Games From Folktales

A not-very secret society serving the Doge and Dogaressa directly, that overseas festivals, Originally they were called the Order of the Beret because of their cool hats. Later they changed the name to the Society of the Sock, or perhaps Hose. Edgecum Staley says there were 40 societies, but they were likely contemperaneous. A handful…

It’s our monster of the month! Demon or dark faerie? The following recording was released through LibriVox by Dale Grothmann. *** SO FAR as parties go, Jocelyn’s were no duller than any others. I went to this one mainly to listen to Paul Kutrov and Frank Alva bait each other, which is usually more entertaining than…

I like this story as a basis for an odd Ars Magica faerie species that workshops its role on isolated humans before encountering society. In Magonomia, I like the idea that they grab shipwrecked people and use them as audience. Escaping the island would be a way for characters who lose a sea fight to…

This brief article was released in Adventure magiazine back in the 1920s. The readeri s Dale Grothman. Thanks to him, and his production team at Librivox. *** A general rule, oppression in the Middle Ages was strictly a one-way affair; the lords oppressed the people, and that was all there was about it. But there…

This Samhain night, a little poem. You may be thinking “Timothy, it is April.” but I remind you, dear listener, that I am in the Southern Hemisphere. Thanks to Roslyn Carlisle for her recording which was released via Librivox. Where mandrakes, crying from the moonless fen,Told how a witch, with eyes of owl or bat,Found,…

There’s one device that seems like spy gear that I’ve not been able to include in Magonomia, and that’s King Henry VIII’s walking stick. True walking sticks don’t develop as a British fashion accessory until the reign of one of the later Edwards, where their function is basically to hit muggers. This differentiations them from…

Let me take you to the Victorian musical hall, gentle reader. Let us look upon the work of W.S Gilbert, of Gilbert and Sullivan fame. I’ve been trying to show how stage magic might work in Magonomia for some time, and so here is a look at how it was satirized in a later period.…

Over to Dale Grothman for the preparation of stewed eels. Thanks to Dale and Librivox. *** In camp Stewed Eels are rather a luxury, not only because they need a little cooking but they need a little catching. The difficulty with an eel is that it is rather a disagreeable thing to handle, though to…