Games From Folktales

Yellow water filled the ditches by the roadside. Yellow clouds drifted lazily through tranquil webs of darkness and obscured far, glimmering stars. Horror and misery stared out of sodden eyes, and the night was filled with voices. Men with packs made vivid, grotesque gestures against the yellow sky and swore in their beards. Men ambled…

The following very curious story is from the Eyrbyggja Saga, one of the oldest and noblest of the Icelandic histories. As it results in an action unique in its way,—a lawsuit brought against a party of ghosts who haunted a house,—it well merits attention from all lovers of curiosities. In the summer of 1000, the year…

This is a sort of ghost story from 1907. It’s also how I intend to cheat slightly for the 30 monsters in May thing on the Atlas Games Forum. Bwahahahah. *** Our cat Thomas was very sensitive. I never knew such a sensitive cat as Thomas was. The slightest harsh word seemed to hurt his…

This little-commented story by HG Wells lets us reuse some of the statistics already published in Ars Magica Monsters Volume 1. It’s about a group of social, amphibious octopi that generally dwell in the depths, but might not always. Thanks to Mike Pelton and his Librivox production team. Statistics eventually, but obviously based on the…

Sanctuary of Ice had had two covenants cut from it, to give troupes space to write their own. Rough drafts of them were produces, and I published them several web pages ago. Shadow of the Moon used a similar system to the Dreamlands supplement for Call of Cthulhu, where each character had two sheets, and…

This week a fragment of Irish folklore from Lady Jane Francesca Wilde. It comes from her book Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland. Her name, if slightly familiar, may be eclipsed a little by her more famous son, Oscar Wilde, whose writing took a rather different direction. Her book contains a lot of…

A brief one here: a demon from Herrick that takes the form of a pagan god. It aids people who want to harm themselves by destroying their own capacity for love. Love, in medieval theology, being one of the forms of God, and that humans should love being one of the commands of God, this…

This second part of the the story starts with a lengthy piece that sets the tone.   This beginning of adventures had Arthur at the New Year; for he yearned to hear gallant tales, though his words were few when he sat at the feast. But now had they stern work on hand. Gawain was glad…