What if the world was just a figment of a god’s imagination? What if all the galaxies, stars and black holes were nothing more than ideas floating around an infinitely powerful mindscape. Gods are often described as omnipotent and omniscient and therefore instead of just creating everything, they could be the totality of existence. But if the god created the world in their infinite mind, this might make the existence of these realities quite hazardous. What if the god is distracted? What if the god gets a migraine?

A Truly Apocalyptic Hangover

When strange curtains of light start showing up on the long-range telescopes, it is dismissed as extraordinary astronomical activity, interesting only to scientists. The general increase in global anxiety and bad moods was attributed to the heightened political tension in the middle-east. And the rains of small lizards across the globe were classified as minor mysteries, nothing more. But when the laws of physics start to bend, people sit up start to notice.

Somehow everything seems drier and parched. It’s not just the environment either, but people get dry mouths even after drinking liters of water. Unexplained outbreaks of cholera-like symptoms cause distress across the globe. The world leaders are nervous and turn to religion, science and even random guessing to find answers for their people.

Amidst this chaos a new oracle rises, preaching a creed of alka seltzer, drinking plenty of water and moderation in all things. Her followers whisper of secrets that might restore order to the world. Will the world end in a cacophony or will the bad times end? And will the god honor their promise to never party again?

Legacies can be interesting things. You might get one from a long-lost relative or from your closest friend and sometimes they have interesting conditions in them for the inheritor. Sometimes legacies can also be problematic, since they may come with duties or a heavy tax attached to them.  Sometimes inheritors are not private persons. societies, universities, religious and charitable organisations receive legacies all the time.

Sometimes legacies come with a stigma on them or with other strings attached. A notorious privateer might be rich, but his gold is stained with the greed and blood of many. Or there might a conditional clause on the legacy. A quest might have to be done to receive the legacy or the inheritor might need to get married…really fast.

So when a humble parish church receives the legacy of it’s richest and most infamous member, the feared slave-trading, privateering captain “Blood-eye” Jenkinson, they must make a difficult decision about how to use the new property and how to fill the strange obligations laid out in the will.

Pirate’s Bequests

“Blood-Eye” Jenkinson was in his day, one of the most feared of the English privateers. His ship, “The Noble Savage” plundered far and wide. His name was feared by the French, the Spanish and the Dutch alike. His prizes ranged from humble French fishing boats on the Channel to mighty Spanish Treasure Galleons on the Caribbean seas. He even once sailed to Japan on a mission for the king himself, delivering gifts to the mysterious East and capturing a Dutch porcelain trader on his way home.  Read more »

Sometimes adventure doesn’t need dank dungeons or old castles. True Villains are not mandatory if the premise itself gives the heroes some motivations to seek adventure. Sometimes teens being teens is enough.

Random Midwestern Town, USA, 195X

The heady, hot days of summer are coming to an unavoidable end as autumn and school rear their ugly head. But for this last weekend, the vacation is still here and so is the Last Dance of Summer, a fond tradition for the teenagers in the area.

But when Wednesday rolls in, so does the military. Trucks filled with soldiers and scientists, all wearing strange masks and talking heatedly about curfews, contamination and about something called Project Mandible. They issue an effective quarantine of the town, nobody is to leave the town perimeter until an all-clear has been given. Food supplies and water will be distributed, but no movement outside the town will be allowed on penalty of arrest. To the teenagers, this sounds really bad.

Military cordon or not, they will not miss the Last Dance. Maybe they can even look into the strange lights and sounds coming from the Old McStrange’s farm…

Read more »

Some relationships may come with baggage. Some deals come with extra strings attached. And sometimes, when you take over a nation, you get their customs and institutions too.

Othar’s Little Problem

When Othar the Bold led his small horde of tribesmen through the Kingdom’s lands and vanquished the King’s army, the populace hailed him and his men as heroes. The King had been a cruel and petty tyrant with a penchant for excess punishment and abusing his position in many ways. A charismatic and able barbarian leader sounded really good. Othar was pleasantly surprised that he didn’t have to burn and loot to get rich and the endless supply of good wine and willing women kept his men satisfied. So he became the new king and for a while he enjoyed it immensely.

Read more »