Cup of Crimson Wonder

I got into Dungeons & Dragons in the late 70s at college. At that time, I was listening to a lot of progressive rock, which was a broad category which included bands like Yes, ELP, Pink Floyd, and in particular Jethro Tull. Tull had done albums like Aqualung, Warchild, Minstrel in the Gallery, and Thick as a Brick (one sone over two sides of an LP - you really should take the time to give it a listen). And in 1977 they released Songs from the Wood, which was the first of a series of "Folk Rock" albums. And I listened to it a lot, and it influenced my some of my writing, world-building, and game design.

And one of the songs was "Cup of Wonder", which leaned heavy on medieval mystical themes with a lot of synthesizer. And as one does, I wrote up the cup described of the song as a D&D magical item. 

(Now, looking back at the song, there was a LOT I missed at the time - namely, that the song was very much a "Hey, let's go out into the wheatfield and have sex" sort of song, and that a lot of the mystic references had earthier meanings and feminine euphemisms. )

But anyway,

I wrote the first cup description in 1977 in the wake of the album's release, but never really found the place to unleash it on my players. I considered it as a "Miscellaneous Magic" item, which was sort of a catch-all category for things that didn't really fit in one of the other columns. Now, by 1976 Eldritch Wizardry had come out and we had already started to talk about Artifacts and Relics as vastly powerful magic items with powers and malevolent effects unknown to the players. Below, I've revised my notes to fit the formatting and font of the original little brown box books of original D&D:

MISCELLANEOUS MAGIC

Cup of Wonders: This golden chalice can create a Healing potion that can repair one six-sided die, plus one, (2-7) points of damage, once per day. Once per week it can create a draught that will Neutralize Poison. The draughts must be imbibed directly from the cup to be effective.

 

It was a pretty straight-forward description of the item. Given the brutal nature of early D&D (your party's cleric did not even get a Cure Light Wounds spell until 2nd level), this was a suitable item to help the group survive. I put it in my random magic tables, but I never really found the opportunity to put into my player's hands. 

A few years later, I found my original notes, and upgraded the Cup of Wonders to full artifact status. Both Eldritch Wizardry and the 1st Edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide left the abilities lines blank to let the DM fill in what he could, choosing from a master list, but I made those choices for my versions of the items. Here's what I ended up with: 

TABLE (III.E3) SPECIAL

Cup of Crimson Wonder: This ornate chalice of beaten red-gold with silver filigree of forest creatures was brought from the Isles of the Furthest West by the Green Man as a gift to the Great Druid at the founding of his order. The Green Man often rescinds this gift for his personal use, and abandons it when he has completed his tasks. Upon speaking the Green Man’s name, the cup fills with blood, which then grants the positive effects of this item. In the hands of the Great Druid or one of the three Archdruids the cup may cast Resurrection once per day without having to rest and are immune to the Cup’s major and minor malevolent effects. Druid initiates of lower levels and non-druids may use the following powers/effects when possessing the cup:

4 × I: Create food and water – 1 time/day  

 Cure light wounds – 7 times/week  

 Know alignment when held and ordered – 1 time/day  

 Possessor immune to disease

2 × II: Heal – 1 time/day  

  Regenerate 2 h.p./turn (but not if killed)

2 × III: Possessor’s hair turns white  

   Saving throws versus magic are at -1

1 × IV: User takes double damage from steel and iron weapons.

1 × IV: Summon 1 of each type of elemental, 16 hit dice each, no need for control – 1 time/week 

There is a lot more going on here than in the first draft, in that I'm adding a lot of abilities and keying in on giving the druids something unique and cool as well. There's more background color for the AD&D versions, something that will increase as we go along, and is sort of a "shadow worldbuilding" in that it hints at larger things with the campaign world. I kept to the list provided at the time, with the exception of the Major Malevolent Effect (Table IV), which I felt was to overpowering, but instead grabbed something that would fit with its Druidic attempt.

Looking through the changes from the original D&D magic item to a 1st Edition AD&D artifact, I'm kind of curious to see how the design would change, and weather it would come closer to the original song or stray off into the fields and forest on its own. I'll take a look at later editions, and if it works out, I'll post here. Otherwise...

More later,

The Political Desk: Primary Results

 Hey folks, the King County primary election has come and gone. It was a top-two primary, which means the two candidates with the most votes go on to the general election in November. It is an open primary, which means that you don't have separate Democratic and Republican ballots. And most of the positions are non-partisan, which means that anyone can run without being a member of the party (though for some positions they can self-declare as "prefers X party". That also means you can get two Democrats, or two Independents, or two Republicans squaring off against each other in the general.

It is ALSO an all-mail-in election, which means that we'll have a big drop of votes on election day, then smaller drops as the ballots mailed in at the last moment are counted. Often this does not move the results much, but there is always a race or two that in "hanging fire" - it's so close you can't make the call immediately. So I wait a couple days before posting here. Late ballots around here tend to shift the vote towards the lefter, bluer, more progressive end of the political spectrum.

Final vote total looks like 33% or so, which is a) about right for an off-year primary election, and b) still sucky. That all said, it was a good night for the progressive side of the coin. In Seattle Mayor's Race, the progressive candidate actually out-polled the moderate incumbent (50% to 42%). And for King County Executive, we see two progressives squaring off against each other. 

Anyway, here's the local results, as of Friday night. If they change further, I'll note them in this space.. 

King County Proposition No. 1 Parks, Recreation, Trails, and Open Space Levy - Everyone likes parks, This was approved with 73% of the vote. In elections where 52% is called decisive  and 54% is called a mandate,  the Seattle Times sniffed at this result with the innocuous headline "King County Property Tax Looks to be Passing."

King County Executive This is one with two progressive Democrats in the main,. Grimay Zhailay (44%) vs Claudia Balducci (30%). Both candidates are currently on the King County Council and have similar voting records. The campaign looks like it will be cordial. Good.

King County Council District 5 - Here's where it gets interesting. On election night we have three candidates of the six candidates that are running who are viable after the first day - Stephanie Fain, Peter Kwon, and Kim Khan Van. Both Fain and Kwon would fit in the moderate/centrist slot. Fain had a LOT of mailers and endorsements, and Kwon had billboards. Real, old-fashioned billboards.  As of Friday night, we're looking at 27% for Kwon, 24% for Fain, and 23% for Van, so it is likely Kwon vs. Fain in the final. This one could flip, but there are not a huge number of uncounted votes left.

City of Kent Position No. 6 -  We are looking at Sharn Shoker (34%) versus Andy Song (19%). Shoker, as expected, had a very strong campaign, but it is good to see Song in there.

Kent School District No. 415 Director District No.4 - Will be Teresa Gregory (42%) versus Carolyn Wilsie-Kendall (32%)

Kent School District No. 415 Director District No.5 - Will be Laura Williams (49%) versus Jane Smith (30%), sparing use the Laura vs Laura contest in the main..

And with that the Political Desk rolls over, hits the snooze bar, and returns to slumber until sometime in October.

More later,