Re Carlo III: per l’incoronazione ci saranno le royal commemorative pottery?

In tanti si stanno chiedendo se l’incoronazione di Re Carlo III sarà diversa da quella dei suoi predecessori anche per quanto riguarda le royal commemorative pottery, ovvero le tradizionali e famose ceramiche commemorative inglesi. Emma Bridgewater royal commemorative pottery – Photo by Atique La risposta non è certa, ancora tutto tace ma la giornalista, scrittrice, studiosa di famiglie reali…

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For London anon — find a thrift store or an antique shop!! They’re always a treasure trove of fun and neat things to look at and make for unique souvenirs.

One antique store I went to on my trip had shelves and shelves of pottery and china, including tons of royal commemorative china. Still kicking myself for not picking up the little mug celebrating Charles and Diana’s wedding. (Not a fan but oh, to have a piece of history like that!)

What a great idea, I might steal this for myself. Thanks anon!

Incoronazione di Re Carlo III: al capolinea le royal commemorative pottery?

Marina Minelli L’incoronazione di Re Carlo III sarà diversa da quella dei suoi predecessori anche per quanto riguarda le royal commemorative pottery, ovvero le tradizionali e famose ceramiche commemorative inglesi? La tradizione delle “royal commemorative pottery”, iniziata con Carlo II Stuart, proseguita con tutti i successivi sovrani ma letteralmente esplosa all’epoca dell’incoronazione di…

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TN_Egyptologist[S] 1 point 1 year ago

Pottery; green glaze; brown discoloration; "King of Upper and Lower Egypt", incised on face; scarab with incised details on back; good condition; drilled.

The scarab was one of the most popular ancient Egyptian amulets. They were used as pieces of jewelry, commemorative items and seals, and magical amulets offering protection and good fortune. However, from the Middle Kingdom a specific type of scarab known as the Heart Scarab took on a very particular religious meaning and went on to become the most important amulet in the mummification and burial process.

The heart was seen as the home of the spirit, and the bodily element of the ancient Egyptian soul. In the Hall of Judgement, it was the heart which was weighed against the feather of Ma’at. If a person failed this test they would be devoured by Ammit, if they passed they would go on to enjoy a blissful afterlife. Unsurprisingly, the Egyptians were keen to protect their heart. The Heart Scarab was intended to protect the heart and act as a stand in for the heart of the deceased if it should be damaged.

The pragmatic ancient Egyptians also wanted to be sure that when they stood before Osiris and made the “Negative Confession”, their heart would not speak against them. The amulet was inscribed with Spells from the Book of the Dead, in particular Spell 30 which states:

O my heart which I had from my mother, O my heart which I had upon earth, do not rise up against me as a witness in the presence of the Lord of Things; do not speak against me concerning what I have done, do not bring up against me anything I have done in the presence of the Great God, Lord of the West (Osiris).

The earliest known scarab to have Spell 30 from the Book of the Dead is that of the thirteenth dynasty official Sobekhotep, and the earliest similar royal scarab is a beautiful gold and green jasper example made for the pharaoh Sobekemsaf II.

The amulet was usually carved in the shape of the scarab, representing the god Khepri who symbolised resurrection and rebirth. The heart scarab was also associated with mummification because the pupae of a scarab beetle resembles a mummy. The Egyptians also saw that the beetle would dig a shaft into the earth to bury its eggs, and the baby scarabs would later emerge from the earth. They associated this with the shaft leading into the burial chamber from which the reborn spirit would emerge.

The scarab was ideally formed from green or black stones, although examples in other colours have also been recovered. The silver scarab found in the Middle Kingdom tomb of Wah is of particular interest. Sometimes the scarab was set in gold, such as the green jasper and gold scarab of Hatnofer (father of Senenmut, New Kingdom) and the scarab of the pharaoh Sobekemsaf II. Occasionally, the amulet took the form of a human headed scarab, or a scarab with the head of another animal. Sometimes heart shaped amulets fulfilling the same function were inscribed with spell 30. From the late New Kingdom on, the scarab often had outstretched wings symbolizing the protection it offered.

New Kingdom 1550 - 1069 BC

MEDIUM/TECHNIQUE

Faience

DIMENSIONS

Legacy dimension: .014 Length: .011 W.

Boston Museum of Fine Arts

ACCESSION NUMBER

10.548

Golden Triangle India

The famed Golden triangle trip is the greatest method to gradually get to know India if you're visiting for the first time. Three cities make up the golden triangle tour: Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur.

1) VISIT IN NEW DELHI Since its founding in the sixth century BC, this interesting city has experienced ups and downs, including the reign of the Pandavas and the British Raj. Visit the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India and a Shah Jahan creation. The mosque's courtyard has enough for roughly 25,000 worshipers. Take a rickshaw trip through Old Delhi's main market, Chandni Chowk... tumultuous, loud, and distinctively Indian. It is still important today because the Indian flag is raised and the Prime Minister delivers a speech from its walls on Independence Day. Before heading to Rajghat, the Mahatma Gandhi memorial, drive through the India Gate, the President House, and various other governmental structures in Edwin Lutyen's Delhi. The place where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated in 1948 is marked by this unassuming monument. Visit Humayun's Tomb, which was built in 1562 on orders from Humayun's wife Hamida Banu Begum. It was the first garden tomb constructed on the Indian subcontinent using a sizable amount of red sandstone. Delhi overnight.

2) DELHI - AGRA Drive to Agra and continue on a half-day city tour. Visit the Red Fort, which Akbar, the Mughal Emperor, ordered in 1565. The structure is a stunning example of Mughal architecture, both beautiful and intimidating. Visit the Taj Mahal later; it was created as a memorial to the late Emperor Shah Jehan's adored queen Mumtaz Mahal. Its construction, which was regarded as an architectural marvel, required thousands of employees over 21 years to complete. Agra, overnight.

3) DRIVE AGRA - JAIPUR Travel by car to Jaipur Observe the historical structures of Fatehpur Sikri, which the Emperor Akbar erected. Akbar intended to establish Fatehpur Sikri as his administrative centre, but he was forced to leave it because of a water shortage. The Sufi saint who lived a pious life here is commemorated in the Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti. The UNESCO has designated Fatehpur Sikri as a World Heritage Site. Continue your trip to Jaipur, where you can check into your hotel. The state of Rajasthan is lovely and active, and Jaipur serves as its entrance. Take a stroll through Jaipur's markets in the evening to look for traditional clothing and footwear, as well as curio stores and blue pottery. Jaipur overnight stay.

Sightseeing of Jaipur Continue on a full-day tour to Jaipur, commonly referred to as the "Pink City," for sightseeing. The state of Rajasthan's capital, Jaipur, is renowned for its vibrant culture, forts, palaces, and lakes. The warrior monarch Sawai Jai Singh II, who founded the city, is responsible for giving it its name. Check out the Amber Fort. Riding an elephant up to the fort is the ideal way to explore it. The Diwan-i-Aam, a hall with hundreds of tiny mirrors, the Ganesh Pol, which has a lovely painted depiction of Lord Ganesh, and the exquisite Sheesh Mahal are prominent buildings inside the fort. Later, make a pit break to take pictures of the stunning Hawa Mahal, popularly referred to as the "Palace of the Winds." The women of the palace were given privacy when looking out through the ornately carved latticework windows on this lovely façade. Later, you'll go to the City Palace, which blends Mughal and Rajasthani design elements. The museums in this region include rare and antiquated texts, 15th-century weaponry, and former royal attire. Visit the Jantar Mantar Observatory later on, which has tools for tracking stars' orbits and calculating time geometrically. Jaipur overnight stay.

Also See:

Kedarkantha Trek

Brahmatal Trek

Chadar Trek

Kheerganga Trek

Kasol Kheerganga Trek

Kasol Tosh Kheerganga

Kasol Weekend Trip

Golden Triangle India  (https://moustachescapes.com/blog/golden-triangle-india/)

Triund Trek

Hampta Pass Trek

Desert Safari Jaisalmer

Winter Spiti Tour

Laka Glacier Trek

Bhrigu Lake Trek

Everest Base Camp Trek

Dayara Bugyal Trek

Kuari Pass Trek

Har Ki Dun Trek

Roopkund Trek

Ali Bedni Bugyal Trek

Indrahar Pass Trek

Rajasthan Tourism

Royal, Regal, Revered – Rajasthan. A magical universe of colour coded kingdoms. A place where little red turbans and green saris dance to classical music. A place where medieval forts stand tall and proud, amidst flamboyant palaces and jeweled crowns. A place where camels, colour and culture are embodied as one. A mystical desert that has seen many wars, heard many secrets and narrated many stories.

Historical Lens

Experiencing Rajasthan to the fullest, requires an understanding of its vibrant history. What tells a story better, then the objects of its past? We recommend the following museums for your day of history lessons. Standing the test of time is the oldest museum in Rajasthan, and the official state museum - Albert Hall Museum. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to marvel at the exquisite ivory statues and crystal work. Ahar Museum, on the other hand, will give you a glimpse into one of the finest collections of earthen pottery.

Architectural Lens

The land of Kings is synonymous with its towering forts and opulent palaces, each commemorating an event, person or object. While embarking on your Rajasthan tour, you should definitely go see some of these architectural wonders. Chittorgarh Fort with its palaces, towers, gateways and reservoirs is akin to an English castle - filled with tales of magic and heroism. Kumbhalgarh Fort, on the other hand (second largest wall in the world), represents defensive architecture at it’s finest. Carved out of marble and sandstone, Amber Fort is a world heritage site that paints its surroundings with hues of pink and yellow.

Religious Lens

Take a secular voyage of the royal state, by visiting some of its most revered holy places. Rajasthan sightseeing is incomplete without a little spiritual cleansing. Begin with Akshardham Temple in Jaipur, which is celebrated for its immense beauty and tranquility, surrounded by sparkling fountains and an abundance of greenery.

Cultural Lens

Rajasthan is like an intricately woven carpet. Each coloured thread represents a unique cultural element that blends together harmoniously to create something beautiful. From the traditional attire (ghagra and kanchli), to the folk music (Maand, Panihari) and dance (Ghoomar and Kalbeliya), to the sweet and sumptuous Rajasthani food (bajre ki roti), each facet of the local culture will entice more than one sense.

Commemorative Head (Mma), Fante, 1775, Art Institute of Chicago: Arts of Africa

Akan sculpture in terracotta (mma; plural, mmaa) is a significant part of the corpus of artworks dedicated to leadership. The genre is also the earliest to be documented by European visitors to the Ghanaian coast. The Dutch explorer Pieter de Marees described the setting and function of these clay images among the Fante in 1604, noting their exclusive royal affiiation. Later the use of terracotta spread to a broader segment of Fante society even though it retained its association with the elite.It is likely that this terracotta head of a woman with an elaborate coiffure originally rested atop a pot lid. Such terracotta sculptures were made to serve a strictly funerary purpose, honoring as well as commemorating the dead. This head may represent a deceased woman. It may have stood alone or have been part of a group of figures. The Akan belief that this world and the next are parallel spheres, and particularly that rank and status in life can carry over into the afterlife, explains why several figures rather than single images were considered most appropriate to commemorate important personages.Among the Akan, a multistepped ritual articulated this essential connection between the dead, works of art, and the community. The manufacture of clay portraits of the deceased often took place as part of second burial ceremonies, which were intended to settle the spirit in the afterlife and to place it within the constant reach of living relatives. This was the domain of elderly women who were long past childbearing age, and the artistic process took place amid a rite designed to anchor the spirit of the deceased long enough for his or her true likeness to be captured in clay. The artist needed the powers of clairvoyance to accomplish this feat.Following its completion, the figure was transported in a public procession to a site in the forest reserved by the family or lineage. There it would be deposited with further rituals. In the past, such images were deposited, along with an array of grave goods, including diverse pottery with distinct utilitarian functions. Periodically, offerings of food, liquor, and water would be made at the site because Akan people believed that spirits honored in this way were spiritually capable of assisting living family members in times of crisis.Fired clay figurines are still used in some Akan communities, although on a significantly limited scale. This may be the result of the increased use of photography among these people. If such images were indeed perceived as portraits, then photographs of the deceased could be seen as prestigious and expedient replacements for them. –Revised from Nii Otokunor Quarcoopome, “Art of the Akan,” African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Studies, vol. 23, no. 2 (1997), pp. 135-147. Gift of Dr. Robert Laff Size: 24.7 x 17.7 x 15.8 cm (9 3/4 x 7 x 6 1/4 in.) Medium: Blackened terracotta

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/135539/

Unlocking the Secrets of our Floral Teacups

By Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

While “Save-the-Dishes” sounds like a fantastic social media hashtag, HDVI Administrative Director Kimberly Ward launched this campaign in 2002 to “create the proper atmosphere for interpretation of the period of occupation”. While the dishes were only the first wave of a larger Victorian Parlor drive (click here to read about our wall covering!), our bone china absolutely delights our visitors today as people recognize and recall their memories enjoying the Old Country Roses Style.

Debuting in 1962, it featured “gorgeous clusters of red, pink, and yellow roses, flamboyant edging and 22 carat gold embellishments”. Harold Holdcroft drew upon different inspirations from the 1921 King’s Ransom pattern to the beauty of a quintessential English country garden in the “haze of summertime.” While this iconic style excited people in the 1960s, the pottery had enticed customers from the late 1890s.Thomas C. Wild purchased Albert Works pottery in 1896 in Stoke-on-Trent named to pay homage to the birth of Prince Albert the previous year. After producing commemorative pieces for Queen Victoria’s 1897 Diamond Jubilee, Albert Crown China earned the Royal Warrant in 1904. By 1910, the Company had expanded to New Zealand and would eventually produce in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. with their innovative gas and electric fired kilns. In 1917, Thomas Wild’s sons joined the company changing the name to Thomas Wild & Sons and the Royal Albert Incorporated as a limited company in 1933. Pearson Group acquired the pottery in the 1960s adding it to the company’s other Allied English Potters. By 1970, the company officially disassociated itself with T.C. Wild & Sons renaming it to Royal Albert Ltd. The marks on the china also changed from simple printed or impressed crown marks with the initials “T.C.W.” to concentric circle to a crown interlocking.

While our pattern is English, the fashion and etiquette of elaborate tea services went beyond any one border and certainly predates the 1960s! Colonial Americans enjoyed imported beverages like tea and highly valued serving these drinks in fine silver and ceramic vessels. By the start of the 18th century, American silversmiths produced teapots – at first globular and then eventually drum and oval shaped. Sugar bowls, tea pots, hot water urns, and canisters for dried tea leaves all populated the tables of the wealthy in attempt to impress their visitors. Meanwhile, the British searched for an alternative to importing porcelain from China and Thomas Frye incorporated an interesting ingredient to his Bow Porcelain Factory productions in 1748 – bone. His factory was close to slaughterhouses and the introduction of bone ash produced sturdier teaware. This idea caught on and by 1780, Joseph Spode of Stoke-on-Trent, introduced “Stoke China” until his son renamed it to “bone china” after his death. Adding bone ash also creates a creamier and softer color and can be admired when held up into the light as it is more translucent than fine china, which contains no bone.

The “Save-the-Dishes” Campaign was an overwhelming success thanks to: The Prince William County Historical Commission, The Dr. Elisha Dick Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution; Charles Reid, Wayne Neavear, Catherine Patterson, Edward and Mary Roman, Isabelle M. Lockett, Laura A. Barlow, Barbara Shutt, visitors, volunteers, and HDVI staff. As you walk into our Victorian Parlor, take time to admire the pieces but also think of the delightful recipes you could pair with it, such as Malinda Russell’s Raspberry Tea Cake, her cakes famous for being so light: “One cup white sugar, one pint sour cream, three tablespoons melted butter, three cups flour, one and a half teaspoon soda, two do. Cream tartar, grated nutmeg, mix into a batter; pour over sheet paper into dripping-pan; bake in a quick oven; when done, cut into squares, crush the berries, and sweeten to your taste. Cover the cake with berries…” For more recipes, look for Malinda Russell’s A Domestic Cook Book published in 1866, recognized as one of the oldest cookbooks written by an African-American woman.

Note: Craving more Victorian and/or tea history? Join us this Sunday for our Victorian Tea: Throw Me a Party program! Featuring a custom tea basket packed with tea, Walker’s shortbread, and Joanne Schempp’s crafted Old Country Roses teacup magnet, you can enjoy delicious luxury and taste at home while we help you prepare for your own tea! Take a sneak peek at our tea collection not currently on display! Click here for more info & tickets – members, please call us for your special price!

(Sources: HDVI: Victorian Parlor Fund; Royal Albert China:  https://www.royalalbertchina.com.au/notebook/old-country-roses/; English Tea Store: Tea Blog, Official Blog of the English Tea Store: Teaware Patterns: Royal Albert Old Country Roses by Little Yellow Teapot, https://blog.englishteastore.com/2013/11/30/teaware-patterns-royal-albert-old-country-roses/; Collectors Weekly: Royal Albert China: https://www.collectorsweekly.com/china-and-dinnerware/royal-albert; Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art: Wees, Beth Carver. Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate in Early America, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/coff/hd_coff.htm; Wedgewood: What is Bone China (and what is bone china made of?), https://www.wedgwood.com/en-us/welcome-to-wedgwood/buying-guides/a-guide-to-bone-china; Hobart Town Tea Co: History of Fine Bona China, https://httco.com.au/history-of-fine-bone-china; Smithsonian Magazine: Smart News. Eschner, Kat. These were the First Cookbooks Published by Black People in America” 10/2017; Russell, Malinda. A Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Recipes for the Kitchen. Paw Paw: 1866, accessed online via the HathiTrust Digital Library)

Laura Knight’s mug for Burghleigh Pottery for the coronation of King George & Queen Elizabeth is a rather good piece of design, unlike so much royal commemorative tat. Instead of the lion and unicorn the royal couple are flanked by a prancing elephant and horse - bringing something of her circus imagery to the design. It combines the aesthetic of English popular art of the Victorian age with a more modern sensibility. These would have transfer designs to which handpainted designs were added. At the Burleigh Pottery in Stoke on Trent teams of women would work at painting on the designs. Interestingly, in 1936 she’d designed a mug for the Coronation of King Edward VIII but with the Abdication these designs had to be repurposed. #lauraknight #kinggeorge #ceramics #burleighpottery #dresser (at Brighton and Hove) https://www.instagram.com/p/CMtqQ4blwG5/?igshid=uqcu0mr4ivs0

Two Brothers, Many Paths - Ch 25 & Undertale 5yr Anniversary

Two brothers, many paths

Hand in hand, they mourn their past

 -

Torn from home,

trapped underground

Hiding, fleeing,

scared to be found

 -

Two brothers, many paths

Side by side, they grew up fast

 -

The eldest grins.

“We’ll be fine, brother.

No matter what,

we have each other.”

 -

Two brothers, many paths

Hand in hand, they’ll always last

---

To commemorate Undertale's 5th year anniversary and the 25th chapter of "Two Brothers, Many Paths", I drew and wrote this. Art and poetry are not my strong suit, and I wish I could have done that picture justice, but I hope you guys like it! :)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, UNDERTALE! Here's to another 5 awesome years!

Guys, thank you so much for reading "Two Brothers, Many Paths"! I can't believe we're at 25 chapters already!!!

Thank you for reading, for your likes, for your comments, and for your reblogs! It means so much to me to know that you guys are enjoying my story, because I absolutely adore writing it.

There's still so much more to go for Sans and Papyrus, so don't worry, we're not even CLOSE to coming to the end!

Thanks again, I appreciate you all! :)

—

Undertale copyright Toby Fox

Story and original characters by me, Kimtana

Please do not use without both permission and credit.  

Read below, or read it on AO3 here.  

First  

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The thin hen shopkeeper was sitting behind the counter, knitting and humming as Sans approached. When she saw him from the corner of her eye, she laid her work on the counter and smiled at him.

“Good afternoon,” she said warmly, then furrowed her brow, raising her index primary feather to the side of her beak as she looked up into space. “Or is it ‘good evening’? Hmm....” She shook her head, then gave a shudder, ruffling her sooty grey feathers. “I don’t know, it’s so hard to tell time anymore without the sun.... Anywho—Good day!”

Sans grinned, nodding to her. “Good day, miss.”

“Is there anything I can help you find?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

“Oh, no,” he answered. “I’m just looking to see what you have.”

She gave a gentle smile. “Ok, then. Please let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.”

Sans nodded politely again, and looked up at the shelves on the left of the shop.

There were so many different kinds of things—some items similar to those found in the other shops, and other products he had not seen sold elsewhere in the market. There were beautifully crafted pottery cups, vases, bowls, plates, and teacups, medicinal salves and bandages, candles of various heights and thicknesses, aprons for different needs, tin boxes with and without illustrations on them, gloves for work and for warmth, and so many other items in between. He picked out a small pot holder—they’d need one now that they finally had a pot—and a bar of glycerin soap that smelled of cherries.

In front of the counter were four crates sitting on two large chests. The crates were filled with old books, sheets of parchment made of wood pulp, fabric fibers, or flower petals, and scrolls with useful information such as measurement conversions for cooking, identification of edible and poisonous plants, and even lists of difficult words with their definitions.

Seeing the paper reminded Sans of the bits of parchment he had been aching to use.

“Excuse me, miss,” he said, standing up straight to look over the counter.

The hen stood up, her knitting still in her wings. “Yes, dear?”

Sans saw that she was making a multicolored sock. “Ooh, that’s really good!”

She smiled. “Aww, thank you. I knit things for the orphans, the poor, and the wounded soldiers.”

Sans’ mouth dropped in awe. “That’s really nice of you to do that. I’m sure they love them.”

“I hope they do,” she said, her smile waning as she looked down at the half-finished sock. “It’s not much, and they’ve already gone through such incredible hardships.” The grip on her needles tightened, and she gave another shudder that fluffed her feathers. “I just try to help where I can, make things useful like socks and gloves for those who don’t have any. It can’t make up for their pain, but hopefully it brightens their moment. Even if it’s just a little bit.”

Sans smiled reassuringly. “I’m sure it does, miss. It lets them know that someone really cares about them.”

The thin hen smiled at the sock, then at Sans. “Thank you, that’s really kind of you to say. Sorry, you had a question?”

“Oh, yeah,” Sans answered, blinking. “I was wondering, do you have any pens or writing utensils?”

She frowned sadly. “I’m afraid not.... They go rather quickly, and they’re hard to get. All of my stock comes from other monsters who are selling me items they’ve made, no longer need, or need gold for more important things, like food. So I never know what I’ll get or when I’ll get new things. I’m sorry.”

Sans’ mouth twitched with disappointment, but he understood. “It’s all right. I’ll keep checking each time I come by.”

“I’ll certainly keep an eye out for you, and I’ll hold any aside I come across.”

Sans nodded in gratitude. “Thank you, miss, that’s so kind of you. I really appreciate that.”

“Let me know if there’s anything else you need help with, dear,” she said, smiling as she sat back down, resuming her knitting.

“Actually,” Sans said as he watched her count stitches. “This is a strange question, but.... The hare next door mentioned that there were monsters who collected food for the poor. If I had some food to give them, where would I find them?”

The hen smiled, her heart warming. “Well, aren’t you a dear. You’ll find the monsters who work on the food collections in the domed building in the northeast quadrant of the city.”

Sans looked at her blankly. “Northeast wha?”

She covered her beak with her wing as she laughed softly. “It’s the only domed building in the city.”

Sans looked relieved. “Ah! Yes, miss, I’ve seen it. I should be able to find it now, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she nodded. “I know that they will appreciate anything you can give them.”

Sans smiled sadly. “I know what it’s like to not have enough to eat, so if I can help anyone, I really want to try.”

The hen’s face fell, her heart breaking for the little skeleton at his admission.

“You’re an absolute sweetheart, you know that?” the hen said softly.

Sans felt the embarrassment burning his cheekbones. “Nah, I just...hate seeing anyone hurting.”

He pretended to be extremely interested in the hand towels folded up in a crate on the floor, as the hen beamed at him, then returned to her knitting, humming happily.

Once her gaze was off him, Sans started looking through the rest of the items, making his way towards the right side of the shop. There were clothes on shelves and tables starting near the entryway for adults, and children clothes towards the middle. He found a couple sets for himself and Papyrus in their sizes, ecstatic that he and his brother could finally change out of the clothes they had been wearing since they fled to the mountain.

At the end of the children’s clothes were toys. There were wooden blocks, plush monsters of different species, puzzles, balls, and other various playthings. Sans was looking at a small, red toy cart with working wheels, wondering if Papyrus would like it when he noticed the basket at the end of the toy shelves. The toy cart fell out of his hand onto the table as he gasped.

The basket was filled with teddy bears—all identical. They had soft, plush, brown “fur” and shiny black eyes. Their little smiles were stitched into their faces with dark brown thread, and their arms and legs were floppy, perfect for hugging.

Sans staggered to the basket, tears rolling down his face, his mouth hung open.

“I-it can’t be...,” he whispered in shock.

The hen heard him, and raised her eyes from her work to look over at him.

Sans pulled out one of the bears and looked at it, turning it this way and that in his hands.

“Are...are you all right...?” the hen asked gently, seeing Sans’ tear-soaked face.

Sans stared at the bear in his hands, looking into its eyes as he spoke, his voice shaking with emotion.

“M-my brother.... He had a teddy bear just like this...back home.... He loved that bear, couldn’t sleep without him in his crib.... When...when I packed food to leave...I-I should have...I should have gone upstairs and gotten him.... But I didn’t.... I was too scared, I only grabbed food, I didn’t even think about his bear.... We left him behind, and now.... My brother never complained or mentions him, but I know he misses him a lot.... My brother lost so much that day.... Our home...his teddy bear...Mommy....”

Sans hugged the bear and wept bitterly into it. The hen tossed her knitting on the counter and rushed over to him. He clutched her, weeping into her dress as she enfolded him in her wings. She held him as he cried his eyes out, telling her how he watched their mother fighting the humans, and how he watched her die. How she might still be alive if she hadn’t seen him and run to him. How it was his fault his brother didn’t have their mother any more.

She let him speak until his words were exhausted, then shushed him soothingly, rocking him gently as he cried loudly from his broken soul. It had been too long since Sans had been comforted like this by an adult, too long since he had taken on the adult role for his brother’s sake while still only being a child himself. Being embraced by the caring hen allowed him to drop the walls of false strength and competence he had built up over time, and to grieve like the hurting child he truly was.

After a while, he calmed down, sniffling and stammering out apologies for breaking down like that.

“No, no,” she whispered, wiping his eyes with her pinion feathers. “Don’t apologize. I know how hard it is to lose someone you love so very much.”

“R-really...?” he whimpered, his lower lip still quivering. “Did...did you...?”

He didn’t finish, regretting even asking such an invasive, personal question.

The hen shut her eyes and nodded.

“I was with my best friend at the market buying food for dinner. The Royal Guard came—tried to get everyone to leave quickly. There had been a horde of humans spotted in the area, and it was unsafe. Someone shouted and soon everyone was looking into the sky. Plumes of smoke, rising in different directions—multiple fires all around the area. I panicked—one of the columns of smoke was coming from where my house was. My friend and I, we rushed to my house with a few of the Guards, and....”

She choked back her tears, her body shuddering as her feathers bristled. Then her tears fell freely.

“My house was in flames.... My friend had to hold me back because I tried to run inside to save my family. The Guards—they went in. They went in to try to find my dear husband and my four precious children.... Wh-when they came out, I-I saw their faces, and I knew.... The next day, the evacuation order came out. My friend—she let me stay with her that terrible night, and then we left together for this mountain.... And now, we’re here....”

Sans looked up at her, his face broken with sympathy for the poor hen. When she finished her story, he hugged her tightly.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so, so sorry....”

She patted him with her wingtips, then dried her eyes on her feathers.

“Thank you,” she said, straining to steady her voice. “This war...this conflict...it has cost us all so much....”

They hugged each other tightly once more. Then the hen pulled back and put on a warm smile. She nudged the teddy bear, still in Sans’ hands.

“The important thing is to rebuild and comfort those who are still with us.”

Sans looked down at the teddy bear and nodded sadly.

With a deep sigh, the hen ruffled Sans’ hooded head and went back behind the counter. Sans placed the teddy bear and the other items—still sitting on the clothes table—onto the counter.

She totaled the items, and gave Sans the amount. He blinked at her.

“But, wait, miss,” he said, confused. “It should be much more than that.”

“I’m not charging you for the teddy bear,” she smiled warmly.

Sans gasped, his eyebrows raised pleadingly. “No, wait! You don’t have to—”

She reached over the counter and ruffled the top of his head again. “My dear, I don’t run this shop to make a profit. I started this shop to help others out. There is no way I could accept gold for your brother’s bear.”

“Th-thank you, miss,” he stammered, stunned. “I-I don’t know what to say....”

“You’re so welcome,” she smiled as he placed the items in his bag. “And, please, call me Ashen.”

Sans smiled back, shouldering the bulging haversack. “Thank you, Ashen. And my name is Sans.”

“Well, Sans,” she said, giving a shudder that sent her sooty grey feathers rippling. “It was so nice to meet you, and I really do hope you come back to see me again soon.”

“I will, Ashen,” he nodded. “I’m so happy to have met you. Thank you for...for everything.”

The two new friends waved goodbye, and Sans left the shop.

 -

 Sans hurried down the road, looking left and right frantically for an empty alleyway. The city was filled with monsters, so finding somewhere unoccupied was difficult. Eventually he found a small path between two buildings that appeared empty, and slipped down it. Making sure no one was in sight, he shut his eyes, then stepped forward.

He felt the frigid air as he opened his eyes, arriving in front of the shelter. He wasted no time in digging out the entrance, calling to his brother so he wouldn’t be afraid someone was invading the shelter.

Sans panicked for a moment when he heard no response, but as soon as he came into the main room, he saw Papyrus, fast asleep on the bed under several fabric scraps.

Poor thing, Sans thought as he unshouldered the bag and put it on the bed.

He nudged his brother gently. “Pap? Wake up, Pap.”

The little skeleton moaned as he was roused, then snapped awake. He gasped and threw himself against his brother, hugging him so tight, Sans’ bones popped.

“I’m so, so sorry that took so long, Pap,” Sans apologized, returning the hug.

“Pa scared mosters take Sas,” Papyrus whimpered, nestling his face in his brother’s chest. “But Pa did what Sas said, waited here, waited for Sas. Sas okay?”

Sans rubbed the top of his brother’s head gently. “Yeah, I’m ok. I’m sorry I scared you. But...well...I have something I’ve got to tell you.”

Papyrus sat back on the bed, a look of utter terror on his face, fearing bad news.

“No, no,” Sans grinned, waggling his hands and shaking his head. “It’s nothing bad or anything. But, well, you see....”

Sans sat on the bed, rubbing the back of his skull as he dreaded his upcoming confession. He couldn’t even look his brother in the eyes.

“I, uh...went...into...the...cavern...,” he murmured, each word getting lower and more mumbled.

Papyrus’ jaw nearly fell off his skull as his eyes grew wider than apples.

“Now, wait, hang on,” Sans said, his eyebrows raised pleadingly. “Before you get upset, let me explain.”

“Sas gonna leave Pa...?” The little skeleton’s whisper was barely audible.

“No! Of course not, Papyrus! I’d never leave you. I snuck in there to get some food!”

Papyrus blinked, his mouth still hanging open.

“Listen,” Sans urged. He then started partially explaining everything—leaving out the part where he planned this trip for the last month and how he had put himself at serious risk of getting caught. “I saw the carts going into the cavern, and I saw them growing the trees with magic, so I thought ‘huh, maybe they’re growing food in there,’ so I jumped on the cart and found out that they have a huge city in there now, with a market, and I got a whole bunch of great food, and now that I’ve been there, I can just use my magic to go back in there anytime we need more!”

Sans grinned winningly at his brother while he panted after spouting out his explanation in a single breath.

Papyrus slowly closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes. An eyebrow soon started to rise as the little skeleton frowned. He gave an exasperated sigh that sounded more like a huff.

“Sas go in cav, coulda been taken by mosters! What if Sas caught?!”

Sans shut his eyes, grinning wider. “Then I would have used my magic and come right back here.”

Papyrus grumbled as his expression softened. “Sas really get food?”

Sans opened his eyes, then gave his brother a wink. “Yup. A lot of food.”

The little skeleton’s face brightened more, the risky adventure being forgiven.

Sans jumped up off the bed and went to the foot of the bed where the haversack was. He showed his brother the purchases he made and told him how he used his own gems to buy them. Papyrus gasped at each loaf, vegetable, fruit, and item that emerged from the bag. Sans withheld the cookie as an after-dinner-surprise, but saved the best for last.

“And...,” Sans said, drawing the syllable out as long as he could. “You will never guess who I found looking for you in the cavern!”

Papyrus sat on the bed, looking up at him, curiously.

Sans slowly pulled out the teddy bear.

The little skeleton gasped so sharply, Sans thought his lungs would tear. Papyrus held his hands to his cheekbones as his mouth remained open, his eyes brimming with tears.

“Teddy...?” Papyrus spoke his teddy bear’s name in a high-pitched, breathy gasp that cut Sans right to his soul.

Sans nodded, holding him out to his brother. Papyrus couldn’t believe his eyes, slowly moving closer, as if he was dreaming and afraid to wake up. He reached out with a trembling hand and grabbed the bear by the tummy, pulling him into a tight embrace.

“Teddy! Teddy!” Papyrus wept happily, his eyes shut tight as tears spilled out.

Sans wiped his own tears on his sleeves, the smile on his face unable to wane.

 -

 The two skeleton brothers just stared at it, neither of them able to utter a single word or make the slightest of sounds. They couldn’t move, let alone blink, as they sat, dumbfounded.

It was just too unbelievable.

Their dinner was laid out on their little snow “dining table.” They had prepared it together, cutting, chopping, toasting, combining—enjoying every second of their time making their meal perfect.

Their new wooden bowls were filled with fresh salad, comprised of baby spinach, sliced mouseshroom nightlights, chopped reed stalks, diced tomatoes, pine nuts, and crumbled parmesan cheese, all drizzled with an oil dressing infused with herbs and garlic.

On their new little plates were a couple slices of warmed crusty wheat bread, a small hunk of smoked gouda, a few nuts, and several carrot slices.

Their new wooden cups were filled with ice cold water—Sans had melted some snow in their new pot by the fire, poured the water into the cups, and put chunks of snow in them to chill the water back up. While they didn’t need water to survive—being skeletons, it was impossible for them to suffer thirst or dehydration—it was certainly nice to have something to wash their food down with again.

Sans had set down burlap pieces for placemats, folding up some smaller scraps for napkins and placing their new wooden cutlery on top. Nestled under their bowls and plates were the little parchment pastry bags—Sans insisting that Papyrus not peek inside until after he finished his dinner.

They continued staring in silence, the only sounds in the little shelter being the crackling of the magical flame and the occasional growl of a skeleton stomach.

“This looks amazing,” Sans whispered at last.

“Yeah,” Papyrus breathed in agreement.

Sans gave a small laugh of disbelief, glancing up at his brother. “No more hungry nights, Pap.”

“Yeah,” Papyrus looked up at his brother and smiled.

Sans looked back at their meal and sighed happily. “We should start eating, or we will be going to bed hungry again.”

“Yeah,” Papyrus giggled.

They slowly picked up their utensils and started their salads. The two brothers looked at each other, joyous groans emitting from their chewing mouths at the delicious tastes they were experiencing. Then they went at the food with gusto, savoring every single bite.

 -

 Sans was wiping the last remnant of dressing from his empty bowl with his final bite of wheat bread, as Papyrus had picked up his bowl to his mouth, pushing the last fragments into his open mouth.

Sans finished just before his brother, and couldn’t help but grin as he watched Papyrus, his face hidden behind the tilted bowl. His soul felt fuller than his stomach, knowing that his little brother finally had a proper, healthy meal after so long.

Papyrus licked his bowl clean, then set it back down on the burlap placemat with a satisfied “ahh!” He then looked up at his brother expectantly.

“Can Pa open now?”

Sans grinned and nodded. “Yes, you can open it now. I hope you like it.”

Papyrus cautiously opened the bag, as if a fragile treasure might be within. He peered into it and gasped, looking up at Sans. “Cookie!”

Sans smiled as his brother pulled out the large cookie and gave a huge chomp into it. He took out his own and bit into it, relishing its sweet, chocolaty goodness. They both ate their cookies with the occasional “mmm,” the crunching and munching overpowering the crackling of the fire in the other room.

Not a single piece of snow was consumed that night, for their stomachs were entirely satisfied.

 -

 After dinner, they washed their new dishes in one of the buckets with melted snow water and the glycerin soap. They dried them with burlap, then Sans created another bone shelf in the pantry side boulder, placing the clean wooden dishes up on it.

Sans emptied out the dishwater several feet away from their shelter entrance, scrubbing it out with clean snow, then came back inside to fill it back up with clean water. They changed into their fresh new clothes, and Sans washed their old clothes in the bucket with the soap, rinsed it in another bucket, and, after wringing them out, hung them up on the warming rack bones to dry overnight. The feel of clean, soft, new fabrics felt so comfortable and cozy to both of them. Sans then emptied the dirty water from both buckets outside in a different spot, scrubbed them clean with another handful of snow, then dried them with a scrap of rough cloth.

Sans took the little pot that was melting snow and poured it into the clean water bucket next to the “bowl” dug out of snow, which was filled to overflowing with fruits and vegetables. He stuffed the little pot to the brim with snow from the pile for making snow treats, then placed it back on the bones he had made to dry out the pine cones at the left edge of the fire basin to melt overnight.

Once they were done cleaning up and putting things away, they played together a bit before bedtime. Then they climbed into bed, Papyrus making his blue bones disappear to darken the room. Sans pulled up the fabrics over them as Papyrus snuggled up to his brother, clutching his beloved Teddy in the crook of his arm.

Sans told Papyrus all about the shopkeepers he had met and the things he had seen. He noticed that his brother had fallen asleep somewhere during the part where he was returning home. He nuzzled into his brother’s forehead and followed him into slumber.

The two brothers slept soundly with full bellies and happy souls as the gentle winds outside blew swirls of snowflakes around their hidden shelter.  

It occurs to me that I promised y’all I’d tell you stories from the D&D campaign I’m running, and it’s now been a week since the first session, so I should definitely do some of that!  I can already tell it’s going to be a fun-as-shit campaign.  If nothing else, my party and I are collectively five variably-queer ladies who met at knitting group and range in age from “haven’t played D&D since 2e at GenCon in the 90′s” to “too young to remember fandom before AO3 existed”.  We’re real fucking cool.  I am going to have to explain, in detail, so many textiles and other interesting crafts.

I am a WORDY-ASS MOTHERFUCKER, so the whole tale will probably get pretty long in the telling, but: welcome to the continent of Nokomoris, on a world that probably has its own name but I haven’t decided on it yet because naming things is hard, dude.

[here’s where I will probably link game session posts in the future once they exist]

Hark, a backstory!  (And, our four players)

IF YOU RECOGNIZE THIS CAMPAIGN INFO BECAUSE YOU ARE PLAYING IT, CONSIDER YOURSELF UNDER DM ORDERS TO BACK OFF AND STOP READING.  I KNOW YOU FUCKERS ARE ON TUMBLR TOO, THERE IS A REASON I DIDN’T GIVE YOU MY HANDLE.  (I love you all very much and yes, there are spoilers in here.  Go away and text me now.)

Eastern Nokomoris, where our story takes place (or at least begins) is in a prosperous age of thriving city-states and collapsed kingdoms.  Most trade, culture, and even centralized government is based among the Nine Cities, massive metropolises located around the Attiks Sea and nearby lands.  Nearly a million people live in the nine cities, which are connected to each other via well-established sea and land trade routes, and also by what many are calling the most important technological/magical development of the modern age: a network of massive permanent teleportation circles, thirty feet in diameter.

The circle network is big enough to carry large trade wagons, livestock, huge parties of people, and even troops and war machines.  Sea and land trade has dropped by half between the Nine Cities in the past fifteen years, and continues to decline.  The cities themselves are thriving and prosperous, and it’s easier than ever to get beef and leather from Karna Vi, wool from Yefira, pottery from Celkan or metalwork from Tiers no matter where you live.

Outside of the cities, it’s another story.  Dozens of once-prosperous kingdoms, and even the whole of the Trava Empire, have fallen in the past seventy years: first during the Church Wars, and then in the yeas of chaos and rebuilding once the Wars were over.  Small towns everywhere that once paid taxes to a crown, and were protected in turn by royal troops and much-needed aid in times of hardship, have been left entirely to stand or fall on their own.  Some have thrived, becoming local centers of trade for whole coalitions of abandoned towns nearby.  Others have disappeared, died out, or simply faded into the wilderness, forgotten.  The great open plains of Highnorth where the Trava Empire once ruled, the endless golden sea of the Southgrass, the peaks and valleys of the Thavine Mountains, the deep many-colored forest of the Iris Peninsula--who knows what’s out there any more?

And in the Midlands, where the worst of the Church Wars took place...well, precious few towns even survived to rebuild in the first place.  Land that once held the most fertile farms in all Nokomoris is desolate now, scarred and cursed.  Most of the battlefield has been picked over by intrepid adventurers and out-of-work soldiers in the six decades since the Wars ended, already raided for magic and treasure.  The ruins remain, and the valleys where nothing will ever grow again, and the eternal shadow over the once-Holy City, and who knows what sorts of twisted things living in places people no longer go?

But it’s been sixty years since the Church Wars ended, and for most people, life is good.  Small-town farmers may no longer have the protection of any crown, but small technological advancements in plow design and crop rotation mean that they can produce more food than they need and sell the extra in the nearest city for coin.  More and more young people, freed from heavy labor on their parents’ farms, have learned reading, writing, history, and some amount of arcane talent.  The Grand Universities in the nine cities are thriving, full of scholars of all ages eager to learn and advance the course of knowledge everywhere.

Of course, there are ten times more scholars in the Grand Universities than there are professorships or other high-ranking positions to hire them to...and that is where our story begins.

.

Our intrepid party thus far includes:

Marion, a human paladin of indeterminate gender, whose human family stands among the nobles of the great city of Karna Vi, where our story begins.  Marion is an acolyte of the Church of Lost Things, which concerns itself with every god that does not easily fit within the purview of the other seven Churches, and also with every god that has been erased or forgotten by time (for all gods deserve worship, and all gods are capable of smiting those that neglect them, sooner or later).  They’re also a math major, largely because computer science hasn’t been invented yet.

Marion’s really hoping to be able to build and program a simple computing machine, a la Babbage’s Difference Engine (or Arthur C. Clarke’s The Nine Billion Names of God), to tabulate and generate all the possible names of every god ever to exist, which seems much more efficient than just combing piecemeal broken historical records trying to find them.  It has not been going well.  In a Church system where paladins are often more concerned with protecting people from the gods than for the gods, cracking this problem will let Marion figure out who the gods even are like nobody ever before.  But there are variables missing, and theomathematical constants they can’t even identify yet, let alone calculate--and they’re not going to find here.

Three interesting facts about Marion, as per their player: 

They once spent an entire week holed up in a lab over a holiday break and were declared missing-presumed-dead.  Police searches were involved.  It was a little bit of a scandal.

They are by far the most unremarkable and constantly forgotten member of their entire family.  (This perhaps says more about their family than about them.)

Everyone on campus is fairly sure they interfered with the campus clock tower specifically to give students more time on finals last semester.  This is false.  They were trying to run a different experiment entirely, messed with the clock tower by accident, and didn’t actually notice it was finals week even after it was over.

Kevin, an elf barbarian sportsball champion, hero of the university’s sportsball team for the past ten years straight.  Kevin is a foot and a half taller than any self-respecting elf ought to be, not to mention twice as broad.  He’s finally starting to acknowledge the fact that there is, in fact, no NFElf, and you can’t be a “professional sportsballer” within the Elven Ascendancy, and his bemused parents would really like him to do something with his life beyond playing those little games with the ball and all of those...non-elf people.

Kevin is also an art history student, mostly out of desire for an easy major that’ll make his parents happy while he happily spends most of his time out on the sportsball field.  He’s got high strength, basic middle intelligence, and negative wisdom.  He’s sat through more history classes than the entire rest of the party put together.  He understands approximately none of it.  Still--he can’t do sports forever, and art history makes his parents happy, and he might as well go on a quest to uncover lost art and artifacts and maybe prove he’s an actual adult sooner than later, right?

Three interesting facts about Kevin, as per his player:

Back in his home city playing little league sportsball, there were definite (and accurate) rumors about this wild elf that could and would straight-up squish opposing players.  That’s how the college recruiters found him in the first place.  It’s definitely why they wanted him.

He has so many groupies.  So many.  They come in so many different species and genders and Kevin is on board with every single one.  (On board?  On bed?  On convenient flat surface?  Does it particularly matter?  Not to Kevin!)

Kevin is covered in tattoos, and there are all sorts of rumors about what sort of eldritch magic they hold--like, that panther is probably a real panther bound by elven magic, right?  A pretty persistent rumor suggests that the tattoos all commemorate individual opposing team members he’s...either hospitalized or fucked, or both, literally nobody is sure.  (In point of fact, none of the above are true, and Kevin just has terrible taste in tattoos and a pretty stunning lack of both impulse control and supervision--but why quash the stories?)

Kou, a halfling bard whose girlfriend just left three weeks ago on a research expedition of her own, taking with her approximately 85% of Kou’s impulse control.  In theory, Kou is an alchemy major, studying science to make her scholar parents happy.  In practice, she probably spends more time sneaking into music seminars and/or busking on the street for spare change than actually doing alchemy, but her girlfriend was a Good Responsible Influence who made sure Kou didn’t get kicked out of the department, and to be fair, alchemy can blow things up sometimes so that’s always good.

Kou doesn’t so much have plans for the future as vague, contradictory aspirations, but that doesn’t mean she’s not smart.  She’s learned enough magic to use a set of recording stones to play, loop, and modulate beats or bits of music, thereby making her Nokomoris’s very first DJ, and she really wants to be a professional musician someday.  She just hasn’t figured out how to reconcile her dreams with her parents’ wishes, the lives they’ve worked so hard to create, or a halfling cultural legacy that has more to do with riding around snowfields covered in furs waving spears than it does with brightly-colored house parties.

Three interesting facts about Kou, as per her player:

Kou very definitely once spent a full day dressed up in halfling traditional garb, furs and all, including a very fuzzy fur hat.  It wasn’t until that evening that somebody saw the hat move and everyone realized she’d been wearing a curled-up live fox the whole time.

She once managed to create an incredibly destructive compound in alchemy lab out of ingredients that should not have actually been able to react that way.  She found out it was corrosive when she accidentally spilled it on six months’ worth of a different professor’s lab notes.  (She got an A anyway, because her lab professor hated the other guy, but that has more to do with Professors Ayanova and M’tiersi than Kou, really.)

She absolutely goes down to counter-protest every damn time those Family First assholes try to rally downtown in favor of child-producing (read: heterosexual, single-species) families.  Rumor says she once broke her guitar over a protester’s head, which horrifies her--Kou’s guitar is the most expensive thing she owns!  She used their own protest sign, like a sensible person.

Reigenleif, a mostly-female-probably gnome rogue known around campus as “Beer Run” for her skills at somehow always having access to better and cheaper beer than anyone else, and her general willingness to deliver to parties (for a small additional fee).  Reigenleif’s parents are small-time forgers who ended up mostly working for a local crime organization after a series of bad luck and political upheavals brought them to Karna Vi a few decades ago.  They really want their kids to go clean, avoid all the uncertainties and occasional jail sentences/executions that accompany a life of crime, and maybe make a little something of themselves.  Reigenleif, who has zero interest in staying on the right side of the law, mostly does odd jobs for a different, not-technically-rival criminal organization, and carefully does not tell her parents about it, ever.

Technically she’s an engineering major, and she’s more than got the brains for it, plus the accompanying curiosity about metallurgy and arcane artificing.  Still, she spends most of her time helpfully involving herself in other peoples’ projects rather than running her own.  (Her own projects have a lot more to do with figuring out new forging techniques and criminal tricks, and don’t look very good in the end-of-year department report.)  Enjoys causing trouble, not being in it.

Three interesting facts about Reigenleif, as per her player:

She absolutely owns a copy of the provost’s signet ring, which she can and has used to create documents allowing herself access to all sorts of University resources.  Like most things, she’ll share the use of it, quietly, for a price.  (She also owns a copy of Marion’s family signet ring, which is a much longer story that I as the DM do not know yet--can’t wait for that.)

Once captured and maneuvered a live swan into somebody’s office to cause as much chaos as possible so Reigenleif could get up to something somewhere else.  Is a little bit of a legend for it.

Aside from her not-actually-that-impressive family legacy of crime, Reigenleif’s spread a quiet rumor around school that she’s descended from the famous marauding pirate, Thrand Slender-Leg.  It’s possible that Thrand Slender-Leg never actually existed.  It’s possible that nobody had ever heard of him before Reigenleif made him up.  She’s certainly not telling.

Commemorative Dish - Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Canada in 1959 - Aynsley Pottery - Royal Souvenir - Royal Family Memorabilia - Maple Leaf

Events 5.1

475 BC – Roman consul Publius Valerius Poplicola celebrates a Roman triumph for his victory over Veii and the Sabines. 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor. 524 – King Sigismund of Burgundy is executed at Orléans after an 8-year reign and is succeeded by his brother Godomar. 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches. 1169 – Norman mercenaries land at Bannow Bay in Leinster, marking the beginning of the Norman invasion of Ireland. 1328 – Wars of Scottish Independence end: By the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, England recognises Scotland as an independent state. 1455 – Battle of Arkinholm, Royal forces end the Black Douglas hegemony in Scotland. 1576 – Stephen Báthory, the reigning Prince of Transylvania, marries Anna Jagiellon and they become co-rulers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. 1707 – The Act of Union joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain takes effect. 1753 – Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. 1759 – Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain. 1776 – Establishment of the Illuminati in Ingolstadt, Upper Bavaria, by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt. 1778 – American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. 1786 – In Vienna, Austria, Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro is performed for the first time. 1794 – War of the Pyrenees: The Battle of Boulou ends, in which French forces defeat the Spanish and regain nearly all the land they lost to Spain in 1793. 1820 – Execution of the Cato Street Conspirators, who plotted to kill the British Cabinet and Prime Minister Lord Liverpool. 1840 – The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom. 1844 – Hong Kong Police Force, the world's second modern police force and Asia's first, is established. 1846 – The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple. 1851 – Queen Victoria opens The Great Exhibition at The Crystal Palace in London. 1856 – The Province of Isabela was created in the Philippines in honor of Queen Isabela II. 1862 – American Civil War: The Union Army completes its capture of New Orleans. 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins. 1865 – The Empire of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance. 1866 – The Memphis Race Riots begin. In three days time, 46 blacks and two whites were killed. Reports of the atrocities influenced passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. 1869 – The Folies Bergère opens in Paris. 1875 – Alexandra Palace reopens after being burned down in a fire in 1873. 1884 – The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions demands the eight-hour work day in the United States. 1884 – Moses Fleetwood Walker becomes the first black person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States. 1885 – The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opens for business. 1886 – Rallies are held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day, culminating in the Haymarket affair in Chicago, in commemoration of which May 1 is celebrated as International Workers' Day in many countries. 1893 – The World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago. 1894 – Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C. 1898 – Spanish–American War: Battle of Manila Bay: The Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy destroys the Pacific Squadron of the Spanish Navy after a seven-hour battle. Spain loses all seven of its ships, and 381 Spanish sailors die. There are no American vessel losses or combat deaths. 1900 – The Scofield Mine disaster kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah in what is to date the fifth-worst mining accident in United States history. 1915 – The RMS Lusitania departs from New York City on her 202nd, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later, the ship is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives. 1919 – German troops enter Munich to suppress the Bavarian Soviet Republic. 1925 – The All-China Federation of Trade Unions is officially founded. Today it is the largest trade union in the world, with 134 million members. 1927 – The Union Labor Life Insurance Company is founded by the American Federation of Labor. 1929 – The 7.2 Mw  Kopet Dag earthquake shakes the Iran–Turkmenistan border region with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing up to 3,800 and injuring 1,121. 1930 – "Pluto" is officially proposed for the name of the newly-discovered dwarf planet Pluto by Vesto Slipher in the Lowell Observatory Observation Circular. The name quickly catches on. 1931 – The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City. 1941 – World War II: German forces launch a major attack during the siege of Tobruk. 1944 – World War II: Two hundred Communist prisoners are shot by the Germans at Kaisariani, Athens in reprisal for the killing of General Franz Krech by partisans at Molaoi. 1945 – World War II: A German newsreader officially announces that Adolf Hitler has "fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany". The Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery, by order of Stalin. 1945 – World War II: Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda commit suicide in the Reich Garden outside the Führerbunker. Their children are also killed by having cyanide pills inserted into their mouths by their mother, Magda. 1945 – World War II: Forces of the Soviet Red Army liberate Allied prisoners of war imprisoned at Stalag Luft I near Barth, Germany. 1945 – World War II: Up to 2,500 people die in a mass suicide in Demmin following the advance of the Red Army. 1945 – World War II: Yugoslav Partisans liberate Trieste. 1946 – Start of three-year Pilbara strike of Indigenous Australians. 1946 – The Paris Peace Conference concludes that the islands of the Dodecanese should be returned to Greece by Italy. 1947 – Portella della Ginestra massacre against May Day celebrations in Sicily by the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano where 11 persons are killed and 33 wounded. 1956 – The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public. 1956 – A doctor in Japan reports an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease. 1957 – Thirty-four people are killed when a Vickers Viking airliner crashes in Hampshire, England. 1960 – Formation of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra; also known as "Maharashtra Day". 1960 – Cold War: U-2 incident: Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Sverdlovsk Oblast, Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis. 1961 – The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections. 1965 – Cross-Strait relations: Battle of Dong-Yin, a naval conflict between the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China, takes place. 1967 – Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu are married in Las Vegas. 1970 – Vietnam War: Protests erupt following the announcement by Richard Nixon that the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces would attack Vietnamese communists in a Cambodian Campaign. 1971 – Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) takes over operation of U.S. passenger rail service. 1974 – The Argentine terrorist organization Montoneros is expelled from Plaza de Mayo by president Juan Perón. 1977 – Thirty-six people are killed in Taksim Square, Istanbul, during the Labour Day celebrations. 1978 – Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone. 1982 – Operation Black Buck: The Royal Air Force attacks the Argentine Air Force during Falklands War. 1983 – The Sydney Entertainment Centre is opened. 1987 – Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. 1989 – Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States. 1990 – The former Philippine Episcopal Church (supervised by the Episcopal Church of the United States of America) is granted full autonomy and raised to the status of an Autocephalous Anglican Province and renamed the Episcopal Church in the Philippines. 1993 – Dingiri Banda Wijetunga became president of Sri Lanka automatically after killing of R Premadasa in LTTE bomb explosion. 1994 – Three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident whilst leading the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. 1995 – Croatian War of Independence: Croatian forces launch Operation Flash. 1999 – The body of British climber George Mallory is found on Mount Everest, 75 years after his disappearance in 1924. 1999 – SpongeBob SquarePants premieres on Nickelodeon. 2001 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares the existence of "a state of rebellion", hours after thousands of supporters of her arrested predecessor, Joseph Estrada, storm towards the presidential palace at the height of the EDSA III rebellion. 2002 – OpenOffice.org released version 1.0, the first stable version of the software. 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended". 2004 – Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin. 2009 – Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden. 2011 – Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. 2019 – Naxalite attack in Gadchiroli district: Sixteen army soldiers, including a driver, killed in an IED blast. Naxals targeted an anti-Naxal operations team.

Summerfast Holidays

As for holidays, the people celebrate the holidays of the Alliance at large. However, they also celebrate the festival in memory of the foundation of Summerfast, Ariannia, beginning on the 23rd day of the Fifth Month to commemorate the founding of Summerfast, lasting five days. During this feast, the commoners dress in purples, purples, golds, and royal blue and celebrate in the streets and there is much eating and drinking. During the festivities, a girl or young woman with red hair, dyed or natural, is chosen from the people and is dubbed Lady Arianne for those five days. She is permitted to act as she will and plays central role in the ceremonies. On the final day of her reign, she, adorned in a crown of lauren leaves, stands either in the town forum or in the Castle’s great hall if weather does not permit and affirms the reigning Duke or Duchess’ right to lead Summerfast before the people and the kneeling lord, lady, or their representative before placing the crown of laurel leaves atop their head to symbolize the assent of Lasy Arianne, Summerfast’s founder, to their rule.

Other festivals and holidays include the Hunt of First Frost after the first snow of the season where hunters compete to take the largest prey for a prize which they can keep or donate. The Duke or Duchess’ birthday in which the ruling Lord or Lady is to give a speech as well as gifts to the commonfolk. Feasting is expected to occur. In lean times, austerity in the ruling noble’s dress and demeanor is looked upon favorably though feasts are still expected. The Celebration of the Return is another holiday to commemorate the retaking of Summerfast from the Horde at the end of the Second War. The celebration ends with the Lord or Lady riding through the primary town road on horseback with an effigy of an is orc dragged behind it in remembrance of how Duke Edward Bennas dragged the corpse of the orcish warlord that had taken residence in his home. Children and onlookers may pelt the orc effigy with fruit or rocks before it is burnt outside the town. This celebration occurs in autumn.

Contemporaneously with Hallow’s End, the festival of Ithicala is celebrated that celebrates the defeat of Lady Ithica Bennas by her grandson Karl Bennas after the Gnolll War. During this festival, containers of pottery and cloth are filled with sweets and fruits, hung up, and beaten with sticks (or poleaxes by some soldiers). These containers originally began in the shape of a person but expanded to others. These containers are also thought to house evil spirits who are banished when the container is destroyed. Political satirists will often create containers in the shape of unpopular political figures of the time.