Lost in Space

Lost in Space - some reboots are worth watching.

I'm a bit late to the party with this, but the reboot of Lost in Space on Netflix is brilliant. Every now and again, we pick a series to watch as a family. We started this before we went on holiday and watched the last two episodes.

It's classic space opera with a moderately hard SF veneer. We all really enjoyed it, and are pleased that there's a new season coming. Recommended.

We're watching His Dark Materials as a family too.

24 November 2019

Back I'll be...

The Mandalorian looks wonderful...

Curse of Strahd - S1E01: Tea with the Duchess

Tonight was our first proper session of The Curse of Strahd. The party numbers five, all level 1:

• Ser Alys de Rouge (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral
• Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.
• Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good.
• Roscoe Tosscobble (a halfling Cleric of Life, a follower of Diancecht, god of medicine and healing, former hermit and companion of Ser Adon), played by Jag (Jagusti). Lawful Good.
• Ser Adon of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good.

A completely non-human party, so I will be considering how the somewhat insular and very human inhabitants of Barovia react to them along the way. I can't wait to find out how they develop.

We are playing using Discord for audio, and Roll 20 for visuals. I have the Player's Handbook and Monster Manual on the system so the players have full access to the material to reference in the game.

Season 1 - Episode 1

29th October

The party except for Ser Adon (who has been delayed due to family matters) travel north towards Daggerford. Ser Alys has been sent as escort to bring them to see Duchess Morwen. As they near Daggerford, they hear a child screaming, and see three wolves attacking a child around five years old. [Excuse for a battle to get everyone including me used to Roll 20].

The party surprise the wolves and mostly win initiative. Ser Alys charges into battle, closing most of the gap. Roscoe Tosscobble attacks the wolf closest to the child with a sacred flame, hurting it and then Kelwarin finishes it off with a critical firebolt attack doing 11 damage and setting the corpse on fire. Gaddock Teeg casts a sleep spell and knocks the remaining two wolves out. They are quickly dispatched and the party comfort the child and head into town across the river bridge. The gate guard challenges the visitors [bit of a cock-up here where both Tom and I forgot that his character was head of the militia] and eventually, Ser Alys ordered Johnson the guard to recover the wolves' bodies for pelts, whilst they headed to the castle to see the Duchess. The child was passed to the cook to look after; once fed the housekeeper took responsibility.

The party had arrived a day early, but hearing the tale the Duchess summoned them for refreshments. They shared a rare red Barovian vintage from the Wizard of Wines and enjoyed canopees. They discussed the wolves and the Duchess explained their commission; hunt down the wolves which are raiding the hamlets near the Misty Forest and kill them. Be prepared in case there was a werewolf present. The stories coming back tell of tall wolves standing on their hind legs. The party retire, somewhat concerned about the potential of lycanthropes.

30th October  

The day of the formal dinner. Still no Ser Adon. The party meet with Zelrun Roaringhorn, a Harper Wizard who takes a shine to Gaddock Teeg. He gifts him a magic scroll to remove curses in case anyone is infected. Ser Alys has a discussion with Ser Lanniver Strayl, a Knight of Tyr and member of the Order of the Gauntlet. He gifts the party potions of heroism and healing to help them. Neither of the visitors will accompany the party. The Duchess advises caution and presents the party with a warrant of authority that demands cooperation from those who the part meets. Horses and ponies are procured, along with supplies and some silvered weapons. The part of the Misty Forest that the trouble has been reported near is over thirty miles away, partly across the country.

The party enjoy the formal dinner but know that they must be up early in the morning to start their hunt. Kelwarin charms the Duchess with elven smoothness. Roscoe Tosscobble is concerned that the secret magic amber stone he has is now pulling in eastwards, but swinging from north to south and back.

31st October - All Hallows

The party leave early in the morning, with word left for Ser Adon when he and his retinue arrive. The day is spent hard riding, some twenty miles or so. They stop at Liam's Hold before nightfall on a cold and frosty evening. Mists start to rise as the sun drops. The party called upon Baroness Gwynedd Zenhareth and use the warrant to gain hospitality at the castle rather than the Inn. The Baroness recognises Ser Alys and apologises that she is not dressed as finely as when they last met at court but explains that this is a working farm. They get first-hand information which confirms the reports of abnormally large wolf attacks. The village of Forest Gables has suffered badly, with six members of one family slaughtered and three children stolen away. The party sleep well and rise early with the dawn. The Moon is full.

1st November - All Souls

Setting off to the east, it takes until just after midday to reach Forest Gables. The hamlet shows signs of attack and shutters are secured. The party are greeted by Iverts Arksnis, one of the elders (who they don't bother to find the name off). He explains that the last serious attack was nearly a week ago, and a whole family was slaughtered at the edge of the hamlet. Before that, people on their own and animals have been taken. This has gone on for at least a month.

Set some distance out, the cottage shows signs of a sustained and violent attack with the thatch broken through and windows and shutters smashed. Inside, blood is sprayed everywhere and Iverts describes the six adults present as having been torn limb from limb. They've been buried since. Kelwarin finds evidence of distorted large wolf footprints, and the start of a trail. They follow this on horseback towards the forest boundaries through scrublands. Gaddock spots wolf fur snagged on a branch some six feet about the ground and the party starts to get an inkling of the size of the creature that they may be facing. As they reach the forest boundary, Gaddock spots a child's rag doll, dropped on the floor. Inspection shows that it has some blood on it.

It's close to an hour before sunset, so Ser Alys suggests that the party bivouac without a fire so they can ambush any creatures that come out of the woods heading the hamlet. They dig a foxhole to hide them and get out of the wind and settle down for a cold night. The mists draw in, and the moon shines eerily from behind cloud.

2nd November 

Sometime after midnight, Ser Alys is at watch when she sees movement at the forest boundary, and sees at least four shapes set off and out. Waking her colleagues, she calls out and challenges the interlopers. Turning, wolf snarls are heard out of the mist and a man-size wolf with three smaller companions turns towards the party, surprised...

To be continued on 3rd December 2019

19 November 2019

True Detective Season 3 [spoiler free]

Season 3 of True Detective.

Over the last two weeks, I've watched Season 3 of True Detective, which returns from California to the South. Set in the Ozarks in Arkansas, the landscape and setting is almost a character in the story.

There are really strong performances from Mahershala Ali (Wayne Hays) and Stephen Dorff (Roland West) as two detectives and ex-Vietnam veterans in the state police investigating the disappearance of two children. The story operates across three time periods; 1980 (the original investigation), 1990 (the reopened investigation) and 2015 (the 'now' of the story, when both main characters are retired). The story focuses upon the cost that Ali (and to a lesser extent Dorff) pay as they follow through an investigation that has been with them through much of their life.

Carmen Ejogo plays Amelia, a teacher and writer who becomes Hay's wife. The case brings them together and threatens to pull them apart again. The acting between the two is excellent. By the 1990s, Amelia has written a book on the case and is as much an investigator as Hays.

Parts of the story are dark, but the series does have upbeat moments. I really enjoyed it; it does take its time though. The pacing put Jill off the first series, and if you don't like a slow exploration of a case and its impact on the people involved, then maybe this won't be the series for you. Otherwise, recommended.

17 November 2019

11-11 Musings

On Remembrance Day, I returned home from work (where we'd observed a two minute silence) to find the neighbour's house decorated with a large digital display of a Poppy. The red bathed the street and really stood out, and made me pause.

The Poppy has been adopted by the Royal British Legion (the main veteran's support group in the UK) as the symbol of Remembrance for many years, and each year the Poppy Campaign uses it as a fundraiser. It draws its roots from a poem by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, written at the battlefront on 3rd May 1915 during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

If you're British, the Poppy Campaign and the solemness of service at the Cenotaph (repeated across the country) will be part of your upbringing. As a Cub, and later a Scout, we always participated in the service when I was growing up. The observation of the silence has slowly returned to be a norm. 

In one of my favourite tracks from Pink Floyd, 'The Gunner's Dream', Roger Waters references the service, and it's one of the most poignant verses in the song. 

Floating down, through the clouds
Memories come rushing up to meet me now
But in the space between the heavens
And the corner of some foreign field
I had a dream
I had a dream

Goodbye Max, goodbye Ma
After the service, when you're walking slowly to the car
And the silver in her hair shines in the cold November air
You hear the tolling bell and touch the silk in your lapel
And as the teardrops rise to meet the comfort of the band
You take her frail hand
And hold on to the dream

A place to stay, enough to eat
Somewhere, old heroes shuffle safely down the street
Where you can speak out loud about your doubts and fears
And what's more, no one ever disappears
You never hear their standard issue kicking in your door
You can relax on both sides of the tracks
And maniacs don't blow holes in bandsmen by remote control
And everyone has recourse to the law
And no one kills the children anymore
No one kills the children anymore

Night after night, going 'round and 'round my brain
His dream is driving me insane

In the corner of some foreign field
The gunner sleeps tonight
What's done is done
We cannot just write off his final scene
Take heed of the dream
Take heed

I was really surprised to see the Poppy display next door; it felt very garish and unsettled me. I think that the reaction came because I've always felt that the act of remembrance is a shared, solemn, quiet and respectful thing. The neighbour's youngest lad has created increasingly impressive displays for Christmas, New Year and Halloween; they've all been fun celebrations and, in my head, I was linking the Poppy display to them. It seemed disrespectful as a result.

I fear that the Act of Remembrance is starting to become a Festival of Remembrance when people compete to have the best display. You see it with the ways and types of Poppies sold now, the striving in the media to be seen to be the most supportive. It's a small step from remembering the sacrifices and consequences of our veterans to glorifying the wars themselves. I hope we aren't taking it.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon, 1914