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Lich (Dungeons
In fantasy fiction, a lich () is a type of undead creature with magical powers. Various works of fantasy fiction, such as Clark Ashton Smith's " The Empire of the Necromancers" (1932), had used ''lich'' as a general term for any corpse, animate or inanimate, before the term's specific use in fantasy role-playing games. The more recent use of the term ''lich'' for a specific type of undead creature originates from the 1976 ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game booklet ''Greyhawk'', written by Gary Gygax and Rob Kuntz. Often such a creature is the result of a willful transformation, as a powerful wizard skilled in necromancy who seeks eternal life uses rare substances in a magical ritual to become undead. Unlike zombies, which are often depicted as mindless, liches are sapient revenants, retaining their previous intelligence and magical abilities. Liches are often depicted as holding power over lesser mindless undead soldiers and servants. A lich’s most commonly depi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Battle For Wesnoth
''The Battle for Wesnoth'' is a free and open-source software, free and open-source turn-based strategy video game with a high fantasy setting (similar to J. R. R. Tolkien's Tolkien's legendarium, legendarium), designed by Australian-American developer David White and first released in June 2003. In ''Wesnoth'', the player controls a particular faction/race and attempts to build a powerful army by controlling villages and defeating enemies for experience point, experience. The game is loosely based on the Sega Genesis games ''Master of Monsters (video game), Master of Monsters'' and ''Warsong''. Gameplay ''The Battle for Wesnoth'' is a turn-based strategy, turn-based Wargaming, wargame played on a hex map. The strategy of battle involves trying to fight on favorable terrain, at a favorable time of day, and, if possible, with units that are strong or well suited against the enemies. Other concerns are capturing villages that produce a particular trickle rate of gold per turn fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert J
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown, godlike" and ''berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin.Reaney & Wilson, 1997. ''Dictionary of English Surnames''. Oxford University Press. It is also in use as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe, the name entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto. Robert is also a common name in many Germanic languages, including En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Thing On The Doorstep
"The Thing on the Doorstep" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos universe. It was written in August 1933 and first published in the January 1937 issue of '' Weird Tales''. Inspiration The idea for the story came to Lovecraft from a dream he had in 1928, which he wrote down in his Commonplace book as, :"Man has terrible wizard friend who gains influence over him. Kills him in defence of his soul—walls body up in ancient cellar—BUT—the dead wizard (who has said strange things about soul lingering in body) changes bodies with him . . . leaving him a conscious corpse in cellar." Plot Daniel Upton, the story's narrator, explains that he has killed his best friend, Edward Derby, and that he hopes his account will prove that he is not a murderer. He begins by describing Derby's life and career. Derby had been interested in the occult even as a very young boy, which led to him befriending Upton. The two would discuss dark myt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Death Of Halpin Frayser
"The Death of Halpin Frayser" is a Gothic ghost story by Ambrose Bierce. It was first published in the San Francisco periodical ''The Wave'' on December 19, 1891 before appearing in the 1893 collection '' Can Such Things Be?'' Plot summary Halpin Frayser, a 32-year-old resident of the Napa Valley, awakens from a dreamless sleep speaking the mysterious words "Catherine LaRue" into the darkness. Earlier that day, Frayser went hunting in the vicinity of Mount Saint Helena. As he wanders the darkness and chooses a "road less travelled", it is clear there is something devious about. Halpin dreams about a haunted forest dripping with blood and is stricken with fear. In his dream, Halpin grabs a red-leather pocketbook and begins to write with blood a dark poem (in the manner of Freneau's "The House of Night") but before he can write too much, he is confronted by the corpse of his mother. The story then switches to Frayser's upbringing in Nashville, Tennessee. He never fit in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. His story " An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" has been described as "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature", and his book '' Tales of Soldiers and Civilians'' (also published as ''In the Midst of Life'') was named by the Grolier Club one of the 100 most influential American books printed before 1900. A prolific and versatile writer, Bierce was regarded as one of the most influential journalists in the United States and as a pioneering writer of realist fiction. For his horror writing, Michael Dirda ranked him alongside Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. S. T. Joshi speculates that he may well be the greatest satirist America has ever produc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skull-Face
''Skull-Face'' is a fantasy novella by American writer Robert E. Howard, which appeared as a serial in ''Weird Tales'' magazine, beginning in October 1929, and ending in December, 1929.''The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard'', pages 194–320. Cosmos Books, July 2007 The story stars a character called Stephen Costigan but this is not Howard's recurring character Sailor Steve Costigan. The story is clearly influenced by Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in David ...'s opus Fu Manchu but substitutes the main Asian villain with a resuscitated Atlantean necromancer (similar to Kull's bit character Thulsa Doom) sitting at the center of a web of crime and intrigue meant to end White/Western world domination with the help of Asian/Brown/African peoples and to re-in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert E
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown, godlike" and ''berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin.Reaney & Wilson, 1997. ''Dictionary of English Surnames''. Oxford University Press. It is also in use as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe, the name entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto. Robert is also a common name in many Germanic languages, including En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magic (supernatural)
Magic, sometimes spelled magick, is the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed in the belief that they can manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces. It is a category into which have been placed various beliefs and practices sometimes considered separate from both religion and science. Connotations have varied from positive to negative at times throughout history. Within Western culture, magic has been linked to ideas of the Other (philosophy), Other, foreignness, and primitivism; indicating that it is "a powerful marker of cultural difference" and likewise, a non-modern phenomenon. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Western intellectuals perceived the practice of magic to be a sign of a primitive mentality and also commonly attributed it to marginalised groups of people. Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), a British occultist, defined "magick" as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will", adding a 'k' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sword And Sorcery
Sword and sorcery (S&S), or heroic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of Romance (love), romance, Magic (fantasy), magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tales, though dramatic, focus on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters. The genre originated from the early-1930s works of Robert E. Howard. While there is a chance example from 1953, Fritz Leiber re-coined the term "sword and sorcery" in the 6 April 1961 issue of the fantasy fanzine ''Ancalagon'', to describe Howard and the stories that were influenced by his works. In parallel with "sword and sorcery", the term "heroic fantasy" is used, although it is a more loosely defined genre. Sword and sorcery tales eschew overarching themes of "good vs evil" in favor of situational conflicts that often pit morally gray characters against one another to enrich themselves, or to defy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lychgate
A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the Upland South and Texas in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Norway, and Sweden. Etymology The word ''lych'' survived into modern English from the Old English or Saxon word for "corpse", mostly as an adjective in particular phrases or names, such as ''lych bell'', the hand-bell rung before a corpse; '' lych way'', the path along which a corpse was carried to burial (this in some districts was supposed to establish a right-of-way); ''lych owl'', the screech owl, because its cry was a portent of death; and ''lyke-wake'', a night watch over a corpse (''see Lyke-Wake Dirge''). It is cognate with the modern German ''Leiche'', Dutch ''lijk'' and '' lichaam'', West Frisian ''lyk'' and Swedish ''lik'', all meaning "co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literature dates from the mid-7th century. After the Norman Conquest of 1066, English was replaced for several centuries by Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman (a langues d'oïl, type of French) as the language of the upper classes. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English era, since during the subsequent period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into what is now known as Middle English in England and Early Scots in Scotland. Old English developed from a set of Anglo-Frisian or Ingvaeonic dialects originally spoken by Germanic tribes traditionally known as the Angles (tribe), Angles, Saxons and Jutes. As the Germanic settlers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phylactery (Dungeons & Dragons)
The lich is an undead creature found in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Liches are spellcasters who seek to defy death by magical means. The term derives from ''lich'', an archaic term for a corpse. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' co-creator Gary Gygax stated that he based the description of a lich included in the game on the short story "The Sword of the Sorcerer" (1969) by Gardner Fox. Publication history The lich was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (1974–1976) For the original ''D&D'' rule set, the lich was introduced in its first supplement, ''Greyhawk'' (1975). It is described simply as a skeletal monster that was formerly a magic-user or a magic-user/cleric in life and retains those abilities, able to send lower-level characters fleeing in fear. The lich's interaction with the Psionics rules and the iconic lich Vecna were described in ''Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
