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myth-lord · 1 year

Text

If I could create my own D&D Monster Manual

It would look something like this:

The names with the little dot before them are sub-species/variations of the name above, like Kenku, Nagpa, Tlacatecolo and Vrock are variants of the Aarakocra.

Aarakocra

Kenku

Nagpa

Tlacatecolo

Vrock

Abeil

Aboleth

Ahuizotl

Air Elemental

Invisible Stalker

Mihstu

Ragewind

Almiraj

Amphisbaena

ANIMATED OBJECT

Animated Broom

Carrionette

Flying Sword

Guardian Portrait

Living Tome

Rug of Smothering

Scarecrow

Ankheg

Craud (Sea Ankheg)

Arrowhawk

Blood Hawk

Ascomoid

Assassin Vine

Choke Creeper

Astral Defiler

Astral Dreadnought

Astral Filcher (Temporal Filcher)

Astral Marauder

Astral Slayer

Astral Stalker

Aurumvorax

Axe Beak

Achaierai

Azer

Babau (Blood Demon)

Balor (Pit Demon)

Banderhobb

Barbazu (Bearded Demon)

Basilisk

Id Fiend

Pyrolisk

Rock Reptile

Behir

Beholder

Eye Tyrant

Gauth (Spectator)

Mindwitness

Black Dragon (Deepwyrm)

Black Pudding

Reekmurk

Void Ooze

White Pudding (Snowflake Ooze)

Bladeling

Blink Dog

Cooshee

Moon Dog

Yeth Hound

Blood Amniote (Bloodrot)

Bloodthorn (Vampire Rose)

Blue Dragon (Stormwyrm)

Boobrie

Bugbear (Boogeyman)

Bagman

Bulette

Bullywug

Grung

Hezrou (Pod Demon)

Slaad

Carbuncle

Carrion Crawler

Rot Grubs

Ulgurstasta

Catoblepas

Cave Fisher

Avalancher

Centaur

Armanite

Chasme

Chathrang

Chimera

Choker

Skulk

Chuul

Uchuulon

Clay Golem (Terra-Cotta)

Cloaker

CLOCKWORK

Clockroach (Clockwork Horror)

Iron Cobra

Cloud Giant

Fog Giant

Storm Giant

Cloud Ray

Cockatrice

Copper Dragon

Coral Golem

Corollax

Couatl

Cranium Rats

Crawling Claw

Soul Shaker

Crystal Dragon

Cyclops

DARK TREE

Black Willow

Orcwort

Quickwood

Darkling (Dark Creeper)

Deadly Dancer (Impaler)

Death Knight

Dullahan

Deepspawn

Destrachan

Deva (Angel)

Angel of Decay (Rot Harbinger)

Erinyes (Fallen Deva)

Justicator (Order Deva)

Planetar (Battle Deva)

Solar (Light Deva)

Digester

Dire Angler

Light Devourer

Dire Ape

Barlgura

Girallon

Dire Bat (Mobat)

Fire Bat (Inferno Bat)

Sinister (Shadow Bat)

Dire Bear (Cave Bear)

Dire Beaver (Afanc)

Dire Boar (Tusk Terror)

Fhorge

Dire Catfish (Namazu)

Dire Chameleon (Ambush Drake)

Dire Constrictor (Titanoboa)

Boalisk

Dire Crocodile (Deinosuchus)

Hatori (Sand Crocodile)

Hullathoin

Dire Eel (Abaia)

Cave Moray

Dharculus

Dragon Eel

Lightning Eel

Dire Elephant (Mammoth)

Dire Elk (Megaloceros)

Dire Gar

Dire Hippo (Behemoth)

Dire Lion

Sea Lion

Dire Otter (Dobhar-Chu)

Dire Pufferfish (Kalothagh)

Dire Ram

Dire Rat

Osquip

Rylkar

Dire Rhino (Karkadann)

Gulgar (Diamond Charger)

Dire Seahorse (Hippocampus)

Dire Shark (Megalodon)

Dire Skunk (Aniwye)

Dire Sloth (Megatherium)

Dire Tiger (Smilodon)

Kirre

Dire Whale (Leviathan)

Dire Wolf (Worg)

Winter Wolf

Dire Wolverine (Gulon)

Disenchanter

Displacer Beast

Phane

Doppelganger

Fetch

Maurezhi

Dragon Turtle

Zaratan

Drow

Drider

Ettercap

Duergar

Derro

Durzagon

Dwarf Ancestor

Earth Elemental

Crysmal

Galeb Duhr

Mud-Man

Sandman (Sandling)

Tomb Mote (Necromental)

Eblis

Eladrin (Spring Eladrin)

Autumn Eladrin (Bralani)

Summer Eladrin (Firre)

Winter Eladrin (Ghaele)

Evistro (Carnage Demon)

Feyr (Fihyr)

Firbolg (Wood Giant)

Fire Elemental

Belker (Smoke Elemental)

Immolith

Magma Hurler (Magma Elemental)

Magmin (Lava Child)

Fire Giant

Flesh Golem

Rot Ripper

Fomorian

Eldritch Giant (Fomorian Noble)

Plague Spewer

Frost Giant

Gargoyle

Kapoacinth (Reef Gargoyle)

Margoyle

Gas Spore

Gelatinous Cube

Ghoul

Berbalang

Devourer (Soul Eater)

Ghast (Witherstench)

Lacedon (Drowned)

Giant Anemone

Giant Ant

Abyss Ant

Giant Antlion

Giant Assassin Bug

Giant Beetle (Boring Beetle)

Bombardier Beetle (Fire Beetle)

Deathwatch Beetle (Slicer Beetle)

Siege Beetle (Rhinoceros Beetle)

Water Beetle

Giant Centipede

Adaru

Megapede

Remorhaz

Giant Clam

Giant Crab

Carcass Crab (Cadaver Collector)

Kalka Kylla (Giant Hermit)

Giant Dragonfly

Giant Eagle

Phoenix

Roc

Steelwing

Thunderbird

Giant Firefly (Firefriend)

Giant Frog

Blindheim

Froghemoth

Giant Jellyfish (Man-o-War)

Death Embrace

Dybbuk

Giant Leech

Puppeteer

Giant Mantis

Draudnu

Giant Moth

Gloomwing

Tenebrous Worm

Giant Octopus

Darktentacles (Swamp Octopus)

Decapus (Tree Octopus)

Silt Horror (Sand Octopus)

Giant Owl

Noctral (Celestial Owl)

Giant Raven (Valravn)

Giant Salamander

Frost Salamander

Tlexolotl

Giant Scorpion

Hellstinger

Scaladar

Giant Slug

Bone Whelk

Flail Snail

Metalmaster (Sword Slug)

Giant Spider

Aranea

Bebilith

Bristle Spider

Darkweaver (Shadow Spider)

Phase Spider

Snow Spider

Tomb Spider

Giant Starfish

Dustdigger

Voracia

Giant Strider

Magma Strider

Giant Tick

Bloodsilk Tick

Soul Tick

Giant Toad

Fire Toad

Ice Toad

Giant Urchin

Land Urchin

Giant Wasp

Advespa (Hellwasp)

Quanlos

Spider Eater

Gibbering Mouther (Chaos Beast)

Argos

Skybleeder (Abyssal Mouther)

Gith (Githyanki)

Glabrezu (Deception Demon)

Gnoll

Flind (War Gnoll)

Marrash (Pestilence Gnoll)

Witherling (Famine Gnoll)

Goblin

Barghest

Boggle

Hobgoblin

Meazel

Nilbog

Spriggan

Gold Dragon

Gorgon (Khalkotauroi)

Gray Jester

Gray Ooze

Gray Render (Skindancer)

Braxat

Green Dragon (Grovewyrm)

Green Slime

Arcane Ooze

Corrupture

Greenvise (Mantrap)

Grell

Gremishka

Gremlin

Quarrak

Grick

Griffon

Hadozee

HAG

Annis Hag (Death Hag)

Bheur Hag (Frostwind Virago)

Green Hag (Bog Hag)

Night Hag (Nocnitsa)

Sea Hag

Hamatula (Barbed Demon)

Harpy

Siren

Hell Hound

Canoloth

Death Dog

Howler

Hoard Scarab

Hollyphant

Hook Horror

Hydra

Imp

Mephit

Quasit

Intellect Devourer (Brain Mole)

Brain Collector (Neh-Thalggu)

Cerebrilith (Mindshredder)

Iron Golem

Adamantine Golem

Shield Guardian

Jackalwere

Jaculi

Jann

Dao

Djinn

Efreet

Marid

Kelpie

Knucklehead Trout

Korred

Nightshade

Kraken

Krenshar

Carcass Eater

Kyton

Lamia

Larva

Lemure

Rutterkin

Leprechaun

Clurichaun

Leucrotta

Lich

Demilich

Dracolich

Skull Lord

Lillend (Muse)

Lizardman

Abishai

Drakkoth

Kobold

Pterrax

Tortle

Troglodyte

Luck Eater

LYCANTHROPE

Werebear

Wereboar

Werefox (Foxwoman)

Wererat

Wereshark

Werewolf

Manticore

Jarilith

Meenlock

Mimic

Trapper

Mind Flayer

Elder Brain

Ulitharid

Minotaur

Goristro

Mohrg

Muckdweller

Shocker Lizard

Mummy

Grisgol

Skirr (Mummy Lord)

Myconid

Phycomid

NAGA

Dark Naga

Guardian Naga

Spirit Naga

Water Naga

Nightmare

Cauchemar

Nightwalker (Death Giant)

Bodak

Nothic

Shardsoul Slayer

Nuckelavee

Nymph

Dryad (Wood Nymph)

Splinterwaif

Lampad (Shadow Nymph)

Nereid (Aquatic Nymph)

Oread (Mountain Nymph)

Sylph (Sky Nymph)

Obliviax (Memory Moss)

Ochre Jelly

Yochlol

Ogre

Brohg

Ettin

Merrow

Oni (Ogre Magi)

Orc

Tanarukk

Tulgar

Osyluth (Bone Demon)

Otyugh

Abyssal Maw

Owlbear

Winterclaw

Pech (Deep Gnome)

Pegasus

Peryton

Pixie (Sprite)

Nixie

Poltergeist

Allip (Doom Whisperer)

Caller in Darkness (Mindstorm)

Pseudo-Dragon (Orange Dragon)

Faerie Dragon (Purple Dragon)

Purple Worm

Fiendwurm

Masher (Blue Worm)

Neothelid

Quickling

Quipper

Ravid (Rage Drake)

Red Dragon (Hellwyrm)

Redcap

Roper

Piercer

Ruin Demon (Swarm Demon)

Rust Monster

Sahuagin

Kuo-Toa (Skum)

Morkoth

Skulvyn

Salamander

Satyr (Faun)

SAURUS

Ankylosaurus (Macetail)

Brontosaurus (Mokele-Mbembe)

Ceratosaurus (Bonesnapper)

Deinonychus (Scytheclaw)

Dilophosaurus (Spitter)

Dimetrodon (Bloodseeker)

Mosasaurus (Gambo)

Plesiosaurus (Coast Stalker)

Pteranodon (Razorbeak)

Stegosaurus (Mbielu)

Stygimoloch (Charger)

Triceratops (Ngoubou)

Tyrannosaurus Rex (Fang Titan)

Sea Serpent

Shadow

Shadow Demon

Shadow Dragon

Shadow Mastiff

Shambling Mound

Tendriculos

Tumbling Mound

Shardmind

Sibriex (Craft Demon)

Silver Dragon

Mercury Dragon

Simpathetic

Skeleton

Boneyard

Crypt Thing

Flameskull

Giant Skeleton (Gashadokuro)

Skin Kite

Skiurid (Soul Nibbler)

Slithering Tracker

Ghaunadan

Solamith

Spectre (Ghost)

Banshee (Wailing Ghost)

Sphinx (Gynosphinx)

Lammasu

Steel Predator

Stirge

Stone Golem

Eidolon

Juggernaut

Su-Monster

Gambol

Succubus

Incubus

Swordwing

Tabaxi

Rakshasa

Tarrasque

Thri-Kreen

Gelugon (Ice Demon)

TITAN

Empyrean

Hundred-Handed One (Hecatoncheires)

Protean

Tlincalli (Scorpion-Man)

Treant

Hangman

Saguaro Sentinel

Tri-Flower Frond

Troll

Rot Troll

Scrag

Twig Blight

Thorny

Umber Hulk

Unicorn

Ecalypse (Dusk Unicorn)

Kirin

Vampire

Nosferatu

Vampiric Mist

Crimson Death

Vargouille

Violet Fungus

Basidirond

Phantom Fungus

Wastrilith (Styx Demon)

Water Elemental

Caller from the Deeps

Chraal (Ice Elemental)

Poison Weird (Poison Elemental)

Web Golem (Adherer)

White Dragon (Frostwyrm)

Wight

Boneclaw

Winter Wight (Entombed)

Will o Wisp

Nyth

Trilloch

Wraith

Helmed Horror (Helmed Wraith)

Sword Wraith

Trap Haunt (Trap Wraith)

Wood Woad (Wood Wraith)

Wyvern

Abyssal Drake

Xorn

Yellow Dragon (Sunwyrm)

Yellow Musk Creeper

Corpse Flower

Yeti

Wendigo (Famine Spirit)

Yrthak

Yuan-Ti

Abomination

Marilith

Medusa

Zombie

Atropal

Dustblight

Revenant

Zombie Clot

Zorbo

HUMANOID: Aarakocra / Kenku / Abeil / Bullywug / Cloud Giant / Storm Giant / Cyclops / Darkling / Drow / Duergar / Eladrin / Autumn Eladrin / Summer Eladrin / Winter Eladrin / Firbolg / Fire Giant / Frost Giant / Gith / Gnoll / Goblin / Hobgoblin / Hadozee / Lizardman / Kobold / Tortle / Werebear / Wereboar / Wererat / Wereshark / Werewolf / Ogre / Orc / Sahuagin / Tabaxi / Thri-Kreen / Yuan-Ti

ABERRATION: Aboleth / Astral Defiler / Astral Dreadnought / Astral Filcher / Astral Marauder / Astral Slayer / Astral Stalker / Banderhobb / Beholder / Eye Tyrant / Gauth / Mindwitness / Slaad / Carrion Crawler / Rot Grubs / Ulgurstasta / Choker / Skulk / Chuul / Uchuulon / Cloaker / Cranium Rats / Deadly Dancer / Deepspawn / Destrachan / Digester / Dharculus / Phane / Doppelganger / Derro / Feyr / Fomorian / Remorhaz / Froghemoth / Death Embrace / Puppeteer / Darktentacles / Decapus / Silt Horror / Darkweaver / Dustdigger / Gibbering Mouther / Argos / Boggle / Gray Render / Braxat / Grell / Grick / Intellect Devourer / Brain Collector / Kraken / Meenlock / Mind Flayer / Elder Brain / Ulitharid / Mohrg / Nothic / Shardsoul Slayer / Otyugh / Neothelid / Roper / Piercer / Kuo-Toa / Morkoth / Swordwing / Protean

UNDEAD: Tlacatecolo / Ragewind / Blood Amniote / Fog Giant / Crawling Claw / Soul Shaker / Black Willow / Death Knight / Dullahan / Angel of Decay / Sinister / Hullathoin / Fetch / Tomb Mote / Plague Spewer / Ghoul / Berbalang / Devourer / Ghast / Lacedon / Bone Whelk / Tomb Spider / Soul Tick / Witherling / Meazel / Carcass Eater / Lich / Demilich / Dracolich / Skull Lord / Mummy / Grisgol / Skirr / Nightwalker / Bodak / Splinterwaif / Poltergeist / Allip / Caller in Darkness / Shadow / Shadow Demon / Shadow Dragon / Shadow Mastiff / Tumbling Mound / Skeleton / Boneyard / Crypt Thing / Flameskull / Giant Skeleton / Skin Kite / Spectre / Banshee / Hangman / Rot Troll / Vampire / Nosferatu / Vampiric Mist / Crimson Death / Vargouille / Caller from the Deeps / Wight / Boneclaw / Winter Wight / Will o Wisp / Trilloch / Wraith / Helmed Horror / Sword Wraith / Trap Haunt / Wood Woad / Zombie / Atropal / Dustblight / Revenant / Zombie Clot

FEY: Almiraj / Behir / Blink Dog / Cooshee / Yeth Hound / Bugbear / Bagman / Grung / Carbuncle / Centaur / Corollax / Couatl / Osquip / Gulgar / Kirre / Winter Wolf / Displacer Beast / Eblis / Eldritch Giant / Blindheim / Gloomwing / Tenebrous Worm / Flail Snail / Aranea / Quanlos / Spriggan / Gray Jester / Gremlin / Annis Hag / Bheur Hag / Green Hag / Sea Hag / Harpy / Siren / Korred / Nightshade / Leprechaun / Clurichaun / Luck Eater / Werefox / Dark Naga / Nuckelavee / Nymph / Dryad / Lampad / Nereid / Oread / Sylph / Oni / Owlbear / Winterclaw / Pixie / Nixie / Quickling / Redcap / Satyr / Gambol / Troll / Scrag / Unicorn / Ecalypse / Zorbo

FIEND: Vrock / Mihstu / Achaierai / Babau / Balor / Barbazu / Hezrou / Catoblepas / Armanite / Chasme / Erinyes / Barlgura / Fire Bat / Fhorge / Rylkar / Maurezhi / Durzagon / Evistro / Immolith / Abyss Ant / Adaru / Dybbuk / Draudnu / Tlexolotl / Hellstinger / Bebilith / Voracia / Magma Strider / Advespa / Skybleeder / Glabrezu / Marrash / Barghest / Quarrak / Night Hag / Hamatula / Hell Hound / Canoloth / Death Dog / Howler / Imp / Mephit / Quasit / Cerebrilith / Kyton / Larva / Lemure / Rutterkin / Abishai / Jarilith / Goristro / Phycomid / Spirit Naga / Nightmare / Cauchemar / Yochlol / Tanarukk / Osyluth / Abyssal Maw / Fiendwurm / Ruin Demon / Skulvyn / Sibriex / Simpathetic / Skiurid / Solamith / Succubus / Incubus / Rakshasa / Gelugon / Hundred-Handed One / Twig Blight / Thorny / Wastrilith / Abyssal Drake / Wendigo / Marilith

ELEMENTAL: Air Elemental / Invisible Stalker / Earth Elemental / Crysmal / Galeb Duhr / Mud-Man / Sandman / Fire Elemental / Belker / Magma Hurler / Magmin / Jann / Dao / Djinn / Efreet / Marid / Pech / Salamander / Shardmind / Water Elemental / Chraal / Poison Weird / Xorn

OOZE: Black Pudding / Reekmurk / Void Ooze / White Pudding / Gelatinous Cube / Gray Ooze / Green Slime / Arcane Ooze / Corrupture / Mimic / Trapper / Ochre Jelly / Slithering Tracker / Ghaunadan

DRAGON: Basilisk / Id Fiend / Pyrolisk / Rock Reptile / Black Dragon / Blue Dragon / Copper Dragon / Crystal Dragon / Hatori / Dragon Turtle / Zaratan / Gold Dragon / Green Dragon / Hydra / Drakkoth / Pseudo-Dragon / Faerie Dragon / Ravid / Red Dragon / Sea Serpent / Silver Dragon / Mercury Dragon / White Dragon / Wyvern / Yellow Dragon / Yrthak

BEAST: Axe Beak / Boobrie / Cloud Ray / Dire Angler / Dire Ape / Dire Bat / Dire Bear / Dire Beaver / Dire Boar / Dire Catfish / Dire Chameleon / Dire Constrictor / Dire Crocodile / Dire Eel / Lightning Eel / Dire Elephant / Dire Elk / Dire Gar / Dire Hippo / Dire Lion / Dire Otter / Dire Pufferfish / Dire Ram / Dire Rat / Dire Rhino / Dire Seahorse / Dire Shark / Dire Skunk / Dire Sloth / Dire Tiger / Dire Whale / Dire Wolf / Dire Wolverine / Giant Anemone / Giant Ant / Giant Antlion / Giant Assassin Bug / Giant Beetle / Water Beetle / Giant Centipede / Megapede / Giant Clam /Giant Crab / Kalka Kylla / Giant Dragonfly / Giant Eagle / Giant Firefly / Giant Frog / Giant Jellyfish / Giant Leech / Giant Mantis / Giant Moth / Giant Octopus / Giant Owl / Giant Raven / Giant Salamander / Giant Scorpion / Giant Slug / Giant Spider / Bristle Spider / Snow Spider / Giant Starfish / Giant Strider / Giant Tick / Giant Toad / Giant Urchin / Land Urchin / Giant Wasp / Jaculi / Knucklehead Trout / Muckdweller / Quipper / Ankylosaurus / Brontosaurus / Ceratosaurus / Deinonychus / Dilophosaurus / Dimetrodon / Mosasaurus / Plesiosaurus / Pteranodon / Stegosaurus / Stygimoloch / Triceratops / Tyrannosaurus Rex

MONSTROSITY: Nagpa / Ahuizotl / Amphisbaena / Ankheg / Craud / Arrowhawk / Blood Hawk / Aurumvorax / Bulette / Cave Fisher / Avalancher / Chathrang / Chimera / Cockatrice / Light Devourer / Girallon / Boalisk / Cave Moray / Dragon Eel / Sea Lion / Disenchanter / Drider / Ettercap / Bombardier Beetle / Deathwatch Beetle / Siege Beetle / Carcass Crab / Steelwing / Roc / Thunderbird / Frost Salamander / Metalmaster / Phase Spider / Bloodsilk Tick / Fire Toad / Ice Toad / Spider Eater / Flind / Nilbog / Gremishka / Griffon / Hook Horror / Jackalwere / Krenshar / Lamia / Leucrotta / Pterrax / Troglodyte / Manticore / Minotaur / Shocker Lizard / Water Naga / Brohg / Ettin / Merrow / Tulgar / Peryton / Purple Worm / Masher / Rust Monster / Sphinx / Stirge / Su-Monster / Tarrasque / Tlincalli / Umber Hulk / Yeti / Abomination / Medusa

CONSTRUCT: Animated Broom / Carrionette / Flying Sword / Guardian Portrait / Living Tome / Rug of Smothering / Scarecrow / Azer / Bladeling / Clay Golem / Clockroach / Iron Cobra / Coral Golem / Dwarf Ancestor / Flesh Golem / Rot Ripper / Gargoyle / Kapoacinth / Margoyle / Scaladar / Gorgon / Hoard Scarab / Iron Golem / Adamantine Golem / Shield Guardian / Steel Predator / Stone Golem / Eidolon / Juggernaut / Web Golem

PLANT: Ascomoid / Assassin Vine / Choke Creeper / Bloodthorn / Orcwort / Quickwood / Gas Spore / Greenvise / Kelpie / Myconid / Obliviax / Shambling Mound / Tendriculos / Treant / Saguaro Sentinel / Tri-Flower Frond / Violet Fungus / Basidirond / Phantom Fungus / Yellow Musk Creeper / Corpse Flower

CELESTIAL: Moon Dog / Deva / Justicator / Planetar / Solar / Phoenix / Noctral / Hollyphant / Lillend / Guardian Naga / Pegasus / Lammasu / Empyrean / Kirin / Nyth

#dnd #Monsters

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digitalsatyr23 · 1 year

Text

What the Fire Said

Setting: Arachnia Characters: Sonja and Vernar

Outside the cave, a terrible rainstorm was coming down. Harsh, suffocating winds, a downpour causing mudslides, and lightning that blackened long dead trees. It had been dry for a very long time in Besalbrie, but it was as if all the water the country had been denied up until then was coming down at once

Sonja had been separated from Vernar just as the storm was picking up. It all started when she and the masked assassin noticed dark clouds looming up above. They were both so used to the drought and dust storms that it seemed unthinkable that a rainstorm could be brewing. But then, creatures started falling from the clouds. Legless flying birds with four wings growing in an X-shape were descending upon the land, firing bolts of lightning from their mouths and scooping up any hapless animal small and slow enough to become their prey. Vernar called the creatures "arrowhawks", and when an especially large one took notice of the pair, it fired a bolt of lightning right at them. Vernar shoved Sonja out of the way, taking the blast right in the chest. Another bolt of lightning missed its mark, striking a nearby tree near the base of its trunk. The tree was consumed by fire as it fell, creating a natural barrier between Sonja and Vernar. What surprised Sonja the most, however, was that Vernar seemed unharmed by the lightning. While the assassin was scorched where they had been struck, their body seemed suffused with lightning, and their right arm had bulged with muscle. Vernar was tightening one of their leather straps wrapped around their bicep.

"Sonja... In case I lose control... Run!"

Those were the only words Sonja needed to hear. She got back on her feet and ran as fast as she could. That was when the rain started to fall. First in sprinkles, and then in torrents. The dry, crumbling dirt softened, turning to mud. Sonja's bare feet lost their grip on the ground, and the girl tripped, sliding across the muddy earth until she banged into a tree. Hardier, greener trees were growing at the base of a mountain, and they would provide good coverage from the rain. Only, another arrowhawk had spotted Sonja, and it was coming down fast.

The girl got back on her feet, using a branch from the tree to brace herself. The incoming bird would soon be upon her, and it flew too fast to strike with her claws. Instead, she held out her hands and focused, drawing upon the ether flowing through her body. Yes... Water was flowing freely over Besalbrie once again. Sonja may have grown wet from the rain, but the arrowhawk was drenched too. In front of Sonja, a small ball of ice was taking shape. No bigger than a man's eye, it grew and grew in size, swirling with greater and greater speed. The wind, the rain, and everything around Sonja seemed to intensify, and veins of ice were growing over her hands and forearms. Just when the arrowhawk was about to strike, Sonja fired her iceball, striking the arrowhawk right in its twin mouths. A thick sheet of ice formed over the bird in an instant, turning it into a statue. The monster slammed into the ground and shattered, bits of frozen blood pouring out like slush.

Sonja shook her hands and tried using the rainwater to rub the frost off of her. It was no good. She needed to find someplace warm and dry. She peered through the nearby forest, looking for the safest place within. By chance, it seemed that the forest was hiding the entrance to a cave. Sonja took the opportunity and ran; snatching stray twigs and leaves as she went. Once inside the cave, she looked around in the darkness, saw there were no threats, then made a fire. Vernar had taught her a great many things since they had first met. How to find food, how to hunt animals, how to build shelters out of natural materials, and of course, how to make a fire. First, she took the broadest stick she could find and carved a hole into it so she could place some tinder. Parts of the forest were so dense that the rainwater had yet to pierce the canopy, so she was lucky in that regard. With the tinder placed, it was simply a matter of spinning another stick (which she carved one end of to be rounder and blunt) with her hands. It took much longer than she would have liked, but friction gave way to heat, and heat turned to embers. She nourished those tiny embers with a few hot breaths and just like that, she had a small flame. From there, it was a simple matter of keeping the flame alive long enough to heat up her kindling and sticks. A sense of pride washed over Sonja as the fire grew before her. The young girl held her hands out to the fire. A tingly sensation came over her as her red, freezing fingers grew warm. Soon enough, she stopped her shivering, and she was finally able to dry herself. It was strange. She always thought she should fear fire for what it did to her feet, but instead of frightening her, it fascinated her. She loved watching the flames flicker, smoke dance, and burning wood crack as embers flew up into the sky. It was... Comforting. Perhaps she knew that fire would never hurt her. Fire was natural, it was free. If fire hurt you, it would only be accidental, or it was used against you as a weapon. She didn't blame the fire for what happened to her feet. She blamed the people who had lit the fire beneath her. Sonja's memory of what happened was... Fuzzy. Back then, she had known nothing but pain, hunger, and cruelty. She didn't even know how to speak, let alone defend herself. Even so, the sense of dread and despair her past gave her was something she'd never forget.

"I'm glad they're dead," she whispered to herself. "They all deserved to die..."

"I agree."

A voice called out, faint enough to match Sonja's whispers but clear enough that it couldn't have been her imagination. She looked around. Her eyes could discern the faintest movement in the dark, yet as far as she could tell, there was no one in the cave except her. Most sound was being drowned out by the storm outside, and the smoke and burning wood of the fire was obscuring most smells. Was it a hidden enemy? No... There wasn't anyone at all.

Sonja went back to looking at the fire. It was a relaxing sight. She wanted to know what happened to Vernar, but given the things they had been through together, Sonja was more than confident they would be okay. She would just have to be patient and hope Vernar noticed the light her fire was making. Sitting with her legs crossed near the flickering flames, Sonja's eyelids grew heavy. Though she could feel her stomach rumbling, begging for food, the pains of hunger were something she had long grown used to. For the moment, she was at peace. Peace... Safety... And quiet... Before she completely fell asleep, however, Sonja snapped to, sitting straight up. She could feel a tingle across her arms, like small bumps were forming. Something was nearby... Something dangerous. Looking down, she realized what it was. It was the fire, reaching out a grasping tendril of flame towards her spare twigs.

The girl froze in place. She had never seen fire do something so strange - and she had dealt with fey! A morbid curiosity befell her, and she picked up a stick, handing it to the fire. It gladly wrapped its tendril around the twig and drew it in, consuming it with the rest of the wood.

"Are you... Alive?" asked Sonja.

"That's a matter of perspective."

Sonja hopped back onto her feet, claws at the ready. A single eye formed in the center of her fire, staring at her. It had an eyelid too, and its expression could only be described as... Patient frustration.

"Who are you? Are you a spirit?!" Sonja shouted.

"I am... What you see." The voice she had heard twice before seemed to emanate from the fire itself. It continued, saying, "I am burning. I am hunger. I am death."

"Bold words for someone so small," Sonja raised an eyebrow. "Still, if you really are the fire, then I'll try and be respectful. Would you like more wood?"

"Yes, please."

Sonja helped feed the fire by placing more sticks inside of it. The fire grew in size, and its orange and yellow glow made Sonja's shadow dance upon the cavern walls.

"Is that better?" asked Sonja.

"Much better. Thank you," said the fire.

Sonja sat back down, crossing her legs on top of each other as she did before. She tilted her head back and forth, watching as the flame's eye followed her.

"What are you doing?" asked the fire.

"N-nothing. Say, are you the spirit of all fire, or are you just the spirit of THIS fire?"

"Burning and hunger is all I've ever known."

"Yeah? I see..."

Silence followed as Sonja basked in the renewed warmth of the flames. There was a kind of crispness to the heat that she could feel, like an invisible aura rubbing up against her.

"Thanks for drying me," Sonja finally said. "I don't know if you wanted to, but I appreciate it."

The fire's eye closed momentarily. "And thank you for breathing me into life."

"Oh, you're welcome. I... Needed to feel some heat. It got pretty bad outside."

"I can tell. Thunder, lightning, wind, and rain have all come out to play. What once was dry earth can now finally have its thirst quenched."

"Do you know them?" asked Sonja. "The wind and rain?"

"Yes and... No. I can sense faint echoes of understanding. I am... A piece of something greater. An extension. They, too, were once part of something greater."

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to say. All I know is that this place, this world... Is broken. It has been for a very, very long time."

Sonja frowned at this statement. "You can say that again. No matter where I go, there always seems to be something wrong. I don't think the land is dying, though. Maybe withered? Do you know why?"

"Life."

"Life?"

"Yes. There has always been a balance in nature. Rabbits eat plants where there is food a plenty. Rabbits multiply. Wolves eat rabbits because there is now enough food for them. With the rabbits gone, the plants can regrow. With the rabbits gone, the wolves starve, and the rabbits can return. The world is a cycle of hunger, consumption, death, and revival. This is how it was always meant to be... But there are those who are too clever to be consumed, too clever to die off when food grows scarce. They have learned to cheat the cycle. They shape nature to their whims, create more than they would ever need, and strip the land of its life force... Do you know who I am referring to?"

Sonja thought about the fire's words for a time. There was only one answer, as far as she could tell. "People?"

"Precisely. People are a blight upon this beautiful, terrible world."

"Even me?"

The fire said nothing for a time, its eye closed once more. "Perhaps... Perhaps not. If a balance could be restored, then not everyone has to die. Simply enough for the world to... Recover."

Outside, the storm still raged on. The winds were harsher, the rains heavier, and both rocks and loose trees were giving way to the mudslides. Sonja took notice of this, feeling a shiver run up her spine.

"How do you know all this?" Sonja asked.

"The echoes. I can feel them. I am a piece of something much greater. Greater than what you see before you."

Sonja stared at the fire. She still liked the warmth and light it provided, but its words left her feeling troubled.

"But you'll never rejoin that part of you, huh?" said Sonja.

The fire grumbled at this and said, "No... I never will. I am nothing but an echo. Nothing but an ember. The rest of me is too far away. I cannot reach it."

"If you could, would you?"

"Yes."

"Even if that meant losing yourself in the greater whole?"

The fire hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's only natural to wish to be whole. Don't you feel the same way?"

"I can't say I know that feeling. I'm not a small piece of anything. I'm just me."

"Are you certain?"

"Yeah?"

The fire leered at Sonja, or more... It felt as if it were looking at something behind Sonja. The girl glanced over her shoulder. Nothing was there.

"I see..." said the fire. "Perhaps one day you will understand. As for me, I shall continue to hunger. I shall continue to burn. There is nothing else for me in this life."

Sonja's eyelids felt heavy. She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles. The fire had grown quiet. It said no more words. Its eye had also disappeared. All that was left was flame, slowly eating away at all the wood she had collected.

"Did I imagine that?" Sonja wondered. "I don't think I was asleep, but... I was feeling tired earlier..."

"Sonja," said a shadowy figure at the cave's entrance. "What are you talking about?"

It was Vernar. They had finally reached the cave, and their arm seemed fine as well. Sopping wet, the assassin stayed at the lip of the cave, doing their best to wring water out from their black clothes.

"It was... Nothing," said Sonja.

"I know that look. It certainly wasn't nothing. What happened while I was away?" asked Vernar.

Sonja sighed, taking a moment to organize her thoughts. She then explained everything that had transpired in the cave. The fire, the voice, its cryptic words... She spoke of every detail. While Sonja spoke, Vernar eventually took their place beside the fire, making use of its warmth to finish drying off. They even lifted their mask forward ever so slightly to let trace amounts of water trapped behind it leak out, but never enough to allow Sonja to see Vernar's face. When the girl was done, Vernar crossed their arms and hummed in thought.

"You're certain the fire told you all of this?"

Sonja nodded. "I almost fell asleep, but I'm certain it wasn't a dream."

"Is that so..." Vernar extended their clawed hands occluded in black over the flame. Small droplets of water fell away, sizzling on the glowing embers along the cracked wood. "You know, fire is spoken of in both magical and alchemical texts. In the world of magic, fire is the element of ambition. In the world of alchemy, fire is seen as the element of transformation. While they each share a different perspective, there is one thing they have in common. Fire is seen as change. It can cook your food. It can burn your house down. It can light your path. Fire can do a great many things. It doesn't surprise me that a flame spirit's personality would reflect this trait. As for what it said, I have my own opinions on the matter, but what do you think?"

Sonja groaned. "You know I don't have a head for these sorts of things..."

"Don't make excuses. Whether it was consciously or not, I'm certain you formed an opinion while listening to the fire. What is it?"

"Well... I think life is unfair."

"Oh?"

"You can't choose where you're born, what you're born as, or the state of the world you happen to be born into. The world is always changing. Sometimes you get lucky and are born into a situation that suits you. Other times you're born into a crazy cult that wants to sacrifice you and your kind to bring the rain." Sonja looked away from Vernar. "We can make the best of our circumstances, but we can't really change them. Not unless you're someone strong, like you."

The eye on Vernar's mask closed. "In other words, there's no point in complaining. The world will never be how you want it to be, so instead, try and put your energy towards something productive."

Sonja nodded at this, saying, "Exactly. I know it was saying that people ruined the world, but... Did we? I feel like it's closer to people changed the world."

"Indeed. The only world that was ruined was the one the spirit preferred. It is said that long ago, there were no people. The world was barren of all but the elements, wild and free. But then the gods took hold of that chaotic world and forged it into something new. The gods then made people, who in turn adapted the world to suit their own needs. Nothing lasts forever..." Vernar looked outside towards the rainstorm. "Not even drought. Perhaps there will come a time when even people are usurped and replaced."

Sonja leaned in towards Vernar saying, "Seriously?!"

"I can't say for certain, though. Best not to dwell on it, right?"

Sonja then leaned back again, grumbling. Vernar liked to pose philosophical questions, but Sonja couldn't help but wonder if Vernar used them to hide deeper truths. How dangerous was the world? What were its secrets? Perhaps it was better not to know. Stay ignorant. Stay happy.

"As if!" thought Sonja. "There's so much to learn about the world, so much to uncover and understand. Whether Vernar helps me or not, I'll find the answers someday."

"You seem excited for something," said Vernar.

"O-oh! It's uh... I was just thinking about what would be really tasty to eat!" said Sonja, rubbing her belly. Vernar narrowed their eye at her.

"Is that so?"

Sonja and Vernar still had a great deal of walking to do. For now, they would wait, and when the time was right, they would continue their journey. Though Sonja would get wrapped up in a great many events, she never forgot the day she spoke with fire. Its words stayed with her, forever echoing in her mind.

"Perhaps one day you will understand. As for me, I shall continue to hunger. I shall continue to burn. There is nothing else for me in this life."

#fantasy #dark fantasy #sonja #vernar #short story #short fiction #arachnia #my writing #writeblr #what the fire said #Arachnia Fables

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brainmachinebroke · 5 months

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Transformers OC character: ASSEMBLICATOR

ASSEMBLICATOR

Profile:

A byproduct of Devastator's imprisonment on cybertron, Assemblicator was activated following the death of Unicron by Vector Sigma itself as a replacement for the once vital constructicons. Using exact copies of each component's transformation cogs, this combiner aided in the reconstruction of both cybertron's great metropolis and earth's damaged cities.

Despite appearances, Assemblicator's mind shares nothing with their "brother". A compassionate and eager cybertronian, the combined minds of the producticons harmonize into a confident, independent laborer that prides themselves in a good day's work! They often collaborate with Cyberjet member "Arrowhawk" to conduct aerial surveys before beginning any new projects.

Due to their strong leadership drive, Assemblicator has difficulty following orders and occasionally clashes with Autobot leadership during consultations, but common ground is quickly established and compromises are taken into account before any vital work is performed!

Thanks to their Decepticon heritage, the combined team's firepower is immense. Their main weapon, the Core Fission Cannon, can project a nuclear blast strong enough to turn titanium to ash; their Head-Mounted Needle Driver has enough precision to carve a map of cybertron's service tunnels on a nickel. Additionally, Assemblicator's hands can be swapped to a variety of equipment, including the Twin Matter Blasters, Earth-Shaker Borers, and the Hyper-Pressure Nozzle.

STRENGTH: 10/10

INTELLIGENCE: 7/10

SPEED: 5/10

ENDURANCE: 10/10

RANK: 10/10

COURAGE: 9/10

FIREPOWER: 10/10

SKILL: 10/10

#oc #transformers #transformers g1 #80s #vintage

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dustedmagazine · 3 years

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Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders — S-T (Arrowhawk)

Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders by Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders

These are languid, spectral grooves, anchored in folk and blues but allowed to spin off into the distance. Slow, haunted choruses float free of a jangling, acoustic base, little flares of blues-bent notes going off in the margins. These songs take their time to loosen and relax, pursuing repetitive vamps until the edges melt away and the hard colors swirl into pastels. The Heavy Lidders — even the band name promises sleepy dissolution — are a new configuration made up of West Coast outfolker Jeffrey Alexander, plus Elkhorn’s Jesse Shepard and Drew Gardner and Kouhoutek’s Scot Verrastro on drums. Guests including Marissa Nadler, Pat Gubler, Rosali and Ryley Walker drummer Ryan Jewell stop by to join the jams.

Alexander is a fixture in a free-wheeling, Grateful Dead-loving, guitar jam underground, a founder of the Iditarod and Black Forest/Black Sea and a sometime member of Jackie O Motherfucker. The last time we caught up with him, he was fronting Direwolves, a nouveau folk-jam outfit shading gently into kraut-y propulsion. In my review of the 2019 album Grow Toward the Light, I wrote that, “Instrumental parts intersect and converse at a muted volume; there is a weightless, airy open-ness to these grooves, so that you can nearly feel a sun-tipped breeze blowing through.” This new one lives in a shadier, more melancholic space, evoking whispery acid folk artists like Matt Valentine in his Neil Young phase, acoustic 6 Organs and Sore Eros.

Here, in long, drifting originals like “Audubon Trooper,” luminous textures unfurl, a slow roll of percussion with icy shards of vibraphone filtering in, nodding cadences of bass and spiraling mandalas of guitar. Nature is a primary inspiration for Alexander. He sings about trees here with a worn-in familiarity. Yet though trees are trees, they also stand in for something deeper and more significant, as does music, as does life itself. Alexander finds hidden resonance in plain words, uncanny echoes in wholly recognizable instrumental tones. Everything is itself. Everything stands in for the infinite.

“Dark Ships in the Forest” is somewhat more straightforward, with a forthright rock drum beat with the push of bass behind it. The lyrics recount natural and human-made disaster—fires burning out of control, children in cages—in a grounded, realistic way. And yet, even here, in a dense, full-band, rock arrangement, there’s a mist of the unordinary hanging over. Even ripped from the headlines, the song carries a sense of mystery.

A couple of covers hint at where Alexander comes from. He takes on “Black Peter,” from the Grateful Dead’s 1969 back-to-folk-basics album Workingman’s Dead (surely it’s not coincidental that this is the one with a song called “Dire Wolf”). His version is even more pared back and slouchy than the original. It moves at a mournful crawl, undulating guitar licks twisting off into bent notes. Nadler shadows Alexander’s tripped out vocals in a high, pure, distant soprano, sending a shiver through the mix. The music seems to hardly move at all; it has the stillness of a hot day at noon, asphalt throwing heat mirages into the air. Later, Alexander revisits Gene Clark’s “Strength of Strings,” from the 1974 album No Other. Clark’s version was massively orchestrated with a huge choir, piano and strings. Alexander’s is far more reticent, lit by eerie, jazzy bits of vibraphone, his wavering voice bolstered, just a bit, by airy female backing vocals. If Clark blew up his mystic vision into an all-hands showstopper, Alexander lets his flicker in the twilight, inviting listeners in but very gently. If you like your campfire singalongs quiet, contemplative and with ghosts flitting through the branches overhead, this record is for you.

Jennifer Kelly

#jeffrey alexander #heavy lidders #jesse shepard #drew gardner #steve verrastro #arrowhawk #jennifer kelly #albumreview #dusted magazine #marissa nadler #ryan jewell #direwolves #iditarod #jackie o motherfucker #blues #folk #psychedelia #scott verrastro

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sinceileftyoublog · 2 years

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Kyle Hamlett Duo Interview: Into the Grey

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Sometimes, all it takes is a few instruments, an old house, and two free days to make magic. Such was the case for Tape Diamonds (Arrowhawk), the new album from singer-songwriter Kyle Hamlett and pedal steel extraordinaire Luke Schneider.

Hamlett and Schneider played together for a long time in Lylas, a psychedelic band centered around Hamlett’s compositions that saw a rotating cast of members and last released an album in 2017. Since then, Hamlett started to release finger-picked folk songs under his own name, including his debut solo LP Nowhere Far. Schneider, meanwhile, started to make his name as a session player for the likes of Margo Price, Orville Peck, and Lilly Hiatt, all while becoming a key player in a burgeoning Nashville scene of ambient Americana and receiving loads of critical praise for his 2020 new age pedal steel album Altar of Harmony, released via Third Man Records. Over the winter, Hamlett took advantage of fortunate timing and brought a batch of songs, guitars, harmonica, melodica, percussion instruments, and a Tascam 388 tape recorder to a heat-less house off of Music Row, inviting Schneider to lay his woozy pedal steel and dobro over some compositions that followed the Nowhere Far writing sessions. The result was Tape Diamonds, an appropriately named record that finds breadth in the smallest of moments.

The songs on Tape Diamonds contain roughly the same ingredients: Hamlett’s acoustic guitar, self-described “impressionistic” lyrics, and laid-back, gentle singing, and Schneider’s glistening pedal steel. Yet, each of them give off distinct vibes. Opener “Expected Of” is quietly jubilant, with its jaunty picking and buzzing harmonica. “South”, on the contrary, dabbles in melancholy and nostalgia, similar to the type of Americana that Schneider practices on his solo records and with Nashville Ambient Ensemble. Engineer Jake Davis captures eons of emotion with simple effects, like the trailing echo on Hamlett’s voice on “ZZZ”, fleeting like a ghost of someone’s past. Some of the very song titles reflect the push-pull of Hamlett and Schneider’s paradoxically simultaneous qualities; “Almost Motion” and “Fast As Vaseline” could be tags on Bandcamp attached to Tape Diamonds. Best, the two players revisited existing tunes with the same plaintive, yet adventurous spirit with which they approached Hamlett’s new songs, adapting Lylas’ “Years & Years” and The Smiths’ “Death of a Disco Dancer” to contemporary ears.

Last month, I spoke with Hamlett over the phone from his house in Nashville about Tape Diamonds, working with Schneider again, winter, and his current relationship with The Smiths. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: What made now the right time to finally sit down with Luke and record Tape Diamonds?

Kyle Hamlett: It was a timing thing. Lylas for a long time had been a rotating cast but had settled into a pretty steady lineup around the mid Aughts. A couple of those guys got really busy with other projects, and we couldn’t work on as much Lylas stuff. I didn’t want to call anything I was doing that didn’t involve them “Lylas,” so I gave myself permission to do stuff under my own name, which I had been resisting for a long time, for whatever reason. In doing so, I got back in touch with Luke, who was having a pause in his busy schedule. We just dove in. I wrote those songs right after I had written some other songs that would end up being my first “solo album,” so it was this burst of writing that felt like a bit of liberation and [a realization that,] “I can do this by myself, or I can do this with Luke, and it will be just a two-piece.” [I] was reigning it in, a bit less structured.

SILY: How would you compare working with Luke in a full band versus working with him in just a duo?

KH: That’s a great question. In a larger band, there’s less sonic space to ask for. He does such beautiful, textural things so well, he stretches out more and leans into that. He’s a very sensitive listener, and no matter the setting, doesn’t put anything in that doesn’t need to be there. He’s not a guy that plays just to play. That sensibility remained. But by nature of the sparsity of the duo thing, he had more room to put his psychedelic textures in the forefront.

SILY: Yours and his guitar playing, by virtue of both your playing style and the quality of the instruments themselves, are distinct. The songs that start with you versus the songs that start with him end up with different feelings. How did you decide who would come in first on each song?

KH: Certain songs felt a bit more open. Most of them originated from songs I had written on the guitar and showed to him, so if there was one with a busier finger-picking pattern, it made more sense for me to start it or for us to start together. But if it was a slower, more spacious one, with a deliberate or dragging tempo, it was nice to have a bit of a color there [for Luke to provide] a sonic bed for things to sit in. The tempo and feel of the songs suggested that to us.

SILY: Was there something in general that inspired the lyrics?

KH: It depends on the song. A couple were definitely inspired by specific instances and experiences I’ve had. They’re all kind of impressionistic. I like dream-like lyrics and lyrics that leave room for the listener’s imagination. I don’t want to dictate too much what you’re supposed to be experiencing. A lot of them were born from what the music seemed to suggest. Even the ones based on some real-life experience tend to be abstracted.

SILY: Did the time of year you recorded Tape Diamonds have an effect on the final product? Do you find it a particularly wintry or pastoral record?

KH: I tend to shift. One winter, I’ll want rock and roll, and another winter, I’ll want something soft and acoustic. But we principally recorded it on a very cold day in this old house on Music Row, and Luke literally had a blanket on his pedal steel to keep it in tune. Everything was slipping and weird, and the [heat] was out. That’s definitely infused in my memory. [Tape Diamonds] doesn’t feel inseparable from that to me. I feel like I wrote some of the songs in a summer/fall kind of state. But it definitely works for winter and colder weather.

SILY: The great irony of Chicago winters is that even when it’s bitingly cold, it’s so blindingly sunny. I feel like the shimmery nature of the music will be a good soundtrack to a Chicago winter.

KH: “Shimmery” is a perfect word for Luke’s textures. Chicago winters: I’ve only been there a couple times, and they feel pretty brutal. I’m super impressed whenever I meet somebody who has lived there for a long time. It’s pretty hard not to be beaten down by the consistent cold.

SILY: There’s no such thing as bad weather--just bad coats!

KH: I like that.

SILY: Did you have a general approach to the sequencing of the record, or at least to groups of a couple tracks that sounded good back-to-back?

KH: We were thinking of the flow of everything, sonically more so than thematically or lyrically or with any kind of arc. It was just about what seemed like a good start, what seemed like a good way to follow that up, and what the next song needed. It was intuitive. I remember sending it to Luke, and he had one or two suggestions, but it was something we both agreed on pretty quickly. We can sometimes have very different opinions and know what we like or don’t like. I was surprised we agreed so quickly.

SILY: I really like “ZZZ”, which is a very fleeting song, even in terms of the trailing on your voice. To follow it with something as expansive as “Night Nurse” was very effective.

KH: Thanks. Some of them are a little more expansive and long, and we didn’t want too many of them in a row, or some of the shorter ones [in a row, for that matter.]

SILY: What’s your and Luke’s relationship with The Smiths, in the past and now, and how did you approach the cover?

KH: We both have historically liked The Smiths quite a bit. I remember in one of our first conversations, I was very much responding to Morrissey’s lyrics and poetry and vocal approach, and Luke was very into Johnny Marr’s radical and unconventional guitar arrangements and structures. We were geeking out. We bonded over them for a long time. A friend��s wife told me years ago she thought Lylas should cover “Death of a Disco Dancer”, and it never happened. For some reason, I thought it would be fun to do that now since we were playing together again--Luke was playing pretty regularly with Lylas at that point. It was fun to cover the Lylas song “Years & Years”, too. That was one of the first songs Luke played pedal steel on, so it was fun to have a reunion on that one. But back to The Smiths: I can’t fully speak for Luke with where he’s at with them now. Morrissey is obviously a problematic, opinionated, toxic guy in some ways. But the poetry and music in that song in particular still speak to a higher truth for me most of the time.

I heard somebody in an interview refer to Woody Allen as “the late Woody Allen.” I thought, “Are we going to have to start referring to Morrissey that way, too?”

SILY: Why did you release “Expected Of” as the first single?

KH: That was one of the last ones I wrote. I wrote that one and “New Orbit” after the initial reacquaintance of myself and Luke. I wrote it in a burst of inspiration by how easy and fun it was to play with Luke. Because it was the newer of them, it was more exciting to me than some of the songs I was thinking about for a while. There’s also an immediacy to it, which I like. It doesn’t have pedal steel, so in a way it’s a little unrepresentative of what you get from the rest of [Tape Diamonds], but I like that. It sets you up to be surprised. It’s not an encapsulation of everything. It [also] sounded great to me. [Engineer] Jake Davis got great guitar, voice, dobro, and percussion sounds.

SILY: “New Orbit” is one of a few song titles on here that get at the vibe of the record, the contradictory nature of the record being both expansive and immediate. The other are “Almost Motion” and “Fast as Vaseline”. They’re paradoxical and appropriate.

KH: I like paradoxes in words and phrases and sounds. It’s nice to think about the context of just the sound. We’re shooting for something a little more extensive and mysterious. One of my favorite things is to have a lyric almost immediately contradict itself. I’m thinking of The Beatles’ “Revolution”, when John Lennon sings, “You can count me out--in.” It goes along with especially what he’s saying, such a bold anthemic statement immediately undercut in a way that somehow gives it more gravity to me. That’s something I’ve always responded to. I very rarely trust absolutes. The grey areas are always more interesting. Contradictions are more thought-provoking to me.

SILY: What’s the inspiration behind the album title?

KH: Funny story. We recorded [Tape Diamonds] on Tascam 388. I actually had a little reel of tape I took to the first session, [thinking to myself,] “This album’s gonna live on a little piece of tape.” If we botched the take, we would record over that take. A couple times, if we did the song a little faster, when we got to the end, there would be a little residual bit from the previous take. Are you familiar with the musical term “diamonds,” where it’s just a big open hit, like, “Dunnnnnn”? [Because] there are a couple songs that end and then end again. The one that made it onto the record is “Rocky 13″. You hear it end and then a little flash from the previous take. We kind of just coined those “Tape Diamonds,” and I liked the phrasing of it. It’s also a contradiction, if you think of tape being very analog, sticky, visceral, and tactile, and diamonds being a more glamorous, regal, hard thing. It’s a neat, evocative phrase to me. It’s funny it was an in-joke that started during the sessions.

SILY: What’s the story behind the cover art?

KH: That’s from a photo my wife took. She’s a visual artist, and when I have a project nearing completion, I start talking to her about it. She’s usually very familiar with the material and where it’s headed. I don’t think I had any ideas, really. She had taken the photograph and asked what I thought about it. I showed Luke, and he and I had talked about it a bit. He liked a lot of private press new age LPs and wanted a sensibility that felt a bit like that, so he thought this was perfect. Another thing we could have not landed on so easily, but something about that photo hit the right nerve for all of us.

SILY: What else is next for you?

KH: There’s nothing left over from this session, as far as I recall, but I’d love to do more with Luke. We haven’t begun that process yet, but I have a couple songs I’d like to do with him. I’d also like to open it up to more 50/50 collaboration if that’s cool with him. If he’s making his own ambient pedal steel music at the time, he might not have energy for it. But if he’s in the zone, it might be cool for us to build up the soundscapes together and have it less of me coming in with my song and adding his beautiful textures to it. It would be fun to have it happen a little more in the moment, in the room. We’ll see what actually shakes out.

SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading lately you’ve enjoyed?

KH: I’ve been catching up on Stranger Things. I’m a Kate Bush fan and am thrilled [“Running Up That Hill”] is in most peoples’ ears right now. Hopefully, that will make the human race more positive and understanding people, having that little bit of cosmic heaven in their ear. But I haven’t reached that season yet; I’m at the end of season 3. I’m reading Carl Jung’s autobiography right now, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, which is incredibly fascinating. I’m listening to a lot of Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music, Robyn Hitchcock, and The Cleaners From Venus. Midnight Cleaners has been on heavy rotation; “Only a Shadow” is a timeless piece of music.

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thecreaturecodex · 7 years

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Arrowhawk

[This project might be a weird one. I’m converting monsters from the D&D 3.5 Monster Manual, but not the ones you might expect. Not the Closed Content monsters, of which numerous PF versions exist (might I recommend those by @thecreaturechronicle?), but those that are OGL but Paizo hasn’t bothered to update to their rules set. First up, the arrowhawk, which was one of the elemental outsiders introduced in 3.0 to make a “set” with xorn and salamanders.]

Arrowhawk This sinuous creature resembles a four-winged serpent with a jagged beak. It glares with two pairs of eyes. Its body is covered in blue scales, over which grow golden feathers.

Arrowhawks are strange contradictory creatures native to the Plane of Air. They are obsessed with personal freedoms, except for the maintenance of territories. In the wide open, nearly featureless Plane of Air, the markers of these territories are arbitrary at best and entirely imaginary at worst, but arrowhawks still expect them to be followed by others on threat of electrocution.

Arrowhawks, like xorn, salamanders and tojanda, combine elements of planar beings and mundane animals in strange ways. They do not require food but are compelled to consume its vapors, seeming to gain nutrient from the smoke and smell of foodstuffs. They reproduce not from the fabric of their plane, but by sexual means. Female arrowhawks lay clutches of 1-4 eggs which float on currents of air until they hatch, whereupon the siblings frequently associate until they find mates or are slain. Arrowhawks are frequently friendly with djinn, which they serve as scouts and guards in exchange for interesting smells or unusual features to add to their aerial territories.

Most arrowhawks grow to about ten feet long with a wingspan of 15 feet, but arrowhawks that survive for centuries, growing in size and magical power, are not unheard of. An elder arrowhawk is Large in size, has 10 HD and has access to the following spell-like abilities at CL 10th; 3/day—lightning bolt; 1/day—chain lightning, control winds. An elder arrowhawk is CR 9.

Arrowhawk CR 5 XP 1,600 N Medium outsider (air, elemental, extraplanar) Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +11 Defense AC 19, touch 16, flat-footed 13 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 natural) hp 52 (7d10+14) Fort +4, Ref +10, Will +6 Immune acid, electricity, elemental traits, poison; Resist cold 10, fire 10 Offense Speed 10 ft., fly 60 ft (perfect) Melee bite +9 (1d8+3) Ranged electric bolt +12 touch (2d8+5 plus stagger) Statistics Str 14, Dex 21, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 13 Base Atk +7; CMB +9; CMD 25 (cannot be tripped) Feats Dodge, Flyby Attack, Point Blank Shot, Wind Stance Skills Escape Artist +15, Fly +23, Knowledge (planes) +10, Perception +11, Sense Motive +11, Stealth +15 Languages Auran Ecology Environment Plane of Air Organization solitary or clutch (2-4) Treasure none Special Abilities Electric Bolt (Su) This ability functions as a ranged touch attack with a range of 50 feet and no range increment. An arrowhawk deals bonus damage with its electric bolt equal to its Dexterity modifier. A creature struck by an arrowhawk’s electric bolt must succeed a DC 15 Fortitude save or be staggered for one round. The save DC is Constitution based.

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