https://www.ryanctompkins.me/about daily 0.75 2020-07-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1594706353382-7QWKYQVPYKWBX5DSO44M/541322-crackdown-3-windows-apps-front-cover.jpg About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1594706352488-IQPAMA1DBUPX8VF5BI9Q/halo-the-master-chief-collection-image-3.jpg About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1594706353567-XPU9G7UH93GAKKBJ40XF/TGTG-box-art.jpg About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1594706353297-J6T8GSZDUNVMLC81OXWA/Crucible.jpg About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1594706352883-9A2VIGB6LNOM2JHPPG1K/GOT-Box-Art.jpg About https://www.ryanctompkins.me/contact daily 0.75 2020-07-13 https://www.ryanctompkins.me/home daily 1.0 2022-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1594592168798-896L280NN9KF4UDAJS6Z/The+Pit.jpg Home Ifreannbéal, The Pit by Kate Miterko https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1594708344310-6QE5GKG1YPQNYLMGFUC1/MerelyPlayers_Banner2019.jpg Home A story about the creation of the world… and the trouble that came after. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/ddc916a7-a6f3-4971-aa3f-9ea3d8c42a86/KiraAndDale.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/9636e787-1cb0-4a94-b229-14b589e3769f/PlanetCentered.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/da90cca1-c532-475f-ab5e-32f816e1be42/Duwallen_DalenshJourney_01.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/8f066dd7-3291-406d-a5f7-c729794f213d/kurttall_nobg.png Home https://www.ryanctompkins.me/home/judge-jury-executioner monthly 0.5 2020-07-13 https://www.ryanctompkins.me/home/wandering-protector monthly 0.5 2020-07-12 https://www.ryanctompkins.me/home/poor-lost-soul monthly 0.5 2020-07-12 https://www.ryanctompkins.me/home/failure-to-negotiate monthly 0.5 2020-07-12 https://www.ryanctompkins.me/home/dark-fantasy-items monthly 0.5 2020-10-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601848729251-HWEQKEH3KB32AM6JGCDG/UP_Fantasy_1.png Home - Dark Fantasy Items - “When kings go to war, our enemies believe we seek to intimidate them through macabre displays. If they fear such symbols of death, so be it, but they are not the ones who need to be reminded of the costs of the battle to come…“ Imperious Battle Helm Helmets such as these have long been worn by heads of state when they see fit to personally lead their forces into battle. Between the decorative eye and nose holes and the heavy ornamentation, they are entirely impractical for combat purposes. Few expect the individual wearing such a thing to take part in the fighting themselves. Still, on the rare occasions that they do find themselves wading into the thick of it alongside their troops, it can be safely assumed it is either out of a deep and unflinching faith, or an intense level of desperation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601848749950-0KATCCRYIW3L3IHE31FP/UP_Fantasy_2.png Home - Dark Fantasy Items - “It’s perfectly sanitary! You think we’d still be using them after all this time if they weren’t? Besides, that acidic bite it adds to each swig is a real eye-opener on those long nights.“ Gourdbladder Drinking Vessel In the Deserts of Òr, you use what resources are available to you. These dried bladders from the local wildlife are evidence of that philosophy. Some claim that the bile residue still clinging to the inside is what gives their water that extra kick of rejuvenation. It is, to put it lightly, an acquired taste. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601849021039-OO8CQE0KJ5P75GLEVDZH/UP_Fantasy_3.png Home - Dark Fantasy Items - “The scriptures written across its head speak of the thunderous joy of the ringing of our great cathedral’s bells. In times like these, are bells and helmets really so different?“ Geddon’s Clapper Legends tell of the peaceful hamlet of Dorn, when war came to its rolling hills. The invading force saw an easy target for resupplying their rations and blowing off a little steam. They got no further than the steps of the local cathedral, however, when they were faced with Saint Geddon. He had rung the bells so loudly in warning that they had collapsed to the ground outside. Faced with imminent death, and that of his flock, the holy man took up whatever he could find and stood in their defense. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601848988769-I62BAT7M9YKI5BLYEMN8/UP_Fantasy_4.png Home - Dark Fantasy Items - “A relic of the Three-Eyed God, a traditional death ward of her people, a particularly grisly piece of jewelry… She had used many excuses to slip this deadly tool into places of supposed peace and safety, and yet still people wondered how her targets kept falling to blades.“ Three-Fingered Knuckle Blade Forged special for an assassin of some repute, this unassuming weapon is difficult - if not downright painful - for anyone to use if they aren’t missing the same finger she was. For the truly determined, however, or those seeking to be a bit more covert about their intentions, it might just be worth the effort for those attempting to disguise just how deadly their fists can be. https://www.ryanctompkins.me/home/dark-fantasy-items-zynfw monthly 0.5 2020-10-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601853905966-AXP3027WGJHY302052SL/UP_Horror_1.png Home - Horror World Items - “As one’s eyes see their end approaching, terror and pain allow a new kind of sight to be granted. You shall peer through the veil between realities and see things as they truly are. The dead are all around us; one must only know how to look.“ Dead Seer’s Mask If one listens closely to the screams of the seers as they echo across the fens, it’s said that the words of the souls that still linger on our plane can be heard intermingling with them. It’s difficult to determine how effective this practice truly is, as many assigned to wear the Mask will say just about anything to get it off sooner, and if the dead are speaking through them, their warnings are vague at best. On the other hand, blood loss can lead to any number of hallucinatory ramblings… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601853958166-Z11RFAQYLB76656B95N0/UP_Horror_2.png Home - Horror World Items - “Fresh from the dark seas beyond the edges of comprehension, gifted to our world by those who would have us understand our true place in an unfeeling universe. Take it into yourself and Know.“ Old One’s Vigor These strange, oversized syringes can be found scattered throughout the seaside laboratory of Aya’s Rest. It’s unclear what effects the ungodly ichors squeezed from these still-flailing tendrils actually have on the human body, but at the very least it seems to soothe the mind and seal lesser wounds. The strange colors creeping into the edges of your vision will fade with time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601853983549-AAGPDLN6PGJY4Y7POQMK/UP_Horror_3.png Home - Horror World Items - “Nobody knows where it came from. Nobody knows what it does. It gives me a weird tingling up my spine when I look into its eye, but I’m sure it’s fine. The folks I took it from are long-since dead. Nobody’s tracking me down to get it back or anything!“ Cyclopean Rod An odd, inhuman skull mounted on a wooden rod. An amber ‘eye’ floats in the center of the singular socket and casts a faint glow onto anything in front of it. Passing this light over ancient surfaces can sometimes reveal text left by previous holders of the rod, but simply holding it in your hands gives you the strangest feeling of being watched. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601854006946-U89LOAYWH4DGK81L9TX4/UP_Horror_4.png Home - Horror World Items - “He accepted the ring from his bride-to-be with tears in his eyes and love in his heart. As she caressed his hand, her fingers brushed across the slightly gaudy jewel mounted atop it. Shooting pain lanced into his finger and up his arm. He panicked, but she murmured soft comforts to him, raising his hand to her face. Her eyes seemed almost to glow the same color as the gem. He found himself lost in them, even now that blood flowed freely from beneath the band.“ Thirsting Band A golden wedding band with an odd, steel cap on top that appears to be holding a blood-red gem in place. When the gem is depressed, hollow teeth shoot out of the inner surface of the ring, piercing the flesh and digging into the marrow of the finger-bone. Despite being found on a desiccated corpse, the ring itself appears to be in pristine condition. https://www.ryanctompkins.me/home/dark-fantasy-items-9bcc4 monthly 0.5 2020-10-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601855963598-GZ1K1ZGWA05TMNAFU7P9/UP_Scifi_1.png Home - Science Fiction Items - “Attention, Passengers! As you have no doubt felt, we’ve had a minor collision with an unexpected debris field. Nothing to worry about, I assure you, but for the sake of your safety, if you would please sign the waivers in your rooms and equip your Emergency Spacewalk Gear, we want to ensure you are perfectly safe in case of any brief periods of decompression. Thank you!“ Cruise Liner Emergency Helmet A rather posh helmet found in a few of the rooms of a scuttled Andromeda Cruises® Cruise Liner. Cumbersome to move in, but otherwise surprisingly comfortable to wear. There appears to be a strange defect in the hosing around where the neck would meet with the rest of the suit that would prevent it from fully sealing in the vacuum of space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601855936813-2L722WKKY14TVTKG0ZZD/UP_Scifi_2.png Home - Science Fiction Items - “Nothing simpler! You just rip the battery out of one of those freaky drones, rig it up to a holoCard ™ reader, and strap all of that onto a VR Tactile Immersion glove, and you’re set to go! Sure, it might zap me if I twist my hand wrong, but aside from that it’s perfectly safe!“ Kludged Hacker Glove A glove hacked apart and pieced back together with an odd amalgamation of tech that allows it to serve as a hacking device for a variety of systems that deal in currency and information. The fact that it hooks directly into the wearer’s nervous system is both extremely convenient and mildly horrifying. What it lacks in shielding, aesthetics, safety mechanisms, reliability, comfort, and color coordination, it more than makes up for in price. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601855915690-M97YDMFBKFPMKLKC1EYZ/UP_Scifi_3.png Home - Science Fiction Items - “It flies! It speaks! It accepts seventeen different forms of currency! New from Mattesco ™ comes the LoveBug, a perfect friend for your child, pet, or infirm loved ones! Full song library and topics outside of other Mattesco ™ Products sold separately. Rudimentary AI not rated for existential conversation.“ LoveBug Personal Companion This adorable little drone seems to have taken a liking to you! It doesn’t appear to have any functions other than hovering nearby and making idle conversation, but space is a lonely place, so there are worse things you could have found out here. It does seem to have a bit of a strange fixation on its previous owners, though… Seems they didn’t ‘understand’ it? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601855894819-T4BD7Y0S0IUIHWE7OO7T/UP_Scifi_4.png Home - Science Fiction Items - “Shortly after the workmen had carted off the collection of tubes, Dr. Alton noticed a note on the floor, the tape that had held it up covered in just enough dust to make it useless. ‘Keep under -20 °C at all times’, it read. An odd thing to find near specimens outside of the freezer…“ Empty Specimen Container The symbol on the locking mechanism marks this as an unknown xenobiohazard, but aside from a dull pink slime at the bottom, it’s entirely empty. Worryingly, the lock appears to have been tampered with from the inside. https://www.ryanctompkins.me/home/ceph-a-history monthly 0.5 2021-01-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601862218429-S6Q35PWO52985FMO8WLG/BabySquid.jpg Home - Ceph - A History Although the gods had sworn off of creating more intelligent life in the wake of their initial failures, the Elemental God of water, Dalensh, snuck off to create the first Ceph in secret. He based their design on some of his favorite creatures of the sea, but specifically shaped them to be land-dwellers to see how they might adapt to such a drastically different environment. Smitten immediately by them, Dalensh was unable to keep their creation a secret for very long, as they turned out to be quite successful in the habitat the god had attempted to corral them in. Before long, they had grown so populous and industrious that they spilled out into lands the other Elemental Gods were developing, exposing Dalensh’s secret project. The other gods were enraged at first, but held off from destroying his work long enough to see the value in the squid-like species. Their ability to shape the world around them was well beyond anything the Old World had managed in its brief lifespan, proving to be quite engaging for the gods to watch. Spurred on by their successes, Dalensh managed to convince his siblings to create more intelligent life throughout the world, and so the Ceph were left to their own devices for a century or two. Their culture thrived, and their birthplace was steadily grown into a metropolitan center that rivals even some modern cities in scope and exceeded several in complexity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b8a1ebb3d81154fc85276/1601859205201-S7KUH8V0RZ7OKFUHFOB6/DoctorGilbert.jpg Home - Ceph - A History The gods, though still utterly unable to find or identify the culprit behind the devastation of so many mortal lives, had at least managed to comprehend the cycle of their actions and the kinds of targets that attracted their attention. Many suspected that Demeris might be too tempting a target for its own good, but the precise window wherein the mage might strike was too wide to pinpoint. The gods remained on high alert for months. Prayers went unanswered, shrines collected dust, the occurrence of miracles - even the minor, meddlesome sort - dropped dramatically. But no attacks came. Gods are powerful, but are neither omnipotent nor omniscient. Slowly but surely, they let their guard down as they tried to return to some semblance of normal operation while still keeping their eyes open for the next appearance of the mysterious townslayer. When the end came for the Ceph, the gods were quick to respond, but not quick enough. A sickly green fog blew in from across the sea. Pulled into Demeris’ complex waterways, it was soon misted through almost the entire city. Those on the shoreline dropped dead almost immediately, while those inside succumbed more slowly as their own designs pumped poison into their homes and businesses. By the time the gods caught on to what was happening, much of the city was dead or dying. Some individuals were whisked away, while others were aided by divine protection as they worked to grab anyone they could and shepherd them free of their virulent home. Their presence on the scene allowed them to, at last, catch a fleeting glimpse of the perpetrator of this and past atrocities. Unfortunately, the mage had already increased their own strength with this heinous display, and managed to disappear once again with yet more of the gods’ power. The gods retreated from the scene to come up with the plan to stop something like this from ever happening again. The Ceph, meanwhile, were left destitute and in mourning. Even having survived the near-obliteration of the vast majority of their species, Demeris remained tainted in equal measure by both the ungodly poison flooding its waters and the bodies now rotting in its streets. They had nowhere to turn. Nowhere left to go that hadn’t been abandoned and allowed to fall into ruin ages ago. They might very well still have fallen into extinction at this point, were it not for the intervention of the Bufogren. Frog-esque folks from the swamps to the north, the Bufogren and the Ceph had previously been on somewhat neutral terms, bordering on friendly. The former saw the latter as stuck-up and too obsessed with their ‘future glory’ to live in the moment, while the latter saw the former as hicks and yokels unwilling to strive for more. These thoughts were put aside for the moment, however, as the Bufogren saw only a people in great need of kindness and homes, both of which could be provided in abundance. The swamplands might not have had the power and grandeur of the ocean, but humidity was humidity in the end, and the two species only found more points of comparison between themselves as time went on.