Comics! Comics! Comics!
Stars from The Simpsons, Babylon 5, SG1
Larry and Janet from Three's Company
The Soup Nazi!!!

Morton's List is being represented at Mid-Ohio Con by Authorized Morton's List Dealer, Loyal Henchman to the Twilight Lords, AKA Alexander Loeb. He invites YOU to come and play some unforgettable Morton's List with him! Make a connection with this friendly high level ninja on MySpace and learn more about his tactics from this recent interview:

Q: Who are you and what are your tactics?

A: Alexander, Loyal Henchman to the Twilight Lords. If that means nothing to you, then you weren't at the Karmic Gathering. I first learned about Morton's List at Origins back in 2001 and since then my tactics have been to try to get as many people as I can to play Morton's List. Mid-Ohio Con, the event I will be attending this weekend, has relocated to the same site Origins was (and still is) held. I plan on taking on the role of roving ninja, preaching the good word of Morton to the masses of bored comic fans.

Q: What is your involvement in the Inner Circle and why are you hosting this event?

A: I truly believe that Morton's List is the End to Boredom. I believe the game has great potential. Everyone gets bored. Everyone wants something to do when they're bored. It's that simple. During the dark years of Morton's List, I would attend Origins and try to get people to play Morton's List to carry on what had begun there, but I was never all that organized about it.

For me, this event is a warm-up. I've never held a Morton's List event before and I want to see what bones and boons await me. My ultimate goal is to host a much larger event for a local university in the spring.

Q: What makes Mid-Ohio Con special or noteworthy in the sea of cons?

A: Remember Kill Bill I and Kill Bill II? The year after the first one was released (but before the second one came out) I attended Mid-Ohio Con and found none other than David Carradine hanging out at the hotel bar. He wasn't getting mobbed by fans. He wasn't behind some booth making you pay for a signed picture of himself. He was just chillin' at the bar, telling stories about Hollywood. It's not often you get to rub elbows with stars in Columbus, OH, but it can happen at Mid-Ohio Con. Also, don't trust the guest list: David Carradine wasn't on the website the year he showed up.

Q: Where in the con should people look for you or announcements of when games will be?

A: Well, that is the question, isn't it? I'm going to be moving around quite a bit, spreading the word and hyping up events. When you show up to the con, head for the cafe in Batelle Hall. I'll be sitting at one of the tables with some flyers, a copy of Morton's List and some dice. I'll also be handing out flyers, but on the down-low. Bring your friends.

Q: What future plans of yours can the Inner Circle look forward?

A: As mentioned before, Columbus boasts a half-dozen degree granting institutions with dormitories. Where there's dorms, there are bored college kids hungry for adventure & stories to tell their friends. This spring and on into the summer, I will be introducing Morton's List to the masses. More details to come in the new year.

 

Inside The Karmic Gathering: OctoberList

Not for 699 years has such a Karmically significant event been held on Friday, October 13th! If you were there you needn't read on, because as you well know no words can describe the Karmic high that was achieved over those 13 hours. For those of you who could not be there, we will try our damndest to impart a touch of the flavor.

First, a little background. OctoberList was the first Karmic Gathering - the first official independent Morton's List event. It was held in Livonia, Michigan and put on directly by The Karmic Order of Twilight Lords with assistance from the Inner Circle. Karmic Gatherings, wherever and whenever they are held by whomever, always take place in the Center, a location separated and apart from the mundane world. Think of the Center as a space that amplifies the Karmic energy of all those Inner Circle members present. OctoberList transformed the Livonia Mall Community Room into the Center.

By 1pm Inner Circle members were exiting Registration and entering the Karma Lock, a shadowy space between the mundane world and the Center, where they had to pass a Karmic test by correctly answering the question, "Do you submit to what you cannot foresee?" Once inside they received a packet of event materials and took their seats at the giant U-shaped array of tables. Before the Center was full of everyone form the highest level veteran Morton's List Masters to those who had never before played, from a neighboring suburb to Alaska.

The following 13 hours are as difficult to describe as a game of Morton's List, and indeed included three Quests. What really happened was so much more than the three Quests, the banquet of Mexican and Indian food, the discussions, the stories. It was the connections and friendships that were made.

Everyone was accepted and given the opportunity to take the stage to share and connect with everyone else. We heard about near death experiences and first times. We marveled at specially made artifacts. We were blessed with hand made magickal gifts. We debated, dished out bones as befitting Friday the 13th, and enjoyed a plethora of spirits. That day and night the Innermost Circle was truly forged and energized as never before.

What more can be said other than we're doing it again. Bigger, better, deeper, greater, higher. Come to The Karmic Gathering: Within Friday, April 13th, Knoxville, TN and change your life.

So what happened 699 years ago on Friday the 13th of October 1307 that I compare OctoberList to? None other than the original Friday the 13th - where it all began with the betrayal and murder of the Knights Templar, keepers of the Holy Grail, by the Pope and King of France. Ever since that most unlucky of days Friday the 13th has born its curse. 13 symbolizes all or nothing. In 1307 all Templars were killed and nothing could save them. In 2006 nothing could stop the Inner Circle and all were born anew.

For more Karmic Gathering insights, see the detailed Recap with photos on MortonsList.com.

Skullnapped!
By Twilight Lord Nathaninja

A fall day in Paris. Belly full of crepes, mind prepped with fresh images of the thousands of skulls entombed in the catacombs beneath the streets, heart light with excitement, I rode the Metro towards a date with destiny. Each stop brought me closer to realizing the truth, but it was not to be an expected insight. Each stop instead brought me closer to traces of... them.

Skulls of the Paris catacombs

The world we live and play in is at best a fragile, tentative balance between the forces of law and chaos, construction and destruction. While some seek insight and knowledge of the Great Mysteries, others strive to harness those Powers for themselves. What follows is a warning to the Inner Circle: be aware.

Some of you may know something about how Morton's List came to be. In the seven years from conception to birth, the three authors were faced with two primary challenges: discovering clues as to the nature of Morton and putting those discoveries on paper. The latter challenge occupied the most time, but it was the former that necessitated several trips abroad.

These travels brought the authors into contact with persons, cultures and tomes that further revealed the metaphysical framework of Morton's List. Research trips had to be organized to Bermuda, China, Israel, Jordan, New York, and Virginia among other places to gather the information necessary to publish Morton's List. More questions were raised than answered, however, and further investigations to Alaska, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Britain, California, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Hawaii, Honduras, Ireland, Mexico, Morocco, Nevada, Spain, Thailand, and Venezuela have since been completed.

Many mysteries have given way to insight, while others have multiplied like heads of the hydra. In the ongoing search for the mysteries of Morton, I planned the most ambitious research trip to date for October of this year, returning November 4th. Previous clues pointed to several sites and individuals of import located in Paris, France / Istanbul, Turkey / Moscow, Russia / Azerbaijan / Georgia and Armenia. The many successes and disappointments, anecdotes and synchronicities encountered in my travels are too numerous to discuss here. There is but one piece of information that simply must be shared in the hopes that light may be shed upon the shadows and those who lurk there.

It was with high hopes that I set off to parts east. My first stop: Paris. I had arranged a nine hour layover. Plenty of time to accomplish my sole objective: meet with the Paris Crystal Skull. What do you know about the Crystal Skulls? Morton's List discusses them on page 351 and cursory information abounds online. Suffice it to say that our research suggests that there are indeed 13 Crystal Skulls of ancient, likely Atlantean, origin.


That Crystal Skulls are much sought after is indisputable. Those who have come into contact with one report phenomena ranging from an immediate psychic link, to telepathic transmission of ancient secrets, to intense and overwhelming surges of magickal energy. The three most powerful Crystal Skulls are the Mitchell-Hedges Skull (the Skull of Doom), the British Skull and the Paris Skull. The first named for its white-knuckled discoverer, the latter two for the cities entrusted to their protection.

In August of 2003 I went to London to meet with the British Skull. A branch of Psychopathic Records had recently opened in nearby Bedford, England and Netmaster Gordon AKA Brian Debler had attempted to visit the British Skull earlier that year. Upon arrival at the museum that guarded it, however, he was told that the skull was "not available." When pressed, museum employees gave nothing but evasive excuses: "cleaning," "rotation," "on loan."

Highly disturbed by this news and suspicious of foul play, I arrive in August to see for myself. The skull was indeed not on display. With only three days in London to investigate I was unable to produce conclusive answers. I did, however, observe much that hinted at more going on than the museum knew or was willing to admit. It did not add up.

It was memories of that unsolved mystery that flitted through my mind as stop after stop blurred past far under the streets of the French capital. Perhaps the Paris Skull would impart knowledge of the whereabouts of its missing kin to me. Perhaps secrets of far greater import would be revealed.

Upon reaching the museum residence of the Skull, I commenced to waiting for my contact, a curator named Arjmand Tager. The meeting went poorly from the start when he finally appeared and announced nervously that the Skull was "unavailable." No amount of questioning or insistence got me further than viewing where the Skull had been displayed. Arjmand appeared quite ill at ease the entire time, and was clumsily evasive in response to my intense questioning, at times pretending to speak less English than I knew he comprehended. If I were to guess I would say he was afraid. But of who or what?

With only nine hours I had little time to spare. If I was to discover anything I had to act quickly. The scheduled meeting now being totally derailed, I set to making as many clandestine observations and gathering as much evidence as I could.

About to give up after hours of stealthing, and needing to catch my flight to Istanbul, I finally spied that which I most feared: a white van. I observed it leaving quietly from a secured underground loading dock. Why should a simple white van mean so much? Reports of their ominous presence by Dark Carnival Games employees and Inner Circle members date back at least to 2001. More importantly, I witnessed similar white vans near the British museum.

Unmarked white cargo vans have long been associated with those who seek to claim the secret knowledge man's past for themselves. Their precise purpose, hierarchy, leaders and methods remain as mysterious as the vans themselves.

Inner Circle: Vans have been witnessed in the vicinity of both the British and Paris Crystal Skulls, which have both subsequently disappeared. Are they responsible? Are they stealing or buying the Skulls in an effort to harness their power? Or perhaps replacing them with replicas while mounting efforts to unearth those of the 13 yet undiscovered. Regardless, they must not be allowed to control the world's Crystal Skulls. Age-old rivals Britain and France agreed to each hold one Skull in an effort to preserve the balance of power in the world. They threaten this balance and the world that relies on it.

Although there is little any one of us can do directly about this disturbing development, knowledge is power. They cannot function if enough people know about their operations and the requisite shadows are dissolved by the light of that exposure. Be warned and be empowered.

The remainder of the trip went more or less according to plan, with significant and unexpected breakthroughs in Sheki, an ancient town on the Silk Road in northwestern Azerbaijan, home of the Wolf Man of Sheki. May all your Quests, near and far, lead you closer to Morton.

First Times

First times are important, influential transitions in our lives. They are so important we even have labels for those who have never had an important experience before, like virgin. Think about your important first: first kiss, first psychedelic trip, first time leaving the country, first orgasm, first paranormal experience.

Morton's List, like an acid trip or mystical revelation, is an important life experience. The process of letting go and giving chance the opportunity to let the Karma of synchronicity into your life can be transformative. Veteran players have stories for days, but let's start at the beginning.

What was your first Quest? How did you feel before rolling - nervous, skeptical, excited? What happened on the Quest? How did you feel afterwards?

This is your invitation to tell your first Morton's List story. All submissions will be considered for the December issue of The Radius.

Unleash the Beast
By Twilight Lord Nathaninja

To kick things off, I'll start. My first experience with Morton's List happened before it was even called Morton's List. Instead of drawing an arbitrary line in the distance past, this story will be about someone else's first time.

In late June of 2006, fellow Twilight Lord and long time friend, Jesse Deneaux and myself headed to Origins International Game Expo in Columbus, Ohio. It was to be an epic return for us in more ways than one and is a story unto itself.

We arrived with moments to spare before our first of many many Morton's List demos. Origins was kind enough to give usour own room - though it was more to keep us separate from the "normals" than to hook us up.

Situated in our base of operations, several interested first timers showed up and we got right to it. Our Quest (their first)? Circle Unseen, p.236, Nightscape Table. If you've never rolled this one, it involves sneaking around undetected.

I t should be mentioned that Origins had only agreed to have us back provisionally if we "behaved" and followed the rules - "nothing too wild, guys." Of course we agreed - after all we didn't plan on getting wild at all. In fact we had no plans and couldn't have any. Until the dice told us what to do we didn't have a clue what would happen. Well the dice decided to encourage us to break the rules and who were we to argue?

What did our newbie Inner Circle think of all this? They didn't know what to think, but the power of Morton's List compelled them to go along with it. One fellow in particular, we'll call him Bar Spaz, was pretty nervous. Turns out he pretty much followed the rules. I mean all the rules, spoken, unspoken, written, unwritten and imagined. This Quest was putting him well outside his comfort zone. He didn't cry or raise a moral objection to his credit, though. He pushed through it and trusted chance to not get him kicked out of the convention on the first day.

We decided to try to sneak into the main exhibitor's hall, which had closed a few hours earlier. Finding an access point to the back stage area, we brought various legitimizing props with us to help if we were seen: two fake trees and several maps of the center printed on foam core, all of which we found stored in or near our base of operations.

A combination of stealth and acting like we belonged got us all the way to the loading dock and the back doors of the hall. Full of confidence we walked in and right into a line of five security guards. Quest over.

Well not yet. It turned into a talking Quest - fast talking. We bluffed all the way to a kindly escort by a senior con official, who we'll call Sleepy, to a secure room we could store our "important" props in.

Elated that our mission remained uncompromised (if not strictly successful), we returned to our base of operations to debrief. Our Inner Circle was feeling good. Definitely a fun time. But Bar Spaz was earning the Spaz part of his Ninja Name. He was high on Karma and practically shaking with disbelief and excitement.

Although par for the course for veteran players, his personal experience was truly transformative. He stepped beyond himself and did something he never would have even considered doing. And the result was amazing! He couldn't wait to play again, and indeed he and his friends came back at every opportunity throughout the weekend to tempt fate and recapture that feeling.

About five minutes after declaring the End Time for that Quest, Sleepy walked into the room and upon seeing us, could only say, "I thought something was fishy about all this, then it hit me: it could only be the Morton's List guys!"