Quote from: CRKrueger;788174You gotta be shitting me.  Gotta love history, you can't make that up.

Quote from: SimlasaInteresting. I just finished a horror novel that centered on a cult trying to keep the visage of their fertility god out of the public eye... for fear of losing its favor and their proprietary strain of wheat.
A fun slant... adding ancient idols and occult secrets as targets of modern industrial espionage.

Quote from: Steerpike;788786Ramsey Campbell's Ancient Images?

Quote from: SimlasaYup.
My reading group didn't really care for it, it's not really 'horror' IMO... but I thought there were some really interesting ideas in it.
It started me working on a game setting where corporations have tutelary gods/occult patrons ala the book's Redfield/Staff O' Life... ancient rituals as corporate traditions, human sacrifice, corporate sculpture versions of Stonehenge, enchanted water coolers (like the special bread in Ancient Images)... teams of agents, some of who are not human, either as a standing force or as specialists pulled from the ranks who are then possessed by minion spirits (PCs)... making it a bit transhumanist, maybe.
Prehistoric horror/fantasy with a veneer of steel and glass.

Quote from: Steerpike;788799I thought the bits in and around Redfield were quite creepy, though, especially the three women and the ale/bread.

Quote from: One Horse Town;788671It's not even an isolated incident. When peppercorn started coming back from the East Indies it was worth more than its weight in gold.

Quote from: RPGPundit;789522With the notable difference that pepper was actually good for something.  On the other hand, Tulipmania was outstanding because it was a fad; it was an obsession for something that had no inherent utility.
Its like the difference between the huge value of high-end computer devices and the 90s comic-book pricing bubble.  They're not the same thing.

Quote from: Simlasa;788797Yup.
My reading group didn't really care for it, it's not really 'horror' IMO... but I thought there were some really interesting ideas in it.
It started me working on a game setting where corporations have tutelary gods/occult patrons ala the book's Redfield/Staff O' Life... ancient rituals as corporate traditions, human sacrifice, corporate sculpture versions of Stonehenge, enchanted water coolers (like the special bread in Ancient Images)... teams of agents, some of who are not human, either as a standing force or as specialists pulled from the ranks who are then possessed by minion spirits (PCs)... making it a bit transhumanist, maybe.
Prehistoric horror/fantasy with a veneer of steel and glass.

Quote from: RPGPundit;789522With the notable difference that pepper was actually good for something.  On the other hand, Tulipmania was outstanding because it was a fad; it was an obsession for something that had no inherent utility.

Quote from: All About CoffeeOn August 13, 1683, Kolschitzky donned a Turkish uniform, passed through the enemy's lines and reached the Emperor's army across the Danube. Several times he made the perilous journey between the camp of the prince of Lorraine and the garrison of the governor of Vienna. One account says that he had to swim the four intervening arms of the Danube each time he performed the feat. His messages did much to keep up the morale of the city's defenders. At length King John and his army of rescuing Poles arrived and were consolidated with the Austrians on the summit of Mount Kahlenberg. It was one of the most dramatic moments in history. The fate of Christian Europe hung in the balance. Everything seemed to point to the triumph of the crescent over the cross. Once again Kolschitzky crossed the Danube, and brought back word concerning the signals that the prince of Lorraine and King John[Pg 50] would give from Mount Kahlenberg to indicate the beginning of the attack. Count Starhemberg was to make a sortie at the same time.

The battle took place September 12, and thanks to the magnificent generalship of King John, the Turks were routed. The Poles here rendered a never-to-be-forgotten service to all Christendom. The Turkish invaders fled, leaving 25,000 tents, 10,000 oxen, 5,000 camels, 100,000 bushels of grain, a great quantity of gold, and many sacks filled with coffee—at that time unknown in Vienna. The booty was distributed; but no one wanted the coffee. They did not know what to do with it; that is, no one except Kolschitzky. He said, "If nobody wants those sacks, I will take them", and every one was heartily glad to be rid of the strange beans. But Kolschitzky knew what he was about, and he soon taught the Viennese the art of preparing coffee. Later, he established the first public booth where Turkish coffee was served in Vienna.

This, then, is the story of how coffee was introduced into Vienna, where was developed that typical Vienna café which has become a model for a large part of the world. Kolschitzky is honored in Vienna as the patron saint of coffee houses. His followers, united in the guild of coffee makers (kaffee-sieder), even erected a statue in his honor. It still stands as part of the facade of a house where the Kolschitzygasse merges into the Favoritengasse, as shown in the accompanying picture.

Quote from: dragoner;789563Commodities bubbles, that's exciting game stuff.