A "GharGH" of Ghamen

A Ghamen Guard, a Ghamen Matriarch, and the famous Gho, the Matta-Kar Slayer.

Morgish Lament

MORGISH LAMENT

 

I walked on the sand

At the end of the land

And gazed at the booming sea.

I came to a halt

When the sea brume salt

Seemed to bring to me

An ancient song

From the land I long

Had sought unceasingly.

A Morgish tongue

Sighed and sung

To the tune of the crashing sea:

 

"Come back to home,

You kin who roam

Afar in ships

Upon the foam.

 

"Come back we call

To empty hall

For absent kin

Is bitter gall.

 

"Of blood to blood

And mood to mood,

We feel the call

Of Morgish brood.

 

"Great Gammoth stands

With outstretched hands

On the green hill

Of Golberand,

 

"And calls his child

Back from the wild

Paths of the deep

To havens mild.

 

"Why wander far?

Turn sail and spar

And take the trail

Of summer stars.

 

"Yes, take the track

Past wave and wrack.

Turn west to home;

It calls you back.

 

"I call to thee

Across the sea!

Ah! Hear my song

And turn to me!"

 

So it sang, then thinned, and died away

Like smoke blown on a misty day;

And the sea roared upon the shore

And the clouds in the wind were rent and tore

And I stood still on the beach alone

While the gulls wailed and the sea moaned

And the darkness came in a silent spring

And I waited more for the voice to sing,

But heard only the sound of wave on stone

As I still stood on the beach alone.

2021 Diary: Bloaters? Angus?

6/1/2021: Started wash at 7:30 AM. At 8 AM called HEB pharmacy to refill my insulin. Went in at 9 AM, put clothes in dryer, boiled eggs and made egg salad, then made cucumber salad. Got HEB delivery at 9 AM also and struggled it into the guest house. Got wash in and folded it. Took a nap. Kam called at 1 PM and I was up. At 2 PM started getting ready for appointment with Dr. Sangha. A little after 3 PM Amy picked me up and we went to Sangha’s offices. A good check-up and he increased my metformin. Afterwards Amy took me to pick up insulin and I was home at 4:10 PM. Made fish and couscous and fed pets. Andy was there with the exterminator (who broke one of Susan’s pots). Had to wait until almost 9:30 PM for Andy to get home before I could wash up. Tried to listen to Cory Olsen but he was even more protracted than usual and fell asleep.

 

6/2/2021: Up a little after 7 AM and took a poop. Hooray! Also took a bigger one later. BS [blood sugar] 204, then made oatmeal and took medicine. Found out I missed follow-up with Dr. Melendez, my surgeon for the gallbladder removal. Have to see about that. It never ends!

 

6/3/2021: What a day. Things just went along well and ordinary and my BS was about 170, so headed in the right direction.

 

6/4/2021: Went out and got my HEB order. I had been hoping to get some BBQ, but somewhere along the way, no. Fried taters for supper and baked fish, couldn’t bear the thought of eating either.

 

6/5/2021: The weekend, so can’t worry about any business for a couple of days. Slept most of the morning. Kind of worried about a patch of skin on the right side of my belly; don’t know if the discoloration is new or I just didn’t notice it under the fold. A reaction to insulin? Won’t inject there for a while. In the evening cleaned up, washed dishes, swept, and remade bed. Thinking about going back to church tomorrow. Bad health is so boring.

 

6/6/2021: Awake about 4 AM, so gathered my clothes and other accoutrements, showered, arranged books, then laid down. Up again at 5:55 AM, got dressed. Now 6:25 AM and I’m all set to go at 7 AM.

So walked to church, where it was the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. Made it home and only a little tired. Andy brought me a salad and some bananas at 9:30 AM. Spent the rest of the day as usual, doing some clean up (like starting to organize mail and sorting bags) and napping and watching TV. Trying to plan Monday so I can get the most done without tiring myself out too much. Orders for HEB. Bed about 10 PM.

 

6/7/2021: Up about 5:30 AM. Bible and prayers. Cartoons at 6 AM. Chicken noodle soup and a banana for breakfast. Started wash at 9 AM. Made appointment at Family Medical Center for Thursday 9:30 AM. Made boiled eggs and egg salad. Lugged groceries in. Finished wash about 11 AM. At 1 PM made cucumber salad. After calling around to John and Andy decided to ride the bus to get my Metformin and a new batch of glucometer test strips. Left house about 2:25 PM and home about 5:10 PM, just as Susan was driving up. Made fish and couscous then came in, then folded laundry and cleaned house. Rested and watched TV. Now at 8 PM will go in and clean up supper dishes.

Notes

The title recalls the author who found a copy of his first book, a signed edition in which he wrote: "To Angus: Will you ever forget about the bloaters?"  And he wonders "Angus? Bloaters?" Without these diary entries I would never remember Dr. Sangha even existed. And now after five years Corey Olsen (discussing LOTR in detail) is still not even through The Fellowship of the Ring. I suddenly don't feel too bad about the slowness of my own efforts in that direction.

Call to Arms

Call to Arms 

 

Ogres marching from the mountains;

Wolf-shades riding cross the plain;

Pounders thudding on like thunder;

The North is rising up again!

 

See the Black Breath spread like poison,

Creeping o’er the land like death.

The Dark Lord works his will against us!

We can feel his rising wrath.

 

Gammoth’s children, drop your plowshares;

Time to take the sword in hand.

Humans, Ghamen, brave and noble,

With your Morgish brothers stand.

 

From the cities, from the forests,

From the fields and from the sea,

Come and stand against the darkness.

We remain alive and free!

 

Dark magic cannot stand against us;

Vile legions cannot stem our tide.

They cannot bear our righteous anger;

Evil has no place to hide.

 

We shall not stop, we shall not falter,

Until this darkness purged away

No more stains the land of Forlan.

Golden shines the dawn of day!

-May 31, 2026

Update!

Equally Imaginary Now?

 

Mog-Gammoth: Every Morg's Grandpa

Forgot him in the last batch.

Morgs in Motion

Uncle Akko, the privileged bully Nast of the House of Keth, and the Watchman (Watchmorg?) are, again, all from King Korm. Bronn is from Mighty Mikku. Grelda, Kettil, and Thrand are all from the basically unfinished Thrand. I swear I didn't ask to make Grelda's voice so ... urban, but there it is. The AI also insists on skewing the Watchman's face closer to human than Morg.

A. I. Al Speaks Up and Weighs In

More Morgs Galore

Uncle Akko from King Korm; Grelda the Great, Kettil, and Chief Justice Thrand from Thrand; and again from King Korm two versions of the Watchman, who is heavily implied to be Mog Gammoth himself.

More Morgish Characters

Nast is the antagonist from King Korm. Mog Gammoth is THE Morg, the Adam and Moses of the Morgish people, and a semi-divine figure. Bron is from Mighty Mikku, the wounded captain that Roth (Mikku) rescues and befriends.

Morg Animations

Morg Character Animations, including one of Korm that is much closer to his personality.

Characters from Mighty Mikku

Roth's madra (mother) Olind and his childhood bully, Gar, from the short story Mighty Mikku.

Characters from King Korm

Borl appeared in several stories, including being Koppa's arresting officer in Goldfire. The skeptical albino Prull and the giant, genial Berb. The distant and calculating Colonel Drim and his bitter tea.

Ortha's Favorite Power Couple

Roth & Hannu

Moq Mark Two

Needs a shorter cap and because he is not with others you can't tell how tall he is (maybe 5 feet), but not bad, not bad.

 

Scenes from a Science Fiction Saga

From a series of drawings I made in middle school. Argola was the Captain; Borrisk the Engineer; Suwissie (named after Swissie Mouse, a knockoff of the Mickey Mouse Balloon) was basically an Ensign. The Attendant worked at a space port (thanks to the animation, I tend to think of him now as Glorb Zorp). An alien scene and bizzare creatures was basically an excercise in creating alien creatures, There were two other characters of whom pictures survive, Thun, a space pirate and nemesis, and Groka, his Mr. Smee. Groka's name got recycled into the Goldfire Saga. I'll probably make pictures of them next time I go through the Archives.

Let's Try For a Twofer

Here's the original source: Grettir descends into the barrow of Karr the Old, and Karr's grave ghost/corpse objects. AI initially interpreted that chest as a book; it took some tries to try to correct that.

And to plump out the post, here are some animations I had done of our Morg characters. I'm not too pleased with the manic Korm, but my limit for the day ran out before I could correct it.

Crazy Eights: Part Three

A man asks for Godfather Death to stand for his son. The Green Monster is a strange artifact produced when I tried to explain that the thing that looked like a potted plant was actually Swamp-Thing. Grendel's Dam attacks. A Lady and a Unicorn. Mr. Baggins from an early American magazine extract. A wizard opens a Portal to another world. Mike Riding Guard in the Afterlife. A platform in a Treetop that I can't help think would be a good place for Oak Tree Tea.

Crazy Eights: Part Two - F for Effort

 

Two versions of Face in the Frost; a more proper version of Firf; the First Goldfire use; Viking Mike gets a Fish; a boy is not serious about Fishin';  the Frost is on the Pumpkin; a house with a Glass Dome (the only non-F picture).

Smorgas-Morgs

Taking selected passages from my essay "And What is a Morg?" (see elsewhere in this blog), and after a little tweaking, I used ChatGPT and came up with a passable model for a Morg. Then, using that model, I came up with fairly good versions of Roth, Korm, and Thron. Still could use some tweaks (especially when it comes to muzzle shapes and headgear) but strangely satisfying. 

Update: Hannu and Bekmok.