A Continent of Banalities

(Another post inspired by one of Evlyn Moreau's illustrations. Support her patreon . It'll do you good). If you’re from around here you have seen this pair. Graffiti-artists love painting the working stiff grim reaper with the larged-eyed imp perched on her head. Scholars say they symbolize the unpredictability of life and the grim certainty of death. Others say they’re just unlikely friends. More and more people say they have seen them out there. Resting by the batting cages at sunset, keeping lumbering pace with a speeding Lexus, or coming out of the neighbor’s house as you rush to catch the bus. Used with permission. If you’re from around here you won’t be surprised that people have begun pertitioning them for aid. If you have Death and the Devil on your side you’ve got it made, right? Murder, she gloat This miracle is the perfect symbiosis between the gravity of Death and the cruel mischief of the Devil. Everyone in a city-wide radi...

...I know what haunts like Ahem, here's a table for generating a job ghosts might want your player characters to do. D20 Job (Ghost) 1 “(Faction) evicted me from my haunt. Help me get it back”. 2 “I cannot find rest! I will haunt you until you help me”. 3 “Ghost hunters are hunting me. Get them to go away” 4 “I am fading from existence but I’m not ready to go”. 5 “I would pay to feel in possession of a body again. Could you procure one?” 6 “Avenge my death!” 7 “I need you to see that my dependents are safe” 8 “My remains aren’t properly buried”. 9 “I escaped from a great black engine underground, but my ghost-kin are still toiling in there”. 10 “My love is still a...

(The following is inspired by a piece of art by Evlyn Moreau. Follow her Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/evlynmoreau/posts) Some say she is the mother of all bats, daughter of Luna, the warm embrace of night, or the promise of the world made bearable by darkness. Other call her vampire, mother of demons, sister of Lilith. Her worshipers flock to Conal County, Texas to worship at Bracken Cave, where her offspring hang by the millions. In Yunnan province, China she is the bringer of five blessings or disease. In Spandau Citadel in Berlin, her offspring is said to spell out her secret name as they swarm under the castle’s vaulted ceilings. Used with permission Whatever her true nature, she is a nurturing friend to all bats. Humans she tolerates, if they show respect and kindness to her charges Winged Embrace The simplest of the Mother’s blessings is simply her embrace. Thosewo invoke her will feel enveloped by mighty wings and clutched to a furry bosom. Th...

I have two settings for TROIKA! available for free on Itch. Art by Evlyn Moreau There's The Liver of Acratopotes , a fantasy setting set on a demigod's liver. And there's the TROIKA! version of Passing Strange . 21st century weirdness and the weirdos who must suffer it. Both of these have been featured in stages of unfinishedness on this very blog.

1) Remember that you are not alone. There are legions of people out there who suffer as you do. Strike up a conversation with one. 2) Say to yourself “I belong in the space I occupy. I push myself to new accomplisments”. 3) Get a parrot. It echoes your words without the burden of an intellect. 4) Take pleasure in your indistinct reflection in storefront windows as you pass by. Like a real person, you are in motion. You are accomplishing things. You do not obsess. 5) Avoid mirrors. They are likely to make you ruminate upon certain parts of your face. Remember: an imagined flaw is as painful as a real one. 6) Drink coffee. Fetishize it. Say things like “I need my coffee” or “I don’t know what I would do without coffee”. 7) Avoid prolonged contact with dogs (and certain breeds of pig). They pick up on so much. 8) Remember to cycle between over-preparedness and procrastination. You need both to maintain your position. ...

(Sorry I've neglected the blog! I've been overwhelmed). Everything shakes, and all things are shaken loose. In the body. In the world.   A Wolf whose maw reaches from earth to heaven swallows the sun.   A Worm so vast that it fills up the ocean, drags itself up on land, spewing venom and fire, setting the world ablaze. The World Ash shakes from the tremors, and bursts into flame. Its fiery branches tear down the stars. Heimdall sounds his horn, and it drowns out the heavens’ thunder. The dead warriors stumble out onto the Plain of Iða, but giant birds, fire-drakes and flying lizards fill the sky, and descend upon them, crushing them under their weight. Below in Midgard, humanity swarms out of its broken cities, like ants from a destroyed nest. The jotun trample them, and cross the rainbow bridge, breaking it as they march. The Wolf strides into Asgard, and the Worm rises up, sinks its teeth into Hlidskialf, and pulls itself up. The mighty go...

The blinding incandescence was diminishing in strength, and I stared at the figure in the doorway. It, he, was a chicken. Ain't no two ways about it. A chicken the size of a six-year-old with yellow feathers, a broad-brimmed hat and a rapier. I was still considering the distinct possibility that this was the onset of of DT. God knows that my body's got more than enough reason to rebel. I've not treated it like I ought. Some mornings I've half-wished that it'd up and leave, like my second wife. Back to the chicken. He removed his hat from his head with a rakish gesture and smiled. I's never considered that a chicken could smile, but it seemed appropriate in the situation. I must've been quite a vision in my strappy t and sagging undies. It was a condescending smile. ”I have a job for you” he said. ”I have been de-niched, and only now have I realized what I must do to set things right!”...