Season 19, Episodes 1-2

Episode 1: Time and Byzantium

Constantinople, 826 AD. Lady Penelope is playing the temporal tourist and loving every minute of it, until she discovers a potentially continuum-wrecking dissonance hovering over Theophilos, the boy who would one day become Emperor – or will he? Something or someone is manipulating the tides of History and Destiny. A new quest awaits the Time Lady!

Episode 2: Golden Gate

Lady Penelope’s hunt for echoes of destiny dissonance takes her to 1879 San Francisco, where strange glitches interfere with the flow of time. Joining forces with journalist Ambrose Bierce and megalopolimancer (uh?) Thibault the Castries, she soon finds herself chasing a ghostly barouche through Chinatown… before meeting America’s one and only true Emperor.

Hello everyone!  Yes, our beloved Time Lady (now in her 8th incarnation!) is back for a whole new season of adventures in Time and Space!

After experimenting (quite successfully, if I may say so myself) with the mini-series format, I've decided to return to the traditional season approach (12 or 15 episodes in length - I've not decided yet), starting with a quartet of linked episodes (or a single multi-episode story, if you will) focusing on... the return of Carcosa, with a new paradigm and a new reality (since Penelope pretty much destroyed the accursed meta-temporal city, back in season 17).

And now, on to our first two opening episodes!

Time and Byzantium resulted from Sylvie's longtime wish to visit Constantinople AGAIN, after her unfortunate, short-lived sojourn there way back in season 7 (and some 12 years ago in real time). In the meantime, I've done some background reading on Byzantine history, allowing me to render this extraordinary setting in a more detailed and evocative manner. I specifically chose 9th century as the time period because it marked the apogee and eventual abandonment of the whole Iconoclast phase of the empire - a fascinating historical and cultural backdrop. The episode featured quite a few real-life characters, includning the future emperor Theophilos and his teacher-mentor John (Ianos) the Grammarian and kickstarted a new crosstime quest (or hunt?) for Penelope.

As many of you have probably guessed, Golden Gate owed a massive creative debt to Fritz Leiber's novel Our Lady of Darkness (for the De Castries / megalopolimancy stuff) and, even more importantly, to Three Septembers and a January, one of my favorite Neil Gaiman's The Sandman episodes. And like the latter, our own story featured both Emperor Norton and the (revenant) King of Pain as prominent characters. I also added Ambrose Bierce to the mix (I really couldn't leave the man who coined the name "Carcosa" out of this!), adding a healthy dose of pessimistic sarcasm to the dialogue, as well as some interesting reflections on the great author's past and future, from the 1879 perspective. The actual play was a delight, with some great interactions between Penelope and the main NPCs, including a remarkably moving speech when Norton had to resist the treacherous enticements of the King of Pain, reinvented as the Reborn Carcosa's puppet and messenger.

See you soon for the next episode!  

The Ashworth Chronicles: Bonus Episode!

 Bonus Episode: Within

Just when she thought she was out, they pull her back in… As soon as Lady Penelope wakes up, she knows something was wrong. Why is she lying in a four-poster bed, in an unknown yet familiar rococo room?  Why is she wearing the face of one of her previous incarnations?  Who is this mysterious gothic Governess standing at her bedside? And where is the Shadow Box?  

Yes, I know, the miniseries was supposed to be over - yet I did have a lingering feeling of uncompleteness and, above all, I did see the opportunity to run a "dream / mindgames" episode à la Amy's Choice - something which I'd wanted to do for quite some time now but I just couldn't find the right formula (moment + situation + stakes, etc.). 

Anyway, this short episode really brought a sense of closure to the whole miniseries, while allowing Sylvie and I to revisit some of Penelope's memories - more than 18 seasons, more than 30 travelling companions and 8 incarnations so far!

See you in a few months for our next miniseries / season / whatever!  

The Ashworth Chronicles, final episodes

Episode 5: Ghosts of War

Just when Penelope and Titus thought they were done with the Vishklars’ attempts to derail the Ashworth family history, the Time Lady’s TARDIS catches a new but unpleasantly familiar alert signal coming from the north of Aragon in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War – a time and place where no Ashworth has ever set foot before!  ¿Qué diablos está pasando?

Episode 6: Gorgo, Mormo

Before taking Titus to Avalon to meet his father Lord Ulysses, Penelope decides to take a holiday in 1^st century Rome – visiting old friends, showing Titus the sights and basking into the ceaseless wonders of the Eternal City… unless, of course, she was actually driven there by some mysterious, timey-wimey premonition for a decidedly dark, decisive miniseries finale…

And so concludes our miniseries, The Ashworth Chronicles - but of course, this writeup wouldn't be complete without our traditional post-play notes!

In Episode 5, a shocked and flabbergasted Titus discovered that his young wife-to-be, Victoria Sinclair, a supposedly blasé dilettante, had actually fought along the Republicans and the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War!  Since he could not run the risk of interfering with her timeline before their very first encounter, Penelope had to keep her future adoptive grandmother from the psychic clutches of the nightmare-twisting Vishklar and keep the family history on the right track. This episode also features one Eric Blair, a very British member of the POUM… who would later become famous as George Orwell.

At the end of Episode 5, with everything seeming hunky-dory on the temporal front, Penelope decided that she would conclude this first bout of adventures with Titus by taking him to ancient Rome, one of her favorite destinations. As the GM, I fiendishly decided that this choice, which was really made on a whim, was actually an unconscious premonition which would lead our favorite Time Lady to the time and place where the Vishklars' Three Mothers were hatching a sinister plot to bring about their own rebirth and Rome’s transition into the next Carcosa. 

Fortunately for everybody in Rome, Penelope was able to save the day (and history as we know it after 86 AD) with her usual flair. This adventure involved quite a lot of historical lore about the cult of Cybele, the Magna Mater (actually a red herring); in case you were wondering, its title comes from a famous litany spoken in one of HP Lovecraft’s early horror tales (but is actually an authentic quote from an ancient author, as I learned during my research phase).

And now… we’re taking a break, with Lady Penelope finally returning to Avalon with her new protégé. We’ll return in a few months, with a new miniseries of adventures in time and space!

The Ashworth Chronicles, episode 4

 Episode 4: The Invisible City

Yemen, 1884. Lord Ulysses Ashworth leads an expedition through the Rub-al Khali desert, in search of the fabled City of Irem, the Atlantis of the Sands – unaware that he is walking into a trap designed to seal the fate of the Ashworth bloodline. A tale of illusions and whispers, of lost cities and broken dreams, featuring Arthur Rimbaud, cursed poet and historical enigma.

This episode mixed typical Haggardian (Haggardesque?) elements with an almost poetic take on the lore regarding the fabled lost city of Iram / Irem  of the Pillars; one of its most important elements was the elusive character of Arthur Rimbaud - a former poet prodigy turned into a strangely soulless merchant adventurer, completely unaware of his future literary glory. From a GMing perspective, he was a very tricky character to portray - the taciturn, world-weary shadow of the enfant terrible he once had been - a bit like a WoD Changeling overcome by Banality.

With Penelope's neutralization of this fourth Vishklar machination, her mortal family's timeline seems safe from further historical disruptions... or are the nefarious nightmare entities about to up their game?  Stay tuned for the final two episodes of our miniseries! 

The Ashworth Chronicles, episode 3

Episode 3: The Mirror and the Dark

The trail of yet another Vishklar interference takes Penelope and Titus to Henry VIII’s court, a few months after the execution of the King’s fifth wife. Tension, suspicion and ambition are running high in the corridors of Hampton Court Palace and false appearances reign supreme. To unmask her enemy, the Time Lady will have to navigate a maze of intrigue and deceit…

As its title may imply, this scenario had a very strong Wolf Hall vibe. Despite having an 'unearthly' element as its core (the Vishklars' interference with the Ashworth family history), it played out as an almost purely historical episode - with a lot of roleplaying and almost no dice rolls. The big resolution scene had Penelope facing Henry VIII, trying to (and succeeding in) opening his eyes to a few home truths - and it was one of these moments I'd be tempted to refer as "a roleplaying aria", with Sylvie-as-Penelope delivering a very moving, well-crafted (and yet completely improvised) speech that spoke to the monarch's heart and mind. I always try to make encounters with historical personages memorable, no matter how brief - and this one will surely rank among our campaign's "classic moments".

See you soon for our next episode!  

A New Year - and a New Beginning!

Hello everyone!

It's 2025 and Lady Penelope is back (in her 8th incarnation - think of Rebecca Hall in The Awakening is back for more adventures in Time and Space!

We actually started back in 2024 with an Xmas special - which provided me with the ideal starting point for the ensuing miniseries (see my previous post for more details about our new format).

2024 Xmas Special: The Impossible Ghost

What better time than Christmas Eve for a ghost story? Drawn by strange temporal echoes to the stately home of her human family on that unique night of  1924, Lady Penelope meets 11-years old Titus Ashworth II, her future adoptive grandfather – and currently a very lonely boy, haunted by an impossible but very real ghost. A tale of strange ties and new beginnings!

And then we proceeded with the first two episodes of... 

Lady Penelope: the Ashworth Chronicles

Episode 1: Family Trouble

Something is deliberately trying to alter the history of the Ashworth family! Embarking her adoptive grandfather Titus (a dashing aviator who went missing in action in 1941) as her new travelling companion, Lady Penelope rushes to investigate – arriving at Ashworth Manor in 1646, during the English Civil War, the time of a Roundheads, Cavaliers… and Witchfinders!

Episode 2: The Men Who Would be King

Penelope’s hunt for the Vishklar who try to derail the Ashworth family history take her and Titus to 1191 AD, during the Third Crusade, under the besieged walls of Acre. A tale of ambition and power, destiny and mythmaking, featuring various great personages, including Richard the Lionheart, two other kings and (of course) the founder of the Ashworth line!

(to be continued)

As can be gleamed from the above blurbs, the arch / main plotline of this 6-episode miniseries is directly tied to Penelope's adoptive human family and its rich history through the centuries... a history which is theatened by a crosstime conspiracy involving the Vishklar. For more details on those psychic menaces in Lady Penelope's Odyssey, see this previous post.

See you soon for episode 3... set in 1542, at the court of Henry VIII. Tudor troubleshooting, anyone?

 

Season 18 Finale (Episodes 12-13)... and plans for the future!

Episode 12: Where Angels Fear to Tread

Just when the Time Lady thought she could take some Time Off on 2024 Earth, Urgent Unfinished Business comes knocking at the door – in the form of Miss Jones’ ongoing machinations to harness the vestigial power of the defunct Abraxas entity and take control of the space-time continuum. A tale of tough choices, narrow escapes and, yes, Weeping Angels.

Episode 13: The Wake

The hunt draws to a close. Penelope joins forces with alternate versions of the Doctor and Romana to track down Miss Jones, no longer a living Time Lord/Lady but a disembodied entity desperately seeking a new body to possess and reconfigure. The trail of its wounded TARDIS leads them to a house in 1873 Bloomsbury – just in time for the evening’s séance…

And thus ends our 18^th season – which proved to be a somewhat lengthy yet bumpy ride, with more intermissions that I would have wished…

Started in October 2023, this season concluded just before August 2024 – yes, we dragged on for almost an entire year – which really made it difficult to maintain a satisfying narrative pace… but hey, in the end, we managed to wrap it up in a very satisfying manner, with a dramatic farewell to the whole Abraxas motif.

So, why did it take us so long to play these thirteen episodes?  

Well, it was due to a variety of unrelated factors: our decision, after episode 3, to go for a full-fledged season rather than the intended six-episodes mini-series (a decision which, in retrospect, was perhaps not as brilliant as it seemed in the first place), Penelope’s more-or-less unexpected regeneration, the fact that, after more than 200 episodes, new story ideas were becoming more and more elusive and, last but not least, various Real Life contingencies (the dreaded Triad - work, health, family…).

For all these reasons, Sylvie and I have agreed on a change of pace for Penelope’s next adventures. Instead of going for seasons of 13 to 15 episodes, we’ve decided to adopt the six-part miniseries as the standard format for our beloved Time Lady’s excursions in time and space. This format proved highly successful when we tried it back in 2022 (see the Key to Space miniseries) - and it will actually make it easier for me to construct multi-episode stories and will also make easier for Penelope to ‘linger on’ for several episodes in the same location or time period, something that Sylvie is clearly keen on. Of course, it does not mean that each six-part miniseries will necessarily be set in a single setting, as the six-episodes format also lends itself very well to breakneck quests through space and time, giving me all the creative freedom and flexibility I could ask for!  

See you in a few months, for a new chapter of Lady Penelope’s Odyssey!