The Aether Chronicle

Transcription

1 Th Athr Chronicl Th Imaginary Altrnat History of th Stampunk Empir From Friday Octobr 17, 2014 to Friday Octobr 31, 2014 Productions board gams. Th Somthing Wickd xpansion for A Touch of Evil is th first gam I workd on thr, but you can find my nam in th crdits for a numbr of Flying Frog gams. I v also did consulting on th stampunk asthtic and costumd ovr 100 popl for Harbraind Schm s Crimson Stam Pirats on th ipad. AA: Wow, all of thos gams sound intrsting, and it s grat to har about th various rols you v playd in crating and bringing thos gams to lif. For your currnt gam, what is th prmis of Incrdibl Expditions? LS: I wantd a gam that would b asy for anyon to larn to play and would b dripping with a stampunk asthtic and world. AA: Why us stampunk as th gam s asthtic? LS: Incrdibl Expditions is mor than just a board gam. I dsignd it to showcas th imagination and crativ makr skills of th stampunk community at larg. By starting with a stampunk asthtic, I v bn abl to bring in frinds to contribut to th projct who ar illustrators, prop makrs, costumrs, musicians and vn a dancr and a calligraphr. liz spain, crator of stampunk gam, incrdibl xpditions: Qust for Atlantis Intrviw with Stampunk Gam Dsignr, by Kvin Stil This wk w ar talking with Liz Spain, crator of stampunk gam, Incrdibl Expditions: Qust for Atlantis, whr playrs lad a stampunk xpdition to xplor fantastic placs and fac othrworldly horrors in a dck building stratgy gam for 1-5 playrs. Airship Ambassador: Hi Liz, it s grat to catch up with you and talk about your projcts. Liz Spain: Hi! I m rally xcitd that w r so clos to rvaling th final product of th projct I v bn working on for th past two yars. AA: Bfor w talk about your currnt gam, which is dfinitly not your first, what can you shar about your background as a gams dsignr? LS: I startd in gam dsign crating Lovcraft-inspird liv-action mystry gams. My husband and I ran ths moduls in our homtown and at Gn Con (th largst tabltop gaming convntion in North Amrica). Evntually, w addd stampunk lmnts to our gams which nrichd th worlds of our gams and gav vryon an xcus to costum to th nins. I workd a lot on Marshal Huntr s stampunk liv-action rol playing gam Ris of Astr. In addition to writing world matrial and hlping to dvlop th ruls, I also wrot th original moduls for th gam. Svral of th charactrs I wrot for thos moduls bcam vry popular and thir storis bcam part of th world s canon. I v also play tstd, costumd, modlld and dmod for a numbr of Flying Frog LS: A slightly-unhingd scintist, Profssor Pndrgast, was kickd out of th Royal Acadmy of Scincs for his wild thoris on th fat of th lost city of Atlantis. Aftr discovring that th sunkn city driftd and bcam trappd in th ic shlvs off th coast of Antarctica, h announcd to th world that h was forming an xpdition. Othr notabl xplorrs th world ovr jump in on th challng and th rac is on to b th first to uncovr th ancint city. AA: What was th motivation for crating Incrdibl Expditions? How did it all com about? LS: Incrdibl Expditions is my attmpt to put th world of my Lovcraftian stampunk mystry gams in a box. I rally wantd to s th crativ imagination of stampunk in a board gam and dcidd th only way that was going to happn was if I did it myslf. AA: Compltly undrstandabl, and somtims th only way to gt somthing don, or to gt just th itm w want, is to do it ourslvs. Why a card gam? AA: That s an intrsting rang of skills to bring into crating a gam. Who ar th othr popl who ar part of th tam to crat this gam? LS: Th biggst contributor to th projct has bn my husband, Austin. Throughout this projct, h s bn thr as a strong voic of criticism and hlpd immnsly with organizing th Kickstartr campaign and play tsting. Incrdibl Expditions ows th dpth and balanc of its stratgy to his constructiv scpticism at vry stp in dvlopmnt. Jad Chung (of Arctic Phonix Studios) is a frind and artist who hlpd m dvlop th distinctiv art nouvau styl for th graphic dsign. Th card frams ar hr dsign and sh also mad costums and modlld for diffrnt charactrs in th gam. Byond that, thr ar simply too many wondrful popl to nam. Ovr a dozn artists workd on th illustration and graphic dsign and thr wr dozns of modls, most of whom mad thir own costums and props. Thr s hardly a stampunk in th Sattl ara who hasn t contributd to th projct in som way. Chck back for part 2 whr Liz talks about rsarch, artwork and th kickstartr xprinc: com/2014/07/28/spain1/

2 purchasd at th following link: Wll folks, th blovd Jupitr sris is now going to hit th big scrn! Author Lonardo Ramirz has plans to turn th sris into an animatd short, and th thrilling storis will b dlighting radrs from th world of film! Th Kickstartr Crowd-Funding Campaign wnt liv this wk, and now audincs ar contributing to th projct so thy can s thir blovd charactrs com to lif. Covr Art for th blovd Childrn s Book Sris THE JUPITER CHRONICLES. THE JUPITER CHRONICLES Kickstartr Campaign NOW LIVE! Wll dar radrs, I hav what w hav all bn waiting for: a Stampunk Book Sris that introducs childrn to th wild and wondrful world of Stampunk. Th Jupitr Chronicls is a clbratd sris writtn by Lonardo Ramirz (Covr Art by: PoochiMars) that radrs call Fantastic and Captivating For All Radrs. Th Jupitr Chronicls is a sris that highlights th journy of young Ian Castillo, a boy who, togthr with his sistr Calli, discovr thir scrt: thy ar th son and daughtr of a Jovian king whos world had bn subjugatd by th vil Lord Phobos of Mars. Aftr a grat battl was fought thy rturnd to th stam-powrd world of Jupitr whr Firflights and Skyrockts rul th air. Now, as part of th nwly rborn Chrono Lgion, Ian struggls to find his plac in a world powrd by stam. Th fat of th Jovian Ralms ar in his hands as h fights against th Martian Doomslayrs and sks to protct Earth from what is to com. A much dpr struggl lis within him. With no fathr to guid him, Ian dspratly sarchs for th answr to th qustion h s bn asking himslf all of his lif: why did my fathr lav m? THE JUPITER CHRONICLES books can b Th Kickstartr crowd funding campaign for th animatd film short basd on THE JUPITER CHRONICLES is now liv! Join Ian and Calli Castillo as thy ar rocktd to an imprisond world powrd by stam as thy sarch for th answr to th on looming qustion that has plagud thm for fiv yars... Th Athr Chronicl will b posting nws about THE JUPITER CHRONICLES Kickstartr Campaign, and kpig radrs up-to-dat on th progrss of this highly anticpatd animatd short! To witnss THE JUPITER CHRONICLE S upcoming advrtising campaign, subscrib to Th Athr Chronicl by Following th Discussions at ithr of th links blow: Th Stampunk Empir Wbsit: forum/topics/rign-of-giant-octopusplaguing-london-coms-to-an-nd Th Stampunk Writrs and Artists Guild Wbsit: forum/topics/rign-of-giant-octopusplaguing-london-coms-to-an-nd...why did thir fathr lav? Click this link to go to th Kickstartr campaign sit: lonardoramirz/jupitr-chronicls-astampunk-animatd-spac-pic Mt th Animatd Charactrs from THE JUPITER CHRONICLES: Ian Castillo: Human, Mal, Ag: 13, Hight: 4 11 Wight: 70 lbs. Hair color: Blond.Ian was born on Jupitr but raisd on Earth in th poorst of circumstancs. Having no fathr to guid him, h always lookd to th stars for hlp in figuring out why lif bor him into growing up without a fathr-figur and who h is. H ss othrs find thir dstiny and wondrs if h ll vr find his. H ll nvr find it bing ovrly cautious. Bcaus h s always looking for answrs, h is almost obsssivly prsistnt. This lnds him to oftn b th brunt of th joks and jabs coming from his stp-brothr and sistr. Calli Castillo: Human, Fmal, Ag: 10, studnt, brown ys, Hight: 4 6 Wight: 65 lbs. Hair color: dark brown, wavy. Blongings: Journal, pncil, Lathr hlmt with goggls, a cloth bag that holds hr blongings. Calli writs in hr journal vry chanc sh can. Sh also njoys pstring hr oldr brothr Ian and calling him nams lik Toad. Calli is namd aftr th Jupitr moon Callisto. Unlik hr brothr, Calli was born on Earth aftr th Martian War. Fun and advnturous, Calli is nvr too afraid to mbark on a nw journy whrvr it may tak thm which somtims gts th gang into troubl. Sh oftn rads out loud what sh is writing in hr journal, much to th annoyanc of hr brothr Ian. Sh is th only Wordsmith in xistnc in th Chrono Lgion.

3 Th Athr Rviw Of Books P art 1 Th darkning sky and th scudding clouds sm to b compting to shroud th land in a blankt of darknss and vn though thr is a full moon, it only pks through th braks in th fast moving clouds but vn as it dos it fac is quickly whiskd away. With sunst a good hour away w find a young coupl in a opn toppd hors drawn carriag pulling to a stop nar th dg of a quit forst. A smartly drssd man stps out of th carriag h turns and waits till th bautiful young woman offrs hr hand to him. H instad rachs for hr waist and lifts hr from th carriag and sts hr gntly on th ground. Sh blushs at his bing so forward but sh smils as sh looks into his fac and ss th lov h has for hr so clarly displayd for all th world to s. H turns and rachs into th carriag and pulls a hurrican lantrn from undr th sat and lights it bringing a warm glow to th kn high grass whr its light falls. H placs it on th stp of th carriag thn pulls a handkrchif from his brast pockt and stps bhind th young lady. Placing th blindfold ovr hr ys sh sms to hav som rsrvation but instad sh rachs for his hands but waits till h has tid it about hr had thn sh tracs hr fingrs on his skin thn draws his hands to hr lips and gntly placs kisss on ach palm. H stps closr prssing his body against hrs as sh draws his arms about hr and h placs a kiss on hr nck. Looking at th fading light h slips on arm from hr grasp and taks th lantrn. H thn bgins to lad hr straight to th forst. Th high grass nds at th dg of th forst allowing th man to lad th woman mor asily furthr into th woods. Th fading sunlight and th intrmittnt moon light sms to opn a path dpr into th forst. Not a sound of th normally noisy woods can b hard by th coupl giving no clu to th blindfoldd lady whr sh is bing lad. H knows sh might protst bing takn into th darkning woods. But h also knows sh has placd hr trust in him to kp hr saf, this givs him courag to lad hr on to a plac that if sh wr to protst would los it s nchantmnt for hr. So onward h draws hr dpr still till thy ntr into a glad in th midst of th forst. H turns to hr and whisprs in hr ar. Stay vry quit and still and tonight you will s magic. Moving bhind hr h gntly rmovs th blindfold. Sh blinks svral tims till th scn bfor hr bcoms clar. Sh slowly turns looking at th twilight dark forst. Thr sits a small cabin which clarly has bn apart of this plac for so long th forst sms to b trying to rclaim it by intrtwining its limbs and vins into th construction. But upon closr inspction sh ss th cabin is not vn man mad bcaus th walls ar still living trs. Its roof is bough and thir lavs ar so vnly spacd to look lik shingls on a quaint littl hom. Undr th Firfly Glad, By Alan Smith covr of th natur mad porch sh ss tabls and chairs hav bn st up. Upon th tabl is a stting for two complt with burning candls which cast thir warm glow just far nough to add to th mystry and romanc of this glad. A magnificnt stag stands nar th cabin looking at th intrudrs which hav com into his kingdom. Slowly it bnds its nck so h can tak anothr bit of grass and thn h looks again to th coupl and without a backwards glanc wondrs away into th forst laving th glad to th intrudrs. Compltly nshroudd by th woods th dll has a small stram running btwn th cnturis old trs. It slips into and out of th forst but as it curls around a mound of arth upon which th cabin is at its pak. Th stram forms a pool right in front of th cabin. Th pool is almost prfctly round xcpt wr th stram both fd into and out of it. This strang pool sms to slowly spin as th watrs maks its way around it. Sh turns and looks at hr nw husband and smils. It is so bautiful hr. Sh whisprs. H looks at hr and gntly pulls hr into a kiss that sms to stop tim. Slowly th forst waks as thir kiss strtchs on for many momnts. Th night birds bgin to sing, th frogs croak, th crickts sm to pick up th mlody of th forst and add countr point to th rhythm, and th winds bgin to sigh high in th trs and add to th voics of natur. Slowly h braks th kiss and smils at hr. Thy spak no words as thy turn toward th cabin. H taks hr hand and thy walk up th small ris. Dousing th lantrn and putting it asid. H thn lads hr to stand nxt to th tabl and on aftr th othr snuffs out th candls. H taks hr hand in his and turns toward th pool. Sh squzs his hand as a trickl of far grows as th last of th days light bgins to slips away. H placs his fingrs to hr lips. Sh nods, putting hr trust in him. Sh holds his hand and looks around wondring what h has in mind. Th forst song sms to com to a clos and th moonlight flickrs with th racing clouds. Th light grows bright for a momnt thn dims as if moonlight is turnd down lik a gas lamp, laving thm in th nar total darknss of a forst on a cloudy night. Again sh squzs his hand and h gntly squzs back giving hr rassuranc that h is with hr. Out in th forst byond th stram a rd light bgins to glow. Thn a scond on right nxt to it winks opn, as if a wolf had just opnd his ys aftr slping all day. A scond pair of ys mov slowly closr, thn a third, and a fourth, thn mor and mor join thm. Soon thr ar dozns of ys sming to star through thm. Sh bgins to stp back thn looks at hr hand holding his. Evn in th gloom of nar total darknss h is watching hr. Sh ss his loving smil rmmbrs his promis to lov hr and tak car of hr always. Sh draws courag from him and puts hr total trust in his judgmnt. Sh knows in hr hart of harts that h would nvr put hr in dangr knowingly. Sh closs hr ys and taks a dp brath and rlass hr far. Whn sh opns hr ys sh ss his proud smil thn h motions with his had toward th haunting ys in th woods. Sh turns and looks at th ys daring thm to gt past hr lovr. And to hr amazmnt th ys sm to drift apart thn in on s and two s chang color. Sh is takn aback but watchs fascinatd by this turn of vnts. Th colors ar vry color in th rainbow, thy bgin to bob and wav through th woods moving closr till at last thy com out ovr th gntly bubbling watrs of th brook. Thy swoop low ovr th watr sming to danc with thir opposit rflctd thr. Onc again th sound of th forst music fills th glad. Th danc ovr th watr sms to follow a pattrn and with it, th watr sms to b racting. Slowly mist can b sn to ris from th watr. Nothing unusual for th warm watr to rlas its hat in to th night air. But this, this is diffrnt. Th mist swirls in pattrns following th lights. As if th darting lights ar coaxing th mist, drawing it forth and asking it to join thm in th air. Slowly th mist swirls highr, forming columns and cons of vapor. Whn th firfly lights sm happy with what thy hav wrought thy bgin to swarm togthr into los formations. Slowly th clustrs of lights condns down till thy tak th form of mn. Whil th many rmaining lights mov forward and ntr th mist and sm to dart to and fro insid th mist furthr shaping it to thir will. Whn at last thy ar don thr abov th watr stands mn of light and ladis of mist adornd with jwls of light around th wrist, and nck, th hair with tiaras of light and facs with ys of blu. Th forst sounds sms to tak on a nw form as if on song has ndd and anothr is bginning. Sh gasps at th sight marvlling in wondr at what is happning bfor hr. Th ladis of mist and th mn of light bow to on anothr and thn thy bgin a danc abov th watrs of th pool. Th combind light from th glowing firflis cast a warm light ovr th pool and a path sms to appar lading down to th pool from th cabin. Th man lifts his wif s hand to his lips and kisss it gntly thn h lads hr to th dg of th pool and stps bfor hr, h too bows to hr and sh taks th cu and curtsis to him accpting his rqust to danc. H taks hr hand as sh lays hr othr upon his shouldr and h placs his on hr sid. With a nod of his had thy fall in stp with th music. Without noticing th pool is covrd compltly with a fog that drifts up th bank of th pool. Soon th othr dancrs hav joind th coupl moving around thm as th music plays on. Th young woman nvr rmovs hr ys from his and h from hrs. Thy mov in and out of th othr dancrs, so caught up in th momnt that sh nvr notics that it is thy who hav movd out ovr th watr and hav joind th firfly dancrs.

4 T W R r h t v i A w h Of Books Firfly Glad, By Alan Smith ll dar radrs, tonight w hav a flight of fancy, a journy into th world of romanc for your rading plasur! Firfly Glad combins th world of romanc with th spirit world. Th wondr of th natural world is xaltd in this tal, as th mystrious world of th nighttim forst opns up to th radr. Th dscription of th night music is vry complling. Th romanc of this stting also conjurs imags of th wondrful, snsual things that might happn on a walk with your lovr in th forst at night. But thn, natur bgins to tll its own tal. Thr is a dfinit hint of pastoralism in this tal, in th simplicity and bauty of th natural world. But also in th implication that Natur hrslf might hold hr own scrts and might in fact b up to somthing as th bautiful scn unfolds bfor th two lovrs. I for on am vry intrigud and wondr what th scond instalmnt of this tal has in stor for us. I crtainly hop that this isn t th a prlud to som sort of nightmar scn, and th Firfly Glad turns out to b som sort of insidious trap! Wll, radrs, if you would lik to find out mor, thn you will hav to wait until th nxt dition of Th Athr Chronicl! Should you wish to snd a Lttr to th Editor, submit your writtn work, or offr a tip rgarding a potntial story (g. political uphaval, crim, spcial vnts, art and music) plas contact Lsli Orton at: ortonlj@hotmail.com. Whn th coupl first s th firflis, th scn is bautiful, but innocuous. Whn th firflis bgin thir chorographd danc, thr is mor of that snsation that th two individuals ar only props in th story that Natur is tlling th world. Th symbolism of th firflis is vry vocativ. Firflis rprsnt a singl point of light fluttring in a darknd world: light has always bn a mtaphor for truth, civilization, wondr, magic, rnwal, tc. Th ida that ths lights, as living things, might hav thir own particular magic, thir own particular plan, is a lovly thought. Th notion of th Firfly Dancrs transports th radrs into th world of th story. Ar th husband and wif a part of this danc, this ritual that taks plac only in th summr forst? As thy danc, do thir ft still touch th ground? Ar thy still surroundd by drifting fog, or hav thy bn magically whiskd away into th world of th Firfly Dancrs? Th Firfly Glad Nw Author Alan Smith

5 Travl Amlia Own Kibby, Lost En Rout To Pragu! D ar Radrs, w rgrt to inform you that our blovd Travl Writr Miss Amlia Own Kibby has not arrivd at hr dstination in Pragu, Czchoslovakia. Th zpplin sh was aboard nvr arrivd in Pragu. W last rcivd word from Miss Amlia whn sh snt us a brif tlgraph informing us sh and hr travl companion Alic had arrivd at th Graf Zpplin which was going to thm to Pragu. Sh also maild a frind at th nwspapr a charming snapshot of hrslf and Alic posd in front of th zpplin bfor it took flight. Local law nforcmnt has bn notifid, and Scotland Yard has contactd thir political agnts in Europ, as w attmpt to track Miss Amlia down. For now, our prayrs ar with hr and Alic, and our harts go out to thm in thir trribl plight! God spd, Miss Amlia Own Kibby. Alic (lft) narly knocks Amlia (right) asid with on of hr infamous parasols, to protct hr fair complxion whil travlling th glob. Th Staff at Th Athr Chronicl

6 Th Athr s Wkly Stamswaddl By Troppl E. Armitag K oh-i-noor or Koh-i- Nothing A rumour has com to th ars of your corrspondnt that is so outragous it must b tru. Th rumour involvs th world s largst diamond th, Koh-i-Noor also known as th Mountain of Light, currntly on display at th Grat Exhibition that I am sur almost vry soul in London has visitd. If tru th rumour mans that th artfact w all saw and wondrd at is in fact not th Koh-i- Noor but a rplica producd by on Arthur Smith a jwllry artisan of Edgwatr Road. My informant tlls m that th ral Koh-i-Noor was supposd to b in a box transportd by train to London from Portsmouth whr th ship carrying it from India brthd. It was said to hav passd into th car of th Chairman of th British East India Company and to hav bn safly stord in East India Hous in Ladnhall Strt. But whn th box was opnd it was found to b mpty, laving th Chairman of th East India Company in a stat of apoplxy sinc h was to hand th diamond to Hr Majsty th Qun as part of th trms of th conclusion of th Sikh Wars. It was th Chairman s Scrtary who suggstd making a rplica of glass, which might account for th lack of lustr oftn rmarkd on by thos who hav sn th xhibit at th xhibition. As to what happnd to th gnuin jwl? No on knows xcpt that a fllow waring long silk robs and a turban was sn alighting from th sam train that th jwl travlld on. If my informant is right, th Koh-i-Noor is Koh-i-Nothing and I assum Hr Majsty will not b amusd. Your humbl corrspondnt, Troppl E. Armitag A n Unfortunat Mattr It givs m no joy to bring nws of an unfortunat mattr in rlation to th fat of on William Dwight Coburn Esquir. Radrs of a rfind natur who follow th litrary going on will hav, I am sur hard of Mr Coburn, somtims pot and man about town who wrot that work of pros Th Sun Shins Not Undr th Lily. Th unfortunat mattr concrns a stam carriag, which h is said to hav takn possssion of just last wk as a rsult of an inhritanc h rcivd on th untimly passing of his fathr, William Clark Coburn of Middlsbrough. My informant tlls m that Coburn th youngr was strongly warnd to not ovr stok th boilr for far of an xplosion, advic h was pron to ignor. H was last sn wildly carning down Tottnham High Strt barly missing horss and strt carts as h wnt. That was thr days ago and no sign has bn sn of him or th stam carriag sinc. W can only guss that h has ithr blown himslf up or that h was travlling so fast that h has launchd himslf into th sky nvr to b sn again. Of cours it could b that h drov into th canal and has found out for himslf that indd, thr is no sun shining undr th lily. Your humbl corrspondnt, Troppl E. Armitag Troppl E. Armitag, Nw Fatur Columnist