barron had just returned to consciousness following his not-just-near-death experience. He found it inspiring. He was filled with zeal for revenge against the dolphins, and as soon as he was able to walk, headed to the market to acquire several flasks of lamp oil, a large cut of raw steak from the Merry Memory Moss Tavern, and a 100gp vial of poison from the local herbalist.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-11/Thu, 13 Apr 2017 02:55:26 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-11/The 11th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Mary (Kriselle), Larry (Michael), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah). As we left the party, they had just emerged from the Castle Greyhawk Petting Zoo following their first venture below the surface. Shortly after emerging, a crossbow bolt from the shadows killed the messenger Starron. The party delivered the ensacked minitaurs to Mina in Herzog’s Tower, facing a raging storm of hail and thunder. Mina informed them that they would need to seek a reward from Zantos, the proprietor of the Petting Zoo, but they could store the minitaurs in the guard’s small prison in the meantime.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-10/Thu, 30 Mar 2017 02:54:40 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-10/Castle Greyhawk The 10th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Larry (Michael), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), Todd (Phil), Jennifer (Garmanargar), new player Nathan (Kevin), and a one-shot character player Starron. As we left the party, they had decided to investigate the adventuring and real estate opportunities available at Castle Greyhawk. Passage to the City of Greyhawk proper was obtained from a convenient ship, at a cost of 10gp each… plus a 90gp fee for everyone except Thic Duc, who weaseled out of the extra fee by not taking the cabin.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-9/Thu, 16 Mar 2017 19:53:57 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-9/S1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh The 9th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Larry (Michael), Matt (Barron), returning player Mary (Kriselle) and new player Mariel (Leah). As we left the party, they were returning to Saltmarsh on board the Sea Ghost. The goal was to sell the cargo, possibly the ship itself, and to figure out where to take the party next. The obvious next step would be to investigate the lizardfolk village expecting a shipment of weapons, but those lizardfolk had also paid for those weapons and would not be inclined to pay twice.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-8/Thu, 02 Mar 2017 02:53:01 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-8/S1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh The 8th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Larry (Michael), and new player Matt (character name to be determined). As we left the party, a number of them had fallen victim to a gas cloud released from the chest in the wizard’s cabin. Due to player absences, characters without players were declared victims of the cloud and would wake up when their players return. Discussing their options, the party decided to do their best to clear the rest of the ship before the shore party returned.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-7/Thu, 16 Feb 2017 02:51:46 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-7/S1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh The 7th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Larry (Michael), Todd (Phil), and new player Jennifer (Garmanarnar). As we left the party, they were spending the night at the Fish Tail Inn, having sent to Rookroost for reinforcements and rooted out the rest of the enemy forces from the cave system. The town council met them at the inn the next morning, eager to hear their explanation for the death of Ned and Ed, the missing horse and cart, and whatever else had gone wrong.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-6/Thu, 02 Feb 2017 20:12:54 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-6/Session Map S1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh The 6th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Larry (Michael), and Todd (Phil). As we left the party, they were preparing to spend the night in the basement, with Ned and Ed trading off watching for signals from the ship, and the secret door leading to the unexplored cave system blocked off by a bed. Just as Ned and Ed were complaining that they didn’t want to be left alone in the house until the whole place was explored and declared safe, the party noticed someone – or something – trying to open the secret door from the other side.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-5/Thu, 19 Jan 2017 20:12:13 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-5/S1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh The 5th full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Larry (Michael), and Todd (Phil). As we left the party, they were preparing to camp in the forest overnight, but they quickly thought better of that idea and chose to return to town instead. They set off down the road, in the dark of night, with naught but a bullseye lantern for light… and were promptly ambushed by bandits.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-4/Thu, 05 Jan 2017 19:53:57 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-4/Session Map S1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh The fourth full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Mary (Kriselle), Larry (Michael), and Todd (Phil). As we left the party, Daphne had just been rescued, and most of the party was still recovering from the wounds suffered at the teeth of the giant weasel. Thic Duc, as the only hale and whole member of the party, drove the Mystery Machine back to Saltmarsh, where the local healer tended wounds and restored vigor.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-3/Thu, 15 Dec 2016 22:20:08 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-3/S1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh Session Map Previously… The third full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Mary (Kriselle), Larry (Michael), and Todd (Phil). The adventure resumes where the last session left off. The party has finished their lunch while waiting for the monk to regain consciousness. After an hour or so, he did, and the party reentered the manor, resuming their explorations towards the back area of the first floor. The first room appeared to be a dining room, and was completely empty.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-2/Thu, 01 Dec 2016 22:20:03 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-2/S1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh Session Map The second full game session. Dean (Thick Duck), Mary (Kriselle), Larry (Michael), Karl (Burgess), Todd (Phil), and Patrick. Todd is a new player, with a magic-user. Initial discussion centered on exploring the mysterious lights and sounds in the manor near Saltmarsh. However, there was some unfinished business to sort out first.. In Dunwitch, a ranger and a magic-user noticed a raving madman standing upon one of the stones at the Holy Day Inn.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-1/Thu, 17 Nov 2016 22:19:04 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-1/Session Map The first full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Mary (Kriselle), Doug (Thorbald), Larry (Fafhrd), and Karl (Burgess). We left the initial group of six people investigating the Sage’s Tower. With one of the players missing, three party members remained just outside the bottom of the staircase, cowering in fear and inexperience… Fafhrd and the Mouser advanced boldly to the right, encountering two doors. One led to a room filled with animals, most of them in cages, but several giant rats and several bat-like creatures turn and rush the party in a frenzied mob.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-0/Thu, 03 Nov 2016 21:15:47 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/session-0/After a routine trip to Rookroost, Tom o’ the Seven Sevens puts out the word to all residents of Dunwitch. Trouble is afoot, he says. The realm needs those of strong arm, quick mind, dextrous fingers. More than that, the realm needs men of good heart and a thirst for adventure. (“What about ale?” “Aye, that too, but adventure first!”) All men and women nearing adulthood but not yet settled in their lives, or yearning for something more, and especially anyone who is feeling the call of destiny or who has ever been the subject of a prophecy, are requested to gather in the tavern for an announcement that will have a profound impact on their lives, the lives of all their friends, and even the lives of their livestock and pets.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/pyrzival/Thu, 03 Nov 2016 01:37:05 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/pyrzival/Pyrzival (A gnome fighter played by Brian) in the Evil Overlord campaign Pyrzival was born to two tutors to the royal household in the Great Kingdom. When he was young his parents took employment with the King of Nyrond to tutor his children. Pyrzival seemed destined to be a tutor to noble children as well, as he soaked up not only how to teach but also the information they were teaching – that of science, engineering, mathematics, and astronomy.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/warin/Thu, 03 Nov 2016 01:30:18 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/warin/Warin (Human cleric played by Coby) A novice cleric with a yearning for adventure at the beginning of his career, Warin was born and raised on a farm outside Rookroost. Taught to be helpful and kind to his parents, and seeing the state of the world in the Bandit Kingdoms, he joined the small church of St Cuthbert in Darkshelf upon reaching adulthood, hoping that the church would teach him to spread the doctrines of law and order throughout the land.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/tiberium/Thu, 03 Nov 2016 01:30:12 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/tiberium/Tiberium Elyse III (A paladin played by Chris) Tiberium grew up within a minor noble family located within the County of Urnst. His grandfather, Tiberium the Elder, was granted knighthood and a small estate after making a name for himself in a campaign against an invading tribe of orcs. In the course of that campaign he rescued a gnomish tutor known as Pyrzival, who he later employed as a tutor for his sons.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/leah/Thu, 03 Nov 2016 01:30:07 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/leah/Leah (Half-elven Ranger played by Mariel) Leah is a ranger whose association with Barron keeps them both in a moral grey area. Her father was an elf, and her mother was a human mage who went insane. Having more elfish features physically (than Elward) she was less teased about being a half elf… but everyone talked behind her back about being the daughter of a crazed mage. She ran away with Elward to escape her past and became the smarter, more level headed half of the treasure hunting duo.https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/thicduc/Thu, 03 Nov 2016 01:13:27 -0600https://infodancer.org/post/eviloverlord/thicduc/Thic Duc (Human Monk played by Dean) A monk from a distant land (Nyrond), Thic Duc walks the earth in search of impressionable individuals who can be brought to perceive the truth of the one true god. So far, he has successfully converted two people: Kriselle’s parents. He would desperately like to complete the set, and the two have spent many hours discussing philosophy, fungi, and religion while peacefully fishing for mushrooms.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ai_war_the_big_boost/Tue, 01 Dec 2015 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ai_war_the_big_boost/Many years ago, when I was a young man, or perhaps a boy in the process of becoming a young man, I walked into a bookstore and bought a book that would change my life. I bought the book on the basis of the cover, because the cover was the coolest thing I had ever seen: a man wearing sunglasses drives a car in a futuristic city. You understand, I say he drives the car because that is what one does with a car.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/adapt_and_overcome/Tue, 20 Jan 2015 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/adapt_and_overcome/There’s not much to say about Adapt and Overcome (The Maxwell Saga), the third book in Peter David’s series about a young man who joins the space navy and comes of age amongst a series of increasingly improbable coincidences. It’s fast, reasonably fun, and the infinite improbability drive is set to just a notch below winning the lottery without buying a ticket. The author’s complete failure to grasp his readers’ comments about his main character’s plot invincibility in prior books is a charming mirror of his main character’s casual stroll through explosions, firefights and love affairs that never seem to leave a scratch on him.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/interstellar/Fri, 07 Nov 2014 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/interstellar/The one-line review is that Interstellar is the movie that 2001 should have been. It has a mysterious anomaly orbiting Saturn, a realistic depiction of a space mission to investigate and explore. But it also has so much more: incredible, moving performances from the leading actors and actresses, an emotional investment on both the personal and the species level, strange and wonderful and terrible things to find, and a powerful human drama that plays out across that background.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/natural_consequences/Tue, 17 Jun 2014 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/natural_consequences/In case you are ever hit by the supernatural version of a meteor strike out of a blue sky and magically bound to a succubus and an angel, there are a number of steps that really should be followed as soon as practically possible: Have a lot of sex with the succubus. Duh. Convince the angel to join in. Move out of your mom’s basement That last step can get tricky when a werewolf wants to mate with you – as forcefully as required, two witches are worried they are getting left out of the fun, heaven is threatening to demote your angel, and the vampires have an all-points-bulletin out on your ass.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_edge_of_tomorrow/Fri, 06 Jun 2014 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_edge_of_tomorrow/*The Edge of Tomorrow is a Tom Cruise military sci-fi vehicle, and it’s a bundle of contradictions that actually work out to a pretty good movie. Let me start by hitting you with what is obvious from the trailer: alien invasion, near-future powered armor. Those aspects are mostly handled well. The power armor is much more realistic than, say, Tony Stark’s Iron Man armor; it’s basically strength-enhancing and load-carrying with some token “armor” and a few mounted weapons.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/knights_magi/Tue, 20 May 2014 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/knights_magi/Knights Magi, the fourth book in the Spellmonger series, focuses on the adventures of Tyndal and Rondal as they grow into their roles as Knights Magi. At over 600 pages, there’s a lot of material to cover, but the content is perhaps best described as an adolescent romp. It’s not serious enough to qualify as a coming-of-age tale (though probably the author intended it as such), nor explicit enough to qualify as soft porn.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/good_intentions/Tue, 29 Apr 2014 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/good_intentions/Good Intentions is somewhere between male adolescent wish-fulfillment, soft-core erotica, paranormal romance, and urban fantasy. The plot revolves around a pretty ordinary guy, still living in his mom’s basement, who decides to sneak into the local graveyard to get a few atmospheric pictures. He’s hoping to use the pictures to impress a pair of cute goth chicks in his photography course, lacking the gumption to simply approach them without a prop.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ebook_prices_part_2/Wed, 09 Apr 2014 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ebook_prices_part_2/Why are ebooks from traditional publishers priced so high? That’s the question. Though the situation has improved a bit since this was written around 2011, there’s still a large price gap between traditionally published ebooks and independent authors. And it’s not because the independent authors suck. (Some do, sure, but that’s not why there’s a price difference). If you watch the prices over time, the independents usually have lower prices, often just a dollar or two.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ebook_prices/Tue, 08 Apr 2014 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ebook_prices/Over at the Mad Genius Club, Amanda finds a publisher talking about ebooks as a “service” and charging more for them than printed books because they are convenient for the reader. Both sides have valid points, but the discussion hook is Amanda’s conclusion: But to say an e-book should cost considerably more than a print book because it is more convenient is ludicrous. It is especially so when the publisher refuses to admit that a reader buys the book instead of just licensing the right to read the book.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ride_the_rising_tide/Tue, 18 Feb 2014 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ride_the_rising_tide/If an allusion to Tolkien is the most common way to praise a new fantasy author, “Heinleinesque” has got to be the science fiction equivalent. The description certainly applies to Peter Maxwell’s Ride the Rising Tide, which contains equal doses of space, adventure, and 60’s science fiction nostalgia. It has a space navy, a plucky young protagonist eager to rise through the ranks on the strength of exceptional abilities and a sense of destiny explained only by the invisible hand of the author shaping the plot.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/gravity/Fri, 04 Oct 2013 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/gravity/Gravity, with Sandra Bullock in the lead role and George Clooney supporting, is an excellent movie for fans of science fiction, but as SF author Rosemary Kirstein points out (and beware spoilers behind that link), it is more science fact than science fiction. Though the events are fictional, the technology underpinning them is not. We have multiple space stations in orbit. We have people who work in space on a regular basis, if not continually.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/steelheart/Tue, 24 Sep 2013 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/steelheart/Brandon Sanderson’s excursion into young adult literature, Steelheart (The Reckoners) explores the world of superheroes and supervillains… or more accurately, explores a world where there is a surfeit of supervillains and absolutely no superheroes whatsoever. The world is based roughly on our own present, but with variations ranging from the surreal (supervillains ruling various cities as dictators) to the bizarre (transforming entire cities into steel, with super-moles digging vast tunnels for people to live and work within).https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_given_sacrifice/Tue, 03 Sep 2013 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_given_sacrifice/The latest book in SM Stirling’s Change series, The Given Sacrifice concludes the war against the Church Universal and Triumphant with a certain sense of anticlimax. While none of the events quite surprised me, I was left with a sense – quite familiar to me from other recent books in this series – that the author had overstretched his ability to maintain dramatic tension and that the events that have occupied the past three or four books in this series would have been better served to all take place within a single book.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/earth_afire/Tue, 09 Jul 2013 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/earth_afire/Having set aside my higher expectations after Earth Unaware, I was anticipating pretty much a simple adventure story this time around. That’s pretty much what I got with Earth Afire. Unexpectedly, though, we were introduced to Mazer Rackham in this book, and he was unfortunately less than impressive as a character. In Ender’s Game, Card writes Ender as a character who is convincingly super-intelligent yet childish. Mazer is supposed to be cut from similar if not quite identical cloth, but he doesn’t carry it convincingly.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/23_years_on_fire/Fri, 05 Jul 2013 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/23_years_on_fire/A Cassandra Kresnov novel, 23 Years On Fire advances the clock a bit and brings some intriguing new ideas into the series. Although they are coming a little bit out of left field and strain plausibility somewhat, such small sins are easily forgiven in support of a good story and the philosophical questions that comes along with it. The novel opens with Sandy leading a military raid on a Federation planet suspected of using mind-control implant technology on the population of an entire planet – accidentally.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/take_the_star_road/Mon, 15 Apr 2013 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/take_the_star_road/Have you ever wanted to strap yourself into a starship and light off the thrusters just to see where you would end up? Fight space pirates with your black belt in Karate while climbing the ranks aboard a merchant starship? How about just being an improbably nice fellow with the plot thoroughly on your side? Then this book will satisfy you. Just keep your suspension of disbelief handy, because you’ll need it.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/young_sentinels/Tue, 26 Feb 2013 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/young_sentinels/Astra takes the lead of a new super-group, squaring off against the Green Man – an environmental super-terrorist who causes super-accelerated plant growth. Nothing exceptional in this straightforward superhero novel, though readers might find the page count and the price tag somewhat at odds with each other. This is the third novel in the Wearing the Cape series.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_cassandra_project/Tue, 06 Nov 2012 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_cassandra_project/I’ve been a mild fan of Jack McDevitt’s books for a while. He does soft science fiction with a decent sense of wonder pretty well, though there’s usually a mild sour note here and there that keeps his books from being an entirely positive experience. The Cassandra Project fit that description for most of the book, which is essentially a “What if” take on the fake moon landings theory. But when I read the epilogue, I wanted to throw the book across the room.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/destroyer/Mon, 15 Oct 2012 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/destroyer/Destroyer is the latest in Cherryh’s Foreigner series, the tale of Bren ameron’s tempestuous relationship with the alien atevi. As the paidhi, Bren is the sole human permitted to enter atevi society, and on his head rests the task of translating not only language and culture, but also the instinctual behaviors that can seem deceptively similar … with sometimes deadly results. As Destroyer opens, Bren returns to his adopted planet following the 2-year space mission to retrieve human colonists from a remote space station.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/excommunication/Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/excommunication/The latest in Peter Clives’ series of Ex- novels, this one pits thinly-disguised alternate universe versions of Batman, Superman, and other comic book favorites against a demon lord of hell. And zombies, of course. Lots of zombies. I’m tempted to call this a lighthearted romp through an unrealistic universe that seems more interested in making in-jokes to readers who are also comic book fans, but the zombies are sort of a downer on the whole lighthearted thing.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/earth_unaware/Tue, 17 Jul 2012 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/earth_unaware/I ended up reading Orson Scott Card’s First Formic War series because of a discussion I had with a friend of mine about the central moral question of Ender’s Game: was Ender’s action to end his war moral or not? It would be a spoiler to describe exactly what he did; suffice it to say that it’s a close call based on the available information, and our opinions differed based primarily on whether the books in this series were considered canon or not.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/thieftaker/Tue, 03 Jul 2012 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/thieftaker/Ethan Kaille is a thieftaker, someone who is hired to find thieves and recover stolen property, in Boston during the time right before the Revolutionary War. His life is complicated by a rival thieftaker, Sephira Pryce, who is more like a female caricature of a mob boss than someone on the side of justice, and her ire at his being hired by a coveted rich client to investigate the murder of the client’s daughter.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/kiss_the_dead/Tue, 05 Jun 2012 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/kiss_the_dead/When the best think you can say about a book is that you don’t remember reading it a year later, it’s not very flattering. That’s the only way I can describe Kiss the Dead, another Anita Blake novel from Laurel K Hamilton. Even reading the plot summary on Amazon just now failed to bring back any signifiant elements of the story. So why am I writing this review, you ask? Even the fact that a book is that forgettable is useful information.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/skirmishes/Tue, 05 Jun 2012 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/skirmishes/The latest book in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Dive series, Skirmishes interweaves three plots together: a past encounter at the Room of the Lost Souls, the beginning of Boss’ attempt to dive the Boneyard and recover more working dignity vessels, and a confrontation between Cooper’s two working dignity vessels and a larger force of ships from the Empire. Readers will want to be caught up with the earlier works in this series, because it will make absolutely no sense standing alone.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_stars_came_back/Mon, 12 Mar 2012 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_stars_came_back/An interesting independently published ebook, The Stars Came Back is a tale of space adventure with distinct military, political and moral themes. Stylistically, it occupies an unusual dialogue-heavy space somewhere between a novel and a screenplay; the author has mentioned that he originally wrote it as a screenplay and as it grew in length the style adjusted somewhat. Though written in a manner reminiscent of a Heinlein juvenile, it is not a coming-of-age tale; almost all of the characters are adults, though they still have room to grow and change.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/hard_magic/Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/hard_magic/Set in a richly realized world roughly analogous to the 1930s, Hard Magic diverges from known history with the discovery of many forms of magic accessible to relatively ordinary humans. The main character is known as a “Heavy”, someone with the capability to alter gravity and mass. Heavies are stereotyped as slow and stupid, if physically capable – but despite the book’s opening scenes in a prison for the supernaturally inclined, it rapidly becomes obvious that appearance isn’t everything and we’re dealing with a very smart cookie indeed.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/gwenhwyfar/Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/gwenhwyfar/Lackey states in the afterword that she based her Arthurian tale on Welsh legends of not one, but three, queens named Gwenhwyfar. This theory does tend to clear up some of the conflicting tales of Arthur’s queen. In her novel, Lackey focuses on the third queen. This is a pleasant read. Which seems to be the norm for Lackey’s novels lately. There is none of the emotional depth of her early novels.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_alchemists_apprentice/Tue, 15 May 2007 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_alchemists_apprentice/Dave Duncan is an author I am familiar with from mainly from his King’s Blades series, a straightforward and competently written set of mostly-independent tales of supernaturally bound bodyguards. The Alchemist’s Apprentice takes a step closer to the real world, being set in a version of Venice where magic is somewhat more effective than in ours. The alchemist of the title is Nostrademeus, and the apprentice one Alfeo Zeno, the latter being a character more reminiscent of a Dumas musketeer than anything else.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/quarter_share/Mon, 01 Jan 2007 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/quarter_share/https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/blindsight/Tue, 03 Oct 2006 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/blindsight/Blindsight is a first contact story that turns out to be more about the humans than the aliens, something that was more than a little disconcerting. The narrator explicitly functions as an “interpreter” between pre-Singularity humans and a variety of post-Singularity humans, the types of which include functional multiple-personalities, cybernetic human-machine interfaces, a vampire, and an AI. None of the post-humans seem particularly incomprehensible in their thoughts and behavior, which makes me question the need for a translator – or perhaps serves to point out how effective he is at translating.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_meeting_at_corvallis/Tue, 05 Sep 2006 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_meeting_at_corvallis/The third volume in SM Stirling’s Dies the Fire series brings the conflict with the Protector to a head.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_illusionist/Fri, 18 Aug 2006 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_illusionist/Yesterday, I went to see Fearless, Jet Li’s recent martial arts epic. It was pretty good, but also pretty much exactly what I expected. While there, I saw that the theater had allocated one of its screens to a flick called The Illusionist, a movie I had never heard of or seen previews or promos for. Based on the little title strip with showtimes, it looked interesting, and a few minutes wirelessly checking the reviews on Rotten Tomatos suggested it wasn’t awful.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_privilege_of_the_sword/Tue, 15 Aug 2006 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_privilege_of_the_sword/I picked this up hoping for a mildly interesting tale of intrigue, and what I got was the renaissance through the eyes of a feminist who really, really wishes she could grow up to be a swordswoman. The Privilege of the Sword is not a bad book exactly; it’s an unrealistic premise handled reasonably well with a light dose of intrigue and humor on top. Interesting, particularly for the attention to detail given to the fencing, but not very meaningful.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/dzur/Tue, 01 Aug 2006 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/dzur/Dzur is Brust’s long-awaited followup to Issola in the Vlad Taltos series. It’s an interesting mix of new material and old standbys of the Vlad series. In terms of series revelations and introductions, I counted at least five or six events of a similar stature to the Lesser Revelation of Orca. And it’s worth noting that the Greater Revelation of that novel is not directly revealed but gets enough in-jokes that it becomes tiresome.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/micah/Wed, 05 Jul 2006 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/micah/Micah didn’t really do much for me. About equal parts sex, relationship angst, and supernatural spook. Nothing really to recommend it especially, though the sex didn’t grate nearly so badly as in the last full-length novel.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/danse_macabre/Tue, 06 Jun 2006 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/danse_macabre/I have spoken before in this forum on my declining respect for, and interest in, the Anita Blake series. Nonetheless I have consistently picked up the latest book when it was released, hoping for something of a turnaround or change in direction. So far I have been disappointed, though not enough to make a firm commitment to refuse the next installment. Danse Macabre may well be bad enough to break that barrier.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ultraviolet_movie/Fri, 03 Mar 2006 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ultraviolet_movie/So there’s a new vampire movie out, and I really need a few hours to sit and take in someone else’s vision of impossibility with the hope of seeing something cool. These factors combined to put me in a theater seat watching Ultraviolet, despite having nothing more than the posters and the previews to go on. I’ll give you the short version: it’s bad. Really bad. So bad I’m surprised I sat through the whole thing (which probably had a lot to do with the fact that if I didn’t, I would have to start thinking again – something that I was trying to avoid in the few hours between work and more work that I had).https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/underworld_evolution/Fri, 20 Jan 2006 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/underworld_evolution/The original Underworld could best be described as a movie made according to the rules of the World of Darkness roleplaying universe from White Wolf, postulating a supernatural underside to our familiar world where vampires and werewolves battle endlessly, with a plot based on cliches filtered through the rules of Hollywood scriptwriting. Despite that, it actually worked pretty well. The key, as with many such movies, is to ignore the plot holes, physics errors, and lack of characterization, instead focusing on shiny things that go bang, fanged cool factor, and Kate Beckinsale in a shiny skintight corset-enabled piece of tactical eveningwear.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_lion_the_witch_and_the_wardrobe/Fri, 09 Dec 2005 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_lion_the_witch_and_the_wardrobe/So I went to see the first movie in the Narnia sequence last week. I was hopeful; the trailers presented an image of a movie in the tradition of Jackson’s Middle Earth, based around a classic fantasy series from the same period and sticking faithfully to the work of the original author. It should have worked out well, with the ground already broken, assuming the people involved were competent; instead, the result was disappointing.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_feast_for_crows/Tue, 08 Nov 2005 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_feast_for_crows/The latest and long-awaited book in George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, A Feast For Crows, was released on November 8. The book’s delivery represents the end of a long wait for fans of the series, although – prodded most likely by the degeneration of Jordan’s Wheel of Time series – most fans seem to prefer to wait long enough for Martin to get it right rather than demanding a quick release; and in the face of continuing difficulty with the scope of the work, Martin eventually split the book he had planned into two, publishing what he was done with and leaving the remainder of what he had planned for the next book.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/knife_of_dreams/Tue, 11 Oct 2005 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/knife_of_dreams/This latest novel in Robert Jordan’s long-lived and long-winded epic fantasy series represents an improvement over his low point, now established as books 7-10. Important and long-awaited prophecies are finally being paid off; the plot is moving forward steadily. While there are many decisions that I would have made differently, and many, many wasted opportunities, there is at least progress in a forward direction. This is not a book that is worth returning to the series if you have already abandoned it.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/serenity/Fri, 30 Sep 2005 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/serenity/Let me begin by setting the stage a little, and telling you about me. There’s not much about me that’s relevant to a movie review, but because Serenity originated from a television series, this preface is necessary: I don’t watch a lot of television. Perhaps that doesn’t get the point across. The last television series I followed regularly was Babylon 5, which ended in the last century. Cable news programs persisted until 2 years ago, but they also reached the end of my patience.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_protectors_war/Tue, 06 Sep 2005 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_protectors_war/Nine years after Dies the Fire, an unsteady truce reigns over western Oregon. Mike Havel’s Bearkillers and Juniper Mackenzie’s Wiccan clans, along with some other loose federations, are strong enough to have prevented the despot Norman Arminger from overruning them - so far. Occupying the rich farmlands south of Portland, these groups have quickly adapted to life after the Change, and have thriving societies with bustling economies. Their cultures are starting to take root, too - the younger generations know nothing of gunpowder, electricity, or gasoline beyond stories from the adults.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/revenge_of_the_sith/Thu, 19 May 2005 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/revenge_of_the_sith/There’s not a lot that can be said about this movie. It’s probably the best of the prequels, but that’s not saying much. In fact, the best thing that can be said about this movie is that it doesn’t suck. I enjoyed most of it, although some moments were severely wince-inducing. The lightsaber battles were a minor disappointment, with camera tricks and plot events being used to “explain” the outcome rather than actual skill, but they weren’t awful.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_phantom_menace/Thu, 19 May 2005 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_phantom_menace/Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was almost universally panned by fans of the original trilogy, and deservedly so. Hopes, and expectations, were high following the smashing success of the earlier films and the intervening two-decade improvement in technology. What the fans received was not what they had desired: a children’s movie that replaced many of the most popular elements with a cute kid and a racist portrayal of a repulsive amphibian.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/coyote_rising/Tue, 05 Apr 2005 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/coyote_rising/In my earlier review of Coyote, I described it as a fairly normal interstellar colonization story with a hint of politics in the background. Coyote Rising, the sequel, makes those politics somewhat more explicit, but they are still far short of actually driving the story in a manner similar to, for example, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. That’s not a good thing when the point of the story is supposed to be the politics.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/consequences/Tue, 15 Mar 2005 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/consequences/Consequences is a Retrieval Artist novel. The series (with two previous books) is set in a universe where humanity interacts on a regular basis with many alien cultures of varying degrees of strangeness. Many of these alien cultures have strange laws or taboos that humans can be subject to horrible penalties for violating – whether they know that they are violating the alien’s laws or not. This conflict of interest has spawned a small, but significant, industry: making people “disappear” for the purposes of evading the consequences of breaking an unjust (by human standards) alien law.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/killswitch/Sat, 15 Jan 2005 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/killswitch/Cassandra Kresnov, the lovable combat android with an electronic copy of a human soul, is back. But her old masters, the League governments, want her dead, and they may just have left an off-switch hidden in some part of her electronic brain. When your own brain can be hacked over a wireless network, being almost as strong as Superman won’t help much. To thwart them, Cassandra will have to go into hiding while she searches for the enemies trying to turn her off permanently.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/earthsea/Mon, 13 Dec 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/earthsea/Ursula K Leguin’s EarthSea trilogy broke new ground in the fantasy genre, and has truly earned a place of honor. Unfortunately, as with many television adaptions, the Sci-Fi Channel’s attempt to bring that story to the television screen preserved almost nothing of that. Although the miniseries is less bitter and painful than Tehanu, it lacks the qualities that made the original trilogy such a wonderful creation. It also lacks the special effects to effectively carry out the magic that is such a vital component of EarthSea.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/incubus_dreams/Tue, 05 Oct 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/incubus_dreams/Incubus Dreams is the latest Anita Blake book, and weighs in at a surprising 600+ pages; most of the prior books in the series have been 300-400 pages. The Anita Blake series has been having difficulty lately, with many of the fans hanging on desperately to the hope that the current trends – that is, towards more sex and less of everything else – will reverse themselves. Unfortunately for those with such hopes, the cover does little to suggest improvement; a woman in lingerie, blindfolded and bound to a chair.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_runes_of_the_earth/Tue, 05 Oct 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_runes_of_the_earth/In The Chronicles of Covenant the Unbeliever Donaldson wove a compelling tale of a fantasy world threatened by a malevolent being known as Lord Foul, and capable of defending itself ultimately through the intervention of one man – a man outcast from human society, a man whose survival demands that he abandon hope and forsake love, a man who does not even believe that the Land is real. In The Second Chronicles of Covenant the Unbeliever, he returned to the Land when it is threatened once more.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_dark_tower/Tue, 21 Sep 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_dark_tower/The Dark Tower is the final volume of Stephen King’s Dark Tower Cycle, a work that has taken over 20 years to complete. For fans of the series, this concluding volume comes with great relief as well as great joy; at times it seemed impossible to consider that the series could ever be finished. It must have seemed the same to King as well, for it was clearly his magnum opus, incorporating and unifying so many of his other words that told their own pieces of the tale.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/jonathan_strange_and_mr._norrell/Thu, 09 Sep 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/jonathan_strange_and_mr._norrell/Told in a particularly dry and witty voice, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel chronicles a brief resurgence in English magic, thanks to the queer friendship and rivalry between the two most prominent English magicians of the Napoleonic Era. Fiction is woven so well into the rich tapestry of legend, myth, and poetry that it is impossible to discern where one leaves off and the next begins. Exquisitely footnoted with tidbits of tangential information, this is a fantasy novel for historians, and a history book for fantasists.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/coyote/Tue, 07 Sep 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/coyote/Imagine a socialist paradise that bankrupts itself to develop a single interstellar spacecraft, the USS Alabama, designed to escape the solar system and colonize a new world, called Coyote. Imagine that the colonists for this new world have been carefully selected by the government, emphasizing political loyalty as much as scientific knowledge. Imagine that in this dystopian society, dissidents who remember the dream of Liberty are regularly rooted out, arrested, and shipped to reeducation camps in cattle cars.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/gardens_of_the_moon/Sun, 01 Aug 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/gardens_of_the_moon/Paran is a soldier in the army of the Malazan Empire, chosen by events to play a part in a growing crisis of divinity. He is placed in command of the Bridgeburners, an infamous unit of skirmishers, in their siege of a foreign city. That siege, and Paran’s efforts to consummate it by taking the city, is the focus of the novel. Yet that siege is also little more than a delaying action: a single battle in the prelude to the coming storm, a storm in the form of an army of religious fanatics on the march towards the Empire like a plague of locusts… destroying everything in their path.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_bourne_supremacy/Fri, 23 Jul 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_bourne_supremacy/Continuing my reread of Ludlum’s Jason Bourne series, I went through The Bourne Supremacy over the course of a weekend. This novel steps away from the question of identity, and instead puts Bourne in the midst of a complex maze of interwoven plots. An imposter has taken the name and reputation of “Jason Bourne”, deadly assassin for hire, and revived it for his own purposes. The assassin who was created to trap Carlos must now return to the land of his birth to trap himself.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/i_robot/Fri, 16 Jul 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/i_robot/I would not classify this as an adaptation of “I, Robot” for Asimov purists. Rather, it’s an action-adventure set in Asimov’s universe that happens to draw upon some of the characters from the stories. But as a stand-alone story, it’s remarkably well done, better than most of what Hollywood produces by leaps and bounds. If the success of Lord of the Rings inspired this movie to cash in on the perceived new market, it worked and it worked well.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/dies_the_fire/Thu, 01 Jul 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/dies_the_fire/A couple years ago, I started to have an idea for a novel. It wasn’t the first such idea; I have several kicking their way around my head. I don’t have time to write more than a chapter or two in brief spurts, but I let the ideas percolate and refine. Eventually, I will have that time, and hopefully the ideas will be timeless by then. Or something. But at least one of those ideas is now out of the running, thanks to S.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/song_of_susannah/Tue, 29 Jun 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/song_of_susannah/This is the 6th book in King’s Dark Tower series. I’ve been a fan of that series for years, ever since I first discovered it, and have watched its slow progress with a great deal of anticipation. I’m not generally an avid King follower, to be sure, but this series is an exception, and a few of his stand-alone novels (IT, The Stand, Salem’s Lot) are works I think highly of.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/sword_of_shannara/Mon, 24 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/sword_of_shannara/Sword of Shannara has a well-deserved reputation for being a near-total imitation of Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings, with only the serial numbers filed off to aid the deception. It’s not even told particularly well. Readers are advised to skip it.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_black_company/Sat, 22 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_black_company/Imagine a hard-bitten mercenary company, the last of the 12 Free Companies of Khatovar, wielding swords, spies, sappers, and seige engines with equal facility in a world where wizards rule the battlefield and the last of the dragons was eaten millenia ago by something even more dangerous. Imagine ten of the most powerful wizards in the world, all bound to serve one even more powerful than they: the Ten Who Were Taken.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_whim_of_the_dragon/Thu, 20 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_whim_of_the_dragon/Legend says that only three things can destroy the Secret Country: the Border Magic, the Crystal of the Earth, and the Whim of the Dragon. Only the last remains, as the five children are summoned once more to the land of their own make-believe. This time, however, it will be different. For as they fled at the end of The Hidden Land, the note they left behind will reveal them as imposters.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_white_rose/Tue, 18 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_white_rose/The White Rose is the third book in the Chronicles of the Black Company. The Lady’s victory over her husband the Dominator at Juniper Shadows Linger came with a high price: the loss of the Black Company, long sworn to her service, to follow the White Rose… the prophecied rebel who first imprisoned her and her husband 400 years ago, now reborn to meet the Lady’s renewed threat. All unknowing, the Black Company had sheltered the White Rose herself within their ranks, and when the Taken begin to turn on them, chose survival and personal loyalty over the Lady’s service.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/kiln_people/Sun, 16 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/kiln_people/The creative exercise in this book is the cheap and easy creation of human ‘dittos’, copies of one’s mind complete with a body, albiet one that only lasts 24 hours. Once the life of a ditto is nearly over, its creator can inload its memories, effectively allowing people to experience multiple lifespans. Even the poorest people can create at least one ditto a day to earn a wage as an unskilled laborer.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/crouching_tiger_hidden_dragon/Fri, 14 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/crouching_tiger_hidden_dragon/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an early attempt to bring foreign films – specifically, the Chinese kung fu fantasy – to an American audience with high production values and more sophisticated plotting than the usual chopsui. It succeeds admirably, and was justly recognized with multiple awards. As a fan of chopsui, I was not disappointed. The kung fu is powerful in this movie. Although much is fast, it is not too fast to follow, and the camerawork does an excellent job of maintaining a smooth visual continuity that showcases even the more complex fighting.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/foreigner/Wed, 12 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/foreigner/The series follows a human paidhi (a diplomatic specialist in alien cultures) in his career as liason between a colony of humans and the native race of the planet, the Atevi, who are undergoing a dramatically accelerated transition from the beginning of their industrial period to a human-guided space age. Although a certain initial investment is required, the tale rapidly becomes engrossing. The paidhi’s unenviable status as the sole human permitted in close contact with the Atevi, with responsibility for interperting all contact between their cultures, embroils him in labyrinthine politics that threaten his life as well as planetary war.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/arrows_fall/Mon, 10 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/arrows_fall/Arrow’s Fall completes the story of Talia, Queen’s Own Herald of Valdemar. Returning from her internship, Talia’s friends and allies at Court welcome her back with the news that the Queen is considering a betrothal for Elspeth, heir to the throne, at the insistence of her advisors. The betrothal offer came from Ancar of Hardorn, a neighboring kingdom with a history of friendship, if not outright alliance, but something about the situation doesn’t sit right with the Queen – nor with the Queen’s Own.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_long_run/Sat, 08 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_long_run/The second novel in the Tales of the Continuing Time series, The Long Run is a masterpiece of the science fiction genre that is difficult to summarize in a few paragraphs. Moran has done some brilliant technological and political speculation set in the late 21st Century. His characters are very real and alive, and the writing is rich and fast-paced. TLR has the most cohesive plot of the three books in the series so far, and if you’re a new reader, I actually recommend starting with it rather than Emerald Eyes.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_chanur_saga/Thu, 06 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_chanur_saga/The Chanur Saga is a compilation of three books in Cherryh’s Chanur universe. This is the obligatory “catlike semi-humanoid spacefaring alien species” series from Cherryh; for reasons I quail at examining the basic idea is fairly popular and has received several treatments by various authors. This compilation includes an introductory novel and the first two novels of a trilogy, so if you decide to buy it, make sure you buy Chanur’s Homecoming too.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_hidden_land/Tue, 04 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_hidden_land/The Hidden Land is the second novel in Pamela Dean’s The Secret Country trilogy. Having accepted the Secret Country as real enough for the moment, the children must rise to meet the challenges they invented in the roles they were so eager to play in safe imagination. Yet they must do so without most of the strength and skills of the characters they are playing. Prince Edward, the eldest of the five, now rules a country on the brink of war with the Dragon King.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/dreams_of_steel/Sun, 02 May 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/dreams_of_steel/In Shadow Games, the first Book of the South in the Chronicles of the Black Company, we follow the Company on its journey southward towards the near-mythical Khatovar, a city not on any map, yet nevertheless faithfully recorded in the company Annals. Their quest does not lack for opposition, however, for the Shadowmasters are determined to bar their path, and there are hints that those long thought dead have come south to pursue old enmities as well.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_knight_of_the_word/Fri, 30 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_knight_of_the_word/A Knight of the Word is the second book in Terry Brooks’ loose trilogy The Word and the Void. This book focuses on John Ross and his crisis of faith, with Nest (from Running with the Demon) trying to save him from himself. In my description of the first book in this series, I felt it was important to note that it wasn’t one of Brooks’ Shannara titles. The same applies here, but there’s also some stylistic differences from the first book in the trilogy as well.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_game_of_thrones/Wed, 28 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_game_of_thrones/George RR Martin is a writer with a long, if less than best-selling, list of hits. His previous work includes science fiction like Tuf Voyaging, the tale of a solitary “eco-engineer” with the resources of an intersteller bioweapons facility at his command, or editing the Wild Cards collection, which featured short stories about the real problems faced by comic-book superheroes. He was established as publishable – but there was absolutely no hint of what would come.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/innocence/Mon, 26 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/innocence/Innocence is a sequel to the popular anime Ghost in the Shell. And it’s a sequel that gives the lie to sequelitis: Innocence may even surpass it’s predecessor. Fans of Ghost in the Shell will recognize Batou, who returns in the sequel as the solemn, philosophical cyborg cop. Since the disappearance of the Major, his partner, he has withdrawn further and further into himself. He’s assigned a new partner and put on a case involving robots that are killing their human owners and committing suicide.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/into_the_thinking_kingdoms/Sat, 24 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/into_the_thinking_kingdoms/Having crossed the Sea of Aboqua, Etjole Ehomba and his companions must find passage west across the Semordria Ocean somewhere in the Thinking Kingdoms. Though these kingdoms are supposed to be (and in some ways are) bastions of civilization, they harbor their own unique man-made hazards. Surmounting obstacle after obstacle, the story remains fresh only in the strangeness of the situations; Etjole’s seeming invulnerability lends a faery tale quality to the writing that some might term ‘shallow’.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/assassins_quest/Thu, 22 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/assassins_quest/Fans of Robin Hobb’s Assassin series already know that they are in for an emotional roller coaster, but Assassin’s Quest in particular is very difficult to read. All of the supporting characters that Fitz loved and trusted have been wrested away from him by one manner of disaster or another. Those whose lives have included periods of major depression will recognize the symptoms and the self-destructive impulses. This is not a book for the emotionally fragile, but then, if you are still reading the series by this point it should be obvious.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/shadow_games/Tue, 20 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/shadow_games/Shadow Games is the first of the Books of the South, the second part of the Chronicles of the Black Company. Following the events of The White Rose and roughly contemporaneous with The Silver Spike, Shadow Games follows Croaker and the Black Company on the first steps of their quest to return to their origins… the almost-mythical city of Khatovar, across the equator and nearly seven thousand miles of marching from the Lady’s tower at Charm.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/jhereg/Sun, 18 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/jhereg/The best way to understand the world of Vlad Taltos, assassin, is to begin with the knowledge that he works almost exclusively for the elvish mafia. Yes, there are elves in the mafia. There’s also magical pollution, talking lizards, and lots of good swashbuckling fun.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_wilding/Fri, 16 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_wilding/I was first introduced to CS Friedman’s work with the Coldfire Trilogy, an excellent exploration of the consequences of introducing humans into a world where magic is shaped by belief – and thus gives life to our worst nightmares. I quickly located her other extant works, The Madness Season (with which I was similarly delighted) and In Conquest Born… which was a story with potential, but which ultimately disappointed me.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/firefly/Wed, 14 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/firefly/Firefly is a TV series that ran for a single short season (12 episodes) before being canceled. The driving force behind it’s creation was Joss Whedon, and it’s received rave reviews from lots of libertarian types. As such, I thought I’d give it a try. The series is set in the far future, focusing on the Firefly-class spacecraft Serenity and it’s crew of criminals, smugglers, and generally ornery types. One of the recurring villians is the Alliance, which did some conquering in the backstory and in the series present plays the role of overbearing, aggressive government.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/burnt_offerings/Mon, 12 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/burnt_offerings/In Burnt Offerings some of the eggs laid in Circus of the Damned end up coming home to roost. Specifically, the vampire “Council” is visiting in order to investigate Jean-Claude’s intentions following the death of Mr. Oliver. Normally, when you kill a member of the vampire council, you assume his seat. But Jean-CLaude didn’t kill Oliver; that honor belongs to Anita. The only problem is, Jean-CLaude isn’t a strong enough vampire to hold the council seat – and if they find out Anita did the killing, she’ll be next on the menu.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_magicians_guild/Sat, 10 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_magicians_guild/The Magician’s Guild by Trudi Canavan is a fantasy novel built around a very common premise, but presented with uncommon skill. Consider a world wherein the practice of magic is dominated by a guild that restricts training for magery to those citizens of the upper classes, allowing effortless oppression of the lower classes. Inevitably, someone from a less distinguished social class discovers a talent for magic, and finds her life irreversibly changed.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/triplanetary/Thu, 08 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/triplanetary/The first volume in the Chronicles of the Lensmen, Triplanetary brings a tedious 6-chapter introduction to the universe of the Lensmen before focusing on the intricacies of the story itself… the story of a time before the Lens, and humanity’s first successful encounters with the agents of Eddore. There’s a lot of science, a lot of heroic secret-agent-scientists, and a lot of interstellar conflict with impressive technobabble. Clearly, this is where space opera was born.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/synners/Tue, 06 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/synners/This 1990’s cyberpunk story is a victim of time and history. When originally published, nobody really knew what the internet would look like, and people could make up whatever they wanted about humans merging with machines and it would seem at least plausible. Twenty-three years later, people are pretty sure what the Internet looks like and it’s not what you find in Synners. That doesn’t make it any less interesting to consider the implications of merging the human mind with computer-augmented virtual reality.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/kindred_the_embraced/Sun, 04 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/kindred_the_embraced/Kindred: The Embraced is something I think was fairly unique in its time… a television series (or, arguably, soap opera) based on a roleplaying game. Specifically, based on White Wolf’s Storyteller system, the first game in which was Vampire: The Masquerade. As you might expect from such a humble beginning, this series wasn’t exactly the best thing on TV. Even so, it wasn’t awful. The series lasted for 6 episodes and was not renewed.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/water_sleeps/Fri, 02 Apr 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/water_sleeps/Disaster. Betrayed by the rulers of Taglios at the very gates of the Glittering Plain, betrayed again as those few surviving members of the Old Company are just beginning to explore the mysteries they have long sought. Only Goblin and One-Eye of the Old Company have escaped the trap, joining with their Taglian brothers to continue the battle. Water Sleeps, the Book of Sleepy, details that struggle as it takes on the quality of a guerilla war.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_silver_gryphon/Wed, 31 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_silver_gryphon/The Silver Gryphon is the third book in Lackey’s Mage Wars trilogy, which itself is an attempt to fill in some major backstory to her Valdemar universe. It’s not particularly memorable, and there are few ties to the larger world and story of Valdemar itself. Even if you’ve read the first two books in this trilogy, you’re safe skipping this one. It’s really bad, but in an inoffensive way.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/carnivores_of_light_and_darkness/Mon, 29 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/carnivores_of_light_and_darkness/Etjole Ehomba is just a herder of sheep and cattle among the small tribe of the Naumkib. When strange-looking foreigners wash up mostly dead on the beach near their village, Etjole is suddenly propelled on a journey of unknown (but presumably high) difficulty by the dying charge of one of the light-skinned strangers. Taking up a quest to rescue a woman he has never met from an evil that has already claimed dozens, if not hundreds of lives of those who have already tried, Etjole seems completely outmatched.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/shadows_linger/Sat, 27 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/shadows_linger/The Black Company opened Glen Cook’s dark military fantasy with a flood of smoke and flame. The story continues in Shadows Linger, as the Black Company begins to learn the dirty little secret the Lady left in her grave when an unwitting wizard freed her. If the Lady is a merciless, uncaring tyrant, than the Dominator cares very, very much about the betrayal that left him trapped. And not in a loving, tender sort of way.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_family_trade/Thu, 25 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_family_trade/The Family Trade is probably best described as a unusual take on the usual sort of crossover story. The heroine, a trade journalist who has just uncovered the details of a massive money laundering scheme, finds herself at loose ends when her magazine’s ownership turns out to be involved. As if avoiding the mafia and finding a new job wasn’t enough to worry about, her adoptive parents finally reveal the details of her birth family, along with her mother’s personal effects and newspaper articles suggesting she was murdered, with a sword, in the middle of a 20th century city.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/across_the_nightingale_floor/Tue, 23 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/across_the_nightingale_floor/In his Tales of the Otori series, Lian Hearn presents a vision of Japan passed through a lens of subtle distortion. The main character, Tomasu/Takeo, has ties to three factions: the noble clan Otori, whose head rescued him from the destruction of his village; the persecuted religious cult of the Hidden, who believe in a deity that holds all men equal, and who raised him; and the Tribe, a faction of secretive assassins and magicians, from whom his father came.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/tehanu/Sun, 21 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/tehanu/Like the movie Highlander 2, fans consider Tehanu to be a novel that doesn’t exist. The original EarthSea trilogy (A Wizard of EarthSea, The Tombs of Atuan, and The Farthest Shore) represented a glorious and powerful work of fantasy literature, with depth of character and emotion, powerful themes, and a joy in the simple things that are the greatest mysteries. Tehanu is a novel written explicitly to destroy everything that was good about that trilogy.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_triumph_of_souls/Fri, 19 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_triumph_of_souls/The final installment of the Catechist trilogy isn’t much different from the previous volumes, other than a few twists at the end. Etjole, Simna, Hunkapa, and Alitah cross an ocean and a salt plain, do battle with a townful of demons and a forestful of undead, and make an agonizingly easy entrance into Hymneth the Possessed’s stronghold. Aside from not having read the Evil Overlord List, Hymneth actually does have some character depth, though this is not really explored.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/vampire_hunter_d/Wed, 17 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/vampire_hunter_d/Fans of the vampire genre and anime have both embraced Vampire Hunter D, the tale of a conflicted vampire hunter in a far-future world where a nobility made up of vampires rule a distinctly more supernatural and dangerous earth. A bizarre mix of magic and technology allows humans to hold their own against the monsters, but when especially powerful monsters are involved, they must turn to the specialists. Want to know about vampires?https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_gunslinger/Mon, 15 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_gunslinger/The man in black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed. Thus begins the tale of Roland of Gilead, and of his quest to save the Dark Tower that stands at the center of all realities. We enter Roland’s quest partway through; he has left his father’s court some time ago and now travels the desolate remains of his world, a world that has moved on. Crazed townfolk on the edge of survival, cunning demons with the power of prophecy, and dangerous environments will all test Roland’s skills in this hauntingly beautiful story.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_bourne_ultimatum/Sat, 13 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_bourne_ultimatum/The Bourne Ultimatum is the third book in Ludlum’s Jason Bourne series. It’s five years after the events in Hong Kong, and 13 years after Paris. Bourne has aged (he’s now 50) and settled into life with his wife and children. But when Carlos the Jackal uncovers his real identity, the final confrontation is upon them both. Neither one of the pair are operating at their best. Bourne struggles to retain his deadly persona, while the onset of age has driven the Jackal into obsession.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_fires_of_heaven/Thu, 11 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_fires_of_heaven/Jordan’s Wheel of Time series continues with The Fires of Heaven, the 5th volume of what may be the longest-running fantasy series ever… at least in terms of page count. Rand’s destiny has taken him to the Aiel Waste, a vast desert populated by nomadic warriors, where he will contend with the Shaido Aiel following Couladin for the title of Car’a’carn (chief of chiefs)… and with the Forsaken, who lurk as always in the shadows, awaiting the opportunity to strike.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/to_green_angel_tower/Tue, 09 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/to_green_angel_tower/Having rejoined Prince Josua, bearing the great sword Thorn, Simon (now knighted as Sir Seoman Snowlock) must begin to fight in earnest. King Elias has sent an army to destroy the stronghold of Prince Josua’s resistance. Only if that army can be defeated will the prince be able to make his claim credible before the realm and attract the support necessary to topple Elias from the throne. Even in defeat, however, the sword Thorn must be kept from the clutches of the Storm King, for in that great sword and its two brothers lies the power to defeat Prince Josua’s enemies… or so prophecy seems to say.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/obsidian_butterfly/Sun, 07 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/obsidian_butterfly/Obsidian Butterfly takes Anita out of her usual territory when Edward (bounty hunter, assassin, and scourge of the preternatural), invites her along for backup in a New Mexico monster-hunt. It’s a rare chance to learn something new and interesting about Edward, who has been a consistent figure of mystery in the novels to date. And it does not disappoint in the least. Fans of the series will appreciate the fact that the sexuality in this novel has been toned down significantly.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/absolution_gap/Fri, 05 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/absolution_gap/Absolution Gap is the fourth and final book in a series; as such, I will write about my impressions of the entire series as well as the final book specifically. The series also includes Revelation Space, and Chasm City. Overall, the author has a fresh voice, an innovative concept of the future, and interesting stories to tell. The plot twists through some very surprising (and sometimes, too surprising) turns. While I enjoyed the journey into the mind and vision of the author, some aspects of the books did not turn out well.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/blue_moon/Wed, 03 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/blue_moon/When Richard, the perpetual Boy Scout, gets himself thrown in jail on rape charges just a few days before the full moon, something doesn’t quite add up – and it’s Anita to the rescue. Another pack of werewolves and a hostile Master of the City in Richard’s college town don’t exactly simplify the situation, and when an endangered species of mountain troll joins the fun, this book has all the elements of a quality Anita mystery.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/arrows_flight/Mon, 01 Mar 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/arrows_flight/Arrow’s Flight is the second novel of the Arrows of the Queen trilogy, and the second in Mercedes Lackey’s tales of Valdemar. It picks up the story with the completion of Talia’s Collegium training, and about to begin her internship with one of the other Heralds. The internship period is the final test before becoming a full-fledged Herald, and it will take Talia out of the capital city of Haven and into the northern border areas of Valdemar.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/vampire_hunter_d_bloodlust/Fri, 27 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/vampire_hunter_d_bloodlust/If Vampire Hunter D was an excuse for a high “cool factor”, Bloodlust turns the cool factor up to 11 and adds moral ambiguity, a much longer runtime, better art, and much improved dialog. Perhaps the best way to describe this sequel is simply this: everything you liked about the first one is present in the sequel, and there are a lot of really good additions that bring depth and quality to the sequel.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_lair_of_bones/Wed, 25 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_lair_of_bones/What started off as an interesting story buttressed by a creative take on the feudal system quickly fell victim to unncessary complications and simply authorial incompetence. The reader is asked to empathize with cardboard cutouts while the villians go through the motions of presenting a threat. The simple purity of rune magic could have offered a way to explore the complex moral questions of the feudal system, but instead fell to irrelevance in the face of more traditional magical systems.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_kings_peace/Mon, 23 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_kings_peace/The King’s Peace is Jo Walton’s take on the Arthurian legends. Jo has never been a particularly good author for me, and this book is no exception. It is the first in a series, and I didn’t bother to pick up the rest. It’s also telling that this book, purportedly about King Arthur, puts a young woman on the cover and as the main character – the feminist impulse to re-imagine one of history’s most emphatically male tales in that manner loses most of its impact when it becomes clear that this retelling adds little to the genre of the Arthurian legends and lacks even the distinction of being the first or best feminist retelling.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/kushiels_dart/Sat, 21 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/kushiels_dart/Kushiel’s Dart bites deep, a bitter scarlet blemish in the iris of those blessed, or cursed, to experience both pain and pleasure as one. Phedre bears that mark, defining both her nature and her destiny, but an equal part of the shaping of her life is claimed by Anafiel Delaunay; Anafiel who recognizes the mark of Kushiel and determines to turn the vocation of a unique courtesan into a tool for intrigue.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_dragon_reborn/Thu, 19 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_dragon_reborn/The Dragon Reborn picks up several weeks after The Great Hunt left off… although relatively little has happened in that timespan. Rand struggles with the implications of events at Falme, where he raised the banner of the Dragon and battled Ba’alzamon in full view of thousands of soldiers and citizens alike. Rand, Moiraine, Perrin, and their small party of dragonsworn Shienarans are trapped near Falme, unable to move to rally the other small bands that have declared for the dragon for fear the established rulers will crush any evident focal point for the chaos.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/coolhunting/Tue, 17 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/coolhunting/She was a coolhunter with forty different legal identities. Her job: to drive fads; to find the “next cool thing” five to ten times per week. She was one of the best. Entire corporations rose and fell under her influence. But then some really uncool things started to happen… From the description, this sounds like an adaptation of the idea first pioneered by Connie Willis in Bellwether. Although I haven’t read this adaptation, I have read other works by this author, and most of Connie Willis’ work; between the two, Connie Willis is the better author, but even in good hands it makes for little more than an interesting intellectual exercise.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_secret_country/Sun, 15 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_secret_country/For 9 years, a group of five children have played what they call the Secret: a hidden world of make-believe, whose universe they have created for themselves, filled with dragons and unicorns and kings and dire plots and sorcerers both kind and cruel. All goes well as they wile out their summer hours inventing and improvising and practicing their lines, until one summer the children, now teenagers, are split up. It should be the end of the Secret, at least for that summer, and so it seems to be… until one of the children stumbles upon a magic sword lying within a hedge, and crawls through to discover herself in another world.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_laughing_corpse/Fri, 13 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_laughing_corpse/Anita Blake is back, and this time she’s asked to sort out a murderous zombie while convincing Jean-Claude, the vampire Master of the City, that dinner and a movie really aren’t in her schedule, especially not when the undead are asking. And as if that wasn’t enough, one of her clients wants her to raise a someone from the dead… someone long enough in the grave to require a human sacrifice.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_eye_of_the_world/Wed, 11 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_eye_of_the_world/The Eye of the World is the first novel in Robert Jordan’s epic series Wheel of Time. The series, which began in 1985 and presently spans more than 10 books, has been wildly popular ever since. The author has described the first part of The Eye of the World as a homage to Tolkien’s epic trilogy. Whether the series is worthy of that comparison remains to be seen, but there are certainly many elements that the initial part of both series have in common.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/mad_ship/Mon, 09 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/mad_ship/In this, the second volume in Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders series, events take another unexpected turn.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_time_of_exile/Sat, 07 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_time_of_exile/I’m re-reading Katherine Kerr’s A Time of Exile for a somewhat unusual reason. I’ve read the whole series before once or twice, at least up to the most recently published book, but on my last reread someone else had my copy of this book. Since I had read it before, I skipped it and picked up with A Time of Omens. When my copy of Exile returned, I figured I might as well reread it, even though I had finished the original reread quite some time before.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_wreck_of_the_river_of_stars/Thu, 05 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_wreck_of_the_river_of_stars/The Wreck of the River of Stars, despite winning the Heinlein award, is a book well suited to it’s title. It bears the unfortunate stigma of a tragedy with little impact, a disaster with little meaning. It lacks impact. If one is to consider the obvious parallels, it is a failure of Titanic proportions. There are many reasons for this. The writing is extremely awkward at times; unfocused and peppered with authorial asides and pointless digressions.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_clash_of_kings/Tue, 03 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_clash_of_kings/A Clash of Kings is the second book in George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. The Seven Kingdoms are beset by four Kings, all seeking to rule. The Starks, wolf-lords of the North, are scattered: Arya and Sansa hostage, Robb at war, Bran and Rickon learning to govern Winterfell. The Lannister host led by Lord Tywin opposes Robb Stark, and Tyrion is set to govern King’s Landing – if he can survive Joffrey’s whims and Cersei’s cunning.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/narcissus_in_chains/Sun, 01 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/narcissus_in_chains/The novel opens with Anita being called upon to rescue Nathaniel, her house leopard, from a local S&M club. After months of enforced separation from Jean-Claude and Richard, months spent learning to control her powers, Anita is suddenly thrust back into the world of the monsters and forced to contend with her enemies once more. And with her allies, as well, for not everything has been peachy with her boys while she was gone.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/smoke_and_mirrors/Sun, 01 Feb 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/smoke_and_mirrors/This is the follow-up to Smoke and Shadows, and while much of the prior criticism remains the same, there are some good points this time around. The plot is something one would expect to see in a really bad horror movie: while filming an episode of the vampire detective show in a haunted mansion, the crew gets trapped inside by some evil power, and must survive until sunrise. Another formula plot, though the author pulls it off as well as can be expected.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/take_a_thief/Fri, 30 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/take_a_thief/Take a Thief is a standalone novel that functions as a biography for Skif, one of the supporting characters in Lackey’s Heralds of Valdemar series. It’s a return to a previous time in the Valdemar universe, filling out events and characters previously only hinted at. Both the characters and the events benefit from a fresh look by a writer whose skill has grown substantially since the Arrows of the Queen trilogy, and fans of the series will enjoy a look at Valdemar’s criminal underclass – something which the majority of Lackey’s books mention only in passing.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_talent_for_war/Wed, 28 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_talent_for_war/A Talent for War is McDevitt’s latest novel, this one beginning a new series. The main character, a dealer in antiquities, is bequeathed a large inheritance when his uncle, an amateur archeologist, passes away. Along with the inheritance comes a lead on a discovery of great significance. The trail leads straight to the legend of Christopher Sim, a legendary commander whose guerilla tactics bought time to unify the planetary Confederation into a single force to oppose encroaching aliens.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_stone_of_farewell/Mon, 26 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_stone_of_farewell/The Stone of Farewell suffers from the usual problems of a middle book in a trilogy; the characters are caught midway between their youth and their maturity, the plots of evil seem ascendant, and neither the beginning nor the end are entirely satisfactory. Still, this is by no means a poor example. Simon’s quest to recover the sword Thorn from beneath the Rimmer’s tree has succeeded, at the cost of some lives and much trouble.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/arrows_of_the_queen/Sat, 24 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/arrows_of_the_queen/Arrows of the Queen is probably Mercedes Lackey’s first published work, or close to it, and that shows; although it’s well written for a first novel, it has the rough edges of inexperience, and a certain naive simplicity that renders it eminently suitable for children (really, young teenagers) and sometimes less engrossing for adults. All her works tend to have a touch of those qualities, but Arrows of the Queen is an explicitly escapist fantasy: a young girl’s dream of magical horses to cure her loneliness and carry her away from all her troubles.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/magics_promise/Thu, 22 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/magics_promise/Vanyel Ashkevron, Herald-Mage of Valdemar, has faced the worst that the world can throw at him. Karsite demons, enemy mages, creatures from the Pelagirs; he has faced and defeated them all. The bards he once aspired to join now sing songs of his exploits to a rapt nation. Young women worship his image while fearing to approach a legend. Even his teacher, Savil, acknowledges that Vanyel’s talents have exceeded her own in many areas.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/oathbreakers/Tue, 20 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/oathbreakers/Having made their reputation as independent mercenaries, Tarma and Kethry set out to advance their careers by joining an established mercenary company. Their hope is simple enough: work hard, rise up through the ranks, and eventually, attract the attention of a noble with land to grant and some need that only Tarma and Kethry can soothe. For values of soothing that involve swords and sorcery, of course. As with all of Lackey’s Valdemar novels, the characters end up finding what they were looking for.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/stranger_in_a_strange_land/Sun, 18 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/stranger_in_a_strange_land/Valentine Michael Smith was the first human born on Mars, and shortly thereafter the crew of the first exploration vessel to Mars died, leaving the infant in the hands of Martians. As a young adult, Michael is discovered, ‘rescued’, and brought back to earth - where he unknowingly causes a storm of political turmoil by being the only living heir of a huge corporation - and the potential ‘owner’ of Mars itself.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/by_the_sword/Fri, 16 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/by_the_sword/By The Sword, sometimes called Kerowyn’s Tale, is the first of what I call the Heraldic Biographies – by which I mean stand-alone novels describing an individual Herald’s life from the moment of being Chosen to the completion of their life’s main adventure. Kerowyn’s story substantially predates the rest, and ends up being vital to later events. But first, who exactly is Kerowyn? Simple: the granddaughter of Kethry (from the Vows and Honor sequence), Kerowyn is the eldest daughter of a minor noble whose marriage to Kethry’s only utterly brainless daughter was his one and only big lucky break.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/startide_rising/Wed, 14 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/startide_rising/Startide Rising picks up about 200 years after Sundiver left off. The first mostly-dolphin starship crew is assembled and sent on a survey mission. Upon finding a huge derelict fleet of unknown origin and sending a message home about it, several hostile races hound the small survey craft until she crashes in the ocean of a metal-rich waterworld. Apparently, the hostiles are all quasi-fanatical races who believe in the eventual return of the Progenitors, the race or races who began the practice of Uplift.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_chronicles_of_thomas_covenant_the_unbeliever/Mon, 12 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_chronicles_of_thomas_covenant_the_unbeliever/The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenantare composed of Lord Foul’s Bane, The Illearth War, and The Power That Preserves. Thomas Covenant finds his world turned upside down when he contracts leprosy and his wife divorces him, taking their son with her. Having managed to survive this experience, but never really recover emotionally beyond it, Covenant is universally ostracized by his community. One day he inexplicably finds himself transported to another world, a dream world that is somehow so full of life that his leprosy starts to fade.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/sundiver/Sat, 10 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/sundiver/Across known space, Humanity is a rare example of a species that achieved sentience and a starfaring civilization without the evident help of a Patron race. In the eyes of some aliens, this makes them unique; in others, it makes them outcasts. Humans have earned themselves a tenuous status in Galactic society, however, as they had already Uplifted two other races - chimpanzees and dolphins - by the time of First Contact.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/crown_of_shadows/Thu, 08 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/crown_of_shadows/The conclusion of CS Friedman’s Coldfire trilogy is intriguing and unpredictable, but falters occasionally on the way to a satisfying if somewhat anticlimactic conclusion.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/circus_of_the_damned/Tue, 06 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/circus_of_the_damned/Anita Blake and Jean-Claude struggle to sort out their love lives as a rogue pack of vampires moves into town, determined to take over the reins from the new Master of the City – and not incidentally, to leave a few corpses for the police to investigate in the process. What sounds like the plot of a novel is only another day in Anita’s harried life, and it doesn’t get any easier from there.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/smoke_and_shadows/Mon, 05 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/smoke_and_shadows/Smoke and Shadows is Tanya Huff’s attempt to resurrect her Vicki Nelson Investigations series. This time, one of the bit characters from the earlier series is faced with a supernatural threat while working odd jobs on a movie set, and he must manage to respond to it without the benefit of Vicki’s experience. His only ally is Henry, another of the original characters, and Henry has a problem with daylight…https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/brilliance_of_the_moon/Sun, 04 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/brilliance_of_the_moon/Brilliance of the Moon is the third book in the Tales of the Otori series. We pick up the story with Kaede and Takeo having married hastily in Terayama and determined to claim their inheritance – an inheritance which, if they can make the claim stick, will grant them control of the vast majority of the Three Kingdoms. They are opposed by the Tribe, whose power is secret but vast; by Lord Arai, who is likely offended by their decision to marry without his consent; and by Fujiwara, who considered Kaede his betrothed.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_empire_of_isher/Fri, 02 Jan 2004 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_empire_of_isher/The Empire of Isher (by AE Van Vogt) combines both The Weapon Shops of Isher and The Weapon Makers into a single edition. The combined work is still under 300 pages, but the sparse writing style means that a lot of action can be packed into those pages. While this edition was published in 2000, the stories themselves are noticeably dated. They are also unique and very hard to describe.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/she_is_the_darkness/Tue, 30 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/she_is_the_darkness/This, the Second Book of Murgen, continues to make use of Smoke’s unusual talents to provide a broad perspective to the Annalist’s recording of events following the end of the Dejagore siege. With the Black Company reunited with its Captain in Taglios, the time for the invasion of the Shadowlands has come, and preparations are moving rapidly. The intrigue is moving rapidly as well, for the Black Company has a long memory for betrayal, and the rulers of Taglios are beginning to think that their allies may just be worse than their enemies.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/hellsing/Sun, 28 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/hellsing/Hellsing is a fairly unique take on the vampire mythos in anime. The art is done in an unusual style, more abstract than I would normally prefer, and somewhat repetitive. The characters are intriguing if occasionally hackneyed. Although it’s hard to pack much plot into individual episodes, due to time constraints and the need for cool visuals, there is a metaplot that develops throughout the episodes that looks to be going somewhere interesting.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_dragonbone_chair/Fri, 26 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_dragonbone_chair/The fantasy genre is notorious for its cliches. The same elements that make up a compelling tale, as expressed in The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, occur again and again. Fans continue to embrace them tirelessly, because as any fan of the genre knows, it’s the details that matter. It’s not where you’re going, but how you get there, and what happens to you on the way. Tad William’s Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy is a perfect example of that basic principle.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/blood_price/Wed, 24 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/blood_price/A killer stalks the streets of Toronto. It kills by night; it drains its victims of blood. The papers scream vampire. But Vicki Nelson, ex-cop turned private investigator, doesn’t believe in vampires. At least, not unless someone’s willing to pay her to believe in them – and it can’t hurt to have one more person on the case, even if the killer turns out to be human. Somehow, though, in a fantasy novel it never does…https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_silver_spike/Mon, 22 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_silver_spike/Continuing the Chronicles of the Black Company, The Silver Spike tells the tale of events following the climatic clash in The White Rose. In the aftermath of that battle, the surviving core of the Black Company went one way, and the supports of the White Rose another.. leaving the soul of the Dominator imprisoned in a silver spike, buried deep in the heartwood of a sapling demigod. But evil calls to evil, and what man’s soul is immune to the temptations of wealth and power?https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_hedge_knight/Sat, 20 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_hedge_knight/The Hedge Knight builds on Martin’s short story in the Legends anthology about Dunk and Egg. It collects the six-issue comic series into a single graphic novel. If you missed the comics, this is a good way to catch up. The events substantially predate those in the Song of Ice and Fire series, however, and appears to be independent – that is, no information that is necessary to understand the series is presented in the graphic novel, and vice versa.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/grass_for_his_pillow/Thu, 18 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/grass_for_his_pillow/In his second novel of the Tales of the Otori, Lian Hearn takes the story that could have ended after Across the Nightingale Floor and begins to explore the ramifications of the character’s choices. Lady Kaede, now free of the immediate prospect of marriage thanks to the death of Otori Shigeru, begins to grasp the reins of power for herself. Lord Otori Takeo, meanwhile, must fulfill his promise to the Tribe by entering their way of life and giving up his Otori inheritance.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/fevre_dream/Tue, 16 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/fevre_dream/Fevre Dream is an eloquent and retrospective novel, taking as its setting the Mississippi steamboats and the decadence that characterized the city of New Orleans, and adding a dose of the supernatural that fits right in with the rest. The title is derived from the christening of the steamboat by the same name, the magnificent creation of the owner of a shipping firm fallen on hard times and a mysterious foreign benefactor.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_oathbound/Sun, 14 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_oathbound/The story of Tarma and Kathry, shin’a’in swordsworn and white-winds mage, begins as a short story published in a collection. After two or three stories, the characters made it into a full-fledged novel set slightly before the events in the Arrows of the Queen trilogy. Although this book successfully stands alone, readers will want to read the sequel Oathbreakers, and may also be interested in Oathblood (which collects the short stories concerning the two main characters into a single volume).https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/thief_of_lives/Fri, 12 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/thief_of_lives/Thief of Lives is an unusual combination of mythology. The traditional pseudo-medieval fantasy setting, with elves and (presumably) dwarves, contrasts sharply with the primary focus of the characters: killing vampires. Or rather, exploiting the ignorance of the people who believe in vampires, because two snake-oil salesmen can make a good living getting rid of things that don’t really exist. This book follows up on the first, which revealed to the protagonists that their mythical enemy actually existed, with an exploration of the stereotypically dark and mysterious past.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/guilty_pleasures/Wed, 10 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/guilty_pleasures/Guilty Pleasures is the first novel in a long-running series. The novel is set in a world very like our modern world, with a few minor differences: primarily the strong presence of the supernatural. In fact, that presence is so strong that vampires have been granted legal rights, a vaccine has been developed for lycanthropy, and degrees in “preternatural biology” are not unknown. Anita Blake is making her way in the world through the use of her supernatural talents; specifically, her ability to raise the dead as zombies.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/bloody_bones/Mon, 08 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/bloody_bones/Who do you call when you have a mass grave that’s two centuries old and you want to raise them all from the dead? Anita Blake, of course. No one else can do it. But it’s never as simple as that. Where The Lunatic Cafe served to broaden the Anitaverse to include lycanthropes, Bloody Bones reaches into a different sort of mythology: fairy tales. Specifically, the Faerie, cold iron and four-leaf clovers and bad nursery rhymes and all.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/crossover/Sat, 06 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/crossover/Meet April Cassidy. She’s just applied to a software development firm on Tanusha, one of the most advanced planets in the Federation. She wants to work as a programmer, studying the intricacies of artificial intelligence – or as close as the legal restrictions will allow her to get. She is a very good candidate for the position, very familiar with the latest algorithms. Good enough to analyze them at a glance in her job interview.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/nightseer/Thu, 04 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/nightseer/If the Anita Blake series is Hamilton’s talents in full flower, then Nightseer is little more than an amateurish first novel that attained publishable status by virtue of the author’s later success. It is not so much a bad novel as it is an embarassing one; clumsy and awkward and heavy-handed like a teenager’s first dates, the occasional moments of skillful writing are not worth wading through the adolescent wish-fulfillment. Only a completist should consider this one.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_killing_dance/Tue, 02 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_killing_dance/In The Killing Dance, Anita faces a new and unusual threat: a human assassin seeking to collect a cool half-million in return for her untimely demise. But assassins are only the beginning; the problems that Richard has created within his pack by trying to encourage a non-violent exchange of power are growing, and Jean-Claude’s “more photogenic, less monstrous” vampire regime is less than stable at the present. In that context, the obligatory murder mystery is almost anticlimatic.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_coming_of_conan_the_cimmerian/Mon, 01 Dec 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_coming_of_conan_the_cimmerian/This is a compilation of the earliest short stories and novellas featuring Conan the Cimmerian, famed barbarian king and warrior without peer. Conan was born in a time when the cutting edge of fantasy and science fiction was often to be found in magazines, rather than novels, and this collection brings together the scattered early stories into a single place. There are many strange and terrifying beasts, a healthy helping of sorcery, and more than enough steel for the barbarian of lore to hold his own.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ship_of_magic/Sun, 30 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ship_of_magic/Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders series opens with this book, Ship of Magic. Once again the author provides an unusual and emotional story. Readers already familiar with the Royal Assassin series will recognize the world, but the areas we know well are distant places while those we see up close are new and fresh. With one significant exception, the level of magic has been dramatically reduced from the earlier trilogy, and the result is a human tale of desperation rather than a fantasy adventure on the high seas.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ship_of_destiny/Fri, 28 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ship_of_destiny/The conclusion to Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders trilogy, Ship of Destiny is a complex emotional journey. Hobb’s weakness appears to be her endings,https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/legends/Wed, 26 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/legends/Legends is a collection of short stories by noted authors: Stephen King (The Dark Tower), Terry Pratchett (Discworld), Terry Goodkind (The Sword of Truth), Orson Scott Card (The Tales of Alvin Maker), Robert Silverberg (Majipoor), Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea), Tad Williams (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn), George R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire), Anne McCaffrey (Pern), Raymond E. Feist (The Riftwar Saga), and Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time).https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/bleak_seasons/Mon, 24 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/bleak_seasons/After the events in Shadow Games left the Black Company with neither of its commanding officers, with Dreams of Steel covering the consequences of that loss, Bleak Seasons (the Book of Murgen, and the first book of Glittering Stone) picks up the story of the majority of the surviving Company – those who made it into the walls of Dejagore. The tale is disjointed in space and time, as the narrator is subject to hallucinatory fits that drag his mind to other times and other places.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/magics_price/Sat, 22 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/magics_price/Vanyel Ashkevron, Herald-Mage of Valdemar, is no longer young, and no longer on the front lines. His tremendous talents of mind and magic – along with an impressive reputation – are employed within the walls of Haven, running the kingdom of Valdemar according to the wishes of King Randale. But Randale’s health is failing fast, and there are other problems lurking just out of sight. The “ordinary” Heralds, without Vanyel’s mage-talents, feel themselves worthless in comparison… and the feeling is returned by the people of Valdemar, who would rather deal with a problem themselves then call for help and receive just an ordinary Herald.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ultraviolet/Thu, 20 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ultraviolet/Ultraviolet is one of those interesting experiments that occasionally show up on British television. Mostly, I’m a fan of British Comedy; for some reason the really good britcom just hits my funnybone when a lot of more American comedy falls flat. (If you’re looking for recommendations, you can’t go wrong with BlackAdder or Red Dwarf). But sometimes something that’s not a comedy comes along and nevertheless works. I heard about Ultraviolet by word of mouth.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/hammerfall/Tue, 18 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/hammerfall/Hammerfall is set in a desert world where the low-tech populace is completely ignorant of their interstellar origins and of the conflict between (alien?) races that is about to engulf them. The book largely consists of the intricacies of desert travel in a world where the nanotech-enforced scavengers have gotten a little out of control. Several of the primary characters are ‘mad’, they receive visions that direct them to a certain place and warn of an incomprehensible impending disaster.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_storm_of_swords/Fri, 14 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/a_storm_of_swords/A Storm of Swords continues the groundbreaking series that began with A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. It’s a massive tome that weighs in at almost 1,000 pages and continues Martin’s tradition of shaking up the characters and the world with momentous and surprising events. Rob, King in the North, continues his fight against the Lannisters – winning great victories on the battlefield, but conscious of his two sisters held as hostages.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_elfstones_of_shannara/Wed, 12 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_elfstones_of_shannara/The Elfstones of Shannara is, in my opinion, the best of the Shannara books. Terry Brooks has exorcised the need to imitate Tolkein, and is now free to explore a somewhat different – and more original – story. While he does not succeed in creating a classic that will ring down through the ages, he does manage a reasonably enjoyable fantasy novel. Unfortunately, reasonably enjoyable is still pretty flawed. The main issue in the story is whether the main character can access and use the power of the Elfstones.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_great_hunt/Mon, 10 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_great_hunt/The Great Hunt continues the story that began with The Eye of the World. Rand, Mat, and Perrin are three young men recently plucked from their quiet farming community and thrust into the center of events as the Pattern weaves itself around them… possibly in accordance with the ancient Prophecies of the Dragon, prophecies which describe a man who once broke the world and who will be reborn to do it again.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/magics_pawn/Sat, 08 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/magics_pawn/Magic’s Pawn, the first book in Mercedes Lackey’s The Last Herald-Mage trilogy, is a superb coming-of-age adventure. The trilogy itself is without a doubt the best thing Lackey has ever written, and represents required reading for fantasy fans even if the rest of Lackey’s work holds no appeal. The story begins approximately two centuries prior to the events of Arrows of the Queen, at a time when mages were still well-known within Valdemar…https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_postman/Thu, 06 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_postman/The Postman has a rugged post-apocalyptic setting based on a post-nuclear-war USA that almost - but not quite - survived total collapse. Gordon, a loner who trades old tales of prewar culture in bardic style for his meals, meanders about from village to village, looking for someone who is trying to build something more than a subsistence society. Falling into misfortune, Gordon uses the uniform of a long-dead postal worker to weave an elaborate lie that will enable him to survive.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_lunatic_cafe/Tue, 04 Nov 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_lunatic_cafe/Having established Jean-Claude as Master of the City in Circus of the Damned, in The Lunatic Cafe the attention shifts to Richard… Richard, Anita’s science teacher and romantic interest… as well as beta wolf to Marcus in the local werewolf pack by way of a bad batch of lycanthrope vaccine. And while Anita learns to deal with her beloved getting furry once a month, she’s handed a missing-lycanthrope case and a naga skin.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/cerulean_sins/Mon, 06 Oct 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/cerulean_sins/Cerulean Sins continues the annoying tradition of more sex and angst, less violence.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/expanded_universe/Thu, 02 Oct 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/expanded_universe/Expanded universe is an odd collection - unlike every other author’s volume of short stories you’ve read, EU is half author musings. It is almost as if Heinlein sat down to fill 500+ pages with social commentary, and used the short story format for about half of it. If you are a fan of all things Heinlein you will doubtless enjoy this cross-section of his mind. If you were born in my parent’s generation, say around 1950 (or earlier), you will likely find a lot of his essays more relevant than I did - for many of them were written in the shadow of nuclear weaponry, and his predictions for the future (of which there are plenty) were made while you were alive.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_lions_of_al-rassan/Tue, 30 Sep 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_lions_of_al-rassan/Guy Gavariel Kay continues his magic-realism kick with The Lions of Al-Rassan, a thinly-veiled tale of Spain under Muslim rule. The fantastical elements so prominent in many of his earlier works are missing almost entirely from this one, with their only remnant vaguely psychic visions suffered by a character subject to fits and seizures. The story itself is still a masterfully-told romance with a strong female presence, perhaps too strong for the culture.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/underworld/Fri, 19 Sep 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/underworld/If Kindred: The Embraced is the Storyteller universe transferred to television, Underworld is the Storyteller universe transferred to the big screen with the serial numbers filed off. Vampires and werewolves at war with a extra helping of melodrama, all taking place under the veneer of the modern world. Unfortunately, taking that universe to the silver screen didn’t work out much better than the small screen. This movie was portrayed as an action-adventure with “romance” as the plot motivator.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_book_of_night_with_moon/Thu, 28 Aug 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_book_of_night_with_moon/Book of Night with Moon is a cat book for those who grew up with Diane Duane’s So you want to be a wizard series. It is somewhat dependent on the earlier works, even though it is not explicitly a part of the same series (and the plot itself stands alone). Those with cats as pets will delight in the detailed and surprisingly well rendered view into the mind of a cat, where playfulness and feline politics vie with the weighty concerns of world-saving.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_shadow_rising/Sat, 26 Jul 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_shadow_rising/The Shadow Rising is the fourth book in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. The Stone of Tear has fallen, and the Sword That Cannot Be Touched has been drawn in accordance with prophecy, confirming Rand as the Dragon Reborn. But there is much yet to do before he must face the Dark One at Tarmon Gai’don. Goaded by Moiraine, who seeks to guide his path towards Sammael in Illian, Rand remains determined to choose his own path, and to move in a direction that no one expects.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/something_from_the_nightside/Tue, 24 Jun 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/something_from_the_nightside/Something from the Nightside is another piece of formulaic fantasy from Simon Green, who seems quite capable of writing formulaic fantasy or science fiction with his eyes closed and quite possibly while unconscious. His books are characterized by unique people with unique items wielding unique powers, to the point where the sheer uniqueness of everything (complete with capitalization) becomes tiresome and repetitive. This book is a fairly normal application of his formula.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/sorcery_rising/Thu, 22 May 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/sorcery_rising/Imagine a world in which Europe does not exist; the Vikings (Eyrans) trade directly with the Muslims (Istrians) at the fabled Allfair, and the Footloose, nomadic gypsy peddlers familiar from a myriad of traditions, converge to swindle them both with false magic, tall tales, and petty thievery. To the Allfair come the cast of characters, seeking adventure, excitement, a beautiful southern wife… and, of course, a handsome profit. But such is not to be found this year.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/lord_of_chaos/Sun, 20 Apr 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/lord_of_chaos/Lord of Chaos, the 6th book in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, marks a turning point for the series. It is the last book that can be effectively defended as lacking major flaws. In some ways it is almost a victim of its own bloat… almost, but not quite, for the high points of the story are very, very high. We are witness to Rand’s struggle to control the nations he has conquered; between Tear, Cairhien, and the Shaido, his political plate is more than full.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_jupiter_theft/Tue, 18 Mar 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_jupiter_theft/I read this in a 2003 reissue; it was originally published in 1977. Despite this, it’s an engaging piece of hard science fiction that passes the test of time extremely well. The author was even lucky enough to guess at a Russian collapse, leaving the Chinese as the primary world power (other than the United States, of course). There are only a few references that date the book to its original publication, and none of those are jarring.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_paladin/Fri, 14 Feb 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_paladin/“The Paladin” is the tale of an aging swordmaster, living in reclusion, trying to deal with a prospective student who wants him to return to the world and deal with the Evil Usurper. The plot is hardly original, although there are a few interesting twists. Even so, the story is well told and thoroughly enjoyable. It’s worth noting that it dates from a time when fantasy novels could be simple, straightforward, and well-written; that was enough.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ghost_in_the_shell/Sun, 12 Jan 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/ghost_in_the_shell/Ghost in the Shell is an anime that has already attained classic status. It merges the potential for beautiful visualization with a powerful storyline exploring philosophical questions. The resulting mix is a very impressive experience, and undoubtedly one of the best examples of the anime art form. The original dialog is, of course, in Japanese. The translation has some awkardness and occasionally renders the details of the plot hard to follow, but not in a manner that detracts from the really interesting element: exploring the idea of the soul in a world where humans are gradually replacing more and more of their bodies with machines, and even brains can be hacked and reprogrammed.https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/chanurs_legacy/Wed, 01 Jan 2003 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/chanurs_legacy/The final book in C.J. Cherryh’s Chanur series continues the adventures of Pyanfar Chanur and her crew. +++https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_bourne_identity/Fri, 14 Jun 2002 03:29:07 +0000https://infodancer.org/post/reviews/the_bourne_identity/This is a reread, primarily because the sequel, The Bourne Supremacy has been given the movie treatment. I liked the movie adaptation of The Bourne Identity which did a remarkably good job without simplifying the story too much. I do confess to being a little bit concerned about the sequel, since the movie version removed what could be described as the central tension in the book and didn’t exactly leave any of the loose ends that Ludlum used in his sequels.https://infodancer.org/publications/debian-unleashed/Tue, 28 Dec 1999 00:00:00 -0600https://infodancer.org/publications/debian-unleashed/Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 Unleashed Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 Unleashed is a comprehensive guide to installing, configuring, and managing Debian Linux. Published by Sams in December 1999, this 1,119-page book covers everything from basic installation to advanced topics like setting up Internet servers, configuring firewalls, and integrating Debian into networks. The book also provides extensive coverage of working with open-source databases and programming in several languages and shells. This book does an excellent job of documenting what was at the time the second most popular Linux distribution.https://infodancer.org/swords/thehunterset/Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:33:42 +0000https://infodancer.org/swords/thehunterset/The completed custom sword and dagger set featuring green leather, brass fittings, and emerald accents. The Commission Commissioned: 2022–2023 Maker: Jamie Lundell, Dragon’s Breath Forge This custom sword and matching dagger were commissioned to serve as a modern heirloom for the Hunter family. The design bridges historical Scottish lineage with personal symbolism, featuring high-complexity pattern-welded steel, precious stones, and a unique twist on the traditional family crest. Heritage & Symbolism Clan Hunter The design draws heavily from the historic Clan Hunter of Scotland.