In the art of several ancient kingdoms is was customary to stylize the monsters depicted. Even the most comely of elves would be drawn with too-pointed face and too-slanted eyes, to keep the up-standing human community of the kingdoms from thinking of the elves as being better than themselves.

How does a given species become intelligent? Why does one turn from somewhat smart to actually sentient, and another doesn't? What is the magic formula, if there is one?

This is an editted version of an article I did many years ago covering the basic information about sake.

Tips on posting and writing in general

Diseases. Incomplete and currently abandoned

Ruminations on the role of Magic and Food.

It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

The races of Kuramen are a strange lot, descending down a long lineage from the First Race; prone to dramatic evolutions and born to a world divided, each does the best it can to survive.

Some guidelines on making workable martial art styles within a game.

Do not gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal. Matthew 6:19 KJV

Potions and other alchemical concoctions are often no more than funny-colored water in a bottle; what of the strange and unusual components used to craft these marvelous items?

When dealing with nobility and court settings, players can sometimes skip the roleplay aspect and jump straight to behavior such as, "I bow, greet all in the court, and ask the duke for his assistance." While in most scenarios this type of action is sufficient, taking it a step further can enhance gameplay (or maybe even manipulate a plotline).

A collection of healing Herbs.

The landscape is a product of nature's own processes and humanoid activities troughout centuries or millenia.
How can we capture this in our stories, and deliver vivid and semi authentic descriptions?

Nooo!!! Don't... touch that....

Luchildsburg? Yeah I remember that place, they had the black ale that tasted so bad.

The stream of time can suddenly be breached. What happens now?

Nano-technology - Not Sufficiently Advanced, as per the Arthur C. Clarke gold standard of sufficiently advanced technology.

The proper names and descriptions of a sword's parts.

"...a process of planetary engineering, specifically directed at enhancing the capacity of an extra-terrestrial planetary environment to support life. The ultimate in terraforming would be to create an uncontained planetary biosphere emulating all the functions of the biosphere of the Earth, one that would be fully habitable for human beings."