Gothic Earth Artifacts

[Jasper]

The Hammer of John Henry

Some say he's from Georgia,
Some say he's from Alabam,
But it's wrote on the rock at the Big Ben Tunnel,
That he's an East Virginia Man,
That he's an East Virginia man.

John Henry was a steel drivin' man,
He died with a hammah in his han',
Oh, come along boys and line the track
For John Henry ain't never comin' back,
For John Henry ain't never comin' back.
...
John Henry told the cap'n,
When you go to town,
Buy me a ten pound hammah
An' I'll drive this steel drill down,
An' I'll drive this steel drill down.

Cap'n said to John Henry,
You've got a willin' mind.
But you just well lay yoh hammah down,
You'll nevah beat this drill of mine,
You'll nevah beat this drill of mine.
...


John Henry was born the only son of two freed slaves in the summer of 1840. A large and strong boy he found quick work as a hammer man for the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad as they blasted thier way through the Apliatchan mountains to create the Big Bend tunnel in WV. The job was dirty and dangerous but the pay was good and it was one of the only jobs the newly free black polulation could find. John proved to be the best of the best with his toned mussles and ten pound hammer. With a single swing he could chip away two inches of rock from the mountain.
He and his crew were making good time on the dig untill the Boss called them all to his office. He had purchased a new steam powered drill and as it did the work of ten men he would no longer need any of them. Knowing that his men wounld never find as good a work as this John chalenged the boss, if he could chip his way all the way through the remaing mountain the boss was to scrap the drill and let his men keep thier jobs.
And so the challenge comenced. For many hours John and the drill kept up chip to chip utill it seemed John was growing too tired to continue. But in a burst of energy John let a final blow that opened a hole to the otherdie, mere inxhes in front of the drill. Stranding before the cheering crowd John smiled and cluched his cheast as his overworked heart bust. They burried his body and his hammer on the mountain overlooking the tunnel....
_________________________________________________________________


The hammer of John Henry is now embued with all the rage and energy that allowed John to win as well as his hatred of the mechanical device that was his opponant.

Anyone holding the hammer gains +3 to Str and Con as well as the ability to enter a state resembling a barbarian rage. If the User faces a mechanical oposition of any sort (be it a electronicly bared door or a Mechanical Golem) the bonus raises to +5 str and con but the hammer forces the user to enter into the rage untill all mechanical devices in the area are destroyed.

[Lady Ligeia]

Nice one!

[Olly]

How about Jumanji, the enchanted board game from the film (and awful, awful, awful spin-off cartoon series) of the same name?

That would be quite fun to have in a Masque game. The idea of a stampede of rampaging elephants and rhinoceros charging down London's cobbled streets is a strangely appealing one....