need a bunch of monster-related poetry, stat - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

need a bunch of monster-related poetry, stat

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Omnirahk_half-Rahkshi
Jan 29, 2011 15:13:31
Yes, for a character. Surprisingly, not for a bard. Though Bardman was thrown out there as an idea. The gist of it is that I'm going to be playing Mutants and Masterminds soon, and I'll be playing Mr. Muse, a hero with super-powered poetry. If he quotes a little bit of Beowulf, he turns in Grendel. If he recites a poem about St. George and the dragon, he becomes a dragon. And Lord have mercy on us all if he ever recites "That is not dead which can eternal lie, and in strange aeons, even death may die." So I'm looking for a few sample poems I could have on hand for his transformations. Here's what I'm looking at:

- some excerpt from Beowulf for Grendel as his bruiser form.
- a haiku to become the nue for a stealth form. Nue's a bit of an obscure one, but it's a Japanese monster, head of baboon, body of a racoon dog, legs of a tiger, and snake for a tail. It brings misfortune wherever it goes, can fly without wings, and shroud itself in shadow. A samurai slew it by attacking the darkness. Yes, that old trope is actually centuries older and began in Japan.
- manticore for some ranged combat
- a few more more monsters. I'm open to suggestions. Moreover, I'm looking at other roles I could play. Probably something smaller if need arises. Something that can regenerate. Something that can swim. I need to stick to mythological creatures and stay away from cryptozoology (I want in in-game joke that I can't become Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster because they're real). I'm sadly not a poet, so I can't really do much on my own. But if forced to try, here's a non-haiku about the nue:

For lo, on high did behold the samurai
Not a form, but absence of form.
Like a blot of ink across the night sky.
It held constant above the palace,
Never passing like a cloud,
Never fading like a mist.
Knowing this was the source of the emperor's ill,
And no longer wondering at failure of the doctor's pill,
The samurai drew his bow and fired a shot
And with a cry, a corpse fell out.
Head of baboon, body of coon-dog,
Leg of tiger, tail of snake,
Voice of crane, and luck most dire -
This is the monster, by name the Nue.

... Let's leave poetry to the poets, eh?
#2
magniloquent
Jan 29, 2011 17:51:00 Uh, the first thought that came to mind was the Jabberwocky.

You could do a line or two from Back Sabbath's Iron Man to become a steel golum. Ya know like, "he was turned to steel in the great magnetic field, when he traveled time for the future of mankind."

Or if you wanted to go for a more silly approach, you could recite the Santy Claws description given by jack skellington in nightmare before christmas and become a scary santa beast.

#3
thomasjtheobald
Feb 02, 2011 7:14:58 There once was a goblin named Urble
Whose gut used to warble and gurgle
His dash to evacuate
Was just a bit too late
And now all know him as Turdle

T
#4
ravebomb
Feb 02, 2011 14:35:19 What about the FLIGHT OF THE SKAJAQUADA from the band Green Jello?
When clouds of iron gather nigh, blackening the winter sky,
Storms gather fury from the lake, best hurry home and refuge take,
For soon the worst will come to pass, and ice will turn your routes to glass,
While in the north the beast awakens, from his year long slumber taken,
His howl the fury of the gales, with deadly curves that rarely fail,
To send your autos into flight, through blizzard's curtain blinding white,
See driving skills you lack with the, FLIGHT OF THE SKAJAQUADA

#5
Pippa
Feb 03, 2011 3:08:28 "Split your lungs with blood and thunder
when you see the white whale!
Break your backs
and crack your oars, men
if you wish to prevail!"

- I thought it was from Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick', but looking up the exact words I'm now not so sure. It could just be lyrics from a song by Mastodon, about said whale. Don't know if it counts as mythological, but Moby Dick is called Leviathan on occasion in the book, IIRC.

Something regenerating then:

"Even a man who is pure at heart
and says his prayers every night
may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
and the autumn moon is bright"

- From the 1941 movie, the Wolf Man.
#6
Omnirahk_half-Rahkshi
Feb 03, 2011 13:41:02 Thanks everyone for the feedback so far. I've never heard of the Skajaquada, so I'll have to look it up. FYI, creating stats for each superhero form is getting to be rather hectic, so here's the ones I've used so far:

- Grendel from Beowulf. I've been saying "Grendel ben eir" a true mangling of German (Old English is English before the 60% Latin came in. Utterly unrecognizable as English).
- a dragon. Not clear which myth (if any) I'm invoking
- the hoop snake. Utterly lame mythological creature, but in game it's like crossing The Flash with The Juggernaut. Lots of fun to play.
- I've got stats for the manticore almost finished. Currently the only form with ranged capabilities, and none of the fellow players are useful at range. It's this guy or everyone chucking cars.
- the nue. Technically I haven't transformed into it yet or made stats, but I was introduced while giving a lecture on the myth, and my nemesis channeled the samurai who slew it. If for nothing else than plot, I've gotta do the nue.

FYI Thomas, goblin is a little less useful, if only because I'm mainly channeling the big monsters from real-world myths. Sure, goblin's a real world myth too. But they're a boogeyman - too many different ideas of what they are. Still, thanks for the thought.

- Omni
#7
Centauri
Feb 04, 2011 18:38:34 William Allingham. 1824–1889

769. The Fairies

UP the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather!

Down along the rocky shore
Some make their home,
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.

High on the hill-top
The old King sits;
He is now so old and gray
He's nigh lost his wits.
With a bridge of white mist
Columbkill he crosses,
On his stately journeys
From Slieveleague to Rosses;
Or going up with music
On cold starry nights
To sup with the Queen
Of the gay Northern Lights.

They stole little Bridget
For seven years long;
When she came down again
Her friends were all gone.
They took her lightly back,
Between the night and morrow,
They thought that she was fast asleep,
But she was dead with sorrow.
They have kept her ever since
Deep within the lake,
On a bed of flag-leaves,
Watching till she wake.

By the craggy hill-side,
Through the mosses bare,
They have planted thorn-trees
For pleasure here and there.
If any man so daring
As dig them up in spite,
He shall find their sharpest thorns
In his bed at night.

Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather!

The first for lines were quoted in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Omnirahk_half-Rahkshi Jan 29, 2011 15:13:31	Yes, for a character. Surprisingly, not for a bard. Though Bardman was thrown out there as an idea. The gist of it is that I'm going to be playing Mutants and Masterminds soon, and I'll be playing Mr. Muse, a hero with super-powered poetry. If he quotes a little bit of Beowulf, he turns in Grendel. If he recites a poem about St. George and the dragon, he becomes a dragon. And Lord have mercy on us all if he ever recites "That is not dead which can eternal lie, and in strange aeons, even death may die." So I'm looking for a few sample poems I could have on hand for his transformations. Here's what I'm looking at: - some excerpt from Beowulf for Grendel as his bruiser form. - a haiku to become the nue for a stealth form. Nue's a bit of an obscure one, but it's a Japanese monster, head of baboon, body of a racoon dog, legs of a tiger, and snake for a tail. It brings misfortune wherever it goes, can fly without wings, and shroud itself in shadow. A samurai slew it by attacking the darkness. Yes, that old trope is actually centuries older and began in Japan. - manticore for some ranged combat - a few more more monsters. I'm open to suggestions. Moreover, I'm looking at other roles I could play. Probably something smaller if need arises. Something that can regenerate. Something that can swim. I need to stick to mythological creatures and stay away from cryptozoology (I want in in-game joke that I can't become Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster because they're real). I'm sadly not a poet, so I can't really do much on my own. But if forced to try, here's a non-haiku about the nue: For lo, on high did behold the samurai Not a form, but absence of form. Like a blot of ink across the night sky. It held constant above the palace, Never passing like a cloud, Never fading like a mist. Knowing this was the source of the emperor's ill, And no longer wondering at failure of the doctor's pill, The samurai drew his bow and fired a shot And with a cry, a corpse fell out. Head of baboon, body of coon-dog, Leg of tiger, tail of snake, Voice of crane, and luck most dire - This is the monster, by name the Nue. ... Let's leave poetry to the poets, eh?
#2 magniloquent Jan 29, 2011 17:51:00	Uh, the first thought that came to mind was the Jabberwocky. You could do a line or two from Back Sabbath's Iron Man to become a steel golum. Ya know like, "he was turned to steel in the great magnetic field, when he traveled time for the future of mankind." Or if you wanted to go for a more silly approach, you could recite the Santy Claws description given by jack skellington in nightmare before christmas and become a scary santa beast.
#3 thomasjtheobald Feb 02, 2011 7:14:58	There once was a goblin named Urble Whose gut used to warble and gurgle His dash to evacuate Was just a bit too late And now all know him as Turdle T
#4 ravebomb Feb 02, 2011 14:35:19	What about the FLIGHT OF THE SKAJAQUADA from the band Green Jello? When clouds of iron gather nigh, blackening the winter sky, Storms gather fury from the lake, best hurry home and refuge take, For soon the worst will come to pass, and ice will turn your routes to glass, While in the north the beast awakens, from his year long slumber taken, His howl the fury of the gales, with deadly curves that rarely fail, To send your autos into flight, through blizzard's curtain blinding white, See driving skills you lack with the, FLIGHT OF THE SKAJAQUADA
#5 Pippa Feb 03, 2011 3:08:28	"Split your lungs with blood and thunder when you see the white whale! Break your backs and crack your oars, men if you wish to prevail!" - I thought it was from Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick', but looking up the exact words I'm now not so sure. It could just be lyrics from a song by Mastodon, about said whale. Don't know if it counts as mythological, but Moby Dick is called Leviathan on occasion in the book, IIRC. Something regenerating then: "Even a man who is pure at heart and says his prayers every night may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright" - From the 1941 movie, the Wolf Man.
#6 Omnirahk_half-Rahkshi Feb 03, 2011 13:41:02	Thanks everyone for the feedback so far. I've never heard of the Skajaquada, so I'll have to look it up. FYI, creating stats for each superhero form is getting to be rather hectic, so here's the ones I've used so far: - Grendel from Beowulf. I've been saying "Grendel ben eir" a true mangling of German (Old English is English before the 60% Latin came in. Utterly unrecognizable as English). - a dragon. Not clear which myth (if any) I'm invoking - the hoop snake. Utterly lame mythological creature, but in game it's like crossing The Flash with The Juggernaut. Lots of fun to play. - I've got stats for the manticore almost finished. Currently the only form with ranged capabilities, and none of the fellow players are useful at range. It's this guy or everyone chucking cars. - the nue. Technically I haven't transformed into it yet or made stats, but I was introduced while giving a lecture on the myth, and my nemesis channeled the samurai who slew it. If for nothing else than plot, I've gotta do the nue. FYI Thomas, goblin is a little less useful, if only because I'm mainly channeling the big monsters from real-world myths. Sure, goblin's a real world myth too. But they're a boogeyman - too many different ideas of what they are. Still, thanks for the thought. - Omni
#7 Centauri Feb 04, 2011 18:38:34	William Allingham. 1824–1889 769. The Fairies UP the airy mountain, Down the rushy glen, We daren't go a-hunting For fear of little men; Wee folk, good folk, Trooping all together; Green jacket, red cap, And white owl's feather! Down along the rocky shore Some make their home, They live on crispy pancakes Of yellow tide-foam; Some in the reeds Of the black mountain lake, With frogs for their watch-dogs, All night awake. High on the hill-top The old King sits; He is now so old and gray He's nigh lost his wits. With a bridge of white mist Columbkill he crosses, On his stately journeys From Slieveleague to Rosses; Or going up with music On cold starry nights To sup with the Queen Of the gay Northern Lights. They stole little Bridget For seven years long; When she came down again Her friends were all gone. They took her lightly back, Between the night and morrow, They thought that she was fast asleep, But she was dead with sorrow. They have kept her ever since Deep within the lake, On a bed of flag-leaves, Watching till she wake. By the craggy hill-side, Through the mosses bare, They have planted thorn-trees For pleasure here and there. If any man so daring As dig them up in spite, He shall find their sharpest thorns In his bed at night. Up the airy mountain, Down the rushy glen, We daren't go a-hunting For fear of little men; Wee folk, good folk, Trooping all together; Green jacket, red cap, And white owl's feather! The first for lines were quoted in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.