Chat about the game...

I'm so going to be pounding my head against a wall if Lionheart and Miss Victory wind up missing each other because they took too many or too few stairs. LOL!!!

"Ha! Again, I just zap em an they fall down! Stick with me! Say, what is it you can do anyway!"

"I uh, turn into a Giant Crocodile. Like BIG! REALLY BIG!"

There was silence then.


Yes, great nod to the Animated Adventures of Batman and Killer Croc nearly killing him with a rock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlvRzX7YOqA

3) A loss vulnerability which weakens him near naked flame. This nets a LOT of points and also makes him pretty useless near flames. That said we can make it so it's only within 10' that he feels it and needs to get away. Fire is common however. If you took that he would see a powerup across the board.

Definite nod to Martian Manhunter there or at least how he was pre-Crisis. Nowadays, I think they said this is a psychological limitation instead of a physical vulnerability.

And him running around in basically a bathing suit makes sense too. The guy is from Mars, it is much colder on Mars than Earth! So of course he would wear as little clothing as possible on our hot planet.

Differing in situ values have been reported for the average temperature on Mars, with a common value being −63 °C (210 K; −81 °F). Surface temperatures may reach a high of about 20 °C (293 K; 68 °F) at noon, at the equator, and a low of about −153 °C (120 K; −243 °F) at the poles.

So fire or extreme heat, yeah, great weakness for the guy.

Ok, Baron Blitzkrieg is in the world at war sourcebook, page 75 apparently.

also Second Edition, Background/Roster Book pg 11 but that is a much less powerful version of BB. 10s in his 3 Phys stats with an Power Reserve of 8 and only limiting it to Str and Heat Vision instead of all the other abilities he has listed. If you went with those stats, I would give him about 12 in Power Reserve, so he could equal Wonder Woman's 13 Dex, 16 Str and 13 Body. That's the Wonder Woman from the Second Edition, Background/Roster Book, not the WW2 version of WW that is probably in the World at War supplement.

DavidMcMahon wrote:3) A loss vulnerability which weakens him near naked flame. This nets a LOT of points and also makes him pretty useless near flames. That said we can make it so it's only within 10' that he feels it and needs to get away. Fire is common however. If you took that he would see a powerup across the board.

Definite nod to Martian Manhunter there or at least how he was pre-Crisis.  Nowadays, I think they said this is a psychological limitation instead of a physical vulnerability.

And him running around in basically a bathing suit makes sense too.  The guy is from Mars, it is much colder on Mars than Earth!  So of course he would wear as little clothing as possible on our hot planet.    

Differing in situ values have been reported for the average temperature on Mars, with a common value being −63 °C (210 K; −81 °F). Surface temperatures may reach a high of about 20 °C (293 K; 68 °F) at noon, at the equator, and a low of about −153 °C (120 K; −243 °F) at the poles.

So fire or extreme heat, yeah, great weakness for the guy.

You are encyclopedic Dave ;-)

Sj

Just don't ask me what's been happening for the last 15 years or so, gave up on American comics back then and mainly read manga now.

Running behind today, got my young un and we've been on minecraft all day trying to break it with mods...

Day in the garden with beer tomorrow so probably won't get chance to update until Thursday...

Tossing and turning the other night, brain running around ideas and concepts, flitting from thought to thought and one thought hit me for a bit.

Would there be any interest in doing a more comedic, parody or lighthearted adventure? I was thinking Inferior Five, Johnny Thunder and his magic Thunderbolt, Ma Hunkel [Created by Sheldon Mayer, she first appeared in her civilian identity as Abigail Mathilda "Ma" Hunkel in All-American Publications' All-American Comics #3 (June 1939), and became the Red Tornado in All-American Comics #20 (Nov. 1940). As the Red Tornado, she was one of the first superhero parodies, as well as one of the first female superheroes (possibly the first[1]), and, when occasionally disguised as a man, comics' first cross-dressing heroine.[2] (Madame Fatal, earlier that year, was the first cross-dressing hero). In the original comics in the 1940s, Ma Hunkel is a working mother whose costume consists of longjohns and a cooking pot on her head. She adopts the identity of the Red Tornado to fight local criminals in her New York City neighborhood, inspired by her son's admiration for the superhero Green Lantern. The character's popularity was such that she was given a cameo in the first adventure of the Justice Society of America, visiting the JSA's headquarters but being forced by a humorous mishap, her pants splitting, to leave without having the chance to apply for membership. However, later Justice Society stories have declared Ma to be an honorary member of the team. ]

Something like that. The heroes are true blue, maybe dumb as an ox or smart as a whip but pretty powerless - like Merryman from the I5, maybe a little cowardly and the villains aren't much better. The events can actually be pretty serious but everyone including the villains take it lightheartedly.

"I will now set off the Amazmo Bomb and turn all of Frostbite Falls into a massive landfill! All I need to do is light this fuse, get in my car and drive away, far away before the A-Bomb goes off! MWah-HAH-HAh-HA!"

"Drat! I don't have a match. Any of you sniveling henchmen have a match or a lighter?"

"Sorry boss ... er ... I mean Dr. Hater O'Heroes, none of us smoke as it is bad for your health. But I could go down to the convenience store and buy a lighter. Anyone know how much a lighter cost?", says henchmen Charlie.

"Let's pool our money and see what we have, minions!"

Some time later, "Looks like we have 3 dollars and 12 cents and four washers. If that is not enough then ... STEAL ONE!"

"I can't do that bo ... er Dr. Hater O'Heroes. I buy all my Choconuts Nougat Bars there. If they catch me stealing, they will never allow me back into the store and that's the only place you can find that bar!"

Meanwhile at the UR Buying Convenience Store....
"Like! Are you sure this is the right place to be to stop Dr. Hater O'Heroes, Above Average Intelligence Man," asks Valley Gurl.
"My power, Deus Machina, that I can only use once a day for the purpose of stopping a crime, has told me that Choconuts Nougat Bars are the key to finding Dr. Hater O'Heroes. And this is the only store that carries them in Small Big City."
"And you know this how," asks the Blue Redspot.
"Because I love Choconuts Nougat Bars and a guy I know online, named Charlie, on the Choconuts Nougat Bars fan chatroom said it was the only place in big small-town," Above Average Intelligence Man replies. "And it turns out he is right. I wrote the manufacturer to make sure."


etc, etc etc.

Not a long running game but maybe something to have fun with once in a great while.

I'm pretty much maxed out! Running all the stuff on here and playing/running a game on another board (which admittedly has always taken a back seat to running the games on this place, to my shame, but sometimes something has to give).

It does sound fun though. Something like Mystery Men. Very underrated movie in my opinion (plus I like Ben Stiller).

New Haunt Steeplejack game. LOL! I just realized that if we are back in the time of Sherlock Holmes, then three of the world's greatest detectives are on the case!

https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Femforce/Issue-29?id=72758#1

That's the website to free online reading of lots and lots of comics. This is Femforce 29 which is the beginning of the Shroud War, though previous issues were building up to it. It introduced, to me anyways, dozens of public domain heroes of the 1940s in some very crowded scenes and some nice pin up pages too. Give it a look if we are going to run around in WW2 if you want.

Seeing we have a werewolf and a vampire in Victorian London makes me wonder if:
1. Frankenstein's monster will show up, having survived for many years since his "birth"
2. If Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are literary characters in our world or real people.
3. Ditto for the Invisible Man.
4. And does War of the Worlds with the nasty Martians happen too? the story was first written in 1897 after all.
5. Heck, I'm starting to wonder if we are seeing the beginnings of our world's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.


The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, publication of which began in 1999. The series spans several volumes.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I
Main article: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One

In the aftermath of the events of the novel Dracula, a now disgraced and divorced Mina Harker (née Murray) is recruited by Campion Bond on behalf of British Intelligence and asked to assemble a league of other extraordinary individuals to protect the interests of the Empire. Together with Captain Nemo, Mina travels to Cairo to locate Allan Quatermain, then on to Paris in search of Dr. Jekyll; finally in London she forcibly recruits Hawley Griffin, The Invisible Man, who completes this incarnation of the League. Meeting with Professor Cavor, the League is sent against Fu Manchu in his Limehouse lair, who has stolen the only known sample of cavorite and plans to use it to build an armed airship, against which Britain would have little defence. Having eventually retrieved the cavorite, the League delivers it into the hands of their employer — none other than Professor Moriarty (nemesis of Sherlock Holmes), who plans to use it in an airship of his own, with which he will bomb his adversary's Limehouse lair flat, taking large parts of London and the League itself with it. An aerial battle above London commences, and the League eventually triumphs. Mycroft Holmes replaces Moriarty as the League's employer, and the extraordinary individuals are given the task of remaining in the service of the Crown, awaiting England's call. Some kind of a meteor shower is shown, leading up to the events in Volume II.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II
Main article: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II

Placed during the events of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, Volume II opens on Mars, where John Carter and Lt. Gullivar Jones (of Edwin Lester Arnold's Gullivar of Mars) have assembled an alliance to fight against Martian invaders. When the invaders are forced off Mars and land on Earth, they begin to build their tripods. Griffin leaves the League under cover of invisibility to form an alliance with the invaders before betraying it outright, stealing plans for the defence of London as well as physically and emotionally assaulting Mina.

Mycroft Holmes deploys Nemo and Hyde to defend the capital by patrolling London's rivers in the Nautilus. Meanwhile, Murray and Quatermain meet up with Dr. Moreau in his secret hideout in the forest, and tell him that MI5 has asked for something known as H-142. Hyde returns to the British Museum and tortures Griffin; breaking Griffin's leg and raping him before murdering him. Hyde dies fighting a tripod, allowing time for MI5 to launch H-142. However, before he goes to fight the tripods, he asks Mina for two things: for her to give him a kiss, and permission to touch her breast.

MI5 then launches H-142: a hybrid bacterium, made up of anthrax and streptococcus. Nemo is infuriated about H-142, and Bond coolly replies that they will claim that, officially, the Martians died of the common cold, whilst any humans found dead will have been killed by Martians. Angered by the British government's heartless use of biological weaponry, Nemo leaves in the Nautilus and tells Quatermain and Murray to "never seek [him] again", mistakenly believing that they knew the details of the British plan.

Leagues in history

There have been a number of versions of the League, and in particular in the comic book The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier the membership and activities of these Leagues were fully explored, interwoven into an extensive world timeline.
17th Century: Prospero's Men

The first League was established at the behest of England's Queen Gloriana recommending that Italian sorcerer Prospero and his squire Orlando found a group of extraordinary individuals after her death who would operate independently of the government. This seems to have been done in the hope of establishing a bridgehead between her own faerie realm and the mortal world, via the ethereal Blazing World archipelago in the North Atlantic, in the wake of her successor King Jacob's ruthless purge of faeriekind from the British Isles, and the subsequent retreat of those magical elements from everyday life.

Prospero, the Duke of Milan, the sorcerer protagonist of Shakespeare's 1611 play The Tempest. Before his League was assembled, he lived in Mortlake under the alias of John Subtle. (The faux-Shakespeare fragment in The Black Dossier entitled Fairy's Fortunes Founded includes a list of Prospero's alter-egos, also including historical English occultist John Dee.)
Caliban, Prospero's malformed, treacherous servant, also from The Tempest.
Ariel, a sprite and air spirit, bound to serve Prospero, also from The Tempest.
Christian, a pilgrim Everyman, protagonist of John Bunyan's 1678 novel The Pilgrim's Progress.
Captain Robert Owe-much, a British explorer and discoverer of the Floating Island called Scoti Moria or Summer Island, President of the Council of the Society of Owe-Much, and the central character from Richard Head's 1673 book The Floating Island (published under the pseudonym Frank Careless).
Don Quixote, the Spanish aristocrat, from Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quijote de la Mancha.
Amber St. Clair, the courtesan from Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor.
Orlando, the sex-changing immortal from many works, but drawn most closely from Virginia Woolf's Orlando: A Biography.

This League collapsed in 1690 when the unwilling extradimensional traveler Christian found the heavenly realm he had been searching for in order to lead him to his home, the Blazing World. Some years later Prospero followed him into this realm, as did Caliban and Ariel, thereby beginning the League's connection with this otherworldly realm as per Gloriana's desires.
18th Century: Gulliver's League

The second League was formed by Lemuel Gulliver in the 1750s and secretly gathered in Montague House, London, in service to the British Crown.

Lemuel Gulliver, the far-flung protagonist from the 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.
The Reverend Dr. Christopher Syn, also known as the pirate Captain Clegg, and later known as the Scarecrow, the vicar turned pirate turned smuggler from the Doctor Syn novels (1915–1944) of Russell Thorndike.
Sir Percy and Lady Marguerite Blakeney from The Scarlet Pimpernel novels of Baroness Orczy published in 1905, set in late 1792.
Nathanael "Natty" Bumppo, the hero of the Leatherstocking Tales (1827–1841) of James Fenimore Cooper, the most famous of which is Last of the Mohicans. In Cooper's novels he is variously called Deerslayer, Hawkeye and Pathfinder as well as several other names.
Frances "Fanny" Hill, the eponymous heroine of the 1749 erotic novel Fanny Hill by John Cleland.
Orlando, the sex-changing immortal from many works, but drawn most closely from Virginia Woolf's Orlando: A Biography.

This League ended with the death of the elderly Gulliver in 1799. Natty Bumppo having already departed the League some time before, the remaining members continued their association for some time, though not in a capacity as agents of the Crown.
19th Century
The Time Traveler's League

"Allan and the Sundered Veil", the prose short story accompanying vol. 1 describes an unsuccessful attempt by the Time Traveler (the nameless hero of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine) to assemble a League of his own. This group drew three heroes from different points in time:

Allan Quatermain, drawn from just before the formation of the first Murray Group.
John Carter, Edgar Rice Burroughs' hero, drawn from just before his first journey to the red planet.
Randolph Carter, of various works by H.P. Lovecraft, drawn from one of his first experiences with transcending reality through dreams (here supposed to be a distant relative of John).

It had been the Traveler's hope to create a group capable of heading off the looming threats of the Lovecraftian world of Yuggoth. This gathering proves ill-fated however, as the three heroes were each drawn from out-of-body experiences, and each returns to his own life before the Traveler can impart any knowledge of consequence about the enemy (though the denizens of Yuggoth would later prove to be persistent foes of later incarnations of the League).
Wilhelmina's First League

The Victorian League was led by Mina Harker, recruited for Military Intelligence by Campion Bond. They meet in the British Museum, built on the remains of Montague House. First convened (unknowingly) under the service of Professor Moriarty, they later report to Mycroft Holmes, brother of the great detective Sherlock Holmes.

Wilhelmina Murray, of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.
Captain Nemo, the Indian submariner from Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island, and his play Journey Through the Impossible.
Allan Quatermain, the elephant hunter and African explorer of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines and its various sequels.
Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Hawley Griffin, also known as The Invisible Man, from the 1897 novel by H. G. Wells (Moore gave Griffin his first name, that of murderer Hawley Crippen).

Associates

C. Auguste Dupin, of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and its sequels, assisted Murray and Quatermain in capturing Jekyll / Hyde in Paris.
Quong Lee, the storyteller of Thomas Burke's Limehouse Nights and its sequels, provided Murray and Griffin with valuable information regarding the location of the stolen Cavorite.
William Samson Senior, father of Bill Junior, the Wolf of Kabul, served as the League's coachman during the Martian invasion.
Dr. Alphonse Moreau, of H. G. Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau, provided the League with a crucial weapon against the Martian invaders.

This League collapsed during the closing days of the Martian Invasion of 1898 following the deaths of Griffin and Jekyll/Hyde, and the resignation of Nemo. Quatermain and Murray went their separate ways shortly afterwards, although continued their ties with Campion Bond and British Intelligence as they traveled the world.
Early 20th Century
Wilhelmina's Second League
A second League was formed by Mina in 1907, upon the return to England of herself, Quatermain and Orlando, whom they had met while traveling. Still meeting in the museum's secret vault, they continued to work for Mycroft Holmes' British Intelligence.

Just having a look at that comic. Haven't seen a mention of ATOMAN for ages! I used some of the images from the copyright lapsed comic for the house rules update I write (which is on/off as time permits).



Couldn't begin to name all of those but there's a few I recognise (Catman and Kitten appear in the book and Ibis I think)

In the back of that issue they list who all the heroes are and I think which titles they appeared in. A whole lot of them.

The Axis and the Allies

What were the two sides in World War Two?

The war was fought chiefly between two major alliances: the Axis and the Allies.

Who was on which side in WW2?
Who was involved in World War 2?

Below is a list of the countries that fought in the war and the side they were on.

The Axis

German
Italy
Japan

Slovakia (Nov. 1940)
Hungary (Nov. 1940)
Romania (Nov. 1940)
Bulgaria (March 1941)


The Allies

Australia
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
China
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
Estonia
France
Greece
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
South Africa
United Kingdom
United States
USSR
Yugoslavia

and others.

The Tripartite Pact of September 27, 1940, allied (brought together) Germany, Italy, and Japan.

The Allies included:

Commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada
Countries in the British Empire such as India.

Many countries in South America were involved, either by declaring war on Germany or by being neutral and allowing German agents to work in their borders.

Reply with quote

THE NEW VANGUARD! HAUNT Issue #10 With special guest star STEEPLEJACK! - Page 2 Empty Re: THE NEW VANGUARD! HAUNT Issue #10 With special guest star STEEPLEJACK!

New post Steeple_jackuk Today at 12:05 pm

DavidMcMahon wrote:
And where was Steeplejack?


OOCwondering the same thing myself brother, you and me both ;-)

Sj

Steeple_jackuk
Steeple_jackuk

If he had mentioned warm water, I would think that maybe you are off around the French Riviera.

Maybe you off the coast of a small village in Wales where a certain group hang their helmets.

Was taking a nap and a stray though landed in my head, that's usually when they appear, but I seem to recall in Lionheart's current adventure that Saladin told him he wanted a body to inhabit.  I think Lionheart agreed.  Strikes me that Mind Maiden's corpse is somewhere one floor below where they are currently at.

I just had this weird/wonderful/frightening/odd/happy/terrifying/etc. [you choose] thought that maybe our favorite GM might have thought of this when she died and plans to let Saladin have her body.

Surely our GM wasn't planning to have Saladin bedev ... er .... team-up with Lionheart in the form of a young, lovely lesbian who has a slew of mental powers, was he?  

And is so, does he, now she, find shimself a lesbian or straight with a thing for Lionheart?

Beware the thoughts I have when I lay my head down to rest!!!!  

Just in case a pic of this guy is needed...someday

I hadn't know about the first vampire story in English being written from the same challenge to make up scary stories that Frankenstein came from.  I had heard of Varney the Vampyre a few years back, but he wasn't so much a blood drinker as a rip your throat out and drink it vampire.  And I only vaguely heard of Carmilla and wouldn't have known it was a vampire story before now.    

Vampyre
John Polidori
1819 The First Vampire short story written in the english language, inspired the same night and place as Mary Shelly's 'Frankenstein'.

Feast of Blood
Varney the Vampyre
1845 The first vampire novel ever written, taken from the penny dreadful serials.



P R E F A C E

The unprecedented success of the romance of "Varney the Vampyre," leave the Author but little to say further, than that he accepts that success and its results as gratefully as it is possible for any one to do popular favours.

A belief in the existence of Vampyres first took its rise in Norway and Sweden, from whence it rapidly spread to more southern regions, taking a firm hold of the imaginations of the more credulous portion of mankind.

The following romance is collected from seemingly the most authentic sources, and the Author must leave the question of credibility entirely to his readers, not even thinking that he his peculiarly called upon to express his own opinion upon the subject.

Nothing has been omitted in the life of the unhappy Varney, which could tend to throw a light upon his most extraordinary career, and the fact of his death just as it is here related, made a great noise at the time through Europe, and is to be found in the public prints for the year 1713.

With these few observations, the Author and Publisher, are well content to leave the work in the hands of the public, which has stamped it with an approbation far exceeding their most sanguine expectations, and which is calculated to act as the strongest possible ncentive to the production of other works, which in a like, or perchance a still further degree may be deserving of public patronage and support.

To the whole of the Metropolitan Press for their laudatory notices, the Author is peculiarly obliged.

London Sep._ 1847


Carmilla
J. Sheridan Le Fanu
1872 Carmilla, the first female vamire in gothic literature, one of the works that inspired Bram Stoker.

Dracula's Guest
Bram Stoker
1897 A lost chapter that was left out of Bram Stoker's classic Dracula novel, just one question- why was this incredible piece cut?
Dracula
Bram Stoker
1897 What more needs to be said? The complete classic novel here for you to enjoy.
A must read.

Varney the Vampire

A Romance.
CHAPTER I.

-"How graves give up their dead, And how the night air hideous grows With shrieks!"

MIDNIGHT ~ THE HAIL-STORM ~ THE DREADFUL VISITOR ~ THE VAMPYRE

The solemn tones of an old cathedral clock have announced midnight -- the air is thick and heavy -- a strange, death like stillness pervades all nature. Like the ominous calm which precedes some more than usually terrific outbreak of the elements, they seem to have paused even in their ordinary fluctuations, to gather a terrific strength for the great effort. A faint peal of thunder now comes from far off. Like a signal gun for the battle of the winds to begin, it appeared to awaken them from their lethargy, and one awful, warring hurricane swept over a whole city, producing more devastation in the four or five minutes it lasted, than would a half century of ordinary phenomena.

It was as if some giant had blown upon some toy town, and scattered many of the buildings before the hot blast of his terrific breath; for as suddenly as that blast of wind had come did it cease, and all was as still and calm as before.

Sleepers awakened, and thought that what they had heard must be the confused chimera of a dream. They trembled and turned to sleep again.

All is still -- still as the very grave. Not a sound breaks the magic of repose. What is that -- a strange pattering noise, as of a million fairy feet? It is hail -- yes, a hail-storm has burst over the city. Leaves are dashed from the trees, mingled with small boughs; windows that lie most opposed to the direct fury of the pelting particles of ice are broken, and the rapt repose that before was so remarkable in its intensity, is exchanged for a noise which, in its accumulation, drowns every cry of surprise or consternation which here and there arose from persons who found their houses invaded by the storm.

Now and then, too, there would come a sudden gust of wind that in its strength, as it blew laterally, would, for a moment, hold millions of the hailstones suspended in mid air, but it was only to dash them with redoubled force in some new direction, where more mischief was to be done.

Oh, how the storm raged! Hail -- rain -- wind. It was, in very truth, an awful night. * * * *

There was an antique chamber in an ancient house. Curious and quaint carvings adorn the walls, and the large chimneypiece is a curiosity of itself. The ceiling is low, and a large bay window, from roof to floor, looks to the west. The window is latticed, and filled with curiously painted glass and rich stained pieces, which send in a strange, yet beautiful light, when sun or moon shines into the apartment. There is but one portrait in that room, although the walls seem paneled for the express purpose of containing a series of pictures. That portrait is of a young man, with a pale face, a stately brow, and a strange expression about the eyes, which no one cared to look on twice.

There is a stately bed in that chamber, of carved walnut-wood is it made, rich in design and elaborate in execution; one of those works which owe their existence to the Elizabethan era. It is hung with heavy silken and damask furnishing; nodding feathers are at its corners -- covered with dust are they, and they lend a funereal aspect to the room. The floor is of polished oak.

God! how the hail dashes on the old bay window! Like an occasional discharge of mimic musketry, it comes clashing, beating, and cracking upon the small panes; but they resist it -- their small size saves them; the wind, the hail, the rain, expend their fury in vain.

The bed in that old chamber is occupied. A creature formed in all fashions of loveliness lies in a half sleep upon that ancient couch --- a girl young and beautiful as a spring morning. Her long hair has escaped from its confinement and streams over the blackened coverings of the bedstead; she has been restless in her sleep, for the clothing of the bed is in much confusion. One arm is over her head, the other hangs nearly off the side of the bed near to which she lies. A neck and bosom that would have formed a study for the rarest sculptor that ever Providence gave genius to, were half disclosed. She moaned slightly in her sleep, and once or twice the lips moved as if in prayer -- at least one might judge so, for the name of Him who suffered for all came once faintly from them.

She had endured much fatigue, and the storm dose not awaken her; but it can disturb the slumbers it does not possess the power to destroy entirely. The turmoil of the elements wakes the senses, although it cannot entirely break the repose they have lapsed into.

Oh, what a world of witchery was in that mouth, slightly parted, and exhibiting within the pearly teeth that glistened even in the faint light that came from that bay window. How sweetly the long silken eyelashes lay upon the cheek. Now she moves, and one shoulder is entirely visible -- whiter, fairer than the spotless clothing of the bed on which she lies, is the smooth skin of that fair creature, just budding into womanhood, and in that transition state which presents to us all the charms of the girl -- almost of the child, with the more matured beauty and gentleness of advancing years.

Was that lightning? Yes -- an awful, vivid, terrifying flash -- then a roaring peal of thunder, as if a thousand mountains were rolling one over the other in the blue vault of Heaven! Who sleeps now in that ancient city? Not one living soul. The dread trumpet of eternity could not more effectually have awakened any one.

The hail continues. The wind continues. The uproar of the elements seems at its height. Now she awakens -- that beautiful girl on the antique bed; she opens those eyes of celestial blue, and a faint cry of alarm bursts from her lips. At least it is a cry which, amid the noise and turmoil without, sounds but faint and weak. She sits upon the bed and presses her hands upon her eyes. Heavens! what a wild torrent of wind, and rain, and hail! The thunder likewise seems intent upon awakening sufficient echoes to last until the next flash of forked lightning should again produce the wild concussion of the air. She murmurs a prayer -- a prayer for those she loves best; the names of those dear to her gentle heart come from her lips; she weeps and prays; she thinks then of what devastation the storm must surely produce, and to the great God of Heaven she prays for all living things. Another flash -- a wild, blue, bewildering flash of lightning streams across that bay window, for an instant bringing out every colour in it with terrible distinctness. A shriek bursts from the lips of the young girl, and then, with eyes fixed upon that window, which, in another moment, is all darkness, and with such an expression of terror upon her face as it had never before known, she trembled, and the perspiration of intense fear stood upon her brow.

"What-- what was it?" she gasped; "real or delusion? Oh, God, what was it? A figure tall and gaunt, endeavouring from the outside to unclasp the window. I saw it. That flash of lightning revealed it to me. It stood the whole length of the window."

There was a lull of the wind. The hail was not falling so thickly -- moreover, it now fell, what there was of it, straight, and yet a strange clattering sound came upon the glass of that long window. It could not be a delusion -- she is awake, and she hears it. What can produce it? Another flash of lightning -- another shriek -- there could be now no delusion.

A tall figure is standing on the ledge immediately outside the long window. It is its finger-nails upon the glass that produces the sound so like the hail, now that the hail has ceased. Intense fear paralysed the limbs of the beautiful girl. That one shriek is all she can utter -- with hand clasped, a face of marble, a heart beating so wildly in her bosom, that each moment it seems as if it would break its confines, eyes distended and fixed upon the window, she waits, froze with horror. The pattering and clattering of the nails continue. No word is spoken, and now she fancies she can trace the darker form of that figure against the window, and she can see the long arms moving to and fro, feeling for some mode of entrance. What strange light is that which now gradually creeps up into the air? red and terrible -- brighter and brighter it grows. The lightning has set fire to a mill, and the reflection of the rapidly consuming building falls upon that long window. There can be no mistake. The figure is there, still feeling for an entrance, and clattering against the glass with its long nails, that appear as if the growth of many years had been untouched. She tries to scream again but a choking sensation comes over her, and she cannot. It is too dreadful -- she tries to move -- each limb seems weighted down by tons of lead -- she can but in a hoarse faint whisper cry, --

"Help-- help-- help-- help!"

And that one word she repeats like a person in a dream. The red glare of the fire continues. It throws up the tall gaunt figure in hideous relief against the long window. It shows, too, upon the one portrait that is in the chamber, and the portrait appears to fix its eyes upon the attempting intruder, while the flickering light from the fire makes it look fearfully lifelike. A small pane of glass is broken, and the form from without introduces a long gaunt hand, which seems utterly destitute of flesh. The fastening is removed, and one-half of the window, which opens like folding doors, is swung wide open upon its hinges.

And yet now she could not scream -- she could not move. "Help! -- help! -- help!" was all she could say. But, oh, that look of terror that sat upon her face, it was dreadful -- a look to haunt the memory for a life-time -- a look to obtrude itself upon the happiest moments, and turn them to bitterness.

The figure turns half round, and the light falls upon its face. It is perfectly white -- perfectly bloodless. The eyes look like polished tin; the lips are drawn back, and the principal feature next to those dreadful eyes is the teeth -- the fearful looking teeth -- projecting like those of some wild animal, hideously, glaringly white, and fang-like. It approaches the bed with a strange, gliding movement. It clashes together the long nails that literally appear to hang from the finger ends. No sound comes from its lips. Is she going mad -- that young and beautiful girl exposed to so much terror? she has drawn up all her limbs; she cannot even now say help. The power of articulation is gone, but the power of movement has returned to her; she can draw herself slowly along to the other side of the bed from that towards which the hideous appearance is coming.

But her eyes are fascinated. The glance of a serpent could not have produced a greater effect upon her than did the fixed gaze of those awful, metallic-looking eyes that were bent down on her face. Crouching down so that the gigantic height was lost, and the horrible, protruding white face was the most prominent object, came on the figure. What was it? -- what did it want there? -- what made it look so hideous -- so unlike an inhabitant of the earth, and yet be on it?

Now she has got to the verge of the bed, and the figure pauses. It seemed as if when it paused she lost the power to proceed. The clothing of the bed was now clutched in her hands with unconscious power. She drew her breath short and thick. Her bosom heaves, and her limbs tremble, yet she cannot withdraw her eyes from that marble-looking face. He holds her with his glittering eye.

The storm has ceased -- all is still. The winds are hushed; the church clock proclaims the hour of one: a hissing sound comes from the throat of the hideous being, and he raises his long, gaunt arms -- the lips move. He advances. The girl places one small foot on to the floor. She is unconsciously dragging the clothing with her. The door of the room is in that direction -- can she reach it? Has she power to walk? -- can she withdraw her eyes from the face of the intruder, and so break the hideous charm? God of Heaven! is it real, or some dream so like reality as to nearly overturn judgment forever?

The figure has paused again, and half on the bed and half out of it that young girl lies trembling. Her long hair streams across the entire width of the bed. As she has slowly moved along she has left it streaming across the pillows. The pause lasted about a minute -- oh, what an age of agony. That minute was, indeed, enough for madness to do its full work in.

With a sudden rush that could not be foreseen -- with a strange howling cry that was enough to awaken terror in every breast, the figure seized the long tresses of her hair, and twining them round his bony hands he held her to the bed. Then she screamed -- Heaven granted her then power to scream. Shriek followed shriek in rapid succession. The bed-clothes fell in a heap by the side of the bed -- she was dragged by her long silken hair completely on to it again. Her beautifully rounded limbs quivered with the agony of her soul. The glassy, horrible eyes of the figure ran over that angelic form with a hideous satisfaction -- horrible profanation. He drags her head to the bed's edge. He forces it back by the long hair still entwined in his grasp. With a plunge he seizes her neck in his fang-like teeth -- a gush of blood, and a hideous sucking noise follows. _The girl has swooned, and the vampyre is at his hideous repast!

Next Time

The Alarm
The Pistol Shot
The Pursuit and Its Consequences

http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/vampire/varney/index.html
If you want to read all 10 chapters.

That's eye opening. I had it fixed in my head that Stoker was the first one to write about Vampires in fiction but clearly not...

What I find interesting is that Varney the Vampire is called a romance. I think the word's meaning has changed over the last century or two as I certainly wouldn't call it a romance. I wonder if that is used to describe it instead of Science Fiction or Horror as those words hadn't become a common descriptor for that type of literary work? A romance being something of a fantastical nature? Heck, ERB called his early Tarzan and John Carter novels romances too.

Wolf Boy (again, I'll look at names...)

MTVwww.mtv.com › shows › teen-wolf
Teen Wolf. This supernatural drama follows Scott McCall, a high school student who is bitten by a werewolf and must cope with its effects on him, his friends and

Teen Wolf is a 1985 American coming-of-age romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is changed when he discovers that he is a werewolf.

Teen Wolf Too is a 1987 American fantasy comedy film directed by Christopher Leitch, written by R. Timothy Kring, and starring Jason Bateman (film debut), James Hampton, John Astin and Kim Darby. It is the sequel to Teen Wolf (1985).

And Timber Wolf of LSH originally went by Lone Wolf back when he was a brainwashed conflicted boy that thought he was a soulless android forced to do the bidding of his "maker".

Wolf and Werewolf Names for Boys
Ernouf—Strong as a Wolf (Scandinavian)
Amoux—Eagle Wolf (French)
Coinin—Little Old Wolf (Gaelic)
Gerwulf—Spear Wolf (German)
Adalwolf—Noble Wolf (German)
Lowe—Little Wolf (French)
Fenris—Folkloric/Mythological Monster Wolf (Norse)
Rollin—Famous Wolf (Teutonic)
Maccon—Son of Wolf (Celtic)
Connor—Wolf Lover (Irish)
Guadalupe—Wolf valley (Arabic)
Barwolf—Axe Wolf (Old English)
Sandalio—True Wolf Spirit (Spanish)
Loup—Captivating Wolf (French)
Ulfred—Peace Wolf (Old English)
Dolphus—Noble Wolf (German)
Olcan—Wolf (Celtic)
Adalwolf—Noble Wolf (German)
Hrolleif—Old Wolf (Norse)
Audolf—Wolfs Friend (Norse)
Ranulfo—Wolf’s Shield (Teutonic)
Edon—Wolf (French)
Hildwulf—Wolf in Battle (Old English)
Llop—Wolf (Catalonian)
Botolf—Messenger Wolf (Old English)
Geirolf—Wolf Spear (Norse)
Lowell—Wolf Cub (Old French)
Hardulph—Brave Wolf (Anglo-Saxon)
Dolph—Wolf (Teutonic)
Shumani—Thunder Wolf (Native American)
Radolf—Red Wolf (English)
Connery—Wolf Farmer (Celtic)
Maheegan—Wolf (Native American)
Bledig—Like a Wolf (Welsh)
Honehe—Wolf (Cheyenne)
Ethelwulf—Noble Wolf (Old English)
Lupus—Wolf (Latin)
Conall—Strength of a Wolf (Irish)
Faolan—Little Wolf (Irish)
Canagan—Wolf Cub (Celtic)
Tunstall—Wolf of Thor (Teutonic)
Maicoh—Wolf (Navaho)
Segolia—Wolf (Chipewyan)
Channing—Young Wolf associated with the Church (Old French)
Blaez—Wolf (Old Breton)
Ocumwhowurst—Yellow Wolf (Cheyenne)
Leidolf—Wolf Descendant (Norse)
Gunnolf—Fighting Wolf (Norse)
Hebrewulf—Wolf (English)
Vilkas—Wolf (Lithuanian)
Odwolfe—Wealthy Wolf (English)
Vigolfr—Battle Wolf (Icelandic)
Lycurgus—Wolf Fish (Latin)
Mgelika—Male Wolf (Georgian)
Vukasin—Wolf (Serbian)
Bardou—Bright Wolf (English)
Dolphus—Noble Wolf (German)
Hrolfr—Famous Wolf (Norse)
Caleb—Whole Hearted (Hebrew)
Adolfo—Noble Wolf (Latin)
Lykaios—Wolfish, wolf-like of a Fish (Greek)
Rollo—Famous Wolf (Teutonic)
Heoruwulf—Wolf Army (Old English)
Kuckunniwi—Little Wolf (Cheyenne)
Bleidd—Wolf (Welsh)
Adolphus—Noble Wolf (German)
Z’ev—Wolf (Hebrew)
Gunnolf—Fighting Wolf (Norse)
Wolfgang—Son of wolf (German)
Rendall—Wolf Shield (English)
Ingolf—Ing’s Wolf (Norse)
Conan—Wolf/Hound (Irish)
Theodulf—Wolf God (Old English)
Gorg—Wolf (Farsi)
Vuk—Wolf (Croatian)
Odolf—Prosperous Wolf (Old German)
Eyolf—Lucky Wolf (Norwegian)
Mingan—Grey Wolf (Native American)
Colin—Young Dog/In Whelp (Celtic)
Boris—Wolf (Bulgarian/Russian/German/Slovene)
Filtiarn—Lord of Wolves (Celtic)
Conchobar—Hound-Wolf (Irish)
Acwulf—Oak Medow Wolf (English)
Ullok—Wolf Sport (Old English)
Hrolleif—Old Wolf (Anglo-Saxon)
Kadzait—Wandering wolf (Native Alaskan)
Okhmhaka—Little Wolf (Cheyenne)
Lobo—Wolf (Portuguese)
Wolfram—Wolf Raven (Teutonic)
Biryuk—Wolf (Molokan)
Vilks—Wolf (Latvian)
Teekon—Wolf (Athabascan)
Ulmer—Wolf Fame (Norse)
Chanteloup—Wolf Song (French)
Liekos—Wolf (Greek)
Bardalph—Axe Wolf (Old English)
Udolph—Wind Spirit (Lakota)
Conri—King of Wolves (Celtic)
Felan—Small Wolf (Celtic)
Teowulf—Mighty Wolf (Anglo-Saxon)
Lupu—Wolf (Maltese)
Varg—Wolf (Old Norse)
Tikaani—Wolf (Ahtna Athabascan)
Rolf—Red Wolf (Teutonic)
Zayev—Wolf (Hebrew)
Convel—Wolf Warrior (Celtic)
Onai—Wolf (Tamil)
Arnou—Eagle Wolf (French)
Liudolf—Famous Wolf (Germanic)
Roukan—Wolf Counsel (Japanese)
Leloo—Wolf (Chinook)
Weylyn—Son of Wolf (Celtic)
Rezso—Famous Wolf (Teutonic)
Bodolf—Wolf Leader (Norse)
Wolfram—Raven and wolf hybrid (Germanic)
Faelen—Little Wolf (Gaelic)
Ulrich—Female Wolf (English)
Nuntis—Sun Wolf (Latin)
Randolph—Wolf Shield (Old German)
Dib—Wolf (Arabic)
Udolf—Wolf Wealth (Old English)
Conry—Wolf King (Irish)
Tchono—Wolf (Mongolian)
Ivaylo—Wolf (Bulgarian)
Randon—House Wolf (Old English)
Waya—Wolf (Cherokee)
Chinua—Wolf (Mongolian)
Mahigan—Wolf (Cree/Algonquin)
Vargynja—Little Wolf (Germanic)
Tidwulf—Time Wolf (Old German)
Randale—Wolf Shield (English)
Friduwulf—Peaceful Wolf (Old English)
Bighana—Wolf (India)
Rule—Famous Wolf (French)
Kweeuu—Wolf (Hopi)
Adoff—Noble Wolf (German)
Ulvelaik—Wolf Sport (English)
Rudi—Famed Wolf (German)
Ookami—Wolf (Japanese)
Woolsey—Victorious Wolf (English)
Randulphus—Wolf Emblem (Old German)
Farkas—Wolf (Hungarian)
Amarog—Wolf (Greenland-Inuit)
Velvel—Wolf (Yiddish)
Beowulf—Intelligent/Clever Wolf (Anglo-Saxon)
Randi—House Wolf/Protector (English)
Maiyun—Wolf (Cheyenne)
Aatto—Noble Wolf (Finnish)
Raul—Wolf Counsel (Spanish)
Adolph—Noble Wolf (German)
Owein—Young Noble Wolf (Old English)
Ulmar—Famous Wolf (Old English)
Ranndy—House Wolf (English)
Geri—Odin’s Wolf (Norse Mythology)
Chann—Young Wolf (English)
Amwolf—Eagle Wolf (German)
Yowlumne—People associated with the wolf (Yokut)
Hrolf—Wolf (Norse)
Raff—Red Wolf (English)
Tate—Stalking Wolf (Native American)
Ze’ev—Masculine Wolf (Hebrew)
Nashoba—Wolf (Choctaw)
Eariuffi—Warrior Wolf (Greenlandic)
Bhangi—Wolf (Tibetan)
Zayev—Wolf with Zeal (Hebrew)
Sandulf—True Wolf (Old German)
Ulger—Wolf Spear (Old English)
Radulphus—Shield Wolf (English)
Ardwolf—Home Loving Wolf (English)
Ulrike—Wolf Ruler (German)
Rawlins—Wise Wolf Man’s Son (English)
Ozouf—Gods’s Wolf or Warrior (Scandinavian)
Rand—Shield Wolf (Anglo-Saxon)
Lupo—Wolf (Italian)
Ulf—Wolf (Old German)
Bozkurtlar—Grey Wolf (Turkish)
Wselfwulf—Slaughter Wolf (Anglo-Saxon)
Ty-Ohni—Wolf (Native American)
Aethelwulf—Noble Wolf (English)
Lyfing—Dear Wolf (English)
Wulfsige—Victorious Wolf (Old English)
Honiahaka—Little Wolf (Cheyenne)
Rhudi—Famous Wolf (English)
Timmeu—Wolf (Old Lenape)
Rodolfo—Famous Wolf (Spanish)
Landga—Wolf (Marathi)
Makoce—Earth Spirit Wolf (Lakota)
Skjoldolfr—Wolf Protector (Islandic)
Bleyine—Like a Wolf Cub (Old English)
Wolfrik—Wolf Ruler (German)
Raedwulf—Red Wolf (Germanic)
Lycidas—Wolf Son (Anglo-Saxon)
Cuan—Little Wolf/Hound (Irish)
Ujku—Wolf (Albanian)
Kurt—Wolf (Turkish)
Ziff—Wolf (Hebrew)
Owaisy—Wolf Warrior (Anglo- Saxon)
Ruid—Like a Wolf (Anglo-Saxon)
Ralph—Wolf Counsel (Old English)

“London Fog,” a study of the great city’s legendary atmosphere

(Belknap)
By Michael DirdaNovember 16, 2015
During the Victorian era, the worst London fogs occurred in the 1880s and ’90s, most often in November. Yet as early as 1853, in the opening pages of “Bleak House,” Charles Dickens refers to “implacable November weather” and goes on to describe “smoke lowering down from chimney-pots, making a soft black drizzle with flakes of soot as big as full-grown snowflakes — gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun.” There is, he says, “fog everywhere” — and not the soft, dove-gray cloudiness we might imagine: This was 19th-century air pollution: thick, malodorous, yellow or black and almost smothering.

As Christine L. Corton reminds us in “London Fog: The Biography,” England’s capital “has always been susceptible to mist and murk.” As early as the 17th century, the diarist and gardener John Evelyn was complaining about the increasing “smoke” problem, blaming lime kilns for poisoning the atmosphere. By the time Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, dense fogs could make travel, whether by foot or horse-drawn carriage, almost impossible — and the adverse conditions could persist for days. An 1892 study concluded that between 1886 and 1890 there were, on average, 63 foggy days per year. During these periods of stygian gloom, “linklighters” — street urchins carrying homemade torches — would guide gentlemen and their ladies through the darkness for a charge. Sometimes, the well-to-do would be led helplessly into alleys and robbed.

London’s fogs mostly resulted from the gritty smoke of domestic coal fires and “the noxious emissions of factory chimneys,” coupled with the right atmospheric wet and stillness. Sulfurous elements gave the resulting miasma a yellowish tinge like that of pea soup (then usually made from dried yellow split peas, not green ones). A bad fog was consequently “a pea-souper” or, later, “ a “London particular” (originally a term denoting a kind of brown Madeira wine). Besides yellow and brown, fogs were described by Victorians as “gray yellow, of a deep orange, and even black.”

During severe and long-lasting fogs, animals found breathing so difficult that prize bulls at London animal shows would lie down and die. The atmosphere’s filth would enter people’s mouth and lungs, so that cabdrivers would spit out gobs of phlegm and drink whisky to clear their throats. The soiled air would seep into houses through doors and windows, coating furniture and clothes with an oily, slightly gritty smut. Plants withered. Corton points out that the plane tree became so popular in London in part because soot on its shiny leaves could easily be washed away.

By the 20th century, pe


The Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories describe London fogs, but contrary to popular impression the phrase "pea-soup" is not used; A Study in Scarlet (1887) mentions that "a dun-coloured veil hung over the house-tops"; The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans (1912) describes "a dense yellow fog" that has settled down over London, and later notes "a greasy, heavy brown swirl still drifting past us and condensing in oily drops on the windowpane"; while in The Sign of Four (1890), Holmes soliloquises: "What else is there to live for? Stand at the window here. Was ever such a dreary, dismal, unprofitable world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts across the dun-coloured houses"; and, later: "the day had been a dreary one, and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city. Mud-coloured clouds hung over the muddy streets."

Apologies for my unintended absence! car trouble (brakes) meant I was without transport and stranded until I fixed it. Even now I need to look at the brakes (just bleeding them so shouldn't take long) but without my laptop so unable to post. Will catch up at some point later today.

Cheers, Paul