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Friday, March 20, 2026
Thursday, March 19, 2026
🔰(Georic Gazetteer) Principality of Phennantia
The Principality of Phennantia
The Principality of Phennatia is a fiercely independent island domain, renowned for its naval power, labyrinthine cities, and a unique blend of human, elven, and minotaur cultures. This island has been called a vassal to almost every culture in the Mer Med: Barthey, Danaan, Khemmet, and even Lybboss, and the culture is mixed, but the true roots currently return to Xellnic culture. With recent decline in Barthey influence, Phennantia shed all semblance of their relationship with Barthey two generations ago, asserting its autonomy, forging its own destiny as a hub of trade, magic, and seafaring might across the sea. With towering white cliffs, sprawling olive groves, and legendary ruins, Phennantia is a land of both natural splendor and deep historical mystery.
The Council of Elders, composed of influential merchants, sea captains, and mages, serves as an advisory body to the prince, ensuring that power is not held too tightly by one ruler. While the monarchy is respected, Phennantia prides itself on its political pragmatism, allowing for shrewd maneuvering in the ever-changing tides within the region.
Cretans take pride in their seafaring traditions, martial prowess, and independence. Many young men and women train in naval combat and spear-fighting, while others dedicate themselves to the mystic arts, particularly magic tied to water, wind, and the stars.
Minotaurs, though once seen as mere labyrinth guardians and warriors, have become integral to Cretan society, serving as elite palace guards, shipbuilders, and even advisors to the prince. Their long oral traditions have merged with human and elven influences, creating a rich storytelling culture. Yes, there is good chance you will encounter a singing or dramatic Minoatuar on the island.
Phennantian festivals celebrate the sea gods, particularly Poseidon, with grand naval games, feasts, and sailing competitions. The greatest of these is the Tideborn Festival, where the prince himself leads a fleet in ceremonial voyages to the island’s sacred grottoes.
Geography & Major Cities
Heraklion (Capital) – A bustling port city, Heraklion is Phennantia's beating heart, filled with white-washed houses, winding stone streets, and towering bronze statues of Cretan heroes. Its great harbor, protected by enchanted sea walls, serves as a gateway between East and West.
Knossos – Once an ancient elven and minotaur stronghold, Knossos is now an eerie mix of crumbling temples, deep underground tunnels, and arcane ruins where scholars and adventurers seek lost knowledge. The legendary Labyrinth of Daedalus lies beneath the city, still said to be haunted by forgotten creatures.
Cannan – A city of merchants and sailors, Chania is famous for its shipwrights, pirate lords, and hidden coves where smugglers conduct secretive dealings. Many believe that the city harbors agents from every major power, making it a hub of espionage and intrigue.
Notable Locations & Attractions
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
(Review) Alchemist's Cove Comics and Games, Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania
I have the pleasure of taking back to back trips up to Albany to see the girls for the remainder of the month, so it was fitting and expected to run down to check on my mom, grab some lunch with her and run some errands, and leave by 3pm. After a quick trip to Hobby Lobby, detailed on Sunday's post, I decided to go back to Wilkes-Barre the roundabout way to finally see the new location for Alchemist's Cove Comics and Games
Four years ago I stopped by and reviewed their original Schuylkill Haven location. I enjoyed the store, it was a great in-town location, and tons of positive thoughts (and the ever-elusive 5-out-of-5 gnome rating).
Since then, they left their Schuylkill Haven location and physically BUILT their new location on PA 61 in the great Orwigsville metropolitan area (Those of you who know the Hamburg area, it's a few miles north of Cabella's.)
New Location: I knew they had built their own structure, across the highway from a red brick church, I follow them on social media and have seen pictures. of the inside and outside.
I still gasped and giggled a little as I saw it coming up on the left hand side. I also had a grin of astonished glee as I realized the sizable but still packed parking lot was dedicated solely to the store.
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| Rows and rows of parking dedicated to comics and games... |
Let's get my two pet peeves out of the way.
Greeting: This has been a problem, as I've expanded my store reviews. It was NOT a problem here. It was quick, friendly, and they had a crowd around the display cases, so I was delighted with that.
Miniatures: Classic GW assortment (with fully stock paint rack and overpriced spray paint/primer. Much impressed!), some Mantic (Kings of War/Armada), a section for Battletech (and a whole lotta Savannah Masters!) and a dominant selection of Warlord that rivals vendors at an HMGS convention. some game stores with a "historical" interest. They even covered the lesser lines from Bolt Action, including Gettysburg, Black Sails, and Konflict-47.
Throw in a boatload of the D&D/Wizkids minis in blisters and sets, and fun display of no frills fantasy figures from Wildspire minis, and a decent line of Heroscape they should cover most folks' wants.
Amenities: The entire second floor is dedicated to event and open gaming, complete with a command center at the top of the steps for management of tournament evens. It is spacious, it looks comfy, and it was probably responsible for 2/3 of the vehicles in the parking. It is an event destination for sure.
The first thing that I noticed when I walked in was the kid's area. A section dedicated for the little ones with activities to keep kids occupied as long as they want to be occupied. It's an interesting choice, but has probably paid for itself already. In my short time there, I saw it used twice, with kids running to the area and letting mom and/or dad get at least five minutes of peace to look around (... and both families purchased stuff.)Comics: They are a full service comic shop, with the one entire long wall dedicated to it, including back issues, a pull service, and a hefty library of graphic novels.
Events: With the space upstairs, there's more than enough room for CCGs pre-releases, regular tourney and Commander leagues, plus not only Heroscape and D&D Adventurer's Guild material (including 16 and under events!), but board game nights, and even a painting session in the next month.
Staff: It seemed well-staff, with one person overseeing the upstairs gaming area and three on the sales floor, although they just couldn't break up/check out/ shuffle through the multiple players and some families crowding the case. Twice I went back to wandering around the store instead of checking out because I couldn't figure out if there was a line and who was doing what. When I did finally check out on attempt number three, they all seemed like good dudes.
I picked up a Wildspire Fantasy minis pack of housecats, plus my first major buy of the year, the TMNT Redux GM Screen (review pending).
I was little disappointed when a small town store moves out, but these folks have built their dream location for Central Pennsylvania, On the Gaming with the Gnomies 5-Gnome rating system, I give them their second score of five out of five gnomes!
I was pondering giving 4.5 out of 5 gnomes, for a few minor issues, but the old location got a perfect score, and this was a huge upgrade from an already successful operation.
Alchemist's Cove is located at 1284 Centre Turnpike, Orwigsburg, PA 17961 (PA 61). Easy access to get in, with a Pennsylvania take on a Jersey jughandle to get back onto PA 61 North to continue my way home.
You can check them out on their website (which has pictures of the old shop) and on Facebook.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
(Gamma World) Not a Test #108 - Lair of the Spider-Man
The De Facto Explorers have found a tribe of Hoppers, right next to an underground facility in the Glow Zone wilderness across the Big River. They've entered an area that was once a mine. An area populated by hostile bestial primitives.
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Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend. He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters. Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does. Looking for trouble in all the right places. The two-time champion of the Fair-Town Queen's Joust. Recently married Thunnelda Haycock.
Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout. Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers. Apparently addicted to his newly uncovered yellow powder found at "The Pool House"
Sonny Helianthus: a nearly 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with four arms, and trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable, but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades.
Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble in all the wrong places, and finding it often. He has been subject to genetic testing and developed super-human strength, a more human body, and a thick coat of shaggy white hair. Recently gave birth to a pile of baby worms.
Luna of the Restorationists: Recent recruit of the Restorationists, who had uncovered artifacts across the River.
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The Explorers had uncovered a huge facility full of living metal that once made energy cells, but a deranged spider mutant had emerged out of a hole in the ground and had paralyzed Lathar with its webbing.
The rest of the the group tried to scurry into position, Sonny even managed to get a shot off before being paralyzed himself.The creature seemed to turn to dust. The webbing still remained, and it took awhile for Sonny and Lathar to move again, but everyone was still in one piece, even if Lathar's chest had a burn circle on it from where the webbing struck.
The focus turned to the large crack in the ground that the spider-thing emerged from. They tied a rope around Pete's waist and lowered him down. The combined team of Lathar and Luna holding the rope made his descent a bit herky-jerky, but with flintlocks in each hand, he scanned the area.
The rock cavern below was covered with webbing, but the weasel gingerly moved around. He found a metal box with the White Hand symbol, partially filled with a number of vials. He also found and incredibly large power cell, almost two foot long, the clear center with a glowing amber substance.
The light from this power cell was enough to see the Troglodytes trying to grab him!
The weasel eluded the three troglodytes's grasp, scurrying up the rope, still holding the energy cell. Lathar pulled furiously to help his friend up, giving Pete enough height to kick the lead troglodyte in the head. (Nat 20!)Pete hadn't even starting climbing over the lip when a Molotov cocktail from Luna flew over his head and crashed into the cavern, setting everything on fire!
When the cries of the troglodytes disappeared, the Explorers decided it was more prudent to start opening doors.
Searching a warehouse area with crates of empty energy cells, they opened the first door to a cloud of noxious green gas!
Lathar staggered out of the cloud, choking, while Sonny lingered inside a moment, until the gas seemed to infiltrate parts of his bloom, forcing him to finally evacuate, desperately rubbing his petals.
Inside were a series of racks with now-empty plastic containers, and a large panel full of buttons, switches, and one conspicuous dimmer-style switch. Sonny played with the dimmer switch and the room shook.
Further searches revealed another room with two skeletons, a series of key cards, and elevator doors, which they ascertained may be controlled by the devices in the other room.
And most importantly, a place to rest for awhile.
Next: #109 - The Executive Suites
Monday, March 16, 2026
"Tomten" by Victor Rydberg
Saturday, March 14, 2026
Saturday Drivers Are Worse Than Sunday Drivers
With trips to Upstate New York for the rest of my weekends in March, this was the Saturday grab some early morning overtime, drive down to check on my mom, run whatever errands she had for me, and probably just head home to chill.
Except I showed up on time to the building... and the parking lot was 100% empty with no weekend access with my badge.
Oops, someone forgot to tell security to revise badge access for me, other employees, and even the floor manager.
I decided to forgo overtime and head to my mom's, a wise choice, as access wasn't granted to anyone until the time I was planning on leaving anyway.
And despite the entire Pennsylvania internet screaming about second winter was coming, PennDOT was flat footed handling quick squalls, drifting snow, and icy roads. Thank God I took a straighter route, as my usual path was filled with cars in ditches and similar wrecks.
I got to my mom's, task list handed to me, and I ran errands with horrendous traffic, worse than the snow: dense, drifting, and forcing me to take the long way back to her house.
But here's the surprise. A half hour after returning, and putting away groceries, we placed an online order for Wawa and I went out in the direct again.
Ten minutes to get there, five minutes to wait for our order, and here's the shocking point.
Three minutes to get back.
One mile, multiple traffic lights, zero cars on my side of usually packed streets.
This is the first weekend where I did make some game-related purchases, but more project related.The trip to Dollar Tree for my mother (she loves their tissues for some reason) netted me the egg necklace for a potential Easter game, and extra masking tape for a project.
No, I did not break into daycare on a Saturday.
Friday, March 13, 2026
Another Month of Meeples (April 2026)
It was an early morning for me, one where I was pondering grabbing some overtime before my shift. Just some coffee and checking e-mails while I ponder just how much scanning and printing I'm going to do over the weekend with my new printer beside me.
And despite losing all hope for any consistency with my old projects, I clicked on ACD, and lo and behold, the latest issue of Meeple Monthly is on it.
ViscountEric's Want List
Nothing
ViscountEric's Money-Is-No-Issue Want List
The Imaginary Store List (Infinite Shelf Space Games & Hobbies)
Warhammer: The Old World RPG - Grand Duchy of Talabec Dice Set ..... $19.99


















