TenKeep

Along the Mistral Sea wanderers tell of 'sea-trogs.' Not hateful creatures, most say, but unpredictable. In a solo game, I met one... [close-up, Khumai ( Ral Partha Miniatures, sculpted by John Robertson] *** North from OneKeep, an elven acolyte named Vol carried an empty bag and poked for cockles. He wanted enough for board at the rangers' place. Around a cove, he sited a giant crab (AC2, HD3, 2 x pincer (2d6). Vol ran for life.  Finally away, he poured two thimbles of elvish whiskey, each like torches burning. Later that afternoon, Vol had a bagful of cockles. That's when he saw the sea-trog, shin deep in the surf, its knobby, green tail uncurled to his face.  [a 'Khumai' ( Ral Partha Miniatures, sculpted by John Robertson] What's more, Vol saw that the sea-trog saw him. [Initiative: Vol 6 vs. sea-trog 7] It raised an arm. It pointed a finger. Under the sea-trog's sway, Vol dreamed of tides and the rollicking sea.   An hour or so later, he woke-up ...

Now if it's yarns you're longin' for, I can tell you of two, maybe three - even me, I can read 'em with the pictures. *** The first one's Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space . Here's Virgil Finlays' picture - there you see 'em - first hand witnesses of the 'gleaming, eruptive cataclysm" that shot-up from old Nahum's well! [illustration by Virgil Finlay (1941), reprinted in the Annotated H.P. Lovecraft] Folks say it was aliens. Before he died, old Nahum had said: ...it comes from some place whar things ain't as they is here...one of them professors said so...he was right. Look out Ammi, it'll do suthin more...sucks the life out... *** Now, a mellower light glows in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island . Look here at Newell Wyeth's painting of Bill Bones, a buccaneer, hangin' 'round the cove, or upon the cliffs, with his brass telescope.'   [painting by N.C. Wyeth (1911), copied from Treasure Island , Antheneum B...