Yes please. More Turkish music from the 70s.

Turkish Psych - Selda

This was posted by Mariee Sioux on her Facebook page recently and it's awesome. I love hearing when people mix traditional music from their country with psychedelic sounds. Give this Turkish masterpiece a listen:

Dutch Psych - Cinderella

Recently I've discovered Dutch Psych and, in particular, a band I really love but know next to nothing about. The band is Cinderella...and no, it's not the shitty hair band from the 80s. The only release I know of is a 45 that apparently came out in 1973. Here are both sides:

While both sides are great, I like "From Town to Town" more. It's just a beautiful psychedelic, shoegazing masterpiece.

Anyone know anything more about this band? Were there more releases that have disappeared into the ether? Demos? Anything?

Hexvessel and Mariee Sioux

I listen to a LOT of music. I always have and always will. As a kid I liked to go to record stores and dig through LPs for hours. When I was young and first discovering punk, it was always great to find new bands. Sometimes you took a chance on a record and it became an instant favorite. One of my favorite shops had a couple of turntables with headphones set up and they allowed you to listen to the used records before you bought them. As you can imagine, I would stay in that store all day.

These days it is so much easier to find new music. As a kid in the 70s and 80s, you either heard about a new band word-of-mouth, found it in a catalog (Toxic Shock was my favorite - so much good stuff) or got the chance to give it a listen at a used record store. Since I was never really into things that get much radio play, these were pretty much my only options. Fast-forward to today and you have the internet.

Over the years, music access on the internet has improved substantially. Even rare and obscure titles are available at the press of a button. You can even find bands from all over the world using Bandcamp, Soundcloud, YouTube, Spotify, etc. This is exactly how I found one of my favorite bands of all time: Hexvessel.

I cannot remember exactly how I came across them but I believe it was in a Related Artists page for another band in Spotify. Hexvessel hails from Finland but their lead singer, Mat McNerney aka Kvohst, is from England. You may know him from the Dødheimsgard album, Supervillian Outcast.

Hearing Hexvessel for the first time was like a religious experience. For anyone that knows me, you know my affinity and reverence for nature. Listening to Hexvessel is like sitting in on an ancient Druid ritual. It's calming. It's magick.

I'm really hoping to see them live some day. For now, I have to rely on my (now) old friend the internet for live videos. For the curious, there are plenty of non-live videos out there as well. Here is the first song of theirs I ever heard titled Sacred Marriage:

While clicking through Related Artists pages in Spotify another time, I came across an artist that has been populating my headphones ever since: Mariee Sioux. From what I've read, Mariee hails from California, USA. Her music is not only beautiful but her lyrical content is incredible. There are poetic stories woven into melodies that soothe and calm the listener. If you pay attention to some of the lyrics, it's like listening to old tales and myths. No matter how much I listen, I find new things to like in her songs.
The first album of Mariee Sioux's that I heard was Faces in the Rocks. At the time, I was having a serious panic attack. Laying in the dark while listening to this album brought me back to Earth and calmed me down. It was bliss. Since that time, her music always calms me and makes me feel better if I'm having a bad day. For this, I thank her.
Here is her song Wizard Flurry Home:

I've read somewhere (maybe on their own webpage) that Hexvessel calls themselves Forest Folk. I would agree with this because I feel like this description fits any music that embraces and reveres nature and the Earth as much as they do. I would also say that this "Forest Folk" term that they've coined includes aspects of the psychedelic. With that in mind, Mariee Sioux fits nicely into this category as well.
I can only hope that both of these artists tour in Michigan someday.
If you have any comments or similar artists you would like to share, feel free.

Moss Gardening

I've been into hunting and cultivating mushrooms for a while now but lately I've been getting more and more interested in moss. Hunting and cultivating mushrooms falls under mycology while mosses, lichens (also awesome) and liverworts fall under bryology. By the way, I also write a blog on Michigan mushrooms. Click here to check it out.

So...what is moss? The short answer is that moss is a plant that, rather than true roots, has what are called rhizoids. It also reproduces using spores like a fungus. The spores of a moss are contained in small pods called spore capsules. For more on what a moss is, check out the explanation from Mountain Moss.

One way to transfer and plant moss is to take pieces, plant them like sod and then fill in the space between with a moss slurry. A moss slurry is made by taking pieces of the moss, putting them in a blender, and adding a substrate such as beer, yogurt or buttermilk. I don't believe in wasting beer and buttermilk is cheap so that's what I went with. I would not suggest using a blender that you plan to use for anything else but that's up to you. I found a shitty old blender for 3 dollars at a thrift store and so far it's working great. To create the slurry, put some of the moss in the blender, add the buttermilk...and blend it! The first picture here is just some of the moss in the blender. The second picture is after I added the buttermilk and blended. It's like dirty buttermilk and smells like it. Tasty.

One thing you'll want to do is pull all the grass and other plants from the area you want to grow moss in. This will limit competition and allow the moss to take over easier. I decided to start in a fairly shady spot in my front yard. Hopefully it propagates. If it does well, I can then take pieces and spread it further. My goal is to not have grass in a few years (or sooner). Moss is only one of the things I plan to use for this purpose.

To get moss, you have options. You can buy it at some nurseries and also online at a place like Mountain Moss. You can also do what I did and find some you like out in the wild. I've found a lot of different types that I like in graveyards, the woods, etc. I found one out while I was mushroom hunting that had these awesome orange spore capsules. I took some of it (while leaving enough for it to survive of course), brought it home and used it. I also found some that I liked in my backyard. It's really not all that hard to find if you just open your eyes and look for it.

There is no need to pay for something that Mother Nature provides for free!

In the third picture here, you can see the results of my work. I pulled out the grass and loosened the dirt. I then planted the moss sod and filled in some of the space with the moss slurry. It looks pretty crappy at the moment but hopefully the moss will start to grow. I will post an update at some point in the future.

Tree Blessings

We have a very open and large backyard that I've been wanting to plant trees in for future shade. I was researching and found that the Arbor Day Foundation sells tree saplings for quite cheap. I really wanted some sort of oak but also something that would grow fast. I settled on Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra).

The trees arrived a week or so ago and I immediately unpackaged them for planting. They come tied together in a bundle with gel and plastic around the roots to keep them moist. They are bare roots so must be kept from drying out. I had ordered 6 trees and also received 2 Forsythias for free with my order. Needless to say, I had a lot of digging to do.

I wanted to plant the oak trees in some sort of formation rather than just randomly strewed across the yard. I decided to go with planting them at the points and center of a pentagram (hence the reason I purchased 6 trees). The trees needed to be planted at a minimum of around 20 feet apart so I got out the old tape measure and, once I decided on a center point, began to measure out where the trees should go. I also wanted the top point to face due north so I picked up a cheap compass to aid me in getting that correct.

You may be wondering why I chose a pentagram and not some other shape. You may also wonder why I chose oak trees and not maples, willows, etc. I actually can answer both questions with a excerpt from The Druid Magic Handbook written by one of my favorite authors, John Michael Greer. It also explains why I chose to have the top point face north:

The oak, because it attracts lightning and is sacred to sky gods in many cultures, has long been a symbol of the power of the heavens. The heather, because of its magical powers and its place as an ingredient in heather ale, a magnificently intoxicating beverage, has long been a symbol of the power of the Earth. The meanings of the two Ogham letters link them to two forms of an ancient magical symbol - the pentagram.

A pentagram is a star made of five equal lines meeting at five equal angles. Since the time of Pythagoras, who brought sacred geometry to the Western world in the sixth century BCE, it has been one of the core symbols of Western magic and spirituality. It has had many meanings down through the years. Modern Pagans who think of it as a purely Pagan symbol, for instance, may be startled to find it in the medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as an emblem of Christian virtues!

In modern magical practice, it stands for the power of the element of spirit in relation to the four material elements. A moral dimension goes along with this interpretation in most magical writings: a pentagram with a single point upward is considered "upright" and stands for spirit ruling over the four elements, while a pentagram with a single point downward is called "reversed" and stands for spirit submerged beneath the four elements. The upright pentagram thus serves as a symbol of good, and the reversed pentagram an emblem of evil.

All this, however, depends on the assumption that spirit is always and only above - in the terms introduced in chapter 2, that the solar current is good and the telluric current is evil. That assumption is very common in modern occultism, but it's no less wrong for being popular. Recognize the telluric current as a power just as holy and necessary as the solar current, and the relationship between the pentagrams takes on a new and more balanced meaning.

Being the somewhat odd person with OCD that I am, I wanted the points to be perfectly placed. However, after researching a bit about pentagram geometry and trying for a bit to get it perfect (yes, I actually sat down and did some calculations), I decided close approximations to the measurements were good enough.

Once I got the trees planted, I wanted to bless them in some way. After all, my plan is for this to turn into a sort of sacred grove. Yes it's quite small but the idea is for this area to be a place I can go to meditate and "recharge my batteries" sometime in the future. I read a lot of forest folklore, druid books, etc. and have found a few different ways to bless newly planted trees. I wanted the blessing or charm to be based upon the Kalevala. Of course, I don't speak Finnish so these would need to be in English and who knows how good the translations are. I thought I would share some of what I found in case anyone out there is interested.

Searching around online, I first came across the Prayer of the Sower:

Blessing to the seed I scatter,

Where it falls upon the meadow,

By the grace of Ukko mighty,

Through the open finger spaces

Of the hand that all things fashioned.

Queen of meadow-land and pasture!

Bid the earth unlock her treasures.

Bid the soil the young seed nourish,

Never shall their teeming forces

Never shall their strength prolific

Fail to nourish and sustain us

If the Daughters of Creation,

They, the free and bounteous givers

Still extend their gracious favor

Offer still their strong protection.

Rise, O Earth! from out thy slumbers

Bid the soil unlock her treasures!

I haven't found this particular passage in the Kalevala but I haven't read the entire book yet. However, what I did find was A Sower's Charm within Poem 2 in the lines 296 to 330 and I believe the former may be an adaptation of it:

With back bent I am sowing

between the Creator's fingers,

through the hand of the Almighty

onto this flourishing land,

this growing clearing.

Woman living under the earth,

old ruler of the soil,

mistress of the earth!

Now make the turf grow,

the rich soil force up grass.

The land will not lack vital strength

never, never at all

so long as there may be favor from those who gave it,

permission from the daughters of Nature.

Rise, land, from slumbering,

Creator's grass, from sleeping!

Let stems grow stems,

and stalks grow stalks.

Send up shoots by the thousand,

spread sprouts by the hundred

as a result of my plowing, my sowing,

especially of my toil.

O, Ukko, god on high

or heavenly father,

holder of power in the clouds,

ruler of the cloud patches!

Hold folk assemblies in the clouds,

open meetings in the upper stories of the sky,

Make a cloud spring up in the east,

raise up a cloudbank in the northwest,

send others from the west,

drive others from the south.

Shed rain gently from the heavens,

sprinkle honey from the clouds

on the sprouting shoots,

on the murmuring crops.

I only wish that I could read Finnish because I'm certain this passage is even more beautiful in its native tongue.

These of course are not the only blessings or charms out there for trees or gardens. Like belief systems, they are numerous. They are just examples of a couple of them that speak to me.

Feel free to comment and/or share your own tree charms and blessings.

Shall We Start Again?

It has been months since I've posted...and the last post talked about how it had been a while since I had posted. Life gets in the way for sure. Since I've been on a hiatus from this blog, I've read a few good books but never felt like writing about them. I'm currently reading The Monk by Matthew Lewis. I've got about 50 pages remaining so will be done soon. Lately I'm having a hard time sticking with a book through the entire thing. The Monk has been tough but I forced myself to keep going.

I've decided to start using this blog for more than just books I've read. I will probably still post those but would also like to begin writing about my other hobbies and exploits. These will include, but will not necessarily be limited to, RPGs, gardening/horticulture, mycology, bicycling, and whatever else I feel the need to talk about.

Hopefully you'll stick around. If I have to write another "I'm on hiatus" post I think I'll just remove the blog. I'm hoping I keep with it again...

Holiday Hiatus...

I haven't posted in a little while because I've been reading books that I haven't felt like talking much about. I just finished up both Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt and In the Center of the Fire by James Wasserman. While both could be considered in the occult vein, I didn't really feel like posting about them...sorry.
I'll be back on track soon. Until then I may post a few small things here and there. For now, check out this great article on Michael Moorcock in the New Yorker.

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate by Michael Moorcock

Leaving his cousin Yyrkoon to sit on the Ruby Throne of Melnibone, Elric leaves his home to travel the Young Kingdoms. He tells his lover (and cousin) Cymoril that he will be back in one year. Of course, Melniboneans are not very well received in the Young Kingdoms and this makes Elric's travels tough.
At the beginning of the book, Elric is picked up by a ghostly ship that sails along waters between the worlds. The ship is bound for Tanelorn and Elric soon finds that his fate is tied with other manifestations of the Eternal Champion. Together they fight and conquer Agak and Gagak, two powerful sorcerers that are also brother and sister. This part of the book is the same adventure as that told in The Quest for Tanelorn from the Chronicles of Count Brass series but is told from Elric's point of view rather than Hawkmoon's.
After the battle against Agak and Gagak, Elric decides to re-board the ship. He is later told that there is a portal to his world near an island and is taken there. As the island nears, there are corpses floating in the water and a terrible moaning in the air. Elric is hesitant but is told that if he doesn't go, he may be stuck on the ship forever...so he goes.
Once on the island, Elric encounters a group of pirates that seem to be from all different places and eras of history. They attack him and, with the help of their prisoner Smiorgan Baldhead, he defeats them. Together, Smiorgan and Elric search for the Crimson Gate, a portal back to their own world. Along the way, they find a woman, Vassliss, and are hunted down by Earl Saxif D'Aan of Melnibone who believes the woman to be his lost love, Gratyesha, Princess of Fwem-Omeyo.
Once through the Crimson Gate and back into their own world, Elric and Smiorgan are found floating in the sea by Duke Avan who is on a quest to find the ancient city of R'lin K'ren A'a beyond the Boiling Sea. Since this city is supposedly where the Melniboneans came from, Elric decides to join the quest. The events that follow set off the great struggle of the Upper Worlds.
This book was full of action and I didn't find myself bored for one minute. If you're an RPG gamer, there is also lots of great inspiration within this story.

More Stormbringer RPG

I have been looking online for a decent physical copy of Stormbringer 1st edition but every copy I found seemed to be way overpriced. I finally came across a copy at $20 and was thrilled. It's missing the map but I'm fine with that. I can always pick up a copy at a later time (or print one) if I need it.
As you can see in the pic, I was also able to get copies of the 1st and 2nd companions. Normally these are quite expensive as well but I was able to pick these up for $17 each. Still a bit pricey but nowhere near the prices I've seen Demon Magic up for on Ebay ($125+). I will never understand why people put stuff up for so much on Ebay when it never sells for that high of a price. I guess they don't really want to sell it.
I've already read the rules from a PDF but am really happy to have a physical copy. I can't wait to game next weekend. We could use another player or two so if you're in southeast Michigan and want to play, shoot me a message (or comment). My only rule is a common one...no assholes. Also, we tend to drink beer and have a good time so if you're way too serious of a gamer, you probably won't enjoy it (or maybe you'll loosen up and have a good time). It doesn't matter if you're not familiar with the rules. None of us really are yet so there will be mistakes, rules made up on the fly, etc. I would rather keep the game flowing than continually argue about and look up rules (to a point anyway).
I plan to post about our gaming exploits after the game sometime.

Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock

Elric of Melnibone is the 1st book in the Elric Saga. There are different versions but the one I have was published by DAW in 1977. It tells the story of how Elric acquired his sword Stormbringer.
I read this book about 32 or 33 years ago but I honestly did not remember any of the story other than Elric being an albino and an emperor. It was great to sit down and read it again.
Elric is the emperor of Melnibone. His cousin Yyrkoon covets the throne and plots against him. Yyrkoon's sister, Cymoril, is Elric's lover.
Not far into the story, spies are captured in the city of Imyrryr. The spies are taken to Elric's inquisitor, Doctor Jest, and it is discovered that a barbarian fleet is planning to attack the city. With this information in hand, Elric orders Melnibonean ships to sit in waiting in the sea maze leading to the city.
The Melnibonean ships hide in the maze until all of the barbarian ships enter and then attack. During the battle, Elric is wounded and Yyrkoon uses this and the confusion of the battle to dump Elric overboard. As Elric is sinking, he summons Straasha, Lord of the Water Elementals. Straasha saves Elric and takes him back to Imrryr to deal with Yyrkoon (who has now claimed the throne).
Rather than executing Yyrkoon on the spot, Elric decides to imprison him until later. During this time, Yyrkoon is able to escape and kidnap Cymoril using his own sorcerous abilities. The remainder of the book is the story of Elric searching for Yyrkoon and Cymoril.
During the story, we meet Arioch (one of the Dukes of Hell) and find out how Elric acquires Stormbringer. This is such a great story and one that I highly recommend.
Now that I've written a bit about the story itself, let's discuss a few other things. First, the pronunciation of Melnibone. My whole life I think I've only heard it pronounced Mel-ni-bone (with a long o and silent e) but if you look at it on the cover of this book, there is an accent on the e. I started poking around the internet and found two different pronunciations. One is Mel-ni-bo-nay and the other is Mel-nib-o-nay. I have no clue which is correct but I prefer the latter...so that's what I'm going to use.
The second thing I want to discuss is the chronological order of the stories. With some of the reprints, etc. it can be tough to figure out what order the Elric Saga stories/books should be read in. Over at the Multiverse, I found this FAQ post. It was written by a Multiverse member named Whiskers and was really helpful to me. Just in case something ever happens to that site (although I'm sure it will be around forever), here is the post in its entirety (not the exact same formatting - having trouble with that - sorry):

As Mike himself says:

There isn't any particular order you HAVE to read the books in, because I didn't write them in chronological order. They've been published in chronological order most recently, but you wouldn't have read them like that when they were originally appearing. It's best to begin with Elric of Melniboné (or even the [Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer] comic, which predates Elric of Melniboné) and end with Stormbringer, but what you do in between is entirely a matter of taste or circumstance.

That said, there are a number of ways in which the Elric Saga can be 'correctly' read:

The 'Core' Saga*:

1. Elric of Melniboné (1972)
2. The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976)
3. The Weird of the White Wolf (1977)
4. The Vanishing Tower (1971) (aka The Sleeping Sorceress)
5. The Bane of the Black Sword (1977)
6. Stormbringer (rev. 1978)

*Presents the stories in the revised sequence published by DAW Books.

The 'Expanded' Saga*:

1. Elric of Melniboné (1972)
2. The Fortress of the Pearl (1989)
3. The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976)
4. The Weird of the White Wolf (1977)
5. The Vanishing Tower (1971)
6. The Revenge of the Rose (1991)
7. The Bane of the Black Sword (1977)
8. Stormbringer (rev. 1978)

*Presents the stories in the omnibus sequences published by Orion (Millennium)/White Wolf.

The 'Enhanced Expanded' Saga*:

1. Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer (2007)
2. Elric of Melniboné (1972)
3. The Fortress of the Pearl (1989)
4. The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976)
5. The Weird of the White Wolf (1977)
6. The Vanishing Tower (1971)
7. The Revenge of the Rose (1991)
8. The Bane of the Black Sword (1977)
9. Stormbringer (rev. 1978)

*As the 'Expanded' Series above but with the graphic novel Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer added as a 'prologue'.

The 'Del Rey' Series*:

1. Elric: The Stealer of Souls
2. Elric: To Rescue Tanelorn...
3. Elric: The Sleeping Sorceress
4. Elric: Duke Elric
5. Elric in the Dream Realms
6. Elric: Swords and Roses

*Presents the Elric stories in 'roughly' order of publication, together with other supplementary material.

The 'Chronological' Sequence:

• 'The Dream of Earl Aubec' aka 'Master of Chaos'
• The Skrayling Tree dreamquest assumed to occur here
• Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer
• Elric's first Dream of a Thousand Years assumed to occur here - see The Metatemporal Detective collection
• The Black Blade of the Barbary Coast dreamquest assumed to take place here
• Elric of Melniboné
• The Fortress of the Pearl
• Elric: The Return to Melniboné assumed to take place here
• 'The Black Blade's Song' aka 'The Black Blade’s Summoning' aka 'The White Wolf's Song'
• The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
• 'Elric at the End of Time'
• 'The Dreaming City'
• 'A Portrait in Ivory'
• 'While the Gods Laugh'
• 'Black Petals'
• 'Red Pearls'
• The Singing Citadel'
• The Sleeping Sorceress aka The Vanishing Tower
• The Revenge of the Rose
• 'The Stealer of Souls'
• 'Kings in Darkness'
• 'The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams' aka The Flame Bringers'
• The Dreamthief's Daughter dreamquest assumed to occur here
• 'The Last Enchantment'
• 'Dead God's Homecoming' - Stormbringer Book One
• 'To Rescue Tanelorn...' - A Rackhir story that takes place concurrently with 'Dead God's Homecoming' occurs here
• 'Black Blade's Brothers' - Stormbringer Book Two - Elric's second Dream of a Thousand Years occurs during this story
• Dreamquests described in Duke Elric, The Skrayling Tree, and The White Wolf's Son assumed to occur here
• 'Sad Giant's Shield' - Stormbringer Book Three
• 'Doomed Lord's Passing' - Stormbringer Book Four

The 'Publication Order' Sequence:

• 'The Dreaming City' (Jun. 1961)
• 'While the Gods Laugh' (Oct. 1961)
• 'The Last Enchantment' (c.1962) aka Jesting with Chaos
• 'The Stealer of Souls' (Feb. 1962)
• 'Kings in Darkness' (Aug 1962)
• 'The Flame Bringers' (Oct 1962) aka The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams
• 'To Rescue Tanelorn...' (Dec 1962)
• 'Dead God's Homecoming' (Jun 1963)
• 'Black Sword’s Brothers' (Oct 1963)
• 'Sad Giant's Shield' (Feb 1964)
• 'Doomed Lord's Passing' (Apr 1964)
• 'Master of Chaos' (May 1964) aka The Dream of Earl Aubec
• 'The Singing Citadel' (1967)
• The Sleeping Sorceress (1971)
• A Sword Called Stormbringer (Mar 1972) in Conan the Barbarian #14
• The Green Empress of Melniboné (May 1972) in Conan the Barbarian #15
• Elric of Melniboné (1972)
• The Jade Man's Eyes (1973)
• Elric: The Return to Melniboné (1973)
• The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976)
• 'Dream of a Doomed Lord' (Spring 1980)
• 'Elric at the End of Time' (1981)
• The Fortress of the Pearl (1989)
• The Revenge of the Rose (1991)
• 'The White Wolf's Song' (1994) aka The Black Blade's Summoning aka The Black Blade's Song
• Duke Elric (1999)
• The Dreamthief's Daughter (2001)
• The Skrayling Tree (2003)
• The White Wolf's Son (2005)
• Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer (2007)
• 'The Roaming Forest' (2007)
• 'A Portrait in Ivory' (2007)
• 'Black Petals' (March/April 2008)
• 'Red Pearls' (2010) in Swords and Dark Magic (ed. Lou Anders)
• 'White Steel' (in preparation)

Now if I could only find my Sailor on the Seas of Fate book...

Stormbringer RPG

Stormbringer is an RPG that was written by Ken St. Andre and Steve Perrin and published by Chaosium back in the early 80s. It has seen many incarnations since and I've never played it. With all of the Moorcock I've been reading, my interest was piqued and I decided to pick up the rules and check it out.
As a kid and young adult, I played a lot of D&D. Then I took a break from RPGs altogether until a few years back when I picked up Pathfinder to give that a try. I found the system way too complex. I know that a lot of people love it but it just wasn't for me. When I was about to give up on RPGs again, DCC (Dungeon Crawl Classics) was released. I absolutely LOVE that system. It's minimal enough to allow good flow but the rules are also great. I love that magic can be dangerous and magic items should be rare. I also love the plethora of tables in DCC and the random nature of the game. The 0-level funnels have been some of my favorite role-playing experiences. This is especially true on the DM side of things because for some reason I find it hilarious to watch players die.
Much like DCC, Stormbringer has a lot of qualities that I'm falling in love with. Magic can be dangerous because it is typically done by summoning and binding demons. There is some randomness involved here and if things go bad...goodbye character. I like this. Like DCC, magic is something that should be revered. You shouldn't just use it because you can. You have to weigh out the possible consequences.
Character generation in Stormbringer is not as random as in DCC. I like this but it will take a little longer than DCC to get a new party together to begin a campaign. This isn't a problem as it still should take a hell of a lot less time than it does to create a character for games like Pathfinder. However, if your players are accustomed to just showing up to a new campaign and being handed a random set of characters, they could be disappointed. In my own game that I will be running, I may do the random work up front but it will depend on what the players want to do. I could also just roll up a bunch of characters and let them blindly choose, roll a die to choose, etc. I haven't decided yet.
As for adventures, I'm working on this. I wanted to read through the rules first and get a feel for how things worked. Now that I have at least a bit of a handle on game mechanics, I'm starting to plan out what will happen in my game. It will most likely be a mix of my own ideas and some of the printed scenarios that are available. I'm not sure yet if I want to strictly adhere to all of the history and mythology of the Young Kingdoms. I like the thought of being able to come up with my own towns, mythologies, legends, etc. and insert these into the campaign. I suppose I could always have the players discover a portal to another universe if I really want things to be different.
I plan to blog about playing this game as we go although it isn't slated to start for a bit yet so stay tuned.

The Mad God's Amulet by Michael Moorcock

The Mad God's Amulet by Michael Moorcock is the second book in the History of the Runestaff series. It documents Hawkmoon's journey back to the Kamarg.
During the journey, Hawkmoon and Oladahn meet the wraiths that inhabit the city of Soryandum. They appear later in the Chronicles of Count Brass but it was great to read about Hawkmoon's first meeting with them. They are a people with very advanced science that allows them to exist in another dimension. They send Hawkmoon and Oladahn on a short quest to retrieve two machines of theirs that they left in a cave guarded by a giant beast machine (also of their creation). While they do successfully bring back the machines, this quest almost spells the end for Hawkmoon. Once they have the machines, the wraiths are able to take Soryandum into the other dimension with them to hide from the invading Granbretanians. Before doing so, they give the second machine to Hawkmoon.
Hawkmoon and Oladahn later secure passage on The Smiling Girl to get to Crimea. The plan is to go from there to the Kamarg. During the journey, they find and rescue a shipwrecked D'Averc and are then attacked by a boat belonging to the Cult of the Mad God. After a long, hard battle, Hawkmoon, Oladahn and D'Averc steal the Cult's ship. Upon searching through the stolen treasure on the ship, they find a severed hand upon which is Yisselda's ring. This, of course, worries Hawkmoon.
The trio are also able to take one of the Cult pirates hostage during all of this. When they later go to check on him, they find him lucid and wondering what has happened. Apparently, the pirates have all been continually drugged into attacking ships and looting them in order to bring the spoils back to the Mad God. The sailor, now sober, tells Hawkmoon that all women captured were to be brought back to the Mad God alive. Upon hearing this, Hawkmoon decides to find the Mad God and hopefully Yisselda.
I do not want to go into more detail than this or give away any more of the story so will stop here. I don't want to spoil it for anyone that plans to read it.
One of the things I like most about these stories is the moral dilemmas that continually pop up. Hawkmoon often has to make a decision regarding the life of another. There are also characters that flip-flop between helping Hawkmoon and harming him (i.e. D'Averc). It all keeps you on your toes as a reader and I thoroughly enjoy it.
I cannot decide if I will move on to The Sword of the Dawn (the third book in the series) or read Elric of Melnibone next. I may take a break from the Runestaff stories for a book or two but will then come back to them if I do.

The Jewel in the Skull by Michael Moorcock

Believe it or not, I was going to take a break from Moorcock and read another story before I started the History of the Runestaff series. I picked up a few different books and started them but I kept wanting to know what happened before the Chronicles of Count Brass series. Then I picked up The Jewel in the Skull just to look at the table of contents. This is when I saw on the left page:

This book is dedicated to Dave Brock

and it was over. I had to read it.
For those of you that don't know, Dave Brock is a member of the legendary Hawkwind...who happens to be a band that I love. Moorcock was friends with the band and even collaborated with them on some tracks. Their album, The Chronicle of the Black Sword is entirely based on Moorcock's Elric character.
So I'm sorry dear readers (all 2 of you) but it's more Michael Moorcock for now. Get used to it.
This story begins with our old friend Count Brass. While out patrolling the Kamarg (his homeland) he comes across a horrifying creature known as a baragoon. These creatures were once men but were taken as slaves by the previous guardian of the Kamarg and transformed in his laboratories and used to terrorize the people of the Kamarg. Moorcock describes them as "eight feet high and enormously broad, bile-colored and slithering on their bellies through the marshlands; they rose only to leap upon and rend their prey with their steel-hard talons. When they did, on occasion, have the good fortune to find a man alone they would take slow vengeance, delighting in eating a man's limbs before his eyes." Count Brass slays the beast of course but even he finds it difficult to kill.
Being the first book in the History of the Runestaff series, we learn much about the history and lands inhabited by Count Brass, Yisselda, Dorian Hawkmoon, and the rest. It was easy to figure out that Granbretan was a future (and possibly other dimensional) Great Britain. However I don't remember knowing that the Kamarg is part of what was once France and that Köln is located in Germany. Perhaps Köln is Cologne but I'm not sure if the Kamarg would correspond to any place in our world.
I found the imagery in this book to be amazing. The bullfight early on in the book was filled with colorful scenery and even more colorful toreadors. In my imagination, the bullfights rivaled any extravagance shown in the recent Hunger Games movies (no, I have not read the books but I've enjoyed the films). We also meet the King-Emperor Huon, an ancient man who lives within a globe of milky white fluid. I get the feeling that his voice was actually not a voice but was telepathic. However, I don't believe this is stated in the book...just my own feeling on the matter.
There is an amazing array of characters within Granbretan and I want to know more and more about them all. Throughout the story, we are told a bit more about the various orders within Granbretan. The bulls, serpents, wolves, etc. Each order has a leader who is typically either insane, outrageously flamboyant in dress/armor, or both. The inhabitants of Granbretan spare no expense and torture and enslave all they conquer.
This book was a great read and I plan to start The Mad God's Amulet (Book 2) tonight.
As a bonus, here is Michael Moorcock performing with Hawkwind on their song Sonic Attack. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, William Hope Hodgson!

Today is the 137th birthday of one of my favorite writers, William Hope Hodgson. Although he died in the trenches of World War I, he has been immortalized by his contributions to the genre of Weird Fiction.
To read some of this stories for free online, check out eBooks@Adelaide. For a ton of his stories in a great looking book at an affordable price, check out his volume in the Centipede Press Library of Weird Fiction.
So far on this blog, I've only wrote about The Night Land and The House on the Borderland but plan to write about some of this other stories in the future so stay tuned.

The Quest for Tanelorn by Michael Moorcock

The Quest for Tanelorn is the 3rd and last book in the Chronicles of Count Brass series by Michael Moorcock. As I stated in my post on Count Brass, this series is a continuation of The History of the Runestaff series also by Moorcock.
This story begins where The Champion of Garathorm left off. Dorian Hawkmoon is reunited with his wife Yisselda but still does not have their two children. Hawkmoon and Yisselda yearn for their children and begin to look for them. The remainder of the book concerns this adventure.
I loved the voyage to Tanelorn and everything that happened along the way but I particularly enjoyed the story once the travellers reached their destination. The city of Tanelorn itself is described as a beautiful, psychedelic city. Even the battle leading up to the actual discovery of the city is something out of an LSD trip.
In researching more about Moorcock and the Multiverse mythology, I discovered multiverse.org. This is a site I'm sure I will be perusing often in the coming months.
I cannot yet decide if I want to read the Elric series or The History of the Runestaff series next but I can't wait to read more of these stories.

The Champion of Garathorm by Michael Moorcock

Michael Moorcock is steadily becoming one of my favorite Sword & Sorcery writers. His stories are not only full of awesome characters but he also spends lots of time building a world that is fascinating and full of imaginative creatures. If you enjoy this genre, you will most certainly love his books.
The Champion of Garathorm begins where Count Brass left off. Dorian Hawkmoon is having an extremely hard time coping with the death of his wife Yisselda. He has descended into madness, playing out in miniature the battle that caused her demise. He plays the battle out over and over with different actions to see if he could have prevented her death.
Dorian believes that she is alive in another time or dimension. He feels her presence. He becomes convinced that he can find her and bring her back to his world. This is where things get interesting.
Dorian is visited by Katinka van Bak, a badass woman with sword fighting skill to rival kings. He convinces her to help him find Yisselda and the two leave on a quest that will change Dorian forever.
The rest of the book is filled with deception, intrigue and brutal battles. Much of the book takes place on the island continent of Garathorm. It is a beautiful place full of trees and buildings made of ebony, ivory, and hardwoods (some now extinct). I found this continent fascinating and want to know more, more, more...
This story also contained something that is rare in Sword & Sorcery fiction...women warriors. These were not your typical storied women that let the men do the fighting while they cower in a stable or end up getting overpowered by the males and have to be saved. These women were champions. These women were every bit as powerful as the men. It was refreshing.
Here is one of my favorite excerpts regarding some of these women:

     Though she now bled from a dozen minor cuts and grazes, Ilian was tireless. She unhorsed one rider with a blow of her buckler and in the same movement swept her sword round to take a green-furred dwarf through the roof of his gaping mouth so that the point ran deep into his brain. As the dwarf fell, Ilian twisted the sword from his corpse in time to parry an axe which had been thrown at her by a warrior in purple armour whose pointed steel teeth clashed as he tried to draw back his arm to thrust at her with the lance he held in his other hand. Ilian leaned out in her saddle and sliced the hand from the wrist so that fist and spear dropped to the ground. The stump, spouting blood, continued the motion of casting the spear and only then did the warrior with the steel teeth realise what had happened to him and he moaned. But Ilian was riding past him, to where one of her girl warriors stood over the corpse of her dead vayna desperately trying to ward off the blows of three men with reptilian skins (but who were otherwise dressed dissimilarly) who were determined to slay her. Ilian clove the skull of one reptile man, smashed another unconscious so that he fell backward across his horse's rump, and pierced the heart of the last, clearing a way for the girl who darted her a quick smile of gratitude before picking up her flame-lance and running for an open doorway.
     And then Ilian was in the square with a score of her warriors at her back and she called out jubilantly:
     'We are through!'
     Men on foot came running from every house then, those who had not taken part in the cavalry charge, and soon Ilian was surrounded again.
     And soon Ilian was laughing again, as life after life was extinguished by her sparkling sword.

As this is the second book in the Chronicles of Castle Brass series, you'll want to read the first story, Count Brass, before starting this one. You really should though...it's an amazing story.

Count Brass by Michael Moorcock

I recently made a huge acquisition of paperbacks off of a good friend and Count Brass by Michael Moorcock was within this box. I had read Elric of Melnibone when I was about 12 but have not really ventured much into any more of Moorcock's writings besides that. Honestly, I don't even remember much of Elric other than him being an albino. I plan to read the entire series in the near future.
The primary character in Count Brass is actually Dorian Hawkmoon but Count Brass also plays a large role in the story. I don't want to ruin the story but I will say that this is sword & sorcery gold. On top of that, as I read this book, I found myself wanting to know more and more about Hawkmoon, Brass, the Empire of Granbretan and every other piece of this universe. Holy crap...I am hooked. If you enjoy sword & sorcery surrounded by futuristic weirdness, you will love this.
As I was reading this book, I realized it was actually a continuation of the Runestaff mythos. So apparently I am reading this in a Star Wars like fashion. I'm getting enough knowledge of the previous stories to make me want to go read them as a prequel when I am finished with this series.
A while back I picked up a bunch of Moorcock paperbacks at a local bookstore but haven't had time to read them. I searched through and found the second book in this series, The Champion of Garathorm. I cannot wait to read it.

The Spectral Link by Thomas Ligotti

While it has been quite a while since I've made a post to this blog, I have been reading every day. However, I've been mostly preoccupied with non-fiction and genres that I would not write about here. To my one or two readers...I apologize.
I bought The Spectral Link by Thomas Ligotti very recently from friend. Tonight, as I was looking for something new to read, it was staring at me from my shelf. I picked it up and, being short book, finished it very quickly.
The book is comprised of two short stories. The first, "Metaphysica Morum", concerns a man who would like nothing more than to commit suicide. He begins to have dreams in which an entity known as the Dealer appears often. Upon discussing this with his doctor/therapist, the doctor also starts to have these suicidal thoughts.
While I enjoyed the telling of the story, I'm not sure I really understood what it was about. I felt like it was a commentary on society however I may be a little too dumb to understand what exactly that commentary was. I did thoroughly enjoy the backstory of the main character though.
The second story, "The Small People", definitely felt like a commentary on race. It was about a boy who thoroughly despised those only known as the Small People or just Smalls. These were miniature representations of "normal" humans with doll-like features (i.e. smooth skin) who moved from area to area as they saw fit. While they sounded creepy in appearance and manner, it was hard to figure out just why the main character and his friend hated them so much. This feeling was no different than the confusion I feel when wondering why real people hate others just because they are different.

Xelucha and Others by M.P. Shiel

Upon opening this book, I had no clue what to expect as I had never read anything by M.P. Shiel, let alone even heard of him. After finishing this book, I'm a convert.
If you're like me, you may be a bit turned off by the first story (Xelucha) upon first reading. You should read on however because the remainder of the book is great reading and you'll even decide you like Xelucha if you go back and read it afterward.
Xelucha and Others was published by Arkham House in 1975. There were 4,283 copies printed. Since Shiel died in 1947, all of these stories were written much earlier than the publishing date.
The table of contents is as follows:

Introduction
Xelucha
The Primate of the Rose
Dark Lot of One Saul
The House of Sounds
The Globe of Gold-fish
Many a Tear
The Bride
The Tale of Henry and Rowena
The Bell of St. Sepulcre
Huguenin's Wife
The Pale Ape
The Case of Euphemia Raphash