New Years, New Crypts

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                            January 9, 2024

                New Years, New Crypts

                        *pop*
It’s the sound of a new newsletter being opened!
The past week has been all about picking a platform. Last year I started releasing directly to itch.io, but I’d rather use that for more substantial work. I was considering substack (and preemptively claimed a name there) . . . only for them to decide Nazi money is good money. So, let’s give buttondown a try in the spirit of rejecting perfectionism.

The Brain Box
~ inputs for creative outputs ~
📖 This past week I resumed chipping away at The Wheel of Time series. I just hit chapter 44 of Lords of Chaos. I grew up on Tolkien, so I’m coming to Robert Jordan as an adult. It’s dawning on me how much debt modern fantasy really owes to him instead of (or in addition to) the good professor.
🎵 I tried out Praise a Lord Who Chews But Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) by Yves Tumor. Unexpected and refreshing. It hasn’t broken the hold Javelin has on me, but I am a sucker for Sufjan.

Ten Crypts
~ for your next session ~
The entrance looks like . . . Who is interred here? Rumors
1 The mouth of a laughing newborn, made of black rock. Free of vegetation. No light can be seen through the doorway. The victims of a terrible plague so long ago that locals don’t think much about it. Youths like to sneak in during the night. Supposedly, they play games of chicken with something called “the gargoyle’s eye.”
2 Three triangular columns (each 10 ft. tall) surround a staircase that spirals down into the earth. Strands of prayer beads hang from the columns. Venerated elders of a monastic order. Earning a place in the crypt is a source of politicking and drama for them. One of the tombs is actually a secret entrance to a black market where drugs are sold and stolen goods are fenced.
3 A mess. The ornate pediment above the entrance lies scattered across worn pavers. Vandalism has rendered the engravings on either side illegible. Celebrated inventors and researchers. A strange woman has been seen entering the crypt on multiple occasions, but never observed exiting. People say she always has a sack slung over one shoulder.
4 A perfect circle covered with a mural depicting stages of life, but its barely visible through all the thick spider webs. Exclusively members of an old-money family. They commissioned the crypt. Political dissidents have been leaving coded messages for each other disguised as memorials for the dead.
5 A haphazard arrangement of pentagons made of white and brown stone. The pentagons range in size from 6 in. to 3 ft. across. The entrance looks more like the pentagons happened to grow that way than a uniform doorway. Fallen soldiers from a war with a rival nation. Occasionally, the entrance to the crypt is a tunnel with sunlight at the other end, regardless of the time of day at the entrance.
6 Something bad happened. A crude wooden door has been retrofitted over the doorway. It clashes with the delicate stonework skeletons outlining the entrance. People from the community from a range of backgrounds and economic levels. Walking backwards into the crypt may cause you to hear the voice of a loved one whispering in your ear. Supposedly, that person will die in a month. Several locals somberly insist it’s true.
7 A covered walkway leading to a stately, open hall. The floor and ceiling of the walkway is covered in a mirror-like substance that shows no wear or smudging. Two small pedestals topped with fire provide soft light. No one. The crypt was abandoned before it could be used. Every new moon several children end up sleep walking to the crypt. Some of the older children even make it inside.
8 A free standing,15 ft. tall copper censer covered in verdigris. The faint ringing of bells can be heard while standing inside. A lever on the censer’s floor causes it to slowly descend about 100 ft. to the main crypt. No one knows today. No trace of the community that built it remains. One of the corpses has recently re-animated, apparently with all of its memories intact. It has accumulated a salon of eccentrics and try-hards. It appears to revert when the sun sets each day.
9 A low rock shelf hides the entrance to a natural cave. Small stones have been carefully placed along the cave edges. Most of the stones are painted blue. A few are painted red. Criminals charged with acts of treason against an ancient king. A deep rumble echoes from the depths of the crypt with no clear pattern. People who hear the rumble spend the next few days with the persistent feeling of being watched.
10 A simple, elegant arch with a decorative purple curtain hung across it. Steps lead up to it, each engraved with the phases of the moon. A vain noble along with a retinue of wooden statues in the facsimile of servants. People have started leaving small gifts and trinkets at the entrance, claiming it’s a gift for “Grandmother Birch.”

Thanks
It means the world that you made it to the end.
Have fun. Be weird.
-Strange Years

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	The entrance looks like . . .	Who is interred here?	Rumors
1	The mouth of a laughing newborn, made of black rock. Free of vegetation. No light can be seen through the doorway.	The victims of a terrible plague so long ago that locals don’t think much about it.	Youths like to sneak in during the night. Supposedly, they play games of chicken with something called “the gargoyle’s eye.”
2	Three triangular columns (each 10 ft. tall) surround a staircase that spirals down into the earth. Strands of prayer beads hang from the columns.	Venerated elders of a monastic order. Earning a place in the crypt is a source of politicking and drama for them.	One of the tombs is actually a secret entrance to a black market where drugs are sold and stolen goods are fenced.
3	A mess. The ornate pediment above the entrance lies scattered across worn pavers. Vandalism has rendered the engravings on either side illegible.	Celebrated inventors and researchers.	A strange woman has been seen entering the crypt on multiple occasions, but never observed exiting. People say she always has a sack slung over one shoulder.
4	A perfect circle covered with a mural depicting stages of life, but its barely visible through all the thick spider webs.	Exclusively members of an old-money family. They commissioned the crypt.	Political dissidents have been leaving coded messages for each other disguised as memorials for the dead.
5	A haphazard arrangement of pentagons made of white and brown stone. The pentagons range in size from 6 in. to 3 ft. across. The entrance looks more like the pentagons happened to grow that way than a uniform doorway.	Fallen soldiers from a war with a rival nation.	Occasionally, the entrance to the crypt is a tunnel with sunlight at the other end, regardless of the time of day at the entrance.
6	Something bad happened. A crude wooden door has been retrofitted over the doorway. It clashes with the delicate stonework skeletons outlining the entrance.	People from the community from a range of backgrounds and economic levels.	Walking backwards into the crypt may cause you to hear the voice of a loved one whispering in your ear. Supposedly, that person will die in a month. Several locals somberly insist it’s true.
7	A covered walkway leading to a stately, open hall. The floor and ceiling of the walkway is covered in a mirror-like substance that shows no wear or smudging. Two small pedestals topped with fire provide soft light.	No one. The crypt was abandoned before it could be used.	Every new moon several children end up sleep walking to the crypt. Some of the older children even make it inside.
8	A free standing,15 ft. tall copper censer covered in verdigris. The faint ringing of bells can be heard while standing inside. A lever on the censer’s floor causes it to slowly descend about 100 ft. to the main crypt.	No one knows today. No trace of the community that built it remains.	One of the corpses has recently re-animated, apparently with all of its memories intact. It has accumulated a salon of eccentrics and try-hards. It appears to revert when the sun sets each day.
9	A low rock shelf hides the entrance to a natural cave. Small stones have been carefully placed along the cave edges. Most of the stones are painted blue. A few are painted red.	Criminals charged with acts of treason against an ancient king.	A deep rumble echoes from the depths of the crypt with no clear pattern. People who hear the rumble spend the next few days with the persistent feeling of being watched.
10	A simple, elegant arch with a decorative purple curtain hung across it. Steps lead up to it, each engraved with the phases of the moon.	A vain noble along with a retinue of wooden statues in the facsimile of servants.	People have started leaving small gifts and trinkets at the entrance, claiming it’s a gift for “Grandmother Birch.”