Poliglocia

Earlier this year, I wrote an adaptation of the autobiography of the Nun Ensign, "La leyenda de la monja alférez". Catalina de Erauso escaped the convent her family had put her into, in order to sail to 16th century colonial South America, where she became a legendary cross dressing swashbuckler. Particular are not only her often retold quarrels, brutal murders, witty escapes and spicy love affairs - these were common material to baroque tales. But Erauso decided to write her own tale, her own truth - his own truth, if one is to be true to the narration. A truth that breaks the narrative of a repentant sinner, so beloved in Catholic fancy then and now, and reaffirms transition and change as a reality. History, in this case, was for me a vehicle to show the weight of reality, even if the tale is one of comedy, irony and multilayered farce. History is composed of accountable instances of rewriting, but the fact that it has been written down attests for the existence of the...

This weekend the Europe's largest game fair, the Spiel, took place in my neighborhood. Since it has proven impossible to fully describe events that cover several days, I will focus on the Roleplaying Games I met on the fair this time. Of course, there are many others I didn't get to know enough about even to mention them, but here's a report on the bits I learned. Meikyu Kingdom: I had one more chance to try what calls itself a "cynical pop dungeon fantasy" with an experienced GM. The setting is a world consisting in its entirety of a massive dungeon and full of every random eclectic cliché of fantasy you can imagine, only even a little weirder because Japan. Characters are rolled together to produce absurd, but somehow consistent combinations. This time I was a butler called "Champion of the Messe" who had a constant itch for fighting. The system is confirmed for hilarious, random story driving and fun adventuring. In a long run, the party should a...