We’ve made it to Silver City and met with undertaker Gus McLeary to arrange the transfer of the body of Thomas Vance back to Steaming Rock. Whilst there, it was brought to the group’s attention that Philem Quinlivan wanted to talk to them.
Silver City, New Mexico
They know Quinlivan as a businessman, owner of Blackrock Ventures Limited, a mining company. They do a bit of digging in the paper and try to find out more by chatting to the regulars at Becky’s Tavern, their home for the night. Nothing more comes up on Quinlivan.
The next morning, they breakfast at the Crossroads Hotel and ask the barman for Mr Quinlivan’s room. A brisk conversation and Quinlivan is blunt, a war is coming, and he wants them to choose sides, him or Ellis Rockcliffe. Money comes into the equation, a mighty sum of $500 each if they take the body back to Ellis, but the deeds must be handed to Quinlivan’s man in Steaming Rock, Hubb McGraw. This money seems to be a retainer or wages for future services to Quinlivan.
It comes around so soon and is all the better for that. GrogLove is one half of GrogL, the other being GrogLaw. A TTRPG convention organised in London by Jim, Dave and Alex, with Tash throwing in some scrumptious goody bags! It’s moved around but is now back at Brewdog Chancery Lane, which has the benefit of being dead quiet on a weekend, has some decent beers & grub and wonderful staff.
It’s an hour on the tube for me, a quick walk across the park, and, fingers crossed, there are no tube disruptions, I’m getting off at Farringdon and walking through silent city streets to the venue. The venue is a hubbub of folks, all excitedly catching up, searching bags for dice, admiring various new and old TTRPG rule books, maps and minis.
After a brief chat and a coffee, I settled down to my morning game.
Lafcadio Hearn was a 19th century interpreter of Japanese language and culture. He arrived in Japan during the Meiji era when the country was modernising rapidly. He became fascinated with folk beliefs, ghost stories, rural customs and the atmosphere of “old Japan”. Here he collects a series of ghost, or more specifically supernatural tales of memory, duty and emotion.
Some Japanese Ghosts
There are 20 stories across a 100 or so pages, so very short 4-5 page stories. The interesting elements are the focus on culture and Lafcadio’s little side notes on his thoughts on each story or a bit of historical or cultural background. Helpfully he focus on specific language and terms for which in English there is not a literal translation. I particularly like his assessment of one story, where clearly the husband of a wronged wife should be punished, “A morally unsatisfying story.”
Lafcadio, he’s a one-eyed wanderer (having lost his sight in one eye as a child), half-exile, half-scholar, quietly collecting his stories in lamplit rooms, romanticising and translating Japanese culture through a ghostly Western lens while the modern world kept knocking on his door.
Halfway to Silver City and the party has committed to young Apache Góyąń to find her parents and, if needed, rescue them.
Góyąń
Winston tracks two on foot and two horses up a trail into the hills around this area. The going is tough, unseasonably hot and pushing through wild, untamed brush.
A shot rings out, and Diago quietens the child. The sound echoes around the hills, but they think it comes from two tall peaks or between the peaks.
Inspired by the release of Paul Baldowski’s Nordic Noir RPG Cörk Børd, I decided to delve into the start of the Harry Hole series. So Scandi Noir, it’s morally ambiguous, it explores the rotten underbelly of seemingly “civilised” societies, it shines a light into the psychological darkness of the protagonist as well as the criminals. It is bleak. It is slow and unshowy. It is cold, damp and above all, it showcases a range of chunky knitwear that no other genre can compete with.
The Bat
Except, The Bat is actually not the most representative of Scandi Noir, set as it is in Australia - no cosy cardigans. His bosses have sent Harry to support the investigation of a Norwegian national who has been murdered. Harry has a lot of baggage, and it feels like he is a fish out of water, with his blunt, unemotional front, surrounded by the boisterous, piss-taking Aussies.
He teams up with an Aboriginal Police Officer, Andrew Kensington, who shows him around, acting as his de facto tour guide during the investigation, as well as mentoring him on the cultural and local traditions that affect the case.
I’m back. A new reading challenge, I’m being softer on myself this time, just 26 books in 2026, so one every two weeks and maybe a review. Oh plus audiobooks and a book club, so not that soft.
I’ve thrown in a few collected comic series this time, the first of which is The One Hand <pause> and The Six Fingers.
Ciphers
I fairly randomly chose this book just before Christmas. I got a special signed edition from Forbidden Planet, though I can’t make out the signatures, so it could have been signed by one of the staff there. But I did like the premise; noir, cyberpunk-ish and two different authors for two different series, hence the dramatic pause above!
A new Grogmeet and the first at the Brickhouse Social. I’d missed 2025, adjusting to the new Jan slot, post Christmas, winter weather, but put in the organisational efforts to adjust family, work and other events to make it happen. Storm Goretti did its best to scupper things, but in the end, my first dry Grogmeet, well, I had a few pints but no drizzle, mizzle or slothering.
The party is travelling south, a 100-mile trip from Steaming Rock to Silver City, to pick up a corpse and belongings. But first, they have to navigate the wilds of 1870s New Mexico.
Silver City, New Mexico
The plan was simple: Diago and his wagon, pulled by “the worst horse”, Boots, would be accompanied by Cody, Winston, Daan and Dutch. A ten-day trip to Silver City, pick up the body of bounty hunter Tommy Vance (not that one) and return it to Steaming Rock, so that Tommy’s “best friend” Ellis Rockcliffe can give him the burial he deserves.
On the second day, the sun again beat down, skin blistered, and sweat pooled. They found the perfect campsite, secluded, up in the hills, but with a good source of water and the opportunity for catching some game. Only Cody was uncertain; he’d heard and seen subtle signs that someone was watching them, following them, but they were good, they’d kept hidden all this time, but still.
Welcome to 2026. I hope the holidays have treated you well. So, on to a look back at my gaming in 2025.
Dicing in 2025
Firstly, most of my Gaming took place on the Raspy Raven Discord; you can see the link to it below, and you are very welcome to join us!
I occasionally escaped to conventions around the UK and to what is seemingly becoming a monthly excursion into London, mainly at The Arcanist’s Tavern.
Last session saw Winston gunned down in the street, but he survived, and the New Mexico Mercantile Cooperative (NMMC) retreated for now. So what next for the citizens of Steaming Rock... well, first, we have some housekeeping!
Founder’s Day was supposed to be a day of celebration, Steaming Rock’s premier family day out, but Howard Ross, of the New Mexico Mercantile Cooperative (NMMC) and a half dozen of his rowdy employees have been taking the celebrations a little too far.
A Hootin’ and a Hollerin’
Danny, Cody, Winston, Dutch and Diego, aka The Players, have taken over the Mayor’s meeting and decided direct action works best. A plan is hatched, and they request each citizen at the meeting to go out and gather up two or three like-minded folk. They will meet outside the Sheriff’s office and then approach Ross. A show of force will see him turn tail and head out of town. It is at this point that Danny realises his gun is back at his homestead and requests Aida, his sister, to go and get it.
The card game at the Homestead Inn had come crashing to a halt, as Diego Carter, under the prompting of Francisco Castellanos, a rival to Homestead’s owner William Moyer, had let off a box of firecrackers.
The patrons of the Homestead Inn were on the war path. Diego had been spotted, but dived into the icy cold creek and doubled back to outsmart them, losing his hat in the process.
Diago’s Hat
Diago met back at Francisco’s Mexican Bar, grabbed a bottle of whiskey and headed to bed. Francisco shouted after him, “Hey, man! We've got a lot of people coming to your sermon tomorrow, Founder’s Day is going to remember your words!”
So, we worked through sessions zero and two, but now we are stepping into 1873 New Mexico to take on the King of Santa Fe.
Tales of the Old West RPG
This is a campaign for the Year Zero Engine game Tales of the Old West, from the Effekt Boys. This is not Weird West, no undead, no magic, just straightforward grit and guile as you try and survive and thrive in the wilds.
All of the PCs live in Steaming Rock, located near the Black Mountains and somewhat isolated from major cities. The town survives on lumber, mining, and a bit of cattle ranching, plus the patronage of passersby.
Heading off to the ancient Chancery Lane, a place where the Knights Templar created the lane to connect their ‘old Temple’ in Holborn with their new property south of Fleet Street. Ancient knights and dames tramped the streets to a hidden location…
Groglaw 2025
Alex, JimJim, DaveP put on a bi-annual convention of all things RPG, oscillating between Love and Law; they actually have these two words tattooed on their knuckles. Today, we chose Law.
The venue for GrogL has shifted between some interesting locations, but returned to its original home for 2025, Brewdog, Chancery Lane. Whatever you may think of the owners (an aside, they’re dicks), you can’t fault the location and the setup and the lovely staff. Black Heart on tap, followed by 1200 calories of sticky, messy Buffalo Chicken Burger. London, Chancery Lane, at the weekend is dead, but this Brewdog was alive with the clash of swords, the explosion of gunpowder and the roar of a Lawmaster as it circumnavigates Mega-Way 7 between Benny Hill Block and Boing™ Boulevard.
I picked up Milkman, laughably because I thought it was a science fiction book, and I thought, ‘That’s interesting, a sci-fi novel that is also a Booker prize winner.’ Idiot.
Milkman by Anna Burns
Anna Burns’s Milkman is set in an unnamed city during a period of political unrest that is clearly Belfast in the Troubles. The narrator, ‘middle sister’, tries to stay unnoticed while a figure known only as Milkman, a paramilitary man with local influence, begins to follow her.
The novel’s style is unusual. Paragraphs run long, characters are referred to by roles rather than names (‘maybe-boyfriend’, ‘third brother-in-law’), and dialogue blends into narration. Readers who prefer a clean structure may find it challenging. Yet this anonymity fits the world: one where names are dangerous, surveillance is constant, and clarity is suspect.
Here we go, a fantasy book - hopefully a lighter read after the challenging ones. I believe I picked Jhereg after a recommendation for the best implementation of a detective novel within a high fantasy setting. En Garde!
Jhereg by Steven Brust
Jhereg feels like being invited to dinner only to find the host serving up the family jewels instead of a meal. It aims for brisk and witty; what it delivers is a steady diet of deep lore with the occasional smirk.
Vlad Taltos, our guide, is an assassin, small-time crime lord, and consummate heel. He’s meant to be sardonic and clever, but mostly comes across as smug, entitled and cynical. The book clearly wants us to admire his guile; I found myself wishing someone would smash a fist into his face, smearing that twirly moustache all over it. He’s a protagonist you follow not because you like him, but because you’re stuck with him.
The real star, of course, is the world. Brust clearly delights in his creation, and he’s determined you should too. Pages linger and delight over the structure of noble houses, their arguments, and the finer points of criminal etiquette. It’s intricate, coherent, and ambitious. It’s also, whisper it, a bit boring to have lots of these diversions. If lore is your jam, you’ll be in paradise. If not, the pace feels glacial, the plot a thread running through endless appendices.
To be fair, there are flashes of life. Brust’s prose can snap when it isn’t weighed down, and Loiosh, Vlad’s Jhereg familiar, provides welcome comic relief, even if it gets repetitive. The noir-PI-meets-fantasy conceit is clever, and every so often, you catch sight of the sharp novel buried within the maze of digressions.
For readers who thrive on deep lore and don’t mind a hero you’d happily punch and can live with some of the leering eighties attitudes, it may be ideal. For me, it’s one to acknowledge, not to love.
I wanted something very different to Black Easter, so I swapped around a few books to settle on Ian McEwan. I last read his book On Chesil Beach, and I could recognise his style, though this is a completely different feel. I was intrigued to see how he constructed a murder mystery from the perspective of an unborn fetus.
Nutshell by Ian McEwan
The morality tale is told with humour and passion by an unborn fetus. There are just a few months until it is born, but it sure does have some robust opinions of its mother, father, and adulterous uncle. Some of this is affected by a wine-fuelled placenta, ‘Even before the wine arrives - tonight, a Jean-Max Roger Sancerre - at the sound of a drawn cork, I feel it on my face like the caress of a summer breeze. I know it will be a good evening.’
It seems from the start all is not well; the father, a poet, is estranged from the mother, and we quickly see that the father’s brother, Claude, an accountant, is planning to run off with both the mother and fleece the father out of his savings, and perhaps darker outcomes are on the horizon.
It’s only a hundred or so pages, and I gave myself an extra week to read this after holiday time allowed me to get ahead.
Black Easter by James Blish
This is Hard Fantasy in its strictest sense: the occult ceremonies are rendered in technical detail, as though excerpted from an academic treatise. Plot progression, character psychology, and dramatic action are present only in outline.
The novel forms part of a trilogy, collectively known as After Such Knowledge, in which each volume interrogates a discrete body of human understanding. Here, the subject is demonology as a practical science.
Some heavy stuff in recent reads, so I was happy to pick up some Space Opera fiction and return to Alastair Reynolds. I am not the most avid reader of his books, but I loved the double header Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days.
Revenger by Alistair Reynolds
Revenger concerns Fura and Adrana Ness, well-to-do daughters of a rich family fallen on hard times. To help out the family, they take it on themselves to abscond and join a ship, Monetta’s Mourn captained by Rackamore. These ships head out into the depths of space to raid Baubles, essentially alien tech locations that range from small stations to almost planet-sized beasts. They only open at certain times and then for a limited period, and whilst they contain many riches, they are strewn with devilish traps. These initial chapters play very much like a YA style sci-fi yarn - somewhat clichéd but fun. Things take a dark turn, leading to Fura, fifteen at the start of the journey, growing up fast and heading down a path of revenge and retribution. As I’ve read more around the book, it seems it IS seen as a YA novel, though the author just wanted to make it more accessible to a wider range of age groups. A warning, it is pretty dark and grisly at times.
The book initially moves at a quick pace, making it extremely enjoyable as the two sisters adjust to ship life and find their roles on board, slowly proving themselves until disaster strikes. There is some excellent world-building during this phase as you are introduced to aliens, the life of a space scavenger ship and hints of previous, alien civilisations that had tech far in advance of the current human-centric worlds.
