Smacking the Hammer

As we approach the End Times, America finds itself drenched in a noisome sludge of old fashioned political corruption spurting from the offices of Representative Tom Delay (R-Texas). The machiavellian political fundraising genius and former exterminator now finds himself embroiled in a rapidly cascading series of embarrasing mini-scandals. Last year, DeLay bribed another Republican representative on the floor of the United States Congress. When Democratic Texas state legislators walked out en masse to protest a possibly illegal off-schedule redistricting effort, good old Representative Tom Delay, "the Hammer," diverted resources from the Department of Homeland Security to track down a plane the legislators had chartered, threatening our national security.

On Sunday, Representative Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) called for Tom Delay to step down as House Majority leader. Even Rick Santorum (R-Penn.), darling of the cultural conservative movement, said this about the embattled Delay. "I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people then judge for themselves."

Delay has been rebuked by the House Ethics Committee three times. This bipartisan committee contains five Republicans and five Democrats.

And this is to say nothing of the numerous travel scandals and charges of nepotism that have flooded the news in the past few days. Trips funded by foreign operatives, trips funded by Russian and Korean businessmen. Delay didn't descriminate when it came to graft.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the most powerful House Republican is crooked. There's really no other way of looking at it.

There is a pestilence in the corridors of the halls of power, and it is driven by these people. Tom Delay is their fundraiser, their cheerleader, and their standard bearer in the United States Congress.

A blow against Delay is a victory for reason and patriotism. This country was not founded on the principles of a representative who threatens judges and seeks to undermine the balance of power between branches of the federal government. This country was not founded on the principles of men who exploit family tragedies for cheap political gain.

And it definitely was not founded to let a minority of religious zealots dictate the lives of all of its citizens.

If a political movement seeks to change our democracy into a monarchy, we call members of that political movement traitors.

What do we call members of a political movement that seeks to change our democracy into a theocracy?

Age of Worms Adventure Path Character Background 2: Aroval (Demon Boy)

Part two of an ongoing series...

Demon Boy (Jeremy Walker)
1st-level Sorcerer

On a recent excursion into the world beyond the Emporium, you found yourself brooding upon a marble marker in Diamond Lake’s squalid public graveyard. As you hatched plans to escape from your hated life, you sensed a stranger approach. Whirling to confront the skulk, you instead found yourself face to face with an attractive young human woman who smelled of perfume and, unless you missed your guess, decay. This young woman, a devotee of Wee Jas named Tyralandi Scrimm, didn’t respond with the usual revulsion, and the two of you shared a bottle of her wine as you discussed your common disdain for Diamond Lake and your interest in finding a better life for yourselves.

Like you, Tyralandi once worked for a carnival. But instead of spending her days locked in a cage being spat upon, she got to travel the “Greyhawk Circuit,” visiting dozens of towns and villages within the Domain of Greyhawk. You envied her experience, but saw in her a kindred spirit—perhaps the first you have ever truly known.

Together, you decided to leave Diamond Lake once and for all. But neither of you are fools. You know that you’ll need money to get anywhere.

Rumors around Diamond Lake speak of a trio of adventurers from the nearby City of Greyhawk, metropolis of wizards and thieves. They’ve been spending a lot of time in the village’s watering holes, proclaiming to all their intention to explore an ancient tomb on the lake’s northeast shore called the Stirgenest Cairn. Tyralandi assures you that their plan will fail, since she’s been to the Stirgenest Cairn and found it raped of its treasures centuries ago, just like all of the other empty tombs in the Cairn Hills.

But Tyralandi seems convinced that at least one of the local cairns has not been explored in recent times, and might yet contain fabulous treasures. She even claims to have a map that proves it, thanks to some contact within Diamond Lake’s military garrison.

Everyone in Diamond Lake has heard stories about the deadly traps and baleful guardians that once protected the tombs of the Cairn Hills, but after enduring the indignities of the Emporium for your entire life, you’re willing to put up with a little danger. After all, it could be your ticket out of here.

Tonight is the night. Tyralandi has invited you to meet with a handful of like-minded souls in an abandoned mine outbuilding about an hour from the village. From there you will set out to this secret cairn and, you hope, to a more fulfilling chapter in the life of Diamond Lake’s Demon Boy.

--Erik Mona
Image by Kyle Hunter.