1 # NetHack 3.6 data.base
2 # $NHDT-Date: 1545359287 2018/12/21 02:28:07 $ $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.6.2-beta01 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.87 $
3 # Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
4 # Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
5 # NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
7 # This is the source file for the "data" file generated by `makedefs -d'.
8 # A line starting with a # is a comment and is ignored by makedefs.
9 # Any other line not starting with whitespace is a creature or an item.
11 # Each entry should be comprised of:
12 # the thing/person being described on a line by itself, in lowercase;
13 # on each succeeding line a <TAB> description.
15 # If the first character of a key field is "~", then anything which matches
16 # the rest of that key will be treated as if it did not match any of the
17 # following keys for that entry. For instance, `~orc ??m*' preceding `orc*'
18 # prevents "orc mummy" and "orc zombie" from matching.
21 For it had been long apparent to Count Landulf that nothing
22 could be done with his seventh son Thomas, except to make him
23 an Abbot or something of that kind. Born in 1226, he had from
24 childhood a mysterious objection to becoming a predatory eagle,
25 or even to taking an ordinary interest in falconry or tilting
26 or any other gentlemanly pursuits. He was a large and heavy and
27 quiet boy, and phenomenally silent, scarcely opening his mouth
28 except to say suddenly to his schoolmaster in an explosive
29 manner, "What is God?" The answer is not recorded but it is
30 probable that the asker went on worrying out answers for himself.
31 [ The Runaway Abbot, by G. K. Chesterton ]
32 # takes "suit or piece of armor" when specifying '['
36 suit or piece of armor
37 "The last spot on the school jousting team came down to another
38 boy and me. He was poor, and his only armor was a blanket his
39 mother had made him from her hair. I, on the other hand, had
40 a brand new suit of chain mail. Just before our joust, I asked
41 him what he'd do if he made the team. (I was hoping to be more
42 popular with the ladies.) He said he would be able to save the
43 town from dragons and be able to afford some water for his 20
46 Well, a sense of compassion came over me. I insisted we swap
47 armor. He was forced to accept, as it would have been an
50 On the battlefield, we charged at each other and we both connected
53 Lying there on the mud mortally wounded, I learned what true armor
55 [ When Help Collides, by J. D. Berry ]
59 A short studded or spiked club attached to a cord allowing
60 it to be drawn back to the wielder after having been thrown.
61 It should not be confused with the atlatl, which is a device
62 used to throw spears for longer distances.
65 Translucent, cryptocrystalline variety of quartz and a subvariety
66 of chalcedony. Agates are identical in chemical structure to
67 jasper, flint, chert, petrified wood, and tiger's-eye, and are
68 often found in association with opal. The colorful, banded rocks
69 are used as a semiprecious gemstone and in the manufacture of
70 grinding equipment. An agate's banding forms as silica from
71 solution is slowly deposited into cavities and veins in older
73 [ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ]
75 Said to be a doppelganger sent to inflict divine punishment
76 for alignment violations.
80 Altars are of three types:
81 1. In Temples. These are for Sacrifices [...]. The stone
82 top will have grooves for blood, and the whole will be covered
83 with _dry brown stains of a troubling kind_ from former
85 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
87 To every man upon this earth
88 Death cometh soon or late;
89 And how can man die better
90 Than facing fearful odds
91 For the ashes of his fathers
92 And the temples of his gods?
93 [ Lays of Ancient Rome, by Thomas B. Macaulay ]
95 The Shinto sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami is the central
96 figure of Shintoism and the ancestral deity of the imperial
97 house. One of the daughters of the primordial god Izanagi
98 and said to be his favourite offspring, she was born from
100 [ Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]
102 "Tree sap," Wu explained, "often flows over insects and traps
103 them. The insects are then perfectly preserved within the
104 fossil. One finds all kinds of insects in amber - including
105 biting insects that have sucked blood from larger animals."
106 [ Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton ]
109 Get thee hence, nor come again,
110 Mix not memory with doubt,
111 Pass, thou deathlike type of pain,
112 Pass and cease to move about!
113 'Tis the blot upon the brain
114 That will show itself without.
116 For, Maud, so tender and true,
117 As long as my life endures
118 I feel I shall owe you a debt,
119 That I never can hope to pay;
120 And if ever I should forget
121 That I owe this debt to you
122 And for your sweet sake to yours;
123 O then, what then shall I say? -
124 If ever I should forget,
125 May God make me more wretched
126 Than ever I have been yet!
127 [ Maud, And Other Poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson ]
129 ~amulet of restful sleep
133 "The complete Amulet can keep off all the things that make
134 people unhappy -- jealousy, bad temper, pride, disagreeableness,
135 greediness, selfishness, laziness. Evil spirits, people called
136 them when the Amulet was made. Don't you think it would be nice
138 "Very," said the children, quite without enthusiasm.
139 "And it can give you strength and courage."
140 "That's better," said Cyril.
142 "I suppose it's nice to have that," said Jane, but not with much
144 "And it can give you your heart's desire."
145 "Now you're talking," said Robert.
146 [ The Story of the Amulet, by Edith Nesbit ]
148 This mysterious talisman is the object of your quest. It is
149 said to possess powers which mere mortals can scarcely
150 comprehend, let alone utilize. The gods will grant the gift of
151 immortality to the adventurer who can deliver it from the
152 depths of Moloch's Sanctum and offer it on the appropriate high
153 altar on the Astral Plane.
155 He answered and said unto them, he that soweth the good seed
156 is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed
157 are the children of the kingdom; but the weeds are the
158 children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the
159 devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers
160 are the angels. As therefore the weeds are gathered and
161 burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
162 [...] So shall it be at the end of the world; the angels
163 shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
164 and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be
165 wailing and gnashing of teeth.
166 [ The Gospel According to Matthew, 13:37-42, 49-50 ]
169 The gods look down in anger on this poor child.
173 [ Bridge of Sighs, by Robin Trower ]
175 An Egyptian god of war and a great hunter, few gods can match
176 his fury. Unlike many gods of war, he is a force for good.
177 The wrath of Anhur is slow to come, but it is inescapable
178 once earned. Anhur is a mighty figure with four arms. He
179 is often seen with a powerful lance that requires both of
180 his right arms to wield and which is tipped with a fragment
181 of the sun. He is married to Mehut, a lion-headed goddess.
183 The twin city of Ankh-Morpork, foremost of all the cities
184 bounding the Circle Sea, was as a matter of course the home
185 of a large number of gangs, thieves' guilds, syndicates and
186 similar organisations. This was one of the reasons for its
187 wealth. Most of the humbler folk on the widdershin side of
188 the river, in Morpork's mazy alleys, supplemented their
189 meagre incomes by filling some small role for one or other
190 of the competing gangs.
191 [ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]
193 A primordial Babylonian-Akkadian deity, Anshar is mentioned
194 in the Babylonian creation epic _Enuma Elish_ as one of a
195 pair of offspring (with Kishar) of Lahmu and Lahamu. Anshar
196 is linked with heaven while Kishar is identified with earth.
197 [ Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]
200 This giant variety of the ordinary ant will fight just as
201 fiercely as its small, distant cousin. Various varieties
202 exist, and they are known and feared for their relentless
203 persecution of their victims.
205 Anu was the Babylonian god of the heavens, the monarch of
206 the north star. He was the oldest of the Babylonian gods,
207 the father of all gods, and the ruler of heaven and destiny.
208 Anu features strongly in the _atiku_ festival in
209 Babylon, Uruk and other cities.
210 # takes "apelike creature" when specifying 'Y'
214 The most highly evolved of all the primates, as shown by
215 all their anatomical characters and particularly the
216 development of the brain. Both arboreal and terrestrial,
217 the apes have the forelimbs much better developed than
218 the hind limbs. Tail entirely absent. Growth is slow
219 and sexual maturity reached at quite an advanced age.
220 [ A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa by Dorst ]
222 Aldo the gorilla had a plan. It was a good plan. It was
223 right. He knew it. He smacked his lips in anticipation as
224 he thought of it. Yes. Apes should be strong. Apes should
225 be masters. Apes should be proud. Apes should make the
226 Earth shake when they walked. Apes should _rule_ the Earth.
227 [ Battle for the Planet of the Apes, by David Gerrold ]
229 NEWTONIAN, adj. Pertaining to a philosophy of the universe
230 invented by Newton, who discovered that an apple will fall
231 to the ground, but was unable to say why. His successors
232 and disciples have advanced so far as to be able to say
234 [ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]
237 Archeology is the search for fact, not truth. [...]
238 So forget any ideas you've got about lost cities, exotic travel,
239 and digging up the world. We do not follow maps to buried
240 treasure, and X never, ever, marks the spot.
241 [ Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ]
243 "I cannot be having with archeological excavations, myself,"
244 I said. "The fellows who dig them only ever find tiny walls
245 and a few bits of broken pottery, and then they get all
246 excited and swear that they have just made the most
247 important discovery of the century, the ruins of a mile-high
248 gold-covered temple to Frogmore the God of Bike-Saddle
249 Fixtures or some such."
250 "I think you will find," said Mr Rune, "that they do this
251 in order to secure further government funding for their
252 diggings and so remain in employment."
253 "That is a rather cynical view," I said.
254 [ the brightonomicon, by Robert Rankin ]
255 # [title & author: same situation as with "bad luck" entry]
257 Archons are the predominant inhabitants of the heavens.
258 However unusual their appearance, they are not generally
259 evil. They are beings at peace with themselves and their
262 Arioch, the patron demon of Elric's ancestors; one of the most
263 powerful of all the Dukes of Hell, who was called Knight of
264 the Swords, Lord of the Seven Darks, Lord of the Higher Hell
265 and many more names besides.
266 [ Elric of Melnibone, by Michael Moorcock ]
268 I shot an arrow into the air,
269 It fell to earth, I knew not where;
270 For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
271 Could not follow it in its flight.
273 I breathed a song into the air,
274 It fell to earth, I knew not where;
275 For who has sight so keen and strong
276 That it can follow the flight of song?
278 Long, long afterward, in an oak
279 I found the arrow still unbroke;
280 And the song, from beginning to end,
281 I found again in the heart of a friend.
282 [ The Arrow and the Song, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ]
284 Ashikaga Takauji was a daimyo of the Minamoto clan who
285 joined forces with the Go-Daigo to defeat the Hojo armies.
286 Later when Go-Daigo attempted to reduce the powers of the
287 samurai clans he rebelled against him. He defeated Go-
288 Daigo and established the emperor Komyo on the throne.
289 Go-Daigo eventually escaped and established another
290 government in the town of Yoshino. This period of dual
291 governments was known as the Nambokucho.
292 [ Samurai - The Story of a Warrior Tradition, by Cook ]
294 It is said that Asmodeus is the overlord over all of hell.
295 His appearance, unlike many other demons and devils, is
296 human apart from his horns and tail. He can freeze flesh
300 The evil demon who appears in the Apocryphal book of _Tobit_
301 and is derived from the Persian _Aeshma_. In _Tobit_ Asmodeus
302 falls in love with Sara, daughter of Raguel, and causes the
303 death of seven husbands in succession, each on his bridal night.
304 He was finally driven from Egypt through a charm made by Tobias
305 of the heart and liver of a fish burned on perfumed ashes, as
306 described by Milton in _Paradise Lost_ (IV, 167-71). Hence
307 Asmodeus often figures as the spirit of matrimonial jealousy
309 [ Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]
311 The consecrated ritual knife of a Wiccan initiate (one of
312 four basic tools, together with the wand, chalice and
313 pentacle). Traditionally, the athame is a double-edged,
314 black-handled, cross-hilted dagger of between six and
315 eighteen inches length.
317 Athene was the offspring of Zeus, and without a mother. She
318 sprang forth from his head completely armed. Her favourite
319 bird was the owl, and the plant sacred to her is the olive.
320 [ Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch ]
322 "For ev'ry silver ringing blow,
323 Cities and palaces shall grow!"
325 "Bite deep and wide, O Axe, the tree,
326 Tell wider prophecies to me."
328 "When rust hath gnaw'd me deep and red,
329 A nation strong shall lift his head.
331 "His crown the very Heav'ns shall smite,
332 Aeons shall build him in his might."
334 "Bite deep and wide, O Axe, the tree;
335 Bright Seer, help on thy prophecy!"
336 [ Malcolm's Katie, by Isabella Valancey Crawford ]
338 A mundane salamander, harmless.
342 "Now, this third handkerchief," Mein Herr proceeded, "has also
343 four edges, which you can trace continuously round and round:
344 all you need do is to join its four edges to the four edges of
345 the opening. The Purse is then complete, and its outer
347 "I see!" Lady Muriel eagerly interrupted. "Its outer surface
348 will be continuous with its inner surface! But it will take
349 time. I'll sew it up after tea." She laid aside the bag, and
350 resumed her cup of tea. "But why do you call it Fortunatus's
352 The dear old man beamed upon her, with a jolly smile, looking
353 more exactly like the Professor than ever. "Don't you see,
354 my child--I should say Miladi? Whatever is inside that Purse,
355 is outside it; and whatever is outside it, is inside it. So
356 you have all the wealth of the world in that leetle Purse!"
357 [ Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, by Lewis Carroll ]
359 The "lord of the flies" is a translation of the Hebrew
360 Ba'alzevuv (Beelzebub in Greek). It has been suggested that
361 it was a mistranslation of a mistransliterated word which
362 gave us this pungent and suggestive name of the Devil, a
363 devil whose name suggests that he is devoted to decay,
364 destruction, demoralization, hysteria and panic...
365 [ Notes on _Lord of the Flies_, by E. L. Epstein ]
367 ... It came to the edge of the fire and the light faded as
368 if a cloud had bent over it. Then with a rush it leaped
369 the fissure. The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed
370 about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air. Its streaming
371 mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand
372 was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it
373 held a whip of many thongs.
374 'Ai, ai!' wailed Legolas. 'A Balrog! A Balrog is come!'
375 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
378 Extinct rhinos include a variety of forms, the most
379 spectacular being _Baluchitherium_ from the Oligocene of
380 Asia, which is the largest known land mammal. Its body, 18
381 feet high at the shoulder and carried on massive limbs,
382 allowed the 4-foot-long head to browse on the higher branches
383 of trees. Though not as enormous, the titanotheres of the
384 early Tertiary were also large perissodactyls, _Brontotherium_
385 of the Oligocene being 8 feet high at the shoulder.
386 [ Prehistoric Animals, by Barry Cox ]
388 He took another step and she cocked her right wrist in
389 viciously. She heard the spring click. Weight slapped into
391 "Here!" she shrieked hysterically, and brought her arm up in
392 a hard sweep, meaning to gut him, leaving him to blunder
393 around the room with his intestines hanging out in steaming
394 loops. Instead he roared laughter, hands on his hips,
395 flaming face cocked back, squeezing and contorting with great
397 "Oh, my dear!" he cried, and went off into another gale of
399 She looked stupidly down at her hand. It held a firm yellow
400 banana with a blue and white Chiquita sticker on it. She
401 dropped it, horrified, to the carpet, where it became a
402 sickly yellow grin, miming Flagg's own.
403 "You'll tell," he whispered. "Oh yes indeed you will."
404 And Dayna knew he was right.
405 [ The Stand, by Stephen King ]
407 In Irish folklore and that of the Western Highlands of Scotland,
408 a female fairy who announces her presence by shrieking and
409 wailing under the windows of a house when one of its occupants
410 is awaiting death. The word is a phonetic spelling of the
411 Irish _beansidhe_, a woman of the fairies.
412 [ Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]
415 They dressed alike -- in buckskin boots, leathern breeks and
416 deerskin shirts, with broad girdles that held axes and short
417 swords; and they were all gaunt and scarred and hard-eyed;
419 They were wild men, of a sort, yet there was still a wide
420 gulf between them and the Cimmerian. They were sons of
421 civilization, reverted to a semi-barbarism. He was a
422 barbarian of a thousand generations of barbarians. They had
423 acquired stealth and craft, but he had been born to these
424 things. He excelled them even in lithe economy of motion.
425 They were wolves, but he was a tiger.
426 [ Conan - The Warrior, by Robert E. Howard ]
427 # takes "bat or bird" when specifying 'B'
432 A bat, flitting in the darkness outside, took the wrong turn
433 as it made its nightly rounds and came in through the window
434 which had been left healthfully open. It then proceeded to
435 circle the room in the aimless fat-headed fashion habitual
436 with bats, who are notoriously among the less intellectually
437 gifted of God's creatures. Show me a bat, says the old
438 proverb, and I will show you something that ought to be in
440 [ A Pelican at Blandings, by P. G. Wodehouse ]
442 Probably most commonly associated with trapping, the leghold
443 trap is a rather simple mechanical trap. It is made up of two
444 jaws, a spring of some sort, and a trigger in the middle. When
445 the animal steps on the trigger the trap closes around the leg,
446 holding the animal in place. Usually some kind of lure is used
447 to position the animal, or the trap is set on an animal trail.
448 Traditionally, leghold traps had tightly closing "teeth" to make
449 sure the animal stayed in place. The teeth also made sure the
450 animal could not move the leg in the trap and ruin their fur.
451 However, this resulted in many animals gnawing off legs in order
452 to escape. More modern traps have a gap called an "offset jaw"
453 and work more like a handcuff. They grip above the paw, making
454 sure the animal cannot pull out but does not destroy the leg.
455 This also allows the trapper to release unwanted catches.
456 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
458 This giant variety of its useful normal cousin normally
459 appears in small groups, looking for raw material to produce
460 the royal jelly needed to feed their queen. On rare
461 occasions, one may stumble upon a bee-hive, in which the
462 queen bee is being well provided for, and guarded against
465 [ The Creator ] has an inordinate fondness for beetles.
466 [ attributed to biologist J.B.S. Haldane ]
468 The common name for the insects with wings shaped like
469 shields (_Coleoptera_), one of the ten sub-species into
470 which the insects are divided. They are characterized by
471 the shields (the front pair of wings) under which the back
473 [ Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal ]
475 "A bell, book and candle job."
476 The Bursar sighed. "We tried that, Archchancellor."
477 The Archchancellor leaned towards him.
479 "I _said_, we tried that Archchancellor," said the Bursar loudly,
480 directing his voice at the old man's ear. "After dinner, you
481 remember? We used Humptemper's _Names of the Ants_ and rang Old
483 "Did we, indeed. Worked, did it?"
484 "_No_, Archchancellor."
486 * Old Tom was the single cracked bronze bell in the University
488 [ Eric, by Terry Pratchett ]
490 The blindfolding was performed by binding a piece of the
491 yellowish linen whereof those of the Amahagger who condescended
492 to wear anything in particular made their dresses tightly round
493 the eyes. This linen I afterwards discovered was taken from the
494 tombs, and was not, as I had first supposed, of native
495 manufacture. The bandage was then knotted at the back of the
496 head, and finally brought down again and the ends bound under
497 the chin to prevent its slipping. Ustane was, by the way, also
498 blindfolded, I do not know why, unless it was from fear that she
499 should impart the secrets of the route to us.
500 [ She, by H. Rider Haggard ]
502 On this particular day Blind Io, by dint of constant vigilance
503 the chief of the gods, sat with his chin on his hand
504 and looked at the gaming board on the red marble table in
505 front of him. Blind Io had got his name because, where his
506 eye sockets should have been, there were nothing but two
507 areas of blank skin. His eyes, of which he had an impressively
508 large number, led a semi-independent life of their
509 own. Several were currently hovering above the table.
510 [ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]
516 These giant amoeboid creatures look like nothing more than
517 puddles of slime, but they both live and move, feeding on
518 metal or wood as well as the occasional dungeon explorer to
519 supplement their diet.
521 But we were not on a station platform. We were on the track ahead
522 as the nightmare, plastic column of fetid black iridescence oozed
523 tightly onward through its fifteen-foot sinus, gathering unholy
524 speed and driving before it a spiral, re-thickening cloud of the
525 pallid abyss vapor. It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster
526 than any subway train -- a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic
527 bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes
528 forming and unforming as pustules of greenish light all over the
529 tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic
530 penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its
531 kind had swept so evilly free of all litter.
532 [ At the Mountains of Madness, by H.P. Lovecraft ]
535 I'd planned how to prevent the lock from sealing behind me; it
536 required a temporary sacrifice, not cleverness. I used the door
537 itself to help me cut off a portion of my body, after shunting all
538 memory from the piece to be abandoned. The piece, looking
539 inexpressibly dear and forlorn for a bit of blue jelly, would
540 force open the outer door until I returned and rejoined it.
541 [ Beholder's Eye, by Julie E. Czerneda ]
543 Bone devils attack with weapons and with a great hooked tail
544 which causes a loss of strength to those they sting.
548 Faustus: Come on Mephistopheles. What shall we do?
549 Mephistopheles: Nay, I know not. We shall be cursed with bell,
551 Faustus: How? Bell, book, and candle, candle, book, and bell,
552 Forward and backward, to curse Faustus to hell.
553 Anon you shall hear a hog grunt, a calf bleat, and an ass bray,
554 Because it is Saint Peter's holy day.
555 (Enter all the Friars to sing the dirge)
556 [ Doctor Faustus and Other Plays, by Christopher Marlowe ]
558 #: this one is commented out because two from the same source feels a
559 #: bit excessive; if uncommented, it should be first since the punchline
560 #: is about coming back while the other one is disdainful about that, so
561 #: if this one came second, its joke would be weakened
562 # "It's a boomerang," said Vimes. "You find something like this
563 # all over the world. You have to wave it carefully and suddenly
564 # your opponent gets it in the back. I've heard that there's a lad
565 # in Fourecks who can throw a boomerang with such precision that it
566 # can get the morning paper and come back with it."
567 # [ Raising Steam, by Terry Pratchett ]
569 Rincewind pulled himself up and thought about reaching for his
570 stick. And then he thought again. The man had a couple of spears
571 stuck in the ground, and people here were good at spears, because
572 if you didn't get efficient at hitting the things that moved fast
573 you had to eat the things that moved slowly. He was also holding
574 a boomerang, and it wasn't one of those toy ones that came back.
575 This was one of the big, heavy, gently curved sort that didn't
576 come back because it was sticking in something's ribcage. You
577 could laugh at the idea of wooden weapons until you saw the kind
578 of wood that grew here.
579 [ The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett ]
582 In Fantasyland these are remarkable in that they seldom or
583 never wear out and are suitable for riding or walking in
584 without the need of Socks. Boots never pinch, rub, or get
585 stones in them; nor do nails stick upwards into the feet from
586 the soles. They are customarily mid-calf length or knee-high,
587 slip on and off easily and never smell of feet. Unfortunately,
588 the formula for making this splendid footwear is a closely
589 guarded secret, possibly derived from nonhumans (see Dwarfs,
591 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
594 On waking, he found himself on the green knoll whence he had
595 first seen the old man of the glen. He rubbed his eyes -- it
596 was a bright sunny morning. The birds were hopping and
597 twittering among the bushes, and the eagle was wheeling aloft,
598 and breasting the pure mountain breeze. "Surely," thought Rip,
599 "I have not slept here all night." He recalled the occurrences
600 before he fell asleep. The strange man with a keg of liquor --
601 the mountain ravine -- the wild retreat among the rocks -- the
602 woe-begone party at ninepins -- the flagon -- "Oh! that flagon!
603 that wicked flagon!" thought Rip -- "what excuse shall I make
605 [ Rip Van Winkle, a Posthumous Writing
606 of Diedrich Knickerbocker, by Washington Irving ]
608 I worked the lever well under, and stretched my back; the end
609 of the stone rose up, and I kicked the fulcrum under. Then,
610 when I was going to bear down, I remembered there was
611 something to get out from below; when I let go of the lever,
612 the stone would fall again. I sat down to think, on the root
613 of the oak tree; and, seeing it stand about the ground, I saw
614 my way. It was lucky I had brought a longer lever. It would
615 just reach to wedge under the oak root.
616 Bearing it down so far would have been easy for a heavy man,
617 but was a hard fight for me. But this time I meant to do it
618 if it killed me, because I knew it could be done. Twice I
619 got it nearly there, and twice the weight bore it up again;
620 but when I flung myself on it the third time, I heard in my
621 ears the sea-sound of Poseidon. Then I knew this time I
622 would do it; and so I did.
623 [ The King Must Die, by Mary Renault ]
627 "Stand to it, my hearts of gold," said the old bowman as he
628 passed from knot to knot. "By my hilt! we are in luck this
629 journey. Bear in mind the old saying of the Company."
630 "What is that, Aylward?" cried several, leaning on their bows
632 "'Tis the master-bowyer's rede: 'Every bow well bent. Every
633 shaft well sent. Every stave well nocked. Every string well
634 locked.' There, with that jingle in his head, a bracer on
635 his left hand, a shooting glove on his right, and a
636 farthing's-worth of wax in his girdle, what more doth a
638 "It would not be amiss," said Hordle John, "if under his
639 girdle he had four farthings'-worth of wine."
640 [ The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ]
642 Brigit (Brigid, Bride, Banfile), which means the Exalted One,
643 was the Celtic (continental European and Irish) fertility
644 goddess. She was originally celebrated on February first in
645 the festival of Imbolc, which coincided with the beginning
646 of lactation in ewes and was regarded in Scotland as the date
647 on which Brigit deposed the blue-faced hag of winter. The
648 Christian calendar adopted the same date for the Feast of St.
649 Brigit. There is no record that a Christian saint ever
650 actually existed, but in Irish mythology she became the
651 midwife to the Virgin Mary.
652 [ Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]
655 Bring me my broadsword
656 And clear understanding.
657 Bring me my cross of gold,
659 [ "Broadsword" (refrain) by Ian Anderson ]
661 Bugbears are relatives of goblins, although they tend to be
662 larger and more hairy. They are aggressive carnivores and
663 sometimes kill just for the treasure their victims may be
666 'I read you by your bugle horn
667 And by your palfrey good,
668 I read you for a Ranger sworn
669 To keep the King's green-wood.'
670 'A Ranger, Lady, winds his horn,
671 And 'tis at peep of light;
672 His blast is heard at merry morn,
673 And mine at dead of night.'
674 [ Brignall Banks, by Sir Walter Scott ]
676 "Good," he said and, unbelievably, smiled at me, a smirk like
677 a round of rotted cheese. "What did your keeper use on you?
679 [ Melusine, by Sarah Monette ]
681 A classical Mesoamerican Aztec god, also known as Mixcoatl-
682 Camaxtli (the Cloud Serpent), Camaxtli is the god of war. He
683 is also a deity of hunting and fire who received human
684 sacrifice of captured prisoners. According to tradition, the
685 sun god Tezcatlipoca transformed himself into Mixcoatl-Camaxtli
686 to make fire by twirling the sacred fire sticks.
687 [ Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]
689 The seat of Arthur's power in medieval romance. The name is
690 of unknown origin and refers to the castle but also includes
691 the surrounding town. ... Camelot appears, most significantly,
692 as a personal capital as opposed to a permanent or national
693 one. It is Arthur's and Arthur's alone. There are no previous
694 lords and Arthur's successor, Constantine, does not take up
695 residence there. Camelot is actually said to have been
696 demolished after Arthur and Lancelot were gone by Mark. Fazio
697 degli Uberti, the Italian poet, claims to have seen the ruins
699 [ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]
701 Only once a year, on his birthday, did Charlie Bucket ever
702 get to taste a bit of chocolate. The whole family saved up
703 their money for that special occasion, and when the great
704 day arrived, Charlie was always presented with one small
705 chocolate bar to eat all by himself. And each time he
706 received it, on those marvelous birthday mornings, he would
707 place it carefully in a small wooden box that he owned, and
708 treasure it as though it were a bar of solid gold; and for
709 the next few days, he would allow himself only to look at it,
710 but never to touch it. Then at last, when he could stand it
711 no longer, he would peel back a tiny bit of the paper
712 wrapping at one corner to expose a tiny bit of chocolate, and
713 then he would take a tiny nibble - just enough to allow the
714 lovely sweet taste to spread out slowly over his tongue. The
715 next day, he would take another tiny nibble, and so on, and
716 so on. And in this way, Charlie would make his ten-cent bar
717 of birthday chocolate last him for more than a month.
718 [ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl ]
720 In World War II, Britain's air ministry spread the word that
721 a diet of these vegetables helped pilots see Nazi bombers
722 attacking at night. That was a lie intended to cover the real
723 matter of what was underpinning the Royal Air Force's successes:
724 Airborne Interception Radar, also known as AI. ... British
725 Intelligence didn't want the Germans to find out about the
726 superior new technology helping protect the nation, so they
727 created a rumor to afford a somewhat plausible-sounding
728 explanation for the sudden increase in bombers being shot down.
729 ... The disinformation was so persuasive that the English public
730 took to eating carrots to help them find their way during the
732 [ Urban Legends Reference Pages ]
734 Imagine a sealed container, so perfectly constructed that no
735 physical influence can pass either inwards or outwards across its
736 walls. Imagine that inside the container is a cat, and also a
737 device that can be triggered by some quantum event. If that event
738 takes place, then the device smashes a phial containing cyanide and
739 the cat is killed. If the event does not take place, the cat lives
740 on. In Schroedinger's original version, the quantum event was the
741 decay of a radioactive atom. ... To the outside observer, the cat
742 is indeed in a linear combination of being alive and dead, and only
743 when the container is finally opened would the cat's state vector
744 collapse into one or the other. On the other hand, to a (suitably
745 protected) observer inside the container, the cat's state-vector
746 would have collapsed much earlier, and the outside observer's
747 linear combination has no relevance.
748 [ The Emperor's New Mind, by Roger Penrose ]
749 # takes "cat or other feline" when specifying 'f'
753 Well-known quadruped domestic animal from the family of
754 predatory felines (_Felis ochreata domestica_), with a thick,
755 soft pelt; often kept as a pet. Various folklores have the
756 cat associated with magic and the gods of ancient Egypt.
758 So Ulthar went to sleep in vain anger; and when the people
759 awakened at dawn - behold! Every cat was back at his
760 accustomed hearth! Large and small, black, grey, striped,
761 yellow and white, none was missing. Very sleek and fat did
762 the cats appear, and sonorous with purring content.
763 [ The Cats of Ulthar, by H.P. Lovecraft ]
764 # this one doesn't work very well for dwarven and gnomish cavemen
767 Now it was light enough to leave. Moon-Watcher picked up
768 the shriveled corpse and dragged it after him as he bent
769 under the low overhang of the cave. Once outside, he
770 threw the body over his shoulder and stood upright - the
771 only animal in all this world able to do so.
772 Among his kind, Moon-Watcher was almost a giant. He was
773 nearly five feet high, and though badly undernourished
774 weighed over a hundred pounds. His hairy, muscular body
775 was halfway between ape and man, but his head was already
776 much nearer to man than ape. The forehead was low, and
777 there were ridges over the eye sockets, yet he unmistakably
778 held in his genes the promise of humanity.
779 [ 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke ]
782 'Twas in a land unkempt of life's red dawn;
783 Where in his sanded cave he dwelt alone;
784 Sleeping by day, or sometimes worked upon
785 His flint-head arrows and his knives of stone;
786 By night stole forth and slew the savage boar,
787 So that he loomed a hunter of loud fame,
788 And many a skin of wolf and wild-cat wore,
789 And counted many a flint-head to his name;
790 Wherefore he walked the envy of the band,
791 Hated and feared, but matchless in his skill.
792 Till lo! one night deep in that shaggy land,
793 He tracked a yearling bear and made his kill;
794 Then over-worn he rested by a stream,
795 And sank into a sleep too deep for dream.
796 [ The Dreamer, by Robert Service ]
798 Of all the monsters put together by the Greek imagination
799 the Centaurs (Kentauroi) constituted a class in themselves.
800 Despite a strong streak of sensuality, in their make-up,
801 their normal behaviour was moral, and they took a kindly
802 thought of man's welfare. The attempted outrage of Nessos on
803 Deianeira, and that of the whole tribe of Centaurs on the
804 Lapith women, are more than offset by the hospitality of
805 Pholos and by the wisdom of Cheiron, physician, prophet,
806 lyrist, and the instructor of Achilles. Further, the
807 Centaurs were peculiar in that their nature, which united the
808 body of a horse with the trunk and head of a man, involved
809 an unthinkable duplication of vital organs and important
810 members. So grotesque a combination seems almost un-Greek.
811 These strange creatures were said to live in the caves and
812 clefts of the mountains, myths associating them especially
813 with the hills of Thessaly and the range of Erymanthos.
814 [ Mythology of all races, Vol. 1, pp. 270-271 ]
816 I observed here, what I had often seen before, that certain
817 districts abound in centipedes. Here they have light
818 reddish bodies and blue legs; great myriapedes are seen
819 crawling every where. Although they do no harm, they excite
820 in man a feeling of loathing. Perhaps our appearance
821 produces a similar feeling in the elephant and other large
822 animals. Where they have been much disturbed, they
823 certainly look upon us with great distrust, as the horrid
824 biped that ruins their peace.
825 [ Travels and Researches in South Africa,
826 by Dr. David Livingstone ]
829 Cerberus, (or Kerberos in Greek), was the three-headed dog
830 that guarded the Gates of Hell. He allowed any dead to enter,
831 and likewise prevented them all from ever leaving. He was
832 bested only twice: once when Orpheus put him to sleep by
833 playing bewitching music on his lyre, and the other time when
834 Hercules confronted him and took him to the world of the
835 living (as his twelfth and last labor).
837 A small lizard perched on a brown stone. Feeling threatened by
838 the approach of human beings along the path, it metamorphosed
839 into a stingray beetle, then into a stench-puffer, then into a
841 Bink smiled. These conversions weren't real. It had assumed
842 the forms of obnoxious little monsters, but not their essence.
843 It could not sting, stink or burn. It was a chameleon, using
844 its magic to mimic creatures of genuine threat.
845 Yet as it shifted into the form of a basilisk it glared at him
846 with such ferocity that Bink's mirth abated. If its malice
847 could strike him, he would be horribly dead.
848 [ A Spell for Chameleon, by Piers Anthony ]
850 When an ancient Greek died, his soul went to the nether world:
851 the Hades. To reach the nether world, the souls had to cross
852 the river Styx, the river that separated the living from the
853 dead. The Styx could be crossed by ferry, whose shabby ferry-
854 man, advanced in age, was called Charon. The deceased's next-
855 of-kin would place a coin under his tongue, to pay the ferry-
859 Dantes rapidly cleared away the earth around the chest. Soon
860 the center lock appeared, then the handles at each end, all
861 delicately wrought in the manner of that period when art made
862 precious even the basest of metals. He took the chest by the
863 two handles and tried to lift it, but it was impossible. He
864 tried to open it; it was locked. He inserted the sharp end
865 of his pickaxe between the chest and the lid and pushed down
866 on the handle. The lid creaked, then flew open.
867 Dantes was seized with a sort of giddy fever. He cocked his
868 gun and placed it beside him. Then he closed his eyes like
869 a child, opened them and stood dumbfounded.
870 The chest was divided into three compartments. In the first
871 were shining gold coins. In the second, unpolished gold
872 ingots packed in orderly stacks. From the third compartment,
873 which was half full, Dantes picked up handfuls of diamonds,
874 pearls and rubies. As they fell through his fingers in a
875 glittering cascade, they gave forth the sound of hail beating
876 against the windowpanes.
877 [ The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas ]
879 A character in Chinese mythology noted for bringing about the
880 end of a terrible drought which threatened the survival of
881 the people. He achieved this by means of sprinkling the
882 earth with water from a bowl, using the branch of a tree to
883 do so. He became the heavenly controller of the rain, and
884 lived with other celestial beings in their paradise on Mount
886 [ The Illustrated Who's Who In Mythology, by Michael Senior ]
889 Tiamat is said to be the mother of evil dragonkind. She is
892 A pale yellow variety of crystalline quartz resembling topaz.
894 It was a warm spring night when a fist knocked at the door so
895 hard that the hinges bent.
896 A man opened it and peered out into the street. There was
897 mist coming off the river and it was a cloudy night. He might
898 as well have tried to see through white velvet.
899 But he thought afterwards that there had been shapes out
900 there, just beyond the light spilling out into the road. A
901 lot of shapes, watching him carefully. He thought maybe
902 there'd been very faint points of light...
903 There was no mistaking the shape right in front of him,
904 though. It was big and dark red and looked like a child's
905 clay model of a man. Its eyes were two embers.
906 [ Feet of Clay, by Terry Pratchett ]
908 Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed,
909 sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic
910 melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled
911 thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.
912 [ The Phoenix on the Sword, by Robert E. Howard ]
916 Cloaks are the universal outer garb of everyone who is not a
917 Barbarian. It is hard to see why. They are open in front
918 and require you at most times to use one hand to hold them
919 shut. On horseback they leave the shirt-sleeved arms and
920 most of the torso exposed to wind and Weather. The OMTs
921 [ Official Management Terms ] for Cloaks well express their
922 difficulties. They are constantly _swirling and dripping_
923 and becoming _heavy with water_ in rainy Weather, _entangling
924 with trees_ or _swords_, or needing to be _pulled close
925 around her/his shivering body_. This seems to suggest they
926 are less than practical for anyone on an arduous Tour.
927 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
929 I wandered lonely as a cloud
930 That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
931 When all at once I saw a crowd,
932 A host, of golden daffodils;
933 Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
934 Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
935 [ I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, by William Wordsworth ]
937 Darzee and his wife only cowered down in the nest without
938 answering, for from the thick grass at the foot of the bush
939 there came a low hiss -- a horrid cold sound that made
940 Rikki-tikki jump back two clear feet. Then inch by inch out of
941 the grass rose up the head and spread hood of Nag, the big
942 black cobra, and he was five feet long from tongue to tail.
943 When he had lifted one-third of himself clear of the ground,
944 he stayed balancing to and fro exactly as a dandelion-tuft
945 balances in the wind, and he looked at Rikki-tikki with the
946 wicked snake's eyes that never change their expression,
947 whatever the snake may be thinking of.
948 'Who is Nag?' said he. '_I_ am Nag. The great God Brahm put
949 his mark upon all our people, when the first cobra spread his
950 hood to keep the sun off Brahm as he slept. Look, and be
952 [ Rikki-tikki-tavi, by Rudyard Kipling ]
954 Once in a great while, when the positions of the stars are
955 just right, a seven-year-old rooster will lay an egg. Then,
956 along will come a snake, to coil around the egg, or a toad,
957 to squat upon the egg, keeping it warm and helping it to
958 hatch. When it hatches, out comes a creature called basilisk,
959 or cockatrice, the most deadly of all creatures. A single
960 glance from its yellow, piercing toad's eyes will kill both
961 man and beast. Its power of destruction is said to be so
962 great that sometimes simply to hear its hiss can prove fatal.
963 Its breath is so venomous that it causes all vegetation
966 There is, however, one creature which can withstand the
967 basilisk's deadly gaze, and this is the weasel. No one knows
968 why this is so, but although the fierce weasel can slay the
969 basilisk, it will itself be killed in the struggle. Perhaps
970 the weasel knows the basilisk's fatal weakness: if it ever
971 sees its own reflection in a mirror it will perish instantly.
972 But even a dead basilisk is dangerous, for it is said that
973 merely touching its lifeless body can cause a person to
975 [ Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)
981 The coin bears the likeness of Belwit the Flat, along with the
982 inscriptions, "One Zorkmid," and "699 GUE [ Great Underground
983 Empire ]." On the other side, the coin depicts Egreth Castle,
984 and says "In Frobs We Trust" in several languages.
985 [ Zork Zero, by Infocom ]
994 [Scene: Mr. Moon and Gilbert enter tavern and discover many
995 corpses strewn about the place; Blind Pew is sole survivor.]
996 Blind Pew: Evening. Sounded as though there has been a bit
998 Mr. Moon: Squabble? They're all dead.
999 Blind Pew: Oh. Must have been more of a tiff then.
1000 [ Yellowbeard, directed by Mel Damski, screenplay
1001 by Graham Chapman, Peter Cook, Bernard McKenna ]
1004 The cope is a liturgical vestment which may be worn by any
1005 rank of the clergy. Copes are made in all liturgical colours,
1006 and are like a very long mantle or cloak, fastened at the breast
1008 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
1010 He was dressed in a flowing gown with fur tippets which had
1011 the signs of the zodiac embroidered over it, with various
1012 cabalistic signs, such as triangles with eyes in them, queer
1013 crosses, leaves of trees, bones of birds and animals, and a
1014 planetarium whose stars shone like bits of looking-glass with
1015 the sun on them. He had a pointed hat like a dunce's cap, or
1016 like the headgear worn by ladies of that time, except that
1017 the ladies were accustomed to have a bit of veil floating
1019 [ The Once and Future King, by T.H. White ]
1021 "A wizard!" Dooley exclaimed, astounded.
1022 "At your service, sirs," said the wizard. "How
1023 perceptive of you to notice. I suppose my hat rather gives me
1024 away. Something of a beacon, I don't doubt." His hat was
1025 pretty much that, tall and cone-shaped with stars and crescent
1026 moons all over it. All in all, it couldn't have been more
1028 [ The Elfin Ship, James P. Blaylock ]
1030 A mythical feathered serpent. The couatl are very rare.
1032 This carnivore is known for its voracious appetite and
1033 inflated view of its own intelligence.
1035 If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I don't
1036 know the recipe; but it is biscuitish, keeps good indefinitely,
1037 is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not entertaining,
1038 being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing
1039 exercise. It was made by the Lake-men for long journeys.
1040 [ The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
1042 Gregor stared at the pastry tray, and sighed. "I suppose
1043 it would disturb the guards if I tried to shove a cream torte up
1045 "Deeply. You should have done it when we were eight and
1046 twelve, you could have gotten away with it then. The cream pie
1047 of justice flies one way," Miles snickered.
1048 [ The Vor Game, by Lois McMaster Bujold ]
1050 A big animal with the appearance of a lizard, constituting
1051 an order of the reptiles (_Loricata_ or _Crocodylia_), the
1052 crocodile is a large, dangerous predator native to tropical
1053 and subtropical climes. It spends most of its time in large
1057 How doth the little crocodile
1058 Improve his shining tail,
1059 And pour the waters of the Nile
1060 On every golden scale!
1062 How cheerfully he seems to grin
1063 How neatly spreads his claws,
1064 And welcomes little fishes in,
1065 With gently smiling jaws!
1066 [ How Doth The Little Crocodile, by Lewis Carroll ]
1070 Croesus (in Greek: Kroisos), the wealthy last king of Lydia;
1071 his empire was destroyed when he attacked Cyrus in 549, after
1072 the Oracle of Delphi (q.v.) had told him: "if you attack the
1073 Persians, you will destroy a mighty empire". Herodotus
1074 relates of his legendary conversation with Solon of Athens,
1075 who impressed upon him that being rich does not imply being
1076 happy and that no one should be considered fortunate before
1079 Warily Conan scanned his surroundings, all of his senses alert
1080 for signs of possible danger. Off in the distance, he could
1081 see the familiar shapes of the Camp of the Duali tribe.
1082 Suddenly, the hairs on his neck stand on end as he detects the
1083 aura of evil magic in the air. Without thought, he readies
1084 his weapon, and mutters under his breath:
1085 "By Crom, there will be blood spilt today."
1087 [ Conan the Avenger by Robert E. Howard, Bjorn Nyberg,
1088 and L. Sprague de Camp ]
1090 "God save thee, ancient Mariner!
1091 From the fiends, that plague thee thus! -
1092 Why look'st thou so?" - With my cross-bow
1093 I shot the Albatross.
1094 [ The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge ]
1096 You look into one of these and see _vapours swirling like
1097 clouds_. These shortly clear away to show a sort of video
1098 without sound of something that is going to happen to you
1099 soon. It is seldom good news.
1100 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
1102 Curses are longstanding ill-wishings which, in Fantasyland,
1103 often manifest as semisentient. They have to be broken or
1104 dispelled. The method varies according to the type and
1105 origin of the Curse:
1107 4. Curses on Rings and Swords. You have problems. Rings
1108 have to be returned whence they came, preferably at over a
1109 thousand degrees Fahrenheit, and the Curse means you won't
1110 want to do this. Swords usually resist all attempts to
1111 raise their Curses. Your best source is to hide the Sword
1112 or give it to someone you dislike.
1113 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
1115 A pack of snow-white, red-eared spectral hounds which
1116 sometimes took part in the kidnappings and raids the
1117 inhabitants of the underworld sometimes make on this world
1118 (the Wild Hunt). They are associated in Wales with the sounds
1119 of migrating wild geese, and are said to be leading the souls
1120 of the damned to hell. The phantom chase is usually heard or
1121 seen in midwinter and is accompanied by a howling wind.
1122 [ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]
1124 And after he had milked his cattle swiftly,
1125 he again took hold of two of my men
1126 and had them as his supper.
1127 Then I went, with a tub of red wine,
1128 to stand before the Cyclops, saying:
1129 "A drop of wine after all this human meat,
1130 so you can taste the delicious wine
1131 that is stored in our ship, Cyclops."
1132 He took the tub and emptied it.
1133 He appreciated the priceless wine that much
1134 that he promptly asked me for a second tub.
1135 "Give it", he said, "and give me your name as well".
1137 Thrice I filled the tub,
1138 and after the wine had clouded his mind,
1139 I said to him, in a tone as sweet as honey:
1140 "You have asked my name, Cyclops? Well,
1141 my name is very well known. I'll give it to you,
1142 if you give me the gift you promised me as a guest.
1143 My name is Nobody. All call me thus:
1144 my father and my mother and my friends."
1145 Ruthlessly he answered to this:
1146 "Nobody, I will eat you last of all;
1147 your host of friends will completely precede you.
1148 That will be my present to you, my friend."
1149 And after these words he fell down backwards,
1150 restrained by the all-restrainer Hupnos.
1151 His monstrous neck slid into the dust;
1152 the red wine squirted from his throat;
1153 the drunk vomited lumps of human flesh.
1154 [ The Odyssey, (chapter Epsilon), by Homer ]
1157 Is this a dagger which I see before me,
1158 The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
1159 I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
1160 Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
1161 To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
1162 A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
1163 Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
1164 I see thee yet, in form as palpable
1165 As this which now I draw.
1166 [ Macbeth, by William Shakespeare ]
1168 ... But he ruled rather by force and fear, if they might
1169 avail; and those who perceived his shadow spreading over the
1170 world called him the Dark Lord and named him the Enemy; and
1171 he gathered again under his government all the evil things of
1172 the days of Morgoth that remained on earth or beneath it,
1173 and the Orcs were at his command and multiplied like flies.
1174 Thus the Black Years began ...
1175 [ The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
1176 # includes "dart trap"
1178 Darts are missile weapons, designed to fly such that a sharp,
1179 often weighted point will strike first. They can be
1180 distinguished from javelins by fletching (i.e., feathers on
1181 the tail) and a shaft that is shorter and/or more flexible,
1182 and from arrows by the fact that they are not of the right
1183 length to use with a normal bow.
1184 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
1186 Against my foe I hurled a murderous dart.
1187 He caught it in his hand -- I heard him laugh --
1188 I saw the thing that should have pierced his heart
1189 Turn to a golden staff.
1190 [ Gifts, by Mary Coleridge ]
1192 A terrible deity, whose very name was capable of producing the
1193 most horrible effects. He is first mentioned by the 4th-century
1194 Christian writer, Lactantius, who in doing so broke with the
1195 superstition that the very reference to Demogorgon by name
1196 brought death and disaster.
1197 [ Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]
1199 Demogorgon, the prince of demons, wallows in filth and can
1200 spread a quickly fatal illness to his victims while rending
1201 them. He is a mighty spellcaster, and he can drain the life
1202 of mortals with a touch of his tail.
1203 # takes "major demon" when specifying '&'
1206 It is often very hard to discover what any given Demon looks
1207 like, apart from a general impression of large size, huge
1208 fangs, staring eyes, many limbs, and an odd color; but all
1209 accounts agree that Demons are very powerful, very Magic (in
1210 a nonhuman manner), and made of some substance that can squeeze
1211 through a keyhole yet not be pierced with a Sword. This makes
1212 them difficult to deal with, even on the rare occasions when
1214 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
1216 The hardest known mineral (with a hardness of 10 on Mohs' scale).
1217 It is an allotropic form of pure carbon that has crystallized in
1218 the cubic system, usually as octahedra or cubes, under great
1220 [ A Concise Dictionary of Physics ]
1222 The diamond, _adamas_ or _dyamas_, is a transparent stone, like
1223 crystal, but having the colour of polished iron, but it cannot
1224 be destroyed by iron, fire or any other means, unless it is
1225 placed in the hot blood of a goat; with sharp pieces of diamond
1226 other stones are engraved and polished. It is no greater than
1227 a small nut. There are six kinds, however Adamant attracts
1228 metal; it expels venom; it produces amber (and is efficacious
1229 against empty fears and for those resisting spells). It is
1230 found in India, in Greece and in Cyprus, where magicians make
1231 use of it. It gives you courage; it averts apparitions; it
1232 removes anger and quarrels; it heals the mad; it defends you
1233 from your enemies. It should be set in gold or silver and worn
1234 on the left arm. It is likewise found in Arabia.
1235 [ The Aberdeen Bestiary, translated by Colin McLaren ]
1237 The most famous and the first to be named of the imaginary
1238 "minerals" of Star Trek is dilithium. ... Because of this
1239 mineral's central role in the storyline, a whole mythology
1240 surrounds it. It is, however, a naturally occurring substance
1241 within the mythology, as there are various episodes that
1242 make reference to the mining of dilithium deposits. ...
1243 This name itself is imaginary and gives no real information on
1244 the structure or make-up of this substance other than that this
1245 version of the name implies a lithium and iron-bearing
1246 aluminosilicate of some sort. That said, the real mineral that
1247 most closely matches the descriptive elements of this name is
1248 ferroholmquistite which is a dilithium triferrodiallosilicate.
1249 If one goes on the premise that nature follows certain general
1250 norms, then one could extrapolate that dilithium might have a
1251 similar number of silicon atoms in its structure.
1252 Keeping seven (i.e. hepto) ferrous irons and balancing the
1253 oxygens would give a theoretical formula of Li2Fe7Al2Si8O27.
1254 A mineral with this composition could theoretically exist,
1255 although it is doubtful that it would possess the more fantastic
1256 properties ascribed to dilithium.
1257 [ The Mineralogy of Star Trek, by Jeffrey de Fourestier ]
1259 A wolflike wild dog, Canis dingo, of Australia, having a
1260 reddish- or yellowish-brown coat, believed to have been
1261 introduced by the aborigines.
1262 [ Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary
1263 of the English Language ]
1265 Ask not, what your magic can do to it. Ask what it can do
1268 The Roman ruler of the underworld and fortune, similar to the
1269 Greek Hades. Every hundred years, the Ludi Tarentini were
1270 celebrated in his honor. The Gauls regarded Dis Pater as
1271 their ancestor. The name is a contraction of the Latin Dives,
1272 "the wealthy", Dives Pater, "the wealthy father", or "Fater
1273 Wealth". It refers to the wealth of precious stone below the
1275 [ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]
1277 The djinn are genies from the elemental plane of Air. There,
1278 among their kind, they have their own societies. They are
1279 sometimes encountered on earth and may even be summoned here
1280 to perform some service for powerful wizards. The wizards
1281 often leave them about for later service, safely tucked away
1282 in a flask or lamp. Once in a while, such a tool is found by
1283 a lucky rogue, and some djinn are known to be so grateful
1284 when released that they might grant their rescuer a wish.
1285 # takes "dog or other canine" when specifying 'd'
1292 A domestic animal, the _tame dog_ (_Canis familiaris_), of
1293 which numerous breeds exist. The male is called a dog,
1294 while the female is called a bitch. Because of its known
1295 loyalty to man and gentleness with children, it is the
1296 world's most popular domestic animal. It can easily be
1297 trained to perform various tasks.
1298 # typing "spellbook or a closed door" shouldn't yield this entry
1303 Through me you pass into the city of woe:
1304 Through me you pass into eternal pain:
1305 Through me among the people lost for aye.
1306 Justice the founder of my fabric mov'd:
1307 To rear me was the task of power divine,
1308 Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.
1309 Before me things create were none, save things
1310 Eternal, and eternal I endure.
1311 All hope abandon ye who enter here.
1312 [ The Inferno, from The Divine Comedy of Dante
1313 Alighieri, translated by H.F. Cary ]
1315 "Then we can only give thanks that this is Antarctica, where
1316 there is not one, single, solitary, living thing for it to
1317 imitate, except these animals in camp."
1319 "Us," Blair giggled. "It can imitate us. Dogs can't make four
1320 hundred miles to the sea; there's no food. There aren't any
1321 skua gulls to imitate at this season. There aren't any
1322 penguins this far inland. There's nothing that can reach the
1323 sea from this point - except us. We've got brains. We can do
1324 it. Don't you see - it's got to imitate us - it's got to be one
1325 of us - that's the only way it can fly an airplane - fly a plane
1326 for two hours, and rule - be - all Earth's inhabitants. A world
1327 for the taking - if it imitates us!
1328 [ Who Goes There?, by John W. Campbell ]
1330 Xander: Let go! I have to kill the demon bot!
1331 Xander Double (grabbing the gun): Anya, get out of the way.
1333 Xander Double: That's all right, Buffy. I have him.
1334 Xander: No, Buffy, I'm me. Help me!
1335 Anya: My gun, he's got my gun.
1336 Riley: You own a gun?
1337 Buffy: Xander, gun holding Xander, give it to me.
1338 Anya: Buffy, which one's real?
1340 Xander Double: No, _I_ am.
1341 [ Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Episode 5.03, "The Replacement" ]
1344 In the West the dragon was the natural enemy of man. Although
1345 preferring to live in bleak and desolate regions, whenever it
1346 was seen among men it left in its wake a trail of destruction
1347 and disease. Yet any attempt to slay this beast was a perilous
1348 undertaking. For the dragon's assailant had to contend
1349 not only with clouds of sulphurous fumes pouring from its fire
1350 breathing nostrils, but also with the thrashings of its tail,
1351 the most deadly part of its serpent-like body.
1352 [ Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library) ]
1354 "One whom the dragons will speak with," he said, "that is a
1355 dragonlord, or at least that is the center of the matter. It's
1356 not a trick of mastering the dragons, as most people think.
1357 Dragons have no masters. The question is always the same, with
1358 a dragon: will he talk to you or will he eat you? If you can
1359 count upon his doing the former, and not doing the latter, why
1360 then you're a dragonlord."
1361 [ The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula K. Le Guin ]
1363 Stephen had argued, and the expert armorer had grudgingly
1364 admitted, that dragonscale shield or armor, provided it proved
1365 feasible to make at all, ought to offer some real, practical
1366 advantages over any metal breastplate or shield -- gram for
1367 gram of weight, such a defense would probably be a lot
1368 tougher and more protective than any human smiths could
1370 [ The Last Book of Swords: Shieldbreaker's Story,
1371 by Fred Saberhagen ]
1373 Many travelers have seen the drums of the great apes, and
1374 some have heard the sounds of their beating and the noise of
1375 the wild, weird revelry of these first lords of the jungle,
1376 but Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, is, doubtless, the only human
1377 being who ever joined in the fierce, mad, intoxicating revel
1379 [ Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs ]
1381 A dunce cap, also variously known as a dunce hat, dunce's
1382 cap, or dunce's hat, is a tall conical hat. In popular
1383 culture, it is typically made of paper and often marked with
1384 a D, and given to schoolchildren to wear as punishment for
1385 being stupid or lazy. While this is now a rare practice,
1386 it is frequently depicted in popular culture such as
1387 children's cartoons.
1388 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
1390 At once as far as Angels kenn he views
1391 The dismal Situation waste and wilde,
1392 A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round
1393 As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames
1394 No light, but rather darkness visible
1395 Serv'd only to discover sights of woe,
1396 Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
1397 And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
1398 That comes to all; but torture without end
1399 Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed
1400 With ever-burning Sulphur unconsum'd:
1401 Such place Eternal Justice had prepar'd
1402 For those rebellious, here their Prison ordain'd
1403 In utter darkness, and their portion set
1404 As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n
1405 As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.
1406 [ Paradise Lost, by John Milton ]
1410 Dwarfs have faces like men (ugly men, with wrinkled, leathery
1411 skins), but are generally either flat-footed, duck-footed, or
1412 have feet pointing backwards. They are of the earth, earthy,
1413 living in the darkest of caverns and venturing forth only
1414 with the cloaks by which they can make themselves invisible,
1415 and others disguised as toads. Miners often come across them,
1416 and sometimes establish reasonably close relations with them.
1417 ... The miners of Cornwall were always delighted to hear a
1418 bucca busily mining away, for all dwarfs have an infallible
1419 nose for precious metals.
1420 Among other things, dwarfs are rightly valued for their skill
1421 as blacksmiths and jewellers: they made Odin his famous spear
1422 Gungnir, and Thor his hammer; for Freya they designed a
1423 magnificent necklace, and for Frey a golden boar. And in their
1424 spare time they are excellent bakers. Ironically, despite
1425 their odd feet, they are particularly fond of dancing. They
1426 can also see into the future, and consequently are excellent
1427 meteorologists. They can be free with presents to people
1428 they like, and a dwarvish gift is likely to turn to gold in
1429 the hand. But on the whole they are a snappish lot.
1430 [ The Immortals, by Derek and Julia Parker ]
1433 In after days, when because of the triumph of Morgoth Elves and
1434 Men became estranged, as he most wished, those of the Elven-race
1435 that lived still in Middle-earth waned and faded, and Men usurped
1436 the sunlight. Then the Quendi wandered in the lonely places of the
1437 great lands and the isles, and took to the moonlight and the
1438 starlight, and to the woods and the caves, becoming as shadows
1439 and memories, save those who ever and anon set sail into the West
1440 and vanished from Middle-earth. But in the dawn of years Elves
1441 and Men were allies and held themselves akin, and there were some
1442 among Men that learned the wisdom of the Eldar, and became great
1443 and valiant among the captains of the Noldor. And in the glory
1444 and beauty of the Elves, and in their fate, full share had the
1445 offspring of elf and mortal, Earendil, and Elwing, and Elrond
1447 [ The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
1450 The behaviour of eels in fresh water extends the air of
1451 mystery surrounding them. They move freely into muddy, silty
1452 bottoms of lakes, lying buried in the daylight hours in summer.
1453 [...] Eels are voracious carnivores, feeding mainly at
1454 night and consuming a wide variety of fishes and invertebrate
1455 creatures. Contrary to earlier thinking, eels seek living
1456 rather than dead creatures and are not habitual eaters of
1458 [ Freshwater Fishes of Canada, by Scott and Crossman ]
1460 But I asked why not keep it and let the hen sit on it till it
1461 hatched, and then we could see what would come out of it.
1462 "Nothing good, I'm certain of that," Mom said. "It would
1463 probably be something horrible. But just remember, if it's a
1464 crocodile or a dragon or something like that, I won't have it
1465 in my house for one minute."
1466 [ The Enormous Egg, by Oliver Butterworth ]
1468 ... Even as they stepped over the threshold a single clear
1471 A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
1472 silivren penna miriel
1473 o menel aglar elenath!
1474 Na-chaered palan-diriel
1475 o galadhremmin ennorath,
1476 Fanuilos, le linnathon
1477 nef aear, si nef aearon!
1479 Frodo halted for a moment, looking back. Elrond was in his
1480 chair and the fire was on his face like summer-light upon the
1481 trees. Near him sat the Lady Arwen. [...]
1482 He stood still enchanted, while the sweet syllables of the
1483 elvish song fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody.
1484 "It is a song to Elbereth," said Bilbo. "They will sing that,
1485 and other songs of the Blessed Realm, many times tonight.
1487 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
1489 South-American fish (_Gymnotus electricus_), living in fresh
1490 water. Shaped like a serpent, it can grow up to 2 metres.
1491 This eel is known for its electrical organ which enables it
1492 to paralyse creatures up to the size of a horse.
1493 [ Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal ]
1495 Elementals are manifestations of the basic nature of the
1496 universe. There are four known forms of elementals: air, fire,
1497 water, and earth. Some mystics have postulated the necessity
1498 for a fifth type, the spirit elemental, but none have ever
1499 been encountered, at least on this plane of existence.
1504 The Elves sat round the fire upon the grass or upon the sawn
1505 rings of old trunks. Some went to and fro bearing cups and
1506 pouring drinks; others brought food on heaped plates and
1508 "This is poor fare," they said to the hobbits; "for we are
1509 lodging in the greenwood far from our halls. If ever you are
1510 our guests at home, we will treat you better."
1511 "It seems to me good enough for a birthday-party," said Frodo.
1512 Pippin afterwards recalled little of either food or drink, for
1513 his mind was filled with the light upon the elf-faces, and the
1514 sound of voices so various and so beautiful that he felt in a
1516 Sam could never describe in words, nor picture clearly to
1517 himself, what he felt or thought that night, though it remained
1518 in his memory as one of the chief events of his life. The
1519 nearest he ever got was to say: "Well, sir, if I could grow
1520 apples like that, I would call myself a gardener. But it was
1521 the singing that went to my heart, if you know what I mean."
1522 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
1524 The Elves next unwrapped and gave to each of the Company the
1525 clothes they had brought. For each they had provided a hood
1526 and cloak, made according to his size, of the light but warm
1527 silken stuff that the Galadrim wove. It was hard to say of
1528 what colour they were: grey with the hue of twilight under
1529 the trees they seemed to be; and yet if they were moved, or
1530 set in another light, they were green as shadowed leaves, or
1531 brown as fallow fields by night, dusk-silver as water under
1533 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
1535 'Put off that mask of burning gold
1537 'O no, my dear, you make so bold
1538 To find if hearts be wild and wise,
1541 'I would but find what's there to find,
1543 'It was the mask engaged your mind,
1544 And after set your heart to beat,
1547 'But lest you are my enemy,
1549 'O no, my dear, let all that be;
1550 What matter, so there is but fire
1552 [ The Mask, by W.B. Yeats ]
1555 Presently we reached a place where the beach narrowed; the sea
1556 almost came up to the foot of the cliffs, leaving a passage no
1557 wider than a couple of yards. Between two projecting rocks we
1558 caught sight of the entrance to a dark tunnel.
1559 There, on a slab of granite, appeared two mysterious letters,
1560 half eaten away by time -- the two initials of the bold,
1561 adventurous traveller:
1565 'A.S.,' cried my uncle. 'Arne Saknussemm! Arne Saknussemm again!'
1567 [...] at the sight of those two letters, carved there three
1568 hundred years before, I stood in utter stupefaction. Not
1569 only was the signature of the learned alchemist legible on
1570 the rock, but I held in my hand the dagger which had traced it.
1571 Without showing the most appalling bad faith, I could no longer
1572 doubt the existence of the traveller and the reality of his
1574 [ Journey to the Centre of the Earth, by Jules Verne,
1575 translated by Robert Baldick ]
1577 The asclepieion at Epidaurus was the most celebrated healing
1578 center of the Classical world, the place where ill people went
1579 in the hope of being cured. To find out the right cure for
1580 their ailments, they spent a night in the enkoimitiria, a big
1581 sleeping hall. In their dreams, the god himself (Asclepius)
1582 would advise them what they had to do to regain their health.
1583 There are also mineral springs in the vicinity which may have
1584 been used in healing.
1585 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
1588 These female-seeming devils named after the Furies of mythology
1589 attack hand to hand and poison their unwary victims as well.
1591 The two-headed giant, or ettin, is a vicious and unpredictable
1592 hunter that stalks by night and eats any meat it can catch.
1594 At first only its tip was visible, but then it rose, straight,
1595 proud, all that was noble and great and wondrous. The tip of
1596 the blade pointed toward the moon, as if it would cleave it
1597 in two. The blade itself gleamed like a beacon in the night.
1598 There was no light source for the sword to be reflecting
1599 from, for the moon had darted behind a cloud in fear. The
1600 sword was glowing from the intensity of its strength and
1601 power and knowledge that it was justice incarnate, and that
1602 after a slumber of uncounted years its time had again come.
1603 After the blade broke the surface, the hilt was visible, and
1604 holding the sword was a single strong, yet feminine hand,
1605 wearing several rings that bore jewels sparkling with the
1606 blue-green color of the ocean.
1607 [ Knight Life, by Peter David ]
1609 There was a time when Rincewind had quite liked the iconoscope.
1610 He believed, against all experience, that the world was
1611 fundamentally understandable, and that if he could only equip
1612 himself with the right mental toolbox he could take the back off
1613 and see how it worked. He was, of course, dead wrong. The
1614 iconoscope didn't take pictures by letting light fall onto
1615 specially treated paper, as he had surmised, but by the far
1616 simpler method of imprisoning a small demon with a good eye for
1617 colour and a speedy hand with a paintbrush. He had been very
1618 upset to find that out.
1619 [ The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchett ]
1620 eye of the aethiopica
1621 This is a powerful amulet of ESP. In addition to its standard
1622 powers, it regenerates the energy of anyone who carries
1623 it, allowing them to cast spells more often. It also reduces
1624 any spell damage to the person who carries it by half, and
1625 protects from magic missiles. Finally, when invoked it has
1626 the power to instantly open a portal to any other area of the
1627 dungeon, allowing its invoker to travel quickly between
1629 # note: The Eyes of the Overworld is the title of Jack Vance's sequel
1630 # to The Dying Earth and in it the 'Eyes' were separate "cusps" that
1631 # needed to be worn like contact lenses, one on each eyeball. Wearing
1632 # just one and attempting to look with both eyes caused instant stun.
1633 # And when wearing two you couldn't see normal world, only a projection
1634 # of it that had similar topology but where everything was "better".
1635 # NetHack simplifies things: a pair of lenses is a single item like
1636 # spectacles (eyeglasses), and the effect of wearing these lenses has
1637 # been changed to be useful to game play (Xray vision). [The quote is
1638 # not derived from the book.]
1639 eyes of the overworld
1640 The Eyes of the Overworld is a rather obscure artifact.
1641 These magical lenses push the wearer's view sense into the
1642 "overworld" -- another name for a segment of the Astral Plane.
1643 Usually, there is nothing to be seen. However, the wearer
1644 is also able to look back and see the area around herself,
1645 much like looking on a map. Why anyone would want to ...
1647 Some hats can only be worn if you're willing to be jaunty, to set
1648 them at an angle and to walk beneath them with a spring in your
1649 stride as if you're only a step away from dancing. They demand a
1651 [ Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman ]
1653 Then it appeared in Paris at just about the time that Paris
1654 was full of Carlists who had to get out of Spain. One of
1655 them must have brought it with him, but, whoever he was, it's
1656 likely he knew nothing about its real value. It had been --
1657 no doubt as a precaution during the Carlist trouble in Spain
1658 -- painted or enameled over to look like nothing more than a
1659 fairly interesting black statuette. And in that disguise,
1660 sir, it was, you might say, kicked around Paris for seventy
1661 years by private owners and dealers too stupid to see what
1662 it was under the skin.
1663 [ The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett ]
1665 'Let him be for a while,' said Cohen. 'I reckon the fish
1666 disagreed with him.'
1667 'Don't see why,' said Truckle. 'I pulled him out before it'd
1668 hardly chewed him. And he must've dried out nicely in that
1669 corridor. You know, the one where the flames shot up out of
1670 the floor unexpectedly.'
1671 'I reckon our bard wasn't expecting flames to shoot out of
1672 the floor unexpectedly,' said Cohen.
1673 Truckle shrugged theatrically. '_Well_, if you're not going
1674 to expect unexpected flames, what's the point of going
1676 [ The Last Hero, by Terry Pratchett ]
1678 Some say the world will end in fire,
1680 From what I've tasted of desire
1681 I hold with those who favor fire.
1682 But if it had to perish twice,
1683 I think I know enough of hate
1684 To say that for destruction ice
1687 [ Fire and Ice, by Robert Frost ]
1689 With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected
1690 the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark
1691 of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was
1692 already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against
1693 the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the
1694 glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow
1695 eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive
1696 motion agitated its limbs.
1698 How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how
1699 delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I
1700 had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I
1701 had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!--Great God!
1702 His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and
1703 arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and
1704 flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances
1705 only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that
1706 seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in
1707 which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight
1709 [ Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ]
1711 An emerald is as green as grass;
1712 A ruby red as blood;
1713 A sapphire shines as blue as heaven;
1714 A flint lies in the mud.
1716 A diamond is a brilliant stone,
1717 To catch the world's desire;
1718 An opal holds a fiery spark;
1719 But a flint holds fire.
1720 [ Precious Stones, by Christina Giorgina Rossetti ]
1722 Floating eyes, not surprisingly, are large, floating eyeballs
1723 which drift about the dungeon. Though not dangerous in and
1724 of themselves, their power to paralyse those who gaze at
1725 their large eye in combat is widely feared. Many are the
1726 tales of those who struck a floating eye, were paralysed by
1727 its mystic powers, and then nibbled to death by some other
1728 creature that lurked around nearby.
1730 With this thou canst do mighty deeds
1731 And change men's passions for thy needs:
1732 A man's despair with joy allay,
1733 Turn bachelors old to lovers gay.
1734 [ The Magic Flute, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ]
1735 # also takes fog/vapor cloud
1741 over harbor and city
1744 [ Fog, by Carl Sandburg ]
1745 # includes "food detection" and "detect food", which might not be the best
1747 The little girl stood on tip-toe and picked one of the nicest
1748 and biggest lunch-boxes, and then she sat down upon the ground
1749 and eagerly opened it. Inside she found, nicely wrapped in
1750 white papers, a ham sandwich, a piece of sponge-cake, a pickle,
1751 a slice of new cheese and an apple. Each thing had a separate
1752 stem, and so had to be picked off the side of the box; but
1753 Dorothy found them all to be delicious, and she ate every bit
1754 of luncheon in the box before she had finished.
1755 [ Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum ]
1757 Rest! This little Fountain runs
1758 Thus for aye: -- It never stays
1759 For the look of summer suns,
1760 Nor the cold of winter days.
1761 Whose'er shall wander near,
1762 When the Syrian heat is worst,
1763 Let him hither come, nor fear
1764 Lest he may not slake his thirst:
1765 He will find this little river
1766 Running still, as bright as ever.
1767 Let him drink, and onward hie,
1768 Bearing but in thought, that I,
1769 Erotas, bade the Naiad fall,
1770 And thank the great god Pan for all!
1771 [ For a Fountain, by Bryan Waller Procter ]
1773 One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard
1774 till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine
1775 which had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing
1776 to quench my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he
1777 took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning
1778 round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with
1779 no greater success. Again and again he tried after the
1780 tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked
1781 away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are
1785 Fungi, division of simple plants that lack chlorophyll, true
1786 stems, roots, and leaves. Unlike algae, fungi cannot
1787 photosynthesize, and live as parasites or saprophytes. The
1788 division comprises the slime molds and true fungi. True
1789 fungi are multicellular (with the exception of yeasts); the
1790 body of most true fungi consists of slender cottony
1791 filaments, or hyphae. All fungi are capable of asexual
1792 reproduction by cell division, budding, fragmentation, or
1793 spores. Those that reproduce sexually alternate a sexual
1794 generation (gametophyte) with a spore-producing one. The
1795 four classes of true fungi are the algaelike fungi (e.g.,
1796 black bread mold and downy mildew), sac fungi (e.g., yeasts,
1797 powdery mildews, truffles, and blue and green molds such as
1798 Penicillium), basidium fungi (e.g., mushrooms and puffballs)
1799 and imperfect fungi (e.g., species that cause athlete's foot
1800 and ringworm). Fungi help decompose organic matter (important
1801 in soil renewal); are valuable as a source of antibiotics,
1802 vitamins, and various chemicals; and for their role in
1803 fermentation, e.g., in bread and alcoholic beverage
1805 [ The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia ]
1807 And so it came to pass that while Man ruled on Earth, the
1808 gargoyles waited, lurking, hidden from the light. Reborn
1809 every 600 years in Man's reckoning of time, the gargoyles
1810 joined battle against Man to gain dominion over the Earth.
1812 In each coming, the gargoyles were nearly destroyed by Men
1813 who flourished in greater numbers. Now it has been so many
1814 hundreds of years that it seems the ancient statues and
1815 paintings of gargoyles are just products of Man's
1816 imagination. In this year, with Man's thoughts turned toward
1817 the many ills he has brought among himself, Man has forgotten
1818 his most ancient adversary, the gargoyles.
1819 [ Excerpt from the opening narration to the movie
1820 _Gargoyles_, written by Stephen and Elinor Karpf ]
1822 1 November - All day long we have travelled, and at a good
1823 speed. The horses seem to know that they are being kindly
1824 treated, for they go willingly their full stage at best
1825 speed. We have now had so many changes and find the same
1826 thing so constantly that we are encouraged to think that the
1827 journey will be an easy one. Dr. Van Helsing is laconic, he
1828 tells the farmers that he is hurrying to Bistritz, and pays
1829 them well to make the exchange of horses. We get hot soup,
1830 or coffee, or tea, and off we go. It is a lovely country.
1831 Full of beauties of all imaginable kinds, and the people are
1832 brave, and strong, and simple, and seem full of nice
1833 qualities. They are very, very superstitious. In the first
1834 house where we stopped, when the woman who served us saw the
1835 scar on my forehead, she crossed herself and put out two
1836 fingers towards me, to keep off the evil eye. I believe they
1837 went to the trouble of putting an extra amount of garlic into
1838 our food, and I can't abide garlic. Ever since then I have
1839 taken care not to take off my hat or veil, and so have
1840 escaped their suspicions.
1841 [ Dracula, by Bram Stoker ]
1842 # gas spore -- see *spore
1846 "Place of Torment." The Valley of Hinnom, south-west of
1847 Jerusalem, where Solomon, king of Israel, built "a high place",
1848 or place of worship, for the gods Chemosh and Moloch. The
1849 valley came to be regarded as a place of abomination because
1850 some of the Israelites sacrificed their children to Moloch
1851 there. In a later period it was made a refuse dump and
1852 perpetual fires were maintained there to prevent pestilence.
1853 Thus, in the New Testament, Gehenna became synonymous with hell.
1854 [ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]
1856 Despite its popularity (or perhaps because of it), the
1857 gelatinous cube is also widely known as one of the sillier
1858 role-playing monsters. It is something of a commentary on the
1859 ubiquity of treasure-laden dungeons in the Dungeons & Dragons
1860 universe, as the cube is a creature specifically adapted to a
1861 dungeon ecosystem. 10 feet to the side, it travels through
1862 standard 10-foot by 10-foot dungeon corridors, cleaning up
1863 debris and redistributing treasure by excreting indigestible
1865 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
1868 The difference between false memories and true ones is the
1869 same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the
1870 most real, the most brilliant.
1873 Forthwith that image vile of fraud appear'd,
1874 His head and upper part expos'd on land,
1875 But laid not on the shore his bestial train.
1876 His face the semblance of a just man's wore,
1877 So kind and gracious was its outward cheer;
1878 The rest was serpent all: two shaggy claws
1879 Reach'd to the armpits, and the back and breast,
1880 And either side, were painted o'er with nodes
1881 And orbits. Colours variegated more
1882 Nor Turks nor Tartars e'er on cloth of state
1883 With interchangeable embroidery wove,
1884 Nor spread Arachne o'er her curious loom.
1885 As ofttimes a light skiff, moor'd to the shore,
1886 Stands part in water, part upon the land;
1887 Or, as where dwells the greedy German boor,
1888 The beaver settles watching for his prey;
1889 So on the rim, that fenc'd the sand with rock,
1890 Sat perch'd the fiend of evil. In the void
1891 Glancing, his tail upturn'd its venomous fork,
1892 With sting like scorpion's arm'd. Then thus my guide:
1893 "Now need our way must turn few steps apart,
1894 Far as to that ill beast, who couches there."
1895 [ The Inferno, from The Divine Comedy of Dante
1896 Alighieri, translated by H.F. Cary ]
1899 And now the souls of the dead who had gone below came swarming
1900 up from Erebus -- fresh brides, unmarried youths, old men
1901 with life's long suffering behind them, tender young girls
1902 still nursing this first anguish in their hearts, and a great
1903 throng of warriors killed in battle, their spear-wounds gaping
1904 yet and all their armour stained with blood. From this
1905 multitude of souls, as they fluttered to and fro by the
1906 trench, there came a moaning that was horrible to hear.
1907 Panic drained the blood from my cheeks.
1908 [ The Odyssey, (chapter Lambda), by Homer ]
1910 The forces of the gloom know each other, and are strangely
1911 balanced by each other. Teeth and claws fear what they cannot
1912 grasp. Blood-drinking bestiality, voracious appetites, hunger
1913 in search of prey, the armed instincts of nails and jaws which
1914 have for source and aim the belly, glare and smell out
1915 uneasily the impassive spectral forms straying beneath a
1916 shroud, erect in its vague and shuddering robe, and which seem
1917 to them to live with a dead and terrible life. These
1918 brutalities, which are only matter, entertain a confused fear
1919 of having to deal with the immense obscurity condensed into an
1920 unknown being. A black figure barring the way stops the wild
1921 beast short. That which emerges from the cemetery intimidates
1922 and disconcerts that which emerges from the cave; the
1923 ferocious fear the sinister; wolves recoil when they encounter
1925 [ Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo ]
1928 Giants have always walked the earth, though they are rare in
1929 these times. They range in size from little over nine feet
1930 to a towering twenty feet or more. The larger ones use huge
1931 boulders as weapons, hurling them over large distances. All
1932 types of giants share a love for men - roasted, boiled, or
1933 fried. Their table manners are legendary.
1934 # note: "gnomish wizard" is a monster
1939 ... And then a gnome came by, carrying a bundle, an old
1940 fellow three times as large as an imp and wearing clothes of
1941 a sort, especially a hat. And he was clearly just as frightened
1942 as the imps though he could not go so fast. Ramon Alonzo
1943 saw that there must be some great trouble that was vexing
1944 magical things; and, since gnomes speak the language of men, and
1945 will answer if spoken to gently, he raised his hat, and asked
1946 of the gnome his name. The gnome did not stop his hasty
1947 shuffle a moment as he answered 'Alaraba' and grabbed the rim
1948 of his hat but forgot to doff it.
1949 'What is the trouble, Alaraba?' said Ramon Alonzo.
1950 'White magic. Run!' said the gnome ..
1951 [ The Charwoman's Shadow, by Lord Dunsany ]
1953 "Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know," Harry told Ron as
1954 they crossed the lawn.
1955 "Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," said Ron,
1956 bent double with his head in a peony bush, "like fat little
1957 Santa Clauses with fishing rods..."
1958 There was a violent scuffling noise, the peony bush shuddered,
1959 and Ron straightened up. "This is a gnome," he said grimly.
1960 "Geroff me! Gerroff me!" squealed the gnome.
1961 It was certainly nothing like Santa Claus. It was small and
1962 leathery looking, with a large, knobby, bald head exactly like
1963 a potato. Ron held it at arm's length as it kicked out at him
1964 with its horny little feet; he grasped it around the ankles
1965 and turned it upside down.
1966 [ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J. K. Rowling ]
1968 Now goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make
1969 no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones. They
1970 can tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled
1971 dwarves, when they take the trouble, though they are usually
1972 untidy and dirty. Hammers, axes, swords, daggers, pickaxes,
1973 tongs, and also instruments of torture, they make very well,
1974 or get other people to make to their design, prisoners and
1975 slaves that have to work till they die for want of air and
1977 [ The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
1980 Goddesses and Gods operate in ones, threesomes, or whole
1981 pantheons of nine or more (see Religion). Most of them claim
1982 to have made the world, and this is indeed a likely claim in
1983 the case of threesomes or pantheons: Fantasyland does have
1984 the air of having been made by a committee. But all Goddesses
1985 and Gods, whether they say they made the world or not, have
1986 very detailed short-term plans for it which they are determined
1987 to carry out. Consequently they tend to push people into the
1988 required actions by the use of coincidence or Prophecy, or just
1989 by narrowing down your available choices of what to do next:
1990 if a deity is pushing you, things will go miserably badly until
1991 there is only one choice left to you.
1992 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
1995 A metal of characteristic yellow colour, the most precious
1996 metal used as a common commercial medium of exchange. Symbol,
1997 Au; at. no. 79; at. wt. 197.2. It is the most malleable
1998 and ductile of all metals, and very heavy (sp. gr., 19.3).
1999 It is quite unalterable by heat, moisture, and most
2000 corrosive agents, and therefore well suited for its use in
2002 [ Webster's New International Dictionary
2003 of the English Language, Second Edition ]
2005 The bellows he set away from the fire, and gathered all the tools
2006 wherewith he wrought into a silver chest; and with a sponge wiped
2007 he his face and his two hands withal, and his mighty neck and
2008 shaggy breast, and put upon him a tunic, and grasped a stout staff,
2009 and went forth halting; but there moved swiftly to support their
2010 lord handmaidens wrought of gold in the semblance of living maids.
2011 In them is understanding in their hearts, and in them speech and
2012 strength, and they know cunning handiwork by gift of the immortal
2014 [ The Iliad, by Homer ]
2021 "The original story harks back, so they say, to the sixteenth
2022 century. Using long-lost formulas from the Kabbala, a rabbi is
2023 said to have made an artificial man -- the so-called Golem -- to
2024 help ring the bells in the Synagogue and for all kinds of other
2026 "But he hadn't made a full man, and it was animated by some sort
2027 of vegetable half-life. What life it had, too, so the story
2028 runs, was only derived from the magic charm placed behind its
2029 teeth each day, that drew down to itself what was known as the
2030 `free sidereal strength of the universe.'
2031 "One evening, before evening prayers, the rabbi forgot to take
2032 the charm out of the Golem's mouth, and it fell into a frenzy.
2033 It raged through the dark streets, smashing everything in its
2034 path, until the rabbi caught up with it, removed the charm, and
2035 destroyed it. Then the Golem collapsed, lifeless. All that was
2036 left of it was a small clay image, which you can still see in
2037 the Old Synagogue." ...
2038 [ The Golem, by Gustav Meyrink ]
2040 "Who'd care to dig 'em," said the old, old man,
2041 "Those six feet marked in chalk?
2042 Much I talk, more I walk;
2043 Time I were buried," said the old, old man.
2044 [ Three Songs to the Same Tune, by W.B. Yeats ]
2046 Why had I been wearing Grayswandir? Would another weapon have
2047 affected a Logrus-ghost as strongly? Had it really been my
2048 father, then, who had brought me here? And had he felt I might
2049 need the extra edge his weapon could provide? I wanted to
2050 think so, to believe that he had been more than a Pattern-ghost.
2051 [ Knight of Shadows, by Roger Zelazny ]
2053 ANOINT, v.t. To grease a king or other great functionary
2054 already sufficiently slippery.
2055 [ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]
2057 The gremlin is a highly intelligent and completely evil
2058 creature. It lives to torment other creatures and will go
2059 to great lengths to inflict pain or cause injury.
2062 Suddenly, Wilson thought about war, about the newspaper
2063 stories which recounted the alleged existence of creatures in
2064 the sky who plagued the Allied pilots in their duties. They
2065 called them gremlins, he remembered. Were there, actually,
2066 such beings? Did they, truly, exist up here, never falling,
2067 riding on the wind, apparently of bulk and weight, yet
2068 impervious to gravity?
2069 He was thinking that when the man appeared again.
2070 [ Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, by Richard Matheson ]
2072 These electronically based creatures are not native to this
2073 universe. They appear to come from a world whose laws of
2074 motion are radically different from ours.
2077 Tron looked to his mate and pilot. "I'm going to check on
2078 the beam connection, Yori. You two can keep a watch out for
2079 grid bugs." Tron paced forward along the slender catwalk
2080 that still seemed awfully insubstantial to Flynn, though he
2081 knew it to be amazingly sturdy. He gazed after Tron, asking
2082 himself what in the world a grid bug was, and hoping that the
2083 beam connection -- to which he'd given no thought whatsoever
2084 until this moment -- was healthy and sound."
2085 [ Tron, novel by Brian Daley, story by Steven Lisberger ]
2087 The samurai's last meal before battle. It was usually made
2088 up of cooked chestnuts, dried seaweed, and sake.
2090 Hachi was a dog that went with his master, a professor, to
2091 the Shibuya train station every morning. In the afternoon,
2092 when his master was to return from work Hachi would be there
2093 waiting. One day his master died at the office, and did not
2094 return. For over ten years Hachi returned to the station
2095 every afternoon to wait for his master. When Hachi died a
2096 statue was erected on the station platform in his honor. It
2097 is said to bring you luck if you touch his statue.
2099 A triangular stringed instrument, often Magic. Even when not
2100 Magic, a Harp is surprisingly portable and tough and can be
2101 carried everywhere on the back of the Bard or Harper in all
2102 weathers. A Harp seldom goes out of tune and never warps.
2103 Its strings break only in very rare instances, usually
2104 because the Harper is sulking or crossed in love. This is
2105 just as well as no one seems to make or sell spare strings.
2106 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
2108 After breakfast was over, the ogre called out: "Wife, wife,
2109 bring me my golden harp." So she brought it and put it on
2110 the table before him. Then he said: "Sing!" and the golden
2111 harp sang most beautifully. And it went on singing till the
2112 ogre fell asleep, and commenced to snore like thunder.
2113 Then Jack lifted up the copper-lid very quietly and got down
2114 like a mouse and crept on hands and knees till he came to the
2115 table, when up he crawled, caught hold of the golden harp and
2116 dashed with it towards the door. But the harp called out
2117 quite loud: "Master! Master!" and the ogre woke up just in
2118 time to see Jack running off with his harp.
2119 [ Jack and the Beanstalk, from English Fairy Tales,
2122 'One of the things he can't do, he can't ride a horse,' he
2123 said. Then he stiffened as if sandbagged by a sudden
2124 recollection, gave a small yelp of terror and dashed into
2125 the gloom. When he returned, the being called Twoflower was
2126 hanging limply over his shoulder. It was small and skinny,
2127 and dressed very oddly in a pair of knee-length britches and
2128 a shirt in such a violent and vivid conflict of colours that
2129 the Weasel's fastidious eye was offended even in the half-light.
2130 [ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]
2136 I swear by Apollo the physician, and Aesculapius, and Health,
2137 and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses, that, according
2138 to my ability and judgment, I will keep this Oath and this
2139 stipulation -- to reckon him who taught me this Art equally dear
2140 to me as my parents, to share my substance with him, and relieve
2141 his necessities if required; to look upon his offspring in the
2142 same footing as my own brothers, and to teach them this art, if
2143 they shall wish to learn it, without fee or stipulation; and
2144 that by precept, lecture, and every other mode of instruction,
2145 I will impart a knowledge of the Art to my own sons, and those
2146 of my teachers, and to disciples bound by a stipulation and oath
2147 according to the law of medicine, but to none others. I will
2148 follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and
2149 judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain
2150 from whatever is deleterious and mischievous. [...]
2151 [ Hippocrates' Oath, translated by Francis Adams ]
2153 PHYSICIAN, n. One upon whom we set our hopes when ill and our
2155 [ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]
2157 The other three drew in their breath sharply, and the dark,
2158 powerful man who stood at the head of the sarcophagus whispered:
2159 "The Heart of Ahriman!" The other lifted a quick hand
2160 for silence. Somewhere a dog began howling dolefully, and a
2161 stealthy step padded outside the barred and bolted door. ...
2162 But none looked aside from the mummy case over which the man
2163 in the ermine-trimmed robe was now moving the great flaming
2164 jewel, while he muttered an incantation that was old when
2165 Atlantis sank. The glare of the gem dazzled their eyes, so
2166 that they could not be sure what they saw; but with a
2167 splintering crash, the carven lid of the sarcophagus burst
2168 outward as if from some irresistible pressure applied from
2169 within and the four men, bending eagerly forward, saw the
2170 occupant -- a huddled, withered, wizened shape, with dried
2171 brown limbs like dead wood showing through moldering bandages.
2172 "Bring that thing back?" muttered the small dark man who
2173 stood on the right, with a short, sardonic laugh. "It is
2174 ready to crumble at a touch. We are fools ---"
2175 [ Conan The Conqueror, by Robert E. Howard ]
2177 But suddenly they started forward in a rigid, fixed stare,
2178 and his lips parted in amazement. At the same instant Lestrade
2179 gave a yell of terror and threw himself face downward upon the
2180 ground. I sprang to my feet, my inert hand grasping my pistol,
2181 my mind paralyzed by the dreadful shape which had sprung out
2182 upon us from the shadows of the fog. A hound it was, an
2183 enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes
2184 have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes
2185 glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and
2186 dewlap were outlined in flickering flame. Never in the
2187 delirious dream of a disordered brain could anything more
2188 savage, more appalling, more hellish be conceived than that
2189 dark form and savage face which broke upon us out of the wall
2191 [ The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. ]
2193 Messenger and herald of the Olympians. Being required to do
2194 a great deal of travelling and speaking in public, he became
2195 the god of eloquence, travellers, merchants, and thieves. He
2196 was one of the most energetic of the Greek gods, a
2197 Machiavellian character full of trickery and sexual vigour.
2198 Like other Greek gods, he is endowed with not-inconsiderable
2199 sexual prowess which he directs towards countryside nymphs.
2200 He is a god of boundaries, guardian of graves and patron deity
2201 of shepherds. He is usually depicted as a handsome young
2202 man wearing winged golden sandals and holding a magical
2203 herald's staff consisting of intertwined serpents, the
2204 kerykeion. He is reputedly the only being able to find his way
2205 to the underworld ferry of Charon and back again. He is said
2206 to have invented, among other things, the lyre, Pan's Pipes,
2207 numbers, the alphabet, weights and measures, and sacrificing.
2209 "Hezrou" is the common name for the type II demon. It is
2210 among the weaker of demons, but still quite formidable.
2212 Greek physician, recognized as the father of medicine. He
2213 is believed to have been born on the island of Cos, to have
2214 studied under his father, a physician, to have traveled for
2215 some time, perhaps studying in Athens, and to have then
2216 returned to practice, teach, and write at Cos. The
2217 Hippocratic or Coan school that formed around him was of
2218 enormous importance in separating medicine from superstition
2219 and philosophic speculation, placing it on a strictly
2220 scientific plane based on objective observation and critical
2221 deductive reasoning.
2222 [ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ]
2224 Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people, more
2225 numerous formerly than they are today; for they love peace
2226 and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and well-
2227 farmed countryside was their favourite haunt. They do not
2228 and did not understand or like machines more complicated
2229 than a forge-bellows, a water-mill, or a handloom, although
2230 they were skillful with tools. Even in ancient days they
2231 were, as a rule, shy of "the Big Folk", as they call us, and
2232 now they avoid us with dismay and are becoming hard to find.
2233 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
2235 Hobgoblin. Used by the Puritans and in later times for
2236 wicked goblin spirits, as in Bunyan's "Hobgoblin nor foul
2237 friend", but its more correct use is for the friendly spirits
2238 of the brownie type. In "A midsummer night's dream" a
2239 fairy says to Shakespeare's Puck:
2240 Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck,
2241 You do their work, and they shall have good luck:
2243 and obviously Puck would not wish to be called a hobgoblin
2244 if that was an ill-omened word.
2245 Hobgoblins are on the whole, good-humoured and ready to be
2246 helpful, but fond of practical joking, and like most of the
2247 fairies rather nasty people to annoy. Boggarts hover on the
2248 verge of hobgoblindom. Bogles are just over the edge.
2249 One Hob mentioned by Henderson, was Hob Headless who haunted
2250 the road between Hurworth and Neasham, but could not cross
2251 the little river Kent, which flowed into the Tess. He was
2252 exorcised and laid under a large stone by the roadside for
2253 ninety-nine years and a day. If anyone was so unwary as to
2254 sit on that stone, he would be unable to quit it for ever.
2255 The ninety-nine years is nearly up, so trouble may soon be
2256 heard of on the road between Hurworth and Neasham.
2257 [ A Dictionary of Fairies, by Katharine Briggs ]
2259 "We want a word with you," said Ligur (in a tone of voice
2260 intended to imply that "word" was synonymous with "horrifically
2261 painful eternity"), and the squat demon pushed open the office
2263 The bucket teetered, then fell neatly on Ligur's head.
2264 Drop a lump of sodium in water. Watch it flame and burn and
2265 spin around crazily, flaring and sputtering. This was like
2267 The demon peeled and flared and flickered. Oily brown smoke
2268 oozed from it, and it screamed and it screamed and it screamed.
2269 Then it crumpled, folded in on itself, and what was left lay
2270 glistening on the burnt and blackened circle of carpet, looking
2271 like a handful of mashed slugs.
2272 "Hi," said Crowley to Hastur, who had been walking behind Ligur,
2273 and had unfortunately not been so much as splashed.
2274 There are some things that are unthinkable; there are some
2275 depths that not even demons would believe other demons would
2277 ". . . Holy water. You bastard," said Hastur. "You complete
2278 _bastard_. He hadn't never done nothing to _you_."
2279 "Yet," corrected Crowley.
2280 [ Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett ]
2282 A homunculus is a creature summoned by a mage to perform some
2283 particular task. They are particularly good at spying. They
2284 are smallish creatures, but very agile. They can put their
2285 victims to sleep with a venomous bite, but due to their size,
2286 the effect does not last long on humans.
2288 "Tothapis cut him off. 'Be still and hearken. You will travel
2289 aboard the sacred wingboat. Of it you may not have heard; but
2290 it will bear you thither in a night and a day and a night.
2291 With you will go a homunculus that can relay your words to me,
2292 and mine to you, across the leagues between at the speed of
2294 [ Conan the Rebel, by Poul Anderson ]
2295 # also gets 'pruning hook' aka guisarme
2297 But as for Queequeg -- why, Queequeg sat there among them --
2298 at the head of the table, too, it so chanced; as cool as an
2299 icicle. To be sure I cannot say much for his breeding. His
2300 greatest admirer could not have cordially justified his
2301 bringing his harpoon into breakfast with him, and using it
2302 there without ceremony; reaching over the table with it, to
2303 the imminent jeopardy of many heads, and grappling the
2304 beefsteaks towards him.
2305 [ Moby Dick, by Herman Melville ]
2308 Roland hath set the Olifant to his mouth,
2309 He grasps it well, and with great virtue sounds.
2310 High are those peaks, afar it rings and loud,
2311 Thirty great leagues they hear its echoes mount.
2312 So Charles heard, and all his comrades round;
2313 Then said that King: "Battle they do, our counts!"
2314 And Guenelun answered, contrarious:
2315 "That were a lie, in any other mouth."
2316 [ The Song of Roland ]
2319 The infant Zeus was fed with goat's milk by Amalthea,
2320 daughter of Melisseus, King of Crete. Zeus, in gratitude,
2321 broke off one of the goat's horns, and gave it to Amalthea,
2322 promising that the possessor should always have in abundance
2324 [ Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]
2326 When Amalthea's horn
2327 O'er hill and dale the rose-crowned flora pours,
2328 And scatters corn and wine, and fruits and flowers.
2329 [ Os Lusiadas, by Luis Vaz de Camoes ]
2332 These devils lack any real special abilities, though they
2333 are quite difficult to kill.
2336 King Richard III: A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
2337 Catesby: Withdraw, my lord; I'll help you to a horse.
2338 King Richard III: Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,
2339 And I will stand the hazard of the die:
2340 I think there be six Richmonds in the field;
2341 Five have I slain to-day instead of him.
2342 A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
2343 [ King Richard III, by William Shakespeare ]
2351 [Pestilence:] And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals,
2352 and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four
2353 beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white
2354 horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given
2355 unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
2357 [War:] And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the
2358 second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another
2359 horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon
2360 to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one
2361 another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
2363 [Famine:] And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the
2364 third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black
2365 horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his
2366 hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say,
2367 A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley
2368 for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
2370 [Death:] And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the
2371 voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and
2372 behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death,
2373 and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over
2374 the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with
2375 hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
2376 [ Revelations of John, 6:1-8 ]
2378 The first of five mythical Chinese emperors, Huan Ti is known
2379 as the yellow emperor. He rules the _moving_ heavens, as
2380 opposed to the _dark_ heavens. He is an inventor, said to
2381 have given mankind among other things, the wheel, armour, and
2382 the compass. He is the god of fortune telling and war.
2385 Huehuetotl, or Huhetotl, which means Old God, was the Aztec
2386 (classical Mesoamerican) god of fire. He is generally
2387 associated with paternalism and one of the group classed
2388 as the Xiuhtecuhtli complex. He is known to send his
2389 minions to wreak havoc upon ordinary humans.
2390 [ after the Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]
2392 Humanoids are all approximately the size of a human, and may
2393 be mistaken for one at a distance. They are usually of a
2394 tribal nature, and will fiercely defend their lairs. Usually
2395 hostile, they may even band together to raid and pillage
2397 # takes "human or elf or you" when specifying '@' as a dwarf, gnome, or orc
2408 These strange creatures live mostly on the surface of the
2409 earth, gathering together in societies of various forms, but
2410 occasionally a stray will descend into the depths and commit
2411 mayhem among the dungeon residents who, naturally, often
2412 resent the intrusion of such beasts. They are capable of
2413 using weapons and magic, and it is even rumored that the
2414 Wizard of Yendor is a member of this species.
2416 What of the hunting, hunter bold?
2417 Brother, the watch was long and cold.
2418 What of the quarry ye went to kill?
2419 Brother, he crops in the jungle still.
2420 Where is the power that made your pride?
2421 Brother, it ebbs from my flank and side.
2422 Where is the haste that ye hurry by?
2423 Brother, I go to my lair to die.
2424 [ The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling ]
2426 Ice devils are large semi-insectoid creatures, who are
2427 equally at home in the fires of Hell and the cold of Limbo,
2428 and who can cause the traveller to feel the latter with just
2429 a touch of their tail.
2431 Another clever translation [of the _Asterix_ character names]
2432 is that of Idefix. An _idee fixe_ is a "fixed idea", i.e.
2433 an obsession, a dogma. The translation, Dogmatix, manages to
2434 conserve the "fixed idea" meaning and also include the syllable
2435 dog -- perfect, given that the character is a dog who has very
2436 strong views on the environment (he howls whenever he sees an
2438 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
2439 # takes "imp or minor demon" when specifying 'i'
2442 ... imps ... little creatures of two feet high that could
2443 gambol and jump prodigiously; ...
2444 [ The Charwoman's Shadow, by Lord Dunsany ]
2446 An 'imp' is an off-shoot or cutting. Thus an 'ymp tree' was
2447 a grafted tree, or one grown from a cutting, not from seed.
2448 'Imp' properly means a small devil, an off-shoot of Satan,
2449 but the distinction between goblins or bogles and imps from
2450 hell is hard to make, and many in the Celtic countries as
2451 well as the English Puritans regarded all fairies as devils.
2452 The fairies of tradition often hover uneasily between the
2453 ghostly and the diabolic state.
2454 [ A Dictionary of Fairies, by Katharine Briggs ]
2457 The incubus and succubus are male and female versions of the
2458 same demon, one who lies with a human for its own purposes,
2459 usually to the detriment of the mortals who are unwise in
2460 their dealings with them.
2463 A minute invertebrate animal; one of the class _Insecta_.
2464 The true insects or hexapods have the body divided into a
2465 head, a thorax of 3 segments, each of which bears a pair of
2466 legs, and an abdomen of 7 to 11 segments, and in development
2467 usually pass through a metamorphosis. There are usually 2
2468 pairs of wings, sometimes one pair or none.
2469 [ Webster's Comprehensive International Dictionary
2470 of the English Language ]
2472 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow
2473 will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
2474 And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot
2475 be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of
2476 that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail,
2477 and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:
2478 And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy
2479 servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither
2480 thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day
2481 that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned
2482 himself, and went out from Pharaoh.
2486 "You are fettered, " said Scrooge, trembling. "Tell me why?"
2487 "I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost. "I
2488 made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my
2489 own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its
2490 pattern strange to you?"
2491 Scrooge trembled more and more.
2492 "Or would you know," pursued the Ghost, "the weight and
2493 length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as
2494 heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You
2495 have laboured on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!"
2496 [ A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens ]
2498 Stone walls do not a prison make,
2499 Nor iron bars a cage;
2500 Minds innocent and quiet take
2501 That for an hermitage;
2502 If I have freedom in my love,
2503 And in my soul am free,
2504 Angels alone that soar above
2506 [ To Althea from Prison, by Richard Lovelace ]
2508 Ishtar (the star of heaven) is the Mesopotamian goddess of
2509 fertility and war. She is usually depicted with wings and
2510 weapon cases at her shoulders, carrying a ceremonial double-
2511 headed mace-scimitar embellished with lion heads, frequently
2512 being accompanied by a lion. She is symbolized by an eight-
2514 [ Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]
2516 Now Issek of the Jug, whom Fafhrd chose to serve, was once
2517 of the most lowly and unsuccessful of the gods, godlets
2518 rather, in Lankhmar. He had dwelt there for about thirteen
2519 years, during which time he had traveled only two squares up
2520 the Street of the Gods and was now back again, ready for
2521 oblivion. He is not to be confused with Issek the Armless,
2522 Issek of the Burnt Legs, Flayed Issek, or any other of the
2523 numerous and colorfully mutilated divinities of that name.
2524 Indeed, his unpopularity may have been due in part to the
2525 fact that the manner of his death -- racking -- was not
2526 deemed particularly spectacular. ... However, after Fafhrd
2527 became his acolyte, things somehow began to change.
2528 [ Swords In The Mist, by Fritz Leiber ]
2530 The shopkeeper of the lighting shop in the town level of the
2531 gnomish mines is a tribute to Izchak Miller, a founding member
2532 of the NetHack development team and a personal friend of a large
2533 number of us. Izchak contributed greatly to the game, coding a
2534 large amount of the shopkeep logic (hence the nature of the tribute)
2535 as well as a good part of the alignment system, the prayer code and
2536 the rewrite of "hell" in the 3.1 release. Izchak was a professor
2537 of Philosophy, who taught at many respected institutions, including
2538 MIT and Stanford, and who also worked, for a period of time, at
2539 Xerox PARC. Izchak was the first "librarian" of the NetHack project,
2540 and was a founding member of the DevTeam, joining in 1986 while he
2541 was working at the University of Pennsylvania (hence our former
2542 mailing list address). Until the 3.1.3 release, Izchak carefully
2543 kept all of the code synchronized and arbitrated disputes between
2544 members of the development teams. Izchak Miller passed away at the
2545 age of 58, in the early morning hours of April 1, 1994 from
2546 complications due to cancer. We then dedicated NetHack 3.2 in his
2548 [ Mike Stephenson, for the NetHack DevTeam ]
2551 "Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
2552 The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
2553 Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
2554 The frumious Bandersnatch!"
2556 He took his vorpal sword in hand;
2557 Long time the manxome foe he sought --
2558 So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
2559 And stood awhile in thought.
2561 And, as in uffish thought he stood,
2562 The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
2563 Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
2564 And burbled as it came!
2566 One, two! One, two! And through and through
2567 The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
2568 He left it dead, and with its head
2569 He went galumphing back.
2570 [ Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll ]
2572 Sweet in the rough weather
2573 The voice of the turtle-dove
2574 'Beautiful altogether
2576 His Hands are open spread for love
2577 And full of jacinth stones
2578 As the apple-tree among trees of the grove
2579 Is He among the sons.'
2580 [ The Beloved, by May Probyn ]
2582 In Asiatic folktale, jackal provides for the lion; he scares
2583 up game, which the lion kills and eats, and receives what is
2584 left as reward. In stories from northern India he is
2585 sometimes termed "minister to the king," i.e. to the lion.
2586 From the legend that he does not kill his own food has arisen
2587 the legend of his cowardice. Jackal's heart must never be
2588 eaten, for instance, in the belief of peoples indigenous to
2589 the regions where the jackal abounds. ... In Hausa Negro
2590 folktale Jackal plays the role of sagacious judge and is
2591 called "O Learned One of the Forest." The Bushmen say that
2592 Jackal goes around behaving the way he does "because he is
2594 [ Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore ]
2596 A large boot extending over the knee, acting as protective
2597 armour for the leg, worn by troopers in the 17th and 18th
2598 centuries and later. It is still the type of boot worn by
2599 the Household Cavalry and was adopted by fishermen and others
2600 before the advent of gum boots. Figuratively, _to be under the
2601 jack-boot_ is to be controlled by a brutal military regime.
2602 [ Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]
2604 Nothing grew among the ruins of the city. The streets were
2605 broken and the walls of the houses had fallen, but there were
2606 no weeds flowering in the cracks and it seemed that the city
2607 had but recently been brought down by an earthquake. Only
2608 one thing still stood intact, towering over the ruins. It
2609 was a gigantic statue of white, gray and green jade - the
2610 statue of a naked youth with a face of almost feminine beauty
2611 that turned sightless eyes toward the north.
2612 "The eyes!" Duke Avan Astran said. "They're gone!"
2613 [ The Jade Man's Eyes, by Michael Moorcock ]
2615 Large, flesh-eating animal of the cat family, of Central and
2616 South America. This feline predator (_Panthera onca_) is
2617 sometimes incorrectly called a panther.
2618 [ Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal ]
2620 I do not care to share the seas
2621 With jellyfishes such as these;
2622 Particularly Portuguese.
2623 [ Lines on Meeting a Portuguese Man-o'-war while Bathing,
2624 by Michael Flanders ]
2627 Little is known about the Faceless Lord, even the correct
2628 spelling of his name. He does not have a physical form as
2629 we know it, and those who have peered into his realm claim
2630 he is a slime-like creature who swallows other creatures
2631 alive, spits acidic secretions, and causes disease in his
2632 victims which can be almost instantly fatal.
2634 The K ration was the [ Quartermaster Subsistence Research
2635 and Development Laboratory's ] answer to the demand for an
2636 individual, easy-to-carry ration that could be used in
2637 assault and combat operations. It was noted for compactness
2638 and superior packaging and was acknowledged as the ration
2639 that provided the greatest variety of nutritionally balanced
2640 components within the smallest space.
2641 [ Special Rations for the Armed Forces, 1946-53,
2642 by Franz A. Koehler ]
2644 The kabuto is the helmet worn by the samurai. It was
2645 characterized by a prominent beaked front which jutted out over
2646 the brow to protect the wearer's face; a feature that gives
2647 rise to their modern Japanese name of 'shokaku tsuki kabuto'
2648 (battering-ram helmet). Their main constructional element
2649 was an oval plate, the shokaku bo, slightly domed for the
2650 head with a narrow prolongation in front that curved forwards
2651 and downwards where it developed a pronounced central
2652 fold. Two horizontal strips encircling the head were riveted
2653 to this frontal strip: the lower one, the koshimaki (hip
2654 wrap), formed the lower edge of the helmet bowl; the other,
2655 the do maki (body wrap), was set at about the level of the
2656 temples. Filling the gaps between these strips and the shokaku
2657 bo were small plates, sometimes triangular but more commonly
2658 rectangular in shape. Because the front projected so
2659 far from the head, the triangular gap beneath was filled by
2660 a small plate, the shoshaku tei ita, whose rear edge bent
2661 downwards into a flange that rested against the forehead.
2662 [ Arms & Armour of the Samurai, by Bottomley & Hopson ]
2664 The katana is a long, single-edged samurai sword with a
2665 slightly curved blade. Its long handle is designed to allow
2666 it to be wielded with either one or two hands.
2669 I noticed that all the plants were attached to the soil by
2670 an almost imperceptible bond. Devoid of roots, they seemed
2671 not to require any nourishment from sand, soil, or pebble.
2672 All they required was a point of support -- nothing else.
2673 These plants are self-propagated, and their existence depends
2674 entirely on the water that supports and nourishes them.
2675 Most of them do not sprout leaves, but sprout blades of
2676 various whimsical shapes, and their colors are limited to
2677 pink, carmine, green, olive, fawn, and brown. I had the
2678 opportunity to observe once more -- not the dried specimens
2679 I had studied on the _Nautilus_ -- but the fresh, living
2680 specimens in their native setting.
2681 [ 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne ]
2683 The ki-rin is a strange-looking flying creature. It has
2684 scales, a mane like a lion, a tail, hooves, and a horn. It
2685 is brightly colored, and can usually be found flying in the
2686 sky looking for good deeds to reward.
2689 Ector took both his sons to the church before which the
2690 anvil had been placed. There, standing before the anvil, he
2691 commanded Kay: "Put the sword back into the steel if you
2692 really think the throne is yours!" But the sword glanced
2693 off the steel. "Now it is your turn", Ector said facing
2695 The young man lifted the sword and thrust with both arms; the
2696 blade whizzed through the air with a flash and drilled the
2697 metal as if it were mere butter. Ector and Kay dropped to
2698 their knees before Arthur.
2699 "Why, father and brother, do you bow before me?", Arthur asked
2700 with wonder in his voice.
2701 "Because now I know for sure that you are the king, not only
2702 by birth but also by law", Ector said. "You are no son of
2703 mine nor are you Kay's brother. Immediately after your birth,
2704 Merlin the Wise brought you to me to be raised safely. And
2705 though it was me that named you Arthur when you were baptized,
2706 you are really the son of brave king Uther Pendragon and queen
2708 And after these words, the lord rose and went to see the arch-
2709 bishop to impart to him what had passed.
2710 [ Van Gouden Tijden Zingen de Harpen, by Vladimir Hulpach,
2711 Emanuel Frynta, and Vackav Cibula ]
2714 Possibly perceiving an expression of dubiosity on their
2715 faces, the globetrotter went on adhering to his adventures.
2717 -- And I seen a man killed in Trieste by an Italian chap.
2718 Knife in his back. Knife like that.
2720 Whilst speaking he produced a dangerous looking clasp knife,
2721 quite in keeping with his character, and held it in the
2724 -- In a knockingshop it was count of a tryon between two
2725 smugglers. Fellow hid behind a door, come up behind him.
2726 Like that. Prepare to meet your God, says he. Chuck! It
2727 went into his back up to the butt.
2728 [ Ulysses, by James Joyce ]
2731 Here lies the noble fearless knight,
2732 Whose valour rose to such a height;
2733 When Death at last had struck him down,
2734 His was the victory and renown.
2735 He reck'd the world of little prize,
2736 And was a bugbear in men's eyes;
2737 But had the fortune in his age
2738 To live a fool and die a sage.
2739 [ Don Quixote of La Mancha, by Miquel de Cervantes Saavedra ]
2742 The race of kobolds are reputed to be an artificial creation
2743 of a master wizard (demi-god?). They are about 3' tall with
2744 a vaguely dog-like face. They bear a violent dislike of the
2745 Elven race, and will go out of their way to cause trouble
2746 for Elves at any time.
2748 The Kops are a brilliant concept. To take a gaggle of inept
2749 policemen and display them over and over again in a series of
2750 riotously funny physical punishments plays equally well to the
2751 peanut gallery and the expensive box seats. People hate cops.
2752 Even people who have never had anything to do with cops hate
2753 them. Of course, we count on them to keep order and to protect
2754 us when we need protecting, and we love them on television shows
2755 in which they have nerves of steel and hearts of gold, but in
2756 the abstract, as a nation, collectively we hate them. They are
2757 too much like high school principals. We're very happy to see
2758 their pants fall down, and they look good to us with pie on
2759 their faces. The Keystone Kops turn up--and they get punished
2760 for it, as they crash into each other, fall down, and suffer
2761 indignity after indignity. Here is pure movie satisfaction.
2763 The Kops are very skillfully presented. The comic originality
2764 and timing in one of their chase scenes requires imagination
2765 to think up, talent to execute, understanding of the medium,
2766 and, of course, raw courage to perform. The Kops are madmen
2767 presented as incompetents, and they're madmen rushing around
2768 in modern machines. What's more, the machines they were operating
2769 in their routines were newly invented and not yet experienced
2770 by the average moviegoer. (In the early days of automobiles,
2771 it was reported that there were only two cars registered in all
2772 of Kansas City, and they ran into each other. There is both
2773 poetry and philosophy in this fact, but most of all, there is
2774 humor. Sennett got the humor.)
2775 [ Silent Stars, by Jeanine Basinger ]
2777 "I am not a coward!" he cried. "I'll dare Thieves' House
2778 and fetch you Krovas' head and toss it with blood a-drip at
2779 Vlana's feet. I swear that, witness me, Kos the god of
2780 dooms, by the brown bones of Nalgron my father and by his
2781 sword Graywand here at my side!"
2782 [ Swords and Deviltry, by Fritz Leiber ]
2786 Out from the water a long sinuous tentacle had crawled; it
2787 was pale-green and luminous and wet. Its fingered end had
2788 hold of Frodo's foot, and was dragging him into the water.
2789 Sam on his knees was now slashing at it with a knife. The
2790 arm let go of Frodo, and Sam pulled him away, crying out
2791 for help. Twenty other arms came rippling out. The dark
2792 water boiled, and there was a hideous stench.
2793 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
2796 Blind Io took up the dice-box, which was a skull whose various
2797 orifices had been stoppered with rubies, and with several of
2798 his eyes on the Lady he rolled three fives. She smiled. This
2799 was the nature of the Lady's eyes: they were bright green,
2800 lacking iris or pupil, and they glowed from within.
2802 The room was silent as she scrabbled in her box of pieces and,
2803 from the very bottom, produced a couple that she set down on
2804 the board with two decisive clicks. The rest of the players,
2805 as one God, craned forward to peer at them.
2807 "A wenegade wiffard and fome fort of clerk," said Offler the
2808 Crocodile God, hindered as usual by his tusks. "Well,
2809 weally!" With one claw he pushed a pile of bone-white tokens
2810 into the centre of the table.
2812 The Lady nodded slightly. She picked up the dice-cup and held
2813 it as steady as a rock, yet all the Gods could hear the three
2814 cubes rattling about inside. And then she sent them bouncing
2817 A six. A three. A five.
2819 Something was happening to the five, however. Battered by the
2820 chance collision of several billion molecules, the die flipped
2821 onto a point, spun gently and came down a seven. Blind Io
2822 picked up the cube and counted the sides.
2824 "Come _on_," he said wearily, "Play fair."
2825 [ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]
2827 When he came to himself he told his mother what had passed,
2828 and showed her the lamp and the fruits he had gathered in the
2829 garden, which were in reality precious stones. He then asked
2832 "Alas! child," she said, "I have nothing in the house, but I
2833 have spun a little cotton and will go and sell it."
2835 Aladdin bade her keep her cotton, for he would sell the lamp
2836 instead. As it was very dirty she began to rub it, that it
2837 might fetch a higher price. Instantly a hideous genie
2838 appeared, and asked what she would have. She fainted away,
2839 but Aladdin, snatching the lamp, said boldly:
2840 "Fetch me something to eat!"
2841 [ Aladdin, from The Arabian Nights, by Andrew Lang ]
2843 With this the wind increased, and the mill sails began to turn
2844 about; which Don Quixote espying, said, 'Although thou movest
2845 more arms than the giant Briareus thou shalt stoop to me.'
2846 And, after saying this, and commending himself most devoutly
2847 to his Lady Dulcinea, desiring her to succor him in that trance,
2848 covering himself well with his buckler, and setting his lance
2849 on his rest, he spurred on Rozinante, and encountered with the
2850 first mill that was before him, and, striking his lance into
2851 the sail, the wind swung it about with such fury, that it broke
2852 his lance into shivers, carrying him and his horse after it,
2853 and finally tumbled him a good way off from it on the field in
2855 [ Don Quixote of La Mancha, by Miquel de Cervantes Saavedra ]
2857 Your heart is intact, your brain is not badly damaged, but the rest
2858 of your injuries are comparable to stepping on a land mine. You'd
2859 never walk again, and you'd be in great pain. You would come to
2860 wish you had not survived.
2861 [ Steel Beach, by John Varley ]
2863 While pretending to be a fancy safety lamp, it is in fact
2864 battery powered. A discreet little switch is marked "on/off"
2865 in elaborate lettering.
2866 [ Adventure 770, by Mike Arnautov ]
2869 You are on the edge of a breath-taking view. Far below you
2870 is an active volcano, from which great gouts of molten lava
2871 come surging out, cascading back down into the depths. The
2872 glowing rock fills the farthest reaches of the cavern with a
2873 blood-red glare, giving everything an eerie, macabre appearance.
2874 The air is filled with flickering sparks of ash and a heavy
2875 smell of brimstone. The walls are hot to the touch, and the
2876 thundering of the volcano drowns out all other sounds.
2877 Embedded in the jagged roof far overhead are myriad twisted
2878 formations composed of pure white alabaster, which scatter the
2879 murky light into sinister apparitions upon the walls. To one
2880 side is a deep gorge, filled with a bizarre chaos of tortured
2881 rock which seems to have been crafted by the devil himself.
2882 An immense river of fire crashes out from the depths of the
2883 volcano, burns its way through the gorge, and plummets into a
2884 bottomless pit far off to your left. To the right, an immense
2885 geyser of blistering steam erupts continuously from a barren
2886 island in the center of a sulfurous lake, which bubbles
2887 ominously. The far right wall is aflame with an incandescence
2888 of its own, which lends an additional infernal splendor to the
2889 already hellish scene. A dark, forboding passage exits to the
2891 [ Adventure, by Will Crowther and Don Woods. ]
2893 They had splendid heads, fine shoulders, strong legs, and
2894 straight tails. The spots on their bodies were jet-black and
2895 mostly the size of a two-shilling piece; they had smaller
2896 spots on their heads, legs, and tails. Their noses and eye-
2897 rims were black. Missis had a most winning expression.
2898 Pongo, though a dog born to command, had a twinkle in his
2899 eye. They walked side by side with great dignity, only
2900 putting the Dearlys on the leash to lead them over crossings.
2901 [ The Hundred and One Dalmatians, by Dodie Smith ]
2903 In the morning, as they were beginning to pack their slender
2904 goods, Elves that could speak their tongue came to them and
2905 brought them many gifts of food and clothing for their
2906 journey. The food was mostly in the form of very thin cakes,
2907 made of a meal that was baked a light brown on the outside,
2908 and inside was the colour of cream. Gimli took up one of the
2909 cakes and looked at it with a doubtful eye.
2910 'Cram,' he said under his breath, as he broke off a crisp
2911 corner and nibbled at it. His expression quickly changed,
2912 and he ate all the rest of the cake with relish.
2913 'No more, no more!' cried the Elves laughing. 'You have
2914 eaten enough already for a long day's march.'
2915 'I thought it was only a kind of cram, such as the Dalemen
2916 make for journeys in the wild,' said the Dwarf.
2917 'So it is,' they answered. 'But we call it lembas or
2918 waybread, and it is more strengthening than any foods made by
2919 Men, and it is more pleasant than cram, by all accounts.'
2920 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
2923 The Larvae (Lemures) are Roman spirits of deceased family
2924 members. These malignant spirits dwell throughout the house
2925 and frighten the inhabitants. People tried to reconcile or
2926 avert the Larvae with strange ceremonies which took place on
2927 May 9, 11, and 13; this was called the "Feast of the Lemures".
2928 The master of the house usually performed these ceremonies,
2929 either by offering black beans to the spirits or chasing them
2930 away by making a lot of noise. Their counterparts are the
2931 Lares, friendly and beneficent house spirits.
2932 [ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]
2935 ... the leucrocotta, a wild beast of extraordinary swiftness,
2936 the size of the wild ass, with the legs of a Stag, the neck,
2937 tail, and breast of a lion, the head of a badger, a cloven
2938 hoof, the mouth slit up as far as the ears, and one continuous
2939 bone instead of teeth; it is said, too, that this animal can
2940 imitate the human voice.
2941 [ Curious Creatures in Zoology, by John Ashton ]
2943 The Irish Leprechaun is the Faeries' shoemaker and is known
2944 under various names in different parts of Ireland:
2945 Cluricaune in Cork, Lurican in Kerry, Lurikeen in Kildare
2946 and Lurigadaun in Tipperary. Although he works for the
2947 Faeries, the Leprechaun is not of the same species. He is
2948 small, has dark skin and wears strange clothes. His nature
2949 has something of the manic-depressive about it: first he
2950 is quite happy, whistling merrily as he nails a sole on to a
2951 shoe; a few minutes later, he is sullen and morose, drunk
2952 on his home-made heather ale. The Leprechaun's two great
2953 loves are tobacco and whiskey, and he is a first-rate con-man,
2954 impossible to out-fox. No one, no matter how clever, has ever
2955 managed to cheat him out of his hidden pot of gold or his
2956 magic shilling. At the last minute he always thinks of some
2957 way to divert his captor's attention and vanishes in the
2958 twinkling of an eye.
2959 [ A Field Guide to the Little People
2960 by Nancy Arrowsmith & George Moorse ]
2962 But on its heels ere the sunset faded, there came a second
2963 apparition, striding with incredible strides and halting when
2964 it loomed almost upon me in the red twilight-the monstrous mummy
2965 of some ancient king still crowned with untarnished gold but
2966 turning to my gaze a visage that more than time or the worm had
2967 wasted. Broken swathings flapped about the skeleton legs, and
2968 above the crown that was set with sapphires and orange rubies, a
2969 black something swayed and nodded horribly; but, for an instant,
2970 I did not dream what it was. Then, in its middle, two oblique
2971 and scarlet eyes opened and glowed like hellish coals, and two
2972 ophidian fangs glittered in an ape-like mouth. A squat, furless,
2973 shapeless head on a neck of disproportionate extent leaned
2974 unspeakably down and whispered in the mummy's ear. Then, with
2975 one stride, the titanic lich took half the distance between us,
2976 and from out the folds of the tattered sere-cloth a gaunt arm
2977 arose, and fleshless, taloned fingers laden with glowering gems,
2978 reached out and fumbled for my throat . . .
2979 [ The Abominations of Yondo, by Clark Ashton Smith ]
2981 The chamber was of unhewn rock, round, as near as might
2982 be, eighteen or twenty feet across, and gay with rich
2983 variety of fern and moss and lichen. The fern was in
2984 its winter still, or coiling for the spring-tide; but
2985 moss was in abundant life, some feathering, and some
2986 gobleted, and some with fringe of red to it.
2987 [ Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore ]
2988 # takes "light" when specifying 'y'
2992 Strange creatures formed from energy rather than matter,
2993 lights are given to self-destructive behavior when battling
2998 Lizards, snakes and the burrowing amphisbaenids make up the
2999 order Squamata, meaning the scaly ones. The elongate, slim,
3000 long-tailed bodies of lizards have become modified to enable
3001 them to live in a wide range of habitats. Lizards can be
3002 expert burrowers, runners, swimmers and climbers, and a few
3003 can manage crude, short-distance gliding on rib-supported
3004 "wings". Most are carnivores, feeding on invertebrate and
3005 small vertebrate prey, but others feed on vegetation.
3006 [ Macmillan Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia ]
3008 Loki, or Lopt, is described in Snorri's _Edda_ as being
3009 "pleasing and handsome in appearance, evil in character, and
3010 very capricious in behaviour". He is the son of the giant
3011 Farbauti and of Laufey.
3012 Loki is the Norse god of cunning, evil, thieves, and fire.
3013 He hated the other gods and wanted to ruin them and overthrow
3014 the universe. He committed many murders. As a thief, he
3015 stole Freyja's necklace, Thor's belt and gauntlets of power,
3016 and the apples of youth. Able to shapechange at will, he is
3017 said to have impersonated at various times a mare, flea, fly,
3018 falcon, seal, and an old crone. As a mare he gave birth to
3019 Odin's horse Sleipnir. He also allegedly sired the serpent
3020 Midgard, the mistress of the netherworld, Hel, and the wolf
3021 Fenrir, who will devour the sun at Ragnarok.
3023 This legendary bow grants ESP when carried and can reflect magical
3024 attacks when wielded. When invoked it provides a supply of arrows.
3025 # long worm -- see "worm"
3028 But as Snow White grew, she became more and more beautiful,
3029 and by the time she was seven years old she was as beautiful
3030 as the day and more beautiful than the queen herself. One
3031 day when the queen said to her mirror:
3033 "Mirror, Mirror, here I stand.
3034 Who is the fairest in the land?" -
3038 "You, O Queen, are the fairest here,
3039 But Snow White is a thousand times more fair."
3040 [ Snow White, by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm ]
3042 Lord Carnarvon was a personality who could have been produced
3043 nowhere but in England, a mixture of sportsman and collector,
3044 gentleman and world traveler, a realist in action and a
3045 romantic in feeling. ... In 1903 he went for the first time
3046 to Egypt in search of a mild climate and while there visited
3047 the excavation sites of several archaeological expeditions.
3048 ... In 1906 he began his own excavations.
3049 [ Gods, Graves, and Scholars, by C. W. Ceram ]
3051 Lord Sato was the family head of the Taro Clan, and a mighty
3052 daimyo. He is a loyal servant of the Emperor, and will do
3053 everything in his power to further the imperial cause.
3055 Yet first was the world in the southern region, which was
3056 named Muspell; it is light and hot; that region is glowing
3057 and burning, and impassable to such as are outlanders and
3058 have not their holdings there. He who sits there at the
3059 land's-end, to defend the land, is called Surtr; he brandishes
3060 a flaming sword, and at the end of the world he shall go forth
3061 and harry, and overcome all the gods, and burn all the
3063 [ The Prose Edda, by Snorri Sturluson ]
3064 # if a quote for good luck gets added, make this one exclusively bad luck
3067 "[...] We'll succeed and you'll get all the fortune you came
3069 Jack shook his head dismally. "You'll be better off without
3070 me," he said. "I'm nothing but bad luck. It's because I'm
3071 cursed. A farmer I met on the way to the city cursed me. He
3072 said, 'I curse you Jack. May you never know wealth. May all
3073 that you wish for be denied you.'"
3074 "What a horrid man," said Eddie. "Why did he curse you like
3076 Jack shrugged [...]. "Bad grace, I suppose. Just because I
3077 shot off his ear and made him jump into a pit full of spikes."
3078 [ the hollow chocolate bunnies of the apocalypse,
3080 # [no relation... both cover and title page list this
3081 # book's title in all lower case; however, its sequel,
3082 # "the toyminator", refers to it using conventional
3083 # capitalization in a couple of early footnotes]
3085 Lugh, or Lug, was the sun god of the Irish Celts. One of his
3086 weapons was a rod-sling which worshippers sometimes saw in
3087 the sky as a rainbow. As a tribal god, he was particularly
3088 skilled in the use of his massive, invincible spear, which
3089 fought on its own accord. One of his epithets is _lamfhada_
3090 (of the long arm). He was a young and apparently more
3091 attractive deity than Dagda, the father of the gods. Being
3092 able to shapeshift, his name translates as lynx.
3094 These dungeon scavengers are very adept at blending into the
3095 surrounding walls and ceilings of the dungeon due to the
3096 stone-like coloring of their skin.
3101 In 1573, the Parliament of Dole published a decree, permitting
3102 the inhabitants of the Franche-Comte to pursue and kill a
3103 were-wolf or loup-garou, which infested that province,
3104 "notwithstanding the existing laws concerning the chase."
3105 The people were empowered to "assemble with javelins,
3106 halberds, pikes, arquebuses and clubs, to hunt and pursue the
3107 said were-wolf in all places where they could find it, and to
3108 take, burn, and kill it, without incurring any fine or other
3109 penalty." The hunt seems to have been successful, if we may
3110 judge from the fact that the same tribunal in the following
3111 year condemned to be burned a man named Giles Garnier, who
3112 ran on all fours in the forest and fields and devoured little
3113 children, "even on Friday." The poor lycanthrope, it appears,
3114 had as slight respect for ecclesiastical feasts as the French
3115 pig, which was not restrained by any feeling of piety from
3116 eating infants on a fast day.
3117 [ The History of Vampires, by Dudley Wright ]
3119 To dream of seeing a lynx, enemies are undermining your
3120 business and disrupting your home affairs. For a woman,
3121 this dream indicates that she has a wary woman rivaling her
3122 in the affections of her lover. If she kills the lynx, she
3123 will overcome her rival.
3124 [ 10,000 Dreams Interpreted, by Gustavus Hindman Miller ]
3128 Originally a club armed with iron, and used in war; now a staff
3129 of office pertaining to certain dignitaries, as the Speaker of
3130 the House of Commons, Lord Mayors, Mayors etc. Both sword and
3131 mace are symbols of dignity, suited to the times when men went
3132 about in armour, and sovereigns needed champions to vindicate
3134 [ Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]
3136 The pen is mightier than the sword.
3137 [ Richelieu, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton ]
3138 magic mirror of merlin
3139 [...] In Dehenbarth (that now South Wales is hight,
3140 What time King Ryence reigned, and dealed right)
3141 The great magician Merlin had devised,
3142 By his deep science, and hell-dreaded might,
3143 A looking-glass, right wondrously aguised,
3144 Whose virtues through the wide world soon were solemnized.
3146 It virtue had to show in perfect sight
3147 Whatever thing was in the world contained,
3148 Betwixt the lowest earth and heaven's height,
3149 So that it to the looker appertained;
3150 Whatever foe had wrought, or friend had fained,
3151 Therein discovered was, nor aught might pass,
3152 Nor aught in secret from the same remained;
3153 # we'll leave out the part about it being a crystal ball...
3154 # For-thy it round and hollow shaped was,
3155 # Like the world itself, and seemed a world of glass.
3156 [ The Faerie Queene, by Edmund Spencer ]
3158 A highly enchanted athame said to hold the power to channel
3159 and direct magical energy.
3161 It is rumoured that these strange creatures can be harmed by
3162 domesticated canines only.
3164 Normally called Manannan, Ler's son was the patron of
3165 merchants and sailors. Manannan had a sword which never
3166 failed to slay, a boat which propelled itself wherever its
3167 owner wished, a horse which was swifter than the wind, and
3168 magic armour which no sword could pierce. He later became
3169 god of the sea, beneath which he lived in Tir na nOc, the
3172 Manes or Di Manes ("good ones") is the euphemistic description
3173 of the souls of the deceased, worshipped as divinities. The
3174 formula D.M. (= Dis Manibus; "dedicated to the Manes-gods")
3175 can often be found on tombstones. Manes also means
3176 metaphorically 'underworld' or 'realm of death'. Festivals
3177 in honor of the dead were the Parentalia and the Feralia,
3178 celebrated in February.
3179 [ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]
3181 The gnats of the dungeon, these swarming monsters are rarely
3184 First insisting on recognition as supreme commander, Marduk
3185 defeated the Dragon, cut her body in two, and from it created
3186 heaven and earth, peopling the world with human beings who not
3187 unnaturally showed intense gratitude for their lives. The
3188 gods were also properly grateful, invested him with many
3189 titles, and eventually permitted themselves to be embodied in
3190 him, so that he became supreme god, plotting the whole course
3191 of known life from the paths of the planets to the daily
3192 events in the lives of men.
3193 [ The Immortals, by Derek and Julia Parker ]
3195 The marilith has a torso shaped like that of a human female,
3196 and the lower body of a great snake. It has multiple arms,
3197 and can freely attack with all of them. Since it is
3198 intelligent enough to use weapons, this means it can cause
3201 The god of war, and one of the most prominent and worshipped
3202 gods. In early Roman history he was a god of spring, growth in
3203 nature, and fertility, and the protector of cattle. Mars is
3204 also mentioned as a chthonic god (earth-god) and this could
3205 explain why he became a god of death and finally a god of war.
3206 He is the son of Jupiter and Juno.
3207 [ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]
3211 "What else can we do? None of this is fast enough." "It will have
3212 to be." He stood up, a tall, broad wall of a man. "Why don't you
3213 ask around, see if anyone in the neighborhoods knows anything
3214 about martial arts. You need more than a book or two to learn
3215 good dependable unarmed combat."
3216 [ Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler ]
3218 He strolled down the stairs, followed by a number of assassins.
3219 When he was directly in front of Ymor he said: "I've come for
3221 "One step more and you'll leave here with fewer eyeballs than
3222 you came with," said the thiefmaster. "So sit down and have
3223 a drink, Zlorf, and let's talk about this sensibly. _I_
3224 thought we had an agreement. You don't rob -- I don't kill.
3225 Not for payment, that is," he added after a pause.
3226 Zlorf took the proffered beer.
3227 "So?" he said. "I'll kill him. Then you rob him. Is he that
3228 funny looking one over there?"
3230 Zlorf stared at Twoflower, who grinned at him. He shrugged.
3231 He seldom wasted time wondering why people wanted other people
3232 dead. It was just a living.
3233 "Who is your client, may I ask?" said Ymor.
3234 Zlorf held up a hand. "Please!" he protested. "Professional
3236 [ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]
3237 master key of thievery
3238 This skeleton key was fashioned in ages past and imbued with
3239 a powerful magic which allows it to open any lock. When
3240 carried, it grants its owner warning, teleport control, and
3241 reduces all physical damage by half. Finally, when invoked,
3242 it has the ability to disarm any trapped lock.
3244 There was a flutter of wings at the window. Ymor shifted his
3245 bulk out of the chair and crossed the room, coming back with
3246 a large raven. After he'd unfastened the message capsule from
3247 its leg it flew up to join its fellows lurking among the
3248 rafters. Withel regarded it without love. Ymor's ravens were
3249 notoriously loyal to their master, to the extent that Withel's
3250 one attempt to promote himself to the rank of greatest thief
3251 in Ankh-Morpork had cost their master's right hand man his
3252 left eye. But not his life, however. Ymor never grudged a
3254 [ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]
3256 Any large, elephantlike mammal of the genera Mammut, Mastodon,
3257 etc., from the Oligocene and Pleistocene epochs, having
3258 conical projections on the molar teeth.
3259 [ Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary
3260 of the English Language ]
3262 A mattock is an agricultural tool similar to a mining pick.
3263 It is distinguished by the head terminating in a broader blade
3264 rather than a narrow spike, which makes it particularly suitable
3265 for breaking up moderately hard ground. ... During the Middle
3266 Ages of Europe, the mattock served as an improvised shafted
3267 weapon for the poorer classes.
3268 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
3271 Some hae meat and canna eat,
3272 And some would eat that want it;
3273 But we hae meat, and we can eat,
3274 Sae let the Lord be thankit.
3275 [ Grace Before Meat, by Robert Burns ]
3278 Medusa, one of the three Gorgons or Graeae, is the only one
3279 of her sisters to have assumed mortal form and inhabited the
3282 When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the
3283 conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the
3284 country. She was once a beautiful maiden whose hair was her
3285 chief glory, but as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva,
3286 the goddess deprived her of her charms and changed her
3287 beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents. She became a cruel
3288 monster of so frightful an aspect that no living thing could
3289 behold her without being turned into stone. All around the
3290 cavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men
3291 and animals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her and
3292 had been petrified with the sight. Perseus, favoured by
3293 Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him her shield
3294 and the latter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while she
3295 slept and taking care not to look directly at her, but guided
3296 by her image reflected in the bright shield which he bore, he
3297 cut off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed it in the
3298 middle of her Aegis.
3299 [ Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch ]
3301 "What is it, Umbopa, son of a fool?" I shouted in Zulu.
3302 "It is food and water, Macumazahn," and again he waved the
3304 Then I saw what he had got. It was a melon. We had hit upon
3305 a patch of wild melons, thousands of them, and dead ripe.
3306 "Melons!" I yelled to Good, who was next me; and in another
3307 second he had his false teeth fixed in one.
3308 I think we ate about six each before we had done, and, poor
3309 fruit as they were, I doubt if I ever thought anything nicer.
3310 [ King Solomon's Mines, by H. Rider Haggard ]
3312 Roman god of commerce, trade and travellers. He is commonly
3313 depicted carrying a caduceus (a staff with two snakes
3314 intertwining around it) and a purse.
3316 The ancestors of the modern day chameleon, these creatures can
3317 assume the form of anything in their surroundings. They may
3318 assume the shape of objects or dungeon features. Unlike the
3319 chameleon though, which assumes the shape of another creature
3320 and goes in hunt of food, the mimic waits patiently for its
3321 meals to come in search of it.
3323 This creature has a humanoid body, tentacles around its
3324 covered mouth, and three long fingers on each hand. Mind
3325 flayers are telepathic, and love to devour intelligent beings,
3326 especially humans. If they hit their victim with a tentacle,
3327 the mind flayer will slowly drain it of all intelligence,
3328 eventually killing its victim.
3331 Made by Dwarfs. The Rule here is that the Mine is either long
3332 deserted or at most is inhabited by a few survivors who will
3333 make confused claims to have been driven out/decimated by humans/
3334 other Dwarfs/Minions of the Dark Lord. Inhabited or not, this
3335 Mine will be very complex, with many levels of galleries,
3336 beautifully carved and engineered. What was being mined here
3337 is not always evident, but at least some of the time it will
3338 appear to have been Jewels, since it is customary to find
3339 unwanted emeralds, etc., still embedded in the rock of the
3340 walls. Metal will also be present, but only when made up into
3341 armor and weapons (_wondrous_).
3342 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
3344 The Minotaur was a monster, half bull, half human, the
3345 offspring of Minos' wife Pasiphae and a wonderfully beautiful
3346 bull. ... When the Minotaur was born Minos did not kill him.
3347 He had Daedalus, a great architect and inventor, construct a
3348 place of confinement for him from which escape was impossible.
3349 Daedalus built the Labyrinth, famous throughout the world.
3350 Once inside, one would go endlessly along its twisting paths
3351 without ever finding the exit.
3352 [ Mythology, by Edith Hamilton ]
3354 Originating in India (Mitra), Mithra is a god of light who
3355 was translated into the attendant of the god Ahura Mazda in
3356 the light religion of Persia; from this he was adopted as
3357 the Roman deity Mithras. He is not generally regarded as a
3358 sky god but a personification of the fertilizing power of
3359 warm, light air. According to the _Avesta_, he possesses
3360 10,000 eyes and ears and rides in a chariot drawn by white
3361 horses. Mithra, according to Zarathustra, is concerned with
3362 the endless battle between light and dark forces: he
3363 represents truth. He is responsible for the keeping of oaths
3364 and contracts. He is attributed with the creation of both
3365 plants and animals. His chief adversary is Ahriman, the
3367 [ The Encyclopaedia of Myths and Legends of All Nations,
3368 by Herbert Spencer Robinson and Knox Wilson ]
3370 _Mithril_! All folk desired it. It could be beaten like
3371 copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make
3372 of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel.
3373 Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty
3374 of _mithril_ did not tarnish or grow dim.
3375 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
3377 This helm of brilliance performs all of the normal functions
3378 of a helm of brilliance, but also has the ability to protect
3379 anyone who carries it from fire. When invoked, it boosts
3380 the energy of the invoker, allowing them to cast more spells.
3382 Forged by the dwarves Eitri and Brokk, in response to Loki's
3383 challenge, Mjollnir is an indestructible war hammer. It has
3384 two magical properties: when thrown it always returned to
3385 Thor's hand; and it could be made to shrink in size until it
3386 could fit inside Thor's shirt. Its only flaw is that it has
3387 a short handle. The other gods judged Mjollnir the winner of
3388 the contest because, of all the treasures created, it alone had
3389 the power to protect them from the giants. As the legends
3390 surrounding Mjollnir grew, it began to take on the quality of
3391 "vigja", or consecration. Thor used it to consecrate births,
3392 weddings, and even to raise his goats from the dead. In the
3393 Norse mythologies Mjollnir is considered to represent Thor's
3394 governance over the entire cycle of life - fertility, birth,
3395 destruction, and resurrection.
3397 Mog is known as the Spider God. Mog resembles a four-limbed
3398 spider with a handsome, if not entirely human, face.
3401 Mold, multicellular organism of the division Fungi, typified
3402 by plant bodies composed of a network of cottony filaments.
3403 The colors of molds are due to spores borne on the filaments.
3404 Most molds are saprophytes. Some species (e.g., penicillium)
3405 are used in making cheese and antibiotics.
3406 [ The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia ]
3408 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
3409 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever
3410 he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that
3411 sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech;
3412 he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall
3413 stone him with stones.
3414 And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off
3415 from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto
3416 Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
3417 And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes
3418 from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill
3420 Then I will set my face against that man, and against his
3421 family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after
3422 him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
3423 [ Leviticus 20:1-5 ]
3428 One day, an army general invited the Buddhist monk I-Hsiu
3429 (literally, "One Rest") to his military head office for a
3430 dinner. I-Hsiu was not accustomed to wearing luxurious
3431 clothings and so he just put on an old ordinary casual
3432 robe to go to the military base. To him, "form is void".
3434 As he approached the base, two soldiers appeared before him
3435 and shouted, "Where does this beggar came from? Identify
3436 yourself! You do not have permission to be around here!"
3438 "My name is I-Hsiu Dharma Master. I am invited by your
3439 general for a supper."
3441 The two soldiers examined the monk closely and said, "You
3442 liar. How come my general invites such a shabby monk to
3443 dinner? He invites the very solemn venerable I-Hsiu to our
3444 base for a great ceremony today, not you. Now, get out!"
3446 I-Hsiu was unable to convince the soldiers that he was
3447 indeed the invited guest, so he returned to the temple
3448 and changed to a very formal solemn ceremonial robe for
3449 the dinner. And as he returned to the military base, the
3450 soldiers observed that he was such a great Buddhist monk,
3451 let him in with honour.
3453 At the dinner, I-Hsiu sat in front of the table full of
3454 food but, instead of putting the food into his mouth, he
3455 picked up the food with his chopsticks and put it into
3456 his sleeves. The general was curious, and whispered to
3457 him, "This is very embarrassing. Do you want to take
3458 some food back to the temple? I will order the cook to
3459 prepare some take out orders for you." "No" replied the
3460 monk. "When I came here, I was not allowed into the
3461 base by your soldiers until I wear this ceremonial robe.
3462 You do not invite me for a dinner. You invite my robe.
3463 Therefore, my robe is eating the food, not me."
3464 [ Dining with a General - a Zen Buddhism Koan,
3465 translation by Yiu-man Chan ]
3467 "Listen, man-cub," said the Bear, and his voice rumbled like
3468 thunder on a hot night. "I have taught thee all the Law of
3469 the Jungle for all the peoples of the jungle--except the
3470 Monkey-Folk who live in the trees. They have no law. They
3471 are outcasts. They have no speech of their own, but use the
3472 stolen words which they overhear when they listen, and peep,
3473 and wait up above in the branches. Their way is not our way.
3474 They are without leaders. They have no remembrance. They
3475 boast and chatter and pretend that they are a great people
3476 about to do great affairs in the jungle, but the falling of
3477 a nut turns their minds to laughter and all is forgotten.
3478 We of the jungle have no dealings with them. We do not drink
3479 where the monkeys drink; we do not go where the monkeys go;
3480 we do not hunt where they hunt; we do not die where they die...."
3481 [ The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling ]
3483 The morning star was a medieval weapon resembling a mace, but
3484 with a large spike on the end and smaller spikes around the
3485 circumference. It was also known as the goedendag (from the
3486 Dutch word for "good day") and the holy water sprinkler (from
3487 its resemblance to the aspergillum sometimes used in the
3488 Catholic Mass). It was used by both cavalry and infantry;
3489 the horseman's weapon typically had a shorter haft than the
3490 footman's, which might be up to six feet long. It came into
3491 use in the beginning of the 14th century.
3492 The name "morning star" is often erroneously applied to the
3493 military flail (also known as the therscol), a similar weapon,
3494 but with the head attached by a short chain.
3495 [ Dictionary of Medieval Knighthood and Chivalry,
3496 by Bradford Broughton ]
3498 ... the Mumak of Harad was indeed a beast of vast bulk, and
3499 the like of him does not walk now in Middle-Earth; his kin
3500 that live still in latter days are but memories of his girth
3501 and majesty. On he came, ... his great legs like trees,
3502 enormous sail-like ears spread out, long snout upraised like
3503 a huge serpent about to strike, his small red eyes raging.
3504 His upturned hornlike tusks ... dripped with blood.
3505 [ The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
3507 But for an account of the manner in which the body was
3508 bandaged, and a list of the unguents and other materials
3509 employed in the process, and the words of power which were
3510 spoken as each bandage was laid in its place, we must have
3511 recourse to a very interesting papyrus which has been edited
3512 and translated by M. Maspero under the title of Le Rituel de
3514 Everything that could be done to preserve the body was now
3515 done, and every member of it was, by means of the words of
3516 power which changed perishable substances into imperishable,
3517 protected to all eternity; when the final covering of purple
3518 or white linen had been fastened upon it, the body was ready
3520 [ Egyptian Magic, by E.A. Wallis Budge ]
3522 He held a white cloth -- it was a serviette he had brought
3523 with him -- over the lower part of his face, so that his
3524 mouth and jaws were completely hidden, and that was the
3525 reason for his muffled voice. But it was not that which
3526 startled Mrs. Hall. It was the fact that all his forehead
3527 above his blue glasses was covered by a white bandage, and
3528 that another covered his ears, leaving not a scrap of his
3529 face exposed excepting only his pink, peaked nose. It was
3530 bright, pink, and shiny just as it had been at first. He
3531 wore a dark-brown velvet jacket with a high, black, linen-
3532 lined collar turned up about his neck. The thick black
3533 hair, escaping as it could below and between the cross
3534 bandages, project in curious tails and horns, giving him
3535 the strangest appearance conceivable.
3536 [ The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells ]
3539 The naga is a mystical creature with the body of a snake and
3540 the head of a man or woman. They will fiercely protect the
3541 territory they consider their own. Some nagas can be forced
3542 to serve as guardians by a spellcaster of great power.
3544 A Japanese pole-arm, fitted with a curved single-edged blade.
3545 The blades ranged in length from two to four feet, mounted on
3546 shafts about four to five feet long. The naginata were cut
3547 with a series of short grooves near to the tang, above which
3548 the back edge was thinned, but not sharpened, so that the
3549 greater part of the blade was a flattened diamond shape in
3550 section. Seen in profile, the curve is slight or non-
3551 existent near the tang, becoming more pronounced towards the
3555 "With his naginata he killed five, but with the sixth it
3556 snapped asunder in the midst and, flinging it away, he drew
3557 his sword, wielding it in the zigzag style, the interlacing,
3558 cross, reversed dragonfly, waterwheel, and eight-sides-at-
3559 once styles of fencing and cutting down eight men; but as he
3560 brought down the ninth with a mighty blow on the helmet, the
3561 blade snapped at the hilt."
3562 [ Story of Tsutsui no Jomio Meishu from Tales of Heike ]
3564 Not only do these demons do physical damage with their claws
3565 and bite, but they are capable of using magic as well.
3567 Nalzok is Moloch's cunning and unfailingly loyal battle
3568 lieutenant, to whom he trusts the command of warfare when he
3569 does not wish to exercise it himself. Nalzok is a major
3570 demon, known to command the undead. He is hungry for power,
3571 and secretly covets Moloch's position. Moloch doesn't trust
3572 him, but, trusting his own power enough, chooses to allow
3573 Nalzok his position because he is useful.
3575 1. Valley between Duesseldorf and Elberfeld in Germany,
3576 where an ancient skull of a prehistoric ancestor to modern
3577 man was found. 2. Human(oid) of the race mentioned above.
3580 Neferet the Green holds office in her hidden tower, only
3581 reachable by magical means, where she teaches her apprentices
3582 the enigmatic skills of occultism. Despite her many years, she
3583 continues to investigate new spells, especially those involving
3584 translocation. It is further rumored that when she was an
3585 apprentice herself, she accidentally turned her skin green, and
3586 has kept it that way ever since.
3588 (kinds of) small animal, like a lizard, which spends most of
3589 its time in the water.
3590 [ Oxford's Student's Dictionary of Current English ]
3592 "Fillet of a fenny snake,
3593 In the cauldron boil and bake;
3594 Eye of newt and toe of frog,
3595 Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
3596 Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
3597 Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
3598 For a charm of powerful trouble,
3599 Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."
3600 [ Macbeth, by William Shakespeare ]
3602 A Japanese broadsword.
3604 The Norns were the three Norse Fates, or the goddesses of fate.
3605 Female giants, they brought the wonderful Golden Age to an end.
3606 They cast lots over the cradle of every child that was born,
3607 and placed gifts in the cradle. Their names were Urda,
3608 Verdandi, and Skuld, representing the past, the present, and
3609 the future. Urda and Verdandi were kindly disposed, but Skuld
3610 was cruel and savage. Their tasks were to sew the web of
3611 fate, to water the sacred ash, Yggdrasil, and to keep it in
3612 good condition by placing fresh earth around it daily. In her
3613 fury, Skuld often spoiled the work of her sisters by tearing
3615 [ The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends of All Nations
3616 by Herbert Spencer Robinson and Knox Wilson ]
3618 A nunchaku is two sections of wood (or metal in modern
3619 incarnations) connected by a cord or chain. There is much
3620 controversy over its origins; some say it was originally a
3621 Chinese weapon, others say it evolved from a threshing flail;
3622 one theory purports that it was developed from a horse's bit.
3623 Chinese nunchaku tend to be rounded, whereas Japanese are
3624 octagonal, and they were originally linked by horse hair.
3625 There are many variations on the nunchaku, ranging from the
3626 three sectional staff (san-setsu-kon nunchaku), to smaller
3627 multi-section nunchaku. The nunchaku was popularized by
3628 Bruce Lee in a number of films, made in both Hollywood and
3630 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
3633 A female creature from Roman and Greek mythology, the nymph
3634 occupied rivers, forests, ponds, etc. A nymph's beauty is
3635 beyond words: an ever-young woman with sleek figure and
3636 long, thick hair, radiant skin and perfect teeth, full lips
3637 and gentle eyes. A nymph's scent is delightful, and her
3638 long robe glows, hemmed with golden threads and embroidered
3639 with rainbow hues of unearthly magnificence. A nymph's
3640 demeanour is graceful and charming, her mind quick and witty.
3643 Theseus felt her voice pulling him down into fathoms of
3644 sleep. The song was the skeleton of his dream, and the dream
3645 was full of terror. Demon girls were after him, and a bull-
3646 man was goring him. Everywhere there was blood. There was
3647 pain. There was fear. But his head was in the nymph's lap
3648 and her musk was about him, her voice weaving the dream. He
3649 knew then that she had been sent to tell him of something
3650 dreadful that was to happen to him later. Her song was a
3651 warning. But she had brought him a new kind of joy, one that
3652 made him see everything differently. The boy, who was to
3653 become a hero, suddenly knew then what most heroes learn
3654 later -- and some too late -- that joy blots suffering and
3655 that the road to nymphs is beset by monsters.
3656 [ The Minotaur, by Bernard Evslin ]
3658 A volcanic glass, homogeneous in texture and having a low water
3659 content, with a vitreous luster and a conchoidal fracture. The
3660 color is commonly black, but may be some shade of red or brown,
3661 and cut sections sometimes appear to be green. Like other
3662 volcanic glasses, obsidian is a lava that has cooled too quickly
3663 for the contained minerals to crystallize. In chemical
3664 composition it is rich in silica and similar to granite. It is
3665 favored by primitive peoples for knives, arrowheads, spearheads,
3666 and other weapons and tools.
3667 [ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ]
3669 Also called Sigtyr (god of Victory), Val-father (father of
3670 the slain), One-Eyed, Hanga-god (god of the hanged), Farma-
3671 god (god of cargoes), Hapta-god (god of prisoners), and
3672 Othin. He is the prime god of the Norsemen: god of war and
3673 victory, wisdom and prophecy, poetry, the dead, air and wind,
3674 hospitality, and magic.
3675 As the god of war and victory, Odin is ruler of the Valkyries,
3676 warrior-maidens who lived in the halls of Valhalla in Asgard,
3677 the hall of dead heroes where he held his court.
3678 These chosen ones will defend the realm of the gods against
3679 the Frost Giants on the final day of reckoning, Ragnarok.
3680 As god of the wind, Odin rides through the air on his eight-
3681 footed horse, Sleipnir, wielding Gungner, his spear, normally
3682 accompanied by his ravens, Hugin and Munin, who he would also
3684 As a god of hospitality, he enjoys visiting the earth in
3685 disguise to see how people were behaving and to see how they
3686 would treat him, not knowing who he was.
3687 Odin is usually represented as a one-eyed wise old man with a
3688 long white beard and a wide-brimmed hat (he gave one of his
3689 eyes to Mimir, the guardian of the well of wisdom in Hel, in
3690 exchange for a draught of knowledge).
3692 Anyone who has met a gluttonous, nude, angry ogre, will not
3693 easily forget this encounter -- if he survives it at all.
3694 Both male and female ogres can easily grow as tall as three
3695 metres. Build and facial expressions would remind one of a
3696 Neanderthal. Its small, pointy, keen teeth are striking.
3697 Since ogres avoid direct sunlight, their ragged, unfurry
3698 skin is as white as a sheet. They enjoy coating their body
3699 with lard and usually wear nothing but a loin-cloth. An elf
3700 would smell its rancid stench at ten metres distance.
3701 Ogres are solitary creatures: very rarely one may encounter
3702 a female with two or three young. They are the only real
3703 carnivores among the humanoids, and its favourite meal is --
3704 not surprisingly -- human flesh. They sometimes ally with
3705 orcs or goblins, but only when they anticipate a good meaty
3707 [ het Boek van de Regels; Het Oog des Meesters ]
3709 During our watches below we overhauled our clothes, and made
3710 and mended everything for bad weather. Each of us had made
3711 for himself a suit of oil-cloth or tarpaulin, and these we
3712 got out, and gave thorough coatings of oil or tar, and hung
3713 upon the stays to dry. Our stout boots, too, we covered
3714 over with a thick mixture of melted grease and tar. Thus we
3715 took advantage of the warm sun and fine weather of the
3716 Pacific to prepare for its other face.
3717 [ Two Years Before the Mast, by Richard Henry Dana ]
3719 Summer passed all too quickly. On the last day of camp, Mr.
3720 Brickle called his counselors together and paid them what he
3721 owed them. Louis received one hundred dollars - the first
3722 money he had ever earned. He had no wallet and no pockets,
3723 so Mr. Brickle placed the money in a waterproof bag that had
3724 a drawstring. He hung this moneybag around Louis' neck,
3725 along with the trumpet, the slate, the chalk pencil, and the
3727 [ The Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White ]
3729 But at the end of the Third Age a troll-race not before seen
3730 appeared in southern Mirkwood and in the mountain borders of
3731 Mordor. Olog-hai they were called in the Black Speech. That
3732 Sauron bred them none doubted, though from what stock was not
3733 known. Some held that they were not Trolls but giant Orcs;
3734 but the Olog-hai were in fashion of body and mind quite unlike
3735 even the largest of Orc-kind, whom they far surpassed in size
3736 and power. Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will
3737 of their master: a fell race, strong, agile, fierce and
3738 cunning, but harder than stone. Unlike the older race of the
3739 Twilight they could endure the Sun.... They spoke little,
3740 and the only tongue they knew was the Black Speech of Barad-dur.
3741 [ The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
3745 Delphi under towering Parnassus, where Apollo's oracle was,
3746 plays an important part in mythology. Castalia was its
3747 sacred spring; Cephissus its river. It was held to be the
3748 center of the world, so many pilgrims came to it, from
3749 foreign countries as well as Greece. No other shrine rivaled
3750 it. The answers to the questions asked by the anxious
3751 seekers for Truth were delivered by a priestess who went into
3752 a trance before she spoke.
3753 [ Mythology, by Edith Hamilton ]
3756 What was the fruit like? Unfortunately, no one can describe
3757 a taste. All I can say is that, compared with those fruits,
3758 the freshest grapefruit you've ever eaten was dull, and the
3759 juiciest orange was dry, and the most melting pear was hard
3760 and woody, and the sweetest wild strawberry was sour. And
3761 there were no seeds or stones, and no wasps. If you had once
3762 eaten that fruit, all the nicest things in this world would
3763 taste like medicines after it. But I can't describe it. You
3764 can't find out what it is like unless you can get to that
3765 country and taste it for yourself.
3766 [ The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis ]
3768 This Orb is a crystal ball of exceptional powers. When
3769 carried, it grants ESP, limits damage done by spells, and
3770 protects the carrier from magic missiles. When invoked it
3771 allows the carrier to become invisible.
3773 Some say that Odin himself created this ancient crystal ball,
3774 although others argue that Loki created it and forged Odin's
3775 signature on the bottom. In any case, it is a powerful
3776 artifact. Anyone who carries it is granted the gift of
3777 warning, and damage, both spell and physical, is partially
3778 absorbed by the orb itself. When invoked it has the power
3779 to teleport the invoker between levels.
3782 The Great Goblin gave a truly awful howl of rage when he
3783 looked at it, and all his soldiers gnashed their teeth,
3784 clashed their shields, and stamped. They knew the sword at
3785 once. It had killed hundreds of goblins in its time, when
3786 the fair elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills or did
3787 battle before their walls. They had called it Orcrist,
3788 Goblin-cleaver, but the goblins called it simply Biter.
3789 They hated it and hated worse any one that carried it.
3790 [ The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
3792 Orcus, Prince of the Undead, has a ram's head and a poison
3793 stinger. He is most feared, though, for his powerful magic
3794 abilities. His wand causes death to those he chooses.
3803 Orcs, bipeds with a humanoid appearance, are related to the
3804 goblins, but much bigger and more dangerous. The average orc
3805 is only moderately intelligent, has broad, muscled shoulders,
3806 a short neck, a sloping forehead and a thick, dark fur.
3807 Their lower eye-teeth are pointing forward, like a boar's.
3808 Female orcs are more lightly built and bare-chested. Not
3809 needing any clothing, they do like to dress in variegated
3810 apparels. Suspicious by nature, orcs live in tribes or
3811 hordes. They tend to live underground as well as above
3812 ground (but they dislike sunlight). Orcs can use all weapons,
3813 tools and armours that are used by men. Since they don't have
3814 the talent to fashion these themselves, they are constantly
3815 hunting for them. There is nothing a horde of orcs cannot
3817 [ het Boek van de Regels; Het Oog des Meesters ]
3820 Orion was the son of Neptune. He was a handsome giant and a
3821 mighty hunter. His father gave him the power of wading
3822 through the depths of the sea, or, as others say, of
3823 walking on its surface.
3825 He dwelt as a hunter with Diana (Artemis), with whom he
3826 was a favourite, and it is even said she was about to marry
3827 him. Her brother was highly displeased and often chid her,
3828 but to no purpose. One day, observing Orion wading through
3829 the sea with his head just above the water, Apollo pointed
3830 it out to his sister and maintained that she could not hit
3831 that black thing on the sea. The archer-goddess discharged
3832 a shaft with fatal aim. The waves rolled the dead body of
3833 Orion to the land, and bewailing her fatal error with many
3834 tears, Diana placed him among the stars, where he appears
3835 as a giant, with a girdle, sword, lion's skin, and
3836 club. Sirius, his dog, follows him, and the Pleiads fly
3838 [ Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch ]
3840 The osaku is a small tool for picking locks.
3842 Owlbears are probably the crossbreed creation of a demented
3843 wizard; given the lethal nature of this creation, it is quite
3844 likely the wizard who created them is no longer alive. As
3845 the name might already suggest, owlbears are a cross between
3846 a giant owl and a bear. They are covered with fur and
3849 A male servant or attendant; specifically, in chivalry,
3850 a lad or young man in training for knighthood, or a youth
3851 of gentle parentage attending a royal or princely personage.
3852 [ Webster's Comprehensive International Dictionary
3853 of the English Language ]
3855 _Pallium._ The Roman name for a square woollen cloak worn
3856 by men in ancient Greece, especially by philosophers and
3857 courtesans, corresponding to the Roman toga. Hence the
3858 Greeks called themselves _gens palliata,_ and the Romans
3859 called themselves _gens togata._
3860 [ Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]
3862 And lo! almost where the ascent began,
3863 A panther light and swift exceedingly,
3864 Which with a spotted skin was covered o'er!
3866 And never moved she from before my face,
3867 Nay, rather did impede so much my way,
3868 That many times I to return had turned.
3869 [ Dante's Inferno, as translated
3870 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ]
3872 Some players, who unconsciously perceive Paper as weak or a
3873 sign of surrender, will shy away from using it entirely or
3874 drop it from their game when they are falling behind. On the
3875 other hand, Paper also connects with a player's perceptions
3876 about writing. There is a quiet power in the printed word.
3877 It has the ability to lay off thousands of employees, declare
3878 war against nations, spread scandal or confess love. Paper,
3879 in short, has power over masses. The fate of the entire world
3880 is determined by print. As such, some players perceive Paper
3881 as a subtle attack, the victory of modern culture over barbarism.
3882 Such players may use Paper to assert their superiority and dignity.
3883 [ The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide,
3884 by Douglas and Graham Walker ]
3886 Conan cried out sharply and recoiled, thrusting his companion
3887 back. Before them rose the great shimmering white form of Satha,
3888 an ageless hate in its eyes. Conan tensed himself for one mad
3889 berserker onslaught -- to thrust the glowing faggot into that
3890 fiendish countenance and throw his life into the ripping sword-
3891 stroke. But the snake was not looking at him. It was glaring
3892 over his shoulder at the man called Pelias, who stood with his
3893 arms folded, smiling. And in the great, cold, yellow eyes
3894 slowly the hate died out in a glitter of pure fear -- the only
3895 time Conan ever saw such an expression in a reptile's eyes.
3896 With a swirling rush like the sweep of a strong wind, the great
3898 "What did he see to frighten him?" asked Conan, eyeing his
3900 "The scaled people see what escapes the mortal eye," answered
3901 Pelias cryptically. "You see my fleshy guise, he saw my naked
3903 [ Conan the Usurper, by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp ]
3906 The mine is full of holes;
3907 With the wound of pickaxes.
3908 But look at the goldsmith's store.
3909 There, there is gold everywhere.
3910 [ Divan-i Kebir Meter 2, by Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi ]
3912 Ye Piercer doth look like unto a stalactyte, and hangeth
3913 from the roofs of caves and caverns. Unto the height of a
3914 man, and thicker than a man's thigh do they grow, and in
3915 groups do they hang. If a creature doth pass beneath them,
3916 they will by its heat and noise perceive it, and fall upon
3917 it to kill and devour it, though in any other way they move
3919 [ the Bestiary of Xygag ]
3921 They live in "schools." Many times they will wait for prey
3922 to come to the shallow water of the river. Then the large
3923 group of piranhas will attack. These large groups are able
3924 to kill large animals... Their lower teeth fit perfectly
3925 into the spaces of their upper teeth, creating a tremendous
3926 vice-like bite... Piranhas are attracted to any disturbance
3928 [ http://www.animalsoftherainforest.com ]
3931 Amid the thought of the fiery destruction that impended, the
3932 idea of the coolness of the well came over my soul like balm.
3933 I rushed to its deadly brink. I threw my straining vision
3934 below. The glare from the enkindled roof illumined its inmost
3935 recesses. Yet, for a wild moment, did my spirit refuse to
3936 comprehend the meaning of what I saw. At length it forced --
3937 it wrestled its way into my soul -- it burned itself in upon my
3938 shuddering reason. Oh! for a voice to speak! -- oh! horror! --
3939 oh! any horror but this!
3940 [ The Pit and the Pendulum, by Edgar Allan Poe ]
3942 Pit fiends are among the more powerful of devils, capable of
3943 attacking twice with weapons as well as grabbing and crushing
3944 the life out of those unwary enough to enter their
3946 platinum yendorian express card
3947 This is an ancient artifact made of an unknown material. It
3948 is rectangular in shape, very thin, and inscribed with
3949 unreadable ancient runes. When carried, it grants the one
3950 who carries it ESP, and reduces all spell induced damage done to
3951 the carrier by half. It also protects from magic missile
3952 attacks. Finally, its power is such that when invoked, it
3953 can charge other objects.
3954 # playing style, rather vague topic but these quotes are too apt to pass up
3961 Or else your life's blood,
3963 [ The White Road, by Neil Gaiman ]
3965 People think I'm crazy to worry all the time;
3966 If you paid attention, you'd be worried too.
3967 You better pay attention, or this world we love so much
3968 Might just kill you.
3969 [ It's a Jungle Out There, by Randy Newman ]
3970 # [ theme song from "Monk" ]
3989 Many of the weapons of the Middle Ages were poled or long-shafted
3990 arms. Unlike the ancient spear or javelin, however, they were not
3991 intended to be thrown. Some were devices with simple single- or
3992 double-edged blades and nothing more, while others combined
3993 the pick, spear, and hammer or axe all in one weapon.
3994 [ Heraldry and Armor of the Middle Ages, by Marvin H. Pakula ]
3996 One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams,
3997 he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous
3998 verminous bug. He lay on his armour-hard back and saw, as he
3999 lifted his head up a little, his brown, arched abdomen divided
4000 up into rigid bow-like sections. From this height the blanket,
4001 just about ready to slide off completely, could hardly stay in
4002 place. His numerous legs, pitifully thin in comparison to the
4003 rest of his circumference, flickered helplessly before his eyes.
4004 [ The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka,
4005 translated by Ian Johnston ]
4007 Hey! now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander?
4008 Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder?
4009 Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin,
4010 White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin!
4013 Tom called them one by one and they climbed over the brow and
4014 stood in a line. Then Tom bowed to the hobbits.
4016 "Here are your ponies, now!" he said. "They've more sense (in some
4017 ways) than you wandering hobbits have -- more sense in their noses.
4018 For they sniff danger ahead which you walk right into; and if they
4019 run to save themselves, then they run the right way."
4020 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
4022 Portals can be Mirrors, Pictures, Standing Stones, Stone
4023 Circles, Windows, and special gates set up for the purpose.
4024 You will travel through them both to distant parts of the
4025 continent and to and from our own world. The precise manner
4026 of their working is a Management secret.
4027 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
4030 Poseido(o)n, lord of the seas and father of rivers and
4031 fountains, was the son of Chronos and Rhea, brother of Zeus,
4032 Hades, Hera, Hestia and Demeter. His rank of ruler of the
4033 waves he received by lot at the Council Meeting of the Gods,
4034 at which Zeus took the upper world for himself and gave
4035 dominion over the lower world to Hades.
4036 Poseidon is associated in many ways with horses and thus is
4037 the god of horses. He taught men how to ride and manage the
4038 animal he invented and is looked upon as the originator and
4039 guardian deity of horse races.
4040 His symbol is the familiar trident or three-pronged spear
4041 with which he can split rocks, cause or quell storms, and
4042 shake the earth, a power which makes him the god of
4043 earthquakes as well. Physically, he is shown as a strong and
4044 powerful ruler, every inch a king.
4045 [ The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends of All Nations,
4046 by Herbert Robinson and Knox Wilson ]
4050 POTABLE, n. Suitable for drinking. Water is said to be
4051 potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage,
4052 although even they find it palatable only when suffering
4053 from the recurrent disorder known as thirst, for which it
4054 is a medicine. Upon nothing has so great and diligent
4055 ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all
4056 countries, except the most uncivilized, as upon the
4057 invention of substitutes for water. To hold that this
4058 general aversion to that liquid has no basis in the
4059 preservative instinct of the race is to be unscientific --
4060 and without science we are as the snakes and toads.
4061 [ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]
4063 Jack Burton: What's in the flask, Egg? Magic potion?
4065 Jack: I thought so, good. What do we do? Drink it?
4067 Jack: Good, I thought so.
4069 Jack: This does what again, exactly?
4070 Egg: Huge buzz! [drinks] Oh good! See things no
4071 one else can see, do things no one else can do.
4072 [ Big Trouble in Little China, directed by
4073 John Carpenter, written by Gary Goldman &
4074 David Z. Weinstein, adaptation by W. D. Richter ]
4076 Whatever a man prays for, he prays for a miracle. Every
4077 prayer reduces itself to this: Great God, grant that twice
4079 [ Fathers and Sons, by Ivan Turgenev ]
4083 [...] For the two priests were talking exactly like priests,
4084 piously, with learning and leisure, about the most aerial
4085 enigmas of theology. The little Essex priest spoke the more
4086 simply, with his round face turned to the strengthening stars;
4087 the other talked with his head bowed, as if he were not even
4088 worthy to look at them. But no more innocently clerical
4089 conversation could have been heard in any white Italian cloister
4090 or black Spanish cathedral. The first he heard was the tail of
4091 one of Father Brown's sentences, which ended: "... what they
4092 really meant in the Middle Ages by the heavens being
4093 incorruptible." The taller priest nodded his bowed head and
4094 said: "Ah, yes, these modern infidels appeal to their reason;
4095 but who can look at those millions of worlds and not feel that
4096 there may well be wonderful universes above us where reason is
4097 utterly unreasonable?"
4098 [ The Innocence of Father Brown, by G.K. Chesterton ]
4100 Opuntia, commonly called prickly pear, is a genus in the cactus
4101 family, Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as tuna (fruit),
4102 sabra, nopal (paddle, plural nopales) from the Nahuatl word
4103 nopalli for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word nochtli
4104 for the fruit; or paddle cactus.
4105 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
4111 Whose side are you on?
4112 That would be telling. We want information ...
4115 By hook or by crook, we will.
4120 I am not a number! I am a free man!
4121 [ The Prisoner, by Patrick McGoohan ]
4123 Known under various names (Nu, Neph, Cenubis, Amen-Kneph,
4124 Khery-Bakef), Ptah is the creator god and god of craftsmen.
4125 He is usually depicted as wearing a closely fitting robe
4126 with only his hands free. His most distinctive features are
4127 the invariable skull-cap exposing only his face and ears,
4128 and the _was_ or rod of domination which he holds,
4129 consisting of a staff surmounted by the _ankh_ symbol of
4130 life. He is otherwise symbolized by his sacred animal, the
4133 A gargantuan version of the harmless rain-worm, the purple
4134 worm poses a huge threat to the ordinary adventurer. It is
4135 known to swallow whole and digest its victims within only a
4136 few minutes. These worms are always on guard, sensitive
4137 to the most minute vibrations in the earth, but may also
4138 be awakened by a remote shriek.
4140 At first glance around the corner, I thought it was another
4141 cockatrice. I had encountered the wretched creatures two or
4142 three times since leaving the open area. I quickly ducked my
4143 head back and considered what to do next. My heart had begun
4144 to thump audibly as I patted my pack to make sure I still had
4145 the dead lizards at close reach. A check of my attire showed
4146 no obvious holes or damage. I had to keep moving. One deep
4147 breath, and a count of three, two, one, and around the corner
4148 I bolted. But it was no cockatrice! I felt a sudden intense
4149 searing of the skin around my face, and flames began to leap
4150 from my pack. I tossed it to the ground, and quickly retreated
4151 back, around that corner, desperately striving to get out of
4154 A monstrous serpent in Greek mythology, and the child of Gaia,
4155 the goddess earth. It was produced from the slime and mud
4156 that was left on the earth by the great flood of Deucalion.
4157 It lived in a cave and guarded the oracle of Delphi on mount
4160 No man dared to approach the beast and the people asked Apollo
4161 for help. He came down from Mount Olympus with his silver bow
4162 and golden arrows. With using only one arrow he killed the
4163 serpent and claimed the oracle for himself. ... The old name of
4164 Delphi, Pytho, refers to the serpent.
4165 [ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]
4167 The woodlands and other regions are inhabited by multitudes
4168 of four-legged creatures which cannot be simply classified.
4169 They might not have fiery breath or deadly stings, but
4170 adventurers have nevertheless met their end numerous times
4171 due to the claws, hooves, or bites of such animals.
4173 These creatures are not native to this universe; they seem
4174 to have strangely derived powers, and unknown motives.
4177 _Uncertainty Principle_ The principle that it is not possible
4178 to know with unlimited accuracy both the position and momentum
4179 of a particle. ... An explanation of the uncertainty is that
4180 in order to locate a particle exactly, an observer must be
4181 able to bounce off it a photon of radiation; this act of
4182 location itself alters the position of the particle
4183 in an unpredictable way. To locate the position accurately,
4184 photons of short wavelength would have to be used. The high
4185 momentum of such photons would cause a large effect on the
4186 position. On the other hand, using photons of lower momenta
4187 would have less effect on the particle's position, but would
4188 be less accurate because of the lower wavelength.
4189 [ A Concise Dictionary of Physics ]
4191 Quasits are small, evil creatures, related to imps. Their
4192 talons release a very toxic poison when used in an attack.
4194 Many, possibly most, Tours are organized as a Quest. This
4195 is like a large-scale treasure hunt, with clues scattered
4196 all over the continent, a few false leads, Mystical Masters
4197 as game-show hosts, and the Dark Lord and the Terrain to
4198 make the Quest interestingly difficult. [...]
4199 In order to be assured of your future custom, the Management
4200 has a further Rule: Tourists, far from being rewarded for
4201 achieving their Quest Object, must then go on to conquer
4202 the Dark Lord or set about Saving the World, or both. And
4203 why not? By then you will have had a lot of practice in
4204 that sort of thing and, besides, the Quest Object is usually
4205 designed to help you do it.
4206 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
4208 One of the principal Aztec-Toltec gods was the great and wise
4209 Quetzalcoatl, who was called Kukumatz in Guatemala, and
4210 Kukulcan in Yucatan. His image, the plumed serpent, is found
4211 on both the oldest and the most recent Indian edifices. ...
4212 The legend tells how the Indian deity Quetzalcoatl came from
4213 the "Land of the Rising Sun". He wore a long white robe and
4214 had a beard; he taught the people crafts and customs and laid
4215 down wise laws. He created an empire in which the ears of
4216 corn were as long as men are tall, and caused bolls of colored
4217 cotton to grow on cotton plants. But for some reason or other
4218 he had to leave his empire. ... But all the legends of
4219 Quetzalcoatl unanimously agree that he promised to come again.
4220 [ Gods, Graves, and Scholars, by C. W. Ceram ]
4222 Maltar: [...] I remembered a little saying I learned my
4223 first day at the academy.
4224 Natalie: Yeah, yeah, I know. Winners never quit and quitters
4226 Maltar: What? No! Winners never quit and quitters should
4227 be cast into the Flaming Pit of Death.
4228 [ Snow Day, directed by Chris Koch,
4229 written by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi ]
4232 The Japanese god of thunder (rai) and lightning (den). He
4233 prevented the Mongols from invading Japan in 1274. Sitting on
4234 a cloud he sent forth a shower of lightning arrows upon the
4235 invading fleet. Only three men escaped. Raiden is portrayed
4236 as a red demon with sharp claws, carrying a large drum. He is
4237 fond of eating human navels. The only protection against him
4238 is to hide under a mosquito net.
4239 [ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]
4242 "Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild, hunters -- but hunters
4243 ever of the servants of the Enemy; for they are found in many
4244 places, not in Mordor only.
4245 If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played
4246 another part. Many evil things there are that your strong walls
4247 and bright swords do not stay. You know little of the lands
4248 beyond your bounds. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North
4249 would have known them little but for us. Fear would have
4250 destroyed them. But when dark things come from the houseless
4251 hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us. What
4252 roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in
4253 quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the
4254 Dunedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave?"
4255 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
4258 Rats are long-tailed rodents. They are aggressive,
4259 omnivorous, and adaptable, often carrying diseases.
4262 "The rat," said O'Brien, still addressing his invisible
4263 audience, "although a rodent, is carnivorous. You are aware
4264 of that. You will have heard of the things that happen in
4265 the poor quarters of this town. In some streets a woman dare
4266 not leave her baby alone in the house, even for five minutes.
4267 The rats are certain to attack it. Within quite a small time
4268 they will strip it to the bones. They also attack sick or
4269 dying people. They show astonishing intelligence in knowing
4270 when a human being is helpless."
4271 [ 1984, by George Orwell ]
4273 But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
4274 That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
4275 Nothing further then he uttered -- not a feather then he fluttered--
4276 Till I scarcely more than muttered, 'other friends have flown before--
4277 On the morrow *he* will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
4278 Then the bird said, 'Nevermore.'
4279 [ The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe ]
4284 Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
4285 Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
4286 Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
4287 One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
4288 In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
4289 One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
4290 One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
4291 In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
4292 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
4293 ring of invisibility
4294 "When time came for the shepherds to hold their customary
4295 assembly in order to prepare their monthly report to the king
4296 about the state of the flocks, he came too, wearing this ring.
4297 While he was sitting with the others, it chanced that he moved
4298 the collet of the ring around toward himself into the inside of
4299 his hand; having done this, he disappeared from the sight of
4300 those who were sitting beside him, and they discussed of him as
4301 of someone who had left. And he wondered and once again feeling
4302 for the ring, he turned the collet outwards and, by turning it,
4303 reappeared. Reflecting upon this, he put the ring to the test
4304 to see if it indeed had such power, and he came to this
4305 conclusion that, by turning the collet inwards, he became
4306 invisible, outwards, visible. Having perceived this, he at
4307 once managed for himself to become one of the envoys to the
4308 king; upon arrival, having seduced his wife, with her help,
4309 he laid a hand on the king, murdered him and took hold of the
4311 [ The Republic, by Plato, translated by James Adam ]
4313 Robes are the only garments, apart from Shirts, ever to have
4314 sleeves. They have three uses:
4315 1. As the official uniform of Priests, Priestesses, Monks,
4316 Nuns (see Nunnery), and Wizards. The OMT [ Official Management
4317 Term ] prescribed for the Robes of Priests and Nuns is that
4318 they _fall in severe folds_; of Priestesses that they _float_;
4319 and of Wizards that they _swirl_. You can thus see who you
4321 2. For Kings. The OMT here is _falling in stately folds_.
4322 3. As the garb of Desert Nomads. [...]
4323 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
4325 Bilbo saw that the moment had come when he must do something.
4326 He could not get up at the brutes and he had nothing to shoot
4327 with; but looking about he saw that in this place there were
4328 many stones lying in what appeared to be a now dry little
4329 watercourse. Bilbo was a pretty fair shot with a stone, and
4330 it did not take him long to find a nice smooth egg-shaped one
4331 that fitted his hand cosily. As a boy he used to practise
4332 throwing stones at things, until rabbits and squirrels, and
4333 even birds, got out of his way as quick as lightning if they
4334 saw him stoop; and even grownup he had still spent a deal of
4335 his time at quoits, dart-throwing, shooting at the wand,
4336 bowls, ninepins and other quiet games of the aiming and
4337 throwing sort - indeed he could do lots of things, besides
4338 blowing smoke-rings, asking riddles and cooking, that I
4339 haven't time to tell you about. There is no time now. While
4340 he was picking up stones, the spider had reached Bombur, and
4341 soon he would have been dead. At that moment Bilbo threw.
4342 The stone struck the spider plunk on the head, and it dropped
4343 senseless off the tree, flop to the ground, with all its legs
4345 [ The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
4347 A rock mole is a member of the rodent family. They get their
4348 name from their ability to tunnel through rock in the same
4349 fashion that a mole tunnels through earth. They are known to
4350 eat anything they come across in their diggings, although it
4351 is still unknown how they convert some of these things into
4352 something of nutritional value.
4354 A gnawing mammal (order _Rodentia_) having in each jaw two
4355 (rarely four) incisors, growing continually from persistent
4356 pulps, and no canine teeth, as a squirrel, beaver, or rat.
4357 [ Webster's Comprehensive International Dictionary
4358 of the English Language ]
4361 I understand the business, I hear it: to have an open ear, a
4362 quick eye, and a nimble hand, is necessary for a cut-purse; a
4363 good nose is requisite also, to smell out work for the other
4364 senses. I see this is the time that the unjust man doth
4365 thrive. ... The prince himself is about a piece of iniquity,
4366 stealing away from his father with his clog at his heels: if
4367 I thought it were a piece of honesty to acquaint the king
4368 withal, I would not do't: I hold it the more knavery to
4369 conceal it; and therein am I constant to my profession.
4370 [ Autolycus the Rogue, from The Winter's Tale by
4371 William Shakespeare ]
4374 But when they were cooked these roots proved good to eat,
4375 somewhat like bread; and the outlaws were glad of them, for
4376 they had long lacked bread save when they could steal it.
4377 "Wild Elves know them not; Grey-elves have not found them;
4378 the proud ones from over the Sea are too proud to delve,"
4381 "What is their name?" said Turin. Mim looked at him sidelong.
4382 "They have no name, save in the Dwarf-tongue, which we do not
4383 teach," he said. "And we not teach Men to find them, for Men
4384 are greedy and thriftless, and would not spare till all the
4385 plants had perished; whereas now they pass them by as they go
4386 blundering in the wild. No more will you learn of me; but you
4387 may have enough of my bounty, as long as you speak fair and
4388 do not spy or steal." Then again he laughed in his throat.
4390 "They are of great worth." he said. "More than gold in the
4391 hungry winter, for they may be hoarded like the nuts of a
4392 squirrel, and already we were building our store from the
4393 first that are ripe."
4394 [ Unfinished Tales, Part 1, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
4396 Roshi is a Japanese word, common in Zen Buddhism, meaning "old"
4397 (ro) and "teacher" (shi). Roshi can be used as a term of
4398 respect, as in the Rinzai school; as a simple reference to
4399 actual age, as in the Soto school; or it can mean a teacher who
4400 has transmitted knowledge to, and thus "given birth" to, a new
4402 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
4404 The rothe (pronounced roth-AY) is a musk ox-like creature with
4405 an aversion to light. It prefers to live underground near
4408 "'Royal Jelly,'" he read aloud, "'must be a substance of
4409 tremendous nourishing power, for on this diet alone, the
4410 honey-bee larva increases in weight fifteen hundred times in
4415 "Fifteen hundred times, Mabel. And you know what that means
4416 if you put it in terms of a human being? It means," he said,
4417 lowering his voice, leaning forward, fixing her with those
4418 small pale eyes, "it means that in five days a baby weighing
4419 seven and a half pounds to start off with would increase in
4420 weight to five tons!"
4421 [ Royal Jelly, by Roald Dahl ]
4424 _Corundum._ Mineral, aluminum oxide, Al2O3. The clear
4425 varieties are used as gems and the opaque as abrasive materials.
4426 Corundum occurs in crystals of the hexagonal system and in
4427 masses. It is transparent to opaque and has a vitreous to
4428 adamantine luster. ... The chief corundum gems are the ruby
4429 (red) and the sapphire (blue).
4430 [ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ]
4432 These strange creatures live on a diet of metals. They can
4433 turn a suit of armour into so much useless rusted scrap in no
4435 # takes "rust monster or disenchanter" when specifying 'R'
4436 rust monster or disenchanter
4437 These ground-dwelling monsters are known to make short
4438 work out of degrading adventurers' combat equipment.
4441 Flashed all their sabres bare,
4442 Flashed as they turned in air,
4443 Sab'ring the gunners there,
4444 Charging an army, while
4445 All the world wondered:
4446 Plunged in the battery smoke,
4447 Right through the line they broke;
4449 Reeled from the sabre-stroke
4450 Shattered and sundered.
4451 Then they rode back, but not--
4452 Not the six hundred.
4453 [ The Charge of the Light Brigade,
4454 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson ]
4456 The horseman serves the horse,
4457 The neat-herd serves the neat,
4458 The merchant serves the purse,
4459 The eater serves his meat;
4460 'Tis the day of the chattel,
4461 Web to weave, and corn to grind,
4462 Things are in the saddle,
4464 [ Ode, by Ralph Waldo Emerson ]
4468 For hundreds of years, many people believed that salamanders
4469 were magical. In England in the Middle Ages, people thought
4470 that fire created salamanders. When they set fire to damp
4471 logs, dozens of the slimy creatures scurried out. The word
4472 salamander, in fact, comes from a Greek word meaning "fire
4474 [ Salamanders, by Cherie Winner ]
4477 By that time, Narahara had already slipped his arm from the
4478 sleeve of his outer robe, drew out his two-and-a-half-foot
4479 Fujiwara Tadahiro sword, and, brandishing it over his head,
4480 began barreling toward the foreigners. In less than a minute,
4481 he had charged upon them and cut one of them through the torso.
4482 The man fled, clutching his bulging guts, finally to fall from
4483 his horse at the foot of a pine tree about a thousand yards
4484 away. Kaeda Takeji finished him off. The other two Englishmen
4485 were severely wounded as they tried to flee. Only the woman
4486 managed to escape virtually unscathed.
4487 [ The Fox-horse, from Drunk as a Lord, by Ryotaro Shiba ]
4489 Ildefonse left the terrace and almost immediately sounds
4490 of contention came from the direction of the work-room.
4491 Ildefonse presently returned to the terrace, followed by
4492 Osherl and a second sandestin using the guise of a gaunt blue
4493 bird-like creature, some six feet in height.
4495 Ildefonse spoke in scathing tones: "Behold these two
4496 creatures! They can roam the chronoplex as easily as you
4497 or I can walk around the table; yet neither has the wit to
4498 announce his presence upon arrival. I found Osherl asleep
4499 in his fulgurite and Sarsem perched in the rafters."
4501 "No matter," said Rhialto. "He has brought Sarsem, and this
4502 was his requirement. In the main, Osherl, you have done well!"
4504 "And my indenture point?"
4506 "Much depends upon Sarsem's testimony. Sarsem, will you sit?"
4508 "In this guise, I find it more convenient to stand."
4510 "Then why not alter to human form and join us in comfort at
4513 "That is a good idea." Sarsem became a naked young epicene
4514 in an integument of lavender scales with puffs of purple hair
4515 like pom-poms growing down his back. He seated himself at
4516 the table but declined refreshment. "This human semblance,
4517 though typical, is after all, only a guise. If I were to put
4518 such things inside myself, I might well become uneasy."
4519 [ Rhialto the Marvellous, by Jack Vance ]
4521 The name _Sasquatch_ doesn't really become important in Canada
4522 until the 1930s, when it appeared in the works of J. W. Burns,
4523 a British Columbian writer who used a great deal of Indian
4524 lore in his stories. Burn's Sasquatch was a giant Indian who
4525 lived in the wilderness. He was hairy only in the sense that
4526 he had long hair on his head, and while this Sasquatch lived a
4527 wild and primitive life, he was fully human.
4528 Burns's character proved to be quite popular. There was a
4529 Sasquatch Inn near the town of Harrison, British Columbia, and
4530 Harrison even had a local celebration called "Sasquatch Days."
4531 The celebration which had been dormant for years was revived
4532 as part of British Columbia's centennial, and one of the
4533 events was to be a Sasquatch hunt. The hunt never took place,
4534 perhaps it was never supposed to, but the publicity about it
4535 did bring out a number of people who said they had encountered
4536 a Sasquatch -- not Burns's giant Indian, but the hairy apelike
4537 creature that we have all come to know.
4538 [ The Encyclopedia of Monsters, by Daniel Cohen ]
4540 A scalpel is a very sharp knife used for surgery ... Merely
4541 touching a medical scalpel with bare hands to test it will
4542 cut through the skin. ... Medical scalpel blades are gradually
4543 curved for greater precision when cutting through tissue.
4544 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
4546 This mace was created aeons ago in some unknown cave,
4547 and has been passed down from generation to generation of
4548 cave dwellers. It is a very mighty mace indeed, and in
4549 addition will protect anyone who wields it from magic
4550 missile attacks. When invoked, it causes conflict in the
4553 Oh, how handsome, how noble was the Vizier Ali Tebelin,
4554 my father, as he stood there in the midst of the shot, his
4555 scimitar in his hand, his face black with powder! How his
4556 enemies fled before him!
4557 [ The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas ]
4559 A sub-species of the spider (_Scorpionidae_), the scorpion
4560 distinguishes itself from them by having a lower body that
4561 ends in a long, jointed tail tapering to a poisonous stinger.
4562 They have eight legs and pincers.
4563 [ Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal ]
4565 Since early times, the Scorpion has represented death, darkness,
4566 and evil. Scorpius is the reputed slayer of Orion the Hunter.
4567 [...] The gods put both scorpion and hunter among the stars, but
4568 on opposite sides of the sky so they would never fight again.
4569 As Scorpius rises in the east, Orion sets in the west.
4570 [ 365 Starry Nights, by Chet Raymo ]
4573 And I was gazing on the surges prone,
4574 With many a scalding tear and many a groan,
4575 When at my feet emerg'd an old man's hand,
4576 Grasping this scroll, and this same slender wand.
4577 I knelt with pain--reached out my hand--had grasp'd
4578 Those treasures--touch'd the knuckles--they unclasp'd--
4579 I caught a finger: but the downward weight
4580 O'erpowered me--it sank. Then 'gan abate
4581 The storm, and through chill aguish gloom outburst
4582 The comfortable sun. I was athirst
4583 To search the book, and in the warming air
4584 Parted its dripping leaves with eager care.
4585 Strange matters did it treat of, and drew on
4586 My soul page after page, till well-nigh won
4587 Into forgetfulness; when, stupefied,
4588 I read these words, and read again, and tried
4589 My eyes against the heavens, and read again.
4590 [ Endymion, by John Keats ]
4593 The ancient Egyptian god of chaos (Set), the embodiment of
4594 hostility and even of outright evil. He is also a god of war,
4595 deserts, storms, and foreign lands. ... In the Book of the
4596 Dead, Seth is called "Lord of the Northern Sky" and is held
4597 responsible for storms and cloudy weather. ... Seth was
4598 portrayed as a man with the head of undeterminable origin,
4599 although some see in it the head of an aardvark. He had a
4600 curved snout, erect square-tipped ears and a long forked tail.
4601 He was sometimes entirely in animal form with the body similar
4602 to that of a greyhound. Animals sacred to this god were the
4603 dog, the jackal, the gazelle, the donkey, the crocodile, the
4604 hippopotamus, and the pig.
4605 [ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]
4607 Shades are undead creatures. They differ from zombies in
4608 that a zombie is an undead animation of a corpse, while a
4609 shade is an undead creature magically created by the use
4612 Making his quarters in the Caves of the Ancestors, Shaman
4613 Karnov unceasingly tries to shield his neanderthal people
4614 from Tiamat's minions' harassments.
4616 The Chinese god of Mountains and Seas, also the name of an
4617 old book (also Shan Hai Tjing), the book of mountains and
4618 seas - which deals with the monster Kung Kung trying to
4619 seize power from Yao, the fourth emperor.
4620 [ Spectrum Atlas van de Mythologie ]
4622 As the shark moved, its dark top reflected virtually no
4623 light. The denticles on its skin muted the whoosh of its
4624 movements as the shark rose, driven by the power of the
4625 great tail sweeping from side to side, like a scythe.
4626 The fish exploded upward.
4627 Charles Bruder felt a slight vacuum tug in the motion of
4628 the sea, noted it as a passing current, the pull of a wave,
4629 the tickle of undertow. He could not have heard the faint
4630 sucking rush of water not far beneath him. He couldn't
4631 have seen or heard what was hurtling from the murk at
4632 astonishing speed, jaws unhinging, widening, for the
4633 enormous first bite. It was the classic attack
4634 that no other creature in nature could make -- a bomb from
4636 [ Close to Shore, by Michael Capuzzo ]
4638 A Japanese stabbing knife.
4640 There have been three general theories put forward to explain
4641 the phenomenon of the wandering shops or, as they are
4642 generically known, _tabernae vagantes._
4643 The first postulates that many thousands of years ago there
4644 evolved somewhere in the multiverse a race whose single talent
4645 was to buy cheap and sell dear. Soon they controlled a vast
4646 galactic empire or, as they put it, Emporium, and the more
4647 advanced members of the species found a way to equip their very
4648 shops with unique propulsion units that could break the dark
4649 walls of space itself and open up vast new markets. And long
4650 after the worlds of the Emporium perished in the heat death of
4651 their particular universe, after one last defiant fire sale,
4652 the wandering starshops still ply their trade, eating their way
4653 through the pages of spacetime like a worm through a three-
4655 The second is that they are the creation of a sympathetic Fate,
4656 charged with the role of supplying exactly the right thing
4658 The third is that they are simply a very clever way of getting
4659 around the various Sunday Closing acts.
4660 All these theories, diverse as they are, have two things in
4661 common. They explain the observed facts, and they are
4662 completely and utterly wrong.
4663 [ The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchett ]
4665 With a single, savage thrust of her spear, the warrior-woman
4666 impaled the fungus, silencing it. However, it was too late:
4667 the alarm had been raised[...]
4668 Suddenly, a large, dark shape rose from the abyss before them,
4669 its fetid bulk looming overhead... The monster was some kind of
4670 great dark worm, but that was about all they were sure of.
4671 [ The Adventurers, Epic IV, by Thomas A. Miller ]
4674 You know, that's what I hate most about fighting against magic:
4675 you never know what they're trying to do to you until it hits.
4676 The sorceress knew what hit her, however. Two of the shuriken
4677 got past whatever defenses she had. One caught her just below
4678 the throat, the other in the middle of her chest. It wouldn't
4679 kill her, but she wouldn't be fighting anyone for a while.
4680 [ Jhereg, by Steven Brust ]
4682 A skeleton is a magically animated undead creature. Unlike
4683 shades, only a humanoid creature can be used to create a
4684 skeleton. No one knows why this is true, but it has become
4685 an accepted fact amongst the practitioners of the black arts.
4687 "That dog belonged to a settler who tried to build his cabin
4688 on the bank of the river a few miles south of the fort,"
4689 grunted Conan. ... "We took him to the fort and dressed his
4690 wounds, but after he recovered he took to the woods and turned
4691 wild. -- What now, Slasher, are you hunting the men who
4692 killed your master?" ... "Let him come," muttered Conan.
4693 "He can smell the devils before we can see them." ...
4694 Slasher cleared the timbers with a bound and leaped into the
4695 bushes. They were violently shaken and then the dog slunk
4696 back to Balthus' side, his jaws crimson. ... "He was a man,"
4697 said Conan. "I drink to his shade, and to the shade of the
4698 dog, who knew no fear." He quaffed part of the wine, then
4699 emptied the rest upon the floor, with a curious heathen
4700 gesture, and smashed the goblet. "The heads of ten Picts
4701 shall pay for this, and seven heads for the dog, who was a
4702 better warrior than many a man."
4703 [ Conan The Warrior, by Robert E Howard ]
4705 Sleep is a death; oh, make me try
4706 By sleeping, what it is to die,
4707 And as gently lay my head
4708 On my grave, as now my bed.
4709 [ Religio Medici, by Sir Thomas Browne ]
4711 Science fiction did not invent the slime molds, but it has
4712 borrowed from them in using the idea of sheets of liquid, flowing
4713 cytoplasm engulfing and dissolving every living thing they touch.
4714 What fiction can only imagine, nature has produced, and only their
4715 small size and dependence on coolness, moisture, and darkness has
4716 kept the slime molds from ordinary observation, for they are common
4718 [ Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1977 ]
4720 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and
4721 drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward
4722 the army to meet the Philistine.
4723 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone,
4724 and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that
4725 the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face
4727 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with
4728 a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there
4729 was no sword in the hand of David.
4730 [ 1 Samuel 17:48-50 ]
4735 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field
4736 which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
4737 hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
4738 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of
4739 the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is
4740 in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of
4741 it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent
4742 said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth
4743 know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
4744 opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And
4745 when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it
4746 was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
4747 wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also
4748 unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
4750 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou
4751 hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I
4752 did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou
4753 hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above
4754 every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and
4755 dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put
4756 enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
4757 seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
4758 [ Genesis 3:1-6,13-15 ]
4760 Ah, never shall I forget the cry,
4761 or the shriek that shrieked he,
4762 As I gnashed my teeth, and from my sheath
4763 I drew my Snickersnee!
4764 --Koko, Lord high executioner of Titipu
4765 [ The Mikado, by Sir W.S. Gilbert ]
4767 Sokoban (Japanese for "warehouse keeper") is a transport puzzle
4768 in which the player pushes boxes around a maze, viewed from
4769 above, and tries to put them in designated locations. Only one
4770 box may be pushed at a time, not two, and boxes cannot be pulled.
4771 As the puzzle would be extremely difficult to create physically,
4772 it is usually implemented as a video game.
4774 Sokoban was created in 1982 by Hiroyuki Imabayashi, and was
4775 published by Thinking Rabbit, a software house based in
4776 Takarazuka, Japan. Thinking Rabbit also released three sequels:
4777 Boxxle, Sokoban Perfect and Sokoban Revenge.
4778 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
4783 The soldiers of Yendor are well-trained in the art of war,
4784 many trained by the Wizard himself. Some say the soldiers
4785 are explorers who were unfortunate enough to be captured,
4786 and put under the Wizard's spell. Those who have survived
4787 encounters with soldiers say they travel together in platoons,
4788 and are fierce fighters. Because of the load of their combat
4789 gear, however, one can usually run away from them, and doing
4790 so is considered a wise thing.
4793 - they come together with great random, and a spear is brast,
4794 and one party brake his shield and the other one goes down,
4795 horse and man, over his horse-tail and brake his neck, and
4796 then the next candidate comes randoming in, and brast his
4797 spear, and the other man brast his shield, and down he goes,
4798 horse and man, over his horse-tail, and brake his neck, and
4799 then there's another elected, and another and another and
4800 still another, till the material is all used up; and when you
4801 come to figure up results, you can't tell one fight from
4802 another, nor who whipped; and as a picture of living, raging,
4803 roaring battle, sho! why it's pale and noiseless - just
4804 ghosts scuffling in a fog. Dear me, what would this barren
4805 vocabulary get out of the mightiest spectacle? - the burning
4806 of Rome in Nero's time, for instance? Why, it would merely
4807 say 'Town burned down; no insurance; boy brast a window,
4808 fireman brake his neck!' Why, that ain't a picture!
4809 [ A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court,
4812 The Book of Three lay closed on the table. Taran had never
4813 been allowed to read the volume for himself; now he was sure
4814 it held more than Dallben chose to tell him. In the sun-
4815 filled room, with Dallben still meditating and showing no
4816 sign of stopping, Taran rose and moved through the shimmering
4817 beams. From the forest came the monotonous tick of a beetle.
4818 His hands reached for the cover. Taran gasped in pain and
4819 snatched them away. They smarted as if each of his fingers
4820 had been stung by hornets. He jumped back, stumbled against
4821 the bench, and dropped to the floor, where he put his fingers
4822 woefully into his mouth.
4823 Dallben's eyes blinked open. He peered at Taran and yawned
4824 slowly. "You had better see Coll about a lotion for those
4825 hands," he advised. "Otherwise, I shouldn't be surprised if
4827 [ The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander ]
4829 Eight legged creature capable of spinning webs to trap prey.
4832 "You mean you eat flies?" gasped Wilbur.
4833 "Certainly. Flies, bugs, grasshoppers, choice beetles,
4834 moths, butterflies, tasty cockroaches, gnats, midges, daddy
4835 longlegs, centipedes, mosquitoes, crickets - anything that is
4836 careless enough to get caught in my web. I have to live,
4838 "Why, yes, of course," said Wilbur.
4839 [ Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White ]
4842 The attack by those who want to die -- this is the attack
4843 against which you cannot prepare a perfect defense.
4845 [ The Dosadi Experiment, by Frank Herbert ]
4847 A floorboard creaked. Galder had spent many hours tuning them,
4848 always a wise precaution with an ambitious assistant who walked
4850 D flat. That meant he was just to the right of the door.
4851 "Ah, Trymon," he said, without turning, and noted with some
4852 satisfaction the faint indrawing of breath behind him. "Good
4853 of you to come. Shut the door, will you?"
4854 [ The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchett ]
4857 So they stood, each in his place, neither moving a finger's
4858 breadth back, for one good hour, and many blows were given
4859 and received by each in that time, till here and there were
4860 sore bones and bumps, yet neither thought of crying "Enough,"
4861 or seemed likely to fall from off the bridge. Now and then
4862 they stopped to rest, and each thought that he never had seen
4863 in all his life before such a hand at quarterstaff. At last
4864 Robin gave the stranger a blow upon the ribs that made his
4865 jacket smoke like a damp straw thatch in the sun. So shrewd
4866 was the stroke that the stranger came within a hair's breadth
4867 of falling off the bridge; but he regained himself right
4868 quickly, and, by a dexterous blow, gave Robin a crack on the
4869 crown that caused the blood to flow. Then Robin grew mad
4870 with anger, and smote with all his might at the other; but
4871 the stranger warded the blow, and once again thwacked Robin,
4872 and this time so fairly that he fell heels over head into the
4873 water, as the queen pin falls in a game of bowls.
4874 [ The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle ]
4875 *staff of aesculapius
4876 This staff is considered sacred to all healers, as it truly
4877 holds the powers of life and death. When wielded, it
4878 protects its user from all life draining attacks, and
4879 additionally gives the wielder the power of regeneration.
4880 When invoked it performs healing magic.
4882 Up he went -- very quickly at first -- then more slowly -- then
4883 in a little while even more slowly than that -- and finally,
4884 after many minutes of climbing up the endless stairway, one
4885 weary foot was barely able to follow the other. Milo suddenly
4886 realized that with all his effort he was no closer to the top
4887 than when he began, and not a great deal further from the
4888 bottom. But he struggled on for a while longer, until at last,
4889 completely exhausted, he collapsed onto one of the steps.
4890 "I should have known it," he mumbled, resting his tired legs
4891 and filling his lungs with air. "This is just like the line
4892 that goes on forever, and I'll never get there."
4893 "You wouldn't like it much anyway," someone replied gently.
4894 "Infinity is a dreadfully poor place. They can never manage to
4896 [ The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster ]
4898 Dr. Ray Stantz: Hey, where do those stairs go?
4899 Dr. Peter Venkman: They go up.
4900 [ Ghostbusters, directed by Ivan Reitman,
4901 written by Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis ]
4904 Then at last he began to wonder why the lion was standing so
4905 still - for it hadn't moved one inch since he first set eyes
4906 on it. Edmund now ventured a little nearer, still keeping in
4907 the shadow of the arch as much as he could. He now saw from
4908 the way the lion was standing that it couldn't have been
4909 looking at him at all. ("But supposing it turns its head?"
4910 thought Edmund.) In fact it was staring at something else -
4911 namely a little dwarf who stood with his back to it about
4912 four feet away. "Aha!" thought Edmund. "When it springs at
4913 the dwarf then will be my chance to escape." But still the
4914 lion never moved, nor did the dwarf. And now at last Edmund
4915 remembered what the others had said about the White Witch
4916 turning people into stone. Perhaps this was only a stone
4917 lion. And as soon as he had thought of that he noticed that
4918 the lion's back and the top of its head were covered with
4919 snow. Of course it must be only a statue!
4920 [ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis ]
4922 There was the usual dim grey light of the forest-day about
4923 him when he came to his senses. The spider lay dead beside
4924 him, and his sword-blade was stained black. Somehow the
4925 killing of the giant spider, all alone and by himself in the
4926 dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of
4927 anyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins. He felt
4928 a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of
4929 an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put
4930 it back into its sheath.
4931 "I will give you a name," he said to it, "and I shall call
4933 [ The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
4935 There were sounds in the distance, incongruent with the
4936 sounds of even this nameless, timeless sea: thin sounds,
4937 agonized and terrible, for all that they remained remote -
4938 yet the ship followed them, as if drawn by them; they grew
4939 louder - pain and despair were there, but terror was
4941 Elric had heard such sounds echoing from his cousin Yyrkoon's
4942 sardonically named 'Pleasure Chambers' in the days before he
4943 had fled the responsibilities of ruling all that remained of
4944 the old Melnibonean Empire. These were the voices of men
4945 whose very souls were under siege; men to whom death meant
4946 not mere extinction, but a continuation of existence, forever
4947 in thrall to some cruel and supernatural master. He had
4948 heard men cry so when his salvation and his nemesis, his
4949 great black battle-blade Stormbringer, drank their souls.
4950 [ The Lands Beyond the World, by Michael Moorcock ]
4952 He walked for some time through a long narrow corridor
4953 without finding any one and was just going to call out,
4954 when suddenly in a dark corner between an old cupboard
4955 and the door he caught sight of a strange object which
4957 [ Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky ]
4959 Dorothy leaned her chin upon her hand and gazed thoughtfully
4960 at the Scarecrow. Its head was a small sack stuffed with
4961 straw, with eyes, nose, and mouth painted on it to represent
4962 a face. An old, pointed blue hat, that had belonged to some
4963 Munchkin, was perched on his head, and the rest of the figure
4964 was a blue suit of clothes, worn and faded, which had also
4965 been stuffed with straw. On the feet were some old boots with
4966 blue tops, such as every man wore in this country, and the
4967 figure was raised above the stalks of corn by means of the
4968 pole stuck up its back.
4969 [ The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum ]
4971 What you seek is a blade of light,
4972 a weapon for vengeance.
4973 [ Expedition to Castle Ravenloft,
4974 by Bruce Cordell and James Wyatt ]
4976 The Shinto chthonic and weather god and brother of the sun
4977 goddess Amaterasu, he was born from the nose of the
4978 primordial creator god Izanagi and represents the physical,
4979 material world. He has been expelled from heaven and taken
4980 up residence on earth.
4981 [ Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]
4983 Samurai plate armor of the Yamato period (AD 300 - 710).
4985 The tengu was the most troublesome creature of Japanese
4986 legend. Part bird and part man, with red beak for a nose
4987 and flashing eyes, the tengu was notorious for stirring up
4988 feuds and prolonging enmity between families. Indeed, the
4989 belligerent tengu were supposed to have been man's first
4990 instructors in the use of arms.
4991 [ Mythical Beasts, by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library) ]
4993 The Egyptian god of the moon and wisdom, Thoth is the patron
4994 deity of scribes and of knowledge, including scientific,
4995 medical and mathematical writing, and is said to have given
4996 mankind the art of hieroglyphic writing. He is important as
4997 a mediator and counsellor amongst the gods and is the scribe
4998 of the Heliopolis Ennead pantheon. According to mythology,
4999 he was born from the head of the god Seth. He may be
5000 depicted in human form with the head of an ibis, wholly as an
5001 ibis, or as a seated baboon sometimes with its torso covered
5002 in feathers. His attributes include a crown which consists
5003 of a crescent moon surmounted by a moon disc.
5004 Thoth is generally regarded as a benign deity. He is also
5005 scrupulously fair and is responsible not only for entering
5006 in the record the souls who pass to afterlife, but of
5007 adjudicating in the Hall of the Two Truths. The Pyramid
5008 Texts reveal a violent side of his nature by which he
5009 decapitates the adversaries of truth and wrenches out their
5011 [ Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]
5013 Men say that he [Thutothmes] has opposed Thoth-Amon, who is
5014 master of all priests of Set, and dwells in Luxor, and that
5015 Thutothmes seeks hidden power [The Heart of Ahriman] to
5016 overthrow the Great One.
5017 [ Conan the Conqueror, by Robert E. Howard ]
5019 Methought I saw the footsteps of a throne
5020 Which mists and vapours from mine eyes did shroud--
5021 Nor view of who might sit thereon allowed;
5022 But all the steps and ground about were strown
5023 With sights the ruefullest that flesh and bone
5024 Ever put on; a miserable crowd,
5025 Sick, hale, old, young, who cried before that cloud,
5027 O Death! to thee we groan."
5028 Those steps I clomb; the mists before me gave
5029 Smooth way; and I beheld the face of one
5030 Sleeping alone within a mossy cave,
5031 With her face up to heaven; that seemed to have
5032 Pleasing remembrance of a thought foregone;
5033 A lovely Beauty in a summer grave!
5034 [ Sonnet, by William Wordsworth ]
5036 A worshipper of Kali, who practised _thuggee_, the strangling
5037 of human victims in the name of the religion. Robbery of the
5038 victim provided the means of livelihood. They were also
5039 called _Phansigars_ (Noose operators) from the method employed.
5040 Vigorous suppression was begun by Lord William Bentinck in
5041 1828, but the fraternity did not become completely extinct
5042 for another 50 years or so.
5043 In common parlance the word is used for any violent "tough".
5044 [ Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]
5046 1. A well-known tropical predator (_Felis tigris_): a
5047 feline. It has a yellowish skin with darker spots or
5048 stripes. 2. Figurative: _a paper tiger_, something that is
5049 meant to scare, but has no really scaring effect whatsoever,
5050 (after a statement by Mao Ze Dong, August 1946).
5051 [ Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal ]
5053 Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
5054 In the forests of the night,
5055 What immortal hand or eye
5056 Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
5057 [ The Tyger, by William Blake ]
5061 "You know salmon, Sarge," said Nobby.
5062 "It is a fish of which I am aware, yes."
5063 "You know they sell kind of slices of it in tins..."
5064 "So I am given to understand, yes."
5065 "Weell...how come all the tins are the same size? Salmon
5066 gets thinner at both ends."
5067 "Interesting point, Nobby. I think-"
5068 [ Soul Music, by Terry Pratchett ]
5070 Less than thirty Cat tribes now survived, roaming the cargo
5071 decks on their hind legs in a desperate search for food.
5072 But the food had gone.
5073 The supplies were finished.
5074 Weak and ailing, they prayed at the supply hold's silver
5075 mountains: huge towering acres of metal rocks which, in their
5076 pagan way, the mutant Cats believed watched over them.
5077 Amid the wailing and the screeching one Cat stood up and held
5078 aloft the sacred icon. The icon which had been passed down
5079 as holy, and one day would make its use known.
5080 It was a piece of V-shaped metal with a revolving handle on
5082 He took down a silver rock from the silver mountain, while
5083 the other Cats cowered and screamed at the blasphemy.
5084 He placed the icon on the rim of the rock, and turned the
5086 And the handle turned.
5087 And the rock opened.
5088 And inside the rock was Alphabetti spaghetti in tomato sauce.
5089 [ Red Dwarf, by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor ]
5091 Gaea, mother earth, arose from the Chaos and gave birth to
5092 Uranus, heaven, who became her consort. Uranus hated all
5093 their children, because he feared they might challenge his
5094 own authority. Those children, the Titans, the Gigantes,
5095 and the Cyclops, were banished to the nether world. Their
5096 enraged mother eventually released the youngest titan,
5097 Chronos (time), and encouraged him to castrate his father and
5098 rule in his place. Later, he too was challenged by his own
5099 son, Zeus, and he and his fellow titans were ousted from
5101 [ Greek Mythology, by Richard Patrick ]
5103 Aluminum silicate mineral with either hydroxyl radicals or
5104 fluorine, Al2SiO4(F,OH)2, used as a gem. It is commonly
5105 colorless or some shade of pale yellow to wine-yellow;
5106 ... The stone is transparent with a vitreous luster. It has
5107 perfect cleavage on the basal pinacoid, but it is nevertheless
5108 hard and durable. The brilliant cut is commonly used. Topaz
5109 crystals, which are of the orthorhombic system, occur in highly
5110 acid igneous rocks, e.g., granites and rhyolites, and in
5111 metamorphic rocks, e.g., gneisses and schists.
5112 [ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ]
5114 "Gold is tried by a touchstone, men by gold."
5115 [ Chilon (c. 560 BC) ]
5118 The road from Ankh-Morpork to Chrim is high, white and
5119 winding, a thirty-league stretch of potholes and half-buried
5120 rocks that spirals around mountains and dips into cool green
5121 valleys of citrus trees, crosses liana-webbed gorges on
5122 creaking rope bridges and is generally more picturesque than
5124 Picturesque. That was a new word to Rincewind the wizard
5125 (BMgc, Unseen University [failed]). It was one of a number
5126 he had picked up since leaving the charred ruins of
5127 Ankh-Morpork. Quaint was another one. Picturesque meant --
5128 he decided after careful observation of the scenery that
5129 inspired Twoflower to use the word -- that the landscape was
5130 horribly precipitous. Quaint, when used to describe the
5131 occasional village through which they passed, meant fever-
5132 ridden and tumbledown.
5133 Twoflower was a tourist, the first ever seen on the discworld.
5134 Tourist, Rincewind had decided, meant "idiot".
5135 [ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]
5139 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say
5140 on the subject of towels.
5141 A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing
5142 an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great
5143 practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as
5144 you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie
5145 on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus
5146 V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it
5147 beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world
5148 of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy
5149 River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it
5150 round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze
5151 of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mind-bogglingly
5152 stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't
5153 see you - daft as a brush, but very very ravenous); you can
5154 wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of
5155 course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean
5157 [ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams ]
5160 Towers (_brooding_, _dark_) stand alone in Waste Areas and
5161 almost always belong to Wizards. All are several stories high,
5162 round, doorless, virtually windowless, and composed of smooth
5163 blocks of masonry that make them very hard to climb. [...]
5164 You will have to go to a Tower and then break into it at some
5165 point towards the end of your Tour.
5166 [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
5168 I knew my Erik too well to feel at all comfortable on jumping
5169 into his house. I knew what he had made of a certain palace at
5170 Mazenderan. From being the most honest building conceivable, he
5171 soon turned it into a house of the very devil, where you could
5172 not utter a word but it was overheard or repeated by an echo.
5173 With his trap-doors the monster was responsible for endless
5174 tragedies of all kinds.
5175 [ The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux ]
5176 # takes "trapper or lurker above" when specifying 't'
5178 trapper or lurker above
5179 The trapper is a creature which has evolved a chameleon-like
5180 ability to blend into the dungeon surroundings. It captures
5181 its prey by remaining very still and blending into the
5182 surrounding dungeon features, until an unsuspecting creature
5183 passes by. It wraps itself around its prey and digests it.
5185 I think that I shall never see
5186 A poem lovely as a tree.
5187 A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
5188 Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
5189 A tree that looks at God all day,
5190 And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
5191 A tree that may in Summer wear
5192 A nest of robins in her hair;
5193 Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
5194 Who intimately lives with rain.
5195 Poems are made by fools like me,
5196 But only God can make a tree.
5197 [ Trees, by Joyce Kilmer ]
5200 If you start from scratch, cooking tripe is a long-drawn-out
5201 affair. Fresh whole tripe calls for a minimum of 12 hours of
5202 cooking, some time-honored recipes demanding as much as 24.
5203 To prepare fresh tripe, trim if necessary. Wash it thoroughly,
5204 soaking overnight, and blanch, for 1/2 hour in salted water.
5205 Wash well again, drain and cut for cooking. When cooked, the
5206 texture of tripe should be like that of soft gristle. More
5207 often, alas, because the heat has not been kept low enough,
5208 it has the consistency of wet shoe leather.
5209 [ Joy of Cooking, by I Rombauer and M Becker ]
5212 The troll shambled closer. He was perhaps eight feet tall,
5213 perhaps more. His forward stoop, with arms dangling past
5214 thick claw-footed legs to the ground, made it hard to tell.
5215 The hairless green skin moved upon his body. His head was a
5216 gash of a mouth, a yard-long nose, and two eyes which drank
5217 the feeble torchlight and never gave back a gleam.
5219 Like a huge green spider, the troll's severed hand ran on its
5220 fingers. Across the mounded floor, up onto a log with one
5221 taloned forefinger to hook it over the bark, down again it
5222 scrambled, until it found the cut wrist. And there it grew
5223 fast. The troll's smashed head seethed and knit together.
5224 He clambered back on his feet and grinned at them. The
5225 waning faggot cast red light over his fangs.
5226 [ Three Hearts and Three Lions, by Poul Anderson ]
5227 *tsurugi of muramasa
5228 This most ancient of swords has been passed down through the
5229 leadership of the Samurai legions for hundreds of years. It
5230 is said to grant luck to its wielder, but its main power is
5231 terrible to behold. It has the capability to cut in half any
5232 creature it is wielded against, instantly killing them.
5235 The tsurugi, also known as the long samurai sword, is an
5236 extremely sharp, two-handed blade favored by the samurai.
5237 It is made of hardened steel, and is manufactured using a
5238 special process, causing it to never rust. The tsurugi is
5239 rumored to be so sharp that it can occasionally cut
5243 TUBAL: There came divers of Antonio's creditors in my company
5244 to Venice that swear he cannot choose but break.
5245 SHYLOCK: I am very glad of it; I'll plague him, I'll torture
5246 him; I am glad of it.
5247 TUBAL: One of them showed me a ring that he had of your
5248 daughter for a monkey.
5249 SHYLOCK: Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubal. It was my
5250 turquoise; I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor; I would
5251 not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys.
5252 [ The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare ]
5256 Twoflower sprang off the bed. The wizard jumped back,
5257 wrenching his features into a smile.
5258 "My dear chap, right on time! We'll just have lunch, and
5259 then I'm sure you've got a wonderful programme lined up for
5263 Rincewind took a deep breath. "Look," he said desperately,
5264 "let's eat somewhere else. There's been a bit of a fight
5266 "A tavern brawl? Why didn't you wake me up?"
5267 "Well, you see, I - _what_?"
5268 "I thought I made myself clear this morning, Rincewind. I
5269 want to see genuine Morporkian life - the slave market, the
5270 Whore Pits, the Temple of Small Gods, the Beggar's Guild...
5271 and a genuine tavern brawl." A faint note of suspicion
5272 entered Twoflower's voice. "You _do_ have them, don't you?
5273 You know, people swinging on chandeliers, swordfights over
5274 the table, the sort of thing Hrun the Barbarian and the
5275 Weasel are always getting involved in. You know --
5277 [ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]
5279 Yet remains that one of the Aesir who is called Tyr:
5280 he is most daring, and best in stoutness of heart, and he
5281 has much authority over victory in battle; it is good for
5282 men of valor to invoke him. It is a proverb, that he is
5283 Tyr-valiant, who surpasses other men and does not waver.
5284 He is wise, so that it is also said, that he that is wisest
5285 is Tyr-prudent. This is one token of his daring: when the
5286 Aesir enticed Fenris-Wolf to take upon him the fetter Gleipnir,
5287 the wolf did not believe them, that they would loose him,
5288 until they laid Tyr's hand into his mouth as a pledge. But
5289 when the Aesir would not loose him, then he bit off the hand
5290 at the place now called 'the wolf's joint;' and Tyr is one-
5291 handed, and is not called a reconciler of men.
5292 [ The Prose Edda, by Snorri Sturluson ]
5294 Umber hulks are powerful subterranean predators whose
5295 iron-like claws allow them to burrow through solid stone in
5296 search of prey. They are tremendously strong; muscles bulge
5297 beneath their thick, scaly hides and their powerful arms and
5298 legs all end in great claws.
5301 Men have always sought the elusive unicorn, for the single
5302 twisted horn which projected from its forehead was thought to
5303 be a powerful talisman. It was said that the unicorn had
5304 simply to dip the tip of its horn in a muddy pool for the water
5305 to become pure. Men also believed that to drink from this horn
5306 was a protection against all sickness, and that if the horn was
5307 ground to a powder it would act as an antidote to all poisons.
5308 Less than 200 years ago in France, the horn of a unicorn was
5309 used in a ceremony to test the royal food for poison.
5311 Although only the size of a small horse, the unicorn is a very
5312 fierce beast, capable of killing an elephant with a single
5313 thrust from its horn. Its fleetness of foot also makes this
5314 solitary creature difficult to capture. However, it can be
5315 tamed and captured by a maiden. Made gentle by the sight of a
5316 virgin, the unicorn can be lured to lay its head in her lap, and
5317 in this docile mood, the maiden may secure it with a golden rope.
5318 [ Mythical Beasts, by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library) ]
5320 Martin took a small sip of beer. "Almost ready," he said.
5321 "You hold your beer awfully well."
5322 Tlingel laughed. "A unicorn's horn is a detoxicant. Its
5323 possession is a universal remedy. I wait until I reach the
5324 warm glow stage, then I use my horn to burn off any excess and
5325 keep me right there."
5326 [ Unicorn Variations, by Roger Zelazny ]
5328 Area of map which is beyond limited perception range when
5329 underwater or engulfed by a monster.
5332 The Valkyries were the thirteen choosers of the slain, the
5333 beautiful warrior-maids of Odin who rode through the air and
5334 over the sea. They watched the progress of the battle and
5335 selected the heroes who were to fall fighting. After they
5336 were dead, the maidens rewarded the heroes by kissing them
5337 and then led their souls to Valhalla, where the warriors
5338 lived happily in an ideal existence, drinking and eating
5339 without restraint and fighting over again the battles in
5340 which they died and in which they had won their deathless
5342 [ The Encyclopaedia of Myths and Legends of All Nations,
5343 by Herbert Robinson and Knox Wilson ]
5347 The Oxford English Dictionary is quite unequivocal:
5348 _vampire_ - "a preternatural being of a malignant nature (in
5349 the original and usual form of the belief, a reanimated
5350 corpse), supposed to seek nourishment, or do harm, by sucking
5351 the blood of sleeping persons. ..."
5353 Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, was the daughter of
5354 Jupiter and Dione. Others say that Venus sprang from the
5355 foam of the sea. The zephyr wafted her along the waves to
5356 the Isle of Cyprus, where she was received and attired by
5357 the Seasons, and then led to the assembly of the gods. All
5358 were charmed with her beauty, and each one demanded her
5359 for his wife. Jupiter gave her to Vulcan, in gratitude for
5360 the service he had rendered in forging thunderbolts. So
5361 the most beautiful of the goddesses became the wife of the
5362 most ill-favoured of gods.
5363 [ Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch ]
5365 Vlad Dracula the Impaler was a 15th-Century monarch of the
5366 Birgau region of the Carpathian Mountains, in what is now
5367 Romania. In Romanian history he is best known for two things.
5368 One was his skilled handling of the Ottoman Turks, which kept
5369 them from making further inroads into Christian Europe. The
5370 other was the ruthless manner in which he ran his fiefdom.
5371 He dealt with perceived challengers to his rule by impaling
5372 them upright on wooden stakes. Visiting dignitaries who
5373 failed to doff their hats had them nailed to their head.
5376 Swirling clouds of pure elemental energies, the vortices are
5377 thought to be related to the larger elementals. Though the
5378 vortices do no damage when touched, they are noted for being
5379 able to envelop unwary travellers. The hapless fool thus
5380 swallowed by a vortex will soon perish from exposure to the
5381 element the vortex is composed of.
5383 The vrock is one of the weaker forms of demon. It resembles
5384 a cross between a human being and a vulture and does physical
5385 damage by biting and by using the claws on both its arms and
5388 A wakizashi was used as a samurai's weapon when the katana
5389 was unavailable. When entering a building, a samurai would
5390 leave his katana on a rack near the entrance. However, the
5391 wakizashi would be worn at all times, and therefore, it made
5392 a sidearm for the samurai (similar to a soldier's use of a
5393 pistol). The samurai would have worn it from the time they
5394 awoke to the time they went to sleep. In earlier periods,
5395 and especially during times of civil wars, a tanto was worn
5396 in place of a wakizashi.
5397 [ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
5398 # takes "wand or a wall" when specifying '/'
5402 'Saruman!' he cried, and his voice grew in power and authority.
5403 'Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey, whom you betrayed. I am
5404 Gandalf the White, who has returned from death. You have no
5405 colour now, and I cast you from the order and from the Council.'
5406 He raised his hand, and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice.
5407 'Saruman, your staff is broken.' There was a crack, and the
5408 staff split asunder in Saruman's hand, and the head of it
5409 fell down at Gandalf's feet. 'Go!' said Gandalf. With a cry
5410 Saruman fell back and crawled away.
5411 [ The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
5413 Suddenly Aragorn leapt to his feet. "How the wind howls!"
5414 he cried. "It is howling with wolf-voices. The Wargs have
5415 come west of the Mountains!"
5416 "Need we wait until morning then?" said Gandalf. "It is as I
5417 said. The hunt is up! Even if we live to see the dawn, who
5418 now will wish to journey south by night with the wild wolves
5420 "How far is Moria?" asked Boromir.
5421 "There was a door south-west of Caradhras, some fifteen miles
5422 as the crow flies, and maybe twenty as the wolf runs,"
5423 answered Gandalf grimly.
5424 "Then let us start as soon as it is light tomorrow, if we can,"
5425 said Boromir. "The wolf that one hears is worse than the orc
5427 "True!" said Aragorn, loosening his sword in its sheath. "But
5428 where the warg howls, there also the orc prowls."
5429 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
5432 They had come together at the ford of the Trident while the
5433 battle crashed around them, Robert with his warhammer and his
5434 great antlered helm, the Targaryen prince armored all in
5435 black. On his breastplate was the three-headed dragon of his
5436 House, wrought all in rubies that flashed like fire in the
5437 sunlight. The waters of the Trident ran red around the
5438 hooves of their destriers as they circled and clashed, again
5439 and again, until at last a crushing blow from Robert's hammer
5440 stove in the dragon and the chest behind it. When Ned had
5441 finally come on the scene, Rhaegar lay dead in the stream,
5442 while men of both armies scrambled in the swirling waters for
5443 rubies knocked free of his armor.
5444 [ A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin ]
5446 Day after day, day after day,
5447 We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
5448 As idle as a painted ship
5449 Upon a painted ocean.
5451 Water, water, everywhere,
5452 And all the boards did shrink;
5453 Water, water, everywhere
5454 Nor any drop to drink.
5455 [ The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge ]
5457 [ The monkey king ] walked along the bank, around the pond.
5458 He examined the footprints of the animals that had gone into
5459 the water, and saw that none came out again! So he realized
5460 this pond must be possessed by a water demon. He said to the
5461 80,000 monkeys, "This pond is possessed by a water demon. Do
5462 not let anybody go into it."
5464 After a little while, the water demon saw that none of the
5465 monkeys went into the water to drink. So he rose out of the
5466 middle of the pond, taking the shape of a frightening monster.
5467 He had a big blue belly, a white face with bulging green eyes,
5468 and red claws and feet. He said, "Why are you just sitting
5469 around? Come into the pond and drink at once!"
5471 The monkey king said to the horrible monster, "Are you the
5472 water demon who owns this pond?" "Yes, I am," said he. "Do
5473 you eat whoever goes into the water?" asked the king. "Yes,
5474 I do," he answered, "including even birds. I eat them all.
5475 And when you are forced by your thirst to come into the pond
5476 and drink, I will enjoy eating you, the biggest monkey, most
5477 of all!" He grinned, and saliva dripped down his hairy chin.
5478 [ Buddhist Tales for Young and Old, Vol. 1 ]
5480 It wasn't that the troll was _horrifying_. Instead of the
5481 rotting, betentacled monstrosity he had been expecting
5482 Rincewind found himself looking at a rather squat but not
5483 particularly ugly old man who would quite easily have passed
5484 for normal on any city street, always provided that other
5485 people on the street were used to seeing old men who were
5486 apparently composed of water and very little else. It was as
5487 if the ocean had decided to create life without going through
5488 all that tedious business of evolution, and had simply formed
5489 a part of itself into a biped and sent it walking squishily up
5490 the beach. The troll was a pleasant translucent blue color.
5491 As Rincewind stared a small shoal of silver fish flashed
5493 [ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]
5495 A weapon is a device for making your enemy change his mind.
5496 [ The Vor Game, by Lois McMaster Bujold ]
5498 Oh what a tangled web we weave,
5499 When first we practise to deceive!
5500 [ Marmion, by Sir Walter Scott ]
5502 There were legends both on the front and on the back of the
5503 whistle. The one read thus:
5505 FLA FUR BIS FLE The other: QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT
5506 'I ought to be able to make it out,' he thought;
5507 'but I suppose I am a little rusty in my Latin.
5508 When I come to think of it, I don't believe I even
5509 know the word for a whistle. The long one does seem
5510 simple enough. It ought to mean, "Who is this who is coming?"
5512 Well, the best way to find out is evidently to whistle
5515 [Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, by Montague Rhodes James
5516 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You My Lad']
5517 # werecritter -- see "lycanthrope"
5519 When he came to himself again, for a moment he could recall
5520 nothing except a sense of dread. Then suddenly he knew that
5521 he was imprisoned, caught hopelessly; he was in a barrow. A
5522 Barrow-wight had taken him, and he was probably already under
5523 the dreadful spells of the Barrow-wights about which whispered
5524 tales spoke. He dared not move, but lay as he found himself:
5525 flat on his back upon a cold stone with his hands on his
5527 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
5528 # note: need to convert player character "gnomish wizard" into just "wizard"
5529 # in the lookup code to avoid conflict with the monster of that same name
5534 Ebenezum walked before me along the closest thing we could
5535 find to a path in these overgrown woods. Every few paces he
5536 would pause, so that I, burdened with a pack stuffed with
5537 arcane and heavy paraphernalia, could catch up with his
5538 wizardly strides. He, as usual, carried nothing, preferring,
5539 as he often said, to keep his hands free for quick conjuring
5540 and his mind free for the thoughts of a mage.
5541 [ A Dealing with Demons, by Craig Shaw Gardner ]
5543 No one knows how old this mighty wizard is, or from whence he
5544 came. It is known that, having lived a span far greater than
5545 any normal man's, he grew weary of lesser mortals; and so,
5546 spurning all human company, he forsook the dwellings of men
5547 and went to live in the depths of the Earth. He took with
5548 him a dreadful artifact, the Book of the Dead, which is said
5549 to hold great power indeed. Many have sought to find the
5550 wizard and his treasure, but none have found him and lived to
5551 tell the tale. Woe be to the incautious adventurer who
5552 disturbs this mighty sorcerer!
5556 The ancestors of the modern day domestic dog, wolves are
5557 powerful muscular animals with bushy tails. Intelligent,
5558 social animals, wolves live in family groups or packs made
5559 up of multiple family units. These packs cooperate in hunting
5562 1. Any of various, usually poisonous perennial herbs of the
5563 genus Aconitum, having tuberous roots, palmately lobed leaves,
5564 blue or white flowers with large hoodlike upper sepals, and an
5565 aggregate of follicles. 2. The dried leaves and roots of
5566 some of these plants, which yield a poisonous alkaloid that
5567 was formerly used medicinally. In both senses also called
5569 [ The American Heritage Dictionary of
5570 the English Language, Fourth Edition. ]
5572 Come, old broomstick, you are needed,
5573 Take these rags and wrap them round you!
5574 Long my orders you have heeded,
5575 By my wishes now I've bound you.
5576 Have two legs and stand,
5578 Run, and in your hand
5581 See him, toward the shore he's racing
5582 There, he's at the stream already,
5583 Back like lightning he is chasing,
5584 Pouring water fast and steady.
5585 Once again he hastens!
5586 How the water spills,
5587 How the water basins
5588 Brimming full he fills!
5589 [ The Sorcerer's Apprentice, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
5590 translation by Edwin Zeydel ]
5592 The Usenet Oracle requires an answer to this question!
5594 > How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could
5597 "Oh, heck! I'll handle *this* one!" The Oracle spun the terminal
5598 back toward himself, unlocked the ZOT-guard lock, and slid the
5599 glass guard away from the ZOT key. "Ummmm....could you turn around
5600 for a minute? ZOTs are too graphic for the uninitiated. Even *I*
5601 get a little squeamish sometimes..." The neophyte turned around,
5602 and heard the Oracle slam his finger on a computer key, followed
5603 by a loud ZZZZOTTTTT and the smell of ozone.
5604 [ Excerpted from Internet Oracularity 576.6 ]
5609 [The crysknife] is manufactured in two forms from teeth taken
5610 from dead sandworms. The two forms are "fixed" and "unfixed".
5611 An unfixed knife requires proximity to a human body's
5612 electrical field to prevent disintegration. Fixed knives
5613 are treated for storage. All are about 20 centimeters long.
5614 [ Dune, by Frank Herbert ]
5617 Immediately, though everything else remained as before, dim
5618 and dark, the shapes became terribly clear. He was able to
5619 see beneath their black wrappings. There were five tall
5620 figures: two standing on the lip of the dell, three advancing.
5621 In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under
5622 their mantles were long grey robes; upon their grey hairs
5623 were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of
5624 steel. Their eyes fell on him and pierced him, as they
5625 rushed towards him. Desperate, he drew his own sword, and
5626 it seemed to him that it flickered red, as if it was a
5627 firebrand. Two of the figures halted. The third was taller
5628 than the others: his hair was long and gleaming and on his
5629 helm was a crown. In one hand he held a long sword, and in
5630 the other a knife; both the knife and the hand that held it
5631 glowed with a pale light. He sprang forward and bore down
5633 [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
5635 The Wumpus, by the way, is not bothered by the hazards since
5636 he has sucker feet and is too big for a bat to lift. If you
5637 try to shoot him and miss, there's also a chance that he'll
5638 up and move himself into another cave, though by nature the
5639 Wumpus is a sedentary creature.
5640 [ wump (6) -- "Hunt the Wumpus" ]
5642 _Wumpus yobgregorii_, in the flesh...
5643 Later, all you will be able to remember are its eyes. They
5644 are rich mud-brown, and they hold your own without effort.
5645 [ Hunter, In Darkness, by Andrew Plotkin ]
5647 They sent their friend the mosquito [xan] ahead of them to
5648 find out what lay ahead. "Since you are the one who sucks
5649 the blood of men walking along paths," they told the mosquito,
5650 "go and sting the men of Xibalba." The mosquito flew
5651 down the dark road to the Underworld. Entering the house of
5652 the Lords of Death, he stung the first person that he saw...
5654 The mosquito stung this man as well, and when he yelled, the
5655 man next to him asked, "Gathered Blood, what's wrong?" So
5656 he flew along the row stinging all the seated men until he
5657 knew the names of all twelve.
5658 [ Popul Vuh, as translated by Ralph Nelson ]
5660 A distant cousin of the earth elemental, the xorn has the
5661 ability to shift the cells of its body around in such a way
5662 that it becomes porous to inert material. This gives it the
5663 ability to pass through any obstacle that might be between it
5666 The arrow of choice of the samurai, ya are made of very
5667 straight bamboo, and are tipped with hardened steel.
5669 Yeenoghu, the demon lord of gnolls, still exists although
5670 all his followers have been wiped off the face of the earth.
5671 He casts magic projectiles at those close to him, and a mere
5672 gaze into his piercing eyes may hopelessly confuse the
5673 battle-weary adventurer.
5675 The Abominable Snowman, or yeti, is one of the truly great
5676 unknown animals of the twentieth century. It is a large hairy
5677 biped that lives in the Himalayan region of Asia ... The story
5678 of the Abominable Snowman is filled with mysteries great and
5679 small, and one of the most difficult of all is how it got that
5680 awful name. The creature is neither particularly abominable,
5681 nor does it necessarily live in the snows. _Yeti_ is a Tibetan
5682 word which may apply either to a real, but unknown animal of
5683 the Himalayas, or to a mountain spirit or demon -- no one is
5684 quite sure which. And after nearly half a century in which
5685 Westerners have trampled around looking for the yeti, and
5686 asking all sorts of questions, the original native traditions
5687 concerning the creature have become even more muddled and
5689 [ The Encyclopedia of Monsters, by Daniel Cohen ]
5691 Japanese leather archery gloves. Gloves made for use while
5692 practicing had thumbs reinforced with horn. Those worn into
5693 battle had thumbs reinforced with a double layer of leather.
5695 The samurai is highly trained with a special type of bow,
5696 the yumi. Like the ya, the yumi is made of bamboo. With
5697 the yumi-ya, the bow and arrow, the samurai is an extremely
5698 accurate and deadly warrior.
5700 The zombi... is a soulless human corpse, still dead, but
5701 taken from the grave and endowed by sorcery with a
5702 mechanical semblance of life, -- it is a dead body which is
5703 made to walk and act and move as if it were alive.
5706 The zruty are wild and gigantic beings, living in the
5707 wildernesses of the Tatra mountains.
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