Post Apocalyptic: Brexit and a worse case scenario

To get to this point, the various factions at play will have turned on one another violently; and having proven to be corrupt, and resisting arrest under charge of treason, experiencing terminal velocity the government has failed outright.

To say it cant possibly happen for Britain is to say it cant happen for Syria or Iraq or the dozen other stable nations that imploded thanks to a corrupt government and external forces with their own agenda.

If the Queen moves to Australia, we will know where this ship of state is headed.

Age of Warp: Card 116

Post Apocalyptic: Brexit and Noah's Castle

The prospect of rationing and the delivery of food, fuel, and medicine looms nearer for Britain as the decision to Leave the European Union closes in on the nightmare outcome. Corrupt, unaccountable politicians wrecking the state because in the end its about the right to abuse power.

Recommended Reading: Noah's Castle by John Rowe Townsend.

Age of Warp: card 115

Concept art: The Freighter Istanbul

Concept Art: The Starship Alegra

Mystaran Campaign: The Dmitrii Donskoi

The Dmitrii Donskoi gold represents considerable banking wealth of the Russian Empire. Most certainly making it a major financial banking facility in the Asian region. Fired on and sunk by seven of its Russian Navy ships for being out of position, and with a deep load of 5,593 tons the vessel has 10% of all global mined gold onboard.

The Gold: 176 billion dollars ÷ $35,917,992.00 per ton =4,900 tons (87% of its deep load).

The Dmitrii Donskoi is Found
A part of the Marilenev Fleet, the Dmitrii Donskoi is sunk in AC905 in battle with the Thyatian Navy as they invade Traladara. The wealth aboard the Traladaran Naval Vessel represents considerable portion of Traladaran Assets at the time and the nation takes a crippling financial hit due to the loss of this gold reserve.

In D&D terms:
5,500 boxes of gold ingots (19,141gp per box)                     105,280,000gp
200 tons of gold coins (2,240lb per ton)                                   4,480,000gp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship-board Currency Value                                                     109,760,000gp

Age of Warp: Cards 113-114

Age of Warp: cards 111-112

And a replacement card for card 92 for those who dont want to see children distressed out about a crewman hanging by a rope.

Now body parts jammed in a disposal. Yay!

Linguistic Archaeology: The Dark Ones

The Dark Ones
The *Darku* are most likely to have originated in the indus valley proto-culture. The presence of an Aboriginal Australian clan doesnt throw this into doubt. They have arrived in Australia with the 'i' vowel in a post ku period. This clan does however represent the single family group present in five japanese family names, implying recent back migration or divergance. Its not uncommon for Aboriginal warriors to have ventured into Asia by canoe.

Name                protoform
--------------------------------------------------------
Dri subgroup:
Adrian              Ar-darku-arn         

Dru subgroup:
Addrun             Ard-darku-n
Gudrun            Gku-darku-n

Dre subgroup:
Deirdre            Dkukuar-darku
Andrei              Arn-darku-ku

Day* subgroup:
Tadayoshi       Tar-darku-kuoshku

Dry* subgroup:
Uchdryd          Kuch-darku-kud

Dak subgroup:
Sadakata        Sar-darku-artar
Sadako           Sar-darku-o

Dau subgroup:
Sadauji            Sar-darku-jku
Tadauji            Tar-darku-jku

Dai subgroup:
Sadaie              Sar-darku-ku
Daini                  Darku-nku

Dae subgroup:
Uyd-daen          kukukud-darku-n
Ud-daen            kud-darku-n

Family/Clan      protoform
-------------------------------------------------------------
Dai Family/Clan Subgroup
Japanese:
Daidoji                Darku-dojku
Daigo                  Darku-go
Kamadai            Kuarmar-darku
Matsudaira       Martsku-darku-arar
Okudaira            Oku-darku-arar

Australian Aboriginal:
Dai                       Darku

Dru Family/Clan subgroup
Scottish:
Drummond       Darku-mmond
Meldrum           Mkul-darku-m(mond?)
------------------------------------------------------------

The Darku: dae/dau/dai/day*/dak/dru/dry*/dre/dri

Update: Darku is a family name in Ghana, and Dai is a Chinese Family name, so the spread is extensive.

This is occuring around the same time period as the minoans are emerging as a culture.

Dungeon Mastery: The Font of Armar

 The Iron Font of Armar is located some miles from the village. It has the power to turn an ordinary blade into a +1 weapon for twenty four hours. This is why your party has decided to venture to the Font before purging the local dungeon of its undead. Unfortunately the forces of chaos know this and have dispatched a warrior to seize control of the Font.

The Black Guardian: Fighter Level 3; chaotic; 15hp; AC0; S17, I12, W13, D10, C14, Ch 16, platemail, Greatsword (2d6)+1(bonus due to the font).

Mei of Haarwood has been dispatched by her cleric of chaos to hold the Font against the forces of Law.

Age of Warp: Lcars cards 107-110

Linguistic Archaeology: The Teuta

Teuta (Tku-kutar)

We can consider the kutar suffix to be a teuta sub-group.

Family names

Hikita                     Hkuku-kutar
Futamatsu                     F-kutar-martsku
Futami                            F-kutar-mku
Akutagawa                  Ar-kutar-garkukuar
Yoneta                Kukuon-kutar
Itagaki                                Kutar-garkuku
Itazaki                                Kutar-zarkuku
Ukita                        Kuku-kutar
Kitabatake                  Ku-kutar-bartarkuku

First Names
-japanese
Tokutako*                     To-kutar-kuo
 Tsunetake             Tskun-kutar-kuku
Atsutada                   Arts-kutar-dar
Yoritada             Kukuoar-kutar-dar
Yoshitaka         Kukuosh-kutar-kuar
Shigetane              Shkug-kutar-nku

-kievan
Dimitri                     Dkum-kutar-ku

-byzantine
Demetrius              Dkum-kutar-kukus
Nicetas                    Nkuc-kutar-s 

-irish
Etain                                    Kutar-kun

These family and first names carry the teuta sub-group (kutar). They would be descended of the kutar sub-group.


     Kutar                     Tku
         |                           |
         --------------------------
                       |
                   Teuta

Utara (indonesian): North.

More Power: Magic with a Price

Why should a Wizard wait for nine experience levels just to create a wand because they cannot cast twenty magic missiles in a day from first level? Artefacts come to mind as a reusable power investment by immortals, and the vaguaries of sentient swords suggest these are immortals in artefact form. So why not something useful? A hundred thousand experience points are required to invest a mere 10pp required to produce a first level wizard spell in an artefact that recharges in turns, not daily. 

So lets suggest that entities with power are quite capable of investing their power in turning wizards into living Artefacts so that even the Apprentice magicuser Shaan can make a sacrifice and gain more power. Now your magicuser can do the bidding of some enthropic immortal, betraying the old wizard who has taken forever to teach you how to cast read magic.

Your Magicuser, in pouring through old texts, discovers that taking Religion as a Skill allows you to gain the attention of dark immortals quite capable of investing real power in your apprentice magicuser, but it comes at a cost.

Skill: Religion

From first level you can gain ten first level spell slots but they come with a handicap and a penalty from the artifacts creation section of the D&D Master black boxed set. You can wind up with physical deformities or any other burden, but its worth it for powers that can recharge in hours.

 Spell level slots         10  

 Handicaps                    1 

 Penalties                       1

You pray to demogorgon for an investment of power in you...and your spine begins to deform.

Map of the Week: when a treasure map doesnt look like one

A tree trunk with strange blood red runes...

Free Stuff: a lifeboat in an emergency

I was thinking, since the quake and tidal wave of 2012 in Japan, why are cars not being designed to be lifeboats? Maybe with a giant expandafoam pack roof so a giant structure forms to indicate its location, protect the vehicle as a barrier as expanding foam in a shaped bag forming catamaran hulls drop from each side so it becomes a gondola hanging below a catamaran of foam in a bag.

Naval Contemplation: The Naval Battle of 1905

1805-1905 

The magnificent victory achieved by the Japanese in the straits of Corea on Saturday and Sunday has been won almost exactly a hundred years after Nelson's great victory at the battle of Trafalgar, which was fought on October 21, 1805. There are many points of similarity between these two great naval engagements. Nelson's triumph at Trafalgar came at one of the most critical conjunctures in english history. It destroyed Napoleon's bold, ambitious, and far reaching plans and gave us command of the sea. Which we have never lost. Togo's victory has come to Japan as Nelson's did to england a hundred years ago.-viz., as a crowning mercy in a time of great anxiety. Were she beaten at sea, Japan would have lost the fruits of nearly all her victories and sacrifices in the land campaign. Japan's whole future depended on the result of this naval battle. Togo has been equal to the occasion. Just as Nelson baffled Napoleon by defeating Villeneuve, so Togo has destroyed the last hope of the Russians by annihilating Rojestvensky's fleet. In view of this comparrison it is worth recalling the details of the battle of Trafalgar. Enemy's force:- French vessels, 18; Spanish vessels, 15; total 33. British vessels, 27. Losses-France, Spain, 19 ships captured, sunk, or destroyed.

-Evening Journal, Adelaide, South Australia, Saturday 8, July 1905

Source: Australian National Library

Related (19th July, 2018):

'The Dmitrii Donskoi was part of a Russian Imperial Navy force fighting against Japanese in the 1905 war between the two nations.

It has been reported the warship was carrying the 5,500 boxes filled with gold bars along with a haul of 200 tonnes of gold coins.

Shinil Group estimates the gold to be worth 150 trillion won ($176 billion) in today’s value.

The company plans to raise the wreck in October or November. It said half of any treasure found would be donated to the Russian government.

Part of the remaining treasure would also help fund infrastructure projects in north east Asia such as a new railway linking South Korea and North Korea.'

Source: https://www.9news.com.au/world/2018/07/19/11/33/russian-warship-wreck-reputed-to-be-carrying-billions-of-dollars-worth-of-gold-found