Among the many graves there others (marked with 3). These look like the other graves (marked with 2), but are deeper. They are occupied by a dwarven wight. There are 12 total.
These wights are former dwarven warrior elites. They each wield +1 battle axe.
Both movie deal with the old Jewish legend of the Golem as a being made of clay and imbued with the word of Life/God to become a protector to the people. But if the Golem is kept around too long it also brings destruction to all those around it.
The Golem: How He Came into the World (German: Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam) (1920)
This movie is a classic in every sense of the word. It is slow, black & white and silent, but worth watching. You can easily see some of the design choices that would later go into the Frankenstein movies from Universal Studios.
In this one, the golem is created to protect the Jewish people of Prague. A warning is given that if the Golem is still animated when the planets enter the house of Uranus the evil spirit of Astaroth will take it over.
There is a bit where the Rabbi who animated the Golem uses it to impress the Emperor and save all his people when his place collapses. As expected the Golem turns to evil and begins killing people. Well, he kills a knight of the Emperor who has been sleeping with a girl (Miriam) who the Rabbi's apprentice wants. In the end the Golem is "shut down" by a girl who removes the scroll from his chest (not mouth as in the legends).
This is an English-language Israeli movie set during the Black Death. We see Hannah visiting a healer where we learn it was 7 years ago when her child had died. She sneaks off to listen to the Rabbi preach about the Kaballah (forbidden at the time). Her husband knows, but while not exactly understanding he is supportive. During her sister's wedding men from a nearby village bring in a plague-stricken girl. They blame the Jewish people and their sorceries for the plague.
Hannah decides to use the book her husband smuggled for her to create a Golem to protect the village from these men. We are given scenes where the Golem, in the form of her dead son, just beat the living shit out of these men; especially a group that attack Hannah alone and try to hang her.
In this we get the same story where the Golem protects, but after a bit it begins to turn on everyone. Int this case it seems to be connected to Hannah, who can feel it when the Golem-boy gets shot and sends it (unconsciously) to kill the woman she thinks her husband it having an affair with.
The men leave when the daughter of their leader gets better, but come back to burn the village down after his daughter dies. The Golem wipes them all out and Hannah asks the golem to stop so she can remove the scroll from it's mouth.
It is a good flick but only horror in the broad sense of the word. Hani Furstenberg as Hannah was rather great, to be honest, and the movie rides on her performances.
October Horror Movie Challenge 2023
Viewed: 3
First Time Views: 2
Welcome to the first Monstrous Monday of October 2023. Monstrous Mondays are always a treat for me in October since I can really do some of my favorite monsters here. This October is special for a number of reasons. First, we have five Mondays in October this year so that already feels like a bonus monster. Secondly, I am going to do monsters of the "Black Forest Mythos" for my speculative Deities & Demigods II project. And finally this is my first *real* entry for the October RPG Blog Carnival: Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.
The Monsters of the Black Forest
A brief recap of what this project is. I speculated on a combined Roman-Norse Pantheon taking root somewhere in the Black Forest region of Germany in the 6th or 7th centuries AD. While there are some similarities between the gods I am working on and their Proto-Indo-European ancestors, I am not trying to recreate the PIE gods. I am not doing archeology or comparative anthropology here. I am doing game design.
The goals then for this pantheon (and their monsters) are:
Why that last rule? I want to capture the feel of what I felt was peak AD&D 1st for me. And since today I am talking about monsters, I have a fourth rule just for them.
Pretty simple, really. My idea is that the Romans fleeing the fall of Rome would have brought their gods and monsters, from house spirits to more horrible things. Same with the Germanic/Norse people. The monsters need to be scary but also fit the myths (#2) and be something that works in an AD&D game (#1).
Beware the Forest
I live in a huge metropolitan area (Chicago), I grew up in a small town, but it was still a town. My wife grew up in the country. We went to college near a very old forest (Shawnee National Forest), so I understand why people in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages feared the forest. It is where witches, goblins, and, worst of all, the Devil himself lived. The people who made these myths lived in one largest forests in Europe, the Black Forest of Germany. I really want to lean in on that and capture WHY this is a scary ass place. Their gods are for solace in a changed world, the monsters though are a lot closer at hand.
I don't want this place to be scary. I want it to be terrifying.
Of Gods and Monsters
One of the things I loved about the Deities & Demigods was getting new insights to old monsters. Old in two senses. First, the obvious one, these were monsters from mythology. Secondly, old in the sense that they may have already been part of the Monster Manual and now get a new (or old as it were) version. The best example of this is the Greek Myths. So many monsters in the Monster Manual (even true still today) came from Greek myths. Using them in context changes them a bit. This was one of the things I explored in my One Man's God series.
The same will be true here. So to start off I want to revisit some monsters I have posted here and talk about how they fit into this new/old/different worldview.
Ah. Now this one is kind of my poster child for these myths. The Aglæca, as I have built it, is the monster type that Grendel was. Grendel's mother then was an Aglæc-wif. Why poster child? Well back in grade school (pre-1980) I read this book of myths that I would love to find again. It had all the Greek myths, then Norse, and finally, it ended with Beowulf. In my young mind, there was a progression in these tales as time went on. One lead to the other in a mostly unbroken line. That isn't exactly how it happened, but for these myths I am going to assume they did.
Elves
Elves are tricky since they are an established AD&D mainstay. So there are light elves (the PCs) and there are "other" elves.
These hags are related to the giants/titans/Hüne.
The Titans of Roman myth and the primordial Giants of Norse/Germanic myth. I created these just for these myths.
Kobolds
Kobolds are part of Germanic myth and the D&D interpretations have moved a bit away from their mythologic and folklore counterparts. Don't get me wrong, I like D&D Kobolds. I just like my versions as well.
No reason other than it is a cool monster.
Trolls
Trolls and Ogres will be smooshed into one type of creature called a Troll. They are the offspring of the giants (Norse ideas) and are fairly elemental (Roman ideas) in nature. Though like the trolls and dwarves of Germanic myths, they turn to stone when exposed to sunlight.
Others I am considering are:
This is a good start. I have some new ones for the rest of this month and I think it will be a great project.
This level opens up to a very wide area that is obviously a cemetery or some sort of open-air mausoleum. There are grave markers, but most of the graves have been disturbed and are empty of occupants. There are also stone mausoleums here as well.
This large expanse (600' x 600') is also the feeding ground for 4d6 ghouls. They are attracted to the scent of the party's blood.
The ghouls come from all over this expanse, so at least 2d4 will not show up till a round after the first batch.
Searching the various tombs will turn up 2d12 x 10 GP worth of coins.
Beber de tu Sangre (2020)
Beber de tu Sangre, or "Drink Your Blood" and called "Violent Delights" in English is a Mexican movie about vampires. I had pretty high expectations here for my first. Many of the movies from Mexico I have really enjoyed. This one also could be a stand-in for "Best Gratuitous Nudity."
The plot, at least as far as I can tell is "What if you took the two couples from the first few minutes of The Hunger were given their own movie. Well...not exactly but the vibe is right. Our couples are Lizeth and Javier (human) and Alani and Gabriel (vampire). These are not your typical vampires though as Alani wants a baby.
There is a weird sexual dynamic between the four with plenty of gratuitous nudity and sex, some weird vampire-like stuff.
I can't tell if they wanted to do "The Hunger" or "The Last Lovers Left Alive" sort of avant-garde vampire movie or what they were looking for.
Still, the worst part here is that the plot is all over the place, and in the end it goes nowhere.
Ah well. Still, I am going to get to some more Spanish movies this year for sure.
October Horror Movie Challenge 2023
Viewed: 1
First Time Views: 1
It's October here at that Other Side, and you know what that means!
I have a TON going on, so let's get going.
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| Photo by Toni Cuenca: https://www.pexels.com/photo/lighted-jack-o-lantern-decors-619420/ |
RPG Blog Carnival
It has been my pleasure to host the RPG Blog Carnival in the past, and I am happy to do it again this October the spookiest of all months.
This month my topic is Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.
I am going to spend some time talking about monsters, myths, gods, and all sorts of horrors. Additionally, I am going to present my take on the Deities & Demigods II concept I have been working on.
While I have been doing a bit of work on all of them, I think the one I am ready to share is my Roman-Norse Pantheon in Deities & Demigods format. While I have not settled on a name for the pantheon just yet I am leaning into something like "The Black Forest Mythos" or "Der/The Schwarzwald Mythos." Not exactly original, but it does capture the right feel.
I have gods, and, yes, monsters to share for this project, and hoping that October will be my month to bring it all to light.
If you want to participate in the RPG Blog Carnival on this topic, just post what you want (that concerns this topic) and share your link below. Or share it on social media with the #RPGBlogCarnival hashtag, and feel free to tag me. I'll do a round-up of all the posts in November.
Horror Movie Marathon
This year, I am pleased to join the 31 Days of Halloween Movie Challenge from Pun Issac over at Hall of the Nephilim.
Here is the text version:
Daily Prompt
Alternates
A few of these might be re-watches. I wanted to do all Spanish language horror this year, but I might still get some in. I am not as far along in my Spanish as I had hoped.
This year the rules will be a little different for me. Instead of watching 31+ movies with 20 new I'll be following Pun's list above.
Want to join us? Just watch some movies!
#Dungeon23
Still doing this! Interesting note. Nearly every room in this is based on something I have encountered in my day, typically on my walks with my wife every night. October is going to my "Temple of Really Bad Dead Things" month. If you know the reference, then you are doing good! And likely need to schedule your colonoscopy.
Coming down from Level 9, Room 15, the party will still feel the pressure of the overwhelming necromantic presence that is common to this level.
They head down a worn set of stairs that descend into darkness.
For this entire level, healing magic does one less than typical, even to healing 0 hp (if a 1 is rolled).
Spells that cast light (light, continual light, daylight, faerie fire) are reduced in range by 5' or reduced in duration by 1 turn or otherwise reduced to 80% of duration or range.
