[The Stronghold 'Zine] 'Zine Love from a Legend and Another Mail-Map!

Those of you who've read for a while know that +Christian Walker (of Loviatar fame) is not only a good friend, but the late (demise much lamented) Loviatar 'zine is an inspiration for The Stronghold, as it is for many recent 'zines.

Well, Christian's received copies of both Issues #1 and #2of the Stronghold...and then I heard from him last week: his son enjoyed Issue #1 so much that he stole absconded with claimed for his own borrowed Issue #1 and won't give it back to his dad! Christian ordered up another copy of #1...so I included a copy of #2 for the son, with a letter inside (explaining that "This is your copy. Not your dad's."). On the outside of the envelope, this happened:

Yep. Another Mail-Map!

In the short time I've been doing these, as with most of my maps, I typically start out with a general idea, then let the pen(s) go from there, until I realize just how much work the cross-hatching is going to be and then I look for a stopping point. For this one, I just wanted something quick and dirty, short and sweet. I'd actually intended it for a small shrine...one with a hidden danger of ghouls (or somesuch) who live in caverns behind/beneath the shrine and use the shrine for food, water, etc.

Well, Christian took this, and ran with it, making it his own. And I'm awed and honored to have had this map appear on his blog as "The Skin Lab": a secret workshop for a purveyor of flesh golems. Head on over to take a look...as I said, I'm touched and honored. (And remember, all my stuff is free for your use...just please let me know how you used it and how it was received.... I'm a proud papa that way; I love to hear how my kiddies are faring out in the big wide world.)

Oh, and from all reports, Christian's son loved the letter and having his own copy of Issue #2...so, double win!

Oh, and as always, you can pick up your own copies of Issues #1 and #2 here, at Blue Moon Ink Press.

Printing Press Installed at the Stronghold

This post serves as the formal announcement. The Stronghold is about to see print.

Well, OK... "about" is a relative term. But it's in the process.

That's right. A 'Zine is on its way. Inspiration such as Christian Walker, Tim Shorts, Dylan Hartwell, and Matt Jackson has made me yearn to have my own musings put into black and white and mailed out to various and sundry parts of the world.

Or at least that's my hope.

There's going to be a definite 3.X Edition focus; that's just how I roll. Of course, there'll be some system neutral stuff, some fiction, some tables, maps, NPCs. Everything that you've come to expect from the Stronghold.

And that'll be it's name: The Stronghold.

Yeah, I was inspired by Tim's "The Manor"--I had a couple other thoughts for titles but he gave his thumbs up (and blessing) to "The Stronghold."

The first few articles are penned. I just need a little more stuff, some art, and then figure out how to assemble it all together. I REALLY don't need to try and learn new software right now. We'll see how it goes. I also have to figure out the whole OGL and copyright thing.

[From the Mailbag] Playing Catch-up from Los Angeles

The recently-completed A to Z April Challenge took more out of me than just physical and emotional stress. It also pretty much kept me from talking about some very generous and terrific things I received in the mail during that time.

First up are some offerings provided by Christian Walker. Old timers will remember him for his several excellent 'zine offerings, most lately Loviatar, a 'zine which I credit for a resurgence in interest and production of self-published RPG 'zines. He called it quits on Loviatar in late December 2012. Since then, he's been re-charging his batteries and taking a break. However, imagine my surprise in walking in from work one day and finding a LARGE envelope on my desk...a large envelope with his return address stamped on it. I tore into it with excitement and confusion, as I hadn't been expecting anything from him. I'm well overdue for saying THANKS, CHRISTIAN!!! Inside the package I found this little beauty:

I must confess, I've never seen this or heard of this setting before. I'm not well-versed in any Labyrinth Lord material, to be honest. This particular gem was first published in 2007 and is the basis for Mr. Bezios' "Phoenix Barony" setting (the end of the book promises several more adventures/modules in the setting). The gift was completely unexpected and utterly appreciated. It came on a very, very bad day and helped alleviate some emotional pain. The material within looks generic enough that it shouldn't be too hard to adapt and modify for my own 3.x/Pathfinder uses. In fact, I'm already plotting how and where to fit the Phoenix Barony in my campaign world in relation to Coldtreath.

Heh. Good stuff.


Speaking of good stuff, imagine my surprise when I received this in the mail on Thursday. Christian had, last year, started sending out one-page gaming material letters together with (and eventually in lieu of) Loviatar. I really enjoyed them and found them useful in my own campaigns. Well, he's started a new one-page letter 'zine: a Los Angeles-centered Cthulhu-oriented campaign setting, Shudde M'ell Confidential.

This first issue was intriguing to me. So much so that I sat right down and scribbled out a quick map and a letter to his newly-introduced first NPC regarding some mysterious runes discovered in an unusual excavation in the basement of a downtown building.

Yeah, I've got a set of brass ones. I'm a bit forward sometimes. But as I said, the material inspired me.

To be honest, I've never even played in a Cthulhu campaign. I'd do almost anything to live in Christian's neighborhood and take part in this one, though. Every Lovecraftian game I've heard any of my acquaintances run have all been New England-oriented campaigns. One friend had planned a northwest/Washington State-oriented game, but it never left the initial "wouldn't this be cool" planning stages. The idea of investigators in early 20th-century Los Angeles really sets off a spark somehow. There's a lot of interesting individuals, personalities, events, etc. that exist on the West Coast during this time period; certainly sufficient to make for a fun and realistic campaign setting.

Sigh. And here I am, stuck in the Rockies.

Jay Penn For Sale!

No, I don't actually have the rights to sell Jay Penn, although if I did, Dennis Mize's infamous "Slave Auction" comes to mind, which is possibly the most disturbing thought I've had yet today. (Sorry, Jay.)

Those who frequent these pages will, no doubt, remember my ravings from a week ago regarding my acquisition of a couple of pieces of art from artist Jay Penn. Even further back, it was Jay Penn's illustration of an otyugh that prompted me to go crazy and purchase several WotC minis of the critter from the after-market.

Well, shortly thereafter he sent me word--and posted up on his blog--that he was opening up his Loviatar art portfolio for sale. This is your chance to own your very own piece of 'zine and art history!

There's been some fantastic stuff in the pages of Loviatar and some fantastic artistic renderings to go with it. I really can't say enough good about both Jay's art and how great he is to work with, business-wise. I'd urge anyone interested to take a peek at Jay's portfolio and his offerings. Snatch up your favorites while you can!

I'm already putting together a list of my "wants" and hoping no one beats me to them.





Why are you still here reading this? Go. Now. Look at art. Purchase. Before the otyugh is set loose on you. I'm serious.

A Giant and a Ranger Walk Into a Stronghold....

I've been meaning to write this post for two days. Unfortunately, a barometer-induced migraine intervened and I've spent many hours with an ice pack and pain medication in a dark room instead.

Early Monday afternoon the mailman brought me a great surprise: a well-packed, stiff envelope from Ireland.

Yes, I said Ireland.

After months of back and forth e-mails (mostly from me apologizing for real life getting in the way of PayPal payments), Jay Penn relinquished two of his babies to my care on October 19th. I was surprised to get them so quickly, to be honest. Only three days in transit from Ireland to The Stronghold? Really?

Somehow I doubt it was the doing of the USPS.

But I digress. For those of you not familiar with Jay Penn's work, well, first of all: SHAME ON YOU!! But second of all, Jay Penn is known for, besides other things, giving pictorial life to the pages of Loviatar by Christian, which I may have discussed here on occasion.

Back in July, I stumbled across a link to Jay's website, Realms of Faerie. He was in the midst of a "31 Day Drawing Challenge" project. It just so happened that the day I visited his particular picture just clicked with me. I had to have it. As I said above: after several months of e-mails back and forth, it arrived on Monday in perfect condition (something I was really truthfully worried about) and ready for framing (if I can find a suitable frame and a reasonable professional to help me do it right). I think it'll look great in my study.

I don't know exactly why, but it spoke to me. I'm not well-versed in artistic theory; if you must know, when it comes to art, I somewhat ascribe to the theory put forth by Justice Potter Stewart when describing pronography: I know it when I see it. In other words, I know what I like when I see it. I generally like watercolors. And there's something about the "twist" of the giant figure overlooking the serene farm and under the watchful eye (or not-so watchful eye in this case) of the manor house on the hill. It all looks so "normal" until your eye falls upon the hazy giant figure.

During the time we were working on getting the watercolor to me, Jay decided to offer for sale a limited run of prints of his cover art for Loviatar #9: a fellow named Morgan Stringman, who certainly seems more than capable of taking care of himself. See for yourself. And pick one up for yourself while they last!

So I picked one of those up as well. I love the fine line-work and the action suggested by the drawing, not to mention the details. The attraction was helped by the fact that, over the years, I also have had several rangers amongst my players. Those characters share a soft spot in my heart; one of them even looks a bit like Morgan. This one is going to look terrific hanging on my study wall too. I can hardly wait.

I can't say enough about Jay and his artwork. I'm a big fan; it's simplistic, I know, but it's true. I think he's summed up best by Christian's words: Someone needs to come along and take Jay Penn away from Loviatar. He's too damn good to be illustrating this humble rag. His work should be on the shelves of a FLGS and he should be signing copies of his work at GenCon.

I wholeheartedly agree: he's good. Very good. (But please, Jay, don't leave Loviatar!) I'm just proud to say, "I own a couple of Jay Penns." And thanks, Jay, for trusting me with these two of your children. I'm honored.

Check him out. You won't be disappointed.

[review] Loviatar #13

I had an interesting day yesterday. Had to travel an hour north to a neighboring city for a court hearing that lasted less than 2 minutes. Then I was able to have lunch with my wife and two of our friends who happen to be NY Times Bestselling authors. (I don't have their permission to share stories and I don't want to drop any names.)

Then it was off to the podiatrist for a check-up on my second matrixectomy. (About a month ago I had an ingrown toenail partially removed. Then I learned the hard way that I'm in the 5% group that the healing process heals around a pocket of infection. Then I learned that I'm also the 1-in-20 that has the removed portion of the nail actually start to grow back. So I had to go a second time to have it removed. My doctor says that we treated it "aggressively" this time. It's meant much more pain, but he says it's healing nicely.)

And then I got home and found something in the mail that made the poking and prodding worth it all: Loviatar #13 and the latest edition of "A Letter from Los Angeles." Aside from the joy of receiving something other than bills in the mailbox, I now had something I could peruse while putting my feet up (literally) and recuperating from my day.

For those of you who haven't yet checked out Loviatar.... Really? Put aside the fact that this 'zine is why Mr. Christian Walker has been (arguably) responsible for the recent resurgence of the gaming 'zine. Put aside that the material inside each issue is geared toward numerous different game systems and usable in many more. Put aside the excellent artwork by Mr. Jay Penn. Put all of that aside for a moment:

Loviatar is just plain good. And old-fashioned good. It brings back a lot of memories to me from the 1980s.

Issue #13 is no difference. I will not pretend to say that I will ever have a chance to run a Lords of Creation game. Christian admits that the decision to write Lords of Creation material may be based upon a post-surgical drug-induced haze. But he still makes it work. There's humor: Kevin Sorbo surrounded by Amazons out-of-time; Jim Brass from CSI; and an alternate-Earth Mona Lisa hanging on the wall watching over the described festivities. While I'm also not likely to run a modern game any time soon, there's still plenty of material here that will feed into descriptions of a good D&D NPC.

(Case in point: I'm right now imagining an NPC bard who has made a name for himself "speaking for the Elven Gods" who finds himself surrounded in a tavern by a gaggle of Elves just waiting for him to say or do something they find blasphemous. Enter PCs. Hilarity ensues.)

In short, I'd highly recommend snagging a copy while they're hot, fresh, and available.

I'd also suggest checking out Christian's newest endeavor "A Letter from Los Angeles." This newsletter is also chock-full of gaming goodness and the fact that it's nearly all hand-written just adds to its uniqueness. This latest issue has a map on the back of a seemingly-deserted street from which your character or characters are attacked by an invisible assailant with questionable motives. Each of the newsletters have improved upon the previous ones and this one is no different. I keep waiting for the man to reach a plateau, but he just keeps getting better and better.

I should point out too that I am not receiving payment or reimbursement of any kind from Christan, other than the simple hope of continuing to receive his gaming materials in the mail.

What are you waiting for?! Go. Subscribe. Pick up copies now! For the money, it's gaming goodness at a terrific price!

[review] Loviatar #10

I've raved before about the high quality of the 'zine, Loviatar. With the first nine issues of Loviatar, Christian Walker has, among other things, nearly single-handedly spawned a resurgence of the 'zine as a means of dispersing quality home-brew RPG materials.

Just take a look around the OSR blogosphere if you don't believe me. Or down on the right side of my blog. There are several other 'zines being published with several more promised.

Last night when I got home from the office, I was pleased to find Issue #10 of Loviatar waiting for me. I've missed reviewing several issues because, as I may have mentioned, my wife tends to hold these things hostage until I get some of my "Honey Do" list checked off. Because the last few months have not been friendly to the "Honey Do" list, she hasn't been too friendly with the "sharing of Loviatar." Fortunately I grabbed Issue #10 before she could hide it away.*

I was more than pleased to see what was inside.

The first thing that caught my eye was a reminder that my subscription was up with this issue. Sure, it is a little thing, but a touch of personal service that sets forth Christian's quality control and attention to detail. I've known others that would have just counted on me to remember that my subscription was up, or who couldn't be bothered to add the reminder slip. But not Christian. Even though we had discussed this a month or so ago, he still thought highly enough of his customer base that a reminder slip was included.

The Introduction comes first: by the time I hit the end of the Introduction, I knew Christian had another winning issue. I have to sell my wife out--I'll avoid the spoilers here--I read the Introduction aloud to her and she laughed throughout the "vetting session" but when we got to Christian's bathroom, she lost it. I have to admit I was laughing hard enough I had to stop and catch a breath. All we can both say is: "I hope he SCRUBBED that bathroom down. Several times."**

I turned next to the continuation of his hex crawl. This one has the same quality content and features as the previous ones I've read. Christian has a talent for NPCs--I stand in awe of his ability to make these characters come alive. Harrowminder the Treant from this issue, I believe, may be one of my favorites.

Then I jumped back to read through his Vampire: The Requiem material. BE AWARE: THIS CONTAINS SOME GROWN-UP MATERIAL. If you cringe when you see the letters S--E--X in close succession, or you have a problem with close-up pictures of pierced navels, you may want to have someone edit this article for you. If, however, you are an adult, I think you'll be able to find something useful here. I say this as one who does not play Vampire and doesn't spend a lot of gaming time in the modern era. D&D has vampires too, and a quick change from Santa Fina to a nameless hamlet, a dive bar to a seedy tavern, and a quiet bookstore to a scroll-seller's or tome-seller's store, and voila! Quick and usable NPCs, villains, and/or memorable characters.

Look: you all know, if you've read my blog for any significant length of time, I prefer my D&D to have a bit of 3.5 flavor. But I have some Old School tendencies and consider myself to be an OSR fanatic and gamer. I just happen to not have any other OSR-lovers around me. But while Loviatar first caught my attention for some Pathfinder/3.X content at first, the OSR and other game content is good enough to be easily transferable to 3.5...and good enough for me to WANT to transfer it to 3.5.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 battleaxes.
(Note: The only reason I don't give it 5 battleaxes is that, although I can't believe he could get better, I wouldn't put it past him. I've got to give him a little room.)

------------------------------
*Disclaimer: For the sake of absolute honesty and continued marital bliss, I include this: I have obviously taken some literary license with sharing my family life here. My dear wife doesn't withhold these things from me too long. I actually have several issues tucked away to enjoy in one sitting when I have a free afternoon, preferably with a cold lemon-based beverage and a cool mountain breeze. It just happens that I was extra excited to see Issue #10 and I tore into the envelope before I could stop myself. Now I can go back and enjoy the others at my leisure.
End disclaimer.

**Disclaimer #2: There's no literary license here. My wife really did laugh hard. So did I. And so will you, I think.
End Disclaimer.

[From the Mailbag] It Ain't My Fault, Dear....

So yesterday in the mail I received a pleasant surprise: Minis!

I know, I know. "MORE minis?" you're thinking.... Well, so is my wife, I'm sure.

But these weren't my fault. Not at all. It was y'all's fault. Or at least a select few of you. And I'm offering you all up on the Altar of Doom as sacrifices. Nothing personal, you understand.

This first one I blame on Christian over at Loviatar 'Zine and Destination Unknown, as well as his cohort in art: Jay Penn. It's all their fault, they did it, they forced me to buy the thing. You see, I've never had an otyugh mini before. Never really saw the need for one. On second thought, I guess that I shouldn't really blame Christian. His 'zine was just the delivery system. I think it's really Jay Penn's fault. You see, I was happy in my otyugh-less existence -- at least fairly so -- and then Loviatar #8 came out. With this on the cover. By Jay Penn.
Jay's magnificent artwork doomed me. And my wallet. I simply HAD to have an otyugh. (According to the scene as written, I suppose I really should have purchased more than one. However, even in my mini-frenzy I have a general idea of my monetary limits. That, and there's always next month.) So... Dear.... if you're reading this, it's all Jay's fault. And I suppose Christian's too, if you really need to include him. But mostly Jay's.

Sorry, Jay.

Jason Sholtis takes all the blame for the next mini out of the box. I suppose I could blame his cohort as well, John Larrey. Sigh. OK. I guess they share the blame. You're off the hook a little, Jason. Or you're sharing the hook. Something. Whatever. But this mini is your fault. You see, Jason went and published a little 'zine adventure entitled Zogorion: Lord of the Hippogriffs. I picked it up and read through it once. I have to confess, I giggled. Several times. Not because it was funny or there was anything wrong with it. It was an evil giggle. It was a DM-giggle, at the thought of running my platers through this. My wife will probably remember that evening, because she looked at me with great concern whilst I was giggling. I read it through a second time. I giggled even more. I started plotting where in my campaign world this could happen. And when. (Not in a rail-roady fashion, but just some potential plot hooks.) On my way home from the office the next day I stopped in at the FLGS and found a booster pack of DDM minis, from the Dangerous Delves set, with this hippogriff proudly displayed as the "visible" mini.

I had never seen this booster set before. All the other Dangerous Delves sets, yes. But never the hippogriff. I took it as a sign: it was meant to be.

And then I looked at my minis. I already had a griffon from the Dungeons of Dread boosters that I could use as a hippogriff. But I clearly needed a third beastie, just for the opening scene of Zogorion alone. So I simply HAD to order another one. And as purty as the Arcadian Hippogriff is (also DDM), it had to match. Right? Right. So, again...it wasn't my fault.

Sorry Jason...and John.

Now...the last items out of the box. I'm not sure who takes the blame. I'm sure it isn't me, though. Honest. Someone....Somewhere out there....Ah, yes. THAT'S who it was. Jamie over at For a Fistful of Coppers posted a while ago about "cheap minis." In that post he referenced the DDM Warape mini. I'd seen the figure before; I'd considered buying it. Always before I'd been able to reason my way out of the purchase. But something about seeing it this time? Yeah. I was hooked. And then I found a good deal on them. I have several now. Alright, I have five.

Why do I have five? Well, I think I'd like to have a band of warapes following me around in real life. Think about how much easier it would be to get a seat on public transit if you had a warape with you? So, yeah. A band of warapes. Or an orangu-posse. That'd be cool too. Either one.

But at any rate, it's Jamie's fault, dear, that I now have a band of warapes. (Sorry, Jamie. Really.)

And so readers, I just want to make it clear again: None of these purchases were my fault. None of them.

That's my story, anyway.

[From the Mailbag] Mail Call

I have to admit: I was a little depressed when I left home this morning. Even more so as I sat at my desk staring through space.

And then the mailman came. The UPS man was right behind him. In truth, as they came in I felt a little bit like Winthrop from The Music Man.* The Wells Fargo wagon had come down the street and the Wells Fargo man was was lookin' straight at me. OK, well, NOT Wells Fargo, but the United States Postal Service and the United Parcel Service. But that doesn't have the same ring to it as "the Wells Fargo Wagon." Blame Meredith Wilson, not me.

[Of course, I also don't have red hair, or quite as much hair, and I'm a tad bit older than Winthrop. Otherwise, it was exactly like that song, but completely different.]

What happened next was what you might call the Gamer's Perfect Storm.

This is what I found once I opened all the envelopes and boxes:

Three different 'zines from three separate individuals. Three orders of miniatures from three different companies. All ordered on different days, all arriving on the very same day, from (I believe) six different states. What we have here:

• Issue #1 of Dungeon Crawl
  
• Zogorion, Lord of the Hippogriffs
  
• Issue #8 of Loviatar
  
• Half-Ogre Barbarian, #18 Underdark DDM (1)
  
• Centaur Hero, #15 Deathknell DDM (2)
  
• Centaur War Hulk, #15 Blood War DDM (1)
  
• Wererat Rogue, #39 War of Dragon Queen DDM (1)
  
• Wererat, #40 Dragoneye DDM (2)
  
• Ankheg, #30 Underdark DDM (3)
  
• Kintan Strider, #32 Masters of the Force, SWM (3)

I took a close-up of the ankheg and the Kintan Strider, mostly because no-one I talk to has ever actually seen either of these miniatures. Odd, because the ankheg is an uncommon and the Strider is a common. Regardless, no-one in my circle, or that I've talked to at my FLGS, had ever come across either.

I found the Strider one day when I was doing an image search on the internet and it popped up in a completely unrelated picture. Specifically in a game report on Paizo.com by none other than Sean K. Reynolds. I figured they'd work for troll-kin, giant-kin, elementals...the list goes on and on.

So...now I have something to read and review over the weekend, some adventures to run, and some critters to stat up. Plus, a game session tomorrow night with the guys. Things are starting to look up!

______________________________________
*That's right. A Music Man reference. Wanna make something of it?

'Zines--Print and E-*

As Tim over at Gothridge Manor mentioned, a man named Christian has started something with his Loviatar 'zine.

As you may recall, I mentioned once that my love of 'zines goes all the way back to my high school days. I fell out of the collection of these shortly after high school, but after my discovery of Loviatar, I've started collecting them again.

There's not a lot of RPG-oriented 'zines out there, at least, what I consider to be 'zines. (Kobold Quarterly, in my estimation, is a magazine, not a 'zine. Once you have some slick production value, it loses the homey-ness of a 'zine.) Perhaps the blog has replaced the 'zine of old, doing what the 'zine used to do. Slowly, though, it appears that there is a resurgence of interest in the old 'zine: colored cardstock covers, etc. in all their hand-made goodness. Print-wise, at least. Some of our colleagues out there are using electronic media to disseminate their fine 'zines. (See Lapsus Calumni for an example.)

Because of my love for these things, I'm starting a new little sidebar feature on the blog: I'll be trying to collect links for current RPG 'zines, a card catalog of sorts. For this, I'll be asking for your assistance: If you know of a 'zine -- print or electronic -- let me know. If you publish a 'zine, let me know and I'll add yours to the list. There's also an argument to be made that Fight On!, Knockspell, and Oubliette could be added to this list. If you think so, make that argument to me and I'll add them.

Blogpression

Whoa. It's been nearly two weeks since my last update.

A few years ago, a friend of mine coined a term on his blog: "Blogpression".

His idea was that there was something beyond writer's block and burnout. Something approaching depression, almost. Something which prevented the generation of even a slight "oomph" necessary to post a blog entry.

It's not writer's block and I don't believe it's post-NaNoWriMo burnout. It's not a lack of interest in the subject. I have plenty of ideas; at the least, I could talk aobut the various supplements and materials I've purchased online.

I have the most recent issue of Loviatar (which my wife finally relinquished following completion of a "honey-do" list last weekend). I have a stack of .pdfs to discuss, ranging from Knowledge Illuminates to Stonehell Dungeon. I have a pile of new miniatures to review, not to mention the Pathfinder Beginner's Box and X-Plorers. I even have a couple of new original maps.

But I just can't seem to sit down and write them out. I can't seem to find the time to process the maps, slap them through the GIMP, and put them out on this virtual tabletop of mine for review. I even owe a couple of you some hand-written correspondence and can't even find the time and energy for that.

Maybe it's the stress at the office. More and more is being piled on my shoulders lately, without the corresponding remuneration for my time and effort. Some personal issues have been increasing with their demands. Money worries and holiday stresses are certainly adding to it. The upcoming election (a year from now) has been taking its emotional toll; namely, I'm sick to death of it all.

Truth be told, looking at this list, it's nothing that hasn't happened before or that hasn't been experienced by most of you out there. It just seems to be piling up in extra-heavy proportions this year. All I ask is that you stick with me. I'll have some content to post up here pretty soon.

I promise.

IT CAME!

It came! It came! It came! Itcameitcameitcameitcameitcame!!!

I've been wanting to pick up an issue of Loviatar for a couple months but only now was financially-able to take the plunge. Yeah, I know, $3 isn't much, but there you have it. The descriptions of the first three issues have intruiged me and issue number four certainly did not let me down.

Well, it did, but only a slight little hiccup. More below.

What is Loviatar? It's a great little digest-sized hardcopy magazine in Old School fashion. Don't take my word for it; head on over to the website and check it out for yourself. Christian did a nice job with this and was very accomodating with my shipment request. He was also quite kind when I started crying about losing some content...but again, more on that below.

The picture really doesn't do it justice; the cover is a great, striking yellow (perhaps canary?) but unfortunately the color scanner is down at the office and this is the best I could do. I hope you'll forgive me, Christian.