RPG Stuff – Cole Family History

RPG Stuff – Cole Family History

History of the Cole Family, an New England family rife with hauntings and bad luck. From 1500-2100

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In the 1500s, the patriarch of what would become the Cole family was a Spanish born pirate working under a Letter of Marque for England. Bartolome Gómez, sailing a converted merchantman, the La Galga, would fly under the Spanish Flag to take over Spanish Treasure Galleons. He would usually flag the captain of the Galleon down by pretending to have dispatches from Madrid for the Captain. Once aboard, his men would quickly capture the Galleon, kill the remaining crew and sail the ship to England.

Unfortunately he was in Plymouth England at the time Spain attempted to invade the island nation. Pressed into service by the Admiralty, under the command of Captain Gómez, the La Galga acquitted herself quite well. Two Spanish ships were sunk at the same time. Over the next two days it would help to sink three more ships, and even came to the aid of Sir Francis Drake himself by drawing fire away so that Drake’s ship could maneuver into a better position. For his actions, Gómez was awarded a Knighthood and a Charter to found a colony in North America.

Unfortunately Bartolome Gómez died before he could outfit the Colony expedition. His son, Tomé Gómez inherited the charter, title, and most importantly his father’s ill gained fortune. By 1620, he had changed his name to Thomas Cole to attract additional English investors in the colony. He managed to build a small fleet of three merchant ships and 400 colonists. They sailed to Virginia and founded a colony near what is today Salem Massachusetts in November of 1623. The winter killed over half the English colonists due to exposure and starvation.

In the early spring of 1624, Gómez, now Cole, seeing the colony needed more man power to clear land and build farms decided to sail to Africa. His goal was to purchase slaves and bring them back to do the back breaking work while the English colonists searched for Gold and other exploitable minerals. Unfortunately by the time he returned, the colony had all but disappeared. With a ship hold full of slaves, he sailed south to Virginia and sold them there.

After six more voyages, and styling himself “Commodore,” Thomas Cole had amassed a fleet of seven ships. Three ran the slave trade while the rest traded up and down the coast of New England and Britain. Like his father, he also engaged in piracy. He would outfit and fund the voyages of other captains, sold the stolen goods from these voyages by inserting them into his legitimate mercantile business, and took half the profits. By 1650 the Commodore was one of the richest men in North America.

Tired of the weather in Virginia, and at the suggestion of his wife, Amice, Thomas turned his eyes back to the nascent colony in Massachusetts. A large house and farm was built there by slave labor and the family moved in 1655. Thomas died the same year from pneumonia, having lived in house less than a month. His wife Amice, with the help of a slave woman named Constance raised his twin daughters Anne and Lora but sold the merchant business.

Some say that due to his wretched life, Thomas Cole could not move on. He would be known to haunt the house and farm. Any suitors attempting to marry his wife to get their hands on his fortune would eventually be found dead from unknown causes. After six such attempts, eyes turned from Amice to her beautiful daughters. No longer the center of attention, and half insane from the unexplained deaths and continued hauntings, Amice threw herself off a nearby cliff in 1671.

At sixteen years old, the daughters Anne and Lora were left with a sizable fortune and even more suitors. The hauntings at the house because even worse over the next decade with thirteen suitors dead under mysterious circumstances. Out of desperation, their enslaved servant Constance proposed a VooDoo ceremony to cleanse the house. The daughters agreed and it appeared to be successful. Buoyed by that success, both women took an interest in the occult and magic to the determent of all other activities.

Attracted by the Cole Sisters’ wealth, and hearing rumors of their interest, both charlatans and real practicers of witch craft and magic schemed to get their hands on it. The Sisters eventually both fell for a charming man named Elbert Hubbard who promised to teach them “sex magic”. His betrayal of them both and the fight between the sisters eventually led to both being accused of witch craft at the start of the Salem Witch Trials. Their house was burned, the fields salted, and the slaves escaped to freedom.

Lora, pregnant with Hubbard’s child, was smuggled away by the Constance’s own son Lucian. Anne unfortunately was caught, put on trial and sentenced to hang. Before doing so though, she uttered a curse upon her sister and her offspring that the family would be met with nothing but tragedy.

Lora died in a difficult child birth. Lucian named the boy Raymond and raised him in a small cabin in the woods. They lived as farmers. Lucien would trade his labor get the boy schooled. Raymond would go on to teach himself to read from a Bible owned by his grandfather Thomas Cole. At the age of thirteen, Raymond realized that the Bible contained a cipher. It took him nearly three years to decode it, but found instructions to a hidden cache of gold buried by Thomas in Pirate tradition. With the help of Lucien they returned to Salem, followed the map and managed to dig up a substantial amount of gold, silver and jewelry.

Based on the stories about his grandfather, Raymond and Lucien then traveled to the capital in New York City and started a mercantile business. Raymond took his first ocean voyage across the Atlantic to buy goods. Lucien was tasked with building a warehouse and store front. Together they ran the business, Lucien would manage day to day operations of the store and Raymond would eventually buy his own ship and provide goods. Raymond officially gave Lucien his freedom and in gratitude, Lucien took on the Cole name and pledged an oath to look after the Cole family.

By 1740, the Cole Family Mercantile had expanded to seven locations across New England. Lucien had died a year earlier, but his own sons each managed one of the locations. Raymond Cole amassed a fleet of three ships plying the trade routes. Needing a substantial amount of money, he sold the merchant portion of the business to Lucien’s sons and sat down to marry into Society. His eyes upon the daughter of an alderman named Rebecca.

The two soon married and had a son named Alden. In 1745, the family curse reared its head. Raymond and Rebecca perished in a carriage accident. The four year old Alden was left in the care of another of Lucien’s offspring, grandson Silas. Silas Cole had been engaged as a butler by Raymond Cole and took over the duties of raising Alden in the family tradition. In addition to his duties as caretaker, he continued to run the Cole family merchant ships and even remerged the split business back into a single entity by buying out his uncles’ stores.

Alden Cole, growing up in the great merchant family, of course became a Captain of one of the ships early on. At the age of thirty he foresaw a rich future in supporting the American Revolution. The Cole Family pushed for independence, helped to finance the revolution, procured needed supplies for the Continental Army and acted as Privateers attacking British merchants and stealing their goods. At the end of the war, Alden Cole turned his eyes towards China and the profits to be found in the Orient.

Naming himself Commodore Cole he led a fleet of ships into the Beaver for and Opium Trade. In 1790 his own son, Philoman Cole joined the family business. Looking to make his own mark on the family business, he moved to Paris where he made contacts among the nobility and acted as a go between for the American politicians and society. Seeing the French Revolution about to unfold, he traveled to Bavaria to see what connections could be made there. This is where he met and befriended the young Princess Sophie. The Princess was enamored of this American who’s family had made their riches again and again.

On his last voyage before retirement, Alden Cole’s ship was lost at sea. Upon receiving the news, Philoman returned to New York and took over the family business, bringing it to even more prosperity with his new European connections. The hotel suffered several set backs though. Unexplained deaths, murders, and the death of the Commodores’ wife soon after childbirth

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Using his family fortune, Commodore Philoman Cole started construction on the hotel in 1829. He envisioned a grand building worthy of European Royalty, specifically his friend Princess Sophie of Bavaria. The vision of his hotel was wildly publicized in New York papers and was soon mentioned around the world. Sparing no expense, and using all the latest technologies and building techniques of the day it was completed in 1831.

VIP guests from the world were invited to attend the inaugural opening. Among them Princess Sophie of Bavaria and President Andrew Jackson. By all accounts the opening was a success. The Dorothea Hotel was mentioned in the same sentences as the great hotels in not only New York but around the world. Reservations were being made years in advance. Buoyed by the art of some of the finest cooks in the United States at the time, the Dining room and ballroom both became hubs for the rich, famous and influential to be seen at. Newspaper men, authors, poets and various hanger ons would congregate in the lobby to watch the comings and goings of the influential and perhaps gather a bit of news to write about.

Unfortunately tragedy quickly struck the hotel. Unexplained disappearances of guests at the hotel immediately plagued its reputation. Most attributed the disappearances as merely those trying to escape creditors and the stories immediately dismissed. But muckrakers among the ever present press corps could not let the stories go, and stories of the grand hotel circulated among the lower classes.

An unexplained fire in 1835 that took the life of the wife and daughter of an investing owner in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Rumors of murder, insurance fraud, and shoddy workmanship were all floated about. The uproar and promises of investigation into the management of the hotel were front page news for weeks. Investigations by private detectives uncovered the remains of an incendiary device in the damaged hotel room, which in turn triggered more rumors and front page news.

A mere two years later, news of “The Midnight Murders” became the talk of the town. The dismembered bodies of young boys were found scattered around the neighborhood over the period of a single month. One of the victims was an employee at the Hotel. A through search of the building for the missing boy finally revealed mass murderer Cornelius Hunt in the middle of the gristly act. Hunt later revealed in his confession that he needed the blood of thirteen strong but innocent boys to complete a dark ritual meant to make himself immortal.

The newspapers of course had a field day with that story, and despite the Commodores best efforts, the reputation of the hotel seemed to be permanently tarnished. To make matters worse, residents and employees started reporting strange activities in the hotel. Most were merely mischievous noises and objects randomly moving around. But the Russian Ambassador reported the definite feeling of hands shoving him just before he tumbled down the main stairs.

After the reputation hit the Commodore moved into the hotel with his new bride, Amelia, in an attempt to show the hotel had no curse. Unfortunately, shortly after giving birth, Amelia Cole died from complications of the birth. The baby boy, William, soon became a favorite of the hotel staff and guests. All, including his father doted upon him. But by the age of four years old his caretakers repeatedly reported that young William had

No Man’s Sky Access Codes

No Man’s Sky Access Codes

No Man’s Sky is an open world exploration game available on the Xbox, Playstation and Windows platforms. All credit goes to Taygete on the Steam Community Forums.

These access codes for No Man’s Sky are needed at Observatories and Transmission Towers. This includes locations that are taken over by biological horrors. Codes inputted at observatories usually lead to the ruins points of interest.

Codes put in at Transmission Towers reveal distress signals of crashed freights and crashed ships.

All these codes seem to be mathematical equations. For those of us who don’t always see the patterns involved, (or may not have had the required math classes,) here they are! The bolded digits should be the answer to the puzzle.

Sum of Contiguous Numbers


1-3-4-7-11-18-29
1-5-3-7-5-9-7
1-2-6-24-120-720
2-4-12-48-240-1440
3-5-8-13-21-34

Exponents and Factors


5-14-41-122-365
17-33-65-129-257
23-45-89-177-353
56-59-63-68-74-81
80-71-63-56-50
99-92-86-81-77
5040-720-120-24-6

4 Digit Patterns


1027-7101-2710-0271
1126-6112-2611-1261
1181-1118-8111-1811
1212-2121-1212-2121
1265-5126-6512-2651
1345-5134-4513-3451
1702-7021-0217-2170
1737-7173-3717-7371
2109-1092-0921-9210
2230-0223-3022-2302
2379-9237-7923-3792
2595-5259-9525-5952
2738-7382-3827-8273
3382-2338-8233-3823
3908-9083-0839-8390
3941-9413-4139-1394
3987-9873-8739-7398
4416-6141-1641-4164
4366-3664-6643-6436
4634-6344-3446-4463
4865-8654-6548-5486
5047-7504-4750-0475
5336-3365-3653-6533
5493-3549-9354-4935
5571-1557-7155-5715
5920-9205-2059-0592
6543-3654-4365-5436
6618-8661-1866-6186
7354-3547-5473-4735
7771-1777-7177-7717
8104-4810-0481-1048
8432-2843-3284-4328
8653-3865-5386-6538
9162-1629-6291-2916
9183-1839-8391-3918
9214-4921-1492-2149
9780-7809-8097-0978
9854-4985-5498-8549

If you know of any that are missing, or have any corrects, please comment below!

Useful OS X Commands

Apple Icon - OSX

Useful OS X Commands

Here is a list of a bunch of potentially useful OS X Commands. These are going to be mostly for power users, system admins, OS X hackers, and programmers. Normal users will likely never need these, thus they are presented without use directions.

Commands were gathered via the .OSX group on GitHub. Please feel free to comment below and add any other useful commands you find!

Most commands are set to enable the action with the -true flag. Disable action by replacing it with -false.

Stop the creation of .DS_Store and AppleDouble files on USB Drives
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteUSBStores -bool true

Stop the creation of .DS_Store files on Network Drives
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true

Show hidden files in Finder
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Prevent MDS from attempting to Index
sudo touch /Volumes/your volume name here/.metadata_never_index

Disable Indexing and Searching of Volumes
sudo mdutil -i off -d /Volumes/VolumeName

Delete existing Spotlight Index
sudo rm -rfv /.Spotlight-V100

Enable full keyboard access for all controls
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleKeyboardUIMode -int 3

Enable subpixel font rendering on non-Apple LCD Screens and non-Retina Monitors
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleFontSmoothing -int 2

Show the ~/Library folder in GUI (Can be used to show other “hidden” folders that some Applications add)
chflags nohidden ~/Library

Add “Anywhere” option to the “Allow apps downloaded from:” under the General Tab of Security and Privacy
sudo spctl –master-disable

Enable the 2D Dock
defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -bool true

Turn Dock autohide on
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true

Remove Dock display delay
defaults write com.apple.Dock autohide-delay -float 0 && killall Dock

Show Dock icons of hidden applications as translucent
defaults write com.apple.dock showhidden -bool true

Show iTunes track notifications in the Dock
defaults write com.apple.dock itunes-notifications -bool true

Disable menu bar transparency
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleEnableMenuBarTransparency -bool false

Show remaining battery life as percentage
defaults write com.apple.menuextra.battery ShowPercent -string “YES”

Show remaining battery life as time
defaults write com.apple.menuextra.battery ShowTime -string “YES”

Always show scrollbars
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowScrollBars -string “Auto”

Hide desktop icons upon quitting Finder
defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem -bool true

Disable get info and window animations in Finder
defaults write com.apple.finder DisableAllAnimations -bool true

Show all filename extensions in Finder
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true

Use current directory as default search scope in Finder
defaults write com.apple.finder FXDefaultSearchScope -string “SCcf”

Show Path bar in Finder
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowPathbar -bool true

Show Status bar in Finder
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowStatusBar -bool true

Expand save panel by default
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool true
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode2 -bool true

Expand print panel by default
defaults write NSGlobalDomain PMPrintingExpandedStateForPrint -bool true

Disable dialog box: “Are you sure you want to open this application?” (Note, this disables OS X Security and anti-malware features)
defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSQuarantine -bool false

Disable dialog box: “Are you sure you want to open this application?” (for one application)
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads/ApplicationName (before installing)
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ApplicationName (after installing)

Disable shadow in screenshots
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true

Enable highlight hover effect on Dock for the grid view of a stack
defaults write com.apple.dock mouse-over-hilte-stack -bool true

Enable spring loading for all Dock items
defaults write enable-spring-load-actions-on-all-items -bool true

Show indicator lights for open applications in the Dock
defaults write com.apple.dock show-process-indicators -bool true

Don’t animate opening applications from the Dock
defaults write com.apple.dock launchanim -bool false

Display ASCII control characters using caret notation in standard text views
(Try e.g. `cd /tmp; unidecode “\x{0000}” > cc.txt; open -e cc.txt`)
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSTextShowsControlCharacters -bool true

Disable press-and-hold for keys in favor of key repeat (enable key repeat)
defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

Set keyboard repeat rate
defaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 0.05 (Fast)
defaults write NSGlobalDomain InitialKeyRepeat -int 15 (Slow)

Disable auto-correct (Does not impact MS Office)
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool false

Disable opening and closing window animations
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool false

Enable AirDrop over Ethernet (also works for Lion)
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces -bool true

Disable disk image verification
defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify -bool true
defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify-locked -bool true
defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify-remote -bool true

Automatically open a new Finder window when a volume is mounted
defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages auto-open-ro-root -bool true (Read-only)
defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages auto-open-rw-root -bool true (Read-write)
defaults write com.apple.finder OpenWindowForNewRemovableDisk -bool true

Display full POSIX path as Finder window title
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true

Increase window resize speed for Cocoa applications
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSWindowResizeTime -float 0.001

Disable the warning upon changing file extension
defaults write com.apple.finder FXEnableExtensionChangeWarning -bool false

Show item info below desktop icons
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c “Set :DesktopViewSettings:IconViewSettings:showItemInfo true” ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

Enable snap-to-grid for desktop icons (Same as OS 9 GUI command)
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c “Set :DesktopViewSettings:IconViewSettings:arrangeBy grid” ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

Disable Empty Trash Warning
defaults write com.apple.finder WarnOnEmptyTrash -bool false

Empty Trash securely by default
defaults write com.apple.finder EmptyTrashSecurely -bool true

Require password immediately after sleep or screen saver begins (reduces the normal delay)
defaults write com.apple.screensaver askForPassword -int 1
defaults write com.apple.screensaver askForPasswordDelay -int 0

Enable tap to click on Trackpad
defaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad Clicking -bool true

Map bottom right Trackpad corner to right-click
defaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad TrackpadCornerSecondaryClick -int 2
defaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad TrackpadRightClick -bool true

Disable Safari thumbnail cache for History and Top Sites
defaults write com.apple.Safari DebugSnapshotsUpdatePolicy -int 2

Enable Safari debug menu (most useful for Web Developers)
defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeInternalDebugMenu -bool true

Remove useless icons from Safari bookmarks bar
defaults write com.apple.Safari ProxiesInBookmarksBar “()”

Add a context menu item to web view for showing the Web Inspector
defaults write NSGlobalDomain WebKitDeveloperExtras -bool true

Only use UTF-8 in Terminal Application
defaults write com.apple.terminal StringEncodings -array 4

Disable the Ping sidebar in iTunes
defaults write com.apple.iTunes disablePingSidebar -bool true

Disable Ping in iTunes
defaults write com.apple.iTunes disablePing -bool true

Make ⌘ + F focus the search input in iTunes
defaults write com.apple.iTunes NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add “Target Search Field” “@F”

Disable send and reply animations in Mail Application
defaults write com.apple.Mail DisableReplyAnimations -bool true
defaults write com.apple.Mail DisableSendAnimations -bool true

Disable Resume system-wide
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false

Disable the “reopen windows when logging back in” dialog box (Leaves default to reopen windows)
defaults write com.apple.loginwindow TALLogoutSavesState -bool false
defaults write com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowLaunchesRelaunchApps -bool false

Enable Dashboard Dev mode (Keeps widgets on the desktop)
defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode -bool true

Reset Launchpad
[ -e ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db ] && rm ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db

Disable local Time Machine backups
hash tmutil &> /dev/null && sudo tmutil disablelocal

The Net Book of Plots Archive – RPG Fantasy Plots

Magic Bookshelves from The Last Bookstore

The Net Book of Plots Archive

The Net Book of Plots Archive is a six “book” selection of random plot points that can be used for just about any Fantasy RPGs. Mostly meant for AD&D (Second Edition,) these plots are generic enough that they can be used for any version of Dungeons and Dragons, even 5th edition! Reading through these brings back many memories, and lots of ideas for new games!

Like all Net Book posts on this blog, this is merely a backup of the original files. No copyright is assumed by posting here. Email contacts for the original authors are in each folder.

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6

Also check out the Dungeons and Dragons Random Encounters Netbook

Magic Bookshelves from The Last Bookstore-The Net Book of Plots Archive
Photographer Rick Hamell