In Chinese mythology, the phoenix, or Feng-Huang, was one of four fabulous creatures combining both yin and yang principles, made of elements representing the entire cosmos. Its appearance was said to begin new ages or herald the birth of a great emperor.

(Note from Kevin - Feng is the male gender of the phoenix, and Huang is the female part of the phoenix. The Empress is called Huang-hor, for that reason)

    In the lore of ancient Egypt, the phoenix was a symbol of immortality, a lone member of its race that only died when it chose. It built a nest of spice branches, and, setting them alight, created a conflagration from which it would rise again, carrying its own ashes hundreds of miles to Heliopolis, the city of the sun, where it would lay them on the altar of the god that was the source of all life.

    In medieval Christian lore, the Fall of Adam and Eve brought on by the knowledge of good and evil tainted the souls of all humans and beasts with original sin...all, that was, except the phoenix. It fed only on dew, and despite its fantastic size and predatory appearance, harmed no living thing.

    As the self-aware creators of post-millennial global computer network lore, we think the sucker would make darn fine eating.

    The big flaming bird is a mythological renewable resource, and that is what TLP is all about. Creating ideas for myths, stories, and other forms of entertainment that don't fade with time. Ones whose concepts and principles are eternal and whose details flicker with style.

    Well, that's the lofty answer.

    The slightly more honest and proximate answer for why the site is called Tastes Like Phoenix is because it's a joke. A published joke, actually, which you can find in the book that brought the site's creators together, Bearers of Jade: The Second Book of the Shadowlands. It's on pages 15 and 16. (For those not hip on the RPG front, this book is a supplement to a story-telling game about samurai called Legend of the Five Rings, available from Alderac Entertainment Group. The book is half fiction and half game, and has some lovely artwork, too.) We won't repeat the joke here because it requires a background in Legend of the Five Rings for it to be funny.

   If you want the most cynical answer, TLP's symbol is a big showy bird that seems like it's dead for long stretches of time, only to be born again with occasional updates. We, the site's creators, post articles, humor, adventures and reviews mostly because we like to write about games we like to play.

   So come on in, look around, and eat what you want.

Tastes Like Phoenix is a dream come true for me. I, like every gamer out there, wanted to make a game of my own, but I was always too chicken to begin. No matter what Chris and Jenny may tell you, they are the true founders of  this website. They encouraged me to actually realize my dream, and gave most of this website's content.

So if you ask me what the Origin of TLP is, I would tell you Chris and Jenny.