[WL] The Origin of the Alien Markab Race...

[Havard]

The Origin of the Alien Markab Race...

Bob Bledsaw was very much into Astronomy; owning several telescopes and spending many a winter's evening staring into an eyepiece at the Horsehead Nebula, the Eye of Jupiter, or the Moons of Saturn. In the photo below, he is showing Bob Jr. the business-end of his first refractor. He would later buy his son a 5-inch reflector. Bob's brother Bill is also shown; this was Christmas Eve, 1965. The Wilderlands would come almost a decade later.

In creating the Wilderlands, Bob based his continents and human races on the works of his favorite fantasy authors; Tolkien's Elves and Dwarves, with Ozish winged-apes, Frazetta-esgue Barbarians who breathed Robert E. Howard... but he also loved science-fiction and knew early-on, being an avid fan of Traveller, that futuristic races and technologies enhanced adventure. He desired the create a world were "anything goes," the judge was free to throw in the kitchen sink, panzerfaust, or laser blaster... hence the development of his "Critical Hit/Miss Factor."

But what to name this alien race? Where might the origin be? Bob was well aware of the constellations, knowing most of the prominent stars by heart, and as the Guild's logo suggested, he looked to Pegasus. There, dead-center, is a white star, first recorded in ancient times by the Chinese... Markab! One day, perhaps the Markab will return to the Wilderlands, claiming what they had once conquered and lost smile emoticon

Posted by Robert Bledsaw II
October 21, 2014 on Facebook.

-Havard