Café de Nuit

Got in one, Tykus. Got it all in one.

To everyone, thanks to an Area Code Overlay in my area my DSL service is becoming more and more unreliable, so updates will be delayed until service is stabilized again (estimated by July).

Sometimes I'm too perceptive for my own good. I was wondering if you have considered using some ideas from d20 Modern. While not strictly supernatural, some of the "alien invasion"-type conspiracies play well with the Red Death. Granted, you're going for some more realistic horror, but there still the modern tales of alien abductions, alligators in the sewers, etc. Not to mention there was a great article in Dungeon/Polyhedron about using d20 Modern with Top Secret (I believe) and it even had references/plot hooks to a few qabals from MotRD.

I would be curious on how Alex would handle keepers (D&D's MIB) or gardihyi (sp?) [from the old Alternity game but updated for Modern] or both, concerning their similiarities and differences.

If you haven't seen it yet, I also recommend Marvel Comics animated movie Dr. Strange if for nothing else, the approach it takes.

Thanks for the suggestions, but I have to pass. I'm not interested in d20 Modern or Alternity. The only other RPG I've seen that really fits with my vision of MotRD 1998 is Hunter: The Reckoning, and even then I use only the core rulebook.

Urban legends like gators in the sewers and even aliens I've been toying with. There's a "Mars Attacks" entry in the Kargatane's Book of Sorrows I can draw ideas from. Until 2000 in the Journals I have to play things down to portray the relatively tight control the Red Death has--until the Ritual doesn't work as planned and there's a revolt among the forces of darkness.

I see that you're a fellow subscriber to the Calvin & Hobbes idea of formal alien visitations. Just because there hasn't been any "take me to your leader" visitations (Weekly World News stories don't count) doesn't mean they haven't happened (too many pre-20th century accounts) historical accounts. And no fair teasing one (or several) of your readers in character.

By the way, did you know there are MIB stories in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs? (Sorry, you hit a couple of buttons. It was like you were almost asking for an argument with "alien abduction" entry )

One other thing, did you know that DNA sequencing from a hair requires an intact follicle? You had the right idea but I wasn't sure if you knew that or not. And, can vampires still grow hair?

I never really knew about the C&H view regarding aliens. I just came to that conclusion because it's the only one that makes sense. If you were an alien, would you want to contact humanity? What with wars, genocide, ignorant and panicky pack mentality, and sheep-like following of anyone who impresses us?

And yes, I've heard the stories of aliens and ancient cultures. I admit that it could be something, but without more evidence I remain skeptical. As for the Journals, I'm not going to pursue the idea of aliens.

I forgot about the follicle, but how many hairs are pulled out by their roots when a person with thick hair brushes? I used to be a long-hair so I know (sadly I've had to get a haircut since ). It's easiest to assume that Alex picked hairs with follicles on them.

Yes, vampires do continue growing hair--and nails--in a way. They're human forms are locked and unable to change appearance in any permanent fashion. If they cut their hair or trim their nails then it grows back while they sleep. This isn't just true for the shiang-shi. Actually, "evidence" of a vampire was growth of hair and nails on a corpse (when it was really just the skin receding and the illusion of growth), along with blood seeping from the corners of the mouth. All natural processes of decomposition, but no one knew that until the latter part of the 19th century.

High Priest Mikhal wrote: I never really knew about the C&H view regarding aliens. I just came to that conclusion because it's the only one that makes sense. If you were an alien, would you want to contact humanity? What with wars, genocide, ignorant and panicky pack mentality, and sheep-like following of anyone who impresses us?

And yes, I've heard the stories of aliens and ancient cultures. I admit that it could be something, but without more evidence I remain skeptical. As for the Journals, I'm not going to pursue the idea of aliens.

Last mention of the subject: I was wondering if you know of NASA's policy in regards to the possibility of us reaching another inhabited world but with a more primitive society. The whole policy reads like an alien abduction told from the POV of the alien abductors.

High Priest Mikhal wrote:
I forgot about the follicle, but how many hairs are pulled out by their roots when a person with thick hair brushes? I used to be a long-hair so I know (sadly I've had to get a haircut since ). It's easiest to assume that Alex picked hairs with follicles on them.

Sorry, too much CSI watching.

High Priest Mikhal wrote:
Yes, vampires do continue growing hair--and nails--in a way. They're human forms are locked and unable to change appearance in any permanent fashion. If they cut their hair or trim their nails then it grows back while they sleep. This isn't just true for the shiang-shi. Actually, "evidence" of a vampire was growth of hair and nails on a corpse (when it was really just the skin receding and the illusion of growth), along with blood seeping from the corners of the mouth. All natural processes of decomposition, but no one knew that until the latter part of the 19th century.

I knew about the myth about hair and nail growth and its origins.; but I forgot about the shiang-shi traits.

Tykus wrote:Last mention of the subject: I was wondering if you know of NASA's policy in regards to the possibility of us reaching another inhabited world but with a more primitive society. The whole policy reads like an alien abduction told from the POV of the alien abductors.

Never heard of it. Now no more aliens! Please. This is Gothic Earth, not Spelljammer.

High Priest Mikhal wrote:

Tykus wrote:Last mention of the subject: I was wondering if you know of NASA's policy in regards to the possibility of us reaching another inhabited world but with a more primitive society. The whole policy reads like an alien abduction told from the POV of the alien abductors.

Never heard of it. Now no more aliens! Please. This is Gothic Earth, not Spelljammer.

LOL! What?! No Martians?! Now I'll stop.

Starting in the next post (in both journals, actually) I'll be using a new format to facilitate quick copy-and-paste to an RTF for conversion into a PDF when I finish rewrites and touch-ups. These are what the bold headers are about.

Also note that the compilations will be uncenscored and thus NSFW, hence they will not be posted here, but will be linked to from the Cafe de Nuit, with readers being routed through a proper warning page in addition to warnings on the links themselves. With the Gothic Journals comp now 50% done I'll hopefully have something before the end of the summer. But don't hold me to it.

I like the reference to global warming. That's way cool.
Here's another idea that's occurred to me. This one may step into areas you don't want to go so you can use it or not.
I remember well when the AIDS scare began in the '80s. Syphilis, gonorhea, herpes, all of these STDs had been around for centuries. AIDS was something nobody'd seen before, and seemingly unbeatable... and scary. Misinformation began to circulate about the disease being unique to homosexuals and the sexually promiscuous, giving conservative governments or branches of governments an excuse to ignore it. Falsehoods continued to spread that perpetuated the scare that, at times, came close to hysteria in places. To this day, I still hear people, most notably christianist broadcasters saying that AIDS is God's way of erasing the gays.
This, in short, sounds very much like something your Umbrella organization would do: create a disease, release it into the population in such a way that sets people against each other and fosters inactivity in the authorities, spread disinformation to worsen that conflict, take advantage of the chaos. Hell it's practically got the Red Death's stamp on it.
The Difficulty in using this storyline is that it cheapens the suffering of those who have the disease and the struggle of those who fight it. Depending who sees it, it could cause trouble for you. I'll leave it to you to decide if it's a good idea.

Manofevil wrote:The Difficulty in using this storyline is that it cheapens the suffering of those who have the disease and the struggle of those who fight it.

That's one reason I'm not going to use incurable real life conditions. I also have to admit that AIDS has touched my life, though not in quite the same way as it has others. Feline AIDS took the life of my pet cat, Bucky, two years ago. I still miss the little guy. Besides, Umbrella as presented in the Resident Evil universe is more focused on their T- and G-Viruses (and the genetically engineered bio-weapons they can create using them) than anything else. I have to stay true to the canon.

As for the hate-mongers using various public scares to rile up the masses, that's definitely something I will be highlighting. First off is the unfortunate backlash against those of Middle Eastern descent after the Twin Towers, even in the Office (Liz is half-Persian and gets a taste of humanity's rather bad habit of scapegoating).

Nice job with the Ritual entries. I liked the Little Ice Age treatment, most people don't know about it. Makes me wish all gamers were fans of scientific history (heck, history in general).

I'll have to explain that in future posts. I don't think people realize that this change in climate may have been inevitable given Earth's natural tendencies. Yeah, pollution is real bad and it needs to be cleaned up; oil is running low and we have to break our addiction; there are species suffering for our laziness. I don't deny those points. Whether or not we're influencing the climb in temperature is where I'm still not sure. I'm not going by Al "Half-the-Facts-Ma'am" Gore alone.

The basic, first draft of The Gothic Journals Compilation is now up and ready for viewing. And yes, I made sure this link works this time. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm so sick of working on this I'm gonna go throw up.

High Priest Mikhal wrote:I'll have to explain that in future posts. I don't think people realize that this change in climate may have been inevitable given Earth's natural tendencies. Yeah, pollution is real bad and it needs to be cleaned up; oil is running low and we have to break our addiction; there are species suffering for our laziness. I don't deny those points. Whether or not we're influencing the climb in temperature is where I'm still not sure. I'm not going by Al "Half-the-Facts-Ma'am" Gore alone.

I read a story somewhere (for the life of me, I wish I could remember where) that humanity's influence on the global climate goes back all the way to the first agrarian settlements. By becoming agrarian, we interrupted the "Ice Age cycle" by changing the CO2 rhythms. Supposedly (according to the author, anyway), this planet should already be in the middle of another Ice Age.

As much as I like the magic-tie to Ice Ages, I think that it wouldn't've hurt to mention that not all of earth's Ice Ages are tied to magic (that's the implication). After all, the oldest known Ice Age on Earth predates oxygen and unicellular life and turned the planet into a cueball. And I don't want you mentioning the aboleth (or elementals, for that matter). Using Earth's planetary history as the reference point, I don't think the aboleth would've evolved until at least the late Precambrian.