The Cambias Digression

Notes and thoughts on everything from what I had for breakfast to the fate of the Universe.

  • Antagonists and Villains

    In both fiction and roleplaying games, there's a distinction between a character (or NPC) who is a villain, and one who is an antagonist. The villain is evil, or at least selfish and callous. Not only do his (or her) goals oppose those of the heroes, his character is morally inferior. Even if he believes…

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  • Arkad’s World Review From Locus

    The new Sage of Providence, Paul Di Filippo, wrote a very kind and perceptive review of Arkad's World. Somehow I missed it when it came out back in February, but he recently put it up on Facebook. You can read the full review here. Then you can go buy the book.

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  • Random Encounters: In the Wizard War

    When the great wizards go to war, even Kings run and hide. In this D20-inspired fantasy setting, two factions of wizards have moved from rivalry to outright warfare. Everybody thought it would end quickly, but of course it has dragged on, drawing in new allies as blazing anger turns to implacable hate. Cities, kingdoms, and…

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  • Uncharacteristically Personal Note

    We never observed "Fathers' Day" in my family. Still don't. My father liked to pick out his own neckties, and dismissed the whole event as something ginned up by the makers of greeting cards and electric shavers. So all the appreciations and in memoriams people are posting on 'blogs and social media today are very…

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  • Godzilla Movie Update

    It's always those damned Lannisters messing everything up, isn't it?

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  • Random Encounters: The Hell-Fire Caves

    In 1748 the famous libertine baronet Sir Francis Dashwood ordered the excavation of a complex of chalk caves under his family seat of West Wycombe Park. The work incorporated existing caves and mine tunnels, as well as new chambers and galleries, and may have linked to some of the "follies" on the grounds of the…

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  • June 6

    I visited the Normandy beaches in 1993, a year before the fiftieth anniversary celebrations of the invasion. Beaches, of course, don't preserve anything very long. They are places where the ocean grinds everything to sand. Normandy's seashore is good for strolling; the water's too chilly for swimming and there are more rocks than sand. Most…

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  • Random Encounters: The Floating City

    Akmon is a city of a million people floating in the hazy blue-green atmosphere of Uranus. The city's held aloft by a ten-kilometer balloon made of diamond, filled with hydrogen superheated by a fusion powerplant which doubles as an artificial Sun. Akmon serves as a hub for atmosphere mining, a base for airships hunting the…

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  • Medical-Historical Notes

    No, I'm fine. Not that kind of medical history. I'm talking about the history of medicine, and the history of medical terminology. A couple of weeks ago I had my annual checkup. It mostly consisted of a blood draw and some lab work, to see if all my humors were properly balanced. But I did…

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  • Random Encounters: The Infinite Library

    "The universe (which others call the Library) is composed of an indefinite and perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries, with vast air shafts between, surrounded by very low railings. From any of the hexagons one can see, interminably, the upper and lower floors. The distribution of the galleries is invariable. Twenty shelves, five long shelves…

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The Worldbuilding Index