Loira, Fairy Witch Mother

Hello from the top of my deeply neglected blog! Prior to joining Twitter, and migrating into the TTRPG space, I was on Tumblr running various aesthetic and RP boards for a small selection of WoW RP characters. I was also fortunate enough to work with several guilds and groups in WoW who used the MMO as a platform to host massive events which raised tens of thousands of dollars for charity. I’m still involved with one of them, @fence-macabre​, and the yearly For the Familiars charity drive is currently ongoing. It is important to note that after staging the Oribos Sit-In, Fence ceased hosting events in game and all charity events it works so hard to put on happen on That Private Server. 

I was never as chatty on Tumblr as I was on Twitter! I’m not sure what being back on Tumblr (if I am back on Tumblr, I haven’t made a decision about that yet) would look like for me. I do know that at the very least this particular blog acts as an archive for the character whose name you all know me by! There might be old writing here too, who knows, not I! 

To those still following me from when I was a WoW blog: hi! I’m really not a WoW blog anymore. Stepping back from WoW gave me the freedom (time, energy) to explore so many other avenues of creativity. I’m grateful for the time I spent in the wider RPC, and am much happier being on the sidelines and helping Fence with charity efforts as I’m able.

That said: this may no longer be the blog for you, and I understand that! My interests are much more in line with the TTRPG sphere these days and if there’s one thing Tumblr has always been a better platform for, it is rambling about OCs. Not sure I’ll be doing that but, we’ll see. 

Anyway! If you made it this far: thanks! My main project is now my website The Cozy Cauldron where I write about TTRPGs and, sometimes, share creative works. You can follow that blog for updates directly in your inbox, if you like!

I am also on Instagram as ms_winford, and stream on Twitch under the same name (sometimes, rarely, as my energy allows). If cozy/spooky games are your jam, you might like what I stream (I play games like Cozy Grove, Beacon Pines, Wytchwood, and Strange Horticulture).

I think that’s as good an introduction as I can manage for now! Take care of yourselves.

- Loira

From Amanda P. comes Tannic, a point and crawl forest adventure designed for use with Cairn and Old-School Essentials. A love letter to pine barrens, youthful adventures and campfires, it is designed as a one shot for level 1-3 players. 

Since days of old, the village of Tannic has celebrated the summer equinox with an elaborate festival… During this fortnight of festivities, young villagers prove their courage by camping deep in the forest. 4 days ago, three village youth embarked on their coming of age ritual during the midsummer festival. 3 days ago, they failed to return. Can you brave the haunted forest and bring them home to safety?

From Secret Table comes Against The Grey, a system agnostic adventure about anthropomorphic animals taking up arms to defend their forest against the greed of the Grey. I picked up the full bundle from Ratti Incantati [here] which includes the referee, player, and playable characters pamphlets.

I don’t have many games presented in pamphlet form! In fact, there’s only two that come to mind so Against the Grey’s form immediately had my attention. That and the beautiful map of the forest kept me coming back to look at it again and again. This adventure has been in and out of my cart several times for the last few months! 

I’ll start there: why was I so indecisive? Usually when I’m shopping I browse indiscriminately and anything that catches my initial interest is added to my cart. Once I’m done perusing, I head on over to start looking at my little collection more critically and start narrowing it down. As much as I want to bring everything with me, always, I’ve gotta stagger things just a little bit! This one didn’t make the cut a few times because, for reasons I will never understand, I have trouble with system agnostic adventures.

Photo Credit: John Anderson

"City Lights" is romantic, it is nostalgic, it makes my heart ache for a not-so-distant past while simultaneously filling it with hope for the ever-uncertain future. I’ve dance-twirled in a parking lot at night, laughing with my heart fit to burst with love for a city as vibrant and alive as each and every person living in it, and watched the city lights go by with such a deep ache in my chest that it stuns me a little bit each time. 

From 9th Level Games comes The Excellents, a game about being an Excellent Princess in an awesome cartoon world. To play, you need a copy of the book and a set of dice, plenty of imagination, and willingness to have a fun time!

Once upon a time, I went to college (the first time) and got myself an Arts degree. I focused on cinema, and took every theory course I could. I love the form as a vehicle for storytelling, and the vast wealth of opportunities in terms of how to tell the story. I dove into various film festivals, found out about various indie theatres in my city, and was inspired. The festivals, especially, were wonderful for this and I spent many a season dragging friends around with me to catch screenings at cinemas we’d never previously heard of. I don’t attend them anymore – some went online/hybrid for a year or two but are unfortunately all back to being in-person with no safety precautions – but my love of movies hasn’t changed one bit. 

Once upon a time, I was known for having an intense and vocal dislike of horror films. It was a big deal if I agreed to go to one as it was such a rare occurrence. Heck, I only watched The Haunting of Hill House because I had someone warning me of the jump scares ahead of time! It was the same for video games: horror? No thank you. In books, however, I never had this problem! It took me a long time to realise that my issue wasn’t with horror at all, but with jump scares. Which has, in turn, opened up a whole well of possibilities in terms of finally exploring a genre I love, in quite possibly my favourite medium: film. 

Once upon a time, I started making a list of horror films to check out and, finally, started tracking them down to watch. Sunset Boulevard (1950), Nightmare Castle (1965), and Suspiria (1977) are the ones I’ve started off with. And hey, who knows, maybe 2023 is the year I will finally watch Dracula (1931) – usually surprises people that I haven’t seen that one!

Thimbleton Inksquire’s Runic Compendium

From Runic Press comes Thimbleton Inksquire’s Runic Compendium, a 5e supplement introducing the Runic Magic system. It aims to offer new ways of approaching magic and introduces different methods of playing classes who have had restrictions on the magical options available to them.

Coming in at 173 pages, the Runic Compendium offers seven chapters of content including 16 new subclasses, 80 powerful runes, 20 runic magic items, and a brand-new adventure alongside beautiful art! The table of contents is fully hyperlinked for ease of navigation, and each page has a side border indicating which chapter you are in, as well as the page. I thought it was a nice touch.

While this is the first release I’ve reviewed from Runic Press, it isn’t the first I’ve written about a supplement from this team. I wrote about Baba Lysaga’s Nocturnes & Nightmares last year, and if you want to read my thoughts on the electrum best selling 5e horror supplement you can do so [here].

Rescue Rainbow City

From Awfully Queer Heroes comes Rescue Rainbow City [here], a level 3-12 adventure for Dungeons & Dragons 5E and Pathfinder 2E. With over 40 unique city locations, 25 NPCs, and 50 monsters your party is in for quite the treat as they try to take back the utopic Rainbow City. Invaded by a corruptive, evil and insidious force which grew beneath the streets over a long period of years, cultists, monsters and various horrors now stand between the adventurers and the city’s freedom.

This is the second release I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing from AQH, the first being Saphyx Spectacular Spell Compendium back in January. If you’re looking for a delightful array of spells to introduce to your campaign you can read more about them [here]!