The transcripts for April to June were delayed by COVID. They are included here, with the transcripts for July and half of August. This will give me a brief publication for August -September, which is handy because October is going to be a quite busy month on the blog. In addition to weekly episodes, I’d…
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The Witch of Atlas by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The problem with Shelley is that he’s a really annoying author. He can’t leave well enough alone. In “Frankenstein”, for example, you’ll know there is a not particularly good frame narrative. He insisted it be shoved around it. Similarly the poem I’m about to give youstarts with – I think it’s five maybe six –…
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Magonomia: Do you know John Stow?
A quick note this week for a Magonomia magician every player character should seek out: John Stow. Stow is an occultist and geographer, whose magical practice is tied to the road network of the capital. He’s famous for his book collection, his urbanity, and his willingness to lend material to other magicians. The call his…
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Cellini – jail and a guardian angel
This is the original material which was used to produce the episodes about Cellini shooting at a Cardinal and the episode where he is tended by an angelic host. I have COVID and can’t manage a better transcript this week. Sorry gang. Cellini Swears He Didn’t Shoot at the Cardinal CXII SO the Governor came…
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Beth Gêlert, or the Grave of the Greyhound by William Robert Spencer
This week we return to Faeries Second Edition in a to look at Saint Guinefort. Guniefort tis a folk saint – a sainted greyhound – and it doesn’t turn up much in the later Ars Magica books because we tried not to have things that people who currently follow one of the religions described in…
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Roger Bacon on longevity potions
Roger Bacon was a writer in the late 13th Century, slightly after the Ars Magica period, and well known in the Magonomia period. It’s important not to confuse him with Sir Francis Bacon, who was an early scientist in Elizabeth I’s reign. Each had useful ideas about alchemy. Roger Bacon explains, in his great book…
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The City of Dreadful Night 2
For this episode we return to the City of Dreadful Night. Rather than popping in so regularly after each section, I’ll give brief comments here. Much of the section is centred on a cathedral where a group of parishioners enter after they give a password, in which they discard their mortal circumstances. The preacher is…
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The City of Dreadful Night 1: An Infernal regio that seeks dreamers
I’d prepped most of this for my “Stories I’ve tried to write week” and then a plot idea emerged. I was discussing things with Andrew, over on a Shewstone planning list, and while we were discussing something else entirely he gave me the key to moving this post to a workable series of scenarios for…
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Magonomia : Alchemists in Chaucer 2
In this excerpt from Chaucer the main characters area simple priest and a skilled con artist, who is a canon. I’ve cut out a lot of the setup. The two men have met, the conman has engaged his mark in conversation, and they have travelled to the priest’s home. “Sir,” quoth he to the priest,…
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Magonomia : Alchemy in Chaucer 1
One of the most popular books in Elizabethan England is The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. It’s essentially a 14th Century anthology with a frame narrative, where a group of pilgrims amuse each other by telling stories. Late in the series we get the tale we will examine today, where a priest’s servant (a canon’s…
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