Setting & Society Sunday - Viking Poetry, Boredom, & Axes

Over on medievalists.net, experience "Poems by a Viking" here.

Also, on sciencenordic.com, check out "Dealing with the doldrums on a Viking voyage" here.

Finally, on sciencealert.com, "Archaeologists just uncovered one of the biggest Viking axes ever" here.

Setting & Society Sunday on GRYMVALD.com

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Saturday in Space - Strange Space

Three from Science Alert this week with the first being "Something's made Apollo astronauts up to 5 times more likely to die from heart disease" here.

Also, have a look at "A huge fireball just burned up over Las Vegas and it probably came from China" here.

Finally, check out "There's a super weird reason this star flashes every 2 minutes" here.

Saturday in Space on GRYMVALD.com
What's happening in Space and

what can it mean for our tabletop RPGing?

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Flora & Fauna Friday - Going, Going, Gone

Three from Science Alert this week with the first being "I've spent 7 years counting sharks - the findings aren't good" here.

Also, have a look at "93% of mammals were likely killed off with the dinosaurs" here.

Finally, check out "This is the first mammal to go extinct because of human-caused climate change" here.

Flora & Fauna Friday on GRYMVALD.com

Examining animals, plants, and the

environments we use for our tabletop RPGing.

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Historical Thursday - Jane Grey, Isabella, & Matilda

Three posts on historic women this week with the first being from historyextra.com titled "Lady Jane Grey: why do we want to believe the myth?"  Find out here.

Also, from historyextra.com, have a look at "Isabella of France: the rebel queen" here.

Finally, on medievalists.net, check out "How the death of a Queen led to 68,000 people being fed" here.

Historical Thursday on GRYMVALD.com

Sifting through History to
enhance our tabletop RPGing.

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Worldbuilding Wednesday - Western Digs

Three from Western Digs this time where Blake de Pastino has been writing up a storm the last couple of months including an article titled "Ice Age Hunting Camp, Replete With Bird Bones and Tobacco, Found in Utah Desert" here.

Also, he penned "16,000-Year-Old Tools Discovered in Texas, Among the Oldest Found in the West" here.

Finally, check out "Ancient Seafarers’ Tool Sites, Up to 12,000 Years Old, Discovered on California Island" here.

Worldbuilding Wednesday on GRYMVALD.com
The nuts and bolts of Worldbuilding
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The Tuesday Sundries - Venison

Many folks know that deer meat is known as venison and that it has a storied history in both the UK and in America.

Over on the medievalists.net, they recently posted about venison in the Beowulf tale with "A haunch for Hrothgar" here.

Finally, on gameandgarden.com, they shared "Ten Tips to Know When Preparing Venison" here.

The Tuesday Sundries on GRYMVALD.com
Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on GRYMVALD.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.

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Mapping Monday - World Mapping

Over on sciencealert.com, they ask, "Which US state is closest to Africa?"  Find out here.

Also, on overlapmaps.com, instantly compare any two places on Earth here.

Finally, on asheepnomore.net, they give us "40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World" here.

Mapping Monday on GRYMVALD.com

Cartography and Mapping are the order of the day,
from setting maps to battlemaps, it's all good.

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Setting & Society Sunday - Eating, Drinking, & Shopping

It is hard to imagine how different it may have been living in past times.  So I dug up some links to historical information on the basics.  Over on livescience.com, they ask, "What Did Ancient Egyptians Really Eat?"  Learn more here.

Also, on medievalists.net, they ask, "Did people drink water in the Middle Ages?"  Find out here.

Finally, on historyextra.com, they give us "A handbook to shopping in ancient Rome" here.

Setting & Society Sunday on GRYMVALD.com

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Saturday in Space - Red Rovers

Three from Space.com this week about the various rovers of the past, present, and future.  First, let's look back with "Mars Explored: Landers and Rovers Since 1971 (Infographic)" here.

Also, earlier this month we got a break when "Mars Rover Curiosity Bounces Back from Glitch" here.

Finally, we also found out "NASA Is Ready to Start Building Its Life-Hunting 2020 Mars Rover" here.

Saturday in Space on GRYMVALD.com
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Flora & Fauna Friday - Largest Birds

Something got me thinking about the largest birds on the planet so I grabbed a list of them off wikipedia here and then decided to also highlight a few.  First, I had to check out the Ostrich here.

Also, I looked up the Wandering albatross here.

Finally, I searched for information on the Andean condor here.

Flora & Fauna Friday on GRYMVALD.com

Examining animals, plants, and the

environments we use for our tabletop RPGing.

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Historical Thursday - Henry VIII

Three from historyextra.com with the first being "Henry VIII is buried where?!"  Find out more here.

Also, they ask, "Who hijacked Henry VIII’s will?"  More info is found here.

Finally, learn "7 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry VIII's flagship the Mary Rose" here.

Historical Thursday on GRYMVALD.com

Sifting through History to
enhance our tabletop RPGing.

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Worldbuilding Wednesday - Castles, Keeps, & Walled Cities

Over on medievalists.net, they share the "Top 10 Medieval Castles in England" here.

Also, on medieval-spell.com, they discuss the "Keep Castle" here.

Finally, on forgottendm.blogspot.com, check out "10 of the best medieval walled cities" here.

Worldbuilding Wednesday on GRYMVALD.com
The nuts and bolts of Worldbuilding
for our tabletop RPGing.

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The Tuesday Sundries - War Gods

Over on wikipedia, check out a list of as many War Gods as might be known here.

Also, on archaeology.org, they recently ran an article titled "Fit for a War God" here.

Finally, on shanghaiist.com, check out a "Giant statue of Guan Yu completed in Hubei" here.

The Tuesday Sundries on GRYMVALD.com
Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on GRYMVALD.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.

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Mapping Monday - 2-Minute Table Top

Over on geekandsundry.com, they recently introduced me (here) to Ross McConnell's 2-Minute Table Top and the wonderful maps he makes.

On his 2minutetabletop.com website, he's got all sorts of cartography and tutorials here.

You can also view his videos on his 2-Minute Table Top YouTube channel here including this one on "How To Draw Grass (DM's Drawing Guide)."  Enjoy!

Mapping Monday on GRYMVALD.com

Cartography and Mapping are the order of the day,
from setting maps to battlemaps, it's all good.

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Setting & Society Sunday - Innistrad

As a setting for MtG, Innistrad has been around about half a decade and was designed to make the most of the horror genre.  It was first featured in the artwork of the MtG Innistrad set block which began with the titular Innistrad and continued with Dark Ascension and Avacyn Restored.  "The events of the Innistrad block center on the events after the sundering of the Helvault, a giant chunk of silver metal that was used by the archangel Avacyn to imprison Innistrad's worst horrors, the demons. It is then revealed why the archangel Avacyn vanished from the plane in the first place, leaving the humans of the plane defenseless against the gothic horrors of Innistrad."  Read more on that here.

Wizards of the Coast has revisited the setting with this most recent Shadows over Innistrad block with two sets, first with Shadows over Innistrad and now with Eldritch Moon which has a prerelease this weekend.

There's a lot of great artwork and inspiration to be had from this card game.  I'm constantly amazed by the level of talent they gather for the artwork, and the game plays great for almost a quarter of a century.

Setting & Society Sunday on GRYMVALD.com

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Saturday in Space - Space Stations & Junk

Three from Space.com this week with the first being "SpaceX to Launch Vital New Spaceship Docking Port for Space Station" here.

Also, they say, "U-F-NO! NASA Shoots Down Speculation Over Space Station Video" here.

Finally, check out "Fishing for Space Junk: Europe's Wild Idea to Clean the Cosmos" here.

Saturday in Space on GRYMVALD.com
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Flora & Fauna Friday - Deep & Old

Three from smithsonianmag.com this week as we look back into how things got the way they are.  First, a "Mission to Mariana Trench Records Dozens of Crazy Deep Sea Creatures" suggesting evolutionary stories we don't often see here.

Also, they explain "No, a Mitochondrial "Eve" Is Not the First Female in a Species."  Learn more here.

Finally, "The “Hobbit” Lineage May Be Much Older Than Previously Thought."  Find out more about that here.

Flora & Fauna Friday on GRYMVALD.com

Examining animals, plants, and the

environments we use for our tabletop RPGing.

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