So far, my inquiries have not uncovered either of Birdlips manuscripts. For the record they are: “The Myth of the Foggy London Night”, and his “Time, Considered as a Succession of Semi-Closed Doors”.
If anyone has information about either of these manuscripts, please contact Dr. Peoples at the Royal Academy.
Homunculus, James P. Blaylock
As found in an ancient illustrated volume bound in vellum, titled the Herbal Plants of Dorimare.
“These berries are win-coloured, and crawl along the ground, and have the leaves of wild strawberries. They ripen during the first quarter of the harvest moon, and are only to be found in certain valleys of the West, and even there they grows but sparsely, and, for the sake of birds, and children, and other indiscreet lovers of fruit, it is well that such is the case, for they are a deadly and insidious poison, though tardy in their action, often lying dormant in the blood for many days.”
Lud-in-the-Mist, Hope Mirrlees
Philip Jose Farmer has few threads that run through a lot of his literature one of which is his mention of an elixir. My first encounter with the “elixir “was from his “The Other Log of Phileas Fogg”, my second…I will have to research that one. My last encounter was in my latest reading of Farmer-his Venus on the Half Shell. Here is the first mention of the elixir from that text:
“Simon got over some of his indignation when the woman explained that the average life span of a Shaltoonian was ten thousand years. This was due to an elixir invented some two hundred thousand years before. The Shaltoonian’s weren’t much for mechanics or engineering or physics, but they were great botanists. The elixir had been made from juices of several different plants. A by-product of this elixir was that a Shaltoonian seldom got sick.”
Venus on the Half Shell, Philip Jose Farmer
"Your practical mind naturally seeks a practical explanation," smiled Van Roon, "but I myself have other theories. Then in addition to the charms of Sedgemoor—haunted Sedgemoor—on a fine day it is quite possible to see the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey from here; and Glastonbury Abbey, as you may know, is closely bound up with the history of alchemy. It was in the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey that the adept Kelly, companion of Dr. Dee, discovered, in the reign of Elizabeth, the famous caskets of St. Dunstan, containing the two tinctures..."
So he ran on, enumerating the odd charms of his residence, charms which for my part I did not find appealing.
With my heart thumping furiously in my breast, I bent over him; and for the second time since our coming to Cragmire Tower, my thoughts flew to "The Fenman:"
There are shades in the fen; ghosts of women and menChapter 22, The Return of Dr. FU-Manchu, Sax Rohmer
Camilla: You, sir, should unmask.
Stranger: Indeed?
Cassilda: Indeed it's time. We all have laid aside disguise but you.
Stranger: I wear no mask.
Camilla: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda.) No mask? No mask!
The King in Yellow, Act I, Scene 2
....
Although I knew nothing of chemistry, I listened fascinated. He picked up an Easter lily which Geneviève had brought that morning from Notre Dame, and dropped it into the basin. Instantly the liquid lost its crystalline clearness. For a second the lily was enveloped in a milk-white foam, which disappeared, leaving the fluid opalescent. Changing tints of orange and crimson played over the surface, and then what seemed to be a ray of pure sunlight struck through from the bottom where the lily was resting. At the same instant he plunged his hand into the basin and drew out the flower. "There is no danger," he explained, "if you choose the right moment. That golden ray is the signal."
He held the lily toward me, and I took it in my hand. It had turned to stone, to the purest marble.
The Mask by Robert W. Chambers
"The common black scorpion of Southern India," he said softly. "Its venom is the basis of the priceless formula, F. Katalepsis, upon which the structure of our Sublime Order rests, Dr. Stuart; hence the adoption of a scorpion as our device."
He took up a long slender flask.
"This virus prepared from a glandular secretion of the Chinese swamp-adder is also beyond price. Again-the case upon the pedestal yonder contains five perfect bulbs, three already in flower, as you observe, of an orchid discovered by our chief chemist in certain forests of Burma. It only occurs at extremely rare intervals—eighty years or more—and under highly special conditions. If the other two bulbs flower, I shall be enabled to obtain from the blooms a minimum quantity of an essential oil for which the nations of the earth, if they knew its properties, would gladly empty their treasuries."
The Golden Scorpion, Sax Rohmer
"At the bottom of the ladder we came fully into the light streaming out from the singular apartments at the entrance to which we found ourselves. It was fitted up as a laboratory. A glimpse I had of shelves loaded with jars and bottles, of a table strewn with scientific paraphernalia, with retorts, with tubes of extraordinary shapes, holding living organisms, and with instruments—some of them of a form unknown to my experience. I saw too that books, papers and rolls of parchment littered the bare wooden floor."
Chapter 17, The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu, Sax Rohmer
We really do not know the true nature of Dr. Jekll’s portion, but we do know of its results. Dr. Jekll’s portion allowed the doctor transform in to his alter-ego which he, Dr. Jekll’s named Mr. Hyde. As Dr. Jekyll was a refined, friendly and effectual individual, Mr. Hyde was reserved, ineffective and sadistic.
The potion consisted of the following components: a few minims of a red tincture, and a small chemical envelope of powders. When first mixed the mixture was first of a red hue and as the crystals melted the color brightened in color and threw off small fumes of vapors. The ebullition ceased and the compound changed to a dark purple and then more slowly to a watery green. It was not until thus that the portion could be taken.
This picture is of an old Brigade miniature I completed sometime ago. I believe the old gent is 28mm tall.
As you know I have made more than a few posts on maps. I love maps, especially old maps and those of made-up places. In the previous post I reviewed Red Raven Games, Eight Minute Empire were I mentioned that the game board is double-sided and depicts two fantasy worlds. These maps are beautiful in their own right, but I wondered what could be done to give them a more ancient look and feel. Here is the outcome of my experimentation with various processes and solutions.
