Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. This is the title of the Mother of God used especially in Eastern Christianity. Theotokos is also used as a term to describe icons of the Mother with Child, in the western tradition called a Madonna. Some of the Madonna sculptures and paintings depict the mother and child with dark skin, depicting the true features of the deity Jesus and his mother Mary. Such a depiction is known as a “Black Madonna”.
PPSh-41, pistolet-pulemyot Shpagina, was one of the major infantry weapons used by the Soviet Union during the Second World War. It was a cheap, reliable and simple submachine gun and as many as 6 million units were produced. The nickname given to it among Soviet troops was "papasha", Russian for "daddy".
Camp S-17.
Wolf 359 is a red dwarf, 7.8 light-years from earth. Its proper motion was measured in 1917 by the German astronomer Max Wolf, the 359th that he measured. It is the fourth-closest stellar system to our Sun which is why it has inspired many science fiction writers to include it in their stories.
Incineration converts waste into ash, flue gas and heat. The process can be used to generate electricity, and in some countries the burning of waste and biomass amounts for more than 90% of total generated electricity. A turbine connected to the burners in a crematorium can generate 150 kWh per human corpse, enough to power 1500 televisions for one hour.
According to Zoroastrianism each person has a guardian angel, a Fravashi. They are a manifestation of God’s energy, and responsible for sending our souls, Urvan, out in to the material world to fight in the cosmic battle between good and evil. On the fourth day after death, the soul returns to the guardian angel. There its experiences are evaluated, lessons learned and the knowledge used to assist the next generation in the eternal struggle.
The Clinic.
Human ingenuity knows no boundaries when it comes to murder. Since the dawn of time we have found new and innovative ways of ending life, bending creation to become our servant in the destruction of the most sacred.
A compound that has been found extraordinarily potent is Cyanide. As a gas it is especially effective and became a great commercial success during the 40’s.
Death has a trade name; Zyklon B.
History is full of countries and empires that are created, rise, fall and then disappear. All that remains of them are the monuments they left behind. They stand as reminders of the hopes and dreams of the people who built them. But they can also be reminders of oppression, injustice and suffering.
Der Oderturm in Frankfurt-an-der-Oder at the Polish border is a monument of sorts; built in part by the Free German Youth work brigades, it was to embody the ideals of socialism and the ambitions and engineering prowess of the people of East Germany...Today it houses a shopping mall...
The Frankfurt Clinic in Frankfurt-an-der-Oder.
The spacecraft Soyuz 31, en-route to the Soviet space station Salyut 6, carried with it two cosmonauts. One of them was Sigmund Jähn, representing East Germany in the Interkosmos program. The first German native in space. After 124 orbits and spending 7 days, 20 hours and 49 minutes in space he returned safely home to Earth.
He described his journey with the words "…what I saw then was total happiness: Our Earth, shining in bright blue. Just like a dream."
Achdarat Chagidiel ferocior Malkuthat
Adnanan opressior Cirkulo stadat
Cirkulo fundat, in Nomine Chagidiel disparat
ex carnata perdotris achdarat
Deorgaoth Chagidiel Thaumatorgion
ex cricificio, ex carnation
ex mondato, ex Homo degrati pardanat
Carnath, Carnath
Chagidiel atharatoth, Chagidiel nekrat
Chagidiel incarnat
Pogodin's mansion.
The Black Madonna 11: Storm-333
We tend to create simplistic narratives; there are heroes and there are villains. Good and evil. Necessary self-deception in order to sleep at night. But evil and malice alone cannot drive the true tragedies of our shared history... for that you also need good intentions and idealistic dreams of a better world. We all begin as heroes in our own stories.
Seven millimeters of bone is all that protects our sensitive minds from the hazards of this realm. Seven millimeters between life and death... Do any of our thoughts remain in there after we are gone?
The Slavic Association.
Could you kill another human being? How about one that isn’t a direct threat to you? During World War 2 it’s estimated that only 2% of U.S. front line soldiers fired their weapons with the aim of killing the enemy - even when they were in a position to do so. Shooting to kill requires conditioning.. or a psychopath...
The Slavic Association.
Stasi had 90,000 employees and 170,000 unofficial informants prior to the fall of the Berlin wall. It is now 1991, and the East German state is but a painful memory. But those that supported Stasi; some because of jealousy and malice, others out of love for their country - now carry the secret of how they betrayed their neighbors, their friends... their loved ones.
Could you live with that?
This is the first episode of "Ask for the Moon", our Patreon-exclusive Q&A podcast where you can ask us about the campaign and roleplaying in general. We have chosen to release this first episode to all of our listeners in order to allow you to get to know us better, and hopefully also to help grow our community on Patreon. Enjoy!
You can find our Patreon here.
https://www.patreon.com/RedMoonRoleplaying
Cover art for our Patreon feed. Art by George Cotronis.
Our civilization is built on the bones of our dead ancestors. Billions of souls that are now eternally slumbering in their graves. But is life truly a story that ends with death? Or is death... only the beginning?
We are here, where forgotten gods are revived by the neon lights and the street noise, and tread their dance of death in seedy night clubs. But where is the book? Where is the book Carver?
Why are some driven to the brink of insanity by the reality they perceive, while others are able to blissfully enjoy their lives? Is it even reality that we are experiencing? Or could there be something... beyond the veil?
Magda's apartment in Berlin.
There are moments when time stops. When you meet your true love, hold your newborn child in your arms for the first time... and when you come face to face with death. But a fire... a fire does not wait.
Magda's apartment in Berlin.
The fever dreams had felt so... real. Did Magda experience the same night terrors before her disappearance? And what did Filip Kramer mean in his message on her answering machine? "Too late" for what?
Magda's apartment in Hamburg.
Björn von Krusenstierna, well-respected businessman and book collector. James Carver, the man who gets you the rare tomes you need. What connects the two, aside from an affinity for expensive paper from the 17th century, is their friendship with Magda Orlova - a woman haunted by dark dreams...
Magda's apartment in Hamburg.