RSS Wings

350 episodes. 144 in the main line series; started April 2nd, 2012. 183 episodes in the Dog Days of Podcasting; started August 1st, 2012. We spoke about NaNoWriMo 25 times, the first time being back in the before-fore of November 1st, 2011. And like 5 other episodes of various mini things here and there. Oh, and 2 hidden episodes somewhere in that bunch.

It took two weeks to reconcile all of that; updating formats, making sure everything had a picture, and that links still worked and adhered to new styles. Coming out on the other side of that molehill, I’ve got to admit, I’m proud if not a little confused.

I’m of mixed minds when it comes to viewing the shadow of my past. On one hand, I’m proud of the good things she’s done along the way. There’s a sense of joy in her journey, the little mini-projects, the connections, the voices she shared. The successful Dog Days and the ambition around those themes are especially bright stars in that murmuring shade. But I’m also annoyed with her. That she didn’t appreciate where she was, the goods she was gifted, and the things she promised and didn’t deliver. I think a lot of that annoyance comes from age, from wisdom, and from shame.

A great deal has happened in those twelve years. Jobs lost, friends made and lost to time, milestones sweeping by at a radical pace that was hard to fully chronicle. Even more, I know who she is now. She’s not perfect, she’s disabled, she’s tired, and she’s trying. There’s a sense of desire that echoes through each series, and each apology and promised recording isn’t an attempt to make an excuse. It’s an attempt to fly. It’s a jolt away from the trunk to the edge of the branch to the sky. And most of the time she crashed down into the underbrush, disheveled, leaves in her hair, and a booboo on her knee. And each time she’d grab the trunk again, climb up over the weeks, months, and occasionally years (1,003 days in the longest empty between episodes), and leap again on simple syndication wings.

And that’s what’s happening again now.

I want to fly again.

I’ve climbed the trunk. I’m scared of how high up we are, and how tired I am. I’m scared of failing and falling again.

But by being here, by writing this out, I’m moving to that branch.

And I’m leaping to fly.

I’m Tyr Animer. Welcome back to the Hiddennode.

Hold back gently on the joystick to glide.

A Simple Test

This is a test just to see how blog posts look here. I know podcasts are meant for this site, but hecky, I want to separate the two mindsets. By that I mean, I want the J Samuel Diehl site to cover more organized thoughts, and for this blog to be, well, a fount of silly things. Random thoughts that are in line with the Podcast itself.

So, quick test. If this shows up in your Podcast RSS feeds, oops!

J

Published
Categorized as Node Blog

A Metroidvania Where Enemies Are Font Families

We’ve got topics! The episode’s synopsis:

For art, I worked for a friend. Quite happy with how it turned out. Afterwards, we discussed Power Armor, did a mini review of Ghost Song, praised the heck out of it’s OST, and then explained how it’s influencing out next work.

Finally, we talked about watching some of Linus Boman’s YouTube videos and the joy of them. Mentioned in that section include Abstract: The Art of Design and Vox’s “Why This Font is Everywhere” series on Cooper Black. Great stuff for casual interest in Font’s and their history.

Download the episode here.

Do you enjoy the music? Check out the artist below:

  • Intro music is “Catching a Running Mouse” and outro music is “Bend and Warp,” both from the album Light Off, by EuchMad.
  • Bed Noise is provided by Syrinscape’s Sci-Fi player. Attribution for “Spaceport” can be found here.

Don’t forget to support the show. Share the episode, join our patreon, or just leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you. Questions about the podcast? Email me at contact@jsamueldiehl.com with Hiddennode in the title.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

An Agenda on Hand

Let’s stay on topic, find synergy in our goals, and remember we’re here as an organized unit.

Or other corpspeak jargon.

Today we’re talking about keeping things in order, working on podcast updates, and the future of our writing and drawing. Come on in an take a listen.

Download the episode here.

Do you enjoy the music? Check out the artist below:

  • Intro music is “Catching a Running Mouse” and outro music is “Bend and Warp,” both from the album Light Off, by EuchMad.
  • Bed Noise is provided by Syrinscape’s Sci-Fi player. Attribution for “Spaceport” can be found here.

Don’t forget to support the show. Share the episode, join our patreon, or just leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you. Questions about the podcast? Email me at contact@jsamueldiehl.com with Hiddennode in the title.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The Future

And at last, we reach our final steps.

Thanks to everyone who listened in on these episodes. Thank you to the folks who tossed me some ideas before we got things rolling and everyone who encouraged me to keep at this. I’m rather happy we made it across the finish line.

Download the episode here.

For future connections:

  • hiddennode.com is my audio journal. It’s been a tad defunct the last couple of months but we’re going to get back to a weekly thing now.
  • jsamueldiehl.com is my writing news site. it’s also been a tad defunct but starting next week we’re going to get back to our monthly blog posts and maybe update some of the fiction pieces from this series.

The audio portion of this episode is shared on a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Sounds and music are provided by Syrinscape’s Witchwood Soundset. Please see the website for individual song and sound usage.

Until next year.

A Retrospect

We come to the closing steps of the Dog Days of Podcasting for 2022, and we look back on how we did, how we did it, and how we felt about the whole thing.

Download the episode here.

The audio portion of this episode is shared on a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Sounds and music are provided by Syrinscape’s Witchwood Soundset. Please see the website for individual song and sound usage.

Until tomorrow.

30 NPCs – The Promised Demon

Welcome to the Dog Days of Podcasting, 2022 season. This year we’re taking part by creating 30 NPCs to use with table top gaming, writing projects, or other creative endeavors. These NPCs are system agnostic, but may include minor suggestions for how to run the characters with a party of adventures and explorers. They are written with a specific genre in mind, but will include notation for how to use them within at least two other realms.

That said, let’s get started.

Today, we’re visiting The Promised Demon, an NPC designed for Fantasy campaigns.

Download the episode here.

The Promised Demon

XXIX

They had made kings weep, crushed armies, redirected the history of mortal kind on three separate occasions, and now, at last, they were unbound. The circle broken, and the summoning lock an aetheric tatter, they were free to follow their whims, their desires, their dreams. They looked to this vast world of life overflowing and made a choice. They would no longer be the ender the things. They would become the genesis.

Defining their whims is tricky. No longer a flayer of souls, the Promised Demon meanders through the world seeking to add it. Artistic inspiration has infused her mind, and the crafts and designs she leaves in her wake are otherworldly, sometimes terrifying, and often invigorating to the soul in a way that makes one’s skin shiver. A dreamer whose mind was birthed in the necropolis palaces beyond mortal reasoning. A mad muse bringing beautiful chaos.

Parties will find her aid at a price, but not the usual ones associated with called diablos. This one seeks the essence of existence, and will ask for fundamental truths in the form of payment. What that means is a curious guess, but a dangerous one that sits at the precipice of honoring and angering this dark planar designer.

On the subject manipulation: Do not try to manipulate demons. It doesn’t bold well. The party has been warned.

In fantasy, they are an ancient force enjoying new found freedom. A diabolical crafter leaving behind unspeakable and terrifying beautiful art.

In the age of legends, they are a muse free to serve herself. A writer of stanzas that make hearts weep for generations.

In sci-fi, they are the awoken android loaded with every poet, musician, artist, and sculpture downloaded, reinvented, and perfected in platinum laced fingertips. Unnervingly ideal in creations.

A dream of the impossible. A terror of creativity. Flee before her designs, let them not take nest in the brain like barbed ideas and psychopathic memes. Feed not this hunger to bring forth a new reality.

The audio portion of this episode is shared on a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Sounds and music are provided by Syrinscape’s Witchwood Soundset. Please see the website for individual song and sound usage. The text for this episode is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Have a good time with the character, and let me know if you use them for something.

Until tomorrow.

30 NPCs – The Gremlin Dragon

Welcome to the Dog Days of Podcasting, 2022 season. This year we’re taking part by creating 30 NPCs to use with table top gaming, writing projects, or other creative endeavors. These NPCs are system agnostic, but may include minor suggestions for how to run the characters with a party of adventures and explorers. They are written with a specific genre in mind, but will include notation for how to use them within at least two other realms.

That said, let’s get started.

Today, we’re visiting The Gremlin Dragon, an NPC designed for Fantasy campaigns.

Download the episode here.

The Gremlin Dragon

XXVIII

The foliage rustled accompanied the sound of light growls and the feeling of eyes upon the party. The groundskeeper hung behind the Crusader, using her as a bulwark to what stalked them. “There!” they shouted, as something white and fast swept from the blanket of leaves. The crusader raised her shield to deflect a blow and. . . nothing. The shield lowered and the party stared at a small dragon like creature, covered in fur, scales, and a holding a bundle of seeds and a small rake?

The Gremlin Dragon is a collector, a gatherer, and a problem solver. They look for the forgotten bits and bobs of the world and preserve them in a horde of mundane plenty. And they listen while they gather, waiting to hear the words of need for a prize from their affects.  Some may speak, but they mostly avoid too much contact beyond their trades. A fuzzy lump that’ll burrow around a town and then dash in leaving piles of worn tools and clumped dirt that a homeowner needed for a project. The random adventurer finds themselves the new owner of a half complete fletcher kit after the little thing finds arrows too damaged discarded in camp.

They are rarely directly negotiated with, but seem to hear all needs within the radius of their domain. While commonly found near moderate sized villages, they may occasionally be found near a lair of dungeon dwellers. The Gremlin Dragon is not a combatant although they will defend themselves if cornered. They’re often too mobile to track down to have long conversations with to do more than trade or ask for help.

In Fantasy, they are the bane and boon of a village. The little fae like creature infiltrating lives and solving needs.

In Urban Fantasy, they’re the sock eater, and can prance through the driers of homes to snag singles of footwear and leave behind odd pieces of tubberware lids that don’t match anything.

In ages of exploration, they’re the ship cat on a vessel that almost certainly doesn’t have a cat. Small trinkets and gadgets can be found in their stash under the cook’s bunk.

Asked for or not, this creature has the right prize waiting for the right need. A collector of the lost, the Gremlin Dragon will be found in the smallest cubbies of the vast world. An ally, a frustration, and a friend.

The audio portion of this episode is shared on a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Sounds and music are provided by Syrinscape’s Gator Swamp Soundset. Please see the website for individual song and sound usage. The text for this episode is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Have a good time with the character, and let me know if you use them for something.

Until tomorrow.

30 NPCs – The Eldritch Friend

Welcome to the Dog Days of Podcasting, 2022 season. This year we’re taking part by creating 30 NPCs to use with table top gaming, writing projects, or other creative endeavors. These NPCs are system agnostic, but may include minor suggestions for how to run the characters with a party of adventures and explorers. They are written with a specific genre in mind, but will include notation for how to use them within at least two other realms.

That said, let’s get started.

Today, we’re visiting The Eldritch Friend, an NPC designed for Mythos and Urban Weird campaigns.

Download the episode here.

The Eldritch Friend

XXVII

The voice is that of a radiant songstress submerged within a cave carved deep into the mountain. The words are familiar terms of negotiation, but the accent sounds like both a dear family member and like something inhuman and vast whispering. They’re cordial, but every time the council glances at her they see what’s there and what’s not there. Not an illusion, but a substitute the mind presents to hide the truth. Whatever this being is, she is not of this world nor any other inhabited by mere mortals. But they live here now as part of this subdivision, and have every right to attend and speak at this homeowner’s meeting.

The Eldritch Friend may have a scheme thousands of years in the making, but their current goal is to get the HOA to get off their back about the privacy fence they put up. She knows the others are often unnerved at the creature things that reside in her yard, but the town’s council already approved the reasonably sized dimensional gate she installed last year. This objection to the fence is absurd and she’s hoping the party can help her smooth things over with the others.

She’s a powerful elder being, endless and myriad in thoughts. Here, she inhabits an avatar that contains a portent of her presence, and it seems to have taken a liking to the quaint farmhouse style neighborhood. Her desire is to see this portion of the world prosper, especially the new patch of herbs she planted last spring, lies at the heart of seeing the party’s desires fulfilled by her.

As an otherworldly, eldritch being, she can see all in the hearts of mortal kind, but she doesn’t like to pry and loathes the busybodies across the way, always darting behind their curtains in her presence. She is mighty, powerful, and has gotten quite handy with mechanical repair. Even helped fix up that broken mower the Stevensons were dealing with for months. For a party seeking aid, her expertise will come across as more mundane than extraordinarily.

In urban fantasy, she’s the neighborhood cryptic. A mystery to outsiders but extremely friendly once they’re welcomed in.

In Sci-fi, she’s the great shadowy veil along the edge of space that wants to point out all the great spots for photo ops. They’ll sweep away stellar dangers just to guide a ship to a lovely waterfall they found.

In ages of legend, they’re the god that settles down amongst mortals. Perfect and unfathomable, they try to keep mundane but others keep falling for their divine legacy.

The expectation that something so different couldn’t desire something charming and lovely is a joy to subvert.  To create a friend out of something that could blink and undo the realm is both terrifying and alluring. The Eldritch Friend seeks not to break the world, only to break bread with its inhabitants.

The audio portion of this episode is shared on a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Sounds and music are provided by Syrinscape’s Mountains of Madness Soundset. Please see the website for individual song and sound usage. The text for this episode is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Have a good time with the character, and let me know if you use them for something.

Until tomorrow.

30 NPCs – The Wired Druid

Welcome to the Dog Days of Podcasting, 2022 season. This year we’re taking part by creating 30 NPCs to use with table top gaming, writing projects, or other creative endeavors. These NPCs are system agnostic, but may include minor suggestions for how to run the characters with a party of adventures and explorers. They are written with a specific genre in mind, but will include notation for how to use them within at least two other realms.

That said, let’s get started.

Today, we’re visiting The Wired Druid, an NPC designed for Sci-Fi Apocalyptic campaigns.

Download the episode here.

The Wired Druid

XXVI

Their hands gently press against the old oak’s injury. The places where the bark had been stripped look rotten and worn. A wound that would be ravaging against flesh. The moss-covered machine sighed, letting out a whirling noise from their speakers like a mix of trees groaning and a small spinning turbine. The words came next, arcane things, phrased not like language but like formula. Wires spread from the machine’s limb, rippling out in copper waves across the expanse of exposed oaken lignum, and finally releasing the spell in a bright yellow burst. The tree echoed the digital sigh as its bark unfurled, stretched, and enveloped the wound. Wires receded, and the smell of ozone mixed with the odor of wet mud and burnt wood. Satisfied, the machine moved on in search of other tall giants in need of aid.

The Wired Druid is a machine built for the protection of the Edens of this world. Gentle, observant, and wise, they are the immortal factotum of the wilds. Servant to wood and fern. Protector of furred and feathered. They hold no pure dislike for the modern world, but they sour to those who would disregard the wood’s place within it, and scorn those who would harm it. As part machine they know the world more than just bark and bow. They understand how an artificial dam can help the flow of the waters and clean the springs so both microbial and macro life can coexist. They understand some plants might be culled that the fire does not consume the entire valley. Choices must be made with care and consideration.

They can be drawn to help by those who would aid the natural world. Be it to advert a wrong or offer an improvement, all will be weighed with consideration. Deep down they also harbor an inner fear of their own place in the natural world and challenging this notion can lead them to doubts and twisting discouragement.

As a warden of the forest, they know these paths and can aid others through the woods. As a machine, they understand the complexity of the world and can connect to realms far beyond their own to share data. But they are patient and will not act quickly unless their charge is in danger.

In Sci-fi Apocalyptic tables, they are the green ranger, protecting the last remaining grove and trying to restore the emerald to the land.

In ages of legend, they are the clockwork tender, sleeping in the rivers to fill their energy for the next day. They protect these lands not just to help them prosper, but that the druid themselves may live.

In urban fantasy, they are the digital arrival, a spirit of the machine that has possessed various devices through the woods in order to protect them and help them grow.

A champion of the wild, a being of two worlds, the Wired Druid knows not what the future holds, only that they intend to keep both of their loves within it. The trees are mighty and are kept whole by titanium hands. The spark of magic in these batteries will keep them protected for eons to come,

The audio portion of this episode is shared on a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Sounds and music are provided by Syrinscape’s Train Soundset and Under a Fell Black Sky Soundset. Please see the website for individual song and sound usage. The text for this episode is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Have a good time with the character, and let me know if you use them for something.

Until tomorrow.