Richard III: DNA confirms twisted bones belong to king | UK news | guardian.co.uk

Richard III: DNA confirms twisted bones belong to king

Skeleton found beneath Leicester car park confirmed as that of Richard III, as work begins on new tomb near excavation site

• Read the latest on the discovery here

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• • Maev Kennedy
  • guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 February 2013 08.50 EST
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Link to video: Richard III: bones found beneath Leicester car park do belong to kingNot just the identity of the man in the car park with the twisted spine, but the appalling last moments and humiliating treatment of the naked body of Richard III in the hours after his death have been revealed at an extraordinary press conference at Leicester University.
There were cheers when Richard Buckley, lead archaeologist on the hunt for the king's body, finally announced that the university team was convinced "beyond reasonable doubt" that it had found the last Plantagenet king, bent by scoliosis of the spine, and twisted further to fit into a hastily dug hole in Grey Friars church, which was slightly too small to hold his body.
Grey Friars car park, Leicester, where the remains of King Richard III were found. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters But by then it was clear the evidence was overwhelming, as the scientists who carried out the DNA tests, those who created the computer-imaging technology to peer on to and into the bones in raking detail, the genealogists who found a distant descendant with matching DNA, and the academics who scoured contemporary texts for accounts of the king's death and burial, outlined their findings.
"What a morning. What a story," said Philippa Langley, of the Richard III Society. She had been driving on the project for years, in the face of incredulity from many people, and finding funds from Ricardians all over the world when it looked as if the money would run out before the excavation had even begun.
Canadian-born Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard III's eldest sister, Anne of York, uses an oral swab to give a DNA sample to researchers. Photograph: Colin Brooks/AFP/Getty Images Work has started on designing a new tomb in the cathedral, only 100 yards from the excavation site, and Canon David Monteith said a solemn multifaith ceremony would be held to lay him into his new grave there, probably next year. Leicester's museums service is working on plans for a new visitor centre in an old school building overlooking the site.
Richard died at Bosworth on 22 August 1485, the last English king to fall in battle, and the researchers revealed how for the first time. There was an audible intake of breath as a slide came up showing the base of his skull sliced off by one terrible blow, believed to be from a halberd, a fearsome medieval battle weapon with a razor-sharp iron axe blade weighing about two kilos, mounted on a wooden pole, which was swung at Richard at very close range. The blade probably penetrated several centimetres into his brain and, said the human bones expert Jo Appleby, he would have been unconscious at once and dead almost as soon.
The skull of Richard III. Injuries to the skeleton appear to confirm contemporary accounts that the king died in battle. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images The injury appears to confirm contemporary accounts that he died in close combat in the thick of the battle and unhorsed – as in the great despairing cry Shakespeare gives him: "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"
Another sword slash, which also went through the bone and into the brain, would also have proved fatal. But many of the other injuries were after death, suggesting a gruesome ritual on the battlefield and as the king's body was brought back to Leicester, as he was stripped, mocked and mutilated – which would have revealed for the first time to any but his closest intimates the twisted back, a condition from an unknown cause, which began to contort his body from the age of about 10. By the time he died he would have stood inches shorter than his true height of 5' 8", tall for a medieval man. The bones were those of an unusually slight, delicately built man – Appleby described him as having an "almost feminine" build – which also matches contemporary descriptions.
Jo Appleby, a lecturer in human bioarchaeology at the University of Leicester, who led the exhumation, is hugged by Prof Lin Foxhall. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA One terrible injury, a stab through the right buttock and into his pelvis, was certainly after death, and could not have happened when his lower body was protected by armour. It suggests the story that his naked corpse was brought back slung over the pommel of a horse, mocked and abused all the way, was true. Bob Savage, a medieval arms expert from the Royal Armouries who helped identify the wounds, said it was probably not a war weapon, but the sort of sharp knife or dagger any workman might have carried.
Michael Ibsen, the Canadian-born furniture maker proved as the descendant of Richard's sister, heard the confirmation on Sunday and listened to the unfolding evidence in shocked silence. "My head is no clearer now than when I first heard the news," he said. "Many, many hundreds of people died on that field that day. He was a king, but just one of the dead. He lived in very violent times, and these deaths would not have been pretty or quick."
It was Mathew Morris who first uncovered the body, in the first hour of the first day of the excavation. He did not believe he had found the king. The mechanical digger was still chewing the tarmac off the council car park, identified by years of research by local historians and the Richard III Society as the probable site of the lost church of Grey Friars, whose priests bravely claimed the body of the king and buried him in a hastily dug grave, probably still naked, but in a position of honour near the high altar of their church. The leg bones just showing through the soil were covered up again.
Sir Laurence Olivier as Richard III. The actor also directed the 1955 film. Photograph: The Criterion Collection/Sportsphoto/Allstar Ten days later, on 5 September, when further excavation proved Morris had hit the crucial spot at the edge of the choir in the church, he returned with Lin Foxhall, head of the archaeology department, and Appleby, swathed in crime scene overalls to prevent contamination, to excavate the body. "We did it the usual way, lifting the arms, legs and skull first, and proceeding gradually towards the torso – so it was only when we finally saw the twisted spine that I thought: 'My word, I think we've got him.'"
Turi King, leader of the DNA team, said she completed her work confirming the mitochondrial DNA match only on Saturday night, and there is more work to be done on the Y chromosome through the male line.
The complete skeleton showing the curved spine of Richard III, who was killed in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Photograph: EPA As far as Langley is concerned, Richard was the true king, the last king of the north, a worthy and brave leader who became a victim of some of the most brilliant propaganda in history, in the hands of the Tudors' image-maker, Shakespeare.
Foxhall quoted one contemporary description of Richard as "slight in body and weak in strength … to his last breath he held himself nobly in a defending manner".
A painting of King Richard III by an unknown artist is displayed in the National Portrait Gallery in central London. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images There remains the dark shadow of the little princes in the tower, an infamous story even in Richard's day: the child Edward V and his brother Richard, declared illegitimate when Richard III claimed the throne, imprisoned in the Tower of London and never seen alive again. King said that although it is by no means certain that the bones claimed found at the tower centuries later were theirs, there may be more DNA detective work to be done there.
"I'm a medievalist really," Morris said. "I don't go much for the Tudors. Even if Richard did kill the princes in the tower, you have to judge him by the standards of his day – no other medieval king would have taken the risk of leaving them alive."

Richard III: DNA confirms twisted bones belong to king | UK news | guardian.co.uk

Richard III: DNA confirms twisted bones belong to king

Skeleton found beneath Leicester car park confirmed as that of Richard III, as work begins on new tomb near excavation site

• Read the latest on the discovery here

• Share2901
• inShare6
• Email

• 
• • Maev Kennedy
  • guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 February 2013 08.50 EST
  • Jump to comments (248)

Link to video: Richard III: bones found beneath Leicester car park do belong to kingNot just the identity of the man in the car park with the twisted spine, but the appalling last moments and humiliating treatment of the naked body of Richard III in the hours after his death have been revealed at an extraordinary press conference at Leicester University.
There were cheers when Richard Buckley, lead archaeologist on the hunt for the king's body, finally announced that the university team was convinced "beyond reasonable doubt" that it had found the last Plantagenet king, bent by scoliosis of the spine, and twisted further to fit into a hastily dug hole in Grey Friars church, which was slightly too small to hold his body.
Grey Friars car park, Leicester, where the remains of King Richard III were found. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters But by then it was clear the evidence was overwhelming, as the scientists who carried out the DNA tests, those who created the computer-imaging technology to peer on to and into the bones in raking detail, the genealogists who found a distant descendant with matching DNA, and the academics who scoured contemporary texts for accounts of the king's death and burial, outlined their findings.
"What a morning. What a story," said Philippa Langley, of the Richard III Society. She had been driving on the project for years, in the face of incredulity from many people, and finding funds from Ricardians all over the world when it looked as if the money would run out before the excavation had even begun.
Canadian-born Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard III's eldest sister, Anne of York, uses an oral swab to give a DNA sample to researchers. Photograph: Colin Brooks/AFP/Getty Images Work has started on designing a new tomb in the cathedral, only 100 yards from the excavation site, and Canon David Monteith said a solemn multifaith ceremony would be held to lay him into his new grave there, probably next year. Leicester's museums service is working on plans for a new visitor centre in an old school building overlooking the site.
Richard died at Bosworth on 22 August 1485, the last English king to fall in battle, and the researchers revealed how for the first time. There was an audible intake of breath as a slide came up showing the base of his skull sliced off by one terrible blow, believed to be from a halberd, a fearsome medieval battle weapon with a razor-sharp iron axe blade weighing about two kilos, mounted on a wooden pole, which was swung at Richard at very close range. The blade probably penetrated several centimetres into his brain and, said the human bones expert Jo Appleby, he would have been unconscious at once and dead almost as soon.
The skull of Richard III. Injuries to the skeleton appear to confirm contemporary accounts that the king died in battle. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images The injury appears to confirm contemporary accounts that he died in close combat in the thick of the battle and unhorsed – as in the great despairing cry Shakespeare gives him: "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"
Another sword slash, which also went through the bone and into the brain, would also have proved fatal. But many of the other injuries were after death, suggesting a gruesome ritual on the battlefield and as the king's body was brought back to Leicester, as he was stripped, mocked and mutilated – which would have revealed for the first time to any but his closest intimates the twisted back, a condition from an unknown cause, which began to contort his body from the age of about 10. By the time he died he would have stood inches shorter than his true height of 5' 8", tall for a medieval man. The bones were those of an unusually slight, delicately built man – Appleby described him as having an "almost feminine" build – which also matches contemporary descriptions.
Jo Appleby, a lecturer in human bioarchaeology at the University of Leicester, who led the exhumation, is hugged by Prof Lin Foxhall. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA One terrible injury, a stab through the right buttock and into his pelvis, was certainly after death, and could not have happened when his lower body was protected by armour. It suggests the story that his naked corpse was brought back slung over the pommel of a horse, mocked and abused all the way, was true. Bob Savage, a medieval arms expert from the Royal Armouries who helped identify the wounds, said it was probably not a war weapon, but the sort of sharp knife or dagger any workman might have carried.
Michael Ibsen, the Canadian-born furniture maker proved as the descendant of Richard's sister, heard the confirmation on Sunday and listened to the unfolding evidence in shocked silence. "My head is no clearer now than when I first heard the news," he said. "Many, many hundreds of people died on that field that day. He was a king, but just one of the dead. He lived in very violent times, and these deaths would not have been pretty or quick."
It was Mathew Morris who first uncovered the body, in the first hour of the first day of the excavation. He did not believe he had found the king. The mechanical digger was still chewing the tarmac off the council car park, identified by years of research by local historians and the Richard III Society as the probable site of the lost church of Grey Friars, whose priests bravely claimed the body of the king and buried him in a hastily dug grave, probably still naked, but in a position of honour near the high altar of their church. The leg bones just showing through the soil were covered up again.
Sir Laurence Olivier as Richard III. The actor also directed the 1955 film. Photograph: The Criterion Collection/Sportsphoto/Allstar Ten days later, on 5 September, when further excavation proved Morris had hit the crucial spot at the edge of the choir in the church, he returned with Lin Foxhall, head of the archaeology department, and Appleby, swathed in crime scene overalls to prevent contamination, to excavate the body. "We did it the usual way, lifting the arms, legs and skull first, and proceeding gradually towards the torso – so it was only when we finally saw the twisted spine that I thought: 'My word, I think we've got him.'"
Turi King, leader of the DNA team, said she completed her work confirming the mitochondrial DNA match only on Saturday night, and there is more work to be done on the Y chromosome through the male line.
The complete skeleton showing the curved spine of Richard III, who was killed in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Photograph: EPA As far as Langley is concerned, Richard was the true king, the last king of the north, a worthy and brave leader who became a victim of some of the most brilliant propaganda in history, in the hands of the Tudors' image-maker, Shakespeare.
Foxhall quoted one contemporary description of Richard as "slight in body and weak in strength … to his last breath he held himself nobly in a defending manner".
A painting of King Richard III by an unknown artist is displayed in the National Portrait Gallery in central London. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images There remains the dark shadow of the little princes in the tower, an infamous story even in Richard's day: the child Edward V and his brother Richard, declared illegitimate when Richard III claimed the throne, imprisoned in the Tower of London and never seen alive again. King said that although it is by no means certain that the bones claimed found at the tower centuries later were theirs, there may be more DNA detective work to be done there.
"I'm a medievalist really," Morris said. "I don't go much for the Tudors. Even if Richard did kill the princes in the tower, you have to judge him by the standards of his day – no other medieval king would have taken the risk of leaving them alive."

Dealing with our Inner-Demons: Chatty DM talks to Ryan Macklin

Palladium Books® Weekly Update – January 31, 2013

Palladium Books® Weekly Update – January 31, 2013

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By Kevin Siembieda

It has been a busy week of mixed activity and results. I’ve done a good amount of writing and I’m very satisfied with it. I think you guys and gals will love what we have in store for you. I just wish we were moving even faster on all fronts.
I haven’t been posting a lot because we’ve all been very busy with a number of projects and assignments. Excitement continues to run high. If I don’t sound really up, it’s because my focus is on finishing books and I’m a bit distracted.

UPDATE: Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook

Everyone who has seen even a sliver of this book has gone wild over what they’ve seen. As in, “Wow, the book is worth it for this alone.” Chuck Walton was the latest to ooh and ah when he turned in his art for the Werejaguars. He loved the ideas behind the Bone Werejaguars and their bone magic, as well as Soulcraft Magic, Dark Weapons and, well, everything. He really got excited when he learned about my plans for Doc Reid and Reid’s Rangers. It’s inspiring when I get such positive reactions like that, because it confirms I’m on the right track. Chuck spent 5 hours at the office working on art for the Vampires book and Northern Gun. I want Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook to blow people away. See the full description elsewhere in this Update.

Rifts® World Book 25: Rifts® China 2 – Coming back in print next week

Rifts® China 2 is at the printer and will be available as a short printing by Wednesday, February 6th. This is another fun world book with a wide range of source material by the late, great, Erick Wujcik. There new martial arts and dozens of Martial Arts Powers, magic weapons, the Celestial Court, the high-tech Geofront, and a wide range of unique O.C.C.s like the Demon Queller, Enlightened Demon (yes, as a player character), Goblin Wrangler, Blind Mystic, Soothsayer, Chi-Gun Seng Ren Monk, and other goodies. I’m glad this book is coming back in print. It was one of the last things Erick wrote for Palladium and is outstanding. See the full description elsewhere.

Rifts® Aftermath – Available now

Rifts® Aftermath arrived as a short printing on Tuesday, January 29^th, just as we had announced. Those of you who had orders with us, your books are on the way. Rifts® Aftermath is packed with setting information and adventure ideas for Rifts North America and Rifts Earth in general. See the full description elsewhere.

UPDATE: More Titles Are Coming Back in Print

The next book going in to reprint is Rifts® Lone Star, to be followed by Adventures on the High Seas™ for Palladium Fantasy®, Chaos Earth™: Rise of Magic™, and other titles in the weeks ahead.

UPDATE: The Rifter® #61 – Available Now!

People are liking The Rifter® #61, available now. It is another fun, source material packed issue for a wide range of world settings, including Heroes Unlimited™, After the Bomb®, Rifts®, Phase World® and the Three Galaxies™, and others. If it’s time to renew your Rifter® subscription, or if you’ve been thinking about starting a subscription, this is the time to do it – during our Rifter® Super-Subscription Drive, going on for the next few weeks.

The Rifter® Super-Subscription Drive – Low Price – Free Gift – Offer Ends February 20, 2013

FREE gift when you subscribe now. We make this offer once a year, for a limited time, so you only have till February 20, 2013, to renew your subscription – or to start one – at a discount, plus you get a FREE gift and, in the USA, Palladium pays for the shipping of each issue of The Rifter®. See the full description elsewhere in this Update and in the online store. Don’t miss out. And don’t wait till the last minute.

UPDATE: The Rifter® #61 Sneak Preview is now available on DriveThruRPG.com

The Rifter® #61 preview is available now. Enjoy. A FREE Sneak Preview of Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook is next. There are already a number of Sneak Previews of other popular books including Rifts® Black Market and Rifts® Lemuria, among others.
DriveThruRPG.com is also your place to get PDFs of older products as well as sneak previews of upcoming books. Many back issues of The Rifter® are available on DriveThruRPG.com (issues #1-52), as are more than 90 out of print titles such as Rifts®, BTS™ and Palladium Fantasy® first edition rule books and sourcebooks. There are some currently available titles too, like the Splicers® RPG, The Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy and other good stuff. And we have not forgotten about the PDF only editions of The Rifter® #0.1 and The Rifter® #0.2 – both are big, juicy digital editions of new, fan created material for the Palladium Megaverse® of games.
DriveThruRPG.com also offers the Rifts® and Palladium Fantasy® Game Master Kits ($5 each; both written by Carl Gleba and complete with maps, combat matrix, character sheets, spell list, and 20 pre-rolled characters created by Julius Rosenstein). Of course, there are FREE Sneak Previews of Endless Dead™, Rifts® Lemuria, Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms™, and Thundercloud Galaxy™, as well as 90+ out of print titles, including back issues of The Rifter®, and first edition rule books for Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited™, The Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy, and lots of other good things. ALL available as PDF downloads at reasonable prices. And there is MORE to come.

UPDATE: Northern Gun™ One

I met with Chuck Walton this week and we roughed out the designs for the latest two NG robots. Man, his work is excellent. The two Northern Gun books are going to be epic. Some of the O.C.C. art has started to come in as well.

UPDATE: Robotech® UEEF Marines™ Sourcebook One

I’ve got artists lining up to work on this book already. Should get the finished manuscript anytime now, though I told the author to take an extra week or so if he felt he needed or wanted it.

UPDATE: Robotech® RPG Tactics™

There continues be a lot of exciting activity on Robotech® RPG Tactics™: Defense of Macross Island™ as it is in full-scale development. I’ll know more after my telephone conversation tomorrow with the Creative Director on the project. The 3D sculpt for the Zentraedi Regult Tactical Battlepod came in this week. Niiiice. As I said, all the key people involved on this project are, themselves, Robotech® fans and we want to make a beautiful and fun game that will thrill Robotech® fans everywhere.

UPDATE: Mike Mumah

Mike is doing well with physical therapy and is at a rehab facility where he’ll be receiving speech and physical therapy. We will keep you posted on developments. Mike remains in our prayers and we all continue to wish him and his family well. It is odd not getting emails and telephone calls from that big lug. We miss you Mike, hang in there.

That’s the news for now. Our top priority is finishing Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook and moving on to the NG books. Keep those imaginations burning bright and game on.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer and Gamer

Rifts® World Book 25: Rifts® China 2 – Back in print

At the printer. Available to ship next week as a special short printing. This book has it all! Martial arts, wondrous mystic martial art powers, Chi channeling, Chi powers, Chi weapons, magic items, and a lot of special abilities and powers that will blow your mind! Plus, great warriors, demon hunters and their tricks of the trade, blind mystics, fortune tellers, Spirit Hosts (half-man and half-animal spirit), Enlightened Demons (as player characters!), and heroes, powers and special abilities galore.
For you high-tech junkies, there are wonders from Geofront with things like Demon Skin body armor, the Gun Dragon, Black Tiger power armor, high-powered weapons, select vehicles, the Demon Eater and Assault Geo-Borgs and the incomparable Gun Master. Rifts® China One set the stage, presented the nefarious Yama Kings and their demonic henchmen. Rifts® China Two presents the heroes out to stop them.

• 12 Mystic Martial Art Powers – fighting arts in and of themselves, plus sub-powers.
• 10 Mystical or Martial Arts O.C.C.s, P.C.C.s and the Enlighented Demon R.C.C. – Celestial Warriors, Fighting Monks, Soothsayers, the Great Demon Catching Hero, Goblin Wrangler, Blind Mystic, Spirit Host, Gun Master, and more. Many with an array of special powers and abilities in addition to Martial Arts.
• 9 Geofront O.C.C.s including the Gun Master, Geo-Borg, Metal Warrior and others.
• Channeling and using Chi, Chi Weapons, Chi Sight and many other powers.
• Demon Queller weapons and magical demon-binding items.
• Geofront: China’s secret high-tech nation and their plans to battle the Yama Kings.
• Geofront weapons, power armor, gear, and Military O.C.C.s; including the Gun Master.
• Written by Erick Wujcik. Additional text and ideas by Siembieda.
• 160 pages – $20.95 – Cat. No. 858. At the printer. Ships February 6, 2013.

Rifts® Aftermath – Back in Print – Available now

This world-spanning sourcebook examines the changing landscape of North America and the rest of the planet in the aftermath of the Coalition’s Siege on Tolkeen. Somehow, North America seems to be more dangerous than ever before, and things are about to get worse.
The Coalition Army continues its occupation of Tolkeen, the fallen Kingdom of Magic, bulldozing the cities, flushing out resistance fighters and capturing its secrets. The CS intends to wipe the Kingdom of Tolkeen from existence, and use its secrets of magic as bait to lure out other enemy forces and destroy other enemies of the CS. However, the Coalition’s war has stretched the nation thin, and the CS must worry about other rivals and adversaries.

• A sweeping overview of North America and the world, 109 P.A., after the fall of Tolkeen.
• The Coalition’s plans for domination and its war on magic.
• Coalition Magic Recovery Teams and the race for magic and secrets.
• Coalition bounties on war criminals and the fate of refugees.
• Tolkeen Resistance Fighters, their strategies and rescue operations.
• The Second Juicer Uprising!
• Demons, monsters and Iron Juggernauts run amok.
• Archie Three, the Federation of Magic, the Dark Woods and beyond.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda. Art by Wilson, Williams, Perez and others.
• 208 pages – $24.95 – Cat. No. 846. Available now.

The Rifter® #61 – Available Now

The Rifter® is an idea factory that helps players and Game Masters to generate new ideas and keep their games fresh. It provides useful, ready to go, source material gamers can just drop into their ongoing games. A doorway to new possibilities and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. It offers new monsters, villains, characters, O.C.C.s, powers, magic, weapons, adventure and ideas for your games. It presents new villains, monsters and dangers to battle, and new ideas to consider. Every issue has material for Rifts® and at least two or three other Palladium game lines.
The Rifter® #61 is an extravaganza of source material that deals with a wide range of fun and diverse people, places, mutants, magic, gadgets, equipment and abilities. All certain to provide ideas for new villains and adventures. Many different Palladium RPG settings are represented. This issue includes:

• Rifts®, Phase World® and the Three Galaxies™ – Vergence is a dimension created and inhabited by True Atlanteans and is one of their oldest colonies. As if that weren’t exciting enough, this article includes new Magic Tattoos, the Atlantean Archon O.C.C., new Stone Magic, magic staves, adventure ideas and more.
• Rifts® City of Charter™ – The City of Charter, its history, people, places and purpose.
• After the Bomb® and Heroes Unlimited™ – A host of new Mutant Animals of England. These mutants can be used in Heroes Unlimited™ and adapted to just about any Palladium world setting, including Rifts® and Phase World®, where they could be aliens rather than mutants.
• Heroes Unlimited™ – The British anti-supervillain organization known as C.A.M.E.L.O.T.™, its agents, super-weapons, super-vehicles and purpose. Many adventure ideas.
• Palladium Fantasy®, Short Story – The Heart Taker is a tale of horror and adventure that will leave you breathless.
• ALL Game Settings – Charm & Impress, the Key to Success offers optional rules and guidelines for using the bonuses for high Physical Beauty.
• News, and lots of it, plus coming attractions, product descriptions and more.
• 96 pages – Still only $11.95 retail – Cat. No. 161. Available now.

The Rifter® – Super-Subscription Offer

● Free gift
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● Each issue a sourcebook for the Palladium Megaverse® written by fans and freelancers. Looking for fresh, bold ideas, adventures, new places to visit, new people and monsters to encounter, new weapons or powers to attain, and other new source material for your games? Then The Rifter® is for you.
Super-Subscription Offer: The cover price of The Rifter® is $11.95 – a steal for 96 pages of RPG source material and adventures – but a subscription gets you The Rifter® delivered to your doorstep and you can select a free gift worth $20.95-$25.90 (available only during this special offer, for the cost of shipping and handling). All prices are in U.S. dollars. Offer ends February 20, 2013.

• $39.80 – USA. That’s only $9.95 each, a savings of $8.00, and Palladium pays the shipping! Plus you get to select a FREE subscriber’s gift worth $20.95-$25.90 (please include $6.00 to cover shipping and handling). That’s $45.80 total including shipping and handling for the free gift. Note: This rate is limited to subscribers in the USA only. Sorry.
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Dead Reign™ RPG – Back in print

Okay, we never quite ran out. We were down to our last case of books when the third printing arrived from our printer.
Can you survive in a world where the dead have risen and feed upon the living? Battle zombies, mad men and death cultists in a post-apocalyptic world where the last of humanity struggles to survive.
Dead Reign™ RPG is the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. Civilization is gone, the dead reign, and the living fight to survive against impossible odds. Tales of zombies, human survival and horror as a fast-paced, easy to learn game and sourcebooks. Think you know zombies? Think again.

• Easy to learn, easy to play, and fast paced.
• Clean, simple rules and quick character generation, and a depth of information and setting.
• 7 different types of zombies.
• Zombie combat and survival tips.
• 6 Apocalyptic Character Classes & Ordinary People. 40+ occupations to choose from.
• 101 Random Scenarios, Encounters and Settings.
• 100 Random Corpse Searches and other tables.
• Weapons, vehicles, and places of note.
• Death Cults, their Priests, power over zombies and goals.
• Quick Roll Character Creation tables (10 minutes).
• A complete role-playing game.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda, Josh Hilden and Joshua Sanford.
• $22.95 retail – 224 pages – Cat. No. 230. Available now.

Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook™ – In final production

In final production and looking outstanding. It should go to the printer soon and ship mid-February.
New secrets, magic and monsters of Mexico and the Yucatan. New conflicts between rival forces are brewing as Doc Reid prepares to take his private war on vampires to a whole new level. Meanwhile, the vampires live like smug tyrants and gods, dominating an underclass of cattle people used as slaves and food stock. Learn more about the vampires, their rivals, allies and the humans who willingly serve their supernatural masters for a chance to join the undead. A must-have guide for those who wish to travel deeper into the Vampire Kingdoms or play as vampires and their human minions. In final production right now, with art and text coming in and final editing and writing in progress.

• Updated data on Doc Reid, Reid’s Rangers and new weapons, gear, and strategies for fighting vampire.
• Fort Reid, an entire city devoted to hunting the undead.
• New O.C.C.s like the Bloodwatch Vampire Operative, Silver Swords Militia, Werejaguar Vampire Hunter and the Vampire ‘Borg.
• Vampire Hunter Mages and using Necromancy against vampires.
• Techno-Wizard anti-vampire weapons and magical devices.
• The dark arts of Soulcrafting and the dreaded Soul Forge.
• Firefighting robots, hover firetrucks and more anti-vampire gear.
• More human kingdoms within Mexico like the Tampico Military Protectorate and Durango, the Silver City.
• The Bloodwatch, a secret vampire intelligence agency that tracks down and exterminates Vampire Hunters.
• The Yucatan Peninsula, a mysterious dimensional pocket overrun by strange demons known as Xibalbans.
• The return of the Mayan god Camazotz, Lord of Bats and Darkness.
• The werebeasts of Mexico and Central America; those who assist the vampires and those who fight against them.
• Cover by Michael C. Hayes. Interior art by various artists.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda, Matthew Clements, Christopher Kluge and Braden Campbell.
• Expanded page count! 160 pages – $20.95 – Cat. No. 884. A February, 2013 release.

Rifts® World Book 33: Northern Gun™ One

The long-awaited Rifts® Northern Gun™ One nears completion.
Northern Gun™ is the largest independent manufacturer of high-tech weapons, robots and vehicles in North America. Outside of the Coalition States, one could argue, no other kingdom is as powerful or influential, at least when it comes to technology and weapons. The manufacture and sale of Northern Gun weapons and vehicles has given virtually every kingdom, town, colony of settlers and adventurer group a chance to survive and prosper. Located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, NG has been the premier outfitter of mercenaries, adventurers and upstart kingdoms for generations. Now, for the first time ever, learn Northern Gun’s history, goals and plans for the future. Of course, that means new weapons, robots, power armor, vehicles and gear.

• In-depth look at Northern Gun: its business operations and its community.
• Bionic and cybernetic services.
• Weapons and combat gear; new and old.
• Northern Gun robot drones; new and old.
• Northern Gun giant combat robots; new and old.
• Northern Gun freighters and hover trains.
• Northern Gun character classes and more.
• 109 P.A. catalog of Northern Gun products!
• Key locations, people and sales outlets in and around Northern Gun.
• Northern Gun’s relationship with the Coalition States, Triax Industries, the Black Market and others.
• The Kingdom of Ishpeming, a puppet-state propped up by NG.
• The Ishpeming military and more.
• Written by Matthew Clements and Kevin Siembieda.
• Interior Artwork by Chuck Walton, Nick Bradshaw, and others.
• Wraparound cover by Chuck Walton.
• 160 pages – $20.95 retail – Cat. No. 887 – March release.

Rifts® World Book 34: Northern Gun™ Two

More information about the weapons, vehicles and practices of Northern Gun, including the new rage of robot gladiatorial combat.

• Northern Gun power armors; new and old.
• Northern Gun hovercycles & land vehicles; new and old.
• Northern Gun aircraft; new and old.
• Northern Gun boats, ships and submarines; new and old.
• Northern Gun Robot Gladiatorial Arena; new!
• Robot Gladiator O.C.C. and robot gladiators.
• The NG Bounty Board, the largest collection of bounties and mercenary contracts anywhere on Rifts® Earth.
• Mercenaries, pirates and more.
• Written by Matthew Clements and Kevin Siembieda.
• Interior Artwork by Chuck Walton, Nick Bradshaw, and others.
• Wraparound cover by John Zeleznik.
• 160 pages – $20.95 retail – Cat. No. 888 – April release.

Rifts® World Book 35: Megaverse® in Flames™

The Minion War spills across Rifts Earth, where demons and infernals hope to recruit allies and use the Rifts as gateways of destruction. Their influence shakes things up across the planet, especially at locations where demons and Deevils already have a strong presence. Demons, Deevils and supernatural beings run rampant and wreak havoc across the world.

• Demon plagues and mystic blights.
• Soulmancy and Blood Magic revealed.
• Magical and demonic weapons and war machines.
• Demonic armies, strongholds and places of evil.
• Hell Pits and Rune Forges.
• Many Demon Lords, their minions and plans.
• Calgary, the Kingdom of Monsters; in detail.
• Ciudad de Diablo, Harpies’ Island and other notable Hell holes on Earth.
• Lord Doom, Pain and other demonic leaders.
• Horune treachery, Dimension Stormers and other villains.
• Notable demonic generals, mercenaries, people and places.
• Battleground: Earth – as demons and infernals amass their legions.
• Global chaos and the places most dramatically affected by the Demon Plagues.
• Epic battles and adventure ideas galore.
• Written by Carl Gleba. Part of the Minion War “Crossover” series.
• 192 pages – $24.95 retail – Cat. No. 876. Early 2013 release.

PDF downloads from DriveThruRPG.com

This is a great resource for getting out of print Palladium titles and other select books. We’ve made 90 titles available as PDF digital downloads from DriveThruRPG.com. This is a great way to try Palladium products and get access to out of print RPG source material. Some notable titles include:

• The Rifter® #49-52 recently added – available now.
• Splicers® RPG.
• Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG, First Edition Rules.
• Boxed Nightmares™ for BTS, First Edition Rules.
• Nightbane® Book Four: Shadows of Light™.
• The Mechanoids® RPG and The Mechanoid Invasion® RPG Trilogy.
• Palladium Fantasy RPG®, First Edition Rules and select 1st Edition sourcebooks.
• After the Bomb® RPG and sourcebooks.
• The Rifter® issues 1-52.
• The Best of The Rifter®.
• Deluxe Revised RECON® RPG and Advanced RECON® Sourcebook.
• And more – go to DriveThruRPG.com and check ‘em out.

Don’t forget about these recent releases

Robotech® Genesis Pits™ Sourcebook – Available now

This is a truly epic sourcebook that takes an in-depth look at the Invid Genesis Pits, their purpose, function, the mutants and monsters they unleash and the dangers they pose for non-Invid. It is jam-packed with never before seen source material, mutations, mutation tables (so you can generate your own Genesis Pit monsters and characters) and more. Robotech® fans have been loving this book.

• Inorganics and other war machines of the Invid Regent.
• Gura-Invid – monstrous mutant Invid that do not leave when the Regess and her Invid legions depart Earth.
• Bioroid and Zentraedi mutants, Simulagents and more.
• Different types of Genesis Pits from across the galaxy.
• Tables for creating Genesis Pit Mutants and Monsters as player characters and NPC villains.
• Secrets of the Invid and notable Genesis Pits of Earth.
• Genesis Pit mutations, monsters and dinosaurs.
• Artwork by Apollo Okamura, Allen Manning, Brian Manning, Mike Mumah, Ben Rodriguez, Mike Wilson, Nick Bradshaw, and others.
• Written by Irvin Jackson. 8½ x 11 inch book format. Available only in the USA and Canada.
• $16.95 – 112 pages. Cat. No. 555 – Available now.

Rifts® Black Market™ – Softcover Edition – Available now

See what everyone is talking about and order yours today. Rifts® Black Market™ is an epic, 192 page sourcebook that contains a wealth of information about the inner workings of the Black Market, the Five Factions, new Bandito Arms/Black Market weapons and gear, how to make any O.C.C. a Black Marketeer, special abilities of the Black Marketeer, criminal enterprises, Black Market loans, merc and crime jobs, and much more. This book has it all. AND best of all, a lot of it can be easily adapted to just about any world setting, not just Rifts Earth.

• Rules to make any O.C.C. (or R.C.C.) a Black Marketeer.
• Special abilities and benefits of the Black Marketeer.
• Specialized O.C.C.s of the Black Market.
• Criminal enterprises, jobs, and inner workings of the Black Market.
• The Five Black Market Factions that wield the greatest power in North America: Bandito Arms, The Chicago Network, The Immaterial Hand, El Oculta, and Le Marche Noir.
• Black Market internal operations and security.
• Black Market services, products, practices and customers.
• New weapons and equipment of Bandito Arms/Black Market.
• A wide range of BigBore weapons and other merc weapons.
• New power armor, vehicles and robot riding animals.
• Black Market criminal assignments, jobs and mercenary bounties.
• Major Black Market smuggling corridors and routes.
• Smuggling methods, both magical and conventional.
• Traveling Shows: Freak Shows, Medicine Shows and Circuses.
• Traveling Shows as fronts for the Black Market.
• Black Market Merchants, Market Towns and Market Outlets.
• Written by Matthew Clements, Kevin Siembieda, Carmen Bellaire, Taylor White, Julius Rosenstein and Alex Marciniszyn.
• 192 pages – $24.95 retail – Cat. No. 886. Available now.

Rifts® Black Market Hardcover – Gold Contraband Edition – Available now

Everything you want to know about the Black Market of Rifts® North America presented inside a pair of gorgeous black leatherette covers. Gold foil embossing on front cover and spine. Historically, gold collector editions only increase in value on the collector’s market, and often quickly. This is the lowest number of a Collector’s Gold Edition that Palladium has ever printed.

• Striking Black leatherette cover with gold foil embossing.
• Limited “Collector’s Edition” – only 250 signed and numbered copies were made available. About half have already sold.
• 8 signatures, including main authors Kevin Siembieda, Matthew Clements and Carmen Bellaire, plus Chuck Walton and the Palladium staff.
• Exactly the same content as the softcover book described below.
• Cover art by Chuck Walton.
• Written by Matthew Clements, Kevin Siembieda, Carmen Bellaire, Taylor White, Julius Rosenstein and Alex Marciniszyn.
• 192 pages – $60.00 retail – Cat. No. 886HC. Available now. Sold ONLY from Palladium Books via our online store, or call the office order line (734-721-2903) weekdays from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Eastern time.

Endless Dead™ – Dead Reign™ Sourcebook Three

The zombie hordes grow in number and strangeness. Can humankind survive? Where is the military?

• New types of zombies like Fused Zombies and Walking Mass Graves.
• New O.C.C.s including Wheelman, Zombie Hunter & Zombie Researcher.
• Info & tables for weaponizing vehicles and vehicle combat rules.
• Random encounter tables for military bases, police stations, gun stores, buildings, suburbs, industrial parks, small towns, farmland and wilderness.
• Tables for creating Survivor caravans, hideouts, Safe Havens & more.
• Timetable for setting zombie campaigns and many adventure ideas.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda and Matthew Clements.
• $16.95 retail – 96 pages – Cat. No. 233. Available now.

Back in Print and Great Gift Ideas

The Rifter® #50, Anniversary Special – back in print due to popular demand

You might think of The Rifter® #50 as a special “all-star” anniversary issue with official source material for Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited™, Nightbane® and many other Palladium RPG settings.

The Rifter® #50 includes:

• Chaos Earth™ – Official source material that includes psionics and three new psychic O.C.C.s: Charismatic O.C.C., Reactionary O.C.C. and Teke Freak O.C.C. Written by Jason Richards. Art by Allen and Brian Manning.
• Heroes Unlimited™ – Official source material about fame, glory and infamy for heroes and the legacy they create. Written by Mark Oberle. Art by Mark Dudley.
• Nightbane® – Official source material on the new O.C.C. known as the Mortificant or Death Caller. Written by Irvin Jackson. Art by Kent Burles.
• Ninjas & Superspies™ – Optional rules about combat, combat moves, modifiers and more. Written by Taylor White. Art by Nick Bradshaw.
• Palladium Fantasy RPG® – Official source material that includes the Elven magic of the Zodiac Mage O.C.C. and Star Mage O.C.C. by Carl Gleba. Art by Amy L. Ashbaugh.
• Phase World® – Official source material that includes a look at the Free World Council (FWC). Written by Braden Campbell. Art by Apollo Okamura.
• Rifts® – Optional vehicle construction rules for the Rifts® Operator O.C.C. Written by Greg Diaczyk. Art by Nick Bradshaw.
• Rifts® Comic Strip written and illustrated by Michael Leonard.
• Splicers® – Official source material that includes three new O.C.C.s: The Geneticist O.C.C., Tormentor O.C.C., and the Gardener O.C.C., and more. Written by Brandon Aten and Matthew Orr. Art by Chuck Walton.
• And more! 128 pages – $14.95 retail – Cat. No. 150. Available now.

BACK IN PRINT: Rifts® Logo T-Shirts in most sizes

We’ve been asked over and over again to re-issue the popular Rifts® Logo T-shirt in sizes other than XL. We heard your requests, and here you go. Order yours today.
● The full Rifts® logo as created by artist Kevin Long, printed in white on a black T-shirt.
● Sizes Small to 5XL.
● 100% cotton – our usual quality T-shirt.
● Prices vary according to size:
Small: $18.95
Medium: $18.95
Large: $18.95
X-Large: $18.95
2XL: $20.95
3XL: $22.95
4XL: $24.95
5XL: $26.95
● Cat. No. TS804
● And don’t forget other fun T-shirt designs like . . .

• Property of the Coalition States – Cat. No. 2528
• Coalition Christmas – Cat. No. 2553
• Vampire Kingdoms – Cat. No. 2548
• Wilk’s Logo – Cat. No. 2557
• Northern Gun – Cat. No. 2559
• Dead Reign™ “It’s not like it’s the end of the world” (art by Amy Ashbaugh; printing on front and back) – Cat. No. 2531
• Dead Reign™ “Survive” (art by Nick Bradshaw) – Cat. No. 2556
• Gamer – Cat. No. 2532
• And others.

Upcoming Appearances

Anime North – May 24-26, 2013 – Toronto, Canada

I am one of the guests at Anime North in Toronto, Canada. The event takes place Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26, 2013. Wayne Smith and one or two other Palladium creators will also be present to chat and sign autographs. We also hope to bring a pile of books, prints and other goodies to sell in the dealers’ room. www.animenorth.com

Gen Con® Indy – August 15-18, 2013 – Indianapolis, Indiana

We can hardly wait for Gen Con this year as we hope to have advance copies of Robotech® RPG Tactics™: Defense of Macross Island™ there. Not to mention a stock of new releases from throughout the year. We may even need to expand the size of our booth. Hope to see many of you there.
Game Masters, submit your events now to get into the Gen Con program book! See http://www.gencon.com/host/eo-gm for more details.

Note: There will be no Palladium Open House in 2013 or 2014.

© Copyright 2013 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Nightbane®, Megaverse®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Beyond the Supernatural™, Chaos Earth, Coalition States, Dead Reign, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, SAMAS, Thundercloud Galaxy, Three Galaxies, Vampire Kingdoms, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.
Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.
This press release may be reprinted, reposted, linked and shared for the sole purpose of advertising, promotion and sales solicitation.

Mark your calendars: Richard III results on Feb. 4th

The History Blog » Blog Archive » Mark your calendars: Richard III results on Feb. 4th

Mark your calendars: Richard III results on Feb. 4th

Remember back in the salad days of late August 2012 when a team of archaeologists from the University of Leicester began digging a couple of trenches to see if they could locate the Greyfriars church where King Richard III was buried after his defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth? Sure, there was some talk of looking for the remains of the king, but it was a goof almost, since nobody in their right mind would believe that the king whose body had reputedly been dragged through the town and thrown into the Soar River during the dissolution of the monasteries 475 years ago was even there to be found, never mind that his location could be pinpointed in a two-week two-trench dig.
Then weird stuff started happening. Everything went right. Things got found, things leading to other things being found and locations pinpointed so that a third trench was dug and the excavation time extended. On September 12th it all came to a (cleaved) head. A press conference was called to announce the discovery of human remains: a male skeleton with scoliosis, perimortem slicing to the back of the head and a barbed arrowhead between two vertebrae of his spine.
The evidence strongly suggested that these were indeed the mortal remains of the last Plantagenet king and the last king of England to die in battle, but despite its strength it was still circumstantial. Only DNA can prove beyond any doubt that this is the skeleton of King Richard III, and extracting DNA from archaeological remains is a tricky business. DNA molecules degrade over time, nuclear DNA at twice the rate of mitochondrial DNA, so getting testable samples from a skeleton that has been buried for almost 530 years is not always possible. Even if DNA can be retrieved from protected areas like inside the teeth or the bone, just breathing on it can be enough to contaminate a sample with modern DNA.
Genealogical researchers located someone they think is a direct descendant of Richard III’s sister Anne through the female line. Assuming they’re right, if a clean sample of mtDNA were extracted from the skeleton it could be compared to that of Michael Ibsen, 17th generation nephew of Richard III. To ensure the best possible conditions, the University of Leicester lab is testing the modern DNA while a laboratory that specializes in sampling and testing ancient DNA is extracting the DNA from the skeleton.
That’s not all. The skeleton has also been given a CT scan so that a 3D digital image of the man can be constructed similar to the one that produced the face of King Tut in this post. Researchers have collected samples of the dental calculus from his teeth to find out more about his diet and health, as per the technique described in this post with the extremely gross picture. The skeleton is being radiocarbon dated in two separate labs. Forensic pathologists are examining the bones to hopefully determine the cause of death, and experts in medieval weaponry are lending their expertise to narrow down what sharp implement might have caused the damage to the back of the skull.
At the September press conference, the team estimated that the DNA results could take as long as 12 weeks. Twelve weeks ended on December 5th, but no results were forthcoming. There were rumors swirling about that the University of Leicester was deliberately holding back evidence so that they could release it in conjunction with an upcoming documentary on the discovery to air on Britain’s Channel 4, rumors the University strenuously denied.
Well, the wait is almost over now. On Monday, February 4th, at 10:00 AM GMT, the University of Leicester will reveal the results of their tests and investigation at a press conference. The University won’t be streaming it live, but press outlets will be present and cameras will be rolling, so we’ll probably be able to follow via BBC livestream like last time.
I was up at the crack of dawn, high on nerdrenaline, to liveblog the last press conference, so as long as there’s video to follow, you know I will be this time too. Meanwhile, there’s a Google + group you can join to keep abreast of all Richard III-related news.
Oh, and that documentary which the University of Leicester was definitely not holding back information to be in sync with just happens to be airing on Monday evening. Richard III: The King in the Car Park debuts on Channel 4 at 9:00 PM GMT.
      

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