History, Mythology, Art and RPGs

[Jack7]

Another superb set of entries Gall. By far the best and most eclectic historical and research thread on this site (and on many other sites on the internet as well).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A more modern bit of video- a recent Greco-Roman wrestling match, featuring the rarely performed "flying squirrel"...don't know if it has historical precedent, but it IS hysterical!

Video: Greco-Roman wrestler’s insane ‘flying squirrel’ takedown - Fourth-Place Medal - OlympicsBlog - Yahoo! Sports

I'd love to see a grappler do something like that in a fantasy movie, TV show, or FRPG.

 

[Galloglaich]

That is awesome. I think you might see a few similar moves in that last Polish ringen / fencing tournament video I posted, but nothing quite that spectacular!

G.

 

[Galloglaich]

Traditional Medieval Florentine Football...


If modern football was more like this Medieval Florentine equivalent, I think I'd be more into it.

Calcio Storico Fiorentino on Vimeo

 

[El Mahdi]

I'm betting that a Nike endorsement back then would have been absolutely divine...

 

[Galloglaich]

Hahaha considering at least 3 successive Popes apparently played this game in the 16th Century that may not have been necessary...

G.

 

[Galloglaich]

Steampunk fans who like the Middle Ages never fear, found another cool Medieval Robot. An automata called the "Complementaurious", which was clad in a suit of armor and used to greet people with a complex series of movements in the entrance to the Merchants Guild Hall in Bremen, on of the most interesting of the Hanseatic cities.

This is the robot itself

Here is an article about it on French Wikipedia (for those who can read French)
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automate_mécanique


And this is his armor

16th century Maximilian armour now exhibited in the Focke-Museum, the museum for art and cultural history of the state of Bremen. The armour belonged to the Complimentarius, a mechanical greeting-automaton that was installed from the early 17th to th

It's not hard to imagine how such a device could be made to cause trouble for Adventurers, particularly low level adventurers or in a low-magic campaign. Especially since we know of at least one Arab inventor from as early as the 12th Century who made programmable automata / robots (to play music). Detailed plans for which survived in a book he wrote.

G.

 

[Jack7]

Personally I adore examples of Ancient and Medieval ingenuity and innovation. I've never seen this robot before. Thanks for the post.

 

[Galloglaich]

Who built the Goblin holes and why?

This is really cool

Hideouts or Sacred Spaces? Experts Baffled by Mysterious Underground Chambers - ABC News

Some more on this.

Never Yet Melted Erdstall

Tell me this doesn't scream adventure hook?

This one could be a dungeon map

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ll_grundriss.jpg/666px-Erdstall_grundriss.jpg

G

 

[Galloglaich]

A video, in German

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__HLt5ssH9M]Erdställe werden in Nittenau vorgestellt - YouTube[/ame]