Abberant Behavior in your Setting?

Someone pointed me toward a particular page over at the website of crusades.encyclopedia.com that reccounts some actions on the part of crusaders that is rather unsavory, so to speak.  If the practice of cannibalism didn't exist at all, then it would be no great feat to dismiss the claims outright, but such things do happen in some cultures, in some extreme circumstances, and in some crisis.  So the question for us becomes, how much of this if any do we add into our tabletop roleplaying game settings?  At the least, it is a good bogeyman to put out there as rumored in a neighboring setting location.

Sedlec Ossuary

There's a very bizarre place in the Czech Republic that any campaign setting builder would benefit from adding.  It's called the Sedlec Ossuary and it's a small chapel where so many folks wanted to be buried that they needed a new way to accomodate all of the skeletal remains.  During numerous reconstructions and expansions, bones were moved here and there but eventually, in 1870, a woodcarver was hired to put the whole place in order.  What he did there is both innovative and very, very creepy.  Some might recognize it as one of the settings in the Dungeons & Dragons movie.  Read more here!

How Big and Green is my Emerald?

Most GMs use gems and jewels in their games but just how big can they get?  From the ABC News site, and according to Western Star Auctions, "What is said to be the 'world's largest emerald' is 12 inches long and weighs 11.5 kilograms. It was appraised at $1.15 million because it is a rough cut stone."  And, it will be auctioned on Jan. 28 at Western Star Auctions in British Columbia, Canada, so get in line!

Greg Stafford's Pendragon Page

Even if you are not running a Pendragon RPG campaign, or even a campaign based on Arthurian legend, you'll find a lot of useful Medieval Fantasy fodder, particularly for the Dark Ages, on Greg Stafford's Pendragon Page.  Check it out here!

BionicYarn

There's a rather cool new material being spun from the fibers of recycled plastic bottles.  Definitely something for any future setting and certainly something we should have in the real world, and now do.  Check it out here!

Nuclear Extremophile?

Last December, as reported on io9.com, a potential newly-discovered lifeform might have been found growing on our nuclear waste.  Experts aren't committing just yet to that conclusion but the possibility alone is rather intriguing.  Extremophiles live in some of the oddest places but most are at least natrually occurring environments.  That something might be developing in a place that is both extreme and manmade has rather fascinating implications and should make great fodder for tabletop roleplaying settings.  Read more here!

Room Details

Although it might not be the scale you're looking to use, some interesting things have been done with "dollhouses" or, perhaps more properly put, with Medieval replica diorama displays, that can help you flesh out the various setting locations in your game.  Add that to your regular searches for inspiration and here's one to start you off.  And here are a few more.