Flowers of Algorab - Episode 10 - The Council Hearing

This week, our session of Flowers of Algorab started to open up into the broader sandbox part of the campaign. We were without Hattie (Arda) this week, and her character was mainly played mostly by myself. 

We had no technical issues during the session itself, but once I extracted the audio and transcript, Hattie spotted that for some reason or other, my channel on the audio had not recorded. This wasn't good, because she'd missed the session and the purpose of the recording etc is as a reference for us all, especially if you can't be present. 

I'm not certain exactly what went wrong, but I suspect that the cause may have been when I realised my webcam was disconnected and plugged it back in, the audio feed from that may have overridden my sound settings and changed the microphone in use in the game. As Audio Hijack was set to grab a specific microphone, my channel failed to record because it wasn't generating a feed. Anyway, one to watch for the future. I was quite disappointed that this happened, as I'd put a fair bit of effort into trying to drive interaction and engagement in the session, and was looking forward to seeing how that came out.

The funky filter to boost the left channel.

However, I was delayed in completing this write up and I had an issue in Episode 11 where I had massively low audio levels from my feed again. After much thought, I built a custom feed on Audio Hijack and re-recorded the sessions with my channel boost 256 times in level and de-noised, so I was able to get a balanced audio feed and a full transcript and summaries out. I need to make sure I don't get this happening again because this is a real time rescue - I have to play the stream in full to re-record it.

Our Crew

• Arda Qamar, a Guild Surveyor and Traveller who came from the Far Colonies from a Mining Combine operation. She’s the bird handler and Scout for the team. (Played by Hattie).
• Meristo Koulas, an Esoteric Coriolite Seer who grew up in the Fog of the Haze, and has ties to the Black Toad. (Played by Paul).
• Lieto Miesma, a Scholar specialised in Builder Archeology who came from deep inside the Factory City of the Turbine Halls, with a background in the Machinist's Guild. (Played by Graham)
• Fassour Faradi, a roughneck deep miner who also came from somewhere the eternal fog of the Haze, and - like Merits - has ties to the Black Toad. (Played by Simon)
• Rashid al-Masri, a scoundrel Hull Cutter who came from among the hulks and wrecks of Hull Town, and has connections to the Gardener's Guild. (Played by Andy).
• Corvus the Bird, a specter; cobalt blue, with a long beak, always observing. Usually handled by Arda.

The New Seekers (Fassour, Rashid, Meritso, Lieto and Arda & Corvus)

The Session (Spoilers for The Flowers of Algorab).

The session opened a week after the party's return from their delve below the Well of Souls, where they had found evidence of the lost ark ship Nadir, in the form of a mummified astronaut who was holding what the algebraists and scientists of the Explorer's Guild had started to refer to as a 'singularity sphere'. When Fassour Faradi, the New Seeker's Burrower, had touched the sphere to retrieve it, a powerful transmission had emitted from it, overwhelming all electronics in Ship City and beyond. Systems crashed and rebooted, lights failed, causing panic and dismay across this lonely outpost of civilisation. What's more, Fassour was certain that something had received the signal and responded, and that the Jumuah system had caught its attention. Naturally, the Guilds had kept the source of the event secret from the general populace. 

The group, having recovered from previous ordeals over a tranquil week, found themselves summoned to the austere Vermilion House, an emblem of history and healing now serving as the headquarters of the Explorers Guild. Here amidst the architectural splendour, their resolve was tested by Master Moska, a figure of sagacious command and knowledge, who awaited them in her opulent study adorned with relics of the Builders and scholarly books. The team was rewarded for their service, with Master Moska passing out envelopes with details of their hazard pay from the last mission, several thousand rukh each as gesture of gratitude for their brave efforts in uncovering ancient secrets and unknown flora from their last mission.

Yet, the path forward was fraught with political intrigue as the machinations of the Guild Council loomed over their heads. Journeys speculated to trace mysterious signals across the Hammurabi arm beckoned the heroes towards potentially groundbreaking discoveries about the Nadir, the reason that the diaspora had originally set out to this lonely, lost Horizon. The New Seekers had a summons to the Astrolaab Tower, to give evidence about the discovery and their part of it. Master Moska made it clear that if they handled this well, then they would have a place in any follow up expeditions. They were encouraged to speak openly and truthfully, but always bear in mind the Explorer's Guild's interests. 

Rashid al-Masri scrutinised the navigational maps shared by the guild master marking the pulsing signals from distant cosmic points like Auriga and Habanatum. Their intrigue was met with the sober consideration of their next voyage as Meristo Koulas envisaged the grand ship which would sail towards these celestial coordinates.

Lieto Miesma and his comrades deliberated the prudent allocation of their newfound wealth, envisioning acquisitions from archaeological tools to fanciful attire enhancing their diplomatic leverage. Their conversation spanned the possibilities of enhancing their expeditionary capacities, from sturdy tools to garb that would command respect and authority amidst the Special Council of Ship City.

The next morning, Rashid donned his new finery, anticipated to sway the hearts of even the most austere council members, and set out with the rest of the New Seekers to the Astrolaab Tower. There, within the vaulted chamber adorned with the relics of wood from the Old Horizon and the whispers of ancient navigators, they prepared to unveil the details of their recent explorations under the watchful eyes of the council's luminaries.

Thus, as the council gathered, the weight of history and the gleam of the unknown future reflected in their determined eyes, revealing the contours of a narrative yet unfolded. With each revelation presented and each secret judiciously guarded, the explorers stood on the precipice of the vast, illimitable expanse, their hearts thrumming with the thrill of the Nadir’s call.

Thus, guided by the diligent scrutiny of Master Moska and armed with the lore of navigational stars, Rashid, Maristo, Lieto, Fassour and Arda stood ready. Ready to chart a course across the unknown, with the secrets of the Nadir flickering like the stars in their indomitable spirits, mapping their journey not just through space, but through the storied legacy of their guild and beyond.

The Council quizzed them on the mysteries of the Nadir mummy discovered during their expedition. With the help of Rashid Al-Masri and Meristo Koulas, it was deduced that the mummy was kept alive through artificial hibernation and had died approximately 500 years ago. The council, intrigued, delved deeper into the significance of the discovery. The initial analysis from the specialists at Vermillion House confirmed the mummy belonged to the ancient spectral Nadir, known through the distinct iconography and ancient equipment found with it. 

The discussion transitioned to the perplexing origin of the mummy and its implications for their understanding of the Nadir's movements in the galaxy. The thrilling proposal put forth was to journey to the Hammurabi arm of the galaxy, following the signals responding to the singularity sphere that they found. The hope was that these signals could lead to other spheres and, potentially, a triangulation that could lead to the ancient Ark ship Nadir itself, or at least evidence of its fate.

The New Seekers were asked to advise upon the make-up of the crew for this audacious expedition. They emphasised the necessity of each guild being represented, highlighting the unique combination of skills their team offered, seasoned with experience from prior missions. These earnest deliberations were punctuated by the gravitas of their mission—to decode the long-whispered secrets of the Nadir, representing a beacon of hope and a portent of greater discoveries.

The council sanctioned a expedition to follow up the signals, assigning the explorers as special advisors and emphasising the consequential impact of their findings. The explorers were to be furnished with a slipstream-capable cruiser, setting the stage for a historic expedition across the Hammurabi arm to unearth further artefacts and unravel the enigmatic signals.

With high spirits and a renewed sense of purpose, the crew left the council, custodians of a mission that might alter the destiny of their civilisation. The explorers poised themselves at the threshold of the unknown, their hearts laden with the solemn duty bestowed upon them and the fervent hope of answering the call of the Nadir.

In the verdant oasis of the Cave Gardens, Rashid, accompanied by Meristo, sought the acquaintance of Petume Sibgoli - the High Gardener's assistant, nestled amidst ancient flora. Their purpose was clear—to enlist another doctor for their impending expedition in the hopes of bolstering their medical resources, a prudent move given the usual perils that befell their medic. Upon their arrival, they were greeted not just by Petume but also by the esteemed High Gardener herself, Nefeli Bar-Ezravili. The immediate surprise of her presence was assuaged by her welcoming gesture to join her at a quaint, wooden picnic table. 

As refreshments were offered, conversations unfurled like the green leaves around them. The High Gardener expressed the Gardener's Guild's dedication to locating the Nadir, a mission deemed vital for the future spread of humanity across horizons yet mastered. Rashid, with his typical diplomatic finesse, detailed their need for a secondary medic, citing the vulnerability of field medics based on harsh lessons from past experiences. This prompted a discussion on the practical needs of the expedition, ranging from extra medical personnel to possibly essential supplies.

Nefeli, intrigued by the proposition, deferred to Petume to aid in the search for a suitable medical professional, acknowledging her own potential in assisting with pharmaceutical or nutritional support for the crew. A sense of candid cooperation seemed to permeate the air as Nefeli underscored their genuine desire to support the expedition without underlying agendas, an assurance that resonated positively with Rashid and Meristo, validated through their insightful observation of the guilders’ intentions.

As the meeting wrapped with practicalities settled upon and promises of upcoming support, Rashid and Meristo felt reassured in their strengthened ties with the Gardener's Guild, their departure from the lush cave gardens marked by a renewed sense of alliance and purpose, emboldened by the High Gardener’s commitments and Petume's forthcoming aid in strengthening their collective expeditionary resolve. Their aspirations towards the unknown throbbed ever stronger, propelled by the earnest collaboration of their fellow guild members.

In the bustling hub of Ship City, as the twilight of another eventful day approached, our band of explorers found themselves entrenched in the midst of crucial preparations and unexpected negotiations. The dialogue opened with Fassour Farradi reflecting on the day's hectic pace, a sentiment echoed by his companions. Meristo Kulas, somewhat caught off guard, lamented his ignorance of a vacancy in their ranks, prompting a light-hearted debate amongst the group about the bureaucratic nuances typically involved, which they gladly bypassed this time.

The conversation took a tactical turn when Meristo pointed out their financial strategy for a new, albeit temporary, addition to their crew. Believing fervently in the value of extra hands during their precarious missions, he pragmatically justified the decision, framing it as a trial to evaluate the newcomer's loyalty and utility.

Amid these strategic deliberations, Lieto Miasma found himself unexpectedly engaged in a covert discussion with Maraka Din-Toufrak, representing the Synod of the Machinist Guild's, positioning herself as a benign interlocutor intrigued by his recent exploits. As they delved into pleasantries and the prospect of collaborative ventures, she subtly inquired about the resources needed for his impending voyage. Lieto, cautious yet courteous in his receptiveness, hinted at potential cooperation, albeit restrained by the delicate timing and sensitive nature of their mission.

The Synod representative, undeterred, explored possibilities of engagement with the mysterious Singularity Sphere, a topic that resonated with the undercurrents of their prior adventures. Lieto, diplomatic but firm, managed to convey both the fascination and potential peril wrapped within their upcoming undertakings. As the evening waned, the discussions tapered, with promises of potential alliances and exchanges of advanced technological support lingering in the air. Lieto tactfully declined further advances from the charming Synod aide, reaffirming his commitment to pragmatism amidst the enticements of Ship City's political machinations. Their meeting concluded on a high note of mutual understanding albeit shadowed with the unspoken complexities of future engagements. 

The explorers, reassured yet vigilant, prepared to step into the unknown, their camaraderie strengthened through the trials of diplomacy and the ever-present thrill of the Nadir's enigmatic call.

Source - initially Tabletoprecorder.com, heavily edited for names, clarity and brevity with some parts injected to explain or catch elements missed in the summarising. 

Edit: I've noticed that a key meeting involving Fassour is missing from this, and I will add it at the start of the next episode.

Books in May 2026

May 2026 saw me read 1,652 pages (10,626 pages in 2026) and 7 books (43 in 2026). This is down on my normal month, mainly driven by roleplaying book reading, plus getting distracted revisiting The Lovecraft Investigations podcast rather than finishing the audiobook I was listening to on journeys. 

On the fiction side, I read the latest Murderbot novella from Martha Wells, Platform Decay, a tale of a corporate extraction from a hostile station. Enjoyable but it didn't groundbreaking. That said, I don't think I was really looking for groundbreaking when I read it. I also read another of my back catalogue of Clarkesworld Magazines, #202, which I enjoyed in little bite size pieces rather than doom-scrolling. 

For the Elle Cordova book club, I belatedly read Ted Chiang's Exhalation collection of short stories. They were great thought experiments but they didn't grip me in the same way that they did in his previous collection Stories of Your Life and Others. I'm skipping this month's choice – Emily St John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility – because it's one that I've read recently. Instead, I'm digging into one of her novels that's been in my 'to read' pile for a while, Last Night in Montreal.

Roleplaying books; I read the Blue Planet Recontact Moderator's Guide for North Star 2026 (as a I was running it), and finished The Laundry: Applied Occult Computing. This is the starter set/book for the roleplaying game and has a complete campaign setting in Milton Keynes. I'd have preferred London, but I can see why Cubicle 7 went this way. The scenario does a great job of introducing the rules. I also read Gallows Corner (about which I will post more once I've finished my review) and Caught in the Rain. The latter is a lovely solo game about solving a mystery; as I picked it up on spec, I was pleased with what I got.

So a quiet month; hopefully I'll do better in June.

2 June 2026

North Star 9 (2026) - After Action Report

Blade Runner - Replicant Rebellion

Last weekend was the ninth run out for North Star, our science-fiction based gaming convention that seems to still be in good health. We had surprisingly low dropouts this year, so we had numbers in the 50s. This is enough for us to have the upper space and the cell downstairs, but not quite enough for the main function room. Of course, that was a moot point as the hotel had a wedding reception on for the afternoon and evening.

The team for North Star is myself, Graham (the face of the convention and the liaison with the hotel) and Shachar (who has increasingly been helping us market and prepare for the event). Registration and games are my baby, along with the usual badges. In honesty, we have the framework so it runs smoothly (mostly), with the only challenges being folks that somehow manage to miss direct emails, and posts on the multiple channels we use (Facebook Group, Garricon Discord and the Gaming Tavern Forum). That can cause slippage and stress, but fortunately it wasn't too bad this year.

Everything was going well in the preparation and I completed game allocation on time, only for a player to contact me by Discord asking why they weren't in a game in Slot 2. When I checked, not only had I managed to scroll the spreadsheet and miss them out, they were also the top scorer in the random number generator that we use to ensure fairness. When I looked, none of their games choices had spaces left, so I stepped out from my berth on Guy Milner's A Nocturne which was both their and my first choice. However, entirely fair as I screwed up. I'm told it was a good game. I could have actually played as a player dropped out on the day, but instead I used the time to make sure I was properly prepared for my game of Blue Planet Recontact in the following slot.

Unfortunately, Patriot Games couldn't be with us, but they offered a deliver to con service through a team member who was attending. Likewise Paul Baldowski from All Rolled Up and Just Crunch Games offered a similar service on the Saturday as he was only there for the Saturday. Because we had no retailers, I put together a larger pile of games to sell in the Bring and Buy than I originally intended, all priced with the intent to sell.

I headed over to the convention, reasonably early on Saturday morning, and we soon had everything shipshape and ready to go. We'd ordered some extra lights for some of the cells (lowberths on the timetable) as they didn't have uplighters any more, just fairy lights for ambience, and the second delivery of those arrived late morning. The one thing we have to do for Furnace is to get some acoustic deadening material as the top section is quite noisy, especially now the curtains and soft furnishings have gone in the space. It'a mainly a problem when a table gets really excited; most of the time it's fine.

Graham opened the convention with his speech, which - looking back - has become longer, mainly as we have tried to make sure we are catering for new attendees as well as regulars. He also kindly mentioned my swim to raise money for Cancer Research UK. And suddenly we were off.

Slot 1 - The Last Caravan

I picked up a copy of The Lost Caravan a while back and I really liked what it presented, a Forged-in-the-Dark derivative that explores a found family travel west over the United States to escape an alien invasion. It plays in a similar road trip space to Fria Ligan's The Electric State but it is focused on a more extended campaign. That was the reason that I put the game aside; I'm already committed on at least one campaign and had no space to do anything with it. I was delighted when I saw that Neil Gow was offering a one-shot of the game, and pleased that the randomiser was kind to me.

Now, one of the things about the game is that you can play an Innocent (a child who grows up and develops into something else during the game) or a Good Boi (the family dog). I ended up deciding to be a Golden Retriever, mainly because this was a chance to try doing something different! My name was picked by the other players; Steve (playing a divorced High School Teacher Dad) handed the job of naming me to the two kids (played by Josh and Jag), because I was brought in when their mother left. So Cherokee the Golden Retriever was born. The game actually has a very different set of skills that the Good Boi can use, which was really fun. In reality, they do much the same thing as the skills that the humans have, but they are phrased in a way more appropriate for a dog. The various feats that were available also give lots of flavour. I do think that the dog character could have worked longer term, not just as a novelty at a convention.

The game was fantastic flavour, and felt like the pilot for a series. I'd have loved to have continued playing  and exploring the relationships and adventures when we finished. We dealt with escaping from an alien attack on our home town, then trouble with a lone alien warrior coming out of the surf on the beach that we'd camped at. We decided to avoid the dubious looking lighthouse, but struck a deal with a local fisherman to try and rescue people from a town where a militia had established itself. The endgame with the militia and town was pretty brutal and scary, and we only just succeeded in freeing people. However, we knew we couldn't stay because we needed to find our Mom, who had called us for help from Montana. A really fun game, with a great GM and players.

Lunch was a salad from Morrisons. 

Slot 2 - Sitting Out

I spent most of Slot 2 in my hotel room making sure that I was fully prepared for the Blue Planet Recontact game in the evening. On reflection, I was probably fine, but the rushing about with work the week before the convention had left me too tired to put in the time I wanted to in the evenings getting the game in my head, so this was all about getting me into a confident slot.

Around 6pm, we had a meeting of the Garricon Saturday Bookclub at the local KFC. The founding members (me, John, Keary) were joined by Malcolm. We talked books and films over fried chicken, then headed back for the evening games.

Slot 3 - Blue Planet Recontact - Red Sky Charters: Making Ends Meet

I've run Blue Planet several times at North Star and Furnace, each time building out from the setting in the Quickstart. This is the third scenario I've used, and it puts the players in the space where they are the employees and owners of a boat charter company based out of Harmony in the Zion Isles on Poseidon, a water world and the first colony that Earth has established. Since the last time that I ran this, the full game has come out (and it's gorgeous), but I left it a bit late to read, which put me on a back foot when I was preparing as the book is quite information dense (in a good way), but I managed to work my way through it. Fortunately (especially as there's around 700 pages in the core books), only about 40 of those pages are rules and aside from a few tweaks to terminology, not much had changed.

I already had some PVC maps of the Pacifica Archipelago, where Red Sky Charters is set, but I decided to get some of the more detailed maps add, and the full planetary projection. As ever, Pixel2Print delivered on time and great quality. I think that they really make an impact on the table. The only last minute challenge in preparing was writing two new characters, who were going to be the clients for the boat trip. One was an influencer, and the other a researcher. If you had both in play, then they were written as a couple, but the scenario would have worked if they were just friends, or even just with one of them. This meant I could offer the players more characters than people sat around the table, which gave some extra choice. I did manage to miss out one of the characters skills when transposing from the older Quickstart Character Sheet to the new sheet, but fortunately that was easily resolved at the table.

I was having a bit of a challenge trying to work out exactly what I'd do for the scenario earlier on, so I sought inspiration from reading the plot synopses for 'Tales of the Gold Monkey', and then mashing up one I liked with one of the hooks in the Blue Planet core books, in the 'Access Denied' GM sections.

I had a great group; Remi, John, Adrian, Dr Bob (one of the other playtesters from when I ran the game previously), and Tim Collinson (of Traveller fame). In the end, only one of the new characters was in play, the influencer. John took her on, and thus Proxima Nova was introduced to the table. A well connected and rich young woman, who had hired Red Sky Charters to take her out to shoot a documentary. Tim had never played Blue Planet before, being more used to Traveller, and the other players helped him adjust to the lightweight dice-pool roll under system. He chose to play the dolphin character, and both larked around and tried to understand better the Whalesong beliefs. 

They were a fantastic group, and managed to resolve the challenge of the scenario with a minimum of violence and a lot of influence. Sadly, they didn't every manage to get the footage of surfing in the storm that was coming in as they headed away from it, but they foiled the machinations of one of the incorporate states who were planning to take extreme measures involving a tailored bioweapon to deal with the native insurgency against them mining xenosilicate ore.

After the game, I went to the bar for a single drink, then headed to bed.

Sunday

Breakfast was the Garrison's finest, and it was really nice to chat with the staff who we've come to well know over the last twenty years.

Slot 4 - Outgunned Star Wars.

I loved this game. 

I'd picked up Outgunned when it went through crowdfunding, and subsequently backed both the Adventure and Superheroes expansions. These come with several theme books (Action Flicks) that let you shape the game to different flavours. The game is action focused and uses a Yahtzee style resolution mechanic. It looked like it would be fantastic fun and I reviewed it when it first landed. To my shame, I've not got it to the table yet. However, when I found out that Pete was running two sessions of Outgunned hacked to Star Wars, I knew it was one of the games that I wanted to play.

We were a rebel team on the swamp planet Zarblos, and we had been tasked with raiding in Imperial facility on the the planet. I was playing Nykira Merr, a Night Witch force user, and the rest of our team was similarly rag tag, with a Mandalorian, a scoundrel, a hacker and our long suffering Captain. 

The game mechanics sang in action and we had lots of fun. My character kept on trying to do the sneaky bit, only to be frustrated by the other players leaning into their 'shoot first and ask questions later' approaches. Lots of Star Wars got quoted or paraphrased and I was quite sad that we had to end when we did. A cracking game, and I do want to get this to the table now!

Lunch was from Morrisons again, which was fortunate because the Garrison had a member of staff not turn in so they were short handed, which meant that although folks had pre-ordered their food, it didn't arrive in time, and they were still waiting for either main courses or puddings when we were due to do the raffle. We delayed, but by the time we were 20 minutes over, I decided to get Graham on the phone (as he was downstairs waiting for sticky toffee pudding or some other delight) and we did our first multi-location raffle. This did mean that I got to do that 'thank you and have fun' speech at the end.

Slot 5 - Blade Runner Replicant Rebellion - Deliverance

It's no secret that my favourite film of all time is Blade Runner, despite its problematic elements. I backed the crowdfunding from Fria Ligan, and I have played it several times with Remi and Phil running brilliant games at Garricons in the past. I've never got it to the table, and this looked like a great opportunity. I'd recently received the Asset Pack and the Replicant Rebellion book. Reading the latter, I decided that I'd run the opening scenario from the campaign presented there, which is a rescue mission.  It was pretty straightforward, but would rely on me reaching to how the players responded rather than having a strict linear plot line. Yes, there was a timeline of what the antagonists would do if the characters did nothing to intervene, but it was very much understand what the players wanted to do to resolve the challenge.

Preparation; I printed a PVC A1 map of Los Angeles, even though there's a large paper one in the game materials. I'd rather have something that can be wiped off in the event of a drink being spilt. I decided to use the Asset Pack location maps as I wasn't sure where the players would go. If I'd have a had a bit more time, I'd have had a look through my Cyperpunk themed Loke Battlemaps and would have seen if they'd work, but that wasn't to be. Finally, I recreated the character sheets in Affinity so I could use my A5 men stands for the characters. I used one of the archetypes on one side, and game statistics on the other. They did look lovely, and paired well with the cardboard standees that Fria Ligan created in the Asset Pack (unfortunately, I appear to have lost one of the those at the convention). 

I had a great group of players again; Tim, Remi and Dr Bob returned from Blue Planet, and we were joined by Steve and Ric. We had a late start thanks to the food delays, which unfortunately meant that the scenario ended up being cut short so I had to drop the final scenes. However, everyone seemed to take that well.

The game systems worked well, and grabbed the feel of the setting, but the variety of dice sizes was frustrating for Tim as it was another system that he'd never tried. Once again, the other players were lovely and helped him. Part of me does agree with Tim's comments after the game that you could have run either Blue Planet or Blade Runner with Traveller's engine, but I do think that both of the game's own engines define the style of play quite well.

We had a mix of investigation approaches from the players, and then they decided to ambush the prison transport. Sadly, the 'keep it quiet and don't cause a bloodbath' went out the window! One of my memorable moments was Tim's human influencer (yes, another influencer), opening up on the antagonist Blade Runner on full auto, and then saying 'this isn't like the movies' when he survived (albeit with a single point of health, only because he had armour and a very high pool to resist damage). I liked the way the game handled combat, and it felt messy and dangerous.

Overall, I think people enjoyed the game. I certainly did.

Then it was time to pack up, and folks were lovely in how they helped. I collected my much reduced pile of games from the bring and buy, and headed home on the A1M.

North Star will return in 2027.

31 May 2026

Swim 10k in May for Cancer Research UK

This May I've been swimming to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. I decided to do it for two reasons; I've lost several colleagues at work to cancer over the last year and some friends previously, and I wanted to do something in their memory, and also I thought that it was a good step for me in improving my health, as the need to swim, twice a week, for at least 50 lengths a time has got to be a positive.

The challenge is to swim 10,000m (400 25m lengths) over the whole of May 2026. I've made steady progress on this and on my eighth session I hit the target. I haven't stopped since, and after my ninth swim, I'm on 12,800m (512 lengths). I've swum most of that in breaststroke, mainly as my front crawl / freestyle is not brilliant. However, last night I introduced some front crawl (as the pressure over distance was off), and it was hard work. I was significantly quicker (it took about 15 seconds off a length) but I struggled to get my breathing timing right! Definitely need work more on this, as it felt like I was working harder.

Ignore the extra 50m on the screenshot above, as that came from my Apple Watch misinterpreting by movements.

I'm currently at £660 raised, plus gift aid. I also have another £250 promised as match funding from work. That's absolutely fantastic - thank you to everyone who has donated - but there's part of me that hopes I can raise another £90 as then I'd have broken £1,000.

If you're interested in seeing my updates on individual swims or making a donation, my fundraising page is here: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/dominics-giving-page-2046

Thanks!

30 May 2026

Crowley - The Lovecraft Investigations

I've recently listened to The Lovecraft Investigations - Crowley. This is a bit of a departure from the previous seasons as it wasn't funded by the BBC and it's really a documentary.

The Lovecraft Investigations are the work of Julian Simpson, who has taken Lovecraft's stories and rewritten them into the modern day, with the conceit being that it's an investigative podcast digging into  mysteries (think a more edgy version of Unexplained) that start to reveal an underlying horrific truth about the world. This has grown into a whole setting - Pleasant Green - which may come out as a roleplaying sourcebook in the future. Simpson is currently crowdfunding a new season that will delve into The Call of Cthulhu.

Crowley (the series) is a weird beast. Although I think you could say that about the man himself too. The series explores the highlights and influences in the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley's life. It's not something that I've ever really dug into, although there are references to his life and influence across the horror and occult gaming sphere, and I think that Unexplained has touched on aspects of his life as well.

The production values are great, and it's very listenable to. It is kind of strange; it feels like you're sitting in on production meetings as they're researching and preparing episodes for a podcast documentary rather than it actually being a documentary. I'm so used to the characters involved pulling threads on an investigation which has a plot behind it that I found myself wanting more though the show, only because that's what I'm used to. Overall I found it interesting, informative and well produced, but less compelling than its predecessors because it's a very different beast. I have no regrets backing it during crowdfunding and I will undoubtedly listen to it more than once.

However, right now, I'm starting back on the original four seasons in anticipation of the new crowdfunding being successful.

You can get Crowley here: https://payhip.com/PleasantGreen

Recommended

23 May 2026

Flowers of Algorab - Moving on from the Opener into a Sandbox (Spoilers)

 

There are some spoilers below on the general direction that the campaign will be taking but nothing specific enough to ruin things for the casual reader (or my players).

So the campaign has now reached an interesting point, because it's starting to move from a quite linear structure to an open sandbox. The opening part of the storyline comprised the introductory scenario that I added into the Flowers of Algorab called The Sky Machine, and the campaign opener The First and Last Man. The conclusion of the second scenario revealed the truth that the ark ship Nadir may still exist and the characters are subsequently tasked with paying a key part in finding its location. Effectively, they are faced with four systems to visit as part of their expedition, but only need to be successful at two of those to achieve triangulation. Four star systems have returned signals in response to the Singularity Sphere being triggered, each of which poses a different threat.

The preparation for the next stage of the campaign is multilayered and a bit intimidating. Like all sandboxes, there is every chance that the players may choose to go to a destination that you're not prepared for, so you have to manage it with them, otherwise you could end up with some very short sessions. I know that I certainly couldn't hold four different scenarios in my head at one time and deliver them at a level I'd like to achieve. In my younger days I've run four scenarios, often with different systems, at gaming conventions and I know the level of stress and challenge that that gives. You can mitigate that by using the same game system – and I guess in this case I would be using a single game system – but holding the storylines, the game mechanics and the multiple levels that the campaign operates at in my head would be a real challenge

This is also the part of the campaign where the factions really start coming to play. You have all the traditional rivalries between the Guilds, the Black Toad and the Coriolites, but often there are internal conflicts within those groups that need to be accounted for. I spent a good hour or two working through the objectives and motivations of the different factions and which of the characters they are likely to approach to try and garner support from. This maps itself into a set of scenes that I can introduce, giving spotlight to one or more of the players, and in some cases the whole group. As it stands, the crew have managed to improve their relationship with the Black Toad, but develop an antagonistic relationship with the Coriolites. It remains to be seen how that will develop in play.

I'm taking advantage of the recently released beta of a scenario compilation for Coriolis: The Great Dark called The Fractured Library and Other Tales of the Lost Horizon to inject an additional scenario into the campaign. I'm not doing this lightly, but I think it adds something to the story and also gives me a chance to let the players deal with the huge dump of information and choices that they will need to make. Our next session will see the characters, now recovered from their travails, dealing with the authorities of Ship City and the Lost Horizon. They will meet the council that runs their civilisation, have to face questions about their behaviour and findings, and will be assigned to support the search for the Nadir.

Being assigned to the expedition to find the Nadir will open up sections the game we haven't touched before such as travel through the slipstream and land-based travel on planets that they are exploring. This introduces more procedural systems, and the need to plan for the expedition proper. The characters will have the final say on which star systems are visited first. The boxed set of the Flowers of Algorab deals with this by having a second book that the players may reference, the Expedition Book. However, as presented it reveals more about how the campaign will progress than it needs to. Part of my preparation has been to break the Expedition Book into sections which can be handed out separately. I now have a gazetteer of the places that they're likely to visit and the common knowledge that they can gain about them, along with a separate document that summarises the slipstream cruiser that they have been assigned to.

Injecting the extra scenario gives me a chance to pass all this material to the players and allow them to start to plan what they want to do on the expedition thanks to the breathing space the diversion provides.  I anticipate that a chunk of this will happen on our discord channel in parallel to the scenario that's playing out. I hope to get an early decision about the first location they plan to explore once they return, giving me time to prepare that in the background.

The detour presented by the extra scenario also gives me a chance to loop through contact with the factions at least twice early on, whereas if I used the campaign has written, there's really only one opportunity to do that before they're off searching for more signals in the Great Dark.

So to summarise, I'm quite excited where this is going right now. We have a politics and planning stage, a short mission and then we'll head off into the great dark in search of the unknown. The extra short mission lets me manage my time better, and hopefully – much like The Sky Machine – it will let me teach the players the new procedurals in an effective way.

17 May 2026

Flowers of Algorab - Episode 9 - A Figure from the Past

 

This week’s session brought the opening of Flowers of Algorab to a conclusion, with the crew making the find that really opens the campaign up. We were without Graham (Lieto) this week, and his character was shared out. 

No technical issues this week, except for my video stuttering a bit. I think that was more ISP related than any of the platforms that I use.

Our Crew

• Arda Qamar, a Guild Surveyor and Traveller who came from the Far Colonies from a Mining Combine operation. She’s the bird handler and Scout for the team. (Played by Hattie).
• Meristo Koulas, an Esoteric Coriolite Seer who grew up in the Fog of the Haze, and has ties to the Black Toad. (Played by Paul).
• Lieto Miesma, a Scholar specialised in Builder Archeology who came from deep inside the Factory City of the Turbine Halls, with a background in the Machinist's Guild. (Played by Graham)
• Fassour Faradi, a roughneck deep miner who also came from somewhere the eternal fog of the Haze, and - like Merits - has ties to the Black Toad. (Played by Simon)
• Rashid al-Masri, a scoundrel Hull Cutter who came from among the hulks and wrecks of Hull Town, and has connections to the Gardener's Guild. (Played by Andy).
• Corvus the Bird, a specter; cobalt blue, with a long beak, always observing. Usually handled by Arda.

The New Seekers (Fassour, Rashid, Meritso, Lieto and Arda & Corvus)

The Session (Spoilers for The Flowers of Algorab).

In the depth of a forgotten vault where the air was tinged with the remnants of the blight, our intrepid heroes found themselves threaded into another tapestry of danger. The sinister figures of the Wardens of the Well emerged, brandishing quicksilver-like blades and screaming accusations of heresy.

Rashid, acting in his role as the crew's guard, assessed the threat swiftly and considering the charged atmosphere and the close quarters, decided on a fiery deterrent. He unleashed his flamethrower, setting three of the aggressors ablaze, which threw their ranks into chaos.

Meanwhile, Fassour, spotting an opportunity amidst the confusion, drew his pistol in a quick motion - a classic gambit where blade meets bullet preserved in media from the Old Horizon and earlier. His shot found its mark, though the damage was less than lethal. As the enemy countered with a powered swing of a Mercurium blade, Fassour skillfully parried the attack with his axe, his heart racing against the hum of the dangerous energy blade.

Meristo, the delver and shadier side of the group, then chose his moment to strike, opting for the simplicity and surety of his Fusillade pistol. Stepping away from immediate danger, he took aim and shot, wounding another of the fiery opponents.

Arda, on the other hand, let loose a battle cry that would have chilled the bones of a lesser foe, inspired by the legendary tales she loved reading. After declaring her intent, she too engaged her pistol, firing upon an enemy attempting to assist his burning comrades.

Further from the front lines, Lieto, though distanced from the immediate fray, attempted to provide assistance by aiming with his own weapon, though his shot missed its target.

As the flames continued to dance upon the robes of their adversaries, the team stood resolute, understanding that their unity and quick thinking in these blighted depths were their best hope for overcoming the threat they now faced head-on. Thus the battle raged, with each member playing their part in a ballet of gunfire and flames, each moment unfolding into the next with perilous unpredictability.

As the battle raged on, Rashid, still wielding his infamous flamethrower, contemplated a strategic retreat from his immediate adversary to utilise his weapon without harming his allies. Despite the combat complications, Rashid made a fierce attempt, only to suffer a penalty due to the cumbersome nature of his delving suit which impeded his agility, relying instead on raw strength.

Meanwhile, Fassour faced a quicksilver-like lightsaber with mere brute strength, a great risk against his formidable foe. After an intense exchange, he managed an impactful blow with his mighty hull axe, though he wondered if a more forceful push might have yielded even a more devastating result. Ultimately, his perseverance paid off as he achieved a critical hit against his opponent, dramatically smashing through the enemy’s defences.

On the battlefield's periphery, Meristo seized the chaos, expertly firing his Fusillard pistol at the burning Wardens attempting to flee, scornfully rendering their efforts futile as he struck them down decisively, exemplifying his sharpshooting prowess.

Arda, haunted by her previous actions which led to an enemy's death, decided amidst a whirl of emotions to harness her bond with her avian companion. She sent her bird, Corvus, in a vengeful strike against an escaping foe, demonstrating a poetic blend of nature and combat.

Each move and countermove by the valiant group weaved a story of courage, quick thinking, and the harsh realities of combat, as they stoically faced their spectral foes in a forgotten vault, each action echoing through the cursed halls like the whispers of ancient spirits. As they pressed forward, their resolve only hardened, driven by the unity and grim necessity of their quest. They knew they could not let the Wardens escape lest they bring allies to face them.

In the thick of an intense confrontation, Rashid considered alternatives to his explosive weaponry, debating between the fiery efficacy of his flamethrower and the more controlled Fusillard carbine. Fassour, along with others, voiced concerns about the uncontrollable nature of the flamethrower's damage, steering Rashid towards a more meticulous approach. Eventually, Rashid opted for precision with a dagger attack, though his lack of stealth left him in a direct hand to hand fight. An unskilled melee exchange followed, supported only by his dagger's bonus, resulting in Rashid successfully striking his foe but failing to conclusively finish him.

Meanwhile, Fassour, having lost the use of his axe due to an injury, resorted to his dagger in a brutal and decisive move. He exploited his opponent's distraction, driving the dagger deep into the enemy's heart with a lethal twist. This grim yet effective action marked the end of the skirmish.

With the immediate threat neutralised, the adventurers turned their attention to the repercussions of their violent encounter. They recognised the slain warden of the well, Ser Aren Mir-Bilal, from their past dealings, escalating their concerns about blight-tainted corruption amongst the Coriolite sect. Rashid and others quickly realised the gravity of their situation, predicting potential repercussions as their opponents would seek to slay them to protect their secret about a source of Blight in Ship City.

The aftermath involved strategic body management to prevent any supernatural resurgence of their foes, utilising the environment to their tactical advantage. With the immediate area secured, attention shifted to collateral management, encompassing both physical injuries and potential diplomatic fallout from their actions. As the adventurers contemplated their next moves, they had to address the physical injuries sustained, particularly Fassour's broken arm, highlighting the ongoing risks they faced in their quest.

As they proceeded, the crew's focus shifted to exploring the vault they initially sought, uncovering more about its mysterious contents and preparing for any further encounters that might arise from its depths. Throughout, they maintained a wary approach, documenting their findings meticulously to bolster their claims about the chaotic and perilous situations they encountered. This blend of exploration, tactical maneuvering, and forward planning underscored the multi-faceted challenges they faced in a world brimming with ancient secrets and ever-present dangers.

In the low purple-blue glow of the vault, the crew saw a dais with a space-suited figure sat on it. The suit was an old design, with a faded white finish, quite unlike the more brightly coloured designs favoured today. The dais was wrapped with blight vines and the air full of purple sparkling particles, like embers drifting in the air. Rashid and Arda brushed the vines away from the body.The figure's suit had a logo that they recognised from history, the icon used by the lost ark-ship, the Nadir, the vessel that their ancestors had cross the void to find. There was also a name: Nikovar.

The figure had a weakly shimmering black orb the size of an apple. Scanning it with the artefact scanner, Arda identified that it was a form of Builder technology. It had anomalous gravitational readings, almost as if there was a singularity entrapped within its spherical form. After discussion, Arda and Rashid started to work at opening the clasp on the suit helmet to see the face of the long lost traveller. As they struggled to release it, Fassour reached out to pick up the Singularity Sphere before it fell from the fingers of the long dead voyager. 

As Fassour's fingers wrapped around the orb, the weak gold glimmer in it seems to come alive, rising in intensity to the whole chamber is blindingly filled with light like a nova. A shrill sound starts to echo through all their com links. And then everything went black. 

Fassour has a feeling that something somewhere far, far away has responded to the signal that has just been transmitted, a single powerful enough to knock out the crew's electronics. Some kind of creature, some form of intelligence far away that is now aware that you have touched this artefact. Fassour is dazzled by the light and signal that emitted and struggles to see anything.

No one else sees the same intensity of light and feels the signal like Fasosur. For the others, suddenly  the heads up displays on your suits cut out, the recycling systems on your suits suit out and the flow of air stops. The lights go out and you're held in darkness.

They can hear their breathing echoing in their suits without the reassuring noise and feel of the flow from the recycling systems. Every device they have has stopped. Rashid immediate assumed his suit has suffered a catastrophic failure and started to reach for a chem-light and then batteries to try and reboot his suit. Meristo cautiously backed away, also looking for a chem-stick light, concerned that something has been disturbed that shouldn't have been disturbed. He felt panic rising within him and focused on getting a grip. Arda was reach around to try and find her colleagues.

Fassour gently let go of the sphere, his eyesight burnt our with a purple-white afterglow from the brilliance of whatever happened when the signal was emitted, like the after image of a flash gun being fired at your eyes.

Perhaps thirty seconds later, everyone's suits started to reboot and power started to restore. Fassour stumbled away from the figure, twisting the medallion he often turned to for solace. As the others looked at him, his eyes are wide and raw, with blood dripping from the tear ducts. He looks like he has been up all night with too much caffeine and more.

Looking to the rest of the crew, he said:

 "It sent a signal. I'm sure it sent something out. And what's even more terrifying is I think whatever it was received it. I'm not sure we should stay here much longer."

And with that, he leaves the chamber, going back the area where they fought the Wardens.

Lieto found a mysterious dried white flower sealed in a sample bag in the figure's suit pocket, igniting a flurry of hypotheses about its origins and purpose. Rashid, with his background in the Gardener's Guild, examined the flower but could not identify it, just establishing it wasn't from the Lost Horizon or the Old Horizon as far as he could tell. Arda takes the flower.

After some more debate, Lieto carefully bagged the orb, trying to minimise contact. There is no reaction from it, and he secures it in a pocket in his backpack.

Meristo and Lieto open the helmet, revealing the somewhat mummified head of a human male, dark haired, slight goatee beard, with a drugs line connected to his neck. Checking deeper, the line runs to a package that has writing in Old Horizon script, writing that indicates that it is some kind of hibernation drug. It has expended; Meristo observes that Nikovar has just slept for too long.

Lieto reminds the crew that this is probably a priceless find and that they need to get it out of here, lest the Warden's destroy it before they return in an effort to hide their crimes. They resecure the helmet. Fassour debates whether it is wise to disturb it, and surely archaeologists would want to examine it in situ. 

After some debate, they decide to recover the body. As a compromise, they take plenty of video recordings and photographs, plus samples. They evacuate the atmosphere they've added to the helmet and gently remove it from the dais, securing it so they can carry it up.

They headed back out, fortunately not encountering anyone else on the up and reach the mausoleum at without incident, perhaps six hours after they originally entered the delve. Although it's very early in the morning, there's a lot of light and commotion around the Palace of the Departed. They can see a young Warden surrounded by a crowd of panicked looking people. 

They all get out of their delving gear and stash it in the mausoleum. Fassour needs help with his broken arm. Working their way into the crowds, they discover that there's been a huge power surge and blackout and the whole of Ship City's lights and systems tripped out. There's rumours that maybe a portal has been opened to the Old Horizon or a Ghost Ship's nearby, or even that the Builders have returned. And there's a lot of very panicked and excited people and worried looking young Wardens who are having hurried conversations. 

Rashid, on behalf of the crew, contacts Master Moska and briefs her on the find at the bottom of the Well off Souls. He advises of what they have found and also asks for decontamination kits to be brought.

About 90 minutes later, there's a commotion around the Well as some of the Wardens try to try to intervene as a group of the Navigator's Guild Purple Guard in full armour and equipment head through, accompanied by members of the four Guilds. Master Moska approaches in a light delving suit with the Purple Guard alongside and Navigator's Guild representatives who are also suited. Meristo takes her to Fassour, who quietly explains what has happened. Lieto gingerly hands over the Singularity Sphere, still bagged, and Arda passes over the strange white flowers. 

Moska beckons to one of the Gardener's Guild representatives, who comes over and examines the flower. Rashid recognises her as Nefeli Bar-Ezravili, the High Gardener herself. One of her colleagues pulls up a tabla they check through it, and she turns to Moska and yourselves, saying that the find of this flower is a gift to our peoples. It's not from the Old Horizon or this Horizon, and may indicate that there is a world out there with beauty and life that we could find.

The crew show the body of Nikovar. There is much awe and wonder, as the Nadir has long been sought but never found. The head of the Navigator's Guild asks Master Moska to get the team decontaminated, and having heard their story, says that they will contain the Coriolite sect. 

The body is placed into a sarcophagus, and everything is decontaminated before being removed the Vermillion House, the Explorer's Guild headquarters.

In the aftermath, the crew underwent a rigorous decontamination process and were debriefed extensively at the Vermilion House. Their findings were scrutinised, and while the sphere they discovered remained inert, it induced a flurry of excitement and speculation within the Guilds. The thoroughness of their actions was evidenced in the cautious approach to handling the artifacts and managing the fallout, ensuring that their bravery was not only recognized but deeply respected by their peers.

An inquiry and debrief is scheduled for a week's time. The night before, Fassour has a strange dream:

You're standing alone in a white void. The endless whiteness is broken only by a mirror before you, but the reflection isn't yours. Instead, you see a man with black hair and sharply styled black hair and a goatee beard, wearing old heirloom style vacuum suits, white and worn, but in good repair. Faded insignias and ancient tests are on the breastplate of the suit, including the strange symbol on the helmet. The stars above a crescent moon, the emblem of the ark ship Nadir. He beckons, raising your hand to open his visor properly. And as the visor opens, you wake up to a lingering sense of premonition that stays with you. You feel like someone is coming. You have a strong sense of that.

Source - initially Tabletoprecorder.com, heavily edited for names, clarity and brevity with some parts injected to explain or catch elements missed in the summarising. 

Image insertion now on reMarkable

ReMarkable continue to update their digital paper tablets, with new features arriving every month or so. The latest update adds the ability to take an image and insert it into a notebook on the device. Once it's in, you can scale, rotate and copy the image as you wish, and annotate it to your heart's delight.

You can only add an image from the desktop app at the moment, but hopefully they'll find a way to make the web app and iOS / Android companion apps capable of doing it soon.

Edit: You can do this on iOS/iPadOS by copying and pasting from Photos into a notebook in the reMarkable companion app.

I tried it with some of my notes for the Blue Planet Recontact scenario I ran at North Star, and it worked without a fuss.

As far as I can see, this works with all their devices, even the rM1. However, you do need to have a Connect subscription to use it.

Lovely how this just keeps getting better.

16 May 2026

Books in April 2026

April saw me read 10 books with a total of 2,157 pages, bringing me to 36 books and 8,989 pages year to date. There were four roleplaying books, 2 non-fiction and the balance of four were fiction.

So, the fiction. I completed re-reading William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy, working through Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive. I've read these multiple times and still get more from them. It's nice to see how they all draw together. I also read William Moore's "The Grimoire of Forgotten Fairy Tales" which is a volume of poems and prose that takes fairy tales and nursery rhymes and twists them darkly. I'd originally seen William performing them on Facebook Reels and liked them enough to revisit. Definitely the kind of text that needs to be read out loud, even if in your head.

I also read Clarkesworld Issue #201, which had a great collection of different stories in. I recently picked up an Xteink e-reader, which is tiny but perfect for taking everywhere. I figured it was a good opportunity to stop doom scrolling and actually read a bit more. As I have a digital pile of deDRMed Azimovs and Clarkesworld magazines, this seemed a perfect match. Rather than get depressed about the world today, dig into a story of the future. So far, it's working. I definitely recommend the Xteink, which I bought direct from the manufacturer.

The non-fiction books began with Believable Lies by Terry Stiastny. At first, this didn't engage me, but by the end I was wanting more. It tells the tale of how Britain carried out political warfare in World War 2, propaganda both black and white. What I found fascinating was the way that it revealed in infighting between politicians and their appointees, something that tends to get brushed over in more traditional histories. I hadn't really understood that politics was just as full throated during the war years as it was in normal times, with jostling for power, briefings and rivalries. Definitely recommended.

I also read If Russia Wins by Carlo Masala, which is sobering. It posits a scenario of Ukraine being forced into humiliating ceasefire, partly by the US, partly by the undermining of European democracies by right wing and left wing populist elements encouraged by Russian disinformation campaigns. Soon after this, Russia occupies a town in one of the Baltic states, and ultimately leads to failure of NATO and a distancing between the USA and Europe. Altogether believable, especially with the present US administration.

My roleplaying reading was mostly focussed around North Star - I read the Blade Runner RPG and the new Replicant Rebellion sourcebook, plus the Blue Planet Recontact Player's Guide. The later was very information dense but has such wonderful world building. The former two capture the feel of the films really well. My final book was The Fractured Library and Other Tales from the Lost Horizon, a scenario collection for Coriolis: The Great Dark. At least one of these scenarios will work itself into my campaign of Flowers of Algorab. 

1 May 2026