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Note from Cowboy Frank, host of vladpup.org
Vlad passed away in his sleep, from a short, but severe bout with cancer, during the night of March 3-4, 2007. Vlad will be very much missed by those of us who knew him. Donations This website will remain active until the domain runs out November 4, 2007. |
Thanks for dropping by,
In the tradition of Medieval bestiaries, I have not separated the real from the mythological, the brute beast from sentient Folk. Many of these plants and animals, Folk and entities, perhaps with some modification, can be used in multiple genres. Similarly, I have not separated these biota - along with the occasional mechanical or spirit - in to separate folders according to habitat or by class, as many would overlap several categories.
Azytwaznt: Victorian Steampunk Era
(Steampunk Era currently being revised, to be re-post when divided in to Victorian and The Fabulous Future eras)
Azytwaznt: Hollow Worlds Theory
The nature of our Fabulous Solar System and its several inhabited worlds
Azytwaznt: The Other Planets
Adventures beyond our Hollow Earth
Azytwaznt: Medieval Era
A stablized Mongol Empire, Medieval Native Americans, and more
Azytwaznt: The Classical Era
The Classical Era as it never was
Azytwaznt: The Antediluvian Era
Before the Flood, the era of super-science of our lost Pre-History
Megrim: Overview
A world of fancies light and dark
Ambergris: Overview
Navel of Megrim, a splendiferous Faerie Queen, Her Court and Realm
Amber: Overview
My version of Amber, inspired by the books and game of that name
The Crystal Sea's Ring of Mountains
Drowned Empire
A land wide and ancient, once the glory of Bar-Sun, now lost in swamp
Drowned Empire Overview
Of City Gods and Ziggurats
Immortal Lathy, or, The Ghost City
A Palace Djinn-Haunted
Moons of the Drowned Empire
Tree Villages
Touched By Bad Majic
Ellie the 'broiderer
A Tale of Two Trees
Two entrances to House of Stairs, located in the world of Megrim; mysterious, wondrous, and often frightening, House of Stair is composed entirely of stairs - as are its entances.
Under-Stair Land: Entrance
Above A Cold-Water Flat
The Harmony
Champion of the Organic Credo, Unifier of Empires
The Organic Credo
A Life-Affirming Manifesto, raison d'être of The Harmony
The Organic vs Synthetic War
The Eternal War for the survival of Organic Life
The Dissolution
The Enemy's "Dissolution Plague" (solvents of synthetics) washes worlds into Chaos
Of A.I. and Robots
Artificial Intelligences: Know Thine Enemy
The Ancients
Our lost high-tech forebearers
Seeding
Spreading Organic Life throughout the Multiverse
Colonization
Spreading Organic Intelligence throughout the Multiverse
The Inquest
Staving off cultural stagnation, keeping The Harmony virtuous
Multiversal Travel
Psuedo-FTL Drives, Slow Boats, Gates, Links, and Nexus Worlds:
The communications web which weaves The Harmony together
Starship Design
Elements of a Starship
Angels of War
Correction for worlds gone wrong
The IRS: The Imperial Retribution Service
Enforcing the Tax Code - with extreme prejudice
Fortuna
Fortunetelling and Gambling for Cosmonauts
Lovecraftian Horror
The Stars are right! Why settle for the lesser evil? Cthulhu wants YOU!
Tsvayg Tsurik: The Branch Restored region
Reclaim fragments of The Shattered Realms for The Harmony's fastest growing region!
Fyn Lakshyr
An "Onvern Velt," or "Lost World," newly Restored to The Harmony
Fu Yuan, Client State of The Harmony
K'zin, Human and Gowachin fused into honerable Clans influential in Tsvayg Tsurik
Miowara Megacorp
A Multiversal Megacorp run as a family business by a Fu Yuan Clan
Welcome to my collection of worlds.
I began designing worlds in the late 1960's. I was originally inspired by the illustrations in my collections of fairy- and folk-tales from various parts of Europe and Asia. As some of those volumes were even then over a century old, their illustrations were quite varied in style.
I was also fascinated by maps from an early age. The first map I drew myself was inspired by that in an original edition of Treasure Island, my first encounter with a map tied in to a plot. That first map had every vital element, from "x"es marking buried treasure to illustrated "Here There Be Dragons" scrawled in faux-medieval letters in several locations. I even "antiqued" it with coffee stains and a burn mark.
Using our own illustrations and maps, my friends and I would spin stories together, taking turns narrating and fabricating characters and plots.
In 1975 I discovered a little volume called "Chainmail" which offered rules for expanding one's historical miniature war games to include fantasy forces. Before long I was scribbling guidelines for transforming the rules, or terms of engagement, from simply war games to the entirety of home-brewed folk- and fairy-tales.
Much to my chagrin, A Certain Someone else did so faster, and D & D became the standard. Yes, younger readers, some of us predate AD & D.
As you explore what scribblings I have posted here, I hope you enjoy them. I use them for story weaving and role-playing games. For my own gaming I generally use a mix of common sense for character-driven plots, supplemented by a "home-brew" mix of Call-of-Cthhulhu, Amber Diceless Roleplaying, Traveller, old D & D, Forgotten Futures, Tunnels-and-Trolls, Talislanta, Arduin, MERP, and couple dozen other sources of rules. I am currently digesting GURPS which, apart from not being based on a percentile system, is remarkably similar to my own original design. Oh, if only I had published way back then!
Some of the material on this site may be deemed inappropriate for the young and / or easily offended. I am an adult and write for my own amusement and that of my friends. I expect that you write as you wish and hope that you would not deny me the same freedom.
You are welcome to use my scribblings as you like to enrich your own gaming and story telling (for personal, non-for-profit use; insert legal blah blah here,) but I do hope you will credit me if you pass my ideas along to others.
Your comments and constructive criticism would be most welcome. Let me know what ideas you like and which not - preferably with a "why." You also invited to play "Find the misspellings;" there are plenty, which I can only correct if I am made aware of them. I would be especially pleased to hear what you have done with my ideas.
If you would like, send me some of your writings or illustrations, original or inspired by others. If I find them compatible, I will post them here (with proper credit.)
As this is my first website, design and formatting suggestions will also be considered.
Currently I am looking for illustrations compatible with a Victorian setting. If you have interesting pictures, whether of people who could be characters or of settings or gagets, maps, floor plans or diagrams, whether for science fiction, fantasy, or more realistic "historical period" worlds, please let me know.
I hope you enjoy my work as much as I have enjoyed composing it.
Thanks for dropping by,
Write me at: