"I got out of the car, and it was so cold," says Chaney, "that it was like the Nippleodean Kids' Choice Awards in my shirt."

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I didn't have my computer in the meeting this week, so I couldn't take the real-time notes I usually do. So this is going to be a real short one. Just be glad we're sparing you the tales of John Chambers standing naked at Carl's bathroom window. Or the skinny on how Carl can tug on his mustache to make his hair shorter and his mustache longer.

This week, we have a special treat for you: Exalted artist Melissa Uran sent us two Exalted/Wrestling pictorial mash-ups. Check them out:



This is an abbreviated week for us. Friday we'll be going… somewhere… for a North America office-wide retreat. President Mike Tinney is calling it team-building, but there's a good chance it'll be mostly bawdy humiliation, red-faced laughter and hucking. We haven't even been told where we're headed, so there's also the added mystery (and dread) of the unknown (and fear). Wish us luck, and may God have mercy on the souls of the people we lose on this trip. For remember the White Wolf company motto: Leave Every Man Behind.

Most of us are working on the usual stuff. If you've seen the ad in the back of Lunars, then you know now that the Exalted project we've been hinting at, Dreams of the First Age, is a big-ass boxed set. Bax has been the middle-man between Aaron (who's figuring out what all we can afford to put into that box) and Brian (who's figuring out what all we have the time to design for that box).

John is getting Scion: Demigod art notes in to the matt, who's working with the superb (and almost freakishly talented) Michael Komarck, on the new cover. (Komarck, you remember, brought us the stellar covers for Scion: Hero and Free Council.) In addition to all of that, John's working on The West for Exalted as well as Scion: God, while the matt's working on The Art of EVE and preparing us all for upcoming products.

Craig and I (Will) are getting Damnation City all dolled up to go to press next week. Craig's done a dozen archetypal District maps that I think look totally rad, and lately he's been working on graffiti and tags to represent the secret symbols of vampire cant. Meanwhile, I'm squaring away some text. The Blood, thanks to Brian's hard work, went off to press last week, so we can now call it "coming soon."

I've also been working on the redesign of the Storytelling Adventure System page, which is now sort of live. (We'll for, uh, even more live once "Blood Red & Ash Gray" is ready to go up for sale.) In the meantime, swing by and click on the "About the SAS" tab. There you'll find a new, FREE 12-page "User's Guide to the Storytelling Adventure System" PDF. Spread the word.

The page is also set up now with commenting functions for each adventure released, so you can share your advice for running the tale based on your own experiences. The idea is that playtesting never ends with these sorts of things, so rather than having an adventure start to grow stale as soon as it's released, it actually ripens over time as more Storytellers weigh in with their actual-play accounts and advice. So don't be shy – share your comments with us. (We may not authorize them all for inclusion on the site, but we do read them!)

Also, look for short articles with Storytelling advice and new staging tips for the SAS products to appear on the SAS page.

There was lots of other talk at the table today, mostly covering printing plans for the future, the look and style of Changeling t-shirts, and the possible kinds of team-building exercises we'll be facing on Friday. Let's hope none of them involve Carl's bathroom window.

Adieu.

Current Location: White Wolf Helipad Gamma
Current Music: VNV Nation, "Nemesis"