Hostile Sun Playtest: Scandal on Demeter VI

The tabletop RPG I am developing, Under a Hostile Sun just had its first recorded playtest (the game as a whole and individual mechanics from it have been tested prior to this one). My good friends Arwynn, Amara and Dennis had a great time testing this system and I hope clicking through this video makes […]

Regarding the Recent Allegations

The Martian Muckraker would like to vehemently deny that we, any of the aliens we represent, or any of our subsidiaries and allies were involved in the four* unidentified aerial objects recently sighted in Earthling atmospheric space. When asked for comment C’therax, Editor and Chief of the Muckraker, calmly stated “WE SWEAR WE DIDN’T DO […]

Crisis of Faith

Written by Sp’Rark, Cultural Editor of the Martian Muckraker Nothing shook the religious foundations of Ancient Mars more than the discovery of Earthlings. For generations Martians regarded Mars as an Oasis in an otherwise uninhabited universe. Then scientists started hearing the transmissions from Earth. Two planets, Mars and Earth. Practically sisters. Each oblivious to the […]

Under a Foreign Sky

Many Earthlings recently had their people’s celebration of Fathers. That inspired our own Sp’Rark to reflect on hers. When I was little, my father and I would go under the stars and trade stories. Favula’s sky was a painting of heroes and monsters. Dad taught me them all . . . their names, their tales, […]

Military Standoff Ignited by Space Station Social Media

Students were asked to stay away from the student center of the University of Northern Mars today as several hundred refugees were expected to meet there to receive services from doctors, psychiatrists, religious leaders and immigration experts. By the days’ end every doctor we spoke to looked exhausted and even a little worried. Earlier this […]

Ecological Purity or Tyranny?

F’vrel, a renowned Martian Xenobiologist, has been arrested on Silkweave, home planet of the eight-legged Venomite people. Official records list his crimes as “trafficking invasive species and corrupting the ecosystems of Silkweave.” The arrest was done in traditional Venomite fashion: by completely cocooning the alleged criminal in webbing. Enraged Martian diplomats have arranged for F’vrel […]

Can You Own A Moon?

Almost every known planet with sentient lifeforms has a legal standard prohibiting the ownership of that world’s moons. Most of these customs are quite ancient, being written before the rise of faster-than-light travel when colonizing a moon was impossible anyway. However, as the cost of trans-galactic vehicles continues to plummet, more and more companies are […]

Unchained

“Martian sentiment has turned sharply against the C’rululian Empire,” the soldier stammered out to General Vikiper. Vikiper enjoyed the tremor in the soldier’s body as he spoke, but not enough to offset the seriousness of the news. “Continue.” Vikiper ordered. “Several soldiers with ties close to the Empire have been relieved from duty in the Martian […]

Newspaper in Exile

Hello, my name is F’delty. Would that you could see the tears on the transmitter as I write this… My father was one of thousands of Martians who hailed Mars begging for escape transports the day the Earthlings’ Great Barricade started to rise. For years, we have had no information of the outside galaxy, no […]

A More Perfect Internet

“C’therax! W-why h-haven’t you been t-t-transmitting?” Sarah said at the hologram. For months C’therax had been providing her information to share with the stranded Martian community on Earth. The past several weeks the signal had been silent and many of the underground Martians were getting worried. Outside she had her speaker blaring rock and roll […]