Manchester LGBTQIA+ Dungeons & Dragons Meetup

Leilon is currently safe from the ill effects of the Cult of Talos, but evil never stops. There are clouds on the horizon, two powers are rising in the North of the Sword Coast, who they are is to be seen. Who will stand against evil when the clouds break? That is a story for our heroes to tell.

We will be exploring the continuing adventures of our rag tag bunch of heroes as they travel across the Sword Coast and discover what secrets there are to be told.

This will be the first session of this game, we will take the first hour to ensure that characters on Roll20 correct, if there are any other questions before the game starts, character relationships, and anything else that comes up.

I look forwards to see you all there.

This month we'll be reading A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock, an LGBTQ+ historical horror.

"It is an unusual thing, to live in a botanical garden. But Simon and Gregor are an unusual pair of gentlemen. Hidden away in their glass sanctuary from the disapproving tattle of Victorian London, they are free to follow their own interests without interference. For Simon, this means long hours in the dark basement workshop, working his taxidermical art. Gregor's business is exotic plants – lucrative, but harmless enough. Until his latest acquisition, a strange fungus which shows signs of intellect beyond any plant he's seen, inspires him to attempt a masterwork: true intelligent life from plant matter.

Driven by the glory he'll earn from the Royal Horticultural Society for such an achievement, Gregor ignores the flaws in his plan: that intelligence cannot be controlled; that plants cannot be reasoned with; and that the only way his plant-beast will flourish is if he uses a recently deceased corpse for the substrate.

The experiment – or Chloe, as she is named – outstrips even Gregor's expectations, entangling their strange household. But as Gregor's experiment flourishes, he wilts under the cost of keeping it hidden from jealous eyes. The mycelium grows apace in this sultry greenhouse. But who is cultivating whom?

Told with wit and warmth, this is an extraordinary tale of family, fungus and more than a dash of bloody revenge from an exciting new voice in queer horror."

Feel free to come along!

Content warnings can be found here:
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/da9ee6b3-5f80-4aa7-9d9b-94772c68f2e1/content_warnings

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156415922-a-botanical-daughter

The meeting will take place on Discord, with the channel name out on the #book-club channel in the official discord prior to the event.