Real-Life Weirdness

[L.J.Steele]

Whiskey Fungus Encrusts Tennessee Town

The ethanol-fueled fungus known as whiskey fungus has thrived for centuries around distilleries and bakeries. It’s been the source of complaints from residents who live near Kentucky bourbon distilleries, Canadian whisky makers and Caribbean rum manufacturers.

Now it is driving a wedge between some residents of Lincoln County, Tennessee, and Jack Daniel’s, the famed distillery founded in 1866 in neighboring Moore County.

For months, some residents have complained that a sooty, dark crust has blanketed homes, cars, road signs, bird feeders, patio furniture and trees as the fungus has spread uncontrollably, fed by alcohol vapors wafting from charred oak barrels of aging Jack Daniel’s whiskey.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/...ennessee-town/

[Daigoro]

Some new specialisations for your Polearm skill for late-TL 8, early-TL 9 settings.

https://soranews24.com/2023/03/13/ja...vids%e3%80%91/

[sgtcallistan]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

Some new specialisations for your Polearm skill for late-TL 8, early-TL 9 settings.

https://soranews24.com/2023/03/13/ja...vids%e3%80%91/

Wow, looks like the old 'sleeve-entangler' has had an upgrade.

[William]

These are sodegarami and sasumata - they are described in GURPS Martial Arts on p. 224 and given stats on p. 230. I suppose this spring-loaded version might offer a bonus to an initial attack at the cost of a slower re-Ready.

-----

Another weapon set practically begging to be put into the hands of an ultra-strong demon fighter, apparently a very large one who uses sword-and-board style: from Japan's Kofun period archaeologists have unearthed a seven-foot iron sword and 1 foot x 2 foot bronze mirror shaped into a shield, buried in a Kofun period (ca 4th century CE) grave. They believe the items, far too heavy for ordinary military use, were apotropaic.

What they didn't find was an inhabitant of the grave, so... maybe someone out there wants his stuff back?

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by William

What they didn't find was an inhabitant of the grave, so... maybe someone out there wants his stuff back?

Yeah, a coffin without a body is always good story fodder, but when teamed up with an oversized sword and a rather heavy mirror shield, well...

[Anaraxes]

Scientific flights over Anarctica have discovered a perfectly rectangular iceberg. They of course claim it's entirely natural. But I'm sure you know better. Dimensions of the slab weren't reported, so for all we know they're in the ratio 1:4:9.

Egyptologists recommend not opening a giant ice sarcophagus, even if it is drawing ever closer to civilization.

Most reports fail to mention that there's a series of these objects being generated and dispatched toward the north, as revealed in a companion photo from the same flight. See over the wingtip of the plane, hidden behind the engine on the left.


NASA press release

[Anders]

Originally Posted by William

from Japan's Kofun period archaeologists have unearthed a seven-foot iron sword and 1 foot x 2 foot bronze mirror shaped into a shield, buried in a Kofun period (ca 4th century CE) grave. They believe the items, far too heavy for ordinary military use, were apotropaic.

Do they want 7-foot mummies who seek to reclaim their grave goods? Because this is how you get them.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Anders

Do they want 7-foot mummies who seek to reclaim their grave goods? Because this is how you get them.

Depends on how the sword was meant to be wielded. If it was an oversized greatsword, 7-foot-tall mummies might show up. But if it were a more appropriately-sized one, you're looking at 8-footers (Hakushakusama's brother, perhaps). And if it were the equivalent of an arming sword, you'd be dealing with 13-footers instead.

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Scientific flights over Anarctica have discovered a perfectly rectangular iceberg. They of course claim it's entirely natural. But I'm sure you know better. Dimensions of the slab weren't reported, so for all we know they're in the ratio 1:4:9.

Egyptologists recommend not opening a giant ice sarcophagus, even if it is drawing ever closer to civilization.

Most reports fail to mention that there's a series of these objects being generated and dispatched toward the north, as revealed in a companion photo from the same flight. See over the wingtip of the plane, hidden behind the engine on the left.


NASA press release

I read about this in "The Ice People" by René Barjavel.

It won't end well.

[Dalillama]

Mountain villages with a culture, religion, and economy based on going down cliffs to collect the entheogenic honey found nowhere else. If that's not the perfect destination for a fetch quest, I don't lnow what is.