Quest Log # 7

Date: January 21, 2007	Time: 6:50pm-7:50pm CST	Degrees Earned: TBD *
Table: Solar Rise		Quest: 17. Botanical Benifits
Mutations: Mutations Mate: 20. Pirates of Plunder
Deviations: -
Tablemaster: Rahsa
Inner Circle Members: Bubz (Plymouth, WI), Julie, Monica, and Ouija (Aurora, IL), Rahsa and Big Cheddar (Wasilla, AK)

Quest Summary: Batz and Mutant 13 had left for the night and the rest of us decided to try another HOQ. For the first time ever Rahsa was Table Master. Since we were doing this quest together on-line we decided that we would each pick a plant to research and write a short report about. We posted these reports at the Morton's List: Global Inner Circle website, http://icp.meetup.com/753/

I went to the grocery store to purchase and research Star Fruit. Very, very tasty! The other Inner Circle members researched the following plants: Big Cheddar, Sage; Rahsa, Salvia; Ouija, Saguaro Cactus; Monica, Algae; and Julie, Marijuana. We each learned quite a lot about these plants during the quest. A copy of my report is below. Due to the fact that we didn't have to leave our homes during this quest we were not able to actually plunder anything. When I went out to buy the star fruit I forgot about the Mutation. I did, however, end up with plastic bags that I didn't really need.

The Carambola, commonly known as Star Fruit, is distinguished by it's waxy yellow color and five pointed star shaped cross section. It is originally from Sri Lanka and has gained popularity in the Americas. It has a taste that is a combination of pineapple, plum, and lemon. It doesn't contain any large seeds so it can be eaten as is after washing. I think it is a very tasty fruit. It is also low on calories, only 40 per 125 grams.

* Note that I will not be accepting degrees for this quest until I have gotten the required signatures that I need.

Quest Log # 6

Date: January 21, 2007	Time: 3:50pm-4:50pm CST	Degrees Earned: TBD *
Table: Lore Galore		Quest: 9. Whodunit?
Mutations: -
Deviations: -
Tablemaster: Bubz
Inner Circle Members: Bubz (Plymouth, WI), Julie, Monica, and Ouija (Aurora, IL), Batz and Mutant 13 (Knoxville, TN), Rahsa and Big Cheddar (Wasilla, AK)

Quest Summary: We all gathered together in the Horde chat room for a scheduled event affectionately known as the Horde On-line Quest, HOQ. After I won the Table Master roll-off I started out on Morton's List: Revised from 360° and rolled 10 Lore Galore. Then on Lore Galore I rolled 9. Whodunit? Ouija successfully tried to Influence his Second-Calling power but Mutant 13 blocked it with a successful Negate.

So Whodunit? was our quest. After some deliberations during the Winds of Change we settled on doing several on-line mystery games. First we had to escape from the Crimson Room at http://www.fasco-csc.com/works/crimson/crimson_e.php We gave each other help finding the clues we needed to escape from this crimson colored prison. Then we also tried out the free on-line mystery Murder Without Escape at http://www.murdermysterygames.co.uk/online/suspicionofmurder.htm Ouija was the only one able to solve this mystery as he was able to continue with it after the hour was up. I tried but wasn't able to continue due to the page not being entirely compatible with my web browser. All-in-all I think we all appreciated the challenge of a good mystery.

* Note that I will not be accepting degrees for this quest until I have gotten the required signatures that I need.

Quest Log # 5

Date: January 1, 2007	Time: 3:57am-4:57am CST	Degrees Earned: 2
Table: Solar Rise		Quest: 19. Slakin'
Mutations: -
Deviations: -
Tablemaster: Bubz
Inner Circle Members: Bubz, Julie, Monica, Ouija, Ty

Quest Summary: Karma was shining on me during the Tablemaster roll off. I opened up 360° and rolled 15. Mountain and then 24. International Sports. Ouija made two successful PSR's and Influenced a Second Calling. I rerolled on Mountain and received 16. Ariel Adrenaline. After some ill advised suggestions from the Inner Circle and contemplation on my part I deemed this quest to be impractical due to the late hour (sky diving can't be done at night) and lack of equipment to safely conduct the quest in other manners. Postponing the quest was out of the question as we did not know when we'd all be able to meet again. So I went back to Morton's List Revised and rerolled again. A 5. Solar Rise and we had 19. Slackin'.
I decided that we should be as Slothful as possible while doing this quest. After some relaxing conversation and consumption of beverages the Inner Circle soon was ready to retire for the night by the time I called end time.

Quest Log # 4

Date: January 1, 2007	Time: 1:15am-3:30am CST	Degrees Earned: 1
Table: Cosmic Law		Quest: 6. Enforce the Law
Mutations: -
Deviations: -
Tablemaster: Ouija
Inner Circle Members: Bubz, Julie, Monica, Ouija, Ty

Quest Summary: The previous night's Flight of the Crow long since banished we decided to try rolling again. This time Ouija was Tablemaster and a Karmic Gathering was in order. This entailed consumption of intoxicating beverages and other substances that will remain unnamed. Karmic Gathering completed Ouija opened up 360° of the Inner Circle to Morton's List Revised and rolled a 16. Mountain. He wasn't feeling this so after a successful Power Strength Roll he did a Boulder Shift, 7. Cosmic Law. Then 11. Backyard Games was rolled. Having previously done this quest he did another PSR and used his Second Calling power. Finally we had our quest 6. Enforce the Law.
Due to our intoxicated state we decided that we should not do anything that might require us to contact law enforcement officials. One of the suggestions listed in the book was to contact McGruff the Crime Dog. Taking this cue we visited McGruff's website, http://www.mcgruff.org/. We sent him an email requesting Crime Fighting supplies. I wanted Judge Dredd costumes. This had me and Ouija cracking up but was not used in the email. After this Ouija decided that we should each take turns giving short speeches about what laws we believe should be more strictly enforced and what laws should be changed or made to improve existing enforcement. Ty wanted littering laws enforced. I spoke of improvements needed to enforce handwashing in public restrooms. Julie wanted loitering laws enforced, passing lanes on highways to be only for passing, and people to have license's to become parents. Ouija wanted shoplifting laws more strictly enforced and semi-truck to stay in the slow lanes. Monica wanted 1st degree murder, and Affirmative Action enforced.

Quest Log # 3

Date: December 31, 2006	Time: 2:54am CST	Degrees Earned: 0
Table: -		Quest: Flight of the Crow
Mutations: -
Deviations: -
Tablemaster: Julie Ullyott
Inner Circle Members: Bubz, Julie, Monica, Ouija, Ty

Quest Summary: I had gone down to Aurora, IL for the New Years weekend to visit Ouija and Monica. Ty had also come down for the weekend. We went into downtown Chicago on the train to go bar hopping for the night. From Union Station the first bar we went to was Elephant and Castle, a very nice Cheers-like pub and grill with beautiful dark wood bar and paneling. That is where we met Julie. Julie was passing through Chicago on her way to visit colleges in Pennsylvania and New York. She was traveling by herself with all of her earthly possessions in her truck and trailer. We welcomed her to come along bar hopping with us. We went to a cool blues bar called the Red Fish, only a block from the House of Blues. After that we stopped at a dive just down the street. It was there that we started explaining Morton's List to her. Since she didn't have a hotel room she decided to come back with us to stay the night. Ouija, Ty, and I took the train back while Monica rode with Julie in her truck. When we got back we convinced Julie to play a game of Morton's List with us. After an intense round of rolling Julie was made Tablemaster. Unfortunately she rolled a 13 to give us a Flight of the Crow. Not to be detirred by this we decided play a special game of dominos. While we were rolling for Tablemaster the alarm at the car wash across the street went off. Perhaps a forshadowing of the dangers we would have faced had Julie not rolled the Flight of the Crow. A long and exciting night was had by all in any event so the 13 was certainly no harm.

Quest Log # 2

Date: December 16, 2006	Time: 8:59pm-10:07pm CST	Degrees Earned: 0
Table: "I'm Neutral"		Quest: 9. Dead Acres
Mutations: 12. The Silent Ones
Deviations: 23. Madcap Mutations
Tablemaster: Robert Bub
Inner Circle Members: Robert Bub

Quest Summary: Once again that night after taking the Oath I began rolling on standard Morton's List. 1. Gateway was rolled! Unfortunately the subsequent quest options (Nightscape 14. Dancing Lights, Mountain 8. Sink or Swim, and Chaos 20. Anarchy On Wheels) had to be deemed impractical. I chose to start over from Morton's List. 27. Deviations and a 30. The Window gave me the following Deviation options after rolling a 24. 23. Madcap Mutations, 24. Endangered Species, and 25. Midnight Sun. I chose 23. Madcap Mutations in order to gain a Mutation. Rolling on Mutations netted 12. The Silent Ones a mutation that could have been a problem if a socially oriented quest was rolled. Fortunately after going to Echo's List I rolled a 14 to land on "I'm Neutral" and a 9. Dead Acres.

During the Winds of Change I decided to visit the Union Cemetery. However upon reaching the cemetery I soon learned how difficult it is to visit one at night. No undead accosted me but the lack of lights made walking around just as dangerous. Tripping over a gravestone was something I wanted to avoid. Lacking a flashlight I felt a change in plans was necessary. Due to the lateness of the hour and the restrictions of the silence imposed by the mutation I decided to walk the streets of my hometown, Plymouth, contemplating the death of all kinds that had occurred there over the years. It was certainly a frightening prospect. The hospital, nursing homes, private homes, businesses (including the local McDonalds) had all seen it's share of death. How many have died on the streets, and what about the non-humans? Birth, death and rebirth surround us everywhere we go.

Quest Log # 1

Date: December 16, 2006	Time: 6:50pm-8:23pm CST	Degrees Earned: 0
Table: Yang of the Sky		Quest: 8. Beautify
Mutations: -
Deviations: 15. Loophole
Tablemaster: Robert Bub
Inner Circle Members: Robert Bub

Quest Summary: After learning about what went down at the Octoberlist Karmic Gathering I decided that I would get back into the List after over a year in hiatus. I polished off an idea for a Mystery Quest that I had been sitting on for almost two years. I finished that off the very night the December issue of Radius was released, Dec 12, 2006. I guess it was released early to make sure the global Inner Circle saw it the next day on December 13th. Anyway, the Radius and the Mystery Quest I wrote and submitted to Radius is another story entirely. I decided that night to go ahead with starting this new blog and quest journal. I waited until Saturday December 16th because I wanted time to prepare and I needed my paycheck on Friday.

Another Saturday night and I was wholly and truly Buh-or-red with a capital Buh! I had spent all day cleaning my room. It was time for a break. Not being socially inclined that night, and unbeknownst to me the Questing Across America event, hosted by Mutant XIII AKA Brad Luttrell, already was taking place, I decided to pull out my well used copy of Morton's List and my video camera to record my solo quest.

After setting up my camera to record the Boulder rolls I gave my Oath, "I, Robert Bub, submit to that which cannot be controlled." Starting at the standard Morton's List I rolled a 26 to give me a Deviation. On Deviations I rolled 15. Loophole which sent me to the Shadow List. From Shadow List I rolled 3, Yang of the Sky and subsequently an 8 was rolled to give me 8. Beautify.

During the Winds of Change I decided to make my bed, the one thing I hadn't done while cleaning my room, and to straighten out my parents attic. I recorded the bed making on video and got some before, during, and after footage of the attic cleaning. Due to the majority of the items cluttering the attic not belonging to me I could only organize chaos as it were. The attic was in quite a disarray. It was nearly impossible to walk around in the two room attic. Fortunately I had gotten a head start on it the week before. I had already organized items I was storing up there into one half of one room. The rest of the attic was occupied by things my Mom was saving. I rearranged some furniture and many boxes of memories. Old photos of my childhood and my parents old eight-track and vinyl record console stereo system were highlights of this excursion. Although nothing injury inducing had to be moved I did get quite a workout and spent more than an hour-and-a-half on this quest.

Welcome To The Troll's Den

Welcome to the new and improved Troll's Den, the on-line Morton's List quest journal of Robert Bub a.k.a. Bubz The Troll. This blog represents many new things to me. A little bit if sneaking and snaking netted me the nifty background you see displayed, the official Morton's List wallpaper. That combined with the newest features of Blogger.com, a little help from an HTML 4 guidebook, and some Ninja magic skills brings you the fresh new layout of The Troll's Den.

This blog also represents my rebirth into the world of Morton's List. After more than a year of contemplation I have decided to strip myself of the one-hundred eighty-eight degrees I've received over the course of one-hundred nineteen quests and one-and-a-half years between May 17, 2003 and November 20, 2004. No longer am I a Rainbow Dragon Maven. Yet I am more than a Fresh Karma.

Far too many of the quests that I had recorded had little or no description of the how the quest went. It became clear to me after reading through my entries that I had not been putting forth the effort to earn all of the degrees that I received. Though a number of quests were properly and clearly documented. Far too many must have been the result of worrying too much about getting degrees and not putting enough effort into the quest.

I, Robert Bub, vow, from now on, to put forth maximum effort each time I play Morton's List. As often as possible I will record the quests on video to ensure proper documentation of each quest I participate in.