In our regular feature, we join a local for a tea break. This week, we welcome Fañch Bihan-Gallic whom our readers already know as North Harris Trust Ranger. We wanted to find out more about Fañch’s work for OH!CON.
Fañch, what is OH!CON and what can visitors expect from this event?
OH!CON is the Outer Hebrides Comics Convention, a big event celebrating what is often called "nerd culture". It gathers people who love science-fiction, fantasy, gaming, speculative literature, and suchlike. Think Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, or mangas & anime. Visitors will find talks from various artists, workshops, a gallery of fantasy and sci-fi art, game tables to discover and enjoy wargames and role-playing games, and much more!
You have been volunteering for OH!CON since last year. How are you involved?
I have been helping OH!CON make sure Gaelic has a strong presence in the organisation and the event - I am not the only one doing it, of course. Last year, I translated Cairn RPG, a fantasy table-top role-playing game (TTRPG) by Yochai Gal, into Gaelic. I also offered a game session of that very same game in Gaelic that was well attended and great fun.
This year, a Gaelic glossary of fantasy will be available at OH!CON. Can you tell us more about it?
The organisers wanted Gaelic to be more than a tokenistic language as they recognise it is the indigenous, community language of our islands. I have a website dedicated to fantasy and TTRPG in Gaelic (tourlezarmeur.com) and they noticed a glossary was part of it, so they thought I could extend it and turn it into a small book. The Faclair Fantasachd na Gàidhlig will include mostly words that are or were in use in Gaelic to talk about magic, weaponry, fantasy creatures, adventures, and fantasy gaming. The main goal is to promote the wealth of Gaelic storytelling and history, but also to provide some support for new things like role-playing games and fantasy literature, which can be challenging for people who were not raised in a strong storytelling tradition in the language. Young Gaelic speakers can discuss their maths homework in Gaelic, but can they name the various parts of a sword or discuss the best way to break into a mage's tower? TV and internet are teaching it to us in English, and we should relearn how to do it in Gaelic too. This glossary is not a translation, though: The goal was to make it from a Gaelic perspective, through the lens of Gaelic culture and imagination. Even though I am not a Gael myself, I hope I did it justice.
What do you look forward to the most at this year’s OH!CON?
Everything! I love seeing the creativity that OH!CON fosters and the various talks and workshops that will be offered. Seeing a lot of people from all age groups wearing the costumes of their favourite characters or story is also amazing and fun. And of course, I am looking forward to once again leading a role-playing game session in Gaelic - this year, it will be science-fiction.
What do table-top role-playing games entail and what do you enjoy about them?
Table-top role-playing games are a form of cooperative storytelling. The most famous of them is probably Dungeons & Dragons, though thousands more exist. The players take the roles of characters in an imaginary world and decide on these characters' actions. Most games have a Game Master, who creates the world and its response to the players' actions, guiding the narration, and acting as a referee for the game's rules. Rules are often a support to introduce uncertainty in the interactions of the characters with the world. These games do not need much: Pen and paper, a handful of dice, and a willingness to immerse yourself in another world. Many game rules are easy to learn and available for free. And the limit is your imagination, so some gaming groups have been meeting regularly to continue the same story for years if not decades! I guess that's why we're called nerds.
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