Council mistakes Dungeon Master for Speaker of Hackney Michael Desmond
Cllr Michael Desmond (left) and The Dungeon Master (photograph: Marvel Productions), whom the council said was Cllr Desmond
One is a small Buddha-like figure who dispenses calming wisdom to hawkishly gung-ho aggressors.
The other is an amiable local councillor who runs a comedy website and will henceforth be charged with keeping order at full council meetings.
Granted, there are some similarities between Councillor Michael Desmond and the scarily titled Dungeon Master from 1970s role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.
But not enough to explain why Hackney Council released an image of the latter to accompany a press release about Cllr Desmond being appointed as Speaker of Hackney.
The press office apologised and said the “unrelated image” was accidentally attached to its release sent through the Town Hall’s online media system.
However, a spokesman did not elaborate on why the strange image of a cartoon version of the Dungeon Master was in the system in the first place titled “Cllr Michael Desmond” .
The Speaker, Hackney’s official civic representative, attends ceremonial functions and ensures that sometimes heated full council meetings do not get out of hand.
Both the Speaker and the Dungeon Master wear red cloaks.
Actually, the original Dungeon Master was based on a real person who lived in Evansville, IN. His name was Bob Ethridge and was a “gamer” almost since the game’s creation. He helped TSR playtest the D&D rules and set a standard for how the game is played. He was good friends with one of Dungeons and Dragons’ creator Gary Gygax. JUst thought I’d mention this in memory of Bob, he will be missed.