The Marshes is a Hopeless, Maine story by Keith Healing, performed by Tom Brown. Originally this story was broadcast as “interruptions” to the scheduled broadcast during The Eldritch Broadcasting Corporation’s online festival. For this video, they have been presented together here, so you can follow the whole piece in one go.
You can find the playlist for the entire event over here – https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgL8NSDkxNIrw-_OZ4vL4mG61BG9MWjgZ
We’re in the exciting process of developing a Bestiary for the Hopeless Maine role play game. This is work being led on by Keith Healing. We are of course collecting up all the strange things that go by in the background, and working out a bit more about the mechanics of what they do and how/if they might hurt a person.
It means that new discoveries are also being made. Apparently we have ghouls. This isn’t a great surprise on a gothic island with a lot of cemeteries where food is often at a premium.
We’re also experimenting a bit with how art will work for this book. Here we have a ghoul drawn by Tom and inked by me.
Those of you who followed the kickstarter obituaries last autumn may have noticed the presence of The Hopeless Maine Scientific Society. Membership of this organisation is generally a death sentence, and this picture, of the four key members, gives you some sense as to why!
This is a two page spread from the next Hopeless Maine graphic novel, and like most of our two page spreads it has nothing to do with the rest of the story. It is a peek into island life. What we’re doing in addition with these two page spreads, is to feature actual people who have played a key role in the Hopeless Maine project. And while these dodgy scientists may be the kiss of death on the fictional island, in real life they are hugely important to us.
Going left to right…
The young man setting fire to the tablecloth is my son and heir, James Weaselgrease (his steampunk name, not his real name). James is central to our song-based performances, and this is his second time in a comic. If you look closely, there’s a much younger him on a two page spread in The Gathering.
The gentleman holding the tablecloth is Robin Treefellow Collins, who is responsible for the hairy coffee, and who has written a number of ‘Daphne’ stories for this blog.
Next up, a justifiably worried Keith of Mystery, aka Keith Errington, who is responsible for Hopeless Maine prose novel The Oddatsea and without whom we would never have managed a kickstarter. He is an organisational force to reckon with. He’s also performed with us, and is responsible for the Hopeless Maine Home Companion, without which there would never have been a Spidermilk Biscuit song!
Finally, breaking the fourth wall to stare at you from the right of the image, is Keith Healing (whose title I won’t mention as he didn’t get the most dignified nickname). Keith is responsible for the Hopeless Maine roleplay game – an epic attempt at taking the madness of Hopeless and turning it into a coherent and playable system without sacrificing anything much of the magic and mystery.
Hello people! (and others)
It is long past time we dedicated a whole piece to an amazing member of the Hopeless, Maine creative tribe-Cliff Cumber.
We met Cliff on Twitter a while back, and were lucky enough to lure him to the island. He did much of the art for Tales From the Squid and Teapot (some of the very best of it, I would say) He created the art for the Hopeless, Maine tourist bureau (which we still proudly display at events) and then…when we asked him to contribute art to the Hopeless, Maine tabletop RPG- Travels in Hopeless, he bravely stepped forward. Much of the art in the bestiary section is his. (and I got to colour some of it also! ) His Gnii illustration is one of my favourite pieces of HM art at all-ever. Oh! Yes. AND he has a pin up in Sinners! (Two fantastic Sal drawings) Look here, and you will see some selected highlights from his work for Travels in Hopeless.
Mr Cumber was originally from the UK and moved to the US to marry (exact mirror of my own journey) and now does art for comics and several projects for our great friend Professor Elemental!
Go and visit him on twitter and tell him we sent you!
Thank you, dear people Now let me explain
That if on Hopeless
You wish to remain
I am the chap
With whom to converse
The truth you will hear
For better or worse.
You have probably formed An impression so far
Of darkness and fog
Of the world left ajar
And while it is true
That things can look drear
There are many joys
To be found living here.
Uummm!
Ah!
The landscape is stunning
When viewed through the murk Which lends it a grandeur
And hides things that lurk On the edge of your vision
That watch as you pass That rustle the bushes
And slither through grass Behind you
Speaking of which
If you’re into your plants
The flora is…nice
Though some of it chants
In dialects dead
The language of dust
It whispers to both
The true and unjust
Constantly
Errr!
The animal life
Is completely unique
And whether it has
Toothsome grin or sharp beak
Tentacular grip
Or glowing green eyes
There are certainly habits To keep, it is wise
Lock your damn spoons away
We have many graveyards Really – a lot
So we know where our dead are As often as not
It’s not just the fact
That the corpse can up sticks
But the graveyards themselves
Are not geographically fixed
And the dead wander
The truth is, dear friends
To survive here you’ll need
A guidebook, a reference Something to read
That will tell you the rules Of this Island so odd
And give you some help
On the paths you have trod
And so we have made THIS…
A game, it is true
That will guide you
Prepare you,
And give you a clue
How best to endure
On this island of mist
To visit this land
And put up a fist
That cries NO to the demons Which infest our dreams
And wards off the vampires Who suck at our seams
To give us some hope
That out of despair
Something less Hopeless Can take to the air.
Written by the rather brillaint Keith Healing (Creator of Travels in Hopeless-the impending Hopeless, Maine RPG and all around lovely chap) Illustrated by Jacinta Haden-Newman who was our work experience student for a week. I see a bright future ahead of her! (DO look closely at the detail of the lighthouse)
Hello again people (and others)
Hopeless, Maine Sinners has had a proper send off into the world at The Ale House in Stroud. It was a grand evening, enjoyed by (almost) all. (There was a bloke who was convinced that we were somehow anti-Pope…? Not an audience member I should add.. For the record, no, we’re not. We don’t really think about the Pope that much at all, truth be known)
My personal takeaway from the event is that we are building a truly amazing creative tribe around the Hopeless, Maine stuff. Long may it continue and take on new forms and bring in more people! In times where it sometimes feels as though we are standing on shifting sand, this is a good and solid thing to hang onto.
Nimue enchants
Martin Pearson- The father of the Squid and Teapot (and also- Nimue)
The hero of the night was Madeleine Harwood. Despite personal difficulties, she came, brought and set up the PA and performed an utterly beautiful rendition of Nimue’s Lullabye for a Dustcat. (we all had goosebumps) There is a possibility that there may be more Hopeless, Maine music from her in future! Watch this space. Martin Pearson, the creator of (and writer for) The Squid and teapot performed with panache! Keith Healing (the creator of the Hopeless, Maine RPG) wrote and performed a poem which introduced people to the island (and the game) Keith Errington (The Keith OF MYSTERY) read, to dramatic and amusing effect, his recent addition to Hopeless, Maine lore, and a long-awaited tale from Rebecca Willson was read by the author, introducing doctor Headly Case to the island. (You will get to read the text this coming Friday- or if you are reading this later, it will be on the site already) Nimue and I were masters of ceremony and Nimue told stories of how things had come to be and generally enchanted people. Robin Collins performed Daphne and the Dead Seagull (including the song contained within it, which will *have* to be recorded for posterity one day!) and Meredith Debbonaire read The Aunties (which is a tale that will make you think differently about the beginning of the Graphic novel series) The Hopeless, Maine sea shanty (written by Nimue) and “Magpies” were performed by a Cup of Tentacles (Which is James, Nimue, and I…currently)
The feeling, in the end, was that there should be more of this sort of thing. So, there will be! (and i’m very much looking forward to it)
Photos- thanks to Meredith Debbonaire
Hello, again people (and others).
If you have ever had a book launch or attended one and are not Neil Gaiman or JK Rowling you will know that they tend to be sad affairs rife with disappointment and stale snacks.
For this reason (among others) we have decided that we will not ever, ever, do that to ourselves or our friends ever again-ever (at all-ever) Besides which, despite our gloom tinted work, we are generally in favor of fun. (I hope you were sitting down for that) So, we thought, what’s fun then? Pubs. Pubs are fun. Music is fun. Having our friends in a pub with music and stories and poetry would almost certainly be fun. So, basically a party. (well, our sort of party, at any rate) Some of our favorite people have agreed to perform including Martin Pearson (of the Squid and Teapot), Meredith Debonnaire who has written some of our favorite pieces for the Vendetta (and introduced singing snails to the island) and Madeline Harwood, who is one of the best singers in the world. (she *may* be singing about….Dustcats) also Robin Collins! (Who brought us hairy coffee and other wonders) and two Keiths! One who created the Hopeless, Maine RPG, and another you have not met yet who is quite simply one hell of a writer. A Cup of Tentacles will sing songs of the island and songs evoking it. Massively Chuffed to say that local poet- Gary Death will be performing his Vendetta poem cycle also. This…is going to be a great deal of our sort of fun.
If you are in the area, please do come and join us. If you are not, there will be photos!
Hoping, as always, this finds you well, inspired and thriving
The Hopeless Vendetta 