#MONTSEGUR

[illustratus]

The Siege of Montségur Fortress, 1244 by Sergey Lesnikov

[de-enige-echte-richard]

[negreabsolut]

Reconstrucció ideal de Montsegur en temps de la croada albigesa.

[spaceintruderdetector]

The Otherworld (2013)

about the Zone, region of high weirdness  in southern france 

[viajero2000]

País Cátaro Foix y Montségur

El Castillo de Foix

Castillo de Montsegur

[sethian123]

Twinkling Star of Montsegur (Choka Poem)

(Poem about the medieval siege of Château de Montségur, a religious battle aimed to destroy the Cathars)

Beneath stars twinkling

Sophia and Christ flew down

In the form of birds

In the form of large vultures

Vultures filled with grace

Vultures from the Great Mountains

The Mountains of Snow

They both perched on an ash tree

Whose roots go deep down

To Hades, the home of worms

Whose trunk goes high up

To the Kingdom of Heaven

They watched the white lambs

Twinkling with heavenly spears

Glittering with shields

Shining in holy armour

Gleaming with their swords

Ready to defend their home

Their faithful castle

Against the wolves of Saklas

However old fate

That serpent trapped in hunger

Wanted to slaughter

Every lamb looking upwards

Every faithful lamb

To snuff out their shining light

The light of the world

The two vultures from heaven

Knew this coming fate

And so, they sang in secret

“The home is the spear

The castle is the army

The home is the shield

The castle is the armour

The home is the sword

This small star of holy faith

Will soon disappear

When the red fire rises

From the dying earth

But after a day of toil

You will reunite

As a palace of starlight

And the lambs shall watch

As shining angels at peace

As twinkling stars of the night”

[ernestdescalsartwok]

OTTO RAHN-ENCUENTRO-GRIAL-MONTSEGUR-CUEVA-ARTE-PINTURA-MISTCISMO-AGUA-PIEDRAS-ARTISTA-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS por Ernest Descals Por Flickr: OTTO RAHN-ENCUENTRO-GRIAL-MONTSEGUR-CUEVA-ARTE-PINTURA-MISTCISMO-AGUA-PIEDRAS-ARTISTA-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS- En su larga búsqueda del GRIAL, por fin OTTO RAHN encuentra el mágico cáliz en las cuevas cercanas al castillo de Montsegur en la Occitania de Francia, entre piedras y un tranquilo estanque de agua, momentos especiales en la vida del investigador alemán, en un entorno de enorme misticismo el lugar se ilumina con gotas de agua que parecen llover con lentitud. Pintura del artista pintor Ernest Descals sobre papel de 50 x 70 centímetros.

[claudiacanginiart]

Montsegur 1244 goes to Japan! (my love for this game is boundless <3) https://thoughtfuldane.com/2023/07/29/montsegur-in-japan/

[child-of-hurin]

i listen to a lot of historical podcasts, so there's something from going to an episode about roman gladiators to one about montsegur and the inquisition to one about the aztec empire, and see the different framing historians have to address

[rielpolitik]

ARCHONS, OVERLORDS & MAGICK: 'In The Footsteps Of Otto Rahn', Nazi Holy Grail Hunter - By Jack Heart

Source – vtforeignpolicy.com “…By the time Rahn arrived in Montsegur sometime in 1930 the French secret society of Polaires, the Italian secret society of White Eagle, and the German secret society of Thule, were all scouring the Sabarthez under the auspices of their respective country’s intelligence agencies. Rahn had been sent by a faction of the Thule Society which would soon become the…

[medievalcat]

Perhaps the most famous female Cathar was Esclarmonde de Foix. She was a member of one of the most important families in the Languedoc, and ruled Foix as regent when her husband died in 1204. Esclarmonde wielded great power during her lifetime. She witnessed documents alongside her brother, like the settlement in 1198 between the Cistercians of Boulbonne and the Count of Foix, so we know she had enough secular influence to sign charters. She was also responsible, along with Raymond de Pereille, for rebuilding the fortress at Montsegur to protect the remaining Cathars from the Albigensian Crusade. While she may not have lived long enough to see its fall during the siege, her actions offered shelter to families that had been driven many hundreds of miles into exile by decades of persecution. But it is her role in Cathar preaching that is most often cited.

She was made a perfect and ran a house for Cathars in Pamiers. In the same city, two years after the death of her husband, Esclarmonde attended a council where representatives of Catholics, Cathars and Waldensians presented their beliefs. It ran for a month and each spokesperson was given a full day to argue their position. To the disdain of the predominantly male council, Esclarmonde was invited to present on Cathar beliefs. She took the stage but was heckled by the Catholic representative, Brother Etienne de Miserichorde: 'Go, Madam, to spin your distaff. It is not appropriate for you to speak in a debate of this kind.' The misogynistic response has enflamed centuries of commentators who see in Esclarmonde a proto-feminist. Indeed, she has developed legendary status in the Pays Cathare, even though it is difficult to gather facts such as where and when she died. Her involvement in a council and her derogatory treatment by a member of the clergy highlights both the positions to which Cathar women could rise, and the destruction their reputations could suffer at the hands of the orthodox church.

[european-tour-operator]

Route: Andorra La Vella - Castle of Montsegur - Toulouse - Andorra La Vella Duration: 12 h The first stop of our tour will be at Montségur castle, which is the symbol of Cathar resistance rebuilt at the start of the 13th century, was once a refuge for Cathars hunted down by the Inquisition.

[operaportugues]

This is Opera - Parsifal - Wagner (2015)

Temporada 1, Episódio 5 legendado em português: link.

Acha que não gosta de ópera? Então venha conosco porque a ópera não se aprende a escutar, aprende-se a sentir.

Com apresentação do barítono e pianista Ramon Gener, “Isto é Ópera” é uma série imaginativa, inovadora, de puro entretenimento que nos conduz através da história da ópera, a partir do nascimento do género até aos nossos dias. Uma série que fornece as chaves para entender e apreciar as óperas mais importantes da história, de uma forma simples e acessível a todos os públicos.

Nesta série vamos descobrir o enredo de cada história de uma forma original e envolvente que não nos deixará indiferentes, captando a nossa atenção desde o primeiro minuto.

A genialidade de cada compositor, a paixão dos personagens e a universalidade de cada história gera um ambiente de cumplicidade com o espectador. As melhores histórias, os melhores compositores, os melhores personagens, as melhores árias. Visitaremos as cidades onde óperas ganharam vida, serviram de inspiração para compositores ou onde os personagens se apaixonaram: Paris, Veneza, Roma, Londres, Barcelona, Viena, Madrid, Cairo, Florença, Milão, Sevilha, Salzburgo, Bayreuth, Munique.

RTVE

Wikipedia

Episódio 05: Parsifal - Wagner Parsifal foi a última ópera de Richard Wagner. A sua história centra-se na busca do Santo Graal, mas na verdade é uma jornada espiritual para o protagonista. Afinal… o que é o Santo Graal? Uma taça? Um objeto? Algo mais? Para responder a isto "Isto é Opera" vai viajar por três locais diferentes: Montsegur, no sul da França, para lembrar os cátaros; Valencia, para ver o famoso cálice que dorme na catedral e que alguns dizem ser o verdadeiro Graal; e, finalmente, o Mosteiro de Montserrat, perto de Barcelona, onde o padre Bernat Juliol irá falar sobre a visita que Heinrich Himmler, chefe da SS, fez ao mosteiro convicto de que era naquela basílica que se guardava o Santo Graal. Foi inspirado na abadia que Wagner criou o principal cenário da sua ópera. Além disso, sendo um dos fatores decisivos no enredo, o programa vai descobrir o quão poderoso pode ser um beijo e como ele pode mudar uma vida inteira. Finalmente, e como curiosidade, vamos descobrir porque o 13 era o número da sorte de Richard Wagner.

[peterpijls1965]

Montsegur, where around 325 Cathars were burned alive in 1244 for disagreeing with Catholic theology.

Eerste jaarlijkse brandstapelherdenking in Nederland voor ‘ketters’ - Boeddhistisch Dagblad

Opnieuw vercheen er een boek over de Katharen. Het heet De laatste Kathaar. Een interessante titel. Wat zouden nog levende Katharen ervan vinden?

Katharen werden in Zuid-Frankrijk als ketters vervolgd en gedood door de katholieke kerk, omdat ze gnostici waren. Ze geloofden vanuit hun hart, waren welvarend en genoten steun van de plaatselijke adel.

De roomse inquisitie zal een heel eind gekomen zijn om vanuit haat en afgunst deze mensen uit te roeien, maar dat is allicht niet gelukt. Katharen leven, ze zijn onder ons. Hoe ze zichzelf noemen?

[songedunmatindhiver-iii]

The sorrowful kingdom is breathing with woe,

(Under feet of the Pure ones)

Where sky is inhaling the rigorous thunders,

Vermillion morning, begotten by dawn

(Tears of bloody Pyrenees)

With frosty swordcut in hands of the sunrise.

And fathomless roaring is shaking the rocks,

(Voice in blood from the ages)

Illusion of matter will burn in the fire,

And Montsegur is insanely bloody…

(Essence metamorphoses)

Flash… The visions of past…

Emerald ray leads to forbears’ land,

Pillar of Temple that keeps solar essence,

First principles, lives come to end…

Wandering to comprehend.

Heart of the cave – way to center of world,

Solar God’s stone holds our hope in ascension,

Meanings that common men never behold,

You must forget what you’ve learnt.

In secret deeps of sacred caves,

In grimness of the odd dead dreams,

The lord of mists with Grail and Spear

Is coming from the darkest spheres.

Two lightnings penetrate the maille

At inexistent sleepless night,

And frosty blizzard takes my corpse,

Rays of my soul will never shine.

I swear, I see the light of stones,

And trace of Lancers burns on them.

Endura of sharp-stinged snakes

Is piercing frost of forest trails.

My anger shakes the walls of church,

And revelation comes to me:

I am a scream in your dead souls,

I breath with wind of empty words.

I am a sign in ancient cave,

I am a raven’s scream at dawn,

And when my spirit has been drained,

I found treasure in the tomb.

I pass penumbra from the dark,

The mountain fog has filled my soul,

The sacred spirits sing with me,

I am the enemy of world.

Two lightnings penetrate the maille,

I swear, I see the light of stones,

I am a sign in ancient cave,

Endura of sharp-stinged snakes.

I’ve found treasure in the tomb

And turned to Titan in the rocks.

The revelation came from dreams,

I am the scream in your dead souls.

The soul crystal is in me:

The pagan, seeker, heretic.

[missddraws]

this is a real issue, the lack of knowledge that not every ttrpg is (anything) like DnD. Back when I taught game design, there were a small handful of students who created DnD clones because they couldn't even see the purpose of trying new games.

I get it. It's actually hard to push past a sense of "not getting it" and feeling like there's no purpose in order to invest in a whole new a game.

But I promise it IS worth it. There are games wilder, stranger, and more unusual than [some of] you have ever dreamed.

There are so so many games without math at all, or that use math to guide you through the brainstorming process rather than "do you win or lose", especially if you're willing to expand into collaborative storytelling games.

(For those who don't know, "collaborative storytelling" games tend to be defined as characters & elements that players share control over; whereas "tabletop roleplaying games" are generally defined as players taking on a specific character role.)

Here are a few I love, with a variety of complexities, genres, and vibes. They're not expensive, they're (mostly) not hard to learn, and they are all diceless/GMless. (Oh, and fun. Montsegur 1244 and other tragedies are cool but for another time I think.)

One Missed Call.

It's a ttrpg for two players about long-distance relationships. I didn't get to play for a very long time because all my fellow players were worried it would be too sad. When I did play it, we did a silly Old West vibe that just happened to have cellphones, and it was SO FUNNY. Ours did have a sad ending but I laughed so hard.

The mechanics are so easy to learn that my friend and I sat down to play, she read the doc in ten minutes, AND THEN WE PLAYED. Sure, my additional familiarity helped, but it was so so simple.

Time to play: 1-2 hours

Mechanics: leading questions, checklist of phrases you have to say & finish, round structure. No numbers. No GM, no dice, no prep.

Cost: pay as you wish

Under the Autumn Strangely

Billed as pastoral autumn horror, Under the Autumn Strangely is inspired by Over the Garden Wall. It is spooky and uncanny and nostalgic all at once, and I love it. The document is also beautiful and strange. UtAS has three roles, which can accommodate up to two players each: the traveler who is lost in the woods; the arcadian (all people and things in the pastoral autumn setting); and the terror (that which is not spoken of and darkens the world around us threateningly). It plays with a yes and / no but structure which feels complicated at first, but the play doc has FANTASTIC diagrams to get you started. I love this game so much.

A few numbers are used in structuring the rounds and giving the characters the ability to "no but" each other in spooky ways.

Time to play: this one can be a one-shot, a short game, or expand to multiple sessions. There are instructions on how to do that in order to structure a variety of different narrative outcomes.

Cost: $10

Dread

Dread is a really cool horror game that uses dramatic tension. Little by little, you inch closer to the fallout of the horror around you. If you've ever played a game with a block tower mechanic, I'm pretty sure this is where it comes from.

Time to play: flexible, but it's a one-shot only

Mechanics: block tower mechanic (you pull blocks out until the tower falls), leading questions

Cost: $12

Starcrossed

This one ALSO uses a block tower mechanic. You each play as a member of a forbidden couple who has fallen in love, building out the reasons your love is forbidden and what it would cost you. If the block tower falls, you act on your forbidden love. It is so so cute and fun. I know that people have a bit of an aversion to romance games, but at least for me, I didn't feel any sense of character-wall breakdown with the other player. It was just fun to make our tense little blorbos try to avoid what their hearts want.

Time to play: about three hours iirc

Mechanics: I think leading questions, block tower mechanic

Cost: $25 for the box set (complete with cute illustrations!)

Microscope

(Microscope and a bunch of games that use its engine can be found here)

*Learning Curve Alert*

Microscope is more complicated than most of these. In fact I'm not sure I would call it "rules light." But it IS diceless. It's a worldbuilding game, both grand and specific in scope, "zooming in" and "zooming out" from eras and epochs to specific, history-defining moments. If you follow Old Gods of Appalachia, it feels a lot like that. It's a little more on the collaborative storytelling side, although I think you might take on specific roles when you play out individual scenes.

Time to play: up to you! you can keep playing for quite a while if you like

Mechanics: "zooming in" and "zooming out," round structure, passing who holds the biggest sway in a story, and index cards to keep track of your history

Cost: $12 for the PDF

Companion's Tale

Disclaimer: I have not been able to play this one yet. Companion's Tale is a story of the hero, as told through the unreliable narrators that were important in the hero's life. The lover, the mentor, etc. It's a map-building game as you follow the hero's journey and create wildly conflicting tales about the journey itself and your roles in it. The mentor might say the hero was lazy and that the lover distracted the hero off the right path before finally breaking ties. The lover might say the hero could never get the mentor's approval and finally decided to forgo it in favor of following their own journey - even if it meant leaving the lover behind. Who's right? Who knows!

Time to play: approx 3 hours

Mechanics: map-building, leading questions

Cost: $16 from Indie Press Revolution

There are more I want to share, but I'll have to do it later—before I forget, I'm gonna break my own diceless rule and suggest Fiasco. There is also a funny "experts and the apocalpyse" game I also can't find atm but is really great. It's also simultaneously a legit one-shot rpg and the kind that you can bring to parties with casual folks who just play board games or cards against humanity etc. Also it's free.

You do of course understand that the reason most people prefer DND 5E is that it's one of the easiest systems to learn? Like I'm sorry it's all well and good to 'break up the cultural monopoly' but I have Dyscalculia and DND is seemingly the only tabletop system that doesn't consistently ask me to do a hefty amount of complex math. I've never given WOTC a penny but the reason I've primarily played 5E over basically everything else is it's the only system that was extremely easy to learn and completely self explanatory. (Also - I like elves and magic and shit.) You roll one dice to see if you can do a thing, you add whatever your plus or minus is, and then roll damage where appropriate. Easy. Meanwhile seemingly everything else is like "Okay so you roll two dice except sometimes it's four and then you take this stat and you divide it by that dice roll and then you add a number equivalent to the day of the week unless it's a leap year then you times that by three and if you get a prime number you can lift that coffee cup." Like have you ever heard of Villains and Vigilantes, for instance? It's fucking insane.Like I'm not saying I don't get why you wanna make this point? But I feel like I have to point out that most people who make indie TTRPG's don't seem to focus on accessibility when designing their systems and they are EXTREMELY intimidating for new players. And often, what people who are big into TTRPG's do is assume that because THEY fully understand this system and how it works, new players will too just as easily. The amount of times I've spoken to a GM, said "This sounds a bit complicated", and they've gone "No no no it's easy" and then described the most complicated set of rules I've ever heard is ridiculous.

Okay it sounds you’ve had a very narrow range of experiences with RPGs then because D&D 5e is on the higher end of complexity when it comes to RPGs and most indie RPGs are actually a lot less complex than D&D 5e. Like, Villains & Vigilantes is not the median when it comes to RPG complexity. There are systems even lighter than D&D out there. :)