We sat down with the Uzumaki anime director to see what hints he could give us about the horror series before it premieres this weekend.
I am incredibly honored to have gotten to interview Hiroshi Nagahama (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Mushi-shi, The Flowers of Evil) about his upcoming anime adaptation of Junji Ito's cult-classic horror manga, Uzumaki! If you're a horror fan like me, you're probably looking forward to it's premiere on Adult Swim very soon--so I was excited to ask him about it and what kind of horror has influenced him and his work over the years. Check it out on Anime News Network at the link above!
A huge thanks to ANN for the opportunity, as well to all you folks out there who helped me get to Otakon to do this interview! Thank you all so much, your support of me and my work means the world to me.
Chemical formula: Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 (copper carbonate)
Color: Electric to very dark (almost black) blue
Hardness: Semi-soft (3.5-4)
Crystal system: Monoclinic
Occurrence: Uncommon
Health risks: None
Wow factors:
- Spectacular color not seen with many minerals!
- Usually grows with green malachite and can sometimes grow in bands with it forming unique specimens.
Care tips:
- Azurite is sensitive to high heat and humidity. Prolonged exposure to a hot and humid environment may cause the specimen to wear down and become malachite.,For this reason, do not clean with water, store in direct sunlight, or use a heated lamp to light it.
- Store in a cool, dry cabinet and clean with a blub blower.
Locality of these pieces: Unknown, but a very good possibility it was from Bisbee, Arizona which is one of the best localities for azurite in the world!
Price range: Small pieces such as azurite “Blueberries” are common and very affordable (usually less than $10). Nice thumbnails can range from $20-80 depending on the quality. Nice cabinet pieces can be quite expensive depending on color and quality. Expect large specimens to cost over $100.
How to Be Better Than Everyone by Caterina Primrose
First, before starting this article, I would like to make clear that this is not a guide on how to be Caterina Primrose. No one will ever have the ability to be Caterina Primrose but myself. Try as you may, it simply cannot be done. However, this will allow you to be your own version of Caterina Primrose. When asked by Miss Pinkly Breakfast to write this article, I admit, I was thrilled. Her request was a delightful one, and I am proud to let my fans take a peek inside the world of a woman they idolize.
My most important advice to you, is to simply own who you are.
Cliche, isn’t it? Yes. Own it. All of it. Good and bad. It doesn’t matter if you’re the most sickening human being to exist, or the spawn of the very Light itself. Accepting who and what you are is the first step in the confidence that creates superiority. If you have accepted all your faults and flaws, no one can tell you anything you do not already know. This already gives you the upper hand and often creates shock when you agree with your attacker. They cannot penetrate you, because you’ve already found peace with yourself. Now, I understand that this is a lot easier said than done. Self love and acceptance is often the most powerful but silently won war.
Why is it so hard, you ask?
Society.
As an actress, I am an artist, a child of the revolution, some may say. Artists see the world differently, and seek to share these observations through their art-form, in my case, theatre. Through my artistically fueled experiences of self realization, I noticed that everything is only a concept that we feed truth into. Morals, definitions, languages, gender, right and wrong - it only has as much power as we give it. In a small example, take trends and the way they change over time. They flood through the papers, media, fashion companies, everyone buys one and then are washed out just as quickly and replaced with the next best thing. This enthusiasm for this item, whatever it may be, was created by normal individuals with an agenda and like blinded sheep, society follows. In the very same way, these concepts that we abide by were created by individuals no different from you or I, with motives in which we fulfill by misplacing our trust and not questioning.
In conclusion, to owning who you are, who has the place to say what is morally correct? Society changes their views and opinions based on circumstance, no one knows your personal circumstances but you. Killing is illegal except in self defense or war. War is the justification of killing for another man’s agenda, in which, I repeat, we blindly follow. To not shift the creature you were born to be to succumb to the community’s concept of acceptability makes you a true work of art. Great art will always be twenty to fifty years ahead of its time. People are often afraid of what they do not understand or threatens their security, and therefore will seek to dampen your ignition. If you’re bold enough and recognize your whole truth, you can become the type of Caterina Primrose that men start wars over.
Here are some more small points to guide you in your superiority
Always take care of your physical appearance.
Beauty is a necessity in confidence. Make sure you feel your very best
Find a successful and ambitious partner.
This often turns into a very unnecessarily controversial topic. Are we, as living creatures, not allowed to have standards? Should we not strive for the very best and never settle? What of our future children? Do we seek to give them all the tools to be successful? They may claim you to be a gold digger, but the term is endearing! It shows you care for yourself and your future. You are are a sensible human being with ambition.
Only order diet water when hydrating with little umbrellas in the drink
Own a poodle (Preferably a black one, because black goes with everything, but any color will suffice)
Appreciate those who love and support you
Hire an entourage for security
Have someone for everything you’d normally do yourself
Use all of Caterina Primrose’s products
This includes my perfume, Cateroma, my tobacco product that comes in both cigar and cigarette form, Primrose Premiums, as well as knock offs of my illustrious wardrobe made out of Dalaran City! All on sale for buy one get one half off this holiday season!
This wraps up the basis of How To Be Better Than Everyone!
Guest Article: Rowhouses: Urban Living at its Best by Jackson Gilman-Forlini
[Editor’s Note: Hello, Friends! I am in Europe with limited internet access, but fortunately I prepared for this. My gifted colleague Jackson will be doing two installments of Looking Around about a subject he is an expert on: rowhouses - specifically in the mid-Atlantic region. I hope you all enjoy his wonderful contributions to this series!]
Please excuse the formatting as I am typing this on a tablet and will edit the article to include links and additional formatting at a later date.
ROWHOUSES: URBAN LIVING AT ITS BEST
By: Jackson Gilman-Forlini
In 1959, author Jane Jacobs visited Boston’s North End neighborhood while preparing to write “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”. Prior to her arrival, the North End had been dismissed by urban planners as a slum; however, Jacobs discovered a neighborhood that was old but still vibrant with community life. She met with a young butcher who provided evidence of the neighborhood’s health by pointing out a rowhouse down the block that had been recently rehabbed. About its homeowner, the butcher remarked to Jacobs: “That man could live anywhere. Today, he could move into a high-class suburb if he wanted to. He wants to stay here. People who stay here don’t have to, you know. They like it.” [1]
What was it about that rowhouse that attracted this man and his family? In American culture, the 1950s are synonymous with suburban tract development (Think: Levittown and Leave it to Beaver.) By 1959, no one was building rowhouses--a style that was then seen by mainstream culture as hopelessly out of date and associated with poverty. Yet, in the midst of all this, why would a reasonable middle class family voluntarily chose to live in a rowhouse?
Rowhouse Basics
The rowhouse, townhouse, or terraced house is a house that shares a wall on either side with another house. These houses are all based off of a fairly basic concept: the idea that people living in a densely populated urban environment want to live close to one another while maintaining some semblance of autonomy. In contrast to the apartment building or tenement, rowhouses are adjacent to one another but open onto the street independently.
There is some disagreement over what to call this kind of house. In the US, the most generic term for houses built as a single unit seems to be “townhouse.” For groups of townhouses built together that display serialized repetition of form, the preferred term seems to be “rowhouse,” particularly in the mid-Atlantic region where they are most prevalent.
In the UK, “terraced houses” or simply “terraces” are used to describe rowhouses, while the term “townhouse” denotes a wealthy mansion located within a city. The rowhouse is amazingly adaptable to whatever period of architectural style it happens to be built in, because it follows a basic and easily replicated formula: take a rectangular box taller than it is wide, cover it with a roof, and repeat.
Using variations in size, ornament, and shape, rowhouse builders are able to adapt the rowhouse for any style or circumstance. In the 20th century, as the middle class left urban center for the suburbs, the rowhouse fell out of favor for semi-detached and detached houses. However, the popularity of rowhouses has rebounded in recent years, proving that they are still a highly viable option for 21st century urban residencies.
The housing stock produced by rowhouse builders shows a keen understanding of space efficiency, comfort, and elegant design. Origins and Stylistic Development The American rowhouse has its origins in the 18th century Georgian-style terraces of London, although earlier townhouses date back to the Middle Ages and through the Renaissance and Baroque periods in Europe. Particularly in the Netherlands, townhouse development grew prior to the 18th century. Each of these Dutch townhouses was built independently and ornamented uniquely, exhibiting extravagance of great variety. [2]
Dutch townhouses in Amsterdam display great variety of ornament within a single block. Photo courtesy of Jeff Bessen.
These 18th century Georgian style terraced houses in London are examples of the direct forerunner to the American rowhouse. The popularity of neoclassicism at the time of their construction resulted in a unified and mathematically proportioned edifice. Photo by author.
In contrast, the appearance of 18th century British terraced houses were coordinated so as to form a unified whole. Compared to the highly decorative houses of Amsterdam, Georgian-style facades were stripped of ornament. In the process, their dimensions and proportions took on a more important role in projecting a sense of scale, balance, and elegance. This shift was consistent with the aesthetic trends of the Age of Enlightenment, when architects sought to symbolically interpret the neoclassical principles of reason and logic into physical material. In many cases, the proportions of Georgian rowhouses were based on the golden mean and were intended to mimic the classical columns and orders. [3]
More than just an edifice, the coordinated rowhouse block achieves the aesthetic brilliance of horizontality through the repetition of an individual unit that is fundamentally vertical. The interplay and juxtaposition between the vertical and the horizontal is immensely intriguing to the human eye.
Affluent rowhouses on the 2900 block of N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD. Photo by author.
In addition, the rowhouse block creates a strong sense of linear receding perspective for the viewer. The horizontal lines of rowhouses reinforce a sense of perspective receding to a vanishing point--a form that mimicked the technique of mathematical linear perspective developed for the visual arts during the renaissance. These features combined into a form that appealed to middle class sensibility in 18th and 19th century Great Britain, and ensured the successful importation of the rowhouse to North America. [4]
Working class rowhouses circa 1915, 400 Block of Ilchester Ave, Baltimore, MD. Photo by author.
Philadelphia most readily adopted the form and intent of the English originals, and then later adapted this style to suit the tastes of the Federal period after the Revolutionary War. In Philadelphia today, the city displays some of the best preserved 18th and early 19th century rowhouses. [5]
From Philadelphia, the style was exported to Baltimore, the next closest city. Baltimore and Philadelphia became most strongly associated with the rowhouse during the 19th century, when this housing type became the predominant housing stock and took on distinctive features such as red brick and marble steps. [6]
During the 19th century, rowhouse construction continued to spread throughout American cities. In each city, the style changed slightly to conform to regional tastes and availability of materials. In New York, rowhouses covered in brown sandstone, colloquially known as “brownstones,” continued the same tradition. In Chicago, a form of limestone known as “greystone” was more frequently employed. By the 1870s, rowhouses reached San Francisco, where they can be seen today in the famous “painted ladies.” [7]
Still, the rowhouse remains most closely associated with Philadelphia and Baltimore, where it was adapted to suit all members of society from the working classes to the very wealthy. The predominance of the rowhouse was the direct cause for a high level of homeownership in these cities, compared to cities where tenements were more common. In the 19th century, rowhouse builders aggressively marketed their homes to a population anxious to speculate on the increasing value of land in these growing industrial cities.
Builders incentivized rowhouse purchases through creative financing mechanisms such as ground rents, building and loan associations, and developer-guaranteed secondary mortgages. By the end of the 19th century, the relatively low price of a rowhouse meant that a working class family could own their own home by mortgaging close to 100% of the purchase price, with little to no money down. While this lending practice sounds predatory by modern standards, the records show that foreclosures were surprisingly rare. [8]
Why were rowhouses so popular and so successful?
The genius of the rowhouse is three-fold:
1) The basic plan and structure of the rowhouse is so simple that it’s highly adaptable to changes in style and size. It can be adapted to suit different groups of people across time and socio-economic class. Designs were formed and reformed depending on the taste and wealth of the occupants.
2) The design is practical. It allows for a maximization of land use while maintaining the autonomy the occupants. Rowhouses are also physically durable. By shielding over 50% of the house’s outer walls with two other houses, the rowhouse design protects surfaces from exposure to weather, thus lengthening the lifespan of the building materials while reducing the maintenance requirements.
3) The rowhouse can serve as a building block for larger compositions and landscapes--achieving variety within constraints. The rowhouse achieves aesthetic harmony by building an overall horizontality through the repetition of vertical units. This is a useful tool for enhancing the visual appeal of streets, making cities more desirable places to live overall.
In the first decades of the twentieth century, the proliferation of new homes coupled with creative financing models resulted in an uptick in homeownership for middle and working class white families in Baltimore and other cities with large numbers of rowhouses. [9]
While the low cost of rowhouses at this time enabled many black Americans to achieve homeownership, they were at a tremendous disadvantage due to the proliferation of discriminatory housing policies such as redlining, restrictive deed covenants, and legislated segregation. The effect of Jim Crow laws on the shape of American cities is too long to relate here, but is tremendously important to understanding urban history. A well-researched account can be found in Antero Pietila’s book, Not in My Neighborhood. [10]
Rowhouses for the rich and poor
Journalist and essayist H.L. Mencken, was born, lived and died in a Baltimore rowhouse that he once called “as much a part of me as my own two hands.” [11] Mencken’s father purchased the house new in 1883, and his son lived there until his death in 1956. The Mencken family was rightfully proud of their elegant home overlooking Union Square park. In an interview for the Library of Congress in 1948, Mencken sternly corrected the interviewer when it was suggested that he lived in a two-story rowhouse. Mencken proudly pointed out that he had always lived in three-story rowhouse--an emblem of his father’s financial success. [12]
Former rowhome of H.L. Mencken at 1524 Hollins Street, Baltimore, MD. Photo courtesy of Baltimore Heritage
Mencken’s interview reveals that the number of stories on a rowhouse was its own cultural symbolic language that communicated the wealth and status of the occupants. It was a mark of success when a family could improve its station by moving from a two-story house into a three-story house. [13]
Rowhouse builders were able to tailor the design of rowhouses to denote different income levels. The structural design of a rowhouse easily allowed a builder to do this by adding or subtracting a story. By creating a literal tiered system of wealth through architectural symbolism, rowhouses enabled the working class to visualize a path up the socioeconomic ladder. Not only symbolic, the hierarchy of rowhouse design gave working class families the opportunity to build equity in a smaller asset before graduating to a larger one and improving their living conditions.
Late Romantic era rowhouses often assume extravagant and fanciful ornament such as this group of Picturesque style houses on the 2800 Block of St. Paul Street, Baltimore and built around 1905. Note the mismatch of elements such as Flemish gable roofs, Spanish tile, and Greek porticos. Photo by author.
The 19th century “starter home”--the most humble of rowhouses--were “alley houses,” so called because they were built along alleys. Beginning in the late 18th century, alley houses were constructed by developers who attempted to maximize profit by maximizing the number of houses they could fit within a block.
While large three-story houses were constructed along the main boulevards, the small alleys behind these streets were also utilized for two-story homes. The smaller size of these lots necessitated the construction of smaller houses, usually only eleven to twelve feet wide and two rooms deep. Available for half the price of a house on the main streets, alley houses provided an early form of affordable housing for working class immigrants and urban tradesmen, both black and white. Alley houses allowed these groups of people the dignity of owning their own home at a fraction of the cost of larger houses. [14]
Architectural historian Mary Ellen Hayward has done extensive research on the Baltimore alley house as both an architectural and sociological phenomenon. Her analysis has shown that, due to the close proximity between alley houses and larger rowhouses, early 19th century Baltimore neighborhoods were marked by a relatively high level of economic and racial diversity, especially compared to the makeup of Baltimore neighborhoods after Jim Crow. [15]
Many people today think that alley houses were only built for the domestic servants of the larger adjacent homes. In fact, most alley house occupants were skilled craftsmen and tended to group themselves by common industry rather than by other demographics. In a time before public transportation and cars, American cities were organized to allow for easy walking distances between home and work. It made sense that both boss and employee should live near their work, and therefore live near one another. In this way, rowhouses and alley houses built a city marked by geographic, if not social, integration of the classes. This pattern of urban living changed only with the advent of trolleys, when the wealthy could afford to commute and consequently removed themselves from older neighborhoods and the working class. [16]
Typical early 19th century alley houses in Fells Point, Baltimore. Earlier alley houses in the background are identified by the pitched roof and gabled dormer. After about 1830, the Italianate style cornice and flat roof, such as the house in the foreground, became more common. Photo by author.
The need to live near one’s work appears to have transcended racial as well as economic lines. From about 1780 to 1840, blocks of alley houses in Baltimore were racially diverse and provided affordable housing for Baltimore’s large population of free black workers prior to Emancipation. This was particularly true among maritime tradesmen who worked and lived in the shipbuilding district of Fells Point--the same neighborhood where Frederick Douglass worked as an enslaved ship’s caulker from about 1836 to 1838. Alley houses continued to be built throughout the 19th century; however, the 1909 Baltimore City Building Code outlawed the construction of alley houses, thereby ending the era of their construction and limiting the availability of this type of working class housing. [17]
Decline and Rebirth of the Rowhouse
Starting around 1915, the increasing popularity of suburban detached houses with yards and garages threatened the economic viability of the rowhouse design. In response, rowhouse builders instituted a new design known as the “daylight rowhouse,” which reconfigured the standard rowhouse floorplan of one room wide by three rooms deep.
By widening the typical house from eighteen feet to twenty three feet, the daylight rowhouse expanded the narrow front hall and placed it parallel to the front parlor and adjacent to the kitchen. This created a square floor plan two rooms wide and two rooms deep. The new design eliminated the poorly lit center rooms and allowed each room an equal distribution of natural light and ventilation. Skylights--strategically placed over the central hallways, stairs, and water closets--completed the effect. [18]
Although this new layout reduced the number of houses that a builder could fit on one block (and thus reduced profits), the main motivation for the improvement came from a desire to compete in the market with outer suburban developers.This strategy worked for a period, and daylight rowhouses were popular among the lower middle and working classes through the 1930s. Despite these efforts to keep up with current trends, however, the increasing popularity of the automobile continued to push urban dwellers further into the outer suburbs and all but halted new rowhouse construction by mid-century. [19]
Although new construction of rowhouses largely stopped after World War II, many people still found them to be functional--if not fashionable--places to live. A few modernist rowhouses were built such as this row of four houses designed by architect Harry Weese in the mid- 1970s, but these are the exception. [20]
Even though most middle and upper class Americans had dismissed rowhouses, the family that Jane Jacobs encountered in 1959 were pioneers in a small but growing number of middle class families willing to return to them. Eventually, city governments took notice of these people and incentivised “homesteading” programs in the 1970s and early 1980s as attempts at urban renewal. These policies, coupled with a newly created federal historic preservation policies, resulted in the rehabilitation of thousands of rowhouses. [21]
By the 1990s, urban populations began to rebound and new rowhouse construction picked up. This new generation of houses, termed “townhouses,” were built as much for their practical space utilization as for their livability. The urban planning theories of smart growth, new urbanism, and sustainable development continue to encourage the construction of townhouses as a means to reduce sprawl. A product of postmodernism, these new homes borrow the architectural language of 19th century rowhouses.
Today, new rowhouses and townhouses continue to be constructed while older historic rowhouses continue to be rehabbed. Their sturdy, practical design ensures that they will be an ongoing part of the urban landscape for the future. Ultimately, their appeal is the same today as it was two hundred years ago: We all want to live close to one another, just not too close.
About the Author:
Jackson Gilman-Forlini is a historic preservationist for the Baltimore City Department of General Services, where he coordinates the Historic Properties Program. He is a Masters candidate in Historic Preservation at Goucher College and can be reached at [email protected]
Notes
1. Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (New York: Random House, 1961) 284.
2. Marcus Binney, Town Houses: Urban Houses from 1200 to the Present Day (New York: Whitney Library of Design 1998) 15-63.
3. Natalie W. Shivers, Those Old Placid Rows: The Aesthetic Development of the Baltimore Rowhouse (Baltimore: Maclay and Associates, 1981) 6-8.
4. Ibid.
5. Binney, Town Houses, 86.
6. Shivers, Placid Rows, 8-9.
7. Binney, Town Houses, 106; 118-121.
8. Shivers, Placid Rows, 17; Mary Ellen Hayward and Charles Belfoure, The Baltimore Rowhouse (New York: Princeton Architectural Press 1999) 122-125.
9. Hayward and Belfoure, The Baltimore Rowhouse, 114.
10. Antero Pietila, Not In My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American City (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2010).
11. Qtd. “H.L. Mencken House,” Explore Baltimore Heritage, accessed July 22, 2017, https://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/items/show/12.
12. Arnold Jacobsen, and H. L Mencken. Interview with H. L. Mencken. [Unknown] Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afccal000006/. (Accessed July 22, 2017.)
13. Ibid.
14. Mary Ellen Hayward, “Baltimore’s Alley Houses: Homes for Working People Since the 1780s,” in From Mobtown to Charm City: New Perspectives on Baltimore’s Past, ed. Jessica Elfenbein, et. al. (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2002) 33-46.
15. Ibid.; See also: Mary Ellen Hayward, Baltimore’s Alley Houses: Homes for Working People Since the 1780s (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008).
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Hayward and Belfoure, The Baltimore Rowhouse, 138-141.
19. Ibid. 155-166; also: Shivers, Placid Rows, 38-39.
20. Binney, Town Houses, 144-145.
21. Hayward and Belfoure, The Baltimore Rowhouse, 176-180.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEW DARK LORD
Do you have any friends or family who have gone missing recently? Been feeling hostile eyes staring at you while alone frolicking in the woods?
Well, good news!
We here at The ‘Tater understand your fears and have come up with a handy-dandy list of everything you need to know to keep you and your loved ones safe(r) from the returned Dark Lord Morgoth!
(Oh, and all those symptoms? Definitely due to Morgoth’s interference. Not our fault, I promise!)
1. DO NOT GO ALONE AND UNARMED INTO THE WOODS
It’s Spring, the flowers are finally blooming now that the Sun is here, and birds are chirping in the woods. We get it. You want to frolic. So does your significant other or one night stand. But is getting a helping hand worth the eternity of pain and suffering you both will feel after Morgoth captures you? We think not.
2. IT’S NOT A KINSLAYING IF THEY’RE ORCS!
Look, we understand. “Orcs were once Elves!” “They didn’t have a choice!” “Maybe they aren’t fully corrupted!” “Aunty Mindi, is that you?” and so on and so on.
The question here is, do you think that the chance of you maybe being the one exception for redeeming an Orc* is comparable to the chances of you dying a horrible death or worse? No? Then stab those Orcs like there’s no tomorrow! Otherwise, for you, there won’t be.
3. TRUST YOUR NEW NOLDORIN NEIGHBORS
They have centuries of experience fighting with Morgoth! And if most of them happen to be over minor civic infractions, at least it’s better than ten thousand years of absence!
So go out, find your friendly neighborhood Feanorian warrior, and trust in them to guide you to a new and better tomorrow! It’s either them or the Orcs
4. DO NOT GO NORTH
We’re not saying you can never head in any direction that is vaguely North, just that you are more likely to run into Orc patrols or other assorted nastiness the further North you go. You’re better off leaving the Northern defence to your friendly new Noldorin neighbors!
Recruits can sign up at the fortress of Himring. Armor and survival not included.
5. SHUN STRANGERS
...or old friends suddenly showing up, or strange malformed humanoids claiming to be from the Southeast. You never know who has been influenced by the Dark Lord! Do not trust “escapees,” no matter how trustworthy or traumatized they seem, and definitely do take everything with a grain of salt!
(protip: if it’s ugly, it’s probably the Enemy!)
6. RESIST THE ENEMY
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you can’t help being captured, kidnapped, or otherwise inconvenienced. When that happens, you should do your best to defend your friends and family who are still free. Lie to your captors and sabotage their best efforts. If you can, pretend to be an Orc until you can escape. Definitely do warn the local populace about these unfriendly invaders encroaching upon their territory and make sure you have not been secretly suborned by the Dark Lord or his many minions.
And remember, an honorable death fighting against the Dark Lord’s hordes is a much preferable fate to the shame of living under his shriveled, burnt fist!
“I can guarantee that these are completely factual and useful pieces of advice,” local scientist and shapeshifting demigod Gorthaur the Cruel said when asked for comment. “The Dark Lord is never going to see through any of this, and neither are his Orcs. So definitely do follow this advice!”
Orcs, escapees, and the Dark Lord Morgoth were not asked for comment.
-
*It is not you, unless you’ve previously shown exemplary persuasive skills or the favor of the Valar.
[Mod’s Note: I must give especial thanks to @temporiludi for guest writing this article! So very thoughtful. :D]
So! Cat-people. Everyone’s favorite race to cringe at when the local self-proclaimed “otaku” brings them to the game table. And while they insist their character looks almost entirely human, save for the “kawaii” additions of cat ears and matching tail, most iterations of a feline-humanoid race are closer in appearance to their quadrupedal real-life counterparts than the ever popular cat-girl of Japanese anime. Today we’ll be exploring a race of cat folk introduced in The Isle of Dread module for AD&D, the Rakasta (NOT Rakshasa). At a glance, they resemble the Khajiit of The Elder Scrolls series. Upon further inspection however…no, yeah. They’re Khajiit. But stronger.
General:
“Rakasta are a race of intelligent, nomadic, catlike humanoids. They are a proud, barbaric race of warriors who, while not prone to initiating hostilities, quickly respond when provoked.”
First off, it may be a fun drinking game (if you’re of age) to take a shot every time the monster manual uses the term “barbaric” to describe an entire race of people.
On second thought, that would probably cause severe liver damage by the time you get to the letter C. So (cat)scratch that.
With that out of the way, it’s good to see some positive adjectives attributed to the Rakasta. Intelligent makes sense, since their stat block clocks them as Very intelligent, and the fact that they won’t attack unless provoked plays nicely into their Neutral alignment. It makes sense that they would be quick to defend themselves if they’re attacked; they probably deal with tons of bandits and highwaymen on their travels hoping to get at their belongings.
“Rakasta walk upright, much like humans, with an agile, feline grace. They have feline heads and are covered with soft, tawny fur. Most fur coloration ranges from light tan to dark brown.”
Well, I would hope that they’re at least a little agile. But anyone who has owned a cat before knows that the “feline grace” only activates for about 10 minutes a day. After it’s used up, all that’s left are crash landings and getting stuck in places nobody thought they could even get to. Also, only various shades of brown? What about black cats? Siamese? Stripes? Spots? I find it hard to believe the generic tabby cat dominates the Rakasta world.
“Rakasta have catlike eyes, most of which are brilliant green. A Rakasta has a nonprehensile tail 4 to 6 feet long.”
Wait, catlike? You’re telling me a race of anthropomorphic cat people have eyes that are only like a cat’s? How are they similar? How are they different? Does catlike mean they have thin vertical pupils that dilate into larger circles when they’re focused on something? Nowhere does it say they have any form of Darkvision, so that could be what separates them…but not giving them Darkvision seems rather counterproductive.
Nevertheless, a long nonprehensile tail makes perfect sense and I’d be miffed if they didn’t include them. Also, thank the Gods they’re not prehensile. I do not want monkey-cat-people. No thanks.
“Rakasta speak Common and their own language. Some of the more primitive Rakasta speak in a purring voice with many rolled r’s and hissed s’s.”
More…primitive. Great. If we’re considering that a synonym for “barbaric,” then take another shot.
Now, this implies that the standard Rakasta doesn’t speak with a purring voice, rolled r’s and hissed s’s. So, what, they sound like a run-of-the-mill adventurer with a vaguely British accent when speaking Common? I find that hard to believe, especially if their language (which is so conveniently not given a name) does involve rolled r’s and hissed s’s. Also, why the hell is that considered a primitive way of speaking? Dozens of real world languages roll their r’s in a variety of ways, and even English hisses some of its s’s in certain words (the double s at the end of success, for example). But, no. They’re a barbaric race. Their language is primitive. Ugh.
Combat:
“Rakasta are fierce fighters who neither ask for nor give any quarter. Eschewing normal weapons, Rakasta rely on their claws and bites. Since a Rakasta’s claws inflict only 1d2 points of damage, the creatures usually employ special metal war claws called kasas; worn on the paw like a glove, a kasa inflicts 1d4 points of damage on a successful attack.”
Alright, so if you’re dumb enough to attack a peaceful caravan of friendly cat people, you’re going to get ripped to shreds. I like that. They probably deal with expensive artifacts and high amounts of coin on the day-to-day, making them a prime target for the occasional (cat)burglar. And being a race of people who just want to be left alone? No wonder they show no mercy, and the fact that they ask for none in return shows just how badass these cats really are. However, 1d2 damage from a claw attack isn’t going to be dropping any highwaymen anytime soon. Their bark is probably worse than their bite, as it were.
It’s good that they included a way to augment their damage, though. The Kasas are a neat variation on the clawed-glove family of weaponry, and makes perfect sense for a culture that has favored their natural abilities over sword and shield. The jump from 1d2 to 1d4 isn’t much to celebrate, however, and really just adds an exotic curio for the standard adventuring party to loot once they’ve taken the caravan down.
“A Rakasta who strikes with both claws (or both kasas) in the same round can choose to rake with both rear claws. Rear claw attacks are rolled separately and cause 1d3 points of damage on a successful strike.”
Hold on. Rear claw attacks? Are you telling me these cat people can do a Kangaroo Jack-esque kick with their back legs in addition to their front claw attacks? Well that’s badass as all hell. These guys really are nimble fighters.
“Certain Rakasta ride saber-toothed tigers into battle.”
Sweet Jiminy Christmas.
[Mod’s Note: The use of domesticated Ice Age fauna is a quick and easy way to immediately gain my interest, as well.]
“These tiger riders, known as the Hatra, are considered the bravest and strongest of the Rakasta warriors, and only they can hold the respect of the saber-toothed tigers. Hatra have 3+1 Hit Dice, a minimum of 15 hit points, and +1 bonus to damage rolls.”
Okay, okay. This is what I like to see. Large and powerful warriors able to tame savage wildcats and mounting them to ride into battle. The Hatra seem like the perfect defense against anyone stupid enough to threaten a pride of Rakasta. Not only do you have to take down the saber-toothed tigers that they ride, but also the warriors that were able to tame the damn things. Which is just another reason why you shouldn’t do that. Seriously, leave these guys alone, for your own sake.
“The Hatra use special saddles that enable them to leap as far as 20 feet from their mounts and still attack in the same round. The saddles allow the Hatra to fight unhindered while mounted, using both hands for attacks yet still maintaining control of their saber-toothed mounts.”
Here’s some of that feline agility we were talking about earlier. So not only can they leap 20 feet towards you, but they can also strike you with their claws as they’re doing so. They incur no penalties while fighting mounted, and they don’t even need to keep one hand on the reigns. With skills like this, no wonder their unarmed claws only do 1d2. Any more and it would be completely impossible for a low-level adventuring party to handle. Which they shouldn’t. Because fighting these guys is a bad idea.
Habitat/Society:
“The nomadic Rakasta are organized into prides of 6d10 adult Rakasta plus an additional 25% of that number in noncombatant offspring. Each pride also has 1d12 saber-toothed tigers. When not on the move, each Rakasta pride sets up its own temporary settlements, composed of many colorful tens and pavilions.”
So that’s what, a maximum of 60 adults and 15 kittens, but only 12 of the adults would be Hatra? I guess the Hatra are just so dang powerful and intimidating that they can get away with not having an entire platoon of tiger-riders guarding every pride.
Also, I am always wary whenever there’s a statistic for noncombatant offspring. While on the one hand, it’s much more realistic that families would be travelling together, but on the other hand, it creates the awkward situation of “What do we do with the children now that we’ve just murdered every adult they have ever known or called family?” If the party’s decent folk, they wouldn’t have attacked the damn pride in the first place. That leaves the unsavory party to either slaughter the children in cold blood, leave them to die in the wilderness, or any other horrible act they could think of. Again, not cool.
[Mod’s Note: I mean, I guess the party could adopt them? But then again perhaps the people who just got done murdering their parents would not be the best parental replacements for these freshly orphaned kids...]
Moving on, it’s good to see that their lodgings aren’t small tents or pitiable sleeping bags, but actually representative of a thriving and artistic culture. It would almost be like a flea market to the uninitiated adventurer, with dozens of stalls to explore and hopefully find that one special thing that calls out to their coin purse.
“Rakasta possess excellent artisan skills. They typically own many bright rugs and silk tapestries of fine workmanship; artfully crafted bowls and drinking cups, and other items of value. These items are found in place of gems and jewelry in the treasure of a pride of Rakasta.”
So they don’t wear jewelry or gemstones? Interesting. I suppose they deal exclusively in coin and trade, then, which does make some sense. But no gemstones whatsoever? It’s bold choice. Would that imply their culture may not value gems of any kind, and decorating yourself with them is as silly as wearing a necklace made of pebbles you found outside your house?
“Each pride is led by a chief with at least 5+1 Hit Dice, a minimum of 24 hit points, and a +3 bonus to all damage rolls. The chief is always accompanied by six of the best Hatra and their saber-toothed mounts. The chief’s word is law, and is obeyed without question.”
So they have a chiefdom, which does make sense for the whole “pride of lions” sort of theme we’ve got going here. Typically, a chief is appointed via kinship, implying that a pride is either one large extended family, or made up of smaller families that decide upon whose elder holds the position every time a new chief is needed. But, looking at the chief’s statistics, if they’re so dang strong, why do they need 6 Hatra accompanying them? While an elite guard protecting the chief makes sense, that could potentially be half of all of the Hatra travelling with the pride. It seems that a pride values the wellbeing of its leader over the wellbeing of people, which is…kind of sad. But hey, if they’re a good chief, they’ll order their guards to protect the rest of the pride during a crisis situation.
“Each pride has a Rakasta cleric of 4 Hit Dice who casts spells as a 4th-level priest. More powerful clerics are rumored to exist, as well as Rakasta with wizard abilities, perhaps as high as 7th level.”
Ohh, okay, so now we’re getting into magic. Up until now there’s been no mention of magic users in Rakasta culture, but it seems that a divine caster is present in every pride, no matter how small. Probably serves as the pride’s medical expert, as well as the link between the pride and their hereby still unnamed deities. The fact that more powerful casters are merely rumors implies that they either don’t exist, or the Rakasta don’t want outsiders knowing the upper limits of their magical capabilities. Perhaps they even use this as a tool of control? Keeping their magic users in the shadows so that they can call upon them when the chief needs something to get done…discreetly. Secret magical cat folk hitmen anyone?
“The Hatra, as the finest warriors in a pride, enjoy a special place in Rakasta society. Hatra are held in high honor, since this culture values combat prowess over all else. Rakasta also value their code of conduct, known as the Sri’raka. This code dictates a warrior’s behavior. Among the most noteworthy tenets:”
Good! So it’s been implied up until this point, but now we have confirmation that they’re a strength-based society. To that, it makes perfect sense that the chief is the most physically adept member of the pride, and perhaps hasn’t gained the title through age and wisdom, but instead earned the title themselves through proving their strength to the pride. It’s probably the case that every chief was at one point a Hatra themselves, as it has been stated that they are the strongest members of a pride, strong enough to tame and mount vicious saber-toothed tigers. Also, I’m excited to see what code these brutal tiger-riders hold themselves to.
Let’s take a look!
“No challenge to fight is ever refused.”
Hmm. So once a pride has been attacked, they have no choice but to engage in combat? That makes sense. But does it carry over into internal affairs? Like is someone wanted to challenge the chief for leadership of the pride. Of course, the chief’s word is law, but it’s likely they gained their position by issuing the a similar challenge to the chief before them? By their own rules, they would be forced to battle for the crown. Ultimately, it seems to be a matter of pride. Heh.
“Wounded are never left behind; carry them or kill them.”
Or kill them? Geeze, that’s harsh. I hope they get a say in whether or not they’re carried home or straight up killed. But I guess this is also so they can’t be taken prisoner, which can’t be a good thing in Rakasta society…
“Better to die in battle than in one’s sleep.”
Ah, here we go. That good ol’ “proper death” dealeo. A true warrior would want to go out in the most honorable way possible, which turns out to be struck down in combat. Come to think of it, that’s probably the way any challenge issued against the current chief ends. Either the challenger is killed, showing they weren’t the strongest and therefore didn’t deserve the chiefdom, or the old chief is killed, granting them an honorable death at the hand of the strongest member of the pride. Brutal.
“Give no mercy; never expect it.”
This was mentioned before, and from what we’ve read so far it’s pretty consistent. Go hard, or die trying.
“Retreat is permissible only in order to regroup. A new attack must be launched against the other force within two sunrises.”
Interesting. So this goes back to the 2nd tenet. During a tactical retreat, it may not be possible to gather up any injured, so it’s much easier to strike them down on the way out. At least they have two days to go back in for a second strike, but something tells me that if they weren’t successful the first time around, they’ll probably be just as unlucky on the second assault.
[Mod’s Note: I wonder how many chieftains have used “We’re not retreating, we’re ‘advancing in a different direction’” as a face-saving semantic device...]
“Never surrender. Those who would exist as prisoners are not Rakasta.”
Oh wow, I was right! A Rakasta whose been captured is disowned from its entire race…I can’t imagine how bad that would be for the sorry sap who got left behind and wasn’t killed for some reason. They’d probably deal with a major identify crisis and off themselves at the first chance they get. The honorable thing for a dishonored warrior to do is to finish the job themselves. Quite the tragedy.
Well that was a bundle of joy to read about. I don’t imagine the other tenets are any more uplifting.
Ecology:
“The Rakasta make reliable trading partners when attention can be turned from battles. Rakasta are excellent hunters, and they keep the game herds from overpopulating.”
Well that’s not very much information. But I suppose it’s better than nothing…
Again, I’m digging the positive adjectives used to describe these guys. They’re reliable trading partners, which makes plenty of sense, but if they’re non-aggressors, why does their attention have to be turned away from battles in order to trade? I feel like this line is just another reminder that they’re “barbaric” and prone to violence, even if that sentiment was contradicted at the very beginning of their description. Being a society that values strength and merit doesn’t make an entire culture primitive or less-than-civilized. The Romans considered themselves to be the greatest culture to ever exist, and they were some of the most brutal people to ever walk the earth! But they still had literature, art, architecture, complex social ties and reverence for their Gods. I guarantee even the most hot-headed Rakasta is going to value economy over violence.
Also, they’re great hunters. Who would’ve guessed the cat people were good at hunting? But since they’ve eschewed traditional weaponry, do they hunt with their kasas? Do they stalk their prey on all fours and go for a full on sprint, only to strike at its neck and eviscerate its stomach with their back paws?
…that’s intense and makes them even more terrifying to deal with.
Again, who thinks it’s a good idea to fight these guys? At first I felt bad for them, being the under(cat)dog and getting the short end of the stick. But now I just feel sorry for any poor bloke who gets on their bad side.
Related Species:
So there are several subspecies of Rakasta, though they weren’t included in their original publication. Dragon magazine, Issue #247 instead gave a whole exposé about the Rakasta and their complicated culture and relationships among different prides. You can find it floating around the internet somewhere, which will go much more in depth than I’m going to go here. But for the sake of giving the whole picture, I’ll talk about a few noteworthy subspecies here:
Caracasta: Pariahs of Rakasta society, as they have adopted the usage of bows and arrows from the local human populations. As such, they’re looked down on by other Rakasta. They have large ears with black tufts of hair at the tips.
Cloud Pardasta: Arboreal Rakasta with innate magical abilities. They’re covered in leopard like spots and are especially proficient in leaping from treetop to treetop.
Simbasta: Essentially, lion Rakasta. They’re very proud and are the only Rakasta able of becoming Paladins. Also, insert The Lion King joke about Simba here.
[Mod’s Note: HAHAHA I TOTALLY WANT LION-PALADIN-PEOPLE IN MY CAMPAIGN SETTING NOW. Even/especially if that would foster an endless amount of Thundercats references.]
Overall:
I feel like the Rakasta suffer from the same thing nearly every beast folk/monstrous humanoid race suffers from: they’re cast in a light that wants to simultaneously make them more like the other core races in terms of culture, but also keep them in the Monster Manual as something to kill and pillage the corpses of. But they’re not as bad as they could’ve been. Their culture is really interesting, albeit at some points contradictory, but I feel like that could be played up. They’re kind enough folk if you want to trade or make friends, but the moment you turn on them they strike you down hard. A culture that values strength is not inherently barbaric, and I wish that could be emphasized by exploring their religion or the significance behind the tapestries that they create. On the plus side, there was no gendered language used when talking about the Hatra or the chief, so that makes me believe that it is a very egalitarian society, which is good! Show me some badass tiger-riding female warriors that, on their down time, weave beautiful blankets and adorn their saddles with culturally significant beadwork. You can do better in your setting. Give the Rakasta the attention and care that they deserve.
…you know, I’m glad that at no point was I given the opportunity to make a single skooma joke. Good job, AD&D.
Color: Milky white, colorless (sometimes water clear!)
Hardness: HARD (7)
Crystal system: Hexagonal
Occurrence: common
Health risks: None
Wow factors:
- Quartz crystals from this locality are almost always long, perfectly formed, and grow in delicate clusters that are pleasing to look at.
- Almost always grow alongside sphalerite and pyrite which can also be quite beautiful!
Care tips:
- Specimens are often very fragile! Handle with care.
- While quartz can be washed with water, pyrite cannot because it can rust. Clean with bulb blower only. Compressed air may dislodge smaller crystals.
- Some specimens feature quartz crystals that are finer than a human hair! Great care must be taken with these specimens.
Locality of these pieces: Huaron, Peru.
Price range: Pieces are common and very affordable! You can find a very nice specimen for under $50 in most cases. Larger specimens with a great aesthetic display may cost more as expected.
