Mike Roberts was once nothing more than a story, a fable, told since the dawn of time and whispered, akin to heresy, in darkened alley ways and hidden tents from the deserts of ancient Egypt, across the Scandinavian mountains of the Vikings and perhaps, even purposefully removed from Mallory’s Le Morte de Arthur. Then, one day, the power of those stories became so strong with the belief that was held in them that Mike Roberts was made manifest, some say from a prison that was crafted by the same beings that made the universe. And that’s how we got stuck with Mike.

Mike only has the one appellation and it is one that is thoroughly deserved: The Mighty Mike. Mike is probably the most unsung member of the team that brings you the Rising with the role that he holds putting him somewhat behind the scenes and those scenes being thick forest whilst Mike’s uniform is jungle camouflage. Yet the job that he does is absolutely pivotal to the continuation of the projects that entertain us, protect our physical, emotional and mental health and in some cases feed us. Mike, you see, is the King of Admin who could bring all endeavors crashing down around our ears should he choose to.

The Mighty Mike shares the love of the Geek Chic with the rest of his fellow Rising members finding joy in all things fantasy, gaming, sci fi and…..well we say all things sci fi, we won’t talk about Star Wars (although he is now learning about all things Ahsoka Tano, we mean Star Wars, via some tabletop). That aside we found Mike through Larping which is a hobby that he has been involved with down on the South Coast of England, where he makes his Hobbit Hole, for the last twenty years. He has played in a lot of games across a number of genres with his experience being second only to the El Gato himself!

RoC was lucky enough to happen across Mike when the system that he was part of before closed down and he made his way across the county to join us and since then he has not looked back. Ten years ago he turned up, started playing and almost immediately volunteered for admin duties and has managed them ably ever since. He is an indispensable part of the CODA Core Team, an excellent member of crew and has written some corkers in the way of game backgrounds and events; it is no exaggeration to say that the system just wouldn’t be here without him.

During lockdown the Rising opened up a lot more forms of entertainment via Discord and Mike was critical to making them work and has become a regular in the daily channels. He was also the first of the Teams to pick up the mantle of streaming and open up a DnD game on Wednesday night to help people at home be less lonely and give them something to do. Because that’s the kind of guy he is. He didn’t stop there and has since kicked off a session of Crash Pandas and has ideas for lots more games to come. 

He tells us that his passion comes from his love of myth and mythology for which he has a wide and extensive knowledge. Which is no surprise given that he himself is a being crafted from the strands of tale and story. Alongside the rest of the Rising folk he is kind, caring and stands up for the people around him and for the rights and standards of the community that he is a part of. We are all incredibly proud of him and glad that he is part of the Rising as it certainly would not be here without him.