It’s Worse Than I Thought

Please Paizo,  Move up the release date of Hell’s Rebels.  Gareth Pugh needs rescuing.

You may remember my theory that based on his Spring 2015 collection, the Hell’s Rebels AP was going to center around rescuing Gareth Pugh from the Chelaxians.

Well, he just released his Fall 2015 collection, and it looks like he’s still trapped in Cheliax, working for House Thrune.

pugh20 pugh21 pugh22

He has shown in the past that he can dress a wider variety of Golarian inhabitants.

He can dress the Kellid and The Technic League

pugh26pugh23

(Spring 2008, Spring 2014)

And Enora and Seltyiel.

pugh24pugh25

 

(Fall 2013, Spring 2013)

He must be returned to wider Golarion!

Rayon in Golarion

The most common natural fibres of Earth are all pretty well attested in Golarion — cotton, linen, wool, silk.  Polyester, if it exists (and plastic does, so there’s no reason to think it wouldn’t), is safely confined to Numeria. But what about rayon?

Rayon (which is mostly synonymous with ‘viscose’) comes on the scene in about 1900.  It was developed as a cheaper alternative to silk. It is ‘semi-synthetic’; derived from chemically treated cellulose extruded through a spinneret.  (That sentence alone makes rayon fairly awesome)  In simple terms: wood pulp is mashed up with chemicals, then squirted though tiny holes to make thread.  Or something like that.  It dyes easily, is cool to the touch, and absorbent, but the fibres weaken when wet.

Qadira seems to be the only source of silk in the Inner Sea Region, which it obtains from Kelesh rather than producing. Think about that next time you spend 10gp on 50′ of silk rope. But don’t skimp and buy a cheap, rayon knock-off (assuming they exist).  You’ll regret it the next time you have to climb the Cliffs of Insanity in the rain!  (Does Tian Xia produce silk? It’s got to, right? Are there trade routes from Tian Xia over the Crown of the World?  Those are real question for any readers with access to Dragon Empires Gazetteer, or Jade Regent) With this single source of silk for the whole the Inner Sea Region, it makes sense that an alternative for clothing would be sought.

Rayon’s properties (absorbant, cool to the touch, not heat retaining) would make it an excellent fabric choice in hot, dry, northern Garund. (Rahadoum, Thuvia, Osirion, Katapesh).  As for likely producers, Andoran (Darkmoon Vale) and Mwangi Expanse, seem probable.  Both have large forests/jungles, and organizations willing to exploit them — The Lumber Consortium and The Aspis Consortium, respectively.

Given Pathfinder’s ‘pulp roots’, I have no alternative but to believe that rayon exists somewhere in Golarion.

Hell’s Rebels — My Version

At Gencon, Hell’s Rebels was announced as the late year 2015 adventure path.  The Unofficial Rampant Speculation thread is over here. Blah blah blah, Cheliax rebellion, blah blah blah, Kintargo blah blah blah, Masked Ball. *gasp*  Sadly, it doesn’t seem like the the extra-special-bonus-material in issue 100 will be masked ball paper dolls. Something about Aroden instead.  Whatever.

Since my Iron Gods plot prediction of “The Blonde who Fell to Earth” was so spot on,* I’m going to try again.  Here is my Hell’s Rebels Plot Prediction:

The heroic adventuring party has been hired by some-nameless-NPC, to rescue Fashion Designer to the Stars,** Gareth Pugh from the clutches of House Thrune.  Judging from his 2015 Spring/Summer collection, he has been working with them to produce a line of stylish, yet comfortable Chelaxian garb.

This collection has something for everyone in Cheliax, whether you’re a Hellknight on your day off, a court jester, a cultist, an imprisoned heretic, a noble’s herald, or a guest at the masked ball.

Gareth_Pugh_018_1366Gareth_Pugh_034_1366Gareth_Pugh_019_1366 Gareth_Pugh_025_1366Gareth_Pugh_033_1366Gareth_Pugh_021_1366

(Gareth Pugh Spring/Summer 2015)

* It was not.  Not even a little bit.

** By ‘Stars’ I of course mean, Seltyiel.

Capes of the Gods

The three dominant Gods in Ustalav are PharasmaUrgathoa, and Desna.  Among their symbols are spirals, skulls, and butterflies, respectively.

What’s the most important factor is choosing your deity?  The kind of cape you get to wear, obviously.  Here are some choices for discerning worshipers of the three gods.

cape_3 cape_2 cape_1

 

(Valentino Spring 2013 Couture; Manon Kündig, Antwerp Fashion Department Show, 2011; Valentino Fall 2014, Ready-to-Wear.)

The Manon Kündig piece inflates to actually be skull shaped, there’s an inflated pic in the show’s gallery.

Dress the NPCs — Ailson Kindler

Anyone who watches Project Runway enough is familiar with the questions “Who’s your girl?” and “Where is she going?”  The answers for Saint Lauren’s Spring 2013 Ready to Wear Collection are clearly, “Ailson Kindler” and “Killing monsters in Ustalav“.

The whole collection would be pretty fantastic as the wardrobe for a Carrion Crown party.  Everyone gets a Monster Hunting hat that would make Imrijka proud.  Many have an Injustice Fighting coat worthy of Quinn.

Ailson Kindler, hunting monsters in Saint Lauren Spring 2013 Ready to Wear.

Plastic Part II

Great News Everyone!  (but possibly mild spoliers)

The Technology Guide just came out (which is pretty awesome news in and of itself!) and it contains no less than 5 pieces of armour made of “polymers”, which is just a fancy-science name for polyester.  Since plastic is available, I guess that means that Dita von Tease beats out Anouk Wipprecht to be Evil Queen of Numeria.

One of the armour pieces also contains the tantalizing description: “the alien aesthetics of its Androffan design”.  I cannot wait to see what that means.

Also in the Tech Guide…. Duct Tape!  Because you never know when you’ll get a rip in your polymer armour. It appears to come in several fashion colours, so you don’t have to comprise your armour’s look.

Numerian Sleeves

I have become completely enthralled with the sleeve worn but the member of the Technic League on pg 33 of Numeria.  This is obviously how the TL recruits new members.  With great sleeves.

The sleeve part looks like a standard 2-piece jacket sleeve down to the elbow.  The bodice part has an undersized side panel, which ends just a few inches below the armscye (The seam where the sleeve is sewn to the bodice).  I have no idea what to call this, so I’m going to go with “gusset”, even thought that’s not what it is)

The coat is made from 2 different fabrics, one for most of the coat and one for the under sleeve and gusset. Presumably, this is for ventilation or freedom of movement.

I can’t wait to reverse engineer it and see how it works.  There’s also some interesting chevroning around the waist.  I have nowhere to wear this coat, but I’m dying to figure out how it’s made.

 

Plastic in Numeria

I’m pretty excited.  But I don’t get out much.  I’ve made it up to about page 30 of Numeria (because I’m the world’s slowest reader) and found this little gem on pg 25 in the section on Corrosive Rain (emphasis mine):

Rains vary widely in what they affect, some dissolving nearly any material, others affecting only organic matter, metal, or plastics.

Unrelatedly, last week’s What If xkcd tackled the question of how much real dinosaur (via petroleum) is in a plastic toy dinosaur. Short answer: not much. He doesn’t ask the more important question: What is the AC of a polyester jumpsuit, and whether it can be raised my adding more dinosaur.

Report from Numeria

This weekend, I got the answers to all my burning questions about Numeria when my book arrived. And, as always, more questions were raised than answered. I’m only about 20 pages in (as of this writing), so I may have to eat my words later.

Answer to the Most important Question:

Ruffian Spring 2011 Ready to Wear

YES (with caveat):  There is polyester!  I feel foolish for even asking.  The android on page 57 is rocking a mauve and white, belted, sleeveless, double breasted, flared pantsuit.  It is exactly as glorious as it sounds.  With that description, how could it be anything other than polyester?  It looks a lot like this white suit from Ruffian’s Spring 2011 Ready to Wear collection.  Also, since she’s an android described as having “synthetic skin”, she essentially is polyester.

Louise Goldin Fall 2008 Ready to Wear

The Numerian Gunslinger  on pg 55 is wearing a standard issue superhero/speed-skater suit.  The kind that requires an amount of stretch which is unattainable with natural fibres alone.  This piece from Louise Goldin’s 2008 Fall collection displays similar amounts of stretch and contrasting seam inserts. (ETA:  The artist posted the Gunslinger image on deviant art)

From these facts, I am cautiously optimistic that there is polyester, despite no actual mention of petroleum-based fabric.

Speaking of synthetic materials:  Am I the only one hoping the Technology Guide includes recipes for making polymers, like the formulas in the Alchemist’s Handbook?

 

Open the Silver Mount doors, HAL

philippeblonde

 

This is how I want Iron Gods to start…

The Silver Mount has been acting ominously lately…  drawing a crowd of onlookers, including the intrepid adventuring party.

The pneumatic space ship doors slowly open… smoke billows out… a walk way connects to the ground…  and The Blonds spring 2014 runway show emerges from the ship.

 

00030fullscreenAlso with him… because…. reasons…. or something. It came from Fashion East‘s Fall 2010 Ready to Wear collection.  Which is another very Numerian “space tech meets barbarians, Thundarr/Mad Max” style collection.