So not looking forward to this.

Back from my latest appointment with my pulmonologist. Overall, she's very happy with my progress. We've set a benchmark for getting me off the oxygen. When I can go a full day at fairly normal activity levels without feeling overly fatigued or having my oxygen drop below 90%, we'll ditch it.

But it turns out I may have a new issue. For a couple of weeks I'd been experiencing pain while swallowing and when I tried to do breathing exercises. The PET scan showed activity in both my lungs and in my esophagus. Dr. Butcher thinks I may have had a problem with acid reflux. Now taking Omerprazole. I'm also going to be scheduled for a charming procedure where a tube is stuck down my throat (stop snickering) to examine the good ol'food tube to see if there's more going on than a simple if unprecedented (in me, anyway) case of acid reflux.

The Edge is Where You Find It.

One concept that I've always held to in designing RPG settings or in my nascent attempts at fiction is that interesting stories happen at the Edge. What is the Edge? It's the frontier, where man's laws give was to the rule of the gun, or the edge of known reality, where eldritch horrors leak through, or the point where a normal existence is revealed to be very different. It's a place, or a condition, where the usual rules of civilization fall aside, and heroes are called on to perform great deeds.. or to just join in in the general chaos.

The problem is Edges by their very nature are unstable. People crave order and safety. The "Wild West" period of American history lasted only about 20 years, all told, because everywhere settlers went, they brought laws, and lawmen, and enough wood to build the gallows. The most famous gunfight of American history, the one at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Az, came about because the Clanton gang was suspected of violating the town's ban on carrying weapons inside city limits! What a lot of people also don't realize is that the Earps and Doc Holliday were charged with murder over the shoot-out, but cleared after a hearing. Not exactly the romantic view we have of lawmen gunning down the bad guys, hm? Other Edges are faced with similar fates. In Call of Cthulthu, either the stars will be right (and we all die) or the stars will go out of alignment (threat mostly over) in fairly short order. You can't maintain an anarchy for long. Which is why I've always favored settings that are either on the far-flung frontiers of whatever state exists or settings that happen immediate after great upheavals that have severely disrupted the normal order of things.

What brings this on is while writing my posts on religion for Pathfinder; I've been really craving some nice, epic Space Opera. The problem is civilizations that can build FTL ships and settle thousands of worlds as tend to be pretty good, at least locally, at holding civilization together. Exploration games can be fun, for a while, but it's not what I'm looking for. But then it hit me. The aftermath of an epic, titanic war between the Terran Federation and the Evil Vaguely Mongolian In Attitude Humanoid Alien Empire (EVMIAHAE). The setting would be a far flung sector that suffered heavy fighting for years. Now, a cease fire has been negotiated, and people are picking up the pieces. Some worlds rode out the war fairly well, some are grave worlds. Everywhere there are mysteries, displaced persons, lost ships, looted museums, and rumors spiraling out of control. Fortune or death awaits the intrepid!

Something I might work on after finishing up the High Church stuff.

OK, since people found the Civil War quiz too easy..

Without looking it up, what is Jacob Shallus' claim to fame in American history?

The revised Convention Biography.

Doug Berry has been wandering around SF/F fandom for close to 35 years. In that time, he has worked cons, been a frequent panelist at Baycon, run parties, and tormented ConOps. He will also argue anything at the drop of a hat. He lists his religion as Orthodox Baseball, Giants Synod. But what Doug is perhaps best known for is his perverse fascination with penguins.

He has been gaming since 1977, and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. After surviving cancer in the mid-90s, he resolved to get published. The results were minor credits in several books and two “name” projects: At Close Quarters (BITS) and GURPS Traveller: Ground Forces (Steve Jackson Games). Success in writing fiction (aside from his resume) continues to be elusive.

Doug is easily recognized by his ever-present Giants cap and the silly we-really-won-the-World-Series grin. Currently on disability due to a pronounced inability to breathe, Doug is making use of his time by working on several RPG settings.

Good?