Mysteries of Montreal

Now, this is what I call a Call of Cthulhu gaming room ! I am extremely jealous. Looks more like a film set. I can imagine getting creeped out rather easily playing in this place. It's also a great way to put all your props on display too, as well as a great excuse to buy more. Unfortunately, we do not have anywhere near the space to put aside for something like this. Maybe in the next life, but it would be one reason to move to the suburbs. Great use of flickering tea-lights, as we all know we want  neither wax nor open flame beside all our lovely books and props, as I learned at a recent game, where a poster I had put on the wall beside the gaming table fell onto a tealight candle holder on the table. Fortunately, no props were harmed, and i managed to save the poster.

Through this article , I found out that the Vatican Library is uploading many of their manuscripts and books, and are putting them online for us all to see! Of course, this is a project that will take time to finish, and as of the writing of this post, they have only done 4,200 or so of their 82,000 documents, but still, that's a lot of manuscripts to go for for gaming inspiration and handouts. Even if most of them are in Italian or Latin, some of the illuminations alone are worth the effort of digging through. Which does raise one issue, the means for searching through the documents leaves a lot to be desired. The other issue is of course the surroundings are nowhere near the same as if you were in the actual Vatican Library, but a google image search will soon fix that. Also, there's no mention of when they're going to get round to their secret archives , as lets be honest, that's what we're really all interested in!

I read recently, with some sadness, of the closing, or moving of an establishment, that seems to me at least, to be as old as Montreal itself. In a recent Gazette column, I read of the relocation of L. Berson & Fils off of the Main. To those from out of town, the Main is the name given by locals to Rue St Lauren, or St Lawrence Street (of all the names the street has, that last one is never used). As the article states, the business was established on the Main in 1922, and it was indeed a landmark. I remember seeing it on my first visit to the city, and at the time, I did find it a bit of an eyesore, if at least one that clearly had history, it was what looked like a builder's yard in the middle of a busy main shopping street, but the sign hanging above it made it obvious it was just part of the fittings and fixtures of the town, and that it hearkened back to an earlier era. It was this obvious recalling to an earlier age that meant when I came to running Co...

With the sad and recent passing of Sir Christopher Lee, who led an amazingly full life , I post here a link to the full film Horror Express . This film is moving rapidly to the top of my play list for multiple reasons, Lee's recent passing is one, and my reading through of the Horror on the Orient Express campaign being another. The lovecraftian themes are of course there, but we really need no further excuse than the actors whe are present in the film.

Inspirational Artefacts artefact / ˈɑːtɪˌfækt / noun: something   made   or   given   shape   by   man,   such   as   a   tool   or   a   work   of art,   esp   an   object   of   archaeological   interest. At first glance, these don't initially strike the viewer as particularly mythos, but I had to include them once I read the description!  Egyptian, Amarna, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty. 1353-36 BCE These clappers are shaped like hands. They were used in magical practices to scare away evil spirits and ghosts. By clapping them together a noise is created that accompanies a ritual.  source . Of course, the influence of Egyptian archaeology on the mythos, and indeed on popular culture of the 1920s, is undeniable so these fit in very well with the setting. Furthermore, they are a bona fide magical artefact, not just an amulet of power, or a grimoire, and this alone sets th...

Inspirational Artefacts artefact / ˈɑːtɪˌfækt / noun: something   made   or   given   shape   by   man,   such   as   a   tool   or   a   work   of art,   esp   an   object   of   archaeological   interest. On my daily trolling of the internet, A Tumblr site has been brought to my attention that has some wonderful artefacts, that just scream out to be used in scenarios. With this in mind, I am starting what will be a new semi-regular feature on the blog, Inspirational Artefacts. Artefacts in your game. There are a number of ways these artefacts can be dropped into a game. It maybe that the item has been brought to a local museum on a tour, or maybe the investigators are the actual archaeologists who discover them. It could be that the item is found in the lair of the cultists the investigators raid, or even up for sale in the local occult store/jumble sale/auction. The gr...

No, not a 90's album name, but a collection of just that, suitcases from asylum patients that were stored after their death, and rediscovered on the closure of the asylum, and donated to a museum. This is not only a very poingant site, that may even bring a tear to your eys, but is a great place to get ideas for adventures, and handouts. Food for thought.