Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 19 August Mina Murry's Journal, Siser Agatha's Letter, Dr. Seward's Diary

Busy day. Mina hears about Jonathan, Dr. Seward notices a change in Renfield.

19 August.—Joy, joy, joy! although not all joy. At last, news of Jonathan. The dear fellow has been ill; that is why he did not write. I am not afraid to think it or say it, now that I know. Mr. Hawkins sent me on the letter, and wrote himself, oh, so kindly. I am to leave in the morning and go over to Jonathan, and to help to nurse him if necessary, and to bring him home. Mr. Hawkins says it would not be a bad thing if we were to be married out there. I have cried over the good Sister’s letter till I can feel it wet against my bosom, where it lies. It is of Jonathan, and must be next my heart, for he is in my heart. My journey is all mapped out, and my luggage ready. I am only taking one change of dress; Lucy will bring my trunk to London and keep it till I send for it, for it may be that ... I must write no more; I must keep it to say to Jonathan, my husband. The letter that he has seen and touched must comfort me till we meet.

Letter, Sister Agatha, Hospital of St. Joseph and Ste. Mary, Buda-Pesth, to Miss Wilhelmina Murray.

“12 August.

“Dear Madam,—

“I write by desire of Mr. Jonathan Harker, who is himself not strong enough to write, though progressing well, thanks to God and St. Joseph and Ste. Mary. He has been under our care for nearly six weeks, suffering from a violent brain fever. He wishes me to convey his love, and to say that by this post I write for him to Mr. Peter Hawkins, Exeter, to say, with his dutiful respects, that he is sorry for his delay, and that all of his work is completed. He will require some few weeks’ rest in our sanatorium in the hills, but will then return. He wishes me to say that he has not sufficient money with him, and that he would like to pay for his staying here, so that others who need shall not be wanting for help.

“Believe me,
“Yours, with sympathy and all blessings,
“Sister Agatha.

“P. S.—My patient being asleep, I open this to let you know something more. He has told me all about you, and that you are shortly to be his wife. All blessings to you both! He has had some fearful shock—so says our doctor—and in his delirium his ravings have been dreadful; of wolves and poison and blood; of ghosts and demons; and I fear to say of what. Be careful with him always that there may be nothing to excite him of this kind for a long time to come; the traces of such an illness as his do not lightly die away. We should have written long ago, but we knew nothing of his friends, and there was on him nothing that any one could understand. He came in the train from Klausenburg, and the guard was told by the station-master there that he rushed into the station shouting for a ticket for home. Seeing from his violent demeanour that he was English, they gave him a ticket for the furthest station on the way thither that the train reached.

“Be assured that he is well cared for. He has won all hearts by his sweetness and gentleness. He is truly getting on well, and I have no doubt will in a few weeks be all himself. But be careful of him for safety’s sake. There are, I pray God and St. Joseph and Ste. Mary, many, many, happy years for you both.”

Dr. Seward’s Diary.

19 August.—Strange and sudden change in Renfield last night. About eight o’clock he began to get excited and sniff about as a dog does when setting. The attendant was struck by his manner, and knowing my interest in him, encouraged him to talk. He is usually respectful to the attendant and at times servile; but to-night, the man tells me, he was quite haughty. Would not condescend to talk with him at all. All he would say was:—

“I don’t want to talk to you: you don’t count now; the Master is at hand.”

The attendant thinks it is some sudden form of religious mania which has seized him. If so, we must look out for squalls, for a strong man with homicidal and religious mania at once might be dangerous. The combination is a dreadful one. At nine o’clock I visited him myself. His attitude to me was the same as that to the attendant; in his sublime self-feeling the difference between myself and attendant seemed to him as nothing. It looks like religious mania, and he will soon think that he himself is God. These infinitesimal distinctions between man and man are too paltry for an Omnipotent Being. How these madmen give themselves away! The real God taketh heed lest a sparrow fall; but the God created from human vanity sees no difference between an eagle and a sparrow. Oh, if men only knew!

For half an hour or more Renfield kept getting excited in greater and greater degree. I did not pretend to be watching him, but I kept strict observation all the same. All at once that shifty look came into his eyes which we always see when a madman has seized an idea, and with it the shifty movement of the head and back which asylum attendants come to know so well. He became quite quiet, and went and sat on the edge of his bed resignedly, and looked into space with lack-lustre eyes. I thought I would find out if his apathy were real or only assumed, and tried to lead him to talk of his pets, a theme which had never failed to excite his attention. At first he made no reply, but at length said testily:—

“Bother them all! I don’t care a pin about them.”

“What?” I said. “You don’t mean to tell me you don’t care about spiders?” (Spiders at present are his hobby and the note-book is filling up with columns of small figures.) To this he answered enigmatically:—

“The bride-maidens rejoice the eyes that wait the coming of the bride; but when the bride draweth nigh, then the maidens shine not to the eyes that are filled.”

He would not explain himself, but remained obstinately seated on his bed all the time I remained with him.

I am weary to-night and low in spirits. I cannot but think of Lucy, and how different things might have been. If I don’t sleep at once, chloral, the modern Morpheus—C2HCl3O•H2O! I must be careful not to let it grow into a habit. No, I shall take none to-night! I have thought of Lucy, and I shall not dishonour her by mixing the two. If need be, to-night shall be sleepless....

 

Later.—Glad I made the resolution; gladder that I kept to it. I had lain tossing about, and had heard the clock strike only twice, when the night-watchman came to me, sent up from the ward, to say that Renfield had escaped. I threw on my clothes and ran down at once; my patient is too dangerous a person to be roaming about. Those ideas of his might work out dangerously with strangers. The attendant was waiting for me. He said he had seen him not ten minutes before, seemingly asleep in his bed, when he had looked through the observation-trap in the door. His attention was called by the sound of the window being wrenched out. He ran back and saw his feet disappear through the window, and had at once sent up for me. He was only in his night-gear, and cannot be far off. The attendant thought it would be more useful to watch where he should go than to follow him, as he might lose sight of him whilst getting out of the building by the door. He is a bulky man, and couldn’t get through the window. I am thin, so, with his aid, I got out, but feet foremost, and, as we were only a few feet above ground, landed unhurt. The attendant told me the patient had gone to the left, and had taken a straight line, so I ran as quickly as I could. As I got through the belt of trees I saw a white figure scale the high wall which separates our grounds from those of the deserted house.

I ran back at once, told the watchman to get three or four men immediately and follow me into the grounds of Carfax, in case our friend might be dangerous. I got a ladder myself, and crossing the wall, dropped down on the other side. I could see Renfield’s figure just disappearing behind the angle of the house, so I ran after him. On the far side of the house I found him pressed close against the old ironbound oak door of the chapel. He was talking, apparently to some one, but I was afraid to go near enough to hear what he was saying, lest I might frighten him, and he should run off. Chasing an errant swarm of bees is nothing to following a naked lunatic, when the fit of escaping is upon him! After a few minutes, however, I could see that he did not take note of anything around him, and so ventured to draw nearer to him—the more so as my men had now crossed the wall and were closing him in. I heard him say:—

“I am here to do Your bidding, Master. I am Your slave, and You will reward me, for I shall be faithful. I have worshipped You long and afar off. Now that You are near, I await Your commands, and You will not pass me by, will You, dear Master, in Your distribution of good things?”

He is a selfish old beggar anyhow. He thinks of the loaves and fishes even when he believes he is in a Real Presence. His manias make a startling combination. When we closed in on him he fought like a tiger. He is immensely strong, for he was more like a wild beast than a man. I never saw a lunatic in such a paroxysm of rage before; and I hope I shall not again. It is a mercy that we have found out his strength and his danger in good time. With strength and determination like his, he might have done wild work before he was caged. He is safe now at any rate. Jack Sheppard himself couldn’t get free from the strait-waistcoat that keeps him restrained, and he’s chained to the wall in the padded room. His cries are at times awful, but the silences that follow are more deadly still, for he means murder in every turn and movement.

Just now he spoke coherent words for the first time:—

“I shall be patient, Master. It is coming—coming—coming!”

So I took the hint, and came too. I was too excited to sleep, but this diary has quieted me, and I feel I shall get some sleep to-night.

Notes: Moon Phase: Waning Crescent

So a lot going on here today.

Mina finally gets Sister Agatha's letter. In his delirium, Harker is sharing some good information; wolves, blood, ghosts, demons, but how does "Poison" get into the mix? May he sees Dracula as a poison?

Remembering Jonathan's journey to Budapest, it will take Mina a bit to get to him. 

We get all sorts of religious allegory here. Harker is at the hospital of St. Joseph and Ste. Mary, Jesus' earthly parents. While we also have Renfield acting out the character of an evil John the Baptist to Dracula's evil Christ. Certainly a battle of good and evil. 

Modern interpretations really focused on Seward's addiction to Morphine and/or Coral Hydrate. Yes, it is here, but I would not describe him as a junkie. 

Was Renfield's strength due to his madness, as was often believed at the time, or was it due to some gift from Dracula?

Monstrous Mondays: The Classics of the Horror Film

 Today's Monstrous Monday is a special treat for me. I scored what I consider to be one of the pivotable books of my childhood and one that led to my love of horror movies and my love of monsters in D&D and other RPGs.  William K. Everson's The Classics of the Horror Film.

My dad had a bunch of these classic film books by William K. Everson. They were all black with some gold lettering on the spine. They covered silent movies, westerns, there was one on "The Bad Guys" and think one on the movies about WWII. But this is the one I read over and over and over again.

I was not much more than 4 or 5 and I already knew who Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, and Boris Karloff were. I remember making mental lists of movies I wanted to see from this book. It is, among some other influences that lead to love horror movies and vampire movies in particular.

When I got older, and our access (well, everyone's access) to older movies went beyond the occasional re-run on Saturday afternoon classic movies or the Friday or Saturday night Creature Features, my dad and I would watch these movies. We talked about the differences between American, British, European and Japanese horror movies. How the Universal Classics differed from the Hammer Horror era, and how the Exorcist and later Jaws changed everything.

Flipping through this book now is like flipping through a high school yearbook. I am seeing picture of old, almost forgotten friends. 

Elsa Lancaster left a deep mark on my psyche from 1975 on.

Mary Pickford, an unlikely "Final Girl*," but was enough to make me remember her and use bits of her movies in my D&D games. 

Ok she is not a real "Final Girl" here, but if this movie was remade today she would be.

My dad and I used to rave about this scene in Dracula above. Not just how impressive it was to film and the set to build, but how it conveys Dracula's command over the scene. 

I always liked that photo of Pamela Franklin in "The Legend of Hell House." You know some scary shit is going on here, even if there is nothing in the photo that is scary on its own. Just her eyes and her bare feet just barely touching the ground. You get the feeling that she is safe, as long as she just doesn't get up and walk away. BTW, she is still alive today.

My fascination with horror movies, giant monster movies, monsters in general, and to no small degree, these posts for Monstrous Mondays, all come from this book.

I already added it to my Appendix O I am planning on using it for my October Horror Movie Marathon.

#RPGaDAY2024 Sensational Session

 Wow. Ok, how do I even choose this one?? I have known so many over the years.

One weekend, almost ten years ago (just about a week or so shy) we lost power for a few days. We decided that since we had no lights to read by, no power or internet, we would play some D&D.

It was fantastic.

I remember the kids wanting us to play by candles everytime after that.  It was so memorable that even today when we loose power (something that seems less frequent now), everyone is like "lets play some D&D!"

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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 18 August Mina Murry's Journal (Cont.)

Mina keeps a watch on Lucy, and now Lucy's mother too.

18 August.—I am happy to-day, and write sitting on the seat in the churchyard. Lucy is ever so much better. Last night she slept well all night, and did not disturb me once. The roses seem coming back already to her cheeks, though she is still sadly pale and wan-looking. If she were in any way anæmic I could understand it, but she is not. She is in gay spirits and full of life and cheerfulness. All the morbid reticence seems to have passed from her, and she has just reminded me, as if I needed any reminding, of that night, and that it was here, on this very seat, I found her asleep. As she told me she tapped playfully with the heel of her boot on the stone slab and said:—

“My poor little feet didn’t make much noise then! I daresay poor old Mr. Swales would have told me that it was because I didn’t want to wake up Geordie.” As she was in such a communicative humour, I asked her if she had dreamed at all that night. Before she answered, that sweet, puckered look came into her forehead, which Arthur—I call him Arthur from her habit—says he loves; and, indeed, I don’t wonder that he does. Then she went on in a half-dreaming kind of way, as if trying to recall it to herself:—

“I didn’t quite dream; but it all seemed to be real. I only wanted to be here in this spot—I don’t know why, for I was afraid of something—I don’t know what. I remember, though I suppose I was asleep, passing through the streets and over the bridge. A fish leaped as I went by, and I leaned over to look at it, and I heard a lot of dogs howling—the whole town seemed as if it must be full of dogs all howling at once—as I went up the steps. Then I had a vague memory of something long and dark with red eyes, just as we saw in the sunset, and something very sweet and very bitter all around me at once; and then I seemed sinking into deep green water, and there was a singing in my ears, as I have heard there is to drowning men; and then everything seemed passing away from me; my soul seemed to go out from my body and float about the air. I seem to remember that once the West Lighthouse was right under me, and then there was a sort of agonising feeling, as if I were in an earthquake, and I came back and found you shaking my body. I saw you do it before I felt you.”

Then she began to laugh. It seemed a little uncanny to me, and I listened to her breathlessly. I did not quite like it, and thought it better not to keep her mind on the subject, so we drifted on to other subjects, and Lucy was like her old self again. When we got home the fresh breeze had braced her up, and her pale cheeks were really more rosy. Her mother rejoiced when she saw her, and we all spent a very happy evening together.

Notes: Moon Phase: Waning Crescent

Lucy is doing better because Dracula is down in London taking care of his various boxes of Earth. 

Lucy also relates what she has been experiencing in the last few days. 

#RPGaDAY2024 Memorable Moment of Play

 Memorable Moment of Play? Wow, there are so many.

Teaching my kids to play. Recalling when ever my oldest at a very young age would shout "Double damage!" anytime he rolled a natural 20.

I am a lot grayer but also a LOT thinner now.

There was this time I ran Ghosts of Albion for an ENEorld Games day a few years back that was great.

We all really had a great time, and I loved how well the adventure came together and how much fun everyone seemed to have had. 

I also have some great memories of various Cons I have played at over the years.  The time the guy playing Lord Byron, an Occult Poet in Ghosts of Albion, composed an epic poem on the spot. He really made the adventure come alive for everyone.

Or the time my son's character plunged the Sun Sword into the Forge of Moradin to re-ignite the Sun,  the time I got to play Piper in a Charmed game.  All great moments. 

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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 17 August Mina Murry's Journal (Cont.) & Letter

Mina keeps a watch on Lucy, and now Lucy's mother too.

17 August.—No diary for two whole days. I have not had the heart to write. Some sort of shadowy pall seems to be coming over our happiness. No news from Jonathan, and Lucy seems to be growing weaker, whilst her mother’s hours are numbering to a close. I do not understand Lucy’s fading away as she is doing. She eats well and sleeps well, and enjoys the fresh air; but all the time the roses in her cheeks are fading, and she gets weaker and more languid day by day; at night I hear her gasping as if for air. I keep the key of our door always fastened to my wrist at night, but she gets up and walks about the room, and sits at the open window. Last night I found her leaning out when I woke up, and when I tried to wake her I could not; she was in a faint. When I managed to restore her she was as weak as water, and cried silently between long, painful struggles for breath. When I asked her how she came to be at the window she shook her head and turned away. I trust her feeling ill may not be from that unlucky prick of the safety-pin. I looked at her throat just now as she lay asleep, and the tiny wounds seem not to have healed. They are still open, and, if anything, larger than before, and the edges of them are faintly white. They are like little white dots with red centres. Unless they heal within a day or two, I shall insist on the doctor seeing about them.

Letter, Samuel F. Billington & Son, Solicitors, Whitby, to Messrs. Carter, Paterson & Co., London.

“17 August.

“Dear Sirs,—

“Herewith please receive invoice of goods sent by Great Northern Railway. Same are to be delivered at Carfax, near Purfleet, immediately on receipt at goods station King’s Cross. The house is at present empty, but enclosed please find keys, all of which are labelled.

“You will please deposit the boxes, fifty in number, which form the consignment, in the partially ruined building forming part of the house and marked ‘A’ on rough diagram enclosed. Your agent will easily recognise the locality, as it is the ancient chapel of the mansion. The goods leave by the train at 9:30 to-night, and will be due at King’s Cross at 4:30 to-morrow afternoon. As our client wishes the delivery made as soon as possible, we shall be obliged by your having teams ready at King’s Cross at the time named and forthwith conveying the goods to destination. In order to obviate any delays possible through any routine requirements as to payment in your departments, we enclose cheque herewith for ten pounds (£10), receipt of which please acknowledge. Should the charge be less than this amount, you can return balance; if greater, we shall at once send cheque for difference on hearing from you. You are to leave the keys on coming away in the main hall of the house, where the proprietor may get them on his entering the house by means of his duplicate key.

“Pray do not take us as exceeding the bounds of business courtesy in pressing you in all ways to use the utmost expedition.

“We are, dear Sirs,
“Faithfully yours,
“Samuel F. Billington & Son.”

Notes: Moon Phase: Waning Crescent

Lucy and her mother continue to fade. 

Meanwhile Dracula's boxes of earth have arrived and are now being shipped all over.

A quick note, £10 value in 1892 is worth £1,592.29 or about $2000.00 today. Dracula is sparing no expense and wants this done quickly.

Plenty of stories, including the first two books of Fred Saberhagen's Dracula series, speculate that there were more boxes of Earth in London. Stoker, though, does a good job of placing them and our band of hunters finding them.

#RPGaDAY2024 An engaging RPG community

 There are a few I really enjoy.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/OSRRPG/

The OSR RPG group on Facebook is a great group to find OSR players and developers who are not freaked out by what new games are doing. Plus, this is a nice counterpoint to the "all OSR players are sexist/racist Grognards living in the past."

https://www.facebook.com/groups/puertoricoroleplayers/
https://x.com/PuertoRicoRP
https://tinyurl.com/prroleplayer

Puerto Rico Role Players on Facebook has been a great group. All games are discussed and it has given me a chance to practice my Spanish. And they are very forgiving of my "Pre-School" level Spanish grammar.

Others that are also quite good.

I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters for general RPGs, Movies, TV, and other Geek-related topics. 

RPG Blog Hub for everything happening on RPG Blogs.

Love RPGs for RPG-related topics. 

Victorian Gamers Association for all sorts of Victorian-era RPGs.

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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

#RPGaDAY2024 Quick to Learn

 Not sure how Quick to Learn is different from Easiest, but I will pick one I had to teach to others. One of the quickest to learn has to be NIGHT SHIFT. 

Maybe I am biased because I am one of the co-authors, but NIGHT SHIFT's O.G.R.E.S. (the game system) makes it easy to learn.

Combat? Roll a d20, add and subtract the modifiers on your sheets; try to hit a "20."

Skills? Roll a d%.

Unsure? Roll a d6.

That's pretty much it. The rolls fall to the background as we say and you can focus on what you like, playing your character or running the game. That easy.

I got my family up and running in minutes and they loved it. I have people at cons play it going from zero knowledge to full on fans in no time.

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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 15 August Mina Murry's Journal (Cont.)

Mina keeps a watch on Lucy, and now Lucy's mother too.

15 August.—Rose later than usual. Lucy was languid and tired, and slept on after we had been called. We had a happy surprise at breakfast. Arthur’s father is better, and wants the marriage to come off soon. Lucy is full of quiet joy, and her mother is glad and sorry at once. Later on in the day she told me the cause. She is grieved to lose Lucy as her very own, but she is rejoiced that she is soon to have some one to protect her. Poor dear, sweet lady! She confided to me that she has got her death-warrant. She has not told Lucy, and made me promise secrecy; her doctor told her that within a few months, at most, she must die, for her heart is weakening. At any time, even now, a sudden shock would be almost sure to kill her. Ah, we were wise to keep from her the affair of the dreadful night of Lucy’s sleep-walking.

Notes: Moon Phase: Last Quarter

More of Lucy's sleepwalking. 

We learn that Lucy's mother is not doing well either. There is some debate as to whether or not Dracula was also feeding on her. I tend to think yes, an easy target in the same house. She might have been the vampire equivalent of "Night Cheese."

#RPGaDAY2024 Great Character Gear

 If you are talking Character Gear then there is only one name you need to know and that is Crazy Omar!

Omar's is something of a long standing tradition in my games.  It was something my old High School DM used in his games and he got it from his DM, a cousin that taught him how to play from the LBBs.  So there has been an Omar's in operation since the very first days of the game. 

They are both gone now. So I guess Omar is mine. Hmm. First time I have thought about that.

Omar (and no one calls him "Crazy" to his face) is the ultimate adventurer shopping center.  Starting characters go to get "Omar's Adventurers' Kit" which includes everything a starting character needs (torches, rope, spikes, backpack...) for 50 GP.   The contents vary from time to time (and depending on what system I am using at the time).  The price is somewhat less than buying the items separate, and the characters and Omar know this.  But Omar feels that the best customers are the ones that keep coming back and the only ones that come back are the well prepared ones.

"Omar" is the name of the Dwarf in charge. My Omar is the third Omar to run the store, and much like the Dread Pirate Roberts one retires and another takes his place. My oldest's Omar is a gnome, breaking with tradition in the best way possible.  If I use my character Johan as my yard stick, there has been an Omar in charge of Crazy Omar's for the better part of 250 years. Leading to the rumor that Omar is immortal. 

He always seen wearing a silk bathrobe, bunny slippers, a fez (either purple or red) and a monocle (of true seeing).  He walks around his shop greeting customers and singing dwarven opera at the top of his lungs. You have not heard true opera until you have heard the Dwarven version of "The Ring of the Nibelung" where Alberich is the hero and sung in the original Dwarven.

Crazy Omar's Adventures' Kit

You visit Omar for his Adventurer's Kit. 50 GP for everything a 1st level character could need or want. 

Item	Cost	Weight
Backpack	2 gp	5 lbs
Bedroll	1 gp	5 lbs
Mess Kit	2 sp	1 lb
Rations (10 days)	5 gp	20 lbs
Waterskin	2 sp	5 lbs (full)
Hempen Rope (50 feet)	1 gp	10 lbs
Tinderbox	5 sp	1 lb
Torches (10)	1 sp	10 lbs
Oil (2 flasks)	2 sp	2 lbs
Iron Spikes (10)	1 gp	5 lbs
Hammer	1 gp	3 lbs
Crowbar	2 gp	5 lbs
Lantern (Hooded)	5 gp	2 lbs
Flask (Empty)	2 cp	1.5 lbs
Chalk (5 pieces)	5 cp	0 lbs
Small Mirror	5 gp	0.5 lb
Pitons (10)	5 gp	5 lbs
Alchemist's Fire (1 flask)	50 gp	1 lb

Total Cost and Weight

• Total Cost: 74 gp 7 sp 7 cp
• Total Weight: 77 lbs (including a full waterskin)
• Priced to Sell: 50 GP!  Omar must be Crazy!

That list has changed over the years in both base price, weight and items. I am not even sure native 5e players use iron spikes anymore. My kids and their groups do because, well, me.

Hey. Maybe with this post Omar, and his namesakes, can live on in your games too. Just don't forget his fez and bunny slippers.

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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 14 August Mina Murry's Journal (Cont.)

Lucy is seeing red eyes.

14 August.—On the East Cliff, reading and writing all day. Lucy seems to have become as much in love with the spot as I am, and it is hard to get her away from it when it is time to come home for lunch or tea or dinner. This afternoon she made a funny remark. We were coming home for dinner, and had come to the top of the steps up from the West Pier and stopped to look at the view, as we generally do. The setting sun, low down in the sky, was just dropping behind Kettleness; the red light was thrown over on the East Cliff and the old abbey, and seemed to bathe everything in a beautiful rosy glow. We were silent for a while, and suddenly Lucy murmured as if to herself:—

“His red eyes again! They are just the same.” It was such an odd expression, coming apropos of nothing, that it quite startled me. I slewed round a little, so as to see Lucy well without seeming to stare at her, and saw that she was in a half-dreamy state, with an odd look on her face that I could not quite make out; so I said nothing, but followed her eyes. She appeared to be looking over at our own seat, whereon was a dark figure seated alone. I was a little startled myself, for it seemed for an instant as if the stranger had great eyes like burning flames; but a second look dispelled the illusion. The red sunlight was shining on the windows of St. Mary’s Church behind our seat, and as the sun dipped there was just sufficient change in the refraction and reflection to make it appear as if the light moved. I called Lucy’s attention to the peculiar effect, and she became herself with a start, but she looked sad all the same; it may have been that she was thinking of that terrible night up there. We never refer to it; so I said nothing, and we went home to dinner. Lucy had a headache and went early to bed. I saw her asleep, and went out for a little stroll myself; I walked along the cliffs to the westward, and was full of sweet sadness, for I was thinking of Jonathan. When coming home—it was then bright moonlight, so bright that, though the front of our part of the Crescent was in shadow, everything could be well seen—I threw a glance up at our window, and saw Lucy’s head leaning out. I thought that perhaps she was looking out for me, so I opened my handkerchief and waved it. She did not notice or make any movement whatever. Just then, the moonlight crept round an angle of the building, and the light fell on the window. There distinctly was Lucy with her head lying up against the side of the window-sill and her eyes shut. She was fast asleep, and by her, seated on the window-sill, was something that looked like a good-sized bird. I was afraid she might get a chill, so I ran upstairs, but as I came into the room she was moving back to her bed, fast asleep, and breathing heavily; she was holding her hand to her throat, as though to protect it from cold.

I did not wake her, but tucked her up warmly; I have taken care that the door is locked and the window securely fastened.

She looks so sweet as she sleeps; but she is paler than is her wont, and there is a drawn, haggard look under her eyes which I do not like. I fear she is fretting about something. I wish I could find out what it is.

Notes: Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous

We catch our first glimpse of Dracula in England, the dark man sitting where Mina and Lucy normally sit to watch the sea. While it is sunset, it is still light outside. Giving our first book evidence that Dracula can move about during the daylight hours. Something seen in both the 1979 John Badham movie (even if he is destroyed by the sun in the end) and the 1992  Francis Ford Coppola movie. Mina and Jonathan will comment more on this later on.

We also get to hear about his red eyes. Are the pupils red? Do they glow red? Are they red like mine after playing Baldur's Gate 3 all night with my kids? I think they appear more like Christopher Lee's in his Dracula films rather than Gary Oldman's "Sith-like" eyes in his.

Dracula has found his prey and is enjoying himself. 

#RPGaDay2024 Compelling Characters

What makes for a Compelling character? What makes one for me and say not for you?

I'll talk about an NPC on the 22nd, so today I'll feature PCs.  As it turns out, I also just got some new art for a couple of my PCs Sinéad and Larina from artist Mondhut.

Sinéad Moonshadow

Larina Nix

I should think that these two don't really need introductions at this point. But briefly, Larina is my witch character I stat up in every game I play to see if I can make a witch in that game.  Sinéad is a sorcerer/bard that I am currently using in my exploration of the Forgotten Realms. Sinéad was also the character I used when I did my "perfect" run of Baldur's Gate.

What I had not realized until I started this post is that at no point in my histories of these character have they ever met.

Larina has had dealings with all my major characters over the years, being a near immortal witch will do that. Sinéad has interacted with Taryn, Larina's daughter, quite a bit. In fact when Sinéad was trapped in the Feywild she and Taryn met and decided that they must be sisters (both are half-elves). 

But Sinéad and Larina have never actually met.

They are compelling, to me, because I keep finding ways to use them. I also have my Johan character and he is every bit as compelling, but he is 100% a PC, so a lot of what happens to him (all the Johans) is largely due to the game he is in at the time. Larina and Sinéad bonuce a lot now as PCs, NPCs, and GMPCs. 

Check out Mondhut's Instagram if you can.

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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 13 August Mina Murry's Journal (Cont.)

Mina worries about Lucy and her sleepwalking. 

13 August.—Another quiet day, and to bed with the key on my wrist as before. Again I awoke in the night, and found Lucy sitting up in bed, still asleep, pointing to the window. I got up quietly, and pulling aside the blind, looked out. It was brilliant moonlight, and the soft effect of the light over the sea and sky—merged together in one great, silent mystery—was beautiful beyond words. Between me and the moonlight flitted a great bat, coming and going in great whirling circles. Once or twice it came quite close, but was, I suppose, frightened at seeing me, and flitted away across the harbour towards the abbey. When I came back from the window Lucy had lain down again, and was sleeping peacefully. She did not stir again all night.

Notes: Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous

Prior to the discovery of the Americas, the bat had not been associated with the Vampire. The Vampire bat of South America was quickly adopted as the animal form of the Vampire. 

I have noted already that Stoker was a big fan of America, so the idea that he would also use the bat seems like a foregone conclusion. 

The bat flies back to the Abbey, where of course Dracula is now staying. Mina "scarred off" the bat and likely was the also the cause of Lucy's good night sleep.

Mail Call Tuesday: Swords & Wizardry, Basic Sorceress

 Some good things in my mail this week!

Up first the new Swords & Wizardry books from their most recent Kickstarter.

The books are top notch and look fantastic.  There are lots of new classes and monsers.

Even the GM's Screen is good.

Also got my Glow in the Dark Sorceress from ReAction / Super 7.

Pretty cool, really.

Maybe I should stat her up as a S&W Warlock sometime. There is no S&W Sorcerer. Or maybe I should make one.

#RPGaDAY2024 RPG Evocative Environments

 Evocative environments. Well. There are quite a few really. But one really stands out for me right now.

That is the Solar Frontier of Thirteen Parsecs.

Webb's First Deep Field

In Thirteen Parsecs the Solar Frontier is as far as humanity has gotten in space at that time. Why? Well there are a lot of reasons. We have many "Solar Frontiers" detailed in the book. Mine are Space Truckin' and Darker Stars.

In Space Truckin' the Solar Frontier is as far as we have gone due to technology. To get goods and service past the Frontier, and into what are known as The Hazard Lands, you need the services of the Space Truckers! What out for the CHiPs (Colony Hyperspace Patrols) and "Lot Lizards!"

In Darker Stars the Solar Frontier is a border between what we know of as "Normal Space" and the weird, science defying space of the Old Ones. It is space exploration meets cosmic horror.

Now, as of this writing we are in layout of Thirteen Parsecs (and let me just say this, Jason has OUT DONE himself on it!) BUT one of those Solar Frontiers will not make it to the final book. No worries, if you were a Backer then you still get both, just one as a PDF.

The one that does not make it will be expanded on and released as a stand-alone product.

I can't wait to get this all to you!

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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 12 August Mina Murry's Journal (Cont.)

Mina worries about Lucy and Jonathan. 

12 August.—My expectations were wrong, for twice during the night I was wakened by Lucy trying to get out. She seemed, even in her sleep, to be a little impatient at finding the door shut, and went back to bed under a sort of protest. I woke with the dawn, and heard the birds chirping outside of the window. Lucy woke, too, and, I was glad to see, was even better than on the previous morning. All her old gaiety of manner seemed to have come back, and she came and snuggled in beside me and told me all about Arthur. I told her how anxious I was about Jonathan, and then she tried to comfort me. Well, she succeeded somewhat, for, though sympathy can’t alter facts, it can help to make them more bearable.

Notes: Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous

More journalling from Mina. 

Unknown to Mina, Johnathan has been in the care of Sister Agatha at the Hospital of St. Joseph and Ste. Mary, Buda-Pesth. Mina will get her letter, dated today, in about a week.

#RPGaDAY2024 RPG with well-supported campaigns

 This one is pretty easy. Probably the best supported campaign setting anywhere is the Forgotten Realms for Dungeons & Dragons.

There are plenty of well-supported campaigns, but few have spanned multiple editions of their game, even through rule changes.

Sure, there is the "Arkham" setting of Call of Cthulhu and whatever the setting is for World of Darkness. But those are largely "our world, but different." The D&D settings take on a bit more work, and few have done this as well as the Realms have. 

Not to mention the support of novels, board games, movies, and video games. It's all rather impressive, really. 

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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August. 

Dracula, The Hunters' Journals: 11 August Mina Murry's Journal (Cont.)

Dracula attacks, though we don't know that just yet. Mina makes many diary entries.

11 August, 3 a. m.—Diary again. No sleep now, so I may as well write. I am too agitated to sleep. We have had such an adventure, such an agonising experience. I fell asleep as soon as I had closed my diary.... Suddenly I became broad awake, and sat up, with a horrible sense of fear upon me, and of some feeling of emptiness around me. The room was dark, so I could not see Lucy’s bed; I stole across and felt for her. The bed was empty. I lit a match and found that she was not in the room. The door was shut, but not locked, as I had left it. I feared to wake her mother, who has been more than usually ill lately, so threw on some clothes and got ready to look for her. As I was leaving the room it struck me that the clothes she wore might give me some clue to her dreaming intention. Dressing-gown would mean house; dress, outside. Dressing-gown and dress were both in their places. “Thank God,” I said to myself, “she cannot be far, as she is only in her nightdress.” I ran downstairs and looked in the sitting-room. Not there! Then I looked in all the other open rooms of the house, with an ever-growing fear chilling my heart. Finally I came to the hall door and found it open. It was not wide open, but the catch of the lock had not caught. The people of the house are careful to lock the door every night, so I feared that Lucy must have gone out as she was. There was no time to think of what might happen; a vague, overmastering fear obscured all details. I took a big, heavy shawl and ran out. The clock was striking one as I was in the Crescent, and there was not a soul in sight. I ran along the North Terrace, but could see no sign of the white figure which I expected. At the edge of the West Cliff above the pier I looked across the harbour to the East Cliff, in the hope or fear—I don’t know which—of seeing Lucy in our favourite seat. There was a bright full moon, with heavy black, driving clouds, which threw the whole scene into a fleeting diorama of light and shade as they sailed across. For a moment or two I could see nothing, as the shadow of a cloud obscured St. Mary’s Church and all around it. Then as the cloud passed I could see the ruins of the abbey coming into view; and as the edge of a narrow band of light as sharp as a sword-cut moved along, the church and the churchyard became gradually visible. Whatever my expectation was, it was not disappointed, for there, on our favourite seat, the silver light of the moon struck a half-reclining figure, snowy white. The coming of the cloud was too quick for me to see much, for shadow shut down on light almost immediately; but it seemed to me as though something dark stood behind the seat where the white figure shone, and bent over it. What it was, whether man or beast, I could not tell; I did not wait to catch another glance, but flew down the steep steps to the pier and along by the fish-market to the bridge, which was the only way to reach the East Cliff. The town seemed as dead, for not a soul did I see; I rejoiced that it was so, for I wanted no witness of poor Lucy’s condition. The time and distance seemed endless, and my knees trembled and my breath came laboured as I toiled up the endless steps to the abbey. I must have gone fast, and yet it seemed to me as if my feet were weighted with lead, and as though every joint in my body were rusty. When I got almost to the top I could see the seat and the white figure, for I was now close enough to distinguish it even through the spells of shadow. There was undoubtedly something, long and black, bending over the half-reclining white figure. I called in fright, “Lucy! Lucy!” and something raised a head, and from where I was I could see a white face and red, gleaming eyes. Lucy did not answer, and I ran on to the entrance of the churchyard. As I entered, the church was between me and the seat, and for a minute or so I lost sight of her. When I came in view again the cloud had passed, and the moonlight struck so brilliantly that I could see Lucy half reclining with her head lying over the back of the seat. She was quite alone, and there was not a sign of any living thing about.

When I bent over her I could see that she was still asleep. Her lips were parted, and she was breathing—not softly as usual with her, but in long, heavy gasps, as though striving to get her lungs full at every breath. As I came close, she put up her hand in her sleep and pulled the collar of her nightdress close around her throat. Whilst she did so there came a little shudder through her, as though she felt the cold. I flung the warm shawl over her, and drew the edges tight round her neck, for I dreaded lest she should get some deadly chill from the night air, unclad as she was. I feared to wake her all at once, so, in order to have my hands free that I might help her, I fastened the shawl at her throat with a big safety-pin; but I must have been clumsy in my anxiety and pinched or pricked her with it, for by-and-by, when her breathing became quieter, she put her hand to her throat again and moaned. When I had her carefully wrapped up I put my shoes on her feet and then began very gently to wake her. At first she did not respond; but gradually she became more and more uneasy in her sleep, moaning and sighing occasionally. At last, as time was passing fast, and, for many other reasons, I wished to get her home at once, I shook her more forcibly, till finally she opened her eyes and awoke. She did not seem surprised to see me, as, of course, she did not realise all at once where she was. Lucy always wakes prettily, and even at such a time, when her body must have been chilled with cold, and her mind somewhat appalled at waking unclad in a churchyard at night, she did not lose her grace. She trembled a little, and clung to me; when I told her to come at once with me home she rose without a word, with the obedience of a child. As we passed along, the gravel hurt my feet, and Lucy noticed me wince. She stopped and wanted to insist upon my taking my shoes; but I would not. However, when we got to the pathway outside the churchyard, where there was a puddle of water, remaining from the storm, I daubed my feet with mud, using each foot in turn on the other, so that as we went home, no one, in case we should meet any one, should notice my bare feet.

Fortune favoured us, and we got home without meeting a soul. Once we saw a man, who seemed not quite sober, passing along a street in front of us; but we hid in a door till he had disappeared up an opening such as there are here, steep little closes, or “wynds,” as they call them in Scotland. My heart beat so loud all the time that sometimes I thought I should faint. I was filled with anxiety about Lucy, not only for her health, lest she should suffer from the exposure, but for her reputation in case the story should get wind. When we got in, and had washed our feet, and had said a prayer of thankfulness together, I tucked her into bed. Before falling asleep she asked—even implored—me not to say a word to any one, even her mother, about her sleep-walking adventure. I hesitated at first to promise; but on thinking of the state of her mother’s health, and how the knowledge of such a thing would fret her, and thinking, too, of how such a story might become distorted—nay, infallibly would—in case it should leak out, I thought it wiser to do so. I hope I did right. I have locked the door, and the key is tied to my wrist, so perhaps I shall not be again disturbed. Lucy is sleeping soundly; the reflex of the dawn is high and far over the sea....

 

Same day, noon.—All goes well. Lucy slept till I woke her and seemed not to have even changed her side. The adventure of the night does not seem to have harmed her; on the contrary, it has benefited her, for she looks better this morning than she has done for weeks. I was sorry to notice that my clumsiness with the safety-pin hurt her. Indeed, it might have been serious, for the skin of her throat was pierced. I must have pinched up a piece of loose skin and have transfixed it, for there are two little red points like pin-pricks, and on the band of her nightdress was a drop of blood. When I apologised and was concerned about it, she laughed and petted me, and said she did not even feel it. Fortunately it cannot leave a scar, as it is so tiny.

 

Same day, night.—We passed a happy day. The air was clear, and the sun bright, and there was a cool breeze. We took our lunch to Mulgrave Woods, Mrs. Westenra driving by the road and Lucy and I walking by the cliff-path and joining her at the gate. I felt a little sad myself, for I could not but feel how absolutely happy it would have been had Jonathan been with me. But there! I must only be patient. In the evening we strolled in the Casino Terrace, and heard some good music by Spohr and Mackenzie, and went to bed early. Lucy seems more restful than she has been for some time, and fell asleep at once. I shall lock the door and secure the key the same as before, though I do not expect any trouble to-night.

Notes: Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous

Tonight, or rather last night, is the night Dracula first feeds on Lucy.

This is the section that also led me to first think that the story is set in 1892.  Mina tells us that last night (Aug 10) "(t)here was a bright full moon," well in 1892 the moon phase was one day past the full moon, though often we count the day before and the day after as the full moon. So her observations track with the real data.  This also tracks with 1897 with Aug 10 being the day before. 1897 is the year Dracula was written. 1889 is also a good potential date to be honest. This would also place the epilog in 1896. So maybe I should rethink my 1892 dates. I'll keep this in mind as I go forward.

Stoker here does a good job of describing Lucy's anemia with symptoms that were very common. 

We also see Lucy seeming get better at times. Why? Because she is enjoying Dracula's visits. 

#RPGaDay2024 RPG with well-supported one-shots

 For this I am going back to the dawn of the OSR to pick Basic Fantasy.

In truth Basic Fantasy can work for any "Well Supported" item. One shots, adventures, supplements, you name it. The community is rich, vibrant and engaged. Their Downloads section is loaded full of things you can get for free and are constantly updated.

This includes all their adventures.

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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August.