Aaaand... ACTION!

Some starting sketches for a dream that I figured is time to start!  More information in the written bits below, I guess...

These are the initial research sketches and ideas for a little figure I want to make.  I've been toying (surprise pun) with the idea for a long time, and doodling has been as far as I've taken it; up to this point.

A vinyl-type figure that I can mold and cast copies of is something I've been wanting to do for years, but simply never known where to start.  I figured "somewhere" is as good a place as any, so after a ton of doodles and research, I grabbed some tin foil, made a ball and four sticks, and Milliputt'd around it until I had something that resembled a human figure.

I'd been working with it like this for a while and thought that it kind of lacked something, but I couldn't put my finger on it...

Then tonight, I just drilled some more holes in the tops of the arms to see what it would look like with the palms facing inwards, as opposed to backwards; and now I love it again and that excitement has been revived!

I wasn't a fan of the left hand on this guy; the process was as follows:  I balled up one big and one small ball of tin foil and Milliput..ted around it to get a basic shape; made tin foil sausages (4) and Milliputted around them and made rough arm and leg shapes.  Then I rolled out a ~1/8" thick sausage and cut it into smaller sausages and left to cure to make the fingers out of.

Once the fingers were cured, I got a small disc of cured Milliput and used hot glue to attach the fingers and bulk up the hand some.  I was able to sculpt the shape somewhat with the nib of the hot glue gun on the glue once it was on the arms, which cut down on any excess and errant glue wisps.

After sculpting on some more detail, I didn't like where the left hand was going.  Something about how I'd attached the fingers had sat them a little awkwardly, and I wanted to redo them.  Which further moved the idea on to articulate at least some parts of the figure - I drew that out below.

I think that if I use the same gauge of ball bearing (1/4") for the ball and socket joints on the figure, I could cast a small mold for that 1/4" ball and make a few casts in order to keep the same size for the ball parts that I'll sculpt to the arm-side of the shoulders, the head-side of the neck, and the hand-side of the wrists, respectively.  Then I'll drill out the body-side sockets at the shoulders and neck, and the arm-side sockets at the wrists, get some Milliput in there and make an impression with my 1/4" ball tool.  That way, the sockets and the balls will all be a consistent size and more straightforward to make.

Here's where I'll be cutting the figure once it's sculpted up fully.  I've got two more hands (one for each side) that I'll also be able to work on - easily, because of the consistent gauge.  I can pop a 1/4" ball on those and they'll fit into the wrist sockets no problem.

For casting, I'll be using the method that gives me two halves of a mold as opposed to casting this completely and cutting out a removal slit down the side.  I'll have the head on its own, body and legs together, arms separate, and four hands separate; I'll mold some Plasticine around the (approximate) half way point around the length of the model parts, and pour some silicone to set the first half.

Once this is done, I'll scrape off the Plasticine, cover the first silicone half of the mold with Vaseline in order to release the second half (silicone sticks to silicone), and then pour the second half.

After that, it'll just be a case of pouring a cast from resin when I want to make a new figure to work on.  If I can get over the step of actually making the mold and casting the figure, I'll be at a place where I can cast another prototype to further the design and maybe cast again to make a second run and improved design.  It's quite exciting.

I'm picturing something that's versatile and customisable, but that could look pretty good on its own.

That's where I'm up to right now; amid a host of other projects, of course.

I'll keep you posted on how it progresses.  I've got some more cutting, sculpting, and rethinking to do, but I'm getting to a point at which I'm pretty happy.

Peace.

New kid on the block.

I realised but a moment ago that I haven't posted an update here in a while.  I've been pretty sidetracked with a few things.

To name a handful:
My wife's Melanoma diagnosis.
The birth of our third son.
The removal of all of the Melanoma.
The launch of my Kickstarter campaign.
The application - and approval - of hosting international students for this coming school year.

So from the top...

My wifey was checked out by her dermatologist on her 6 month appointment (redhead in the Arkansas sun), and they took a mole from her neck to send for testing.

Three weeks before scheduled C-section due date for baby boy number three, she was told that it was Melanoma, and that they had cut through it, not around it completely; so there was still some left, and she needed to get it removed.

Onwards!

Talking about the third boyo...  Josiah Timothy Martin Fairweather was born on the 21st of May!  Weighing in at 6 lb 1 oz, he was lighter than the other two at birth for a couple of weeks!

He is super chill and very smiley, which is absolutely great for a third child!  Brothers love him and have a great time taking care of him and holding him.  Plus, they've really come into their own with playing together, which is great!

Little Man had his introduction day at Kindergarten on Tuesday, so Giddy Bug and I went out and had some ice cream (as consolation for a surprise shot at the doc's).  We ran around and spent some time fishing a flooded lake, too.  It was pretty chill.

Since Giddy's introduction day was just a test session to gauge his level* for Pre-K, I didn't have a lot of time to do something with Little Man, so I saved that time for today and we went fishing.  We didn't catch anything ** but we had a good time picnicking at the edge of a pond and having a good heart to heart.

* he was the first Pre-K test kid in 12 years for his teacher that counted down from 10 to 1 with no problem.  Proud dad moment.

** Frustrated side note:  I was using the tackle and bait, at the pond, the spot in the pond, and a good temperature that was advised to me from someone who caught a dozen or so catfish last time we were there.  And nothing.  The first time I've done what had been advised in order to catch fish and nothing happened.  Maybe in a month when the weather is cooler, I guess.

We didn't think that a 2-month-old baby was enough, so we took on two exchange students this year!  They're super cool and I'm looking forward to hosting them and showing them what rural America looks like!  They'll be gutting fish and skinning deer in no time.

Nhi (back left) is from Vietnam, and Itxi (back right) is from Spain.  They're great.

I launched a Kickstarter campaign!  Admittedly, it's not really doing all that well... but I think that the making of it and putting myself out there as a big step, at least.  I was going to make four dolls to be modified by 16 different artists as they travel across the world; I'll be making a little coffee table book that documents their journeys; with photographs, illustrations, maps and a showcase of the works by all of the artists involved.  I'm super excited about it, but as I said, I have a little under $400 towards the $9,250 at the time of writing.

That being said, I am massively encouraged by the support I've been receiving by those who have pledged.

If the campaign isn't funded, I'm still going to do the project, but on a much smaller scale; one doll and four artists - three of the four that were going to be the initial four for the bigger project.  We'll see what happens!

Peace.

2018/2019. A review and some goals and stuff.

2018 was a pretty good year.

I mean...  I didn't actually achieve a whole lot of things from my list of goals for the year, but it was, overall, a very productive year.

Some of the things that I was hoping to do were smaller, outdoor-related things, like catch two fish species that were new to me, to find a frog species that was new to me, and other such outdoorsy things that don't necessarily rank as high priority in the ol' hindsight scale of things, you know?

So I have a few highlights here that I am pretty happy about.  Some of them are to do with collections, milestones, family time highlights, etc.  So in no particular order; here's a very brief overview of 2018:



We started the year in England, which in itself is a blessing to be able to say.  We'd just spent a lovely Christmas and New Years with my folks back in the UK, and met up with old friends and their new kiddos.  It was a blast.  We were able to see the new building for our old church, and visit old haunts with our boys.  It was a lot of fun.

This year was a great year for my coin collection.  Some huge moments added a solid number of pennies to the mass; notably, a 23-coin haul of 1964 half dollars, a two-week span that saw 30 Eisenhower dollars brought in, and several nice little finds in coins rolls - a NIFC 2000 nickel, and a couple of teen 1900's pennies.  I also started down the slippery slope of buying specific coins...
I purchased a couple of Indian Head Pennies, a V-nickel, and a Mercury Dime, along with a bag of 1950's pennies and a pound of Canadian pennies.  I also won a Morgan dollar and a Standing Liberty quarter, among other coins.  It really was a good year for this particular hobby!

I set up an account on Shutterstock this year, too!  I've only got a handful of pictures on there, and from all of the ones I have, this one has done the best.  As in it's the only one that's been downloaded!  My aim is to get some more up there this year and have a bigger selection on my account, but there's something nice about having something going on in the background that can (very slowly) accrue some income.



I caught one new fish to me this year; the Creek Chub.  I was very happy with that, since I had to battle my way through spikes and thorns, through the summer heat in Tennessee, unwillingly donating half of my blood to the local mosquito population in order to get to the little pool in the woodland creek and land the thing.
I also went hunting a lot more; crossbow and rifle, when the seasons allowed.  Didn't see anything, but it was nice to get out more than ever before.  A wave that I want to ride for as much as possible for the next short while, as I only have two months left until the end of the season.  My goal, as has been since we moved over here, is to harvest as much meat as possible for the family from the fields and streams of this countryside.  Good, clean, happy meat.

I was happy with my personal growth and life lesson/life skill additions this year.  From the top; a friend and I went up into our attic space to disconnect the furnace and a/c ducts through the end of summer, since the units had died (of old age) early in 2018.  This was pretty interesting - nothing I hadn't really done before, but this time, the house was mine and I knew the end goal pretty solidly.

Next, I changed out parts on my car's engine!  I would never have thought that I would have done something like this, so to have taken some parts off, replaced and reassembled them - and then to have the car start up first time - was amazing!  I replaced the thermostat and the water pump on my Blazer.  Not at all a thoroughly complicated job, but as someone who went from not having a car until they were 27 to having to learn how to keep one on the road, this is a huge step in skill level and confidence for me.
Of course, as I type this, it's at the mechanics, because I haven't got the time to replace the head gasket, which I'm pretty sure is done for.  So there's that.

Bottom left, we have my legs sticking out of the bottom of our deck.  This was fun.  I just ripped up an old, rotting panel, put some more support beams underneath, and replaced the panel with a new one.  Again, not a huge task for most, but one of the first homeowner repairs that I've made.  And I'm very happy with it.

And then bottom right is (half of) the closet space I made for the new furnace and a/c unit.  We had a bloke install them for us, but the housing and such I did as much of as I could to help out keep costs down, and also to make their job easier.  Now we have a warm house!  It's lovely.

We got a cat!  This beautiful little stray was found in the abandoned house towards the back of our property.  Covered in ticks and fleas, we cleaned her up, got her fed, and she's been happily clawing my arms ever since.  My vote for a name was Roosevelt if it was a boy.  My wifey insisted on Queen Victoria if it was a girl.  So Queen Victoria it is...  She's pretty chill.

Family time was a premium this year.  We saw some fantastic development in the boys, as well as some lovely time spent as just me and the wifey.  As much time as can be found alone with two young boys, mind, but we relish every minute we can have to chill out together.
The year was full of fishing, flipping rocks, building LEGO, and lots of drawing, building forts, playing tag and hide and seek.  And we got a trampoline at some point through the year, too, which is an amazing energy burn for the lads.

I also did a few things that I was pretty happy about; I made a small animation to go with a Kickstarter campaign that I'm planning on releasing a little later this year; I made a chicken wing rub that is probably my favourite dish of 2018; I released a 4-part series that I completed on this blog; and I made a few commission dolls that will hopefully get a little word-of-mouth going.  They were shared through social media a little, and people I didn't know that knew about them were asking about them.  As much as I think I can do all of this social media, I find it a challenge to capitalise on things like this.  But maybe this year will be a breakthrough year for that.  I have an Etsy account going, and the Shutterstock that I mentioned earlier.  I'm trying to push myself and get my work out there as much as an Englishman can...

Little Man started Pre-K this year, too.  And he's loving it!  He's flourished in this new setting, and is learning a whole lot of new skills and abilities.  Some better than others, but hey.  He's 4, and they'll iron out.  He's having a blast, and making smiley faces on his report card most days!

Oh...  And we're adding to the clan!  Boy number 3 on the way in 2019!  Absolutely cannot wait to meet the fella, and Gideon will most likely enjoy being a big brother (he doesn't quite grasp the concept yet).  Micaiah was super hopeful for a sister, but I know he's going to adore another sibling to roughhouse with.  It's going to get noisy, muddy, scrappy and all around mental up in the Fairweather household this year.  My goodness.

So that's been about the year we've had.  A lot of things that came around unexpected (my car repairing adventures were on one of all three that broke down), but we're doing well and can't wait to see what 2019 holds in store.

More repairs to something, I'd imagine...

Happy New Year!

Peace.

Giant Friday - 4/4!

I did it!  I promised a post every Friday for the next four weeks and here it is - post four of four!

It's been a lot of fun to expand on the ideas that I had, regarding the creation of my own little world for D&D.  I wanted to build it from the roots, so it's been great to begin from the birth of the world, and throw down some ideas of how it would progress and develop.

So here we go!  Part four of four!  Here are the two bad guys of the Giant Realm.  They worked alongside the other nine in the beginning, all with the same goal of creating a world of balance.  Towards the end of the Age of Creation, these two giants became bent on not just maintaining the world, but taking more of it for themselves than they should.  They created monsters and brought up creatures from the depths that we not made to see the light of day.  They tried to carve out a bigger territory than any other Giant, but were quickly quashed by the other nine.  They have fought ever since - mostly the nine keeping an eye (and frequently a strong hand) on the activities of them; making sure they are kept in control.  Kept balanced.

Let's go!

The Fire Giant, Drathkus.

Habitat:
Volcano ranges and deep cracks in the world's crust.

Weapon:
Fire Gauntlets (double the regular damage from gauntlets, plus fire damage); fire breath (AoE cone); Summon (fire) elemental (once per encounter).

Familiar:
The Giant Ember Lizard, Akthor.  Unable to breathe fire like dragons, this lizard radiates heat constantly, and can fan that into a full flame when necessary.  It usually settles down into a single blade of fire spanning most of the length of its body, down the spine.

Appearance:
Black skin, darkened by the ages of his proximity to fire and flame; he has glowing dark eyes and dull red tattoos across his back and down his arms - glowing red as he summons spells.  Short hair and beard.  Dressed in dark red dragon hide.

Temperament:
Angry.  Doesn't talk much, other than to tell any intruders to get out of his territory.

Alliances:
The Giant of the Depths, Fextheus,

Enemies:
All other Giants.

The Giant of the Depths, Fextheus.

Habitat:
Underground, deep in the caverns and creases of the world.

Weapon:
The Morningstar, Drokbrog (twice the normal damage of a Morningstar); Magma spray (AoE cone); Smoke Shroud (akin to the Cloud Shroud of Arekaros); summon (rock and lava) elemental (once per encounter).

Familiar:
The Obsidian Dragon, Kavras the Chosen.  With incredible intelligence and a viciousness to match, Kavras loyally follows Fextheus to the ends of the world.  While angry, Kavras knows he is under the command of Fextheus, having fought at length when they first met, only to be defeated after weeks of one-on-one battle.  At the conclusion of the encounter, Fextheus realised he would never find a creature more worthy of his own longevity and bestowed that gift upon Kavras; that they could learn from each other and grow together as a formidable team.

Appearance:
Fextheus' skin has grown dark with the exposure to the dirt under the world, and hardened after countless ages of forcing his way through the cracks in the world's crust, as he moves the inner part of the world around to keep it in motion and to keep the seasons changing.  He doesn't feel any effect of Kavras' rough, cutting scales, since he has dug deep through ancient obsidian and carved his way through the bedrock and foundations of the world since the dawn of time.
His hair is shaved off and his beard is trimmed to a point on the chin; his eyes glow red, and orange glistens up and down the tattoos on his arms as a mirror would reflect lapping flames.
Only the toughest dragon hides make his clothes; nothing else can withstand the heat, let alone the rocky, jagged environments they are introduced to.

Temperament:
Full of rage that is only quenched by hard labour or destructive battle; Fextheus cannot stay still.  A tormented soul, he tirelessly works through endless nights to maintain the movement within the depths of the world.  Although he can stop for a time, months without this labour can pass as hours for the ageless Giant.
Bonded to the core of the world, Fextheus is doomed to stay in motion for the entire duration of his - and the worlds - existence.

Alliances:
A darker spirit then the other ten Giants, Fextheus will entertain the company of The Fire Giant, Drathkus.  Although they go to the meeting of the Giants every century, this is all he can stand of the other Giants, since all they do is try to control what he does.

Enemies:
He does not care to spend any more time than necessary with anyone but Kavras, unless it's surrounded by countless others in the heat of battle... And he doesn't much care for who's side he's on.


HUZZAH!  It is done.  Four of four!

I've had a really great time doing all of this.  Granted, the drawings got quicker and looser as the project went on, but the writing developed a little more (Fextheus was the last one I wrote up, compared to either of the two giants I wrote about four weeks ago!) in its place.  Which I don't mind all that much, since I enjoy that, too.

Anyway.  I'm off.  I've got some more writing to do...

Peace.

Giant Friday - 3/4.

Four down, seven to go, four spaces left.  Let's fight.

I've been padding out the lore of the giants in the world; giving them the purpose of world builders and describing what they did at the beginning of time.  It's been really fun.  I'm going to write some more about it and develop it all further; and make up at least one story arch for each one regarding campaigns in my world.

Some of the campaigns will center around tracking down the giants for information, some will be created and requested by the giants themselves; once the characters reach a decent level.  These are immortal monsters, after all.  Not just anyone can do what they ask.

Without further ado, two more giants!

The Forest Giant, Glemziar.

Habitat:
Deep woodlands.  Lives in lean-to's made from large trees strung together with thick vines across a small stretch of forest canopy.

Weapon:
Gauntlets, "The Twins of the Forest" and two "daggers" (deal the same damage as short swords (1D6 piercing)); Leaf Shroud (creates a flurry of leaves that obscure him - much like the Shroud Cloud that Arekaros can create); summon (plant) elemental (once per encounter).

Familiar:
The Dire Bear, Dathkor.  Mirroring Glemziar's close-combat style and heavy-handed approach to problems, Drathkor is all business.  Heavy-set and scarred from a life full of running through the heavy forest and fighting some of the biggest enemies the world has seen, Glemziar and Dathkor make one of the most formidable close-quarters fighting units in the Giant kingdom.

Appearance:
Olive skin and dark brown hair and beard and dark green eyes; three braids of hair at the side of his head (two on one side and one on the other); adorned with giant beads and bones.  Beard is braided at the chin and similarly decorated.  Green tattoos across his chest and shoulders glow when he's in combat.

Temperament:
Although extremely formidable as an enemy, he is very friendly.  He loves to hunt and is extremely agile.  If a task requires him to be active, he'll favour that over some more important, less laborious tasks.

Alliances:
Very strong bond with Ents and other Treefolk; solid rapport with large beasts of the forests; he can influence several large animal species to the point of outright control and numerous small species to deliver messages, block paths, or attack if necessary.
He aligns himself with the works of The Cave Giant, Huth'kah, The Stone Giant, Takver, The Earth Giant, Zaxlor, The Hill Giant, Mak'hep.  He also shares company with The Ice Giant, U'thuzza, and The Wind Giant, Arekaros.

Enemies:
Very protective of what he has created, he doesn't abide the presence of anything that would harm his home.  Whether that would be flooding or burning.  The Lake Giant, Laznir, the Sea Giant, Vosor, The Fire Giant, Drathkus, and The Giant of the Depths, Fextheus are not welcome to the heart of the forest.

The Lake Giant, Laznir.

Habitat:
Lakeside; usually building structures that extend out a short distance into the lakes, and frequently semi-submerged.

Weapon:
The Trident, Crodius (deals twice the damage of a normal trident, and a large net.

Familiar:
The Dire Toad, Nexmir.  Although Laznir is usually found by the side of a lake, there are times when he goes out in search of new dwelling places.  Because of this, his familiar cannot be completely attached to an aquatic environment, but can still thrive in one.  Adorned with spines, Nexmir has natural armour, and attacking him with a melee attack requires a DEX check so as to avoid the spines.

Appearance:
With dreaded hair and a shorter beard, Laznir avoids metal and fur when he can, since they rust and get soggy, respectfully.  He dresses in dragon hide, since it provides the heat retention and waterproof qualities that Laznir requires for living on and in lakes.

Temperament:
Very dependent on the season; through the wet season, he is content and welcoming, but through the drier seasons, if he is unable to move across the world to an area with heavier rains, he gets very protective of his territory.

Alliances:
The Sea Giant, Vosor, as well as The Hill Giant, Mak'hep, The Earth Giant, Zaxlor, and The Forest Giant, Glemziar.  They share trade with one another and usually hold similar ideals; they are more closely involved with the creatures of the world than the other Giants, since they inhabit areas much richer in wildlife than others.

Enemies:
Does not get along with The Lava Giant, Drathkus, and doesn't usually cross paths with The Cave Giant, Huth'kah, The Wind Giant, Arekaros, The Ice Giant, U'thuzza, The Stone Giant, Takver, or The Giant of the Depths, Fextheus.


That's it for this Giant Friday!  Thanks for stopping by.

Next week is the last planned post for Giant Friday, and I'll be writing up the details of the "bad guy" Giants - Drathkus and Fextheus.  Not originally bad, but I'm still deciding on how they became that way.

I've also got the second part of Magic Monday in process.  It's probably going to hit either the second Monday of the month or the first of next and I'll just make the whole series a 1/2-part-at-a-time kind of thing.  I think it'll be better that way, to be honest - that way I'm not spamming the blog with huge long posts full of cards...  I'll be spamming this blog with shorter posts full of cards...

Peace.

Giant Friday - 2/4.

Yes, yes!  Here it is - the second of four Giant Fridays!  Today sees a much rougher iteration of the giants I've written up; I had a great time playing around with shape and basic look by slinging a Sharpie around and just kind of going with it.
I've also written in another attribute - the familiar!  This was as close as I could get to "pet" without actually calling them pets.  Long-lived companions that share a bond with the Giants through the centuries.  The Giants can bestow their longevity on their companions and share near-immortality with them in order to have an accompanying creature with which to perform the tasks in the world that they were assigned long, long ago.

I'll post more about the history and lore of the giants of my world at a later date; it's been fun to explore what I'd probably call writing doodling.  Instead of just drawing and going with it, I've been pulling up some Google Docs and going crazy creating rules and mechanics and stats and such for all sorts of monsters and items.  It's a lot of fun.

Anyway.  Here we go!
I'm just typing out all of this from Google Docs instead of copy+pasting it like last week, since that super messed up the formatting.

The Wind Giant, Arekaros.

Habitat:
Cloud-covered mountaintops.

Weapon:
The Heavy Bow, Aktheros (deals twice the normal damage than a longbow).  Cloud shroud - using the wind to whisk up sleet and dust to obscure himself; anyone attacking into or within this cloud has disadvantage, while Arekaros does not.

Familiar:
The Giant Eagle, Aeswar.  Flying as high as any other beast of the world, Aeswar graces the skies for sometimes days on end without needing to come down to land.  Eating and sleeping on the wing, he is still only ever a shout away from Arekaros.  And when called, is it is for war, Aeswar descends in a flurry of feathers and talons; eviscerating the enemy ranks - usually taking an unfortunate victim/snack or two as he retreats.

Appearance:
Blue hint to his skin, with darker blue tattoos across his chest; long white hair and a full white beard, with dark blue eyes.  Dressed in furs, with heavy leather quiver and straps.

Temperament:
Understanding; intelligent creatures that find him usually do so deliberately, so he affords them an audience for their efforts.  If they are lost, he will help them find their way back to safety.

Alliances:
Gets along well with The Ice Giant, U'thuzza, The Sea Giant, Vosor, The Earth Giant, Zaxlor. and The Hill Giant, Mak'hep.

Enemies:
While not complete foes, Arekaros is simply indifferent to the rest of the Giants.

The Stone Giant, Takver.

Habitat:
Rocky mountainous regions; sparse undergrowth - mostly open areas.

Weapon:
The War hammer, Gutnaar (deals twice the normal damage for a war hammer) and a giant shield (+3 to AC; only wielded by large or bigger creatures).  Traps and "small" projectiles (rocks); Summon (rock) elemental (once per encounter).

Appearance:
Hide clothing; long hair, with right-side shaved, and a full beard.  Black tribal tattoo down right arm.

Familiar: 
The Griffin, Takii.  Agile and adept at traversing rocky terrain, Takii usually walks to whatever destination they are heading to.  Not at all clumsy on the wing, however, Takii often flies to great heights when flying to either drop a hapless enemy to their death, or to rain death upon them by releasing heavy rocks from above.

Temperament:
Calm; does not often concern himself with the everyday lives of small creatures.  Will entertain basic conversation - enjoys talking about the topography of the local areas.  A patient hunter; although formidable with Gutnaar, he is an accomplished trap setter and can work to scales that the other Giants would not have the dexterity to achieve.

Alliances:
Shares ideologies and interests with The Earth Giant, Zaxlor, The Hill Giant, Mak'hep, and The Cave Giant, Huth'kah; gets along well with The Forest Giant, Glemziar, and The Lake Giant, Laznir.

Enemies:
Takver doesn't necessarily refrain from contact with the other Giants, but he does shy away from open waters, icy mountains, and the lava pits and volcanoes of the lands.  He can hold his breath long enough to traverse most lakes without having to come up for air, but that's not usually the case at all with the oceans.  His tolerance for temperature is as even as his temper, so any extremes are usually avoided.



So there are the entries for today!  A couple more for the roster.

The giants of the land were created to morph and shape the world into a form that met a balance that they held to be acceptable.  While some still fight for territories and some are just bent on destruction, for the most part they live in harmony with the world and each other; meeting every few decades - as they have since the world was first created - to discuss any changes that may need to be made.  In recent centuries, they have started to entertain the needs of the smaller, intelligent creatures of the world, but that voice is small and not always considered.

I'm having a lot of fun.

Peace.

Giant Friday - 1/4.

Welcome, welcome!  Here is the first installment of Giant Friday!  For the next four Fridays, I'll be posting up some character information and ideas about some of the giants in my D&D world; they are serving the purpose of caretakers of the world, with each giant dwelling in a different environment.

They travel from place to place within their territories and environments, and interact with each other occasionally (some more frequently than others).

The way I like to make creatures, characters, weapons, and quest for my world is simple.  Look at a creature type weapon

Finished is the enemy of done.  That is; these are all WIP and I am going to add to them for a long time after posting about them, but I don't want that to keep me from posting them, you know?  I can't wait until something is finished before I share it with the world, because then I won't be able to produce anything.  So here we go.

Here are two that I've been working on this week:

The Ice Giant, U’thuzza.

Habitat:
High mountains and the Ice caps.

Weapon:
Ever-Frozen Ice Axe, Th’all.  Frost breath (15’ cone). Shard blast (25’ cone).
Summon (ice) elemental (once per encounter).

Appearance:
Laden with thick fur garments, a full head of hair, and a full beard.  
A heavy cloak thrown over his shoulders, fur-lined bracers, and hide clothes -
all held together with strong leather straps. He has a harness behind his cloak
that holds Th’all when he’s not using it; he carries it with him wherever he
goes, since he may simply decide to create a new or reuse an old dwelling as
it takes his fancy.

Temperament:
Withdrawn.  A hermit who busies himself with hunting and carving massive
and ornate patterns into the bones of this quarry.  He’ll entertain company for
a short while, but is by no means graceful at ending any conversation or meeting.

Alliances:
Closest relationship is with the Wind Giant, Arekaros; has made acquaintances
with the Hill Giant, Mak’hep, Stone giant, Takver, and Lake Giant, Laznir.

Enemies:
Has fought for centuries with the Lava Giant, Drathkus, for territory.  There are a
few places around the world at which that battle is ongoing, but for the most part,
their territories have been well-established.

The Earth Giant, Zaxlor.

Habitat:
Open plains and large forest clearings.

Weapon:
Giant spear, Xegor. Can earthshift to create a wall of earth from the ground, that
he can use to trap or block opponents.  Summon (earth) elemental (once per encounter).

Appearance:
Short, dark brown hair, shaved to mohawk; beard that’s trimmed to mirror his hair
(short at the sides down to long at the chin).  Dressed in hide and light furs from
the waist down, with large carved totems hanging from his belt, and iron rings on
three of his fingers. Tattoos on his forearms.

Temperament:
Very even-tempered, and uses magic more willingly than some other giants.  He is
usually the first Giant who is called to aid some from time to time because of his
penchant for magic.  He can travel extremely quickly with the use of his magic -
he’ll use his earthshifting abilities to spring him up and forward at great lengths and
speeds, and to cushion his landing on the other end.  Even though this can be
quite a destructive ability, he usually makes sure he leaves areas as close as he
can to how he found them.

Alliances:
Strong friendships with the Forest Giant, Glemziar, and the Hill Giant, Mak’hep,
and good alliances with all other giants; frequently takes the role of mediator in
disputes.  He is the most trusted of the Giants by the other Giants and will even
represent smaller creatures in an audience with the other Giants.

Enemies:
None.  The only giant that is not on the bad side of any others.

So there are the two that I've been focusing on over these past few days. It's been
a lot of fun; especially going back to basics and drawing out some thumbnails for the
giants. I'll post those on the fourth Giant Friday - I've still go a lot going on to try and
find some shapes to use for their poses, but it's been super fun getting back into just
doodling with a proper purpose.

I've also been tidying up my rules for Zombie House; I'm not adding much to it at all
this time around (which is great news, since that shows that the last time we played
the game, we had a pretty clean run through), but splitting the rulebook into two
smaller books - one for the zombies and one for the humans. I think that this will help
a great deal, since then both sides aren't waiting for the other to finish looking up a
rule if they also need to confirm a rule.

We're also making a start on the back deck - the porch has got some panels down
that aren't doing too well. Just wear and tear, but to the point that I'm not confident
that a certain one will take my weight much more...

So that's where we're up to!

Peace.