#Demons & Wizards

[altarus]

[Live Review] Uriah Heep, TivoliVredenburg Utrecht

Fifty-two years of Uriah Heep being very ‘eavy and very ‘umble means it’s time for a (magician’s) birthday party in TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht. We were there. (more…)

[deadwooddross]

gonna go ahead and crack pandora’s wasp nest open here—how could naruto have been good/how would u have written it

*begins chewing at my restraints and rips the iron door of my containment unit off its hinges* okay so the SHORT version is that naruto should have ENDED ssssomewhere around the Pain arc, maybe throw in one more, could probably keep..tobi...if you just make it WAY less convoluted, but. like that's it that's the wrap up on the lesson of NINJAS ARE HUMAN WEAPONS IN THE ARSENAL OF ENDLESS WAR. You can get maybe ONE more amp up, but the actual story did like 40, because it's shonen. Also Naruto could have had at least a LITTLE thought put into how he was like. raised. there is so much retroactive storytelling in this manga but apparently naruto has just been living in an apartment off his government provided milk and ramen since he was an infant. Maybe make me give a shit about Sarutobi by having had him go and bottle feed the demon baby or SOMETHING. Is Jiraiya the deadbeat sending child support checks or something? It's extremely hard to have Naruto exist at all as he is the second you put any thought into his childhood- which is why GAARA EXISTS. THAT'S NARUTO WITH 6 SECONDS OF THOUGHT. GIVE THAT BOY A FRIEND TO EXPLAIN HOW HE'S SO PEPPY!! SOME SORT OF GUARDIAN FIGURE BEFORE HE'S 12, Iruka could Almost count if he didn't act like he barely knew the little guy. Teacher Watches Orphan Go To Empty Home While Sad Flute Song Plays and says: Fuck that little kid, cant stand him, oh shit wait the author realized he needs one (1) parental figure in order to not lose his mind okay here i c Anyway, besides all that. Well for one thing Sasuke is RIGHT. Fuck Konoha! And the Government! did you see what they did to his clan!!! That one dude fucking HARVESTED them!! So you have little renegade fuck the system baby, and "If I'm king president I can fix all the problems!" baby. Good end: Naruto goes damn maybe u right and we should make some steps to try and alter the cycle of war and death and genetic eyeball supremacy. Neji voice: yeah i taught you all about weird bloodline family shit, remember that?? Bad end: The Entire Rest Of Naruto and Boruto, And No One Learned Anything. Also, the retroactive addition of GODS and PROPHECY anD REINCARNATION and MORE BLOODLINE SUPER WIZARD POWERS is so. Lame, Boring, Snore. Giving naruto a special baby background DESTROYS the fact he's kind of a nobody! He's just some kid with ONE skill he worked really hard on and he uses it in order to hack his way into doing all the other stuff he wants to do!! His only boon is haaving a LOT of energy to burn and STUBBORNNESS!! Screams in ADHD child Haku, Gaara, the Akatsuki/Orochimaru, and Pain. Are all good. Those are the arcs that stay and every one of them has a PRETTY STRONG POINT point about what happens when you smash children into little nukes. Eats that with a spoon. (PS JIRAIYA WHAT THE FUCK WHY DID YOU LEAVE THOSE INFANTS IN A WAR Z) Oh also there's a lot to be said on how to rewrite uhhh literally Any of the women characters into relevancy because as they are rn they barely even count as such. But if i talk about that I would be here for the entire rest of the y- IMAGINE IF SAKURA'S FUCKING MEDICAL JUTSU MEANT ANYTHING!! WHAT IF SHE COULD HAVE BEEN USEFUL AGAINST KONAN BECAUSE SHE CAN SEE ALL HER NERVES IN HER HORRIFYING PAPER FLESH NO JUTSU, SOMETHING, ANYTHING, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA *i am dragged back into my cell*

[steveezekiel]

PRAYER

"PRAYING always with all PRAYER and SUPPLICATION in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all PERSEVERANCE and SUPPLICATION for all the saints." Ephesians 6:18 (NKJV)

Prayers are needed to succeed in your Christian journey. If you are lazy in prayer, your profit, or Blessings might be delayed.

That said, the knowledge of the Word of God, strengthens your prayers. To pray a result oriented prayer, and not to pray amiss (James 4:3), you had to be conversant with the Word of God.

The world we are is full of wickedness (Psalm 74:20), because the devil, the gods of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), is on the rampage—in operations.

Satan, also known as, the devil, is not omnipresent, but has humans who are his agents, strategically planted around the world.

The satanists, witches and wizards, occultists, witch doctors, and the like; are working with demons to propagate the works and the kingdom of darkness, that is, of the devil.

The devil is enraged with those who are of God, the Believers in Christ Jesus: "SO the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went off to wage war on the rest of her children (seed), THOSE WHO KEEP AND OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS [holding firmly to it and bearing witness to Him]" (Revelation 12:17 Amps.).

The devil and the loyalists are after the saints of God, thus, you can not afford to live contrary to the Word of God, and be lazy in prayer.

To succeed in this world of darkness as a Believer, you have to live consistently on the Word of God, and pray in line with the Word.

Your progress is a threat to the devil. When you are progressing, the devil would want to raise oppositions; the people and the challenges of life, to hinder or limit your progress.

The humans who may be against you, because of envy or other carnal reasons, are not the enemy per SE, but the devil. Such have yielded themselves to be used of him: "AND that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, HAVING BEEN TAKEN CAPTIVE BY HIM [the devil] TO DO HIS WILL" (2 Timothy 2:26 NKJV).

Some of those who are against you; are being carnal, being propelled by the flesh, whilst some have sold their souls to the devil, to do his WILL and work for him—to do evil.

The devil is afraid of your success.

The devil knows If you succeed financially, your life would be a blessing to others.

You would want to give money or whatever God has blessed you with, to support the work of God, and that would have a negative impact on his work and kingdom.

You might be stirred or moved to Give to the Needy, or the poor, the widows, and others; and that would cause them to praise God and love to serve Him the more: "FOR the MINISTRY OF THIS SERVICE (offering) is NOT only supplying the NEEDS of the saints (God’s people), BUT IS ALSO OVERFLOWING THROUGH MANY EXPRESSIONS OF THANKSGIVING TO GOD" (2 Corinthians 9:12 AMP).

You might give money to the Ministers and ministries, and it would be used to liberate those who are being oppressed by him—the devil and his cohorts.

You might also be moved to set up foundations or build hospitals, or do other philanthropic works.

With a number of reasons given above, the devil would not want the prosperity and success of the Believers.

The devil does not want mankind who are the work of God, to be helped or cared for, because of the hatred he has for God. Thus, you cannot afford not to pray!

Some of the types of Prayers mentioned in the Bible I. Prayer of enquiry. This is when you want to know the mind of God on whatever you are facing or wanted to do. You inquire from God, to know whether He is in support of your move or whatever you had proposed to do: (1 Samuel 30:8). To be quoted. II. Prayer supplication. THIS prayer is used to ask for forgiveness, if you had done any wrong, or could be used to plead on behalf of someone whom God is angry with—one who had done wrong or committed a Sin (Psalm 51:1-17). ALSO, it could be used in standing before God to plead and ask for favour, mercy, and help; that people might be brought your way, to assist in getting a particular thing done or fulfilled. THIS could be used for yourself or for another person or people. III. Prayer of constant directions. THIS is about committing your thoughts, imaginations, ideas, expectations, and doings to God's hand in prayer. IV. Battling prayer or warfare prayer. THROUGH this prayer, you undo the works of the devil, which are plotted against you and those who are under your leadership; your loved ones, friends and the acquaintances. YOU discomfit the devil, demons, and the agents of dark kingdom, who may be against you or the work you do (Luke 10:19). V. Prayer of appreciation. THIS is about thanking and praising God for a steady and the trickle of results in your life, and on what you do, and the progress different stages of your life and Ministry, from one phase to another—being moved from one level of Glory to another. LEARN how to appreciate the little results that God is causing you to have. IF you did appreciate God for that little result, you would be promoted and lifted to another that is higher than that.

The types of prayers mentioned in this piece and some others found in the Scriptures should be prayed regularly by any Believer who desired to live fulfilled Christian life.

Someone says Prayer is the strongest weapon in the world. YOU can be praying wherever you are and be touching other parts of the world, effecting a change in spiritual realm with your prayers. Which the impact would be felt and seen in the physical realm. PRAYER is powerful and efficacious!

You will not fail in Jesus' name.

Whatever God has not planted in your body, which is contrary to your health, is cursed and uprooted in Jesus' name.

You are delivered from every infirmity in Jesus' name. Peace!

[biisutoarm]

Headcanon;; Elfman & Beast Soul

Headcanon inspired by this answer by @ragingbolt.

=================

Elfman clearly drew the short end of the straw in terms of Magical Ability among the Strauss siblings. It's no secret, either; between only managing Takeover on his right arm for the longest time and having a faulty attempt at Full-Body Takeover that resulted in easily the greatest tragedy of his life. It occurred to me that ever since his Full-Body Takeover, Elfman barely uses other forms of attack unless the situation demands he thinks outside the box.

Post-timeskip Elfman didn't just attain new Beasts to use for his Takeover; his 3-month training was spent mostly amping up his magic power quantity as much as he could, so long as he trained with his sisters and Cana. On his own, Elfman continued training physically, becoming the hulking mass he is today. However, all of this is because he was already plenty strong and renowned only using his right arm. Later battles proved that he needed to get stronger, beyond what he's been working on already. He needed more versatility, as The Beast may have been strong, but ultimately limited in effectiveness when things truly got dire.

This caused a shift in his battle style, starting from the Grand Magic Games onwards.

As a result, The Beast was sidelined - but kept as a trump card for whenever Elfman has a solid grasp on the task at hand, in case he needs to use it. Unlike Mirajane or Lisanna, who have a wider array of Takeovers, Elfman's is awfully limited. As such, the few Beasts he did perform Takeover on properly are all ones he mastered before using - as the last time he tried without mastery caused his sister's death. Even among all of those, The Beast reigns as the one Elfman is most efficient with, and the one he spends the least magical energy using - compared to its effectiveness.

In short, overuse of The Beast is mitigated through lesser Takeovers nowadays. His magical resources are still awfully limited for a wizard of his caliber, but should Elfman use The Beast again in combat, his mastery of it would be so great it's practically unrecognizable from his time in, say, Tenrou. Case in point -

one punch is all he needed to put Seilah, a Kyuukimon Demon, at the brink of death. And ever since, he's only grown stronger.

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

it's so interesting for me to hear that houses localization changed the script to vilify(?word?) the church bc when i played the game (i recently finished my first and so far only playthrough in lions route) for the first half of the game i was waiting for the shoe to drop to reveal the church is the big bad guys but it never came and the revealed was actually ed. idk if it should have been obvious but i was too focused on suspecting the church to see it or if it was actually subtle as i tend to be oblivious to hints(¿word again?) given in media lol.

idk where im going with this but i hope it makes at least some sense bc i am so sleep deprived rn

and the thing tou said about Henry being changed i am so curious of that too

hope you have a nice day and better sleep than me!

I'll answer the last part first since the rest is more descriptive.

Basically Henry went to Wizard School (tee em) and it was a cool and great experience. In JP, it was... iirc basically close to torture/hellish? It was a more mature situation/topic, but the loc changed it to be silly and fun sounding. For some reason Treehouse in particular seems deeply if not fatally allergic to mature topics and/or properly handling them.

Thank for about the sleep comment and I assure you, I sleep too often!! I wish I could send you some of my sleep and make it extra quality for you. :(

As for Three Houses, yeah, in AM it doesn't really happen that way. Nobody is really vilified (not even the imperialist warmonger invading neutral lands!) in AM (same with AG in Hopes).

What you saw/understood was the whole point! It was made it look at first like the Church was suspicious, but then the reveal was meant to be no, it was a fellow house leader all along. That was what the red herring part about the Church was all about. You were supposed to suspect the Church at first, hence Jeralt's warnings, and if you're playing GD, Claude's suspicions.

Unfortunately what happens in the other routes, especially in CF, is that Rhea's trauma is never explored, no characters stop to understand her motivation, etc. She's just used as the resident bad guy because she's Edelgard's enemy. Basically, you're seeing it from the point of view that Rhea is bad because you see it from Edelgard's perspective... but it fails to work because the game, in particular the localization, amps Edelgard up as a huge progressive hero. AM is the only route that really confronts her about her "views", and even then, it's a mess because all the things she argues with Dimitri about aren't her end goal (i.e. they don't ever end up actually happening in the vast capacity she claims she's going to do).

About Edelgard:

The localization avoids any particularly negative comments about her and changes or outright removes them (true of Hopes as well). In Dimitri's case it would make sense because of their connection, but when it ends up just being another route in the pile of feeling sorry for Edelgard (and... not Rhea, who had her family massacred and their bones turned into weapons), it just feels stale.

They basically tell you Edelgard is very cute and easily embarrassed, and she's just this headstrong progressive woman fighting For The People (tee em). The truth is (as per the game itself, i.e. content they can't change/localized because it's the contents of the game itself) that she's invading innocent lands, conscripting her own citizens, turning her citizens into demonic beasts to add to her military strength (lelz when u can't even rely on ur nation's own military strength without demonic beasts), and victim blaming anyone who fights back (if you have yet to see the extremely infamous "no u" line from Edegard to Dimitri in CF, you've been blessed) among other things.

They basically shove it down your throat, characters and narrative both (in the loc in particular), that Edelgard is good and just, while the story itself is looking at all that like ???. The JP script still tries to take good care of her and her image, but they're a lot more blunt about her/her goals (i.e. they don't dance around them nearly as much).

The localization showers what she does with love and attention, and even when they have to say she's the problem/aggressor, they still pretty it up as much as possible (such as Dimitri wondering if maybe her vision of society could possibly be just and righteous, instead of outright admitting what she's done is absolutely atrocious when it's way worse than anything he ever did, all of which he admits to doing and takes responsibility for).

The JP version is more clear on her being the villain. There's definitely bias toward her (as the writers were, confirmed by an interview), but it doesn't slap you in the face with it nearly as badly. Also, Dimitri has won a character popularity poll every year since the game's inception in Japan. In the west, Edelgard is much more popular than she is in the east. That, of course, is because of the way the loc pushed the writing for her/about her.

Edelgard's "progressive" stuff is supposed to be just propaganda (which is ultimately, even as per the western endings because there's only so much they can change). The way the loc frames it is that it's actually what she's aiming for. It's what she uses to inspire people to fight for her though, not what she's actually doing.

About Rhea:

This one's the real doozy because it's a victim of the above. Since they wanted to pretty up Edelgard's dialogue and make her A Hero (tee em), they needed whoever her main enemy was to be the "villain". Since Edelgard, now popular because of the tweaks in her dialogue, hated and wanted to kill Rhea, so too did her raging fans who gave no fucks whatsoever about any character who opposed her... even if it was just to save their own life!

They changed the tone of Rhea's voice in the loc to make her more angry and villainous sounding, rather than sad or kind. She was basically altered in the loc to make Edelgard look better. Like, of course, in the perspective of playing a villain in CF, she's the bad guy and the enemy. The problem comes when they have Rhea say things that are more aggressive than in the original script, and change her tone to sound demeaning and vicious (when she was otherwise not or not as much).

But like, why? The only reason any of us can think of is because they wanted to market Edelgard more. This is likely a result of the west's views and especially political views, since Edelgard's pretty words would sound good to a westerner's political beliefs... until you dig into them/the actual story content more.

Rhea also being the head of a Church probably got tweaked because of the west's recent irl views on religion. Religion in the west has been looked poorly upon in recent years. Instead of accepting this is just a fictional game though, the loc team just... pushed that they're Really Bad.

Rhea is more of a victim of them needing someone to be worse than Edelgard to make Edelgard look like less of a villain (which again, this isn't the case in the original script nearly as much), and they couldn't use Thales/the Agarthans because you were allied with them in that route.

The other characters vs Rhea as a villain choice:

The goal wasn't to make a playable lord a villain in the loc's case. It was the intention of the original script with Edelgard, but the loc tried to make her actions sound more justified because ??? like idk, I can't wrap my head around them justifying what she does.

Dimitri isn't handled too badly by the narrative itself and he's overall seen as a good person (even the loc didn't alter that or Edelgard's ablest mentality toward a mentally unwell person), so he wasn't really a good candidate for all that. Also, Dimitri's story is one of recovery, and because they ventured into mental illness, he wasn't a good candidate. He was treated well and pretty fairly (Edelgard not treating him particularly well makes sense with her character, but the narrative itself doesn't push him as being a monstrous person. Even in the time he considers that he was, there's depth, logic and complexity to the situation).

Claude being the main bipoc character would have just been an all around disaster if the loc or even original script tried to make him the top villain, yadda yadda (understandably). There was no chance that was going to go over well, especially in the west (have you seen the shitstorm GW caused? And that was with the writing not considering him a villain!!). He was basically safe from the get go as far as villainy if they writers/localizers didn't want serious backlash (there are discussions about the overall treatment of poc characters in Houses/Hopes, but I can guarantee it would've been legit backlash if he was made to be a genuinely and intentionally horrible person, so that wasn't really an option if they wanted this game to actually sell and be enjoyed).

So since Rhea isn't playable and is the head of a Church, that kind of makes her the only candidate. Players will get attached to the other lords and not like killing them, so it won't feel like a badass victory to kill them. I guess for some reason the loc team just... hated Rhea or something?

Dimitri's death in CF is either extremely sad and garners audience sympathy, or in the other version of his death in CF it's clear his mentally stability is starting to break right before he's killed, which in and of itself is another topic. Claude is either free to go by choice of the player or can be killed, and his death is sad and he's not villainized. Aside from how some characters treat Claude's death (in contrast to Dimitri's which is never outright villainized even by Edelgard), the scene meant for the player at the time it happens is supposed to leave a bad taste in your mouth.

So again, it really just leaves the loc team with the option of Rhea if they want to make the final battle seem like a big victory for the player. VW also has its big happy victory, and surprise surprise, Rhea dies in that route (offscreen no less!).

SS kills off Rhea but actually makes it sad, and it's, you know, actually the route that focuses on her/the Church most. AM doesn't kill her off and doesn't treat any character death as a badass victory, and instead gives a bittersweet ending (which again would be in line with Dimitri's connection to Edelgard, and it only feels botched down because of all routes obsessing over her).

So while, technically, the writing in the JP script wasn't trying to make Rhea as bad as the western version of the game, if the loc wanted to go for that, she was the best option. It just... came at the expense of butchering her character to make Edelgard shine, which shouldn't have been done but it was.

[aci32]

IRON MAIDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey everyone, sorry for running 6 days late but better late than never, here’s my 14th review of 2022, Iron Maiden!!! It had been 3 years since I last saw them in Toronto which was 4 days after I returned home from Europe at that time and it was at Budweiser stage but I still call it The Molson Amp since I’m old school that way. It had also been 6 years since I last saw them indoors which was April 3rd, 2016 and it was the 3rd time seeing them indoors of the now 8 times I’ve seen them. They always put on a great live show and they’re always a treat.

Let’s start the festivities!

First band up was Within Temptation!!!!!!!!!!!! This was my 2nd time seeing this band live as I last saw them 3 years ago at Wacken Open Air after Anthrax finished and before Demons & Wizards went onstage and I remember them being great live. Sharon den Adel has a phenomenal vocal range and she knows how to command the crowd very well. The song I’m most familar with is The Reckoning that features Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix, and this song was featured 2 years ago in tribute to retiring WWE legend The Undertaker on an episode of Smackdown and I thought that song was pretty cool. I may even see Within Temptation live on their own someday. Here’s their setlist:

The ReckoningPlay Video

Paradise (What About Us?)Play Video

In the Middle of the NightPlay Video

Stand My GroundPlay Video

SupernovaPlay Video

Don’t Pray for MePlay Video

Raise Your BannerPlay Video

Mother Earth

After Within Temptatin it was time for NWOBHM juggernauts, IRON MAIDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was my 8th time catching them and 2nd time catching them on an extension of their previous tour as I remember seeing them back to back years in 2016 and 2017 on The Book of Souls tour,. This time around it was the continuation of The Legacy of the Beast tour from 2019 as it was supposed to end in 2020 but it got pushed back multiple times due to the pandemic. It felt great to see Maiden live again after a 3 year absence, which is the 2nd longest I’ve waited to see Maiden as the longest was 4 years but that was due to Bruce Dickinson’s tongue cancer recovery treatment. Speaking of Bruce, his banters in between songs were funny he had said “Good evening Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a place that’s north of Mexico and sort of south of the North Pole, have you been to the North Pole lately? I’ve got good news and bad news... there is no bad news. I’d like to introduce to you Adrian Smith’s new plank *Adrian Smith plays a few chords* that’s is some lovely wood”. He then also said “It’s great to be back in Toronto because 1. It’s great to be back in Toronto and 2. It’s great to be back in Toronto... indoors, and not at some fucking theatre that has sponsorship from a company that makes shit beer. These last 3 years have been weird and if you’ve been asleep, I’m not gonna fucking go there”. He also had said during Iron Maiden “These spikes will go up your ass” when he was mocking people sitting down and he also said “Unless if your a paraplegic, there’s no excuse for sitting down and if you are, well fuck you as we don’t care much for you”. I will also highlight that when Adrian Smith threw his guitar pick it hit my bicep and rolled down my arm and into the palm of my hand which was absolutely incredible as I believe I caught Steve Harris’ wristband a decade ago, so another nice memento. Here’s what their set looked like:

Doctor Doctor(UFO song)Play Video

SenjutsuPlay Video

StrategoPlay Video

The Writing on the WallPlay Video

RevelationsPlay Video

Blood BrothersPlay Video

Sign of the CrossPlay Video

Flight of IcarusPlay Video

Fear of the DarkPlay Video

Hallowed Be Thy NamePlay Video

The Number of the BeastPlay Video

Iron MaidenPlay Video

Encore:

The TrooperPlay Video

The ClansmanPlay Video

Run to the HillsPlay Video

Encore 2:

Churchill's SpeechPlay Video

Aces HighPlay Video

Song played from tapeAlways Look on the Bright Side of Life

Overall a great show and a great way for me to close out being 32.

HEAVY METAL FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[beginagain--]

Hansi Kürsch leaves Demons & Wizards

Hansi Kürsch leaves Demons & Wizards

Vocalist Hansi Kürsch has confirmed that he has stepped down from Demons & Wizards. The news of Kürsch’s departure from the project follows the arrest of bandmate Jon Schaffer as a result of his involvement in the riots of the US Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on January 6th 2021. Schafer was arrested on January 17th 2021 and is reportedly being held on six felony charges. In a short…

[metalshockfinland]

DEMONS & WIZARDS Launch Video For New Single 'Wolves in Winter'

DEMONS & WIZARDS Launch Video For New Single ‘Wolves in Winter’

DEMONS & WIZARDS present the brand-new video for the group’s most recent single ‘Wolves in Winter’, taken from the forthcoming new record “III”.

Jon Schaffer comments: “I’m not sure why the title of this song came to me so strongly when I wrote and arranged the music. But it certainly did. I even put the wolves howling part on the pre-production demo before I had written any lyrics or heard any…

[metaladdicts]

HANSI KÜRSCH Quits DEMONS & WIZARDS: 'My Collaboration With JON SCHAFFER Is Over'

HANSI KÜRSCH Quits DEMONS & WIZARDS: ‘My Collaboration With JON SCHAFFER Is Over’

BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch has quit his long-running project with ICED EARTH‘s Jon Schaffer, DEMONS & WIZARDS. Hansi announced his departure from DEMONS & WIZARDS following Schaffer‘s involvement in U.S. Capitol chaos on January 6. Kürsch released the following statement: “I notified Jon and Century Media [DEMONS & WIZARDS‘ record label] on Monday that I was leaving the DEMONS &…

[ghostcultmagazine]

Ghost Cult Albums of the Year 2020 - Part 1 (75-41)

Ghost Cult Albums of the Year 2020 – Part 1 (75-41)

It feels rather redundant to preface this year’s celebration of the music that got us through what was annus horribilis maximus unprecedentiuswith much of a narrative of 2020 because we were all affected. We all lived through it. Some of us in un-splendid isolation. Some of us irreversibly overhauling the way we live, work, and support our dependents. Some of us welcomed changes we had to make…

[orleff]

Интервю с Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian / Demons & Wizards) | Rock The Night https://rockthenight.eu/intervyu-s-hansi-kursch-blind-guardian-demons-wizards/

[theheadbangers]

DEMONS & WIZARDS LAUNCH ‘THE GUNSLINGER (LIVE AT WACKEN 2019)’

DEMONS & WIZARDS LAUNCH ‘THE GUNSLINGER (LIVE AT WACKEN 2019)’

Legendary metal band Demons & Wizards have just released exclusive live footage of their performance of “The Gunslinger” from Wacken Open Air 2019. Watch the stunning video of the band performing to a sold out crowd here:

“What an insane rollercoaster ride. This clip is a great legacy of our amazing first Wacken appearance,” state…

[dailyadventureprompts]

Villain: Oriande Lapointe, Counterfeit Resurrectionist

Adventure Hooks

A miracleworker has arrived in the kingdom, a woman capable of restoring the dead to life. At first plying her trade among the pesantry, who now revere her as a living saint, she has recently become the favorite of the local nobility, who esteem her as one of the treasures of the realm. 

The powerful and previously mournful Duke Altonbridge is throwing a grand festival to honor this marvelous woman, and to celebrate the Resurrection of his beloved daughter Klarissa, a figure loved by all but cursed with ill health all her young life. Entertainment and opportunity is likely to abound at this festival, and so the party is inspired to attend. If that wasn’t enough, it’s said that the Resurrectionist is to perform another of her miracles at the height of these festivities; surely not a show to miss!

Folk whisper of a stranger walking the road at night, garbed in shadow with a silvery mask covering their face. They appear at crossroads to question travelers, and stalk the edge of villages as if seeking something. Some have said this figure is followed by a pair of unearthly hounds that tarry at their heels, though none who speak to the figure recall seeing such creatures. 

Backgorund: Oriande was young when her family lost everything. Born a bright girl to a line of penniless country gentry, the middle sibling of the Lapointe family exhibited a talent for magic early on in her life. Her family scraped together what they could to send her to a prestigious academy of magical learning, but when their fortunes turned and they were evicted from their estate, Oriande lost the support she needed to continue her education. 

Their ill luck continued with the death of the youngest Lapointe sibling, energetic young Ernard. Overcome with longing and nostalgia, Oriande ( now an armature practitioner) spent years concocting a spell that could return her brother to her side . Having no particular talent for necromancy ( the art of controlling the gate of mortality) or connection to the divine ( who control the gate itself), she settled on giving life to the memories she still carried of her brother, creating a simulacra of her brother’s personality

The copy was flawed, possessing only the memories she had of her brother, and unable to perform any truly original action. Still, the illusion was real enough to fool the unknowing, and that’s exactly what Oriande did. Starting out with scences, she sought to provide for her family by bilking others out of their riches for the chance to speak with their departed loved ones. The scheme worked well enough, until one day she was rushed out of her home by an angry crowd, to attend to a man who’d died suddenly in an accident, and his greiving wife.  This was not the first time Oriande had provided solice to a bereived spouse, but it was the first time a body had been involved. With her reputation on the line, and an emotionally charged crowd watching her every action, she summoned her spell INSIDE the still warm body for long enough to have him wish his wife goodbye.  For added flourish she added a little animation to have the corspe reach out and squeeze his beloved’s hand one last time, and in that moment her reputation was transformed.   

Where once she was merely a spritualist, now she was famed for being a woman who could undo death itself. More and more people flocked to her with gifts, and requests for her to perform her mirracle again, and with her reputation and family’s well being hanging by a thread she did what any good practicioner of the arcane would do: she kept piling on increasingly complicated magical bullshit until the couldn’t dig her way out.    The spell had to again be modified, firstly to add false vitality and longevity to the cadavers she was now “reanimating”, and secondly to improve their power to deceive. The later was accomplished by having the spirit create a psychic “field,” which let them peer into the minds of those around them to look for details as well as expected responses. in the presence of family or friends, her creations were near indistinguishable from the original, though left to their own devices, they’d slowly come to an inanimate stop. 

Using her newfound fame, she made contact with several influential members of the nobility and used her gifts to prove to them her worth. This isutation 

Goals & Schemes:  

Above all Oriande’s plan relies on secrecy, a fact which is sure to fail now that notoriety has brought the attention of both learned scholars and holyfolk intent on investigating her “miracle”. She uses her influence with the Duke Altonbridge to keep these snoops at bay, but she’s well aware that her time in the limelight is limited. 

If the party ingratiates themselves into Oriande’s company, she will entrust them with her story, the secret of her magic, and her current desire: To find a true method of resurrection before the powers that be discover her methods to be merely a stopgap. 

Challenges & Compilations: 

The figure stalking the roads is infact a celestial warden of the dead, looking into this apparent undetected breach of the  mortal veil. The creatures they travel with are associates from another realm, a pair of hellhounds intent on tracking the scent of a charlatan and giver of false hopes. The three have decided to temporarily combine their efforts until they can get to the bottom of the current happenings. 

A skeptical arcanist performing diagnostics on one of the commoners Oriande animated accidentally disrupts her jerryrigged spellcraft.  His interference transforms “ Reading the thoughts of others for information and using magic to sustain the body” to “Using the thoughts of others to sustain the body”, turning the reanimated corpse into a sort of psychic vampire. The arcanist is killed, and the siutation is barely contained, but threatens to erupt into a scandal. 

 A warlord with an interest in unkillable soldiers has designs to capture Oriandel in order to exploit her research. When he discovers the abovementioned psychic vampire, he’s willing to settle from “ legion of undying shocktroops” to “Raving horde of mind-eating corpses let loose on the enemy’s front lines” 

[megarockradio]

JON SCHAFFER's Longtime Friend And DEMONS & WIZARDS Bandmate HANSI KÜRSCH Is 'Deeply Shocked' By Violence At U.S. Capitol

JON SCHAFFER’s Longtime Friend And DEMONS & WIZARDS Bandmate HANSI KÜRSCH Is ‘Deeply Shocked’ By Violence At U.S. Capitol

JON SCHAFFER’s Longtime Friend And DEMONS & WIZARDS Bandmate HANSI KÜRSCH Is ‘Deeply Shocked’ By Violence At U.S. Capitol JON SCHAFFER’s Longtime Friend And DEMONS & WIZARDS Bandmate HANSI KÜRSCH Is ‘Deeply Shocked’ By Violence At U.S. Capitol Read the full article at Blabbermouth! https://www.facebook.com/233748106643860/posts/4106832782668687

[ljaesch]

Comikey Adds More Square Enix Manga to Its Service

Comikey Adds More Square Enix Manga to Its Service

Comikey Media Inc., a USA-based digital publisher, has announced that it has licensed more manga titles from Square Enix, and will be making them available to read on the Comikey platform. Title: I Think I’ll Cheat to Become a Spellsword in Another World By: Shinkoshoto, Tomozo, Nanora, and Itsuki Watanabe Publisher: Square Enix Released on Comikey: November/December 2021 Summary: Suzumiya Kaede…

[cyallowitz]

Teaser Tuesday: Enter the Lich

Teaser Tuesday: Enter the Lich

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen This one is kind of a repeat, but I realized it has been years since I showed the Lich’s debut scene.  Surprised to see him get any votes too.  Enjoy has first appearance in Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero. (more…)