Tag: geekery

Monsters – Grabber



Grabber


The world of dreams may be ruled by the Flesh King, but his enforcers and beasts of nightmare are many – and they do not always obey his instruction. One of these beasts is the Grabber. Born of hunger and greed, Grabbers climb up from the grimy muck of perverse cruelty, and live on the sustenance of humanity’s evil.


Grabbers smell, at first, like an overpowering cologne, until they move nearer and it turns to the acrid smell of sweat and rot. Most people are struck with fear or pure revulsion upon seeing the creature scrambling towards them. If a target manages to resist this fear, the Grabbers will become uninterested, and crawl away to find a more frightened meal.

A Grabber about to latch on to it’s victim, by Jaydot Sloan.


Grabbers are shaped like a human, but instead of a body, they are a mass of outstretched arms. Each arm has a hand with a gaping mouth in the center of the palm, with small spiny teeth that jut outwards. Grabbers have no difficulty moving on any terrain, and in the world of dreams this is especially valuable. Killing a grabber is very difficult. Once they grab hold of their target, they will not release. They will suck their prey dry of all bodily fluids, the spiny teeth gnawing and shredding through any tissue.




Note: If you decide to use any of the monsters in a campaign, please let me know! I’d like to see how they work out.


Today’s art is by Jaydot Sloan. Thank you to Jaydot for this donation to the Monsters project! 









THOUGHTY LOGO © JOHN W. SHELDON 2010. USED WITH PERMISSION. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS BLOG AND ANY OF THE ALTERNATE SITES LINKED ARE SUBJECT TO FAIR USE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS WITHIN THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ANY CORPORATION OR OTHER ENTITY.

Monsters – Dryads


Dryads

A Dryad turning her victim, by Kyrinn S. Eis.

Dryads are creatures of myth, painted by the Greeks as passive beauties of the oak trees. It may be that once, that is how they were. The dryads, with their sisters Meliai of the ash, the Caryatids of apple, the Epimeliad of the walnut, and the hamadryads who sleep in the trees, all protect the earth.

These creatures stand in the earth in the day, and wail when they are cut down and killed by the cruel machines of the modern world. They hold back throughout all of the seasons, but midsummer is when they are freed from their static forms. They step forth, creatures of wood with the slow sap pouring through their veins.


Dryads whisper through their leaves to draw their victims close, almost like Sirens singing, and they do no more than touch the humans who murdered their fellows. Upon the touch, the human is paralyzed, and roots burst forth from their feet, holding them to the ground. Their skin turns to a rough, thick bark, which breaks apart as wood branches tear through their flesh. The Dryads will watch in satisfaction as their victims bones break, and as the blood pouring from them turns to slow, sticky sap. This transformation cannot be stopped, and in the end, the victim is no more than another tree in the forest.

Today’s art is by Kyrinn S. Eis, creator of 

. Thank you Kyrinn!


Note: If you decide to use any of the monsters in a campaign, please let me know! I’d like to see how they work out.


Would you like to contribute art for the Monsters collection? Contact me at briesheldon@gmail.com.

Thank you!





THOUGHTY LOGO © JOHN W. SHELDON 2010. USED WITH PERMISSION. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS BLOG AND ANY OF THE ALTERNATE SITES LINKED ARE SUBJECT TO FAIR USE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS WITHIN THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ANY CORPORATION OR OTHER ENTITY.

Monsters – Scavengers

Scavengers

Scavengers are the offal eaters of the earth – the carrion crows. They eat whatever bits of meat and rotted flesh they can find, no matter what beast it comes from, man or animal. When they see smaller animals eating the wastes of the dead, they will stay hidden, and raise a screeching sound that makes hair stand on end to frighten away the others. They typically move to stay downwind of any other creatures, because they are surrounded by a nauseating smell of death.

If the Scavengers are unable to find food of their own, they will creep closer to areas inhabited by humans, and steal away small children. They are able to mimic human voices, and will stalk their prey to learn the voices of their parents. When the children wander near, following the calls of the Scavengers, the monsters will exhale a breath of vile gas that results in instant death and rapid decomposition. 
Scavengers and the remains of a doe; by Laura Hamilton (finaira).




These bird-like creatures are taller than the average human, and hulking in shape. Their bodies are made up of hundreds of wings, all folded close to their fatted form. They cannot fly – they only skitter on the ground on two feet, like rodents. Their bones are brittle, but protected by their thick skin and layers of fat. They have massive black beaks that they tuck close to their stomachs, and they can swallow creatures up to the size of a large dog. The only evidence they typically leave is feathers like a crow, and rolled up masses of bone, grit, and cartilage that they regurgitate.



Note: If you decide to use any of the monsters in a campaign, please let me know! I’d like to see how they work out.


Today’s art is by Laura Hamilton, finaira on Deviant Art. Thank you to Laura for her donation to the Monsters project!







THOUGHTY LOGO © JOHN W. SHELDON 2010. USED WITH PERMISSION. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS BLOG AND ANY OF THE ALTERNATE SITES LINKED ARE SUBJECT TO FAIR USE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS WITHIN THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ANY CORPORATION OR OTHER ENTITY.

Monsters – Hanging Men

Hanging Men

In a tarot deck, one may often find the Hanged Man on a tree upside down, one leg crossed over the other. The readers of the cards will tell any number of interpretations of divinity, suspension of life, martyrdom, but none will speak of the true meaning of the card. The card represents the Hanging Men, those who are between sleep and waking, on the edge of life and death.


by John W. Sheldon


The Hanging Men are the ghosts of men who died destitute and shamed for their cruel actions in life, and they hang from unseen trees. All of the Hanging Men appear to have been at least partially flayed, their bodies less the pound of flesh they paid for their sins.

Hanging Men can only be seen in peripheral vision, on the brink of death, or in dreaming sleep. They will target a person based on some imagined slight, still bitter and vindictive from their past life, and tease them, creeping into their minds and burning in thoughts of self-hatred, visions of pain and horrific torture, and leave the person with a damaged psyche as their revenge.

A victim may never escape the Hanging Men. If they are fortunate, they may find a blessing that hides them from the view of these spectres, and if they are less fortunate, they may meet someone in their dreams who will offer them a way out. In either case, by the time an option is found to leave, most people will take whatever option they can to get away from the endless scenes of terror that play in their minds.



Note: If you decide to use any of the monsters in a campaign, please let me know! I’d like to see how they work out.



THOUGHTY LOGO © JOHN W. SHELDON 2010. USED WITH PERMISSION. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS BLOG AND ANY OF THE ALTERNATE SITES LINKED ARE SUBJECT TO FAIR USE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS WITHIN THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ANY CORPORATION OR OTHER ENTITY.

Monsters – Underskin

THE UNDERSKIN


The Underskin is a stealthy creature that is incredibly dangerous. When outside of a host, the Underskin is nearly invisible – it just looks like a very thin sheen of oil and water on any surface, not even more than a drop of water thick. The Underskin is not really one entity, but instead millions of microscopic bacteria.

The Underskin takes its victims while they sleep by sliding over the surface of their body, like condensation or sweat, and seeping in through their skin. Once inside, they spread just beneath the skin over the muscles, thickening into a transparent membrane, but attaching, immovable, on the muscle bodies, and around the brain.

The victims will often wake up with blurry eyes and in a cold sweat, with a fine oily sheen on their face and body. After they have been taken by an Underskin, most people will see no difference, except their bodies will heal at a more rapid rate than normal. However, when the victims sleep, the Underskin will take over their bodies, and use them to complete tasks – eating whatever food they can to sate their hunger first, and then following on to often more devious tasks like stealing goods to hide in dank, dark sewers where the Underskin breed, or killing people who endanger their brood. 

An Underskin preparing to leave its host. by John W. Sheldon


The Underskin has one priority: protect their collective. They cannot be killed while in a host, and only leave their host after they have accomplished their tasks. When they leave the body of their host, it’s a violent and painful experience for both the victim and the Underskin as the creatures stretch and rip away from the muscles and brain. Normally the victim will get sick, with a headache and symptoms like that of typical influenza, and it can take weeks to recover. Many people have been accused of crimes they have no memory of committing during the times when they were controlled by the Underskin.

—

Thanks to +John Sheldon for his art contribution!
Note: If you decide to use any of the monsters in a campaign, please let me know! I’d like to see how they work out.
THOUGHTY LOGO © JOHN W. SHELDON 2010. USED WITH PERMISSION. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS BLOG AND ANY OF THE ALTERNATE SITES LINKED ARE SUBJECT TO FAIR USE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS WITHIN THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ANY CORPORATION OR OTHER ENTITY.

Monsters – Grey Ones

I’m starting an ongoing Monsters feature based on the monsters from my nightmares. First up is the Grey Ones.

THE GREY ONES




I had another monster from a nightmare the other night that I’m calling a Grey One for the time being. I included my quick and dirty sketch (above) with this description.

Grey Ones are scavengers. They travel in groups, and typically spend their time in places where many people die – battlefields, hospitals, and they lurk during plagues. They live off the last moments of life of dying things – people and animals alike. When someone is a breath away from death, they will come to them and lay their hands on them, to take away the little bits of pain that remain and absorb the dying energy. 


Grey Ones are slightly smaller than human size, and emaciated. They appear, at a glance, like a woman in a veil, but up close, they are instead a nearly skeletal creature with skin stretched tight over their bones. Their head is a skull dome with a wide bone ridge, and their thin grey skin is pulled taut over the dome and the ridge to stretch down to their collarbone. When Grey Ones feed, a gland that circles the edge of their bone ridge drips tears. 

The skin is semi-transparent over their head and chest, and you can see their spine, ribs, and their skull, which has no jaw, eye sockets, or nasal structure. Their frail arms have very thick flesh over them, and they have three long fingers and opposable thumbs, with no fingernails. Their legs are hidden beneath a skirt of loose skin that drops from their hipbones to the ground, and the edges of the skin are often rubbed raw from brushing on the ground.

Note: If you decide to use any of the monsters in a campaign, please let me know! I’d like to see how they work out.

Rekindling the Everlasting Flame: An Open Letter to Wil Wheaton, Thanks for the Memories of the Futurecast

When my husband and I first met, I was about as far from a fan of Star Trek as you could possibly imagine. I enjoyed sci fi movies and shows, but rarely watched them unless my father put them on the television. I lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere, and we generally stuck to Star Wars and Dune when it came to getting our geek on.

At first, he basically forced me to watch it – I was bored and uninterested (although I will admit, the original series and movies still are a bit of a struggle to get through for me). The Next Generation was different, though. It was interesting, and I became a serious Data and Picard fangirl. I would watch what they were in and when they were on, and that was the extent. A lot of the time I hated the other characters – Troi, Riker, and Wesley were my mental punching bags, but I had a soft spot for Worf and Geordie. The characters I disliked were basically just a target of adolescence – I was only sixteen or so. I read the hilarious fanfiction, watched the first season and movies, but fell away from it as soon as he stopped making me watch it.

I recently started watching The Guild, and I enjoyed it immensely, and between the show and Twitter, I was led over to Wil Wheaton’s blog and tweets. I read some posts, but like everything before, drifted off and forgot it. I saw the new Star Trek movie, and it was amazing, but I still felt kind of neutral towards the original shows and TNG… until my husband loaded up the Memories of the Futurecast.

It was an entirely new way to experience Star Trek. It made fun of the silly things in a loving way, but brought light to things I had missed when watching the show – nuances of the writing, plot pieces I hadn’t even recognized. After hearing the podcasts, my husband and I stayed up late to catch reruns on television of the first season – and suddenly, Star Trek wasn’t something dorky that used to be boring and no fun before the new film, it was something I enjoyed. The “Data & Picard show” was suddenly filled with a full cast of interesting characters, ones that I wanted to see a beginning, middle, and end of stories.

I have listened to every podcast of Memories of the Futurecast released thus far, and it’s built a new connection between my husband and I – something we can share and enjoy together – and it’s also allowed me something I never thought I would have. I’m okay with being a geek. I’m even happy about it! If the people who love these things, and people like Wil Wheaton and Fecilia Day are the people who I am in good company with by loving Star Trek and D&D and video games, then that is where I want to be.

Thank you, Wil Wheaton, and all of the other geeks who have opened up and taught me by example how awesome being a geek can be. FTW!