Under Hollow Hills - A Preamble

10 Sep, 2026

I probably should have started taking notes earlier, huh? Ah well.

Inspired by the call to action from the Quinns Quest discord server "to get more games in front of more people," I decided to run a game new to me for the occasion, and so I pulled Under Hollow Hills off of my shelf. In this game, you follow a circus as they travel through fairyland and the mortal world, each session culminating in one of their performances.

If you're taking the time to read this sort of post, Meguey and Vincent Baker likely need no introduction. It was in large part out of respect for their combined influence on the hobby that I had picked up the book initially. I figured that I more than owed them a purchase on faith for what they'd given me already, between their direct work and all they've inspired, plus, I had no doubt I'd find some excellent design work within. And then I put it on my shelf and forgot about it for several years.

Fool that I was, because I was absolutely right about what was inside.

I'd held it in my hand, obviously I'd felt the heft, but nonetheless, I was still surprised by simply how much this book gives to you. Every section of this book is replete with words: extensive lists to choose from, multiple examples of rulings and play, and a host of resources to make the Mistress of Ceremonies' job as easy as possible.

Even more importantly, it was exciting. The playbooks were immediately evocative. I know that if I ever have a chance to play, I'll be asking for the Chieftain Mouse, but there's no other choice I'd be sad to end up with. Every unique Play¹ is a delight, ranging from the powerfully broad to the terribly specific. As fairies (or interloping humans), you can wield immense power in even small actions. For example, the Chieftain Mouse (in addition to all of the Plays everyone can make) can:

• Address them courteously
• Seek out the little wild things
• Sit counsel with them
• Summon the Mousy Clans

How fascinating, that these are the ways they, and they alone, can seize control of the narrative. But! The element that grabbed my attention the most on first pass was how characters don't grow, or at least, not in a bog-standard sense of getting stronger or more skilled. Rather, the passage of time and life marks you by how you shift between Summer and Winter Imagery, visibly wearing the impact of your experiences, and how that changes what Plays you feel more or less comfortable making as a result. The idea of seeing a performer finally return to a form that you hadn't seen them wear in months, and all that would represent, gave me goosebumps. And don't get me started on the section on Dice Fudging.²

And yet, after reading it, I closed the book and thought:

"Man, it's hard to imagine actually running this."

It's a thought I have much more often than I'd like. A really frustrating one. For a long time, it was my reaction to Ultraviolet Grasslands, despite being immensely inspired by it.³ These games have compelling worlds, the individual rules make sense, but in trying to picture what a full, "satisfying" session looks like, they feel out of my reach. Jay Dragon in particular is a master of this for me: Wanderhome and Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast and Seven Part Pact all became a Tantalus torture on reading.

And it feels especially silly to have that reaction here, when there's an entire chapter explaining the format every session follows! With extensive examples! Write-ups of rules and Occasions⁴ and conversations between the performers and MC! A timeline of exactly what the MC should have ready and do at every point in the process!

So, I sat with that unpleasant and familiar feeling for a while, and then set it nervously to my side. I wrote up an advertisement on the QQ server, and in short order, had four eager performers ready to bring a circus to life.

Guess I'd better write up this first Occasion. Oh boy.⁵ 🐝