MUP 090 - 'Flopping Limply Along'

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Keeper Dan
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MUP 090 - 'Flopping Limply Along'

Post by Keeper Dan » Sun Oct 25, 2015 9:22 pm

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In Episode 90, we head back to original source material for a fresh look at one of Lovecraft's most mysterious monsters. What if the thing described in "The Festival" isn't really a Byakhee? We talk about other ways to interpret this unnamed creature. We've also got a handful of Campus Crier updates and some excellent iTunes reviews! This episode was recorded on October 20, 2015.

Campus Crier
Cthulhu Wars : Onslaught Two! has funded. Sandy Petersen says: "I am so excited that we have funded this so amazingly quickly - just a few minutes!"

On a related note, Dark Regions Press released an update to their World War Cthulhu campaign today that stated there has been a delay in funding in the Cthulhu Wars figurines from Green Eyes Games. There seems to be some kind of communication issue at the root of it, but Dark Regions is hoping to get them to backers by the end of the year.

Chaosium's new official online forum is at BRP Central, company president Rick Meints announced.
"Since day one the new Chaosium team has stated that one of our core commitments is to communicate better with our tribe: our Kickstarter backers, our creatives, our players, and our fans," said Meints. "We want to listen, get your feedback, and be a part of discussing all of our games with you, the people who make Chaosium what it is, and who want to help make it better than ever before."
Please note the forums at Glorantha.com will no longer remain active. Instead, BRP Central now features a dedicated Chaosium Family of Games section, with forums for Call of Cthulhu, Glorantha, RuneQuest Gateway, BRP, Magic World, and more!

AetherCon IV, the online gaming convention, will be held the weekend of November 13-15, 2015. Jon is running a game of The Haunting at 2:00 a.m. Central Time. This is the version he updated along with some help from Cory, aka caddy1071 from the forums.

Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game has finished strong with a total pledge amount of X! Can you believe X? That twice as much as Y, and four times as much as Z! And if you take X, double it, add 9, subtract 3, divide by 2 and subtract X, the answer is 3! Weird, amiright?

Tales of the Caribbean finished also finished out strong, with a grand total of $36,457. The MUP crew, who all backed this project, are pretty pumped about the stretch goals Golden Goblin reached.

Jeff Dee has launched a GoFundMe campaign to support for his struggle to regain complete control and publishing rights to Villains and Vigilantes, the superhero game that he and Jack Herman created back in 1979.

Patreon for MUP has been set up and we’ve already hit our first base goal! You can also reach the right page using the old link here.

Feedback
We got three 5-Star reviews:
CrashMonarch from USA: My favorite gaming podcast - I love what these guys do! Very down to earth, very informative, and a lot of interesting personalities make this my absolute favorite gaming podcast.

Grotonomus from USA: Minds Rent Asunder - Deception is a right. Truth is a privilege. Innocence is a luxury. The Learned Faculty wandering the Hallowed halls of Miskatonic University Podcast adeptly squirt eldritch knowledge directly in to the base lizard brain of slightly evolved monkey peoples. GO PODS!

LiberKaos from Norway: Motley crew - And I mean that affectionately. Now how do I describe this adequately? This podcast is based in the mindwrenching world of H. P. Lovecraft, and all things related. And these guys goes into details, inspire and discuss indepth about how to use this in a roleplaying session. And I’m a convert. Now, what does that mean? It means that I believed all the old rumors. Characters never survive, why have monsters in the game that you can’t fight. But this podcast showed me the Dark. They showed me the depth of the *story*. That the narrative is a cooperation between the keeper and the players. That the fun is found in exploring the horrors together, not “winning” the game. It’s about the ride. So these guys turned me into a Call of Cthulhu Keeper. So with humor, interviews, discussions and even liveplay, get your dose of insanity… I mean inspiration and subscribe, their back catalog is amazing! Goooo Pods!
Cryptocurium Spotlight
November Parcel of Terror theme announced: Friday the 13th!


Want to see the old 8-bit video game version of Jason's Mother?

Topic
This week, we ripped a page from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Festival" (written in 1923, published in 1925), and discussed an unnamed creature that has generally been thought to be a Byakhee. What if it was something else?
"Out of the unimaginable blackness beyond the gangrenous glare of that cold flame, out of the tartarean leagues through which that oily river rolled uncanny, unheard, and unsuspected, there flopped rhythmically a horde of tame, trained, hybrid winged things that no sound eye could ever wholly grasp, or sound brain ever wholly remember. They were not altogether crows, nor moles, nor buzzards, nor ants, nor vampire bats, nor decomposed human beings; but something I cannot and must not recall. They flopped limply along, half with their webbed feet and half with their membranous wings; and as they reached the throng of celebrants the cowled figures seized and mounted them, and rode off one by one along the reaches of that unlighted river, into pits and galleries of panic where poison springs feed frightful and undiscoverable cataracts."
Keeper Dan of the Miskatonic University Podcast

Grotonomus
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Re: MUP 090 - 'Flopping Limply Along'

Post by Grotonomus » Tue Oct 27, 2015 7:15 pm

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the review. I promise to never write itunes reviews while drinking Bourbon again. Going through the back catalog here I learned that Dan lives in my old neck of the woods. Maybe we should set up a meet and greet when I'm home for Christmas? By the way Grotonomus is just a play on my last name Grotjohn (just pronounce it like the word boat, it is a very German name). There is a long story there that I need not get into. :D
"I'm a reasonable guy. But, I've just experienced some very unreasonable things." -Jack Burton

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Re: MUP 090 - 'Flopping Limply Along'

Post by Dr. Gerard » Wed Oct 28, 2015 6:51 am

Too bad you didn't get to hear me read that message for the first time, Grot. I hadn't skimmed ahead, so as I started reading and the words got wilder, my voice spiraled into confused tones like a wailing byakhee in corkscrew death dive. Great stuff, and thanks again for the psychedlic review!

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Re: MUP 090 - 'Flopping Limply Along'

Post by KeeperAntUK » Fri Oct 30, 2015 2:13 pm

Another great ep guys .. And great to hear so many voices together! (Not something to admit to your shrink :shock: )

I really loved the idea of something appearing decomposed as a camouflage mechanism. It really threw the imagination into overdrive trying to envisage what a place would be like for that to evolve.

I also got to thinking about turning some of the idea of a decomposing entity on its head. What if the entity exists as energy alone on our plane of existence? The energy attracts biological life, like one of those fly zappers, and kills them. The physical detritus gets caught in the energy matrix thereby becoming a physical body of sorts. You could damage the body but it would just begin to accrete again unless you could damage the entity inside.

Perhaps they are not decomposing at all. Perhaps they are actually part way through the reverse of decomposition ... What could they become?

Ant

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Re: MUP 090 - 'Flopping Limply Along'

Post by Dr. Gerard » Sat Oct 31, 2015 2:43 am

Ahlovit. Great idea, Ant. Like one of those hanging sticky fly traps of flesh. And like fly traps, there are always one or two critters that are still twitching and flapping around still alive!

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Re: MUP 090 - 'Flopping Limply Along'

Post by LiberKaos » Sun Nov 01, 2015 9:11 am

Damnit! I have to buy a couch!? :D

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Re: MUP 090 - 'Flopping Limply Along'

Post by Dr. Gerard » Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:53 pm

LiberKaos wrote:Damnit! I have to buy a couch!? :D
Aha! So it was you. There is no escaping. We will sleep anywhere.

I might suggest you buy a couch as bait. Then, when we have nested there, wrap it in plastic and put it immediately onto a moving van, then dump it into a fjord or something. Then poison the fjord.
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Re: MUP 090 - 'Flopping Limply Along'

Post by Ritterton » Thu Nov 05, 2015 7:02 am

Keeper Dan wrote:Topic
This week, we ripped a page from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Festival" (written in 1923, published in 1925), and discussed an unnamed creature that has generally been thought to be a Byakhee. What if it was something else?
"Out of the unimaginable blackness beyond the gangrenous glare of that cold flame, out of the tartarean leagues through which that oily river rolled uncanny, unheard, and unsuspected, there flopped rhythmically a horde of tame, trained, hybrid winged things that no sound eye could ever wholly grasp, or sound brain ever wholly remember. They were not altogether crows, nor moles, nor buzzards, nor ants, nor vampire bats, nor decomposed human beings; but something I cannot and must not recall. They flopped limply along, half with their webbed feet and half with their membranous wings; and as they reached the throng of celebrants the cowled figures seized and mounted them, and rode off one by one along the reaches of that unlighted river, into pits and galleries of panic where poison springs feed frightful and undiscoverable cataracts."
Really enjoyed the discussion about this creature and the variations that you all discussed...had me thinking.....

The Baron's face was flat, cold, a reflection of his heart as his mind realized that the carnage that lay before him was hundreds of his soldiers ordered into the no man's land between two salient of the front line in some Gods forsaken hilled portion of South Eastern France. There was no loud sounds, just the slow din of flies and the shifting, gurgling sounds of flesh decomposing. His steel blue eyes surveyed the scene through the silver wired glasses that he had put on his face when he stood above the trench wall. Out there, in front of him, was the trenches of the enemies of the Empires with their concepts of liberty, equality and the intermixing of the social orders that had served Europe for centuries. There were roles for people, and those roles ensure a level of stability, of order, allowing those born to lead to use all of their talents to protect those born to serve.

His hand reached into his officer's tunic, pushing aside the gorget and the gold and jeweled double eagle and sword order that he had received from the Emperor himself for his service a year earlier. The year he and his troops had advanced the lines deep into lands of the degenerates. What a difference a year had made. Yet, there was still a way that his lost troops could help the Empire. The scroll tube was ancient. It's obsidian hardness was criss-crossed with silver glyphs and cuneiform. "Korporal," he handed his patton and crop to the corporal that jumped at his calling. The corporal carefully took hold of the crop, noting that for once he was not feeling its bite across his shoulder or about his head.

'Stay near me, but do not at any time interrupt me, or touch me, no matter what occurs. Failing me in this will cost you beyond your worst imagining, do you understand?" The corporal whimpered and nodded in obedience. The Baron could feel the fear in the man rising, and that fear raised his own expectations for what he was about to undertake. The corporal would be a perfect source of power for the spell. A cold, predatory smile broke across his face and the fear in the corporal rose even higher with the Baron smelling the odor of sweat mix with the sickly sweet smells of blood, offal, and decay.

The Baron twisted the one end of the scroll case, and slipped the silver and jade cap into the pockets of his wool feldgrun trousers. He unscrolled the parchment, copied by the Order and sent to him to provide the unholy aid needed to keep the Empire, holy or not, in its rightful place. Too much would be lost if commoners could dictate the fate of empire, or history, and of the Gods themselves. The rusted iron script was in the language of an empire long lost to the depths of oceans and the swirl of millenniums long past. His mind reeled in revolt and disgust at the sight of the language and the translations it began to make. He clenched his jaw and focused, opening himself to the fear, the decay, the loss, and the carnage. His mouth began to utter guttural sounds and tones not heard in that part of the world for thousands of years. As he spoke the words and phrases in their unworldly rhythms, the corporal's fear and panic grew as he watched the Baron's eyes turn ice blue and then cold white. Energy swirled about the Baron mixing with the unworldly sounds flowing from his mouth that was twisting beyond any normal manner of speech.

As the power grew, the corporal could sense movement in the no mans land and turned his eyes out to the wire and craterfield moonscape that was the site of the battle he had survived days before. He wanted to shout an alarm, the Frogs were mounting an attack, surely he needed to interrupt the Baron and sound the alarm. But, the horror of feeling the Baron beating him with the crop again, or worse, held his tongue as he continued to stare. The Baron's voice was combining tones and sounds no longer human in some strange, unnatural way it reminded the corporal of flies and crickets but not exactly like those either. The movement continued but appeared to be something rising, crawling and constricting across the earth in front of him.

His eyes focused on a couple of the bodies that had been his fellow soldiers days earlier, and then he saw it the movement of arms and legs. His eyes went wide as he watched a torso shimmy and twitch closer to another then fuse with an arm and a leg. he turned his eyes away in disbelief and tried looking elsewhere as the Baron's unholy, depraved ranting continued with growing force and decibels. The battlefield was moving everywhere, intestines slithered across craters and barbed wire to bind themselves into new horrific shapes and forms. The barbed wire itself uncurled, straightened and then became the basis for form and structure that muscle and bone attached themselves to in the same unnatural rhythm used by the Baron. Bile rose in his throat and he felt a scream rising along with every hair on his head.

The Baron could feel the fear reaching a crescendo, the spell was nearly complete and the fear fed him the energy he needed. As he proceeded with the last reiteration of the vile sounds he was now screaming, he twisted and flicked the scroll case unlocking the sharp finial that the parchment had wrapped about. Without hesitation, and with ungodly speed, he buried the finial deep into the Korporal's chest forcing blood to rush forward through the case and to be picked up with the energy that was swirling about him. He could not hear the corporal's agonizing screams as the evil charged energy drained the iron rich blood from the dying corporal's heart. The Baron flung his hands with the last syllable of the spell, focusing past the stabbing pain running through his skull, and commanded the creature to arise.

Sinew, muscle, intestine, arms, legs, heads, and skin had fused with barbed wire and steel barrels to create a creature of slithering dead flesh with pulsating membrane wings whose multiple heads turned towards the Baron dozens of snarled lips and hundreds of blood and bile stained teeth barred at its creator in disgust and loathing. The Baron's hands stretched and twisted in unnatural contortions that ended in a series of half barked, half screamed sounds that caused the creature to moan and hiss from numerous mouths. A greenish black pulse moved out from the Baron and struck the creature coating it causing the flesh and skin to pulsate and shiver. The creature screamed and moaned as it slumped towards the Baron on a multitude of webbed feet that patted against the barren, war pocked earth. The Baron climbed a ladder to the top of the trench wall as the creature stopped at the side of the ladder's upmost rung. The Baron grabbed the waiving hands and arms as one would grap the reigns of a saddled and bridled horse and stood between a ring of bone and stretched skin.

"Now we feed you with the fear and the blood of my enemies," the Baron shouted at the ears that had turned towards him twitching in anticipation of a command. "Fly, fly and feed on those I call out as our enemies."


Ok, enough of that...lol...but wanted to share what your discussion of this passage caused me to bring forth from the void! :geek: :ugeek:

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Re: MUP 090 - 'Flopping Limply Along'

Post by Keeper Jon » Thu Nov 05, 2015 3:21 pm

I... am... gobsmacked!!!! :o

:cthulhu2: :cthulhu2: :cthulhu1: :cthulhu2: :cthulhu2:

I freaking LOVED that!!! That was amazing!!! I want to read more about the Baron. How can anyone or anything stand against a foe like that?!?

The imagery was unreal. I loved it! And I'm both stunned and honored that it was our riff on Lovecraft's passage that sparked that piece of genius from you. Freaking awesome!

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Re: MUP 090 - 'Flopping Limply Along'

Post by Ritterton » Sat Nov 07, 2015 2:59 am

Glad you liked it, Keeper Jon!

Boy as to the Baron,

Friederich, Frieherr v. Alteisenstein
Rittmeister (Major) in the Imperial and Royal Hussars
Meister in the Order of the Rising Silver Theophant

How is that for a bit more on this creature of creation?

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