Stained Glass and the Slog
I've heard this time of the year called "Slog." The holidays are fully finished and spring still slumbers many months away. At least we have snow now in the Midwest. If it has to be this cold, it can at least be beautiful.
The Brain Box
~ inputs for creative outputs ~
📖 Progress continues on book 6 of The Wheel of Time series, Lords of Chaos. Oof, so much "men are from Mars, women are from Venus." I'm trusting people that this series has a strong ending.
📖 Some wikipedia tidbits this week:
- Choir - Not the group that sings, but the architectural element. Also spelled quire.
- Snegurochka - The Snow Maiden, from Russian fairy tales.
- Yukitsuri - a Japanese method of protecting tree branches from snow. The result is a wintry maypole of sorts.
Ten Stained Glass Windows
~ ornaments and portents ~
I've included a column prompt for the building to which the building is attached, but this is probably the most useful for adding a distinguishing detail to a location you already intend to visit.A stained glass window would also make an awesome backdrop for a fight against a major antagonist.
d10 | The window depicts . . . | Details | It's built into . . . |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Three dancing bears, each wearing scholars’ attire. A sun with three rays points at each of them. | Has a large hole with jagged edges. | The wall of an old chapel repurposed into a tavern. |
2 | An egg with many chicken legs breaking through its shell. A woman on either side makes a sign of benediction. | Crude, with thick welding lines joining the glass panes. | A free-standing bell tower. |
3 | Straight lines make tiny star shapes in a series of concentric rings. | Glows with its own faint, warm light all day and night. | The front of a venerable hospital. |
4 | A forge wreathed in daffodils. A single lick of flame floats above the forge. | Comprised exclusively of triangles. | The quaint, wooden door of an old cottage. |
5 | An inverted crown. Inside it is a sheaf of wheat, a peach, and a bell. | The window appears to spell a word, but only out of the corner of your eye. | It’s actually a detail of a much larger painting depicting a busy city square. |
6 | Seven candles in a row. The middle candle is black. A border of bare branches frames the image. | Hard to decipher its details from the black burn marks and soot covering its surface. | The upper arches of an enclosed bazaar. |
7 | A mother, father, and child embrace with a sleeping calf at their feet. Each of them has an eye on their right hands. | Made with an unwholesome color scheme using pinks, light greens, and purples. | Unclear, as it’s wrapped in dirty canvas and rope. Tucked in a corner of the room. |
8 | A beautiful, aged queen in profile from the shoulders up, acorns woven into her hair. A stylized sickle encircles the bottom half of her portrait. | Rendered in a classical style that stands at odds with the surrounding architecture. | The apse of a luxurious cathedral. |
9 | A massive white rose in full bloom, petals radiating from the center. | Slowly rotates, producing a low hum. | An old public library, now repurposed as a military station. |
10 | A radiant, upside down city on the underside of a hill. A sun floats below, and a moon floats above. | On close inspection, weeps an amber substance that numbs on contact. | The center of a bank’s vaulted ceiling. |
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Thanks
Have fun. Be weird.
-Strange Years