Canon or Not Canon – Ideas and Concepts for the Silent Death Universe

Thoughts on Chronology

Shorty after humanity developed the hyperspace drive and began its surge towards the stars, the traditional means of time-keeping was abandoned as being impractical. A twenty-five hour day was instituted, along with a 360-day year of 12 months of 30 days each. These were synchronised and instituted all across Terran space.

While the Empire still thrived, the years are counted since its founding. There Imperial Year 0 marked the first consecration of the Imperial Dynasty Throne. Earlier dates were referred to as Pre-Imperial. The year in which The Next Millenium is set would have been Imp 518.

One the Empire fell, the former provinces felt they needed to break all ties with the Imperial way, so they began the numbering of years all over again.

Imp 511 became 0 AL, (Annus Libertatis: Year of Liberty). It was then that the next millennium – a fresh start, a time of incredible potential for both hope and destruction – began.

The current year is 7 AL. Proper notation for a date begins with the year and then the date, separated by a colon. For example, 7:125 AL stands for the 125^th day in the 7^th Year of Liberty (Silent Death: The Next Millennium 1998:6-7)

Silent Death: The Next Millennium is set roughly 10 000 Terran years in the future, if one uses the canon quoted here. A very useful time chart detailing key historic events can be found at the ICE Webring

One may postulate that retaining a Terran based time structure over such a long period stops making sense the further one travels from Terra, both in distance and time. Any given planet will naturally have its own day, seasonal and annual cycles which inhabitants would invariably settle into.

Consider also that earth time is based on a Babylonian sexagesimal – base 60 – system, which provides for 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour. Note the Babylonians divided their day into 60 parts as well, or 12 double hours called kapsu. Theoretically a planet with a much longer day and/or year would not work well using a base 60 time period and would need to determine its own local time scale.

In space and for longer time measurement however one would need to determine a more useful standard that however still works with human natural work and rest cycles, based on the metric system which uses the Second as a base. Thus:

Value	Unit Name	Description
0.000000001	Nanosecond	1 000 000 000^th of a second
0,000001	Microsecond	1 000 000^th of a second
0,001	Millisecond	1 000^th of a second
0,01	Centisecond	100^th of a second
0,1	Decisecond	10^th of a second
1	Second	Metric time base unit
10	Decasecond	0,17 minutes
100	Hectosecond	1,67 minutes
1 000	Kilosecond	16,7 minutes
10 000	Myriasecond	166,67 minutes
1 000 000	Megasecond	11,6 days (16 666,67 minutes)
1 000 000 000	Gigasecond	31,7 years (16 666 666,67 minutes)

Table of time based on Seconds as the standard unit.

While this table simply explains a base standard for metric time it does not address what a day, week, month or year may be termed as in 10 000 years in the future.

The following is submitted as a possible methodology using terminology that should be reasonably familiar to grasp. The Colloquial Equivalent is a more or less value, to describe how such a term may be used in day-to-day speech.

Term	Metric Time Unit	Colloquial Equivalent
Sec	Second
Kilsec	Kilosecond	~ ¼ hour
Das	Myriasecond	~ 3 hours
Cycle	100 Kilosecond	~ 1 day 3hours. A space day.
Haz cycle	Megasecond	~ 11 & ½ days. A space week.
Lakh cycle	Gigasecond	~ 385 days. A space year.

Table of standard space time units.

Certain terms have an Indian / Hindi origin but have been misrepresented over time. Thus:

Haz is shortening of the word hazār which is 1 000. A Haz Cycle is thus 1000 Kiloseconds i.e. a Megasecond.
A Lakh (lākh) is 100 000. A Lakh Cycle is thus 100 000 Kiloseconds. i.e. a Gigasecond.
A Das is 10. A Das is thus 10 Kiloseconds. i.e. a Myriasecond.

No months are given, rather people will speak in week numbers or in fractions of a Lakh Cycle.

The final concept is thus that while each planet may determine its local time, either as a derivation of the proposed interplanetary time measure, Imperial based units or something specific to their own locale, the Interplanetary timescale defined here be adopted in terms of all Terran territories having a standard scale of measure.

Freighters

Part I -Where to Find Freighter in the Game

The Silent Death universe often speaks of freighters. After all this game isn’t based in The Great War on the Western Front, where enemies met each other on patrol most of the time, when not escorting bombers or attaching observation balloons! In an interstellar setting populated with billions of people living in kinds of conditions, where war is always happening somewhere, prize taking, raiding privateering or straight forward piracy is logically going to present itself for game scenarios.

Before we speak of Freighters and we need to consider some concepts and rules which will be familiar to most people who have read a science fiction book – often space opera – or have watched a science fiction film or TV Series. Salvage Claws and Tractor Beams! Without these common concepts that are by now surely recognized as part Science Fiction entertainment canon, having a way to take charge of a ship without blasting it to pieces presents quite an advantage when one wishes to capture some cargo.

Renegades: The Espan Rebellion was designated as the fourth expansion for the original Silent Death: Metal Express game. The original much loved game was somewhat unbalanced and had already introduced a number of additional, important rules during the previous expansions, necessitating a second edition, Silent Death: The Next Millennium. Renegades was refactored to align it to the new rule set and effectively became the first expansion of TNM. While it did not introduce freighters, it added further inertia to the original kernel – the smugglers favorite Shryak Shuttle in the core rules.

Renegades added the Crescent (blockage runner) and Conestoga (heavy transport). Renegades also introduced a very useful example of a salvage orientated ship: The Scorpion.

The first true freighter was detailed in the Sunrunners forces supplement which saw publication the following year.

The Borax Freighter is a slow, unarmed ship that, while provided a gunship style display for damage tracking, does not even get a write up about who built it or its history. Bold ‘C’s at specific positions in the side damage tracks are implicitly cargo slots which if hit mean a loss of cargo. The Critical Hit section also details special events for cargo loss. I could not find any other specific mention of this in the rules, but it is interesting to note the positioning of the cargo – see Part II of this article below. Sunrunners also repeated the Salvage Claw and Tractor Beam rules as well as the Scorpion’s ship display meaning one did not have to own Renegades to benefit from this specific aspect of its content.

Special mention should also be made of the Curtiss Shuttle in the same book. While not specifically classed as a cargo ship and having no specific cargo slots on its damage track, as an apparently reasonably sized shuttle, it could carry cargo internally. Faster, cheaper and more capable of taking some damage than a Shryak Shuttle, the Curtiss Shuttle has no armament so would be best employed in safe environments or with a fighter escort.

When it comes to Cargo in Silent Death, one has to look at the Kashmere Commonwealth house supplement. Published the following year from Sunrunners, it clarifies the implicit ‘C’ slot rule, further details Cargo Damage and Capacity while defining a system to design ones own Freighter. (TNM provided a system to design Fighters and Gunships).

House Kashmere is all about trade and this book defines the Ushas mega-freighter. Technically an Escort Class vessel it uses a Warhound ship display. It can also swap portions one or both of its massive side mounted holds to mount Battle Pods. On the other side of the scale is the Lakshmi, a swift and pretty deadly two person fighter with capacity to carry a small cargo in a reinforced bay. In between these tow is the Vishnu, a slow but heavily armored freighter, carrying some mild defensive weaponry and using the gunship style ship display. Although there are thousands of Vishnu plying the trade routes, one has to be careful that its dangerous twin is not encountered. The Yama is for all intents and purposes a Vishnu, but mounts Battle Pods instead of cargo, turning the slow well armoured freighter into a slow well armoured and deadly gunship!

The Hostile Takeover annex book takes all the rules built on in the previous three books and ties them into a campaign, linking back to Renegades: he Espan Rebellion.

In terms of this article, note should be made of the Tractor Shielding rule introduced in Hostile Takeover, which helps negate the pull of a Tractor Beam.

Hostile Takeover details the last freighter to be noted in this article, the Astrahauler. Like the Borax Freighter and Curtis Shuttle it does not get its own picture on its gunship style ship display, but it does at least get a write up (sans ship picture) of its providence, where we learn it is made by the same Rio Rojo shipyards as who made the Conestoga.

The Astrahauler follows what can by now be seen as a standard mid size freighter pattern – slow and able to take a bit of damage before it starts to lose bits of cargo or ship components. To its benefit it is fitted with blast canons fore and aft which, against small fighters could do some damage.

Part 2 – What Space Freighters Could Look Like

In Part I we looked through what Silent Death had to offer in the line of Freighters and by extension heavy transports and shuttles. The concept of Space Freighters mounting containers alongside their core is hardly new and I believe Silent Death followed this Zeitgeist. (I specifically used that word as I want to touch on this in another article sometime).

To try and be brief, where I am going here is that modular containers are the norm currently, no paradigm shift to fundamentally change that pattern has occurred (like the paradigm shift from crates loaded into holds to modular containers), so in our current understanding of the world it is logical Space Freighters may take a similar form.

This can be seen in the Original Battlestar Galactica.

I asked for permission to publish these from the BSG Modelling Group (GALACTICA Model FX) on Facebook.

In terms of Silent Death these massive freighters would have to be tendered at an orbital satiation or a space station freight hub, being unable to land. Certain books or shows may take a different view – that with the right technology one could land one of these monsters, but I tend to like the space only concept, backing it up with a “well perhaps if unencumbered”, as the sheer weight they would carry plus even light gravity would have have to be a structural integrity risk.

The same rule may not apply for shuttle, heavy carrier or even mid size carriers who may depending on their design and intended capabilities, have atmospheric capabilities. Silent Death, like many a science fiction universe has a special fuel which allows for trans light capability, but that can only work with ships large enough or built to take the necessary engineering. Landing on any earth like planet thus comes with the added cost of ascending again, which is also a consideration when it comes to fueling, special trans light engine or not. Fuel converts to energy energy is never free.

The makers of Silent Death only ever made models of the Vishnu and Ushas freighters. These are still available via Silent-Death.mx.

That said I found this beautiful model on a web search. I have tried to contact the maker – Sublight Drive – via ETSY but my messages keep bouncing. No idea as to the scale.

Kashmere Ushas being Loaded – Sublight Drive

Kashmere Ushas Close Up – Sublight Drive

The conundrum remains however, how does one accommodate models of the non pictured Silent Death Ships? the Borax Freighter, the Astrahauler, the Curtis Shuttle?

This is the crux of the article to an extent. We have established what a freighter may look like. By now 3D printing has become relatively common, many people know someone who has a printer, or can access a printing concern to undertake a custom print. To this end many a CAD artist has done the work already, either through passion or perhaps identifying a gap in the market. There are many other games out there, or even dedicated Silent Death players designing their own freighters and needing a suitable model.

I forgot to take own the URL for the above picture, but will endeavor to search it out and update here. This could easily be an Astrahauler or Borax Freighter, if that is how your imagined it. Or for a slightly larger, more modular effect, I quite like this one I found at CG Trader.

The biggest question would have to be what kind of scale the models are and if they fit with your game.

To be fair, Silent Death had scale issues with its original metal core ships often enough. The original Night Hawk (later Cossack in TNM) single person fighter was massive compared to say the original Pharsii – which was thankfully re launched in a more realistic size (original model got reassigned as the Bat)

The Barbarian King by Quintin Snell

The Barbarian King is the first novel published by my friend Quintin Snell. His short stories have been published in various online magazines.

As it has just been published, I cannot comment on the story, although I am very much looking forward to reading it. In the mean time here is the blurb from Amazon:

I will surely return here with an update once I have obtained and read the book. What I can say is I have enjoyed Quintin’s well crafted short stories that have been published at various online publishers.

If anyone has read this book, we would be interested in a short review to be published here.

The small kingdom of Gelmoor is peaceful and prosperous, until the death of the king. His death causes a power vacuum which splinters the land into warring counties, each ruled over by a power hungry lord.
On his deathbed, king Gregory Maddock issues his final order to his captain of the guard and best friend: “Keep my son safe.”
Rodney Smith steals the prince away, heading up into the mountains where neither of them will be recognised.
Prince Dunkan grows up in a town orphanage, with no idea of who he is. A series of events take place, which steer Dunkan on a dangerous path lined with love, violence and suffering. He grows up, becoming a blacksmith, then disillusioned with life, an outlaw mercenary. However fate has big things in store for him, and his actions will have serious implications, beyond his own life.
Amazon

And Now For Something Completely Different: Continuum by Roger Elwood

The accolade of being called an anthologist is not easily obtained. One can only imagine at the effort spent splicing the different elements that comprise an anthology into a cohesive whole that sits well with a theme that will attract book buyers.

Roger Elwood 1943-2007 most definitely earned the title of anthologist, having put together 64 mostly science fiction anthologies between 1964 and 1980. Like many of his peers, he was also an author who published a small number of fiction novels and short stories.

UK Version – Cover art by Patrick Woodroffe

Mr. Elwood also performed editorial duties for the short-lived Odyssey Magazine (1976).

This article is not a celebration of Mr. Elwood’s career though. It is about a unique series he published called Continuum.

Is it an anthology? Is it a magazine specialising in serial stories? A bit of both perhaps while at the same time neither of each in the true sense. Continuum may perhaps best be described in Mr. Elwood’s own words:

Solid science fiction, eight outstanding authors, an unusual format – this is the tapestry of Continuum, a revolutionary concept in SF anthologies, where each book in the series, of which this is the first, stands as an entity on its own, at the same time forming an integral part of a continuing cycle.
PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER
POUL ANDERSON
CHAD OLIVER
THOMAS SCORTIA
ANNE McCAFFREY
GENE WOLFE
EDGAR PANGBORN
These are the authors who create their own strange and fascinating worlds to which they return in each successive volume, thus contributing to a unique experiment in SF. Also included is the totally original revolving authorship series conceived by DEAN R. KOONTZ and continued by three eminent authors in the field.
Front matter of Continuum volume 1.

The series copywrite is 1974 whereafter four books were published in hardback form by W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd of London UK between 1975 and 1977. I picked up the paperback version of books 2 and 3 some time back while browsing the shelves of a second-hand bookshop. Being a sucker for an anthology especially a series which allows me to hunt the rest down for completeness, add in the cool cover art and I had to have them.

The paperback versions I picked up were published by Wyndham Publications under their Star Books imprint. While no art expert, I was not too surprised to find the cover artist of all four of the UK versions (W.H. Allen, Star) were the illustrious Patrick Woodroffe. Small wonder was drawn to these books!

Not knowing what I really had, I set about doing a little research followed by some eBaying to obtain volumes 1 and 4. I was initially was struck by the apparent serial nature of the content. Thereafter I declined to tackle them because I really wasn’t sure how. Does one read each book from cover to cover as intended, or read each story across the four volumes?

This was perhaps the issue which prevented such a concept expanding. Perhaps it was simply a little too different for the average reader to try to figure out. Yet to paraphrase Mr Elwood, each story should have stood alone in its own right. In the end the series amounted to the originally projected four books and was not followed by any further undertaking of precisely the same nature.

Regarding the books, I have not seen others in my varied shop browsing. I had to buy book 1 and 4 from a seller in the UK. I doubt they can be considered a rarity, but owning a complete series by the same publisher could be considered an achievement of sorts.

In the US the hard cover versions were published by Putnam while the softback saw print under the Berkley medallion imprint. The cover artist there was Vincent Di Fate. The series does not appear to have been republished in any form since. While the artwork on the US and UK versions differed, the hard back and paperback copies used the same artwork per respective country albeit with some differences in cover lettering.

Continuum 1

The first volume in the series contains the following stories across its 190 pages of small print text:

Stations of the Nightmare – Part One by Philip José Farmer
My Own, My Native Land by Poul Anderson
Shaka! by Chad Oliver
The Armageddon Tapes- Tape 1 by Thomas Scortia
Prelude to a Crystal Song by Anne McCaffrey
The Dark of the June by Gene Wolfe
The Children’s Crusade by Edgar Pangborn
The Night of the Storm by Dean R. Koontz

US Version – Cover art by Vincent Di Fate

Continuum 2

This 191 page small print volume presents the continuation of what came before:

Stations of the Nightmare – Part Two by Philip José Farmer
Passing the Love of Woman by Poul Anderson
Caravans Unlimited: Stability by Chad Oliver
The Armageddon Tapes- Tape 2 by Thomas Scortia
Killasahndhra – Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey
The Death of Hyle by Gene Wolfe
The Legend of Hombas by Edgar Pangborn The Fire Mountain by Gail Kimberly

Continuum 3

The penultimate volume has numbers 182 pages, the typeface is slightly larger than the first two:

Stations of the Nightmare – Part Three: The Evolution of Paul Eyre by Philip José Farmer
A Fair Exchange by Poul Anderson
The Middle Man by Chad Oliver
The Armageddon Tapes- Tape 3 by Thomas Scortia
Milekey Mountain by Anne McCaffrey
From the Notebook of Doctor Stein by Gene Wolfe
The Witches of Nupal by Edgar Pangborn
Darkness of Day by Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski

Continuum 4

The final volume of 186 pages contains:

Stations of the Nightmare – Chapter Four by Philip José Farmer
To Promote the General Welfare by Poul Anderson
Caravans Unlimited: Monitor by Chad Oliver
The Armageddon Tapes- Tape 4 by Thomas Scortia
Killashandra: Coda and Finale by Anne McCaffrey
Thag by Gene Wolfe
Mam Sola’s House by Edgar Pangborn
Making the Connections by Barry N. Malzberg

All but the last volume include a brief introduction by the editor. Sort stories, especially those of well published authors have a way of finding themselves reprinted. For the big names works published in Continuum have generally been collected and republished later. None appear to have been published before so each could be considered an original piece.

Of the works published in Continuum, those of Chad Oliver, Thomas Scortia, Gail Kimberly, Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski have never been republished, although the pieces by Anne McCaffrey – strangely – only saw partial publication in in Croatia. The rest were subsequently collected in book form.

To use a contemporary term, was this attempt to disrupt the anthology market successful? I do not think it was, purely based on the fact that we do not see more anthologies like this. Surely it is unique and for the completist collector, it allows for a lovely encapsulated collection without loose ends or wondering if someone will tack on another follow up volume.

I am personally happy with what I now own and look forward to reading some authors whom I have not had the opportunity to encounter before.

Mystery in Tenochtitlan – Demon of the Air by Simon Levack

Some time back, while on holiday I perused the sale books at a local shop. They were stacked high and generally held no interest for me. One light orange coloured spine caught my attention. It was a book called Demon of the Air, by Simon Levack. I pulled it out and read the back:

INTRODUCING A NEW DETECTIVE TO RIVAL DIDIUS FALCO.
Mexico, 1517. The Aztec Empire.
The Emperor Montezuma rules by fear. Temples run with the blood of human sacrifice. In this brutal world a free man can sell himself into slavery. Escaping a troubled past, Yaotl has chosen to become a slave to the Chief Minister, Montezuma’s unscrupulous right hand man.
Strange things are happening. The sacrificial victim Yaotl was ordered to escort as leapt to his death, uttering sinister prophecies before the priests could cut out is heart. The emperor feels threatened. Mysterious strangers have appeared in the East. Visions disturb his dreams. His soothsayers cannot interpret them.
When the soothsayers vanish, Montezuma senses a connection with the bizarre suicide, and orders Yaotl to follow the trail – in defiance of his own master. What Yaotl uncovers will unlock nightmares form his own youth – and threaten the future of everything he knows.

This was something completely different. I enjoy the occasional novel with a historic setting and one like this, set in a culture I have sparse, probably inaccurate, knowledge of was intriguing to say the least. I parted with some cash and took it home from my holiday, unread, for it to take up residence on my accrescent shelf of Books Awaiting Reading. Demon of the Air languished there, partially forgotten until a recent reorganisation revealed it. The fates had thrust this novel back into my hands. Who was I to argue with such an auspice?

Demon of the Air is Simon Levack’s first published novel. Set in Mexico preceding the imminent arrival of Spanish explorers or conquistadores such as Juan de Grijalva and Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, it presents a first-person account of life in Tenochtitlan through the eyes of a slave called Yaotl.

I have the Pocket Books paperback version of Demon of the Air, which weighs in at 413 pages*. The novel is no dry history, neither is it an alternate earth fantasy. Rather it is a murder mystery in a unique fascinating setting. The first few pages are dedicated to authors notes and some maps, thereafter one is immediately thrown into the action as Yaotl and a friend ascend the Great Pyramid, on their way to a sacrifice at the temple of the war god Huitzilopochtli.

The novel is fast paced with one event leading into the next. Simon Levack interweaves the here and now with commentary on Aztec culture that enhances the narrative. Add in occasional, well timed flashbacks and one has a winning formula for an interesting story that is difficult to put down. I am not a speed reader, yet even so I mowed through Demon of the Air in short order as I felt compelled to read “just one more chapter“.

The end of the novel is bittersweet. No, do not worry, not a spoiler. Rather I had thought this to be a standalone story, whereas I discovered that, while the story does reach a conclusion, it also leaves a number of threads leading into a sequel. I was overjoyed at the prospect of more Aztec action, but also apprehensive of the wait I will have to go through to locate a copy of the sequel.

Sequels as it turns out. Some mild research reveals that the author written three more novels in the Aztec series: Shadow of the Lords, City of Spies, Tribute of Death. I look forward to reading all of these.

In conclusion, I found Demon of the Air to be a fascinating journey into Aztec culture and would recommend it to a wide range of readers as a true example of merging unlikely genres and settings into a compelling finished product. The subject matter has been extensively researched which makes it all the more believable to read.

I often find myself wearing a RPG game master hat when reading a book that engages me. I just cannot help thinking, “wow, what a cool idea” or “I am definitely using that next time we play” as I read. Sometimes I lie awake buzzing with ideas after reading an exciting story.

From a roleplaying perspective, Demon of the Air is a treasure trove of ideas. Tenochtitlan is a city like none other. Built on an island in the middle of a lake and bisected with canals, the possibilities for adventure and exploration may seem endless.

From a classic alternate earth RuneQuest III perspective, Aztecs should have been a fait accompli. There are accounts of such an Aztec supplement being considered in the Avalon Hill days. Alas talks about what could have been a radical supplement in its time never translated into anything material.

Reason enough for someone or a group of likeminded people with a passion for RuneQuest and Mesoamerican culture to publish a supplement.

For a detailed look at Avalon Hill’s RuneQuest III that does briefly touch on the Aztec theme, look no further than Michael OBrien’s detailed article on the subject at Black Gate.

* The book is technically 429 pages long but the last 16 pages are dedicated to the first chapter of the sequel: Shadow of the Lords.

Exanimate – Paradox Magazine

This is an ongoing series of articles discussing contemporary magazines which have ceased to exist.

Paradox Magazine was a speculative fiction publication edited by Christopher M. Cevasco that had a thirteen issue run. Their first issue was published in March 2003 while their final issue was published in April 2009, receiving a fitting eulogy at Back Gate Magazine.

The word paradox should be well known to most readers of speculative fiction and it is thus no surprise as to the existence, past and present, of other publications bearing this word in their title. The H.G. Wells Science Fiction Society of Romania publishes an inhouse magazine called Paradox, while a one off APA zine of the same name (formerly Just SF) was published in June 1982. Neither of these or any other publications with a similar name are covered within the ambit of this article.

The magazine’s speciality was more geared towards Alternative History, Period Tales, such as Arthurian, and Time Travel. i.e. Earth based as opposed to the otherworldly slant that often comes with traditional Fantasy and Science Fiction. Like many other similar publications, Paradox Magazine featured the occasional scholastic article, review and poem. One interesting differentiator was their substantial use of historic art, both on the cover and internally – an idiosyncrasy I quite liked.

I received my copy of Paradox Magazine issue 7 some years back, amongst an order of assorted back issues I was able to purchase from Neil Clarke, who publishes the successful Clarkesworld Magazine. As an indication of just how long this magazine languished on my Books to Read shelf, consider that Paradox Magazine was still an in print going concern when I received this specific issue!

The magazine has a glossy card cover in colour, depicting A Reading from Homer by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836 – 1912). There is no artwork or other detail on the back cover. It is a standard sized “A4”, saddle stitched publication containing 56 pages of quality paper. Fiction in order of appearance is:

A Tear Like a Rainbow by Meredith Simmons. A tale of the US Civil War involving aerial reconnaissance through the use of lighter than air balloons and a young protagonist with a penchant for words starting with the letter i. Illustration by Roxell Edward Karr.

The Avowing of Sir Kay by Cherith Baldry . An Arthurian tale about Sir Kay, King Arthurs foster brother, seneschal and a Pentecostal vow. Illustration by Howard Pyle (1853 – 1911). While I recalled Sir Kay from various works of fiction and the movie Excalibur, this view of him was different to what I had expected. I enjoyed this story.

A Monument More Lasting than Brass by Steven Mohan, Jr. An Alt History tale about the first return to the moon, many years after a disastrous Apollo 11 mission failure. Illustration by Jeff Ward. The author of many BattleTech novels delivers a “what if” scenario on a cold war backdrop in the time of US president Reagan.

The Tiger Fortune Princess by the late Eugie Foster. This short work is set in China and involves the Empress Meiying and a curse placed upon her daughter, the princess Wen-Xiu. Illustration by Wu Guxiang (1848 – 1903). The story reads like a folk tale, quickly putting one in the mindset of a Chinese narrator telling the tale to rapt audience.

A Taste of Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick . This story takes the form of a letter written in the first person, detailing a horrific paranormal encounter. Illustration by Arthur Davis Broughton. The author is well published, and while I have not read any of her other works, it is my belief that A Taste of Ashes may fit within the universe of some of her works.

A Hand in the Stream by Darron T. Moore. Illustration by Jim Ordolis. This is a Time Travel piece about the leader of a team of time travellers from the future must return to a critical point in the past to collect certain objects of high value moments before they are destroyed, without of course causing any timeline continuity problems. The story flips between present and the main characters memories of certain events in her past. Enjoyable and quite credible in its context.

The Gods of Green and Gray by Paul Finch. A tale set in Roman occupied Britain, some years after the Romans quelled Boudicca’s revolt, this feature story takes up the final fourteen pages of the magazine. Illustrated by Allen Koszowski. This was my favourite story, although I freely admit my bias towards the subject matter. Well written with believable characters and a good mix of historic and fantasy elements, I could not put it down.

Other works include an essay titled Beyond the Barbarian: History in the Works of Robert E. Howard, by Patrice Louinet. If my experience reading and contributing at Black Gate Magazine has taught me anything, this would have been a perennial draw card.

Poems by Angelo Sphere (Prayer of Atigone) and the prolific Darrell Schweitzer (The Greatness of Scipio Aemilianus) are set amongst the various stories and advertisements, while regular departmental columns (editorial, book and film reviews and contributors’ biographies) round off the magazine.

I enjoyed the magazine, finding all the content to be well written and pertinent to the magazines by-line – “The magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction”. If an opportunity to purchase other issues presents itself, I will definitely take it.

Badger Books – British Pulp Science Fiction from the 1950’s

Some time back, while scouring the shelves of a tiny book exchange, I came across a book tiled The Time Kings by JB Dexter. It was published in 1958 by Badger Books and contained 158 pages of small typeface on paper from the cheaper end of the publication spectrum. An old science fiction book from a budget publisher, I had to have it!

Information regarding Badger Books is pretty thin, limited to a Wikipedia page and what can be gleaned from the Internet Science Fiction Database (ISFDB). They were an imprint of John Spencer & Co, London, who started out in 1947 selling pulp style magazines before branching out into budget paperbacks in the 1950’s.

The Badger Books imprint started out in 1954 with a number of books entitled Supernatural Stories which, apart from a detective story: Assignment in New York by Mike Lantry (E.C. Tubb), was the predominant theme of their publishing schedule until 1958, when they started to branch out into science fiction. Their first book in their SF series was The Waiting World by R. Lionel Fanthorpe.

During the course of the following decade Badger Books published science fiction and supernatural books on a near weekly basis at their peak, with a handful of authors using various pseudonyms churning out quantity reading matter. They also covered, at a lesser volume, other genres such as romance, westerns and war.

My modest collection of worn covers. Sadly when it comes to budget publications, those that do survive are often the worse for wear.

The cover artwork is quite enticing, with shiny spaceships featuring prominently to engage the readers sense of wonder. Earlier novels had covers by a range of artists, including some prominent names in the field. By 1961 Henry Fox had become the principal cover artist for Badger Books, with most covers thereafter attributed to him.

The mid to late 1960’s were not good times for the pulp industry in general. Many magazines and budget book publishers were affected, on both sides of the Atlantic. Badger Books was no exception and they ceased publication in 1967.

Cover art left to right – SF6 (1958) – Artist unknown, SF25 (1960) – Carlos Jacono, SF34 (1960) – Ed Emshwiller, SF39 (1960) – Artist unknown.

South Africa has in the past tended to import most of our English language published matter from the UK, so it is not surprising that Badger Books do turn up occasionally. These books are becoming something of a rarity, having been published with no mind for longevity. As with many such pulp publications, many may have simply fallen apart or have been thrown away along with other old read magazines and comics.

My own small collection barely scratches the surface of the 118, or 227 if you include the supernatural line, published. Hunting for these books in exchanges, markets and second-hand shops can prove quite exhilarating especially when one finds a new sample to add to a collection. If you see one, give it a try. It may well be the work of a hack churning out words to meet a deadline, but could as easily be a hidden, long forgotten gem.

Cover art left to right – SF52 (1961) – Artist unknown, SF60 (1961) – John Richards, SF65 (1962) – Artist unknown, SF78 (1962) – H Fox

Left to right – SF103 (1964), SF107 (1964), SF112 (1965). By this time Henry Fox was Badgers primary cover artist, although there is no specific mention of him doing these covers at ISFDB.

The Orc Gathering

Some humans experience the fun, filth and fury of an orc gathering. This is a description of the gathering and does not detail and specific role playing events.

From a distance it looked like a plan filled with bushy terrain that stretched on towards the horizon. Details became clearer as they neared, movement could be discerned on the plain. Cresting the brow of a small hill, there was a sharp intake of breath as the vista before them came into view.

They had been looking past the low hill – more a high area on otherwise flat landscape than a true hill – regarding what could be seen on the following, distant incline. Before them, across could be loosely referred to as a valley, the land was blanketed wit a moving mass or orcs.

The orcs thronged like ants, moving apparently randomly amongst tents, fires, livestock and wagons. What few trees may have previously been resent on the plain had long since disappeared to be used for shelter or firewood.

The noise, smell and energy of the great orcish gathering washed over them as they neared. They noted that the odd human merchant had set up for business on the periphery, risking life and livelihood for the chance of trading with the orcs for their (often plundered) gold. They received looks and grunts of greeting or challenge as they entered the periphery and began to make their way into the gathering proper, but for the most part they were left alone. Any serious challenge to orc safety had been met and dealt with leagues away, before the gathering proper began. A small band of humans posed no threat to what appeared to be thousands of orcs. Any larger threat that may approach the gathering would have been dealt with the none too friendly orcs who had pulled patrol duty.

“No boasting rights may be claimed for killing at a gathering. Orcs adhere to a special truce at their gatherings. Humans at an orc gathering are the safest humans in all Gaia.” They repeated these words like a mantra, desperately calling upon whatever gods may be listening to uphold their truth.

Yet their sources appeared to be correct. While here they could still die at the hands or an orc, the changes of dieing at the hands of the same orc elsewhere were considerably higher. They watched the orcs fight, feast and fornicate with equal enthusiasm as they walked unmolested amongst those violent people.

Slowly they made their way inward, accepting the an ale here, or an offer to gamble or wrestle there, all the time learning more about orc culture and language. Hours spent here would teach them more about orcs than they could learn in years of pouring over dusty scrolls and tomes in great libraries of Chakar and Draskor.

Though most knew of, had met and spoke the language of the plentiful Darketa, or even the vicious, aloof Nar-Haaz, few knew of the Mâal. It was now that they marked members of this third nation of orcs, this sub species who hailed from the far south, making their home among the great southern peaks. The Mâal they saw looked at them in a way that chilled their human souls and reminded them just how precarious their situation was.

The wiry, mottle skinned Mâal sneered and spat at them and thought not verbalised, the looks on their faces threatened death. A drawn out painful death for sure if you were to become their prisoner a passing Darketa explained helpfully, laughing at their own joke. Fortunately most of the Mâal who were in attendance had congregated to the far southern side of the gathering and kept to themselves for the most part.

For that matter the Darketa and Nar-Haaz did not appear to socialise much with the Mâal. Darketa and Nar-Haaz also kept mostly to their own kind, but tended to mix better with each other when occasion permitted.

It started to rain. A steady summer downpour that continued into the night. Filth that had lain on the ground or in shallow trenches washed together into rivulets as the rain cleansed the field. Rivulets fed streams that became choked with filth which they disgorged into bigger streams and rivers which all headed west, down an indiscernible gradient and would eventually empty into the Sylmar river. River fish choked on water fouled with the effluent of twenty thousand orcs, but as the rain continued to fall and the cess trenches washed clear, fresh water entered the rivers and the fish breathed again.

Through the night and rain the orcs fought, fornicated and feasted. Bonfires spat and sizzled as all manner of beasts were roasted on them. A vast bonfire, ten times the size of any other was visible towards the centre of the gathering. They heard talks of the great beast roasting there: A dragon said some, a stoorwyrm said others. The tale of whom and how it was slain changed with each telling.

The orcs fought, feasted and fornicated. Their fighting was not usually lethal, and not always physical. They boasted and haggled, argued, wrestled and brawled in the mud. At times one would need to look twice to see if two orcs rolling in the mud were wrestling or fornicating. The concept of privacy and tents among orcs, although understood, were not always contextualised together. While an orc may use his tent to keep his armour and sword dry from the rain, or conclude a sneaky deal out of the eyes of his fellow orcs, he or she would fuck in public so as to make it easier to refresh their beer, boast of their prowess and speak to their mates at the same time.

As the night progressed and became an even more drunken orgy than the day had been most of them received sexual proposals from various orcs. Food was plentiful and willingly shared, with the smells of freshly roasted meat mingling with spicy stews bubbling in cauldrons and oneesha bread baking over low fires.

By morning the rain had slowed to a light drizzle. While masses of hung-over or still drunken orcs milled about, others could be seen oiling weapons and muscles. The few humans traders who had come to the gathering had long since departed with heavy purses and empty wagons. Slowly the populace began to make its way west, towards what appeared to be a small copse of trees still left standing. Beer still flowed. Spilled wine looted from Sylmar valley farmers ran in red rivulets between their feet as they joined the orcs making their way west, winding between tents, horses and comatose orcs.

Food was still plentiful and it was easy to slice a snag off of a cooling roast, or appropriate a mostly un-gnawed haunch or if not careful, find oneself eating a spicy mouth burning stew out of a scooped out hunk of hard oneesha bread – the consequences not fully understood until later.

The copse of trees was not what it had appeared to be from a distance. An orc made quadrant of raised earth was flanked on three sides by the “trees” which now that they were closer, could be seen to be a myriad of war banners on long poles. The western side of the quadrant which was furthest from them was empty of banners. The banner poles were made of various materials, though mostly wood some were of bone and some even of bronze and whale ivory. Each banner represented a specific clan, while each side of the square, barring the empty western side, represented a specific nation of orcs, Nar-Haaz on the north, Darketa on the east and Mâal on the south.

This was the square, the main reason for the orc gathering. The place where the three nations put down their weapons and met in peace to boast, affirm alliances and feuds, demonstrate skill at arms and make orc policy. The gathering was a rare occurrence, few orcs saw one, a very small number ever saw two.

They were of a select small group, daring, human and perhaps very stupid. They were of a fraction of a percentage of humans ever to behold the wonder of an orc gathering – in all its fun, filth and fury.

This article was originally published on VI April MMIX

Melee Weapons

A list of alternative or out of ordinary melee weapons and their statistics for RuneQuest play.

Pilum

The pilum was actually a heavy javelin used by the Roman legions. Later on, variants were developed for melee use. The melee pilum was made out of wood and was shorter (1,83 meters) that the missile pilum. Its primary use was to thrust at the enemy from ramparts and to create pickets. Some versions were sharpened on both ends. For ease of play, the melee versions statistics have not been altered here.

Ikilwa

A short hafted stabbing spear invented by Shaka Zulu. It has a broad iron blade and short wooden haft. Similar in purpose to a gladius, vis-à-vis, to get in close to ones enemy and draw him into single combat, thereby forcing him away from his formation. The broad blade leaves a nasty wound but, being made of iron, is not too strong against metal armour.

Cestus Maximus

A combination of the heavy cestus and the fighting claw. Allows the wearer to pack more weight behind their fighting claw, thereby doing more damage. Also gives the user the advantage of their melee weapon having armour points.

Chompers

A set of oversize metal jaws inset with steel canines. Fitted tight over the jaws of the wearer and secured with leather straps around the back of the head, the real and metal jaws move in sequence. A biting action will produce an exaggerated mirror action from the chompers. Chompers have no practical every day use, but can have great intimidation value in battle, especially when forming part of an imposing helm or mask. Chompers are mostly used in the fighting pit.

Spatha

A roman cavalry sword, similar to the gladius but longer.

Jawbone Sword

Inspired by a Dark Ages Miniature. This sword is a partially modified jawbone of some great reptile or fish. It bristles with razor sharp teeth down its curved length and can be deadly when used against an unarmoured/soft armoured foe.

Dark Ages Miniatures – Crocodile Warrior with Jaw Sword

Razor Nails

Razor sharp steel blades, manufactured to look like a cats claws. They are usually half a centimeter high at the base and half again as wide, narrowing down to a needle point over their 3 centimeter length. Blunt down their convex back, their concave inner is usually extremely sharp. Inferior quality versions come as uniform rings which slip over the end of the wearers fingers, or embedded into a leather glove. Razor nails of a high craftsmanship have been known to come in many forms, the most exquisite being set into a series of rings, one for between each finger joint. The blades (blunt for areas that ride against the finger) have stretched all the way across the back of the hand where they have proceeded to merge into a jeweled, but sturdy bracelet. Each blade has been tailored for the finger it is to slip on, with the thumb blade being thicker and stronger, to allow for an effective scissoring effect with the finger blades. Clearly these items are not meant for battle against armoured foes, but rather as subtle but effective weapons for high ranking ladies, sorcerers and other people who would cringe from having to carry a dagger or sword. Due to the small amount of damage that razor nails can inflict, they are often poisoned to enhance their lethality.

Toe Ring

Originating from India, this device slips over the big toe. A sharp, 5 centimeter barb protrudes from the ring at an angle. A practiced kick can have the often poisoned barb strike an enemy with all the force of the wearers leg. toe rings were often used in gladiatorial type combat, where the combatants did not have much protection in the way of armour.

Trident

A heavy three pronged fork, used as a two handed weapon.. Similar to a spear in that it can be thrown, but is usually used in melee situations. Looks like I should read my RQ material more closely. just realized they have stats for Trident and Combat Net in the Monster Coliseum supplement. The Monster Coliseum Trident is a one handed weapon. For the sake of RQ rules consistency, the tridents are listed under the spear weapon category.

Combat Net

From the Monster Coliseum supplement. Full rules for ensnaring etc are given in the Monster Coliseum.

Category	Weapon	Damage	STR/DEX	ENC	BS%	Armour	SR	Price
Spear, 1H	Pilum	1D6 + 1	9/7	2.0	05	10	2	125
Spear, 1H	Ikilwa	1D8	6/8	1.5	07	6	2	60
Spear, 1H	Trident	1D6+1	9/7	2.0	05	9	2	125
Spear, 2H	Trident	1D12+2	9/11	2.0	05	13	1	175
Fist	Cestus Maximus	1D4+2	11/9	1.5	15	–	3	170
Fist	Razor Nails	1D2	4/5	0.1	15	–	3	100+
Foot	Toe Ring	1D3	5/11	0.1	15	–	3	70
Head	Chompers	1D4+1	8/9	0.2	10	–	3	150
Sword	Spatha	1D6+1	7/10	1.0	10	10	2	150
Sword	Jawbone Sword	1D12	7/13	1.0	10	5	2	40
Net	Combat Net	1D4*	12/10	3.0	0.5	6	1	150

* A successful attack will ensnare the target, as long as targets SIZ is 20 or less. Ensnared targets can escape by Ripping Free (match STR vs. Nets STR {usually 2D6 +14, depends on quality and purpose}), Cutting Free (awkward, GM’s discretion to be used), or Burning the Net (if it can be set alight – the target may also get burned in the process). Dodging vs. Net is done at a -10 due to the Nets effective area. Successful parries will lead to the parrying weapon/shield and the arm using it becoming ensnared.

Shields and Armour

This article lists a few shields that were not defined in the original RuneQuest 3rd Edition rules.

Scutum

The RQ III rules refer to the large, heavy rectangular shield used by Roman legionaries as a hoplite shield. This is incorrect, the shields name is a scutum.

Thebe/Isihlangu

A large cow hide shield favored by many Southern African tribes. Thebe is the Sotho word for this shield, Isihlangu the Zulu version.

These are not a one size fits all shield style. Each nation has its own distinct design and usage. Only two of many nations’ signature shields are mentioned here, more by way of evidencing the differences, rather than similarities.

The thebe shield is quite small and would act much like a target shield in terms of RuneQuest rules. It has an interesting shape with a broad upper portion to provide torso coverage form missiles.

The isihlangu shield is possibly more universally familiar due to the well published accounts of Zulu warriors and their battles with other tribes and later with the British. This oval shaped shield is often as tall or sometimes even taller than the warrior that carries it. Widest at the middle, it tapers to a point at each end. It is usually slightly convex, to allow missiles and poorly thrust weapons to glance off. The concavity on the bearers side can be used to store items such as weapons and rations. They are made by stretching cow hide over a light wooden frame. Due to their size and relatively light weight, the shields can be used to form shield walls, testudo or phalanxes. They will effectively cover the legs, torso and shield arm in combat. In fact it will cover the whole body if the user crouches behind it, but the combatant will have to expose head, part of chest and weapon arm to strike. As a result it is very effective when seeking cover from missile weapons.

In terms of RuneQuest rules, coverage may be best likened to a kite or scutum shield, although due to size perhaps more body areas may be covered. The shield would still be relatively light, not carry too many AP, but at the same time create a degree of encumbrance due to its size.