Category: Adventure Hooks

Adventures, characters and news stories to get the creative juices flowing!

Hattuşaş, Hittite Empire

On: By: Romeyn

Hattuşaş was the capital of the Hittite empire from 2000 to 1180 BC. Today, impressive double walls, which are situated by the King’s Gate,the Lion Gate, the Sphinx Gate and the Yer Kapi (an underground tunnel), circle its ruins. The largest ruins are those of the great temple of the storm god Tesup.

Sphinx Gate – A pair of sphinxes found at the southern gate in Hattusa were taken for restoration to Germany in 1917. The better-preserved sphinx was returned to Istanbul in 1924 and was placed on display in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, whereas the other remained in Germany and had been on display at the Pergamon Museum since 1934. The pair were finally reunited in 2011.
(Image: Shutterstock)

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Ghost Ship of the Arctic, 1931-????

On: By: Romeyn


S.S. Baychimo in ice.

Captain Cornwell

As we go to press, the S.S. Baychimo is fast in the ice off Franklin Point on the northwest coast of Alaska, not far from Point Barrow, the northernmost tip of the mainland of this continent. She is expected to remain there until the ice goes out late next summer. Continue reading “Ghost Ship of the Arctic, 1931-????” →

Waldorf-Astoria, 1931

On: By: Romeyn

The original Waldorf Hotel was built on the site of millionaire William Waldorf Astor’s mansion at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street. The 13-story hotel opened on 13 March 1893. Four years later, Waldorf’s cousin, John Jacob Astor IV, erected the 17-story Astoria Hotel on an adjacent site. John Jacob Astor IV died on the Titanic on 15 April 1912. William Waldorf Astoria, having returned to England in 1893, died 18 October 1919.

In 1929, the owners decided to tear down the original building due to it becoming dated and the draining of its revenues caused by Prohibition. The site was sold to the developers of what would become the Empire State Building. The current location on Park Avenue opened on October 1st, 1931 as the tallest and largest hotel in the world. (Hilton.com)

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Cowboys vs. Martians

On: By: Romeyn

No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own. – H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds

April, 17th, 1897, one year before HG Wells publishes War of the Worlds, a story of a “Martian” craft crashing in Aurora, Texas was published in the Dallas Morning News.

“A Windmill Demolishes It,” by S. E. Haydon, The Dallas Morning News, April 19, 1897, p. 5 Continue reading “Cowboys vs. Martians” →

Here there be Giants!

On: By: Romeyn

The Red Haired Giants of Lovelock Cave, Nevada


Giant mummy found in Lovelock cave (below). The Paiute tribe found in the Nevada region have an ancient legend of the Si-Te-Cah (or Tule-eaters), a race of red-haired cannibalistic giants. In 1886, a mining engineer named John T. Reid heard the tale and begane to investigate, however news traveled quickly that the cave was also full of bat guano, a key component for gunpowder and ladies cosmetics.

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Iron Whale, 1933

On: By: Romeyn

Iron Whale Swims Ocean Bottom Like Fish

Denizens in the ocean depths may soon find prowling among their haunts a huge iron monster swimming with fishlike motions and bearing a close resemblance to themselves. This strange monster is to be built from plans devised by Herr Schiff, a German engineer, who has already constructed a workable model for his astounding brainchild, which is shown in accompanying photos. The curious undersea craft is equipped with two fins and a tail which operate in the same manner as do these elements of a live fish. Intended chiefly for the exploration of the ocean bottom, the ship is said to be capable of maneuvering with all the flexibility of its fleshy prototype. Two electric eyes placed in the head for observation purposes make the resemblance to a sea serpent more complete. The craft was designed and constructed after an extensive study of the swimming motions of many types of fish, particularly the larger sharks and whales. (Illustration by Norman Saunders)