Author: Ryan McNeil

But Ryan, where’s the Miscellany post?

It’s over on the shiny new Gauntlet Forums, where all the cool kids are! Go sign up if you haven’t already and tell me about some weird plant-type-things. Puns and/or nightmare fuel not required, but I promise to be aghast at every one.

https://forums.gauntlet-rpg.com/t/codex-sunlight-miscellany/995

https://forums.gauntlet-rpg.com/t/codex-sunlight-miscellany/995

Hey Gauntleteers, it’s time to crowdsource the miscellany for Codex – Screams. This miscellany is called “Three Dozen Things That Definitely Aren’t Right Behind You.” Submissions need to be a single sentence, or 2-3 short sentences. By submitting here, you’re agreeing to let us use it (you’ll get a credit on the issue). We’re looking for evocative things; the purpose of the miscellany is to inspire the reader.

Here are some examples:

“They look almost like wolves, and speak with the voices of those climbers have lost. It can’t be your grandmother asking you to rest for a moment and spare her poor knees, but oh, it’s nice to pretend.”

“Most of the records are corrupted, but the recoverable portion from this workstation details the medical staff’s surprise at finding a local fungus pervading the internal organs—particularly the lungs—of a mechanic who should have had no exposure to the botany lab. …Did Higgins have that cough before you got here?”

“The Ragged Man of Copper Creek resembles a cloth doll made by someone with only the faintest grasp of sewing. Loose threads trail from his mismatched arms and unhemmed suit, waiting to entangle anyone who stumbles across him.”

P.S. If you want to be credited as something other than your G+ name, let me know!

Hey Gauntleteers, it’s time to crowdsource the miscellany for Codex – Bone. This miscellany is called “Three Dozen Things That Are Terribly Wrong with These Bones.” Submissions need to be a single sentence, or 2-3 short sentences. By submitting here, you’re agreeing to let us use it (you’ll get a credit on the issue). We’re looking for evocative things; the purpose of the miscellany is to inspire the reader.

Here are some examples:

“Radiocarbon dating placed the vertebrae at the end of the Ice Age, removing the possibility of a sauropod. Barring evidence of an ancient giraffe population in Ontario, this may be a previously undiscovered species.”

“Damn it, I know what spongy bone looks like, and this isn’t it! This was a hive.”

“The crew remain distressed by the local flora, claiming to see human remains in every fallen branch. I confess the resemblance grows harder to ignore. I myself found a perfectly formed jawbone, and can find no carving marks upon it.”

P.S. If you want to be credited as something other than your G+ name, let me know!

Hey Gauntleteers, I’m back crowdsourcing the miscellany for Codex – Emerald. This miscellany is called “Three Dozen Jeweled Treasures, Allegedly Blessed or Cursed.” (Thanks to David LaFreniere for the prompt this month!) Submissions need to be a single sentence, or 2-3 short sentences. By submitting here, you’re agreeing to let us use it (you’ll get a credit on the issue). We’re looking for evocative things; the purpose of the miscellany is to inspire the reader.

Here are some examples:

“The Beggar’s Diamond is vivid yellow and almost impossible to keep. State of the art security systems fail, planes crash, and no hiding place remains unknown for long. It would be worth a fortune, if you could convince someone to buy the damned thing.”

“A band of sapphires encircles the Weeping Chalice. The strange ‘tears’ they emit at any attempted poisoning are actually the poison itself, magically filtered away. Any remaining liquid when the gems stop their weeping is safe to drink, though only a fool would pick up a cup still damp with poison.”

“The compass is ostentatious, inlaid with gemstones and precious woods, and its needle spins wildly for some bearers while holding straight as if fixed for others. They say it was a gift—or a rebuke—to a king who was never pleased, made to aim for whatever one’s heart most desires.”

P.S. If you want to be credited as something other than your G+ name, let me know!

Hey Gauntleteers, I’m back crowdsourcing the miscellany for Codex – Dark 2. This miscellany is called “Three Dozen Constellations.” Submissions need to be a single sentence, or 2-3 short sentences. By submitting here, you’re agreeing to let us use it (you’ll get a credit on the issue). We’re looking for evocative things; the purpose of the miscellany is to inspire the reader.

Here are some examples:

“The story goes that when Semias the Insatiable found nothing left to conquer, he knotted a ladder out of every kind of grass and rush, tied it to an arrow, and aimed his bow at the moon. On clear nights you can see Semias’ Ladder marked out in the stars and Semias himself as the brightest star among them, still climbing.”

“Any child with a passing interest in astronomy can find Orion the Hunter by his bright belt of three stars. Or they could. Now only two remain, and one of them is fading.”

“The goddess Nerha’s love for Vaone was surpassed only by her grief at the knowledge of her mortal lover’s eventual death. Unwilling to let death claim her, Nerha carried Vaone with her into the stars, where the two remain entwined as a single constellation.”

P.S. If you want to be credited as something other than your G+ name, let me know!

Holy heck, I’m so late this month. But! You’re all here, and you remain awesome!

Together we’re crowdsourcing the miscellany for Codex – Joy 2. This miscellany is called “Three Dozen Local Holidays and Celebrations.” Submissions need to be a single sentence, or 2-3 short sentences. By submitting here, you’re agreeing to let us use it (you’ll get a credit on the issue). We’re looking for evocative things; the purpose of the miscellany is to inspire the reader.

Here are some examples:

“Every year, folk hero Faina the False’s clever victory over the Hollow King’s army is commemorated with carved gourd soldiers and a fiercely competitive contest of tall tales. Expect no one participating in the festivities to speak a word of truth.”

“The last brief daylight before the dark winter months at Terminus Base used to be observed somberly, but it’s morphed into a day-long party with round-the-clock simulated daylight hiding the final sunset, generous alcohol rations, and no shortage of bad decisions.”

“The Velaris Belt is mostly uninhabited, but every third year it comes alive as the site of the former Kallix Company’s reunion. They gather in a swarm of mismatched ships to swap stories, revel in each other’s presence, and salute the ones who couldn’t return.”

P.S. If you want to be credited by something other than your G+ name, let me know!

Hey Gauntleteers, I’m back crowdsourcing the miscellany for Codex – Flame. This miscellany is called “Three Dozen Separated Lovers.” Submissions need to be a single sentence, or 2-3 short sentences. By submitting here, you’re agreeing to let us use it (you’ll get a credit on the issue). We’re looking for evocative things; the purpose of the miscellany is to inspire the reader.

Here are some examples:

“Magda Borland is accustomed to years alone, but the famed Captain Ulrika ‘The Bull’ Voss is long overdue. She’ll pay handsomely for any news of her wife’s ship, or better yet, for help getting Captain Voss out of whatever’s befallen her.”

“Starcrossed lovers meet in the hours of dawn and dusk, when the Lords of Night and Day briefly share the sky before continuing on their eternal opposite courses. Gifts of morning glory and evening primrose adorn the makeshift shrines that pop up wherever someone seeks their blessing.”

“It’s unusual but not unheard of for multiple people to share the same chassis. The cyborg begging for assistance with the ransomware sequestering his partner’s data is new, though. His movements are hesitant and clumsy, one mind trying to remember how to control processes long shared.”

It’s late but it’s here! We’re crowdsourcing the miscellany for Codex – Asphalt. This miscellany is called “Three Dozen Stops Along the Road.” Submissions need to be a single sentence, or 2-3 short sentences at most. By submitting here, you’re agreeing to let us use it (you’ll get a credit on the issue). We’re looking for evocative things; the purpose of the miscellany is to inspire the reader.

Here are some examples:

“The Exit 33 off-ramp is ruined, and there’s more rubble than buildings out that way, but someone’s still tending the plants in the old nursery. Rumor is they’re willing to trade, especially for quality fertilizer.”

“There’s no sign, and the turn-off’s barely visible until it’s too late, especially in the dark, but if you follow the road back into the trees and keep your headlights off the whole way, someone you knew will meet you where it dead-ends.”

“Sonya’s Diner isn’t good, but the cook was a medic once, of some stripe, and Sonya’s both willing to look the other way if someone spends the night nursing a cup of burnt coffee and polite enough not to notice if they don’t seem quite human.”

Hey Gauntleteers, I’m back crowdsourcing the miscellany for Codex – Storm. This miscellany is called “Three Dozen Unnatural Weather Phenomena.” Submissions need to be a single sentence, or 2-3 short sentences. By submitting here, you’re agreeing to let us use it (you’ll get a credit on the issue). We’re looking for evocative things; the purpose of the miscellany is to inspire the reader.

We need three pieces of information for each entry: 1) A name or location of some weird weather, 2) what’s so unusual about it, and 3) a rumored cause or necessary precaution.

Here are some examples:

“The rain here is alive, or close to it. Bottle some, bring it inside, and it’ll glow a soft greenish blue bright enough to illuminate a room for up to a week before dimming. Locals say it reflects the mood of the sky; if a bottle goes out early or yellows, stay indoors.”

“They say the fog that hangs over the Garnet Coast was a witch’s dying curse or a trickster god’s prank, but one thing is certain: trying to work magic inside its reach is like trying to weave smoke.”

“The fierce storms of Taranis-4 make exploration nigh impossible, but researchers tracking its largest storm system have noticed a pattern emerge over years: its rise and fall appears to mimic Morse Code.”

We’d like to do some crowdsourcing for the miscellany in Codex – Chrome 2. The miscellany is called “Three Dozen Cyberware Glitches and Malfunctions.” Submissions need to be a single sentence, or 2-3 short sentences. By submitting here, you’re agreeing to let us use it (you’ll get a credit on the issue). We’re looking for evocative things; the purpose of the miscellany is to inspire the reader.

We need three pieces of information for each entry: 1) A name or origin and function of a piece of cyberware, 2) a fault, glitch, or malfunction particular to it, and 3) why that’s a problem (or possibly desirable).

Here are some examples:

“Gugonov Ltd’s Raptor X eyes are popular and well-supported. The company claims it’s a glitch and not by design that any unofficial repairs have a chance of causing nightvision mode to activate randomly, but also stresses that such servicing voids the warranty and should not be attempted.”

“Adachi-Nakamura implantable communicators are comparatively cheap and easy to install, but they are susceptible to a glitch in their wireless connections that leaves users hearing wifi signals. In some cities, this can be deafening.”

“Eideloid neural implants are marketed as allowing superhuman visual and auditory processing and recall, but that’s not why they’re famous. A simple hack turns them into an all-encompassing synesthetic trip on demand, with only a small chance of lasting damage.”