Back from Japan

So happy to be back from Japan, and happy to be catching up on all that's happened, so happy to hear that Raynor was rescued, and can't wait to find out all the deep details. I made a new topic for this so instead of posting in the Non-Game Chatter because I actually came across a number of things in my travels that actually really just made me miss my adventuring party, and actually made me think a lot about our characters. &nbsp;I managed to find a lot that made me think of each character, as well as our overarching story teller Chuck. &nbsp;So I will be posting some pictures in this thread a bit later with some notes about how it related to the party and what it meant in reality. In the mean time, here's Godzilla, got to wake up to him every day for my first week there since he was right outside my hotel. (just like how Raynor was stuck in the presence of Venomfang which I just now realized...) in case anyone wants the Instagram feed of some of the postings&nbsp; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/rjmclain/" rel="nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/rjmclain/</a>

This is awesome! Can't wait to hear more. And I love the parallel between GodIlla and Venomfang. :D

Welcome back RJ! ^o^&nbsp; Can't wait to see what you have to share from your travels! ÔwÔ

Well then the things relating to Naeris can come first :) So I found a giant wall covered in this manga depicting a fox demon or Kitsune, and it having a connection to a woman (wearing the fox mask) who in turn would beat the hell out of other demons... so of course I thought of Naeris (my apologies for the sideways pictures, not sure what happened there) &nbsp; Also found these Komainu (lion dogs) which are usually used to help protect from evil spirits And lastly found plenty of these demon masks around which are used in tons of ways, either representing the demon themselves, the demon within/joining with the demon, or even protection from said demon. (again the fox mask)

And then as an add on to Naeris' reminders while traveling this kind of tied to both her, and a certain unarmored Half-Orc that I couldn't help but be reminded of when seeing it... At the entrance to the Asakusa Shrine there are two of these statues, to help protect the temple/shrine from evil spirits, and I couldn't help but think of Zaradur and his general protectiveness of Naeris. (otherwise unfortunately I couldn't find too much Warlock type magic related items)

Aww, the manga's super adorable! ^o^ And funny how demons made you think of Naeris xD Y'know, I think I have a smaller version of that kitsune mask somewhere... I friggin' love kitsune! ^w^ Also, big red Zaradur for the win! xD Though that one's definitely scarier-lookin' compared to Zaradur &lt;w&lt;

Shavix said: Aww, the manga's super adorable! ^o^ And funny how demons made you think of Naeris xD Y'know, I think I have a smaller version of that kitsune mask somewhere... I friggin' love kitsune! ^w^ Also, big red Zaradur for the win! xD Though that one's definitely scarier-lookin' compared to Zaradur &lt;w&lt; Yeah, I bet HE can pass an intimidation roll! ;)

Next up I got some stuff for Shelly... but first I couldn't help myself... I stopped in the Vancouver Airport for a layover...&nbsp; multiple things I think of when I think Canada together Tim Hortons, the Canucks, and Hockey... if only there was a Mounty riding a moose while drinking syrup and waving the canadian flag with a maple leaf on it... then maybe it would be the most Canadian picture ever...

Ok so the stuff for Sigrun (get ready for the temples) This is the same temple entrance and you can see the 2 protectors (although I don't think we could handle 2 giant red Zaradurs) This entrance leads up to the temple of peace seen here with purifying incense&nbsp; And cleansing water Omizuya ( Chōzuya ) to cleanse before entering Inside the actual temple there were buddhist monks chanting and praying and this was just the main temple... turns out it was surrounded by other smaller temples within the grounds, some of which actually pertaining even more to Sigrun like this was a temple to the godess of women offering them protection and listening to their prayers and probably the one of the smallest temples in the area, but one that I thought was actually most fitting, was the temple to pray to the god of healing known as the physician of souls the outer most entrance to the whole area can be seen here, with it's 2 protectors&nbsp; statues of the Shinto gods Fūjin and Raijin are displayed. Fūjin, the god of wind, is located on the east side of the gate, while Raijin, the god of thunder, is located on the west side. Two additional statues stand on the reverse of the gate: the Buddhist god Tenryū on the east, and the goddess Kinryū on the west side. and just to change it up there was the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine, which was used to message the gaurdian Kami Have a bunch more of&nbsp; Fushimi Inari Taisha but they don't happen to relate as much, although they do call back to the Foxes :)

Next up got some stuff for Elvalur, of course when I think of a Japanese equivalent of a Rouge, I think Ninja... unfortunately I didn't get the chance to check out the Ninja Museum, but I would definitely recommend checking out some stuff on it via google... however did get to see a fair amount of ninja related stuff... most of a bit more playful... but still. They popped up on the same Manga Wall that I saw Naeris' demon fighter, so I'm guessing it all ties together somehow (if only I knew more japanese...) And also at the Samurai museum saw some badass weapons that might be perfect for a stealthy person, although there were some bigger ones too probably more fitting for Zaradur/Helm (the big blade was part of a spear used to cut down horses) And then here's a not so short bow... in fact I think it would be too big to even be considered a long bow... probably bigger than Raynor or Elvalur have ever used. (even those arrows are super long) closer look at what the quivers look like which would be pretty sweet for Raynor and Elvalur to have, the arrow stick into the little slits, I feel like they would be able to get arrows out even quicker. (less getting snagged since only the arrowhead is in the quiver) And now MORE NINJAS! ninja beer ninja flags ninja pandas ninja poster for something I can't read and you can even get ninja gear and weapons at the local street merchants

I'll add the rest when I get home from work later.

So I kind of have to combine some of the stuff for Zaradur and Helm, because a lot of it is from the Samurai museum, and it felt like all the armor was far more Helm while the over the top helmets, and masks were much more Zaradur (although some masks did remind me of just Helm screaming in peoples faces for intimidation) Btw the shoulder pads depicted rank, the bigger the shoulders the higher the rank So again, this is where I'm torn, so the giant horns on the next few pictures, the horns being as over the top as they are, just scream Zaradur, but the actual purpose (according to my guide) was actually to help with intimidation because many of the soldiers weren't wealthy enough to eat meat very often so they were often times very short, so it helped to seem taller and more intimidating (much like how Dwarves tend to be a bit on the shorter side) less horns but big shoulder pads (he ate more meat, so he got taller) Back to the horns I think I definitely felt more like Zaradur here though But lastly here's a statue in a traditional Japanese garden of a man known as the God of War, he wasn't mystical or celestial, he just EARNED that title. (you two can arm wrestle over who that picture applies to)

And finally I think there was one picture that made me think, this really tells a story, and it made me think of Chuck, it's a painting done by an unknown artist, it's actually twice as big as this but it's split in to two parts because of its size. &nbsp;It tells the story of the last great Samurai battle. (the picture really doesn't do it justice, and I wish I had managed to get the whole thing in there)

All amazing, RJ! The painting looks kinda like a giant battlemap to me -- I want to move all those samurai miniatures and make attack rolls. :) Thanks for sharing with us and for thinkkng of us on your trip!

AW YIS TIMMIES! Now, I want some. Nom! Man, all of those temples look amazing, and so very Sigrun. I teared up a bit reading about the temple to the goddess of women and the physician of souls. Both fit Sigrun perfectly.&nbsp; This is so touching. You are awesome, RJ!

Shavix said: Aww, the manga's super adorable! ^o^ And funny how demons made you think of Naeris xD Y'know, I think I have a smaller version of that kitsune mask somewhere... I friggin' love kitsune! ^w^ Also, big red Zaradur for the win! xD Though that one's definitely scarier-lookin' compared to Zaradur &lt;w&lt; Yeah, I bet HE can pass an intimidation roll! ;) You'll all see one day Zaradur will be the definition pf intimidating! If not then I'll use Naeris as an intimidation weapon :p

Big weapons and big horns :0 I like

Thanks for sharing these wonderful pictures, my favorite is the painting!

Of course, just couldn't help but think about our adventure while on my adventure... also, if Raynor's animal handling was better or if Raynor was a beastmaster instead, the deer video on my instagram would have worked so well... but I also don't know if videos work on here...

NINJAS!!! AND BOWS!!! Awesome pics there. Those samurai armors look awesome. And now I want to learn how to shoot with a bow.

yeah those bows were intense most of them were close to 8 feet (or&nbsp;245 cm for the metric users aka all non-Americans here) If you're talking shoot with bows in DnD you could always use a longbow, although I think that might be far above a longbow at that point... but if you're talking real life, I've been wanting to learn too, so much...

Mystery box said: You'll all see one day Zaradur will be the definition pf intimidating! If not then I'll use Naeris as an intimidation weapon :p Naeris is a weapon one should use at their own peril. Rub her the wrong way and she just might explode in your face or even worse, you might wake up one day years later to find you've been polymorphed into a newt while having no idea what happened or why. xD Thanks for sharing the pics RJ! Really took me back to my own trips there! ^w^ How was Fushimi Inari Taisha? I just remember so much walking and all the stairs along the path were all going up for some reason and being eaten alive by mosquitoes... oh, and the adorable fox statues that look like they're all wearing bibs! Besides all the awesome orange gates, of course ^o^

RJ M. said: yeah those bows were intense most of them were close to 8 feet (or&nbsp;245 cm for the metric users aka all non-Americans here) If you're talking shoot with bows in DnD you could always use a longbow, although I think that might be far above a longbow at that point... but if you're talking real life, I've been wanting to learn too, so much... Are they greatbows? I think there were such things. Everybody's all about the samurai swords, but historically, weren't they more horse-mounted archers?

Shavix said: How was Fushimi Inari Taisha? I just remember so much walking and all the stairs along the path were all going up for some reason and being eaten alive by mosquitoes... oh, and the adorable fox statues that look like they're all wearing bibs! Besides all the awesome orange gates, of course ^o^ It was awesome, although I didn't get to go all the way to the top, because we were in a rush to catch a train back to Kyoto unfortunately, but otherwise it was amazing. Fuzzus said: Are they greatbows? I think there were such things. Everybody's all about the samurai swords, but historically, weren't they more horse-mounted archers? This is why I need to just have a direct line to you in my back pocket, now I need to know these things, and I didn't ask in the museum.