Chilldren of the Unknown: October 2014

Monday, October 20, 2014

Sense the Unknown

Sense Unknown

Base: (Wpr+Pcn+Sta)/3
Willpower Cost: 20
Check: General
Time Required: 1 round
Range: Line of sight
Duration: Round of use
This unsettling ability allows the character to sense if a creature or user of a unsettling power has been in the area. Failure of the check means the character does not sense anything out of the ordinary

Dead Rising: Watchtower


Legendary’s Digital Media division and Crackle announced today the principal cast for the upcoming feature-length project Dead Rising: Watchtower. Rob Riggle (Let’s Be Cops, 22 Jump Street), Harley Morenstein (“Epic Meal Time,” “Epic Meal Empire,” Tusk), Keegan Connor Tracey (“Bates Motel,” “Once Upon a Time”), and Aleks Paunovic (This Means War) will join previously-announced cast members Jesse Metcalfe, Meghan Ory, Virginia Madsen and Dennis Haysbert.

Riggle will join the cast as Frank West, a weathered photo-journalist skilled in surviving Zombie attacks; Morenstein will play Pyro, a menacing biker and Logan’s (Paunovic) second-in-command; Paunovic portrays Logan, a hard criminal and the head of a biker gang and Tracey will take on the role of Jordan, a straight-laced journalist.

Dead Rising: Watchtower takes place during a large-scale zombie outbreak. When a mandatory government vaccine fails to stop the infection from spreading, the four leads must evade infection while also pursuing the root of the epidemic, with all signs pointing to a government conspiracy. Politics, public paranoia, and media coverage play an important role in the story’s narrative.

The project is written by Tim Carter, who is also producing with Tomas Harlan under their Contradiction Films banner. Contradiction most recently produced the hit digital series Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, RED, G.I. Joe) will executive produce.

Crackle will debut Dead Rising: Watchtower in its feature-length form in the U.S. After Crackle’s exclusive distribution run, the project will also be released on SVOD, DVD, VOD and TV. Content Media Corporation will distribute Dead Rising: Watchtower in both feature-length and episodic formats for all international platforms.

The “Dead Rising” game franchise has sold over 7.6 million copies worldwide. Publisher Capcom has sold over 200 million game copies worldwide, including those from series “Resident Evil,” “Street Fighter” and “Mega Man.”

The Evil Within

While investigating the scene of a gruesome mass murder, Detective Sebastian Castellanos and his partners encounter a mysterious and powerful force. After seeing the slaughter of his fellow officers, Sebastian is ambushed and knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he finds himself in a deranged world where hideous creatures wander among the dead. Facing unimaginable terror, and fighting for survival, Sebastian embarks on a frightening journey to unravel what is behind this evil force.
The Evil Within began development in late 2010 under the codename "Project Zwei". Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami served as the game's director, with development taking place at his studio Tango Gameworks.The studio was bought by the game's publisher Bethesda Softworks in 2010, shortly after development began.Mikami said that he wanted to make a survival horror game as he believed that contemporary horror games relied more on action than survival. The game was announced in April 2013. Believing that the tropes of the survival horror had become predictable over time, the design deliberately attempts to make the player feel powerless by taking place in confined spaces, limiting ammunition, and presenting near-invincible enemies that promote running and hiding over engaging in combat. Art Director Naoki Katakai said that the design concept of enemies, such as those wrapped in barbed wire or filled with glass shards, is that they are victims suffering under a greater evil. The asylum itself was inspired by the Winchester Mystery House, a Californian mansion famous for its architectural curiosities.

The Evil Within is built on the id Tech 5 modified by Tango Gameworks. On April 15, 2013, and over the next few days, Bethesda Softworks revealed a series of short cryptic videos teasing the new game, officially announcing it on April 19, 2013, revealing the title, the platforms it will be released on, and a live action teaser trailer. Bethesda Softworks announced that the game had gone gold on September 25, 2014

Friday, October 3, 2014

The Legend of Jure Grando

Jure Grando was a peasant who lived in Kringa/Corridico, a small place in the interior of the Istrian peninsula near Tinjan/Antignana, Croatia. He died in 1656, but according to legend, came back as a vampire (štrigon) and terrorized his village until his decapitation in 1672. According to the legend, for 16 years after his death, Jure would arise from his grave by night and terrorize the village. The village priest, Giorgio, who had buried Jure sixteen years previously discovered that at night somebody would knock on the doors around the village, and on whichever door he knocked, someone from that house would die within the next few days. Jure also appeared to his terrified widow in her bedroom, who described the corpse as looking as though he was smiling and gasping for breath, and would then sexually assault her. When Father Giorgio eventually came face to face with the vampire, he held out a cross in front of him and yelled “Behold Jesus Christ, you vampire! Stop tormenting us!” At that moment tears fell from the vampire’s eyes. The bravest of the villagers led by the perfect Miho Radetić chased and tried to kill the vampire by piercing his heart with a hawthorn stick, but failed because the stick just bounced off of his chest. One night later, nine people went to the graveyard, carrying a cross, lamps, and a hawthorn stick. They dug up Jure’s coffin and found a perfectly preserved corpse with a smile on its face. Father Giorgio said: “Look, štrigon, there is Jesus Christ who saved us from hell and died for us. And you, štrigon, you cannot have peace!” They then tried to pierce its heart again, but the stick could not penetrate its flesh. After some exorcism prayers, the one villager, Stipan Milašić, took a saw and sawed the head off. As soon as the saw tore his skin, the vampire screamed and blood started to flow from the cut, and soon the whole grave was full of blood. According to legend, peace finally returned to the region after Jure’s decapitation.

The Mole People

A narration by Dr. Frank Baxter, an English professor at the University of Southern California, explainsthe premise of the film and its basis in reality. He briefly discusses the hollow earth theories of John Symmes and Cyrus Teed among others, and says that the movie is a fictionalized representation of this unorthodox point of view.
Archaeologists Dr. Roger Bentley and Dr. Jud Bellamin stumble upon a race of Sumerian albinos living deep under the Earth. They keep mutant humanoid mole men as their slaves to harvest mushrooms, their primary food source, since they can grow without sunlight. The Sumerian albinos' ancestors moved into the subterranean after the cataclysmic floods in ancient Mesopotamia. Whenever their population increases, they sacrifice old people to the Eye of Ishtar, which is really natural light coming from the surface. These people have lived underground for so long that they are weakened by bright light which the archaeologists brought in the form of a flashlight. However, there is one girl named Adad who has natural Caucasian skin who is disdained by the others since she has the "mark of darkness." They believe the men are messengers of Ishtar, their goddess. When one of the archaeologists is killed by a mole person, Elinu, the High Priest, realizes they are not gods. He orders their capture and takes the flashlight to control the Mole People, not knowing it is depleted. The archaeologists are then sent to the Eye just as the Mole People rebel. Adad goes to the Eye only to realize its true nature and that the men had survived. They then leave for the surface. Unfortunately, Adad dies after reaching the surface, when an earthquake causes a column to fall over and crush her. 

  The Mole People 
STR:
4 (60)                WPR: 4 (60)

DEX: 3 (45)                  PER: 1 (15)
AGL: 3 (45)                  PCN: 4 (60)
STA: 4 (60)                  PWR: NA ATT: 1/53%                  WND: 14
MV: L 75† Experience: 600

Mole People Powers Dark Vision - Mole people can see completely in the dark with no modifiers against them.
Burrowing - a Mole person can burrow through the earth at 1/2 movement rate

Weakness - being a subterranean species, sunlight or any light source brighter then a candle hurts a Mole person doing 1 wound box and 1d10 stamina loss.