(Book of Hours, Flanders; kept in Baltimore, in the Walters Art Museum)
(This is a very old one, created years ago when I first saw this amazing piece of medieval art. I did some minor edits to their statblock, and completely redid their description- they were originally just “no one knows where they come from or what they’re thinking, they just cause violence”. Nowadays I try to ensure that every creature I make has some kind of story hook to it, rather than being a prepackaged Random Encounter. Enjoy!)
Bohf-bwam are chaotic, violent creatures that spawn in places with high magic potential and a particular veneration for weaponry and martial prowess- typically forming with a hand gripped tightly around a specific and well-adored weapon. Most often they form in the great halls of castles, wielding a displayed ancestral weapon, although more low-tech societies may accidentally create them in camps or villages. Indeed, the bohf-bwam pest problem is hypothesized to be a reason why so many “barbarian” cultures have an aversion to arcane magic, as their love of weaponry can easily produce large groups of these creatures when mixed with magic.
A bohf-bwam’s violence is erratic, instinctual, and unplanned; these fits may come and go, and the subject of their violence is typically whatever or whoever is close to them. It is not unheard of for bohf-bwams to be tamed, somehow, by a particularly kind and affectionate person, and such creatures will focus their violent rage on defending the subject of their attention, becoming peaceful- even friendly- in other situations.
Particularly powerful magic weapons may spawn larger, more powerful bohf-bwam. Such creatures gain the Giant and Advanced simple template and lose the oversized weapon ability. Many gain additional spell-like abilities relevant to their weapon- a bohf-bwam wielding a +1 Flaming Sword may have the ability to cast Fireball 1/day, for example.
SoCal Gas spent millions on astroturf ops to fight climate rules
ALT
Today (19 Aug), I’m appearing at the San Diego Union-Tribune Festival of Books. I’m on a 2:30PM panel called “Return From Retirement,” followed by a signing:
It’s a breathtaking fraud: SoCal Gas, the largest gas company in America, spent millions secretly paying people to oppose California environmental regulations, then illegally stuck its customers with the bill. We Californians were forced to pay to lobby against our own survival:
The criminal scheme is spelled out in eye-watering detail in a superb investigative report by Joe Rubin and Ari Plachta for the Sacramento Bee, which names the law firms and individual lawyers involved in the scam.
Here’s the situation: SoCal Gas is California’s private, regulated gas monopoly. They are allowed to lobby, but are legally required to charge their lobbying activities to their shareholders, and are prohibited from raising customer rates to pay for lobbying.
The company spent years secretly violating this rule, in the sleaziest way possible: working with corporate cartels like the California Restaurant Association and BizFed, the monopoly paid BigLaw white-shoe firms to procure people who posed as concerned citizens in order to oppose climate regulations that are essential to the state’s very survival.
This blog is mostly so I can vent my feelings and share my interests. Other than that, I am nothing special.
If you don't like Left Wing political thought and philosophy, all things related to horror, the supernatural, the grotesque, guns or the strange, then get the fuck out. I just warned you.
ALT
