INTRODUCTION!As part of a two-decade long exploration into weird and gothic fiction, I've lately been reading a lot of Welsh mystic
Arthur Machen.
Arthur Machen (1863-1947)In particular I have been enjoying what are sometimes called the
Dyson Chronicles, a small collection of short stories from the 1890s where the "hero", Mr. Dyson -- an independently wealthy flâneur, amateur writer, and even more amateur detective -- "psychogeographically" intuits his way through the streets of London (and occassionally rural Wales), "solving" occult mysteries of sinister suggestion.
These are seminal late-Victorian weird tales which went on to influence several authors in later decades, including H.P. Lovecraft and especially Robert E. Howard, who wrote a good number of his own horror tales directly inspired by certain components of Dyson's adventures.
Three of the Dyson Chronicles (namely:
The Shining Pyramid,
The Red Hand and
The Novel of the Black Seal) address one of Machen's favourite themes of rural folklore and questionable 19th century ethnology: the so-called "Little People" -- supposed pre-Celtic inhabitants of Britain, "Turanians", who have since those ancient times biologically degenerated into stunted, semi-reptilian, goblin-esque creatures -- the supposed real-world source behind legends of fairies, elves and similar beings of Northern European myth.
In
The Shining Pyramid, Dyson and his old friend Vaughan search the wilds of the English/Welsh border in search of a missing girl. What they discover is rather horrifying, but what is more so is their lack of attempt to do anything about it.
This project is my attempt to 'game' the story, to try and achieve the outcome that should have been sought by the protagonists!
THE PROJECT!The basic premise of the project is this:
Victorian gentlemen will travel to 1890s rural Wales to search for a missing girl. They will discover she has been captured and is being prepared for ritual sacrifice by a horde of 'Little People' (or as Robert E. Howard called them: 'Children of the Night', 'Worms of the Earth' and 'People of the Dark').
As with any wargaming project, rules, scenery and miniatures are required.
For rules, I plan to use what has become my favourite set of skirmish rules:
FUTURESHOCK! While originally designed for apocalyptic gang wars in a dystopian near future setting, Futureshock can easily be adapted to more or less anything, especially thanks to the ongoing supplements which have added a host of extra content. For scenery, I already have some generic rural terrain which I originally purchased for use in
The Silver Bayonet, but which would work perfectly well for this setting.
But what about the miniatures? Last week I discovered
Highgate Miniatures and I fell in love with these ones in particular, known as Gentlemen Adventurers:
The obvious choice for The Little People was
Conquest Games 'Svartalfar' from the Myths of Albion range:
Finally, for the captured girl, I couldn't think of anything better than Pulp Figures'
Cringing Captives:
So there you have it. I will update this thread when I have more to show, and hopefully, eventually, I'll get some games underway and share the results!
In the meantime, you should all read some Machen, if you haven't already!
22 December 2006, 12:23:51 PM