October 2019 FAVORITE MOMENTS!

[Leora Wambach]

Man, what an AWESOME season closer! Huge thanks to plot team and NPCs for making this such a memorable game. I know lots of folks had many favorite moments, so please...share! <3 The rest of us live vicariously through the fun of others.

 

[BChapin]

That was quite the event, particularly to be playing an alt at!

• The Masquerade was quite fun, even if I was ill prepared for masking myself.
• Catching up with other alts from the Reeves March, particularly Grunt was a blast, particularly given Rish wasn't entirely sure what sort of greetings would come of it.
• Cone heads...
• Lola's Late Night Chicken Shack was a lot of fun. Being able to sit and chat with people in character is always fun to me. The atmosphere made it twice as fun!
• Elwin's Waffles were the perfect addition to the event as well. We were completely spoiled!
• The meals Peat served were all wonderful, even with the special care needed to allow us to use the facilities for a wider variety of food!
• "You know... I never thought growing up getting repeatedly mauled by a Tiger (kyn) would come in handy before experiencing the feeling of getting torn apart bit by bit and put back together."
• You know you've made questionable decisions in your life when you find yourself inches from a quite healthy griffon, staring it in the eye, and all you have to protect yourself with is a stick...
• I missed the chess event, hoping to hear tales of it!
• The Theatre of the Dead was amazing. The audience participation really sold the stories being told, and the surprise guest... was rather frightening to be honest.
• Crossing lines with Karlee to play thunder lizards with Derek was awesome. I was taken out quickly once, the rest of the time it was sooo many blows into my back and I stalked the lines. Thank you to you all, and I promise I did my best to take every shot, I really was counting hits!
• Unexpectedly winning a ritual scroll for 2 gold... I bid without ANY expectation it would actually pass!
• The whole events of Sunday afternoon... Wow. I was so very happy to be on an alt to get to watch the whole town's reaction. There's few things that I've seen everyone so enthralled by, and plot's rolling with all of the punches was beautifully handled!

This really was a fun game, and it was a blast to get to see our game from a different perspective, particularly with so many of the big stories coming to a close! Thank you all for a great season!

 

[Josh Voorheez]

Literally all of the event! I love how warm and welcoming you guys are in and out of game! People have welcomed me into their homes and given me rides and let me hang out with them while I've been here and I am super grateful for all of you! Now to overcome the larp brain and try to remember things!

The masquerade was very fun! The costumes were beautiful and it was just fun

Living in the cabin where the chick shack was located! The chicken and waffles were amazing. The cabin was spooky and the place to be!

Meeting new PC's is always super fun as Jinn, as is reconnecting with old friends and learning what we have all been up to in the last year.

The chess match was super cool and interesting to watch!

The theater of the dead's ending, seeing Dryrot, that whole thing was scary and made Jinn's blood boil hard! Then having Alis come to him and ask him to come help with her home land and the ?landstone? And hopefully saving her people was huge to Jinn. He was straight up willing to walk to his death in that situation if it meant people would be saved from that thing.

Napping and laying in the sun in different locations! I love vacations

Meeting Slate and having Jinn go directly into mom mode. Take this gold and potions and elixers and be safe! Jinn would constantly scan the battlefield to make sure nothing was happening to the wee sylvanborn. Also Slates Jinn voice was spot on and had me in tears from laughing so hard.

Both night battles were amazing. The fight with the outsider/?stark? Was chaotic and so fun. Getting to move across a field in and out of the different teams fighting is one of my favorite things to do. Also being compared to Leroy Jenkins is a point of personal pride!

The lost city mod was so cool! The emotion carriers made it very interesting to play and added role play moments and I loved it. The slow chase golem was super spooky and the 10 massive hurts alot.

Getting to hang out and role play with everyone is seriously my favorite thing ever. New Acarthia is slowly becoming Jinns second home and he is almost more comfortable there then in Calendonia. Having the Baroness (now Dutchess?) Tell me in game how nice it is to see me, and genuinely have a conversation with me and offer to bring me books to nationals and out of game tell me how nice it is to RP with me makes my heart smile! Everyone was a joy to play with and I loved every interaction I had! Thanks for putting up with Jinn and his mild insanity.

The box fight Monday morning!! The box dream plus that fight has lead to tearing open a pivotal part of Jinns backstory and will lead to alot of investigation and searching and personal questing in 2020!! Didn't expect any of that at all.

I'm sure I will think of more but my brain is tired!

 

[Miragel]

Well, that just happened.
I’m not sure that I have the words for this event, so I’ll just start with the Ball:

This Masquerade Ball would not have happened if not for the Wayfarers. This was the 6th year we’ve done this event, and without going into much detail, DR (which Ray and I own here in Colorado) ate up all of our time in the last month which would have normally been used prepping for the ball. Not to mention I’m in the process of trying to find a new job, and Ray is back in school and working.

Will (Talon), Duane (Quinn), and Suzanne (Neysa) as well as their team pitched in to help make centerpieces, make those trophies, and do much of the shopping the week prior to the ball. All of the beautiful decor, lights and so much of the rest were their doing.

Thank you guys so so much for the heavy lift on that.
Also a huge thank you to everyone who dressed up and attended the ball. I will process the pictures soon and get them up for folks.

Also thank you to Dia who was kind enough to show me where things were in the kitchen so we could be kosher compliant. (I learned a LOT about kosher this event)

Thank you to Mark who does logistics, for accommodating our late pre-reg (because life) and for all the work that goes into that regularly.

Thank you again to the Wayfarers for putting us up in their cabin and to all of those in our cabin, you truly helped make our event! Special thanks to: Bladerin, Midnight, Vax Bros, The almighty tallest Inquisitor, and the Wayfarer family.

This event saw a good deal of change for Tiatar, and will help us close one book and start another as a Barony.

To Brandon, who has played my nephew Wulfgar for 6 years and has always been at Elavir’s side - thank you so so much for the arc that closed this weekend. I am so proud of your character for coming into his own and following his heart. It was so touching to get to meet your mother at the ball. Follow your north star.

To Paul, who has been a Tiatarin Squire for a couple years now, I look forward to your next adventure under the Warchester banner. Now I can give you more **** because you’re in another Barony

Assorted Shout Outs:
(Please forgive me if I butcher names. Also my apologies if anyone is left out, it is not intentional, there were just a lot of amazing moments)

Hildr - There are moments in a character’s existence that stick with them forever. This weekend certainly personified that for Elavir, and Hildr was there to support her, and provide strength. Thank you for being there with her through everything. /hugs. You honored her with your commitment and care. /hugs.
Midnight - I really enjoyed our chats, and look forward to more. You were a bastion of sanity all weekend.
Vex Bros - I really enjoyed the role play with you both, and the camaraderie in the cabin. The occasional, “Hey, you know this is fucked right?” was certainly warranted, and I appreciated the curiosity as you watched the progression through the weekend. I think I owe yall letters.
The Almighty Tallest Inquisitor - Loved our RP this weekend, also good luck with the hair <3
Lurk - Goddammit John. Lurk has certainly changed the course of history for the chapter, I am certain that this will result in a good deal of amazing RP and change for Acarthia. Way to troll a whole game lol.
Jenn as the Duchess - Jenn, thank you for years and years of amazing RP with the Duchess. And thank you for putting in a line of succession so the nobility knows where to go to from here, at least initially. (Mac, here we go!)
The Plot Team - Responding to the organic choices of players and not pulling any punches takes nerve and guts. This is a game many of us will remember for a long time. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere in this post, this feels like a great time to change things up and support new opportunities.
Baron G. Wolsey of Warchester - Thank you John. Thank you for our OC conversation, for you willingness to do a lot of heavy lifting with IC crimes this weekend, and for being a strong steady hand. I know Ray and I both were grateful to have you there this weekend.
Mesmer - From Doomwing to Baron Nordheim, your RP was a delight and a welcome presence this weekend. Thank you for both characters, but especially Baron Nordheim this weekend. Thank you so much for the support.
Lola - Trace, Lola is a good deal of fun no matter where she is, and the bingo cards were a lot of fun for everyone. Thank you also for helping with the Theatre of the Dead, I know that’s always a lift. No, Elavir isn't beheading Lola.
Talon - I cannot express the gratitude I have for the RP, kinship, and support Talon gave Elavir this weekend. I was so proud to have you and Hildr stand with me in the circle, looking over her as she tore Lurk’s spirit apart. I look forward to more amazing RP and growth. Thank you for being there for Ray and I OCly and ICly this weekend. It meant the world to us both.
Paul as the Old Professor - In 6 years Elavir hasn’t met a soul from the Three Spires who knew her. I had a great time with the character, and I suspect he’ll be back again
Ian/Bria - Thank you both so much for walking me through my first formal. I literally had no idea how to do any of that. Thank you both for being patient and helping explain everything.
TEAM TRIAGE - Thank you to everyone who helped out in Team Triage on the field! You guys were fab, and helped keep us up and moving!
Eric/Noah - Eric, I’ve seen Noah grow so much as a character over the last 6 years. I truly enjoyed our conversation on Saturday and look foward to more.
Madrigal - Thank you for being willing to take council in character on your PCs actions. You handled the whole thing with grace and calm, and I genuinely appreciate that. Those scenes could have gone in VERY different other directions. I genuinely enjoyed the range you played your character with from whimsical to serious and contemplative. Thank you for being so present with what went on, and being so mature in your RP. I look foward to seeing what happens after the weekend in Acarthia.
Jinn - Always a pleasure, and always so much fun, thank you so much for being a part of my RP this weekend.
Jax - I havent’ really gotten the chance to RP with you much, and I really loved our conversation about your being an Outside crack pipe. I hope we get to have more RP!
Quinn - I know somebody who makes a good deputy, seneschal, and friend <3 Thank you for being there for both Ray and I this weekend and in the week leading up to it. We could not have done this without you guys.
Bria/Ian - Thank you both for your RP, but also for being there to help me stumble my way through my first ritual. Thank you both for being patient and kind in working with the group and hiccups. It was so special to get to have both of you help me through all of that. Thank you so much.
Belshwin - Thank you for the great and touching RP this weekend across the board.
Lagarde - You had the chance to run. Thank you for standing with us to help the town go in a new direction. <3 So glad to have you there this weekend.
Nick - All of your characters and costumes are amazing, thank you for adding so much to the weekend!
Visitors - To everyone who visited, thank you so much for visiting Denver and attending the Masq Ball. It was great to see the game alive and well with SO MANY faces I didnt’ know!
“Team holy **** get to Yalinth NOW” - Thank you for being a part of an insane plan and letting me get that moving.
Elwinn - Amazing RP and fortitude this weekend with everything we threw at you. Thank you so much for that. Seriously, very impressed with the chops this weekend!
Dreadrot - Beautiful job with this costume! We FINALLY got to see the big bad after 6 years in person!
Alis - Thank you for the powerful RP on Saturday night, and I was so glad to be able to act on something so quickly.
Ray - As always, thank you for being there in and out of character for me. Sometimes those in character hugs convey more than words. All my love <3

Additions:
Orsolya (whose name I could not spell) -Dani, thank you as always for a beautiful conversation. I look forward to more wonderful RP!

On the future -
Elavir is awaiting the arrival of Baron Darius Rivervale to the Ducal Estates where they will steward the Duchy on equal footing per the wishes of her Grace until the King can choose the right ruler for the Duhcy. It is my hope to steward in a new era of opportunity for the “commoner” characters who have really transformed the game in recent years. Here’s to the future of Alliance Denver and Acarthia!

PS: Congrats to the whole chapter on a night fight with NO SAFETY HOLDS.

 

[Leora Wambach]

This game was hugely personal and hugely dramatic for Alis. I am exhausted and filled with excitement for next year. Huge kudos to plot for running with new ideas when a player surprised the **** out of all of us. Well done, looking forward very much to next year. And ALSO huge kudos to NPCs who always bust *** and work really hard to take care of our game and kill us over and over. <3 Lastly, a HUGE AND WELL-DESERVED THANK YOU to Dia, who spent all year feeding us losers and making sure that we had good and healthy food to keep us going.

Without further ado, here are my favorite moments:

*Private conversations Saturday morning with (redacted) about (redacted). Looking forward to seeing how that plays out.
*Spending all day Saturday fussing at Archie about being bad at things, and praising Grim for being good at them.
*The appearance of Dreadrot at the Theater of the Dead - holy ****. Such impressive effects and costuming. I got an ACTUAL chill when that beast appeared. Well done.
*And actually, the Theater of the Dead. I usually dislike it but this year it was REALLY good. I think I just understood what was happening more, which I always like more. XD
*Seeing Vincent/Karkosa (sp?) again!!! It's been way too long. I have missed his face. And I was delighted to see his face again. Thanks for the killer massage, buddy. You literally saved my weekend.
*Any and all interactions with Balthazar. Mac's RP abilities continue to astound and delight me. I am honored to get to interact with him at every available opportunity and it was super fantastic to get to have chats with him as Alis that weren't slightly hostile. Bonus points for the whole interaction with Archie.
*Saturday night's emergency trip to Yalinth and the deep emotional bonds that formed, quite unexpectedly, as a result. My thanks to any and all who went with Alis on that dastardly quest, willing to risk all to help her. It was GREAT RP, and definitely a highlight to my weekend.
*Yelling at Orsolya in front of an audience. Huge thanks to Dani for always being up for some super dramatic RP moments, and for being willing to let me physically shove them when things for heated.
*And for that matter, yelling at Slate in front of an audience. Kudos for being willing to stand your ground against a raging tornado with Doom spells. XD
*Asking Elavir to tell Parzivel if I didn't come back, and getting a hug where we were both crying but way too tough to let anybody else see it.
*Watching justice finally being served for a crime committed long ago.
*Watching justice finally being served for a crime committed long ago. Again. >
*Resurrecting Madrigal after her brave and noble choice. 4/5 would kill again.
*Lola's bingo!!!
*Also, Lola's chicken shack and Elwin's waffles. Such a GREAT thing to have on cold nights when there was so much sad and stressful RP. A great, light-hearted way to end a day. Thank you to both of you for your hard work. <3
*I had some really SOLID and GREAT RP moments with Zak this time, which is really rare. Our relationship is usually super casual! I really loved that.
*Saturday night fight was really great, it was GREAT to finally get to symbolically punch Sark in the face.
*Sunday night fight was AWESOME! I LOVED the dark and creepy walk to and past the Candyman. The NPCs did SUCH an incredible job being just scary enough, and it played very nicely into Alis' fears and new personality traits. LOVED it. Well done, all!
*Learning the hard way that someone likes me way more than I anticipated.
*Brief but very meaningful conversations with Knox. And speaking of Knox, being dubbed "The Good Scion". Knox said Alis is the Scion most likely to do good for others, and it was SO nice and so sincere that Leora got a little teary behind the big tough meanie that is Alis.

I am sure there's more, and I will add them after this line if I think of them. <3

*HORSES! So fun! I can't believe they had one that exactly matched the horse design I chose for Alis. I am a freak. I can't wait to see those photos!
*Getting tattooed by Sparrow. It may not have been real, but the memory shall last forever!
*Getting to make fun of "Why isn't it blackened?" with Archie for two days straight.

 

[QuiGonGinger]

Whew! Amazeballs event!!! So glad to be able to come back! I still suck with names but here we go.
Thanks to Cassie for helping with my hair.
Friday night was killer. Emily, Sierra, and Jenn for doing the spookey house, black box unique events! The escape room was my favoritest thing ever so far. All plot nailed it. Seriously. Whether you have 5 or 20 NPCs it's scaled well, engaging, and consistent. Some timing issues happen, but in general there's always something to do and it's an appropriate challenge. And I'm finally starting to figure out how to look for adventure or get involved in more than just seemingly disjointed fights.
Way to go Lady Tiatar for the Masque! Your hard work turned into an amazing evening. The storytellers were awesome, and even had a couple stories with death to keep my character interested. Ivy for keeping me company with the most ancient board game. Really cool thing to bring!
Cabin 12 mates! Especially all the first and second event peeps! Finnick? the other dark elf? Keep coming back dude! We'll get into some shenanigans and bring back the dread of the spookey elves! Thanks to Mr. Ogre and Mouse boy for the entertainment and stories, as well as Markov for being the grown up in the room. Also again Mousey mouse and NPC J-something? Carried me through the escape room and drank that nasty potion without any water as chaser.
Adjacent was the wing shack. Seriously Trace I don't even eat chicken but that was a baller move. Way to make yours the MUST-VISIT cabin of the event. But also the pre-games write-ups. Short and simple, but meant a lot to me to see my name on the rumors sheet.
Dia. The food was so, so good. I mean I'm a bitch for hashbrowns but that was a really standout breakfast.
Elwin and LaGarde Thanks for taking me under your wings/talking to me. I feel like I can advance my goals and I finally am settling into a niche and I was really worried about that. Bayenna, hit me up for some BGA.
Kansas and Utah travelers you guys are hardcore. I complain about driving for a couple hours but damn. It's really hard to tell who is local most of the time with how involved you are in our stuff (well except for Kansas dark elves. Ya'll stick out.)
After the switch, I always value everyone who NPCs even greater. It's tough out there being a monster when Quinn snipes you in the stones and you're just out there trying to be an annoying hobgoblin. Daddy Sark was one of the funniest big bads I've ever fought beside, and a big shoutout to all my boys in green that night! Yes there were spookey dudes throwing deaths but we know who was the REAL threat out there! Also to Mothra for involuntarily switching sides for a bit too.
Finally Jesse for doing this all year, all the stress, and for coming up with guys like Dargok.

**** Dargok.

 

[Emily Pettingill]

Where to begin! This event was so crazy, stressful, but most importantly, FUN! I ABSOLUTELY loved every moment of it.

First off, I want to thank every single NPC from this weekend. YOU GUYS ROCK! Thank you guys for coming and helping us out on the monster side. We greatly appreciate your help!

Shout out to Jessie, Mike, Paul, Dan, and Jenn on Plot team for creating all of the amazing plotlines! (And for sharing them with Sierra and I in the dead of the night). Without you guys, this game wouldn't happen, so THANK YOU!!! <3 <3

Second, favorite moments:

• I enjoyed all of the groups who came through the escape room. Thank you guys for coming!
• Every single Black Box story had me engaged every second. You all have super creative backstories and I'm honored that you guys shared them with me.
• The Walk of the Dead~ I had such a BLAST reprising as the Poet (Cypress). Thank you to every PC who followed our story, particularly Jeff and Owen. You guys stuck with our story and we were so excited that you guys enjoyed it. This was both Sierras and mine's first year long plot arc and the conclusion was long-awaited.
• Jumping up with a 'rebirth' as Mischief. I definitely felt like a boss as I charmed Jax, berserked Lagard, and slept (forgive me, I don't remember your name) the PC in cool white armor. And then booked it- Thanks for the super fun role play guys!
• Paul, thanks for letting me play a SUPER powerful caster on Saturday night's Sark battle. I had such a blast corrupting people and creating my own charmy. (Charmed army).
• Corrupting the one female PC (Sorry I don't know your name) during that Sark battle, and commanding her, "You know what? Attack the little one you travel with". Then proceeding to watch as she jets across the battlefield and beats him with her new chaos blade. Ah...good times.
• Finally sending Eslyn's dad out Monday morning to see who kills him. Sorry about your healing spell not working Peat. The whole point was for him to die, but if you want an in-game reason for that, I can send you one.
• Peat, thank you for the wonderful meals and for taking care of my dairy allergy. You didn't have to, but THANK YOU!
• Once again, thank you to everyone who came to the event, because you are all wonderful and make the game. <3

 

[Traceroo]

• My sense of gameworld immersion derives from the physical atmosphere, so setting the stage with strong sensory appeal is really important to my enjoyment of the game. THANK YOU, everybody, for choosing to build up some great Low Town atmosphere with all the hanging out, dancing, snuggling, snacking, and comradery at Lola’s Late Night Fried Chicken Shack this weekend! I got exactly what I hoped out of it!!
• Every member of Rivervale independently paying Lola for the whole team (of 3) and tipping. I am now certain that Lola holds more Rivervale gold than Dame Katherine ever has – Rivervale literally!
• Ember’s rose business, getting to send little forget-me-nots to my Rivervalies with Dame Kate’s compliments even while fleecing them contemporarily as Lola. It’s nice to have your cake and eat it, too!
• Walking into beautifully lighted Masquerade with all its finery, and hearing a chorus of welcoming, “Lola!” cheers! Thanks for remembering this character, and helping me fit right in.
• Physically swatting away the advances of some poor IG drunkard at the Masquerade who didn’t know the Denver romantic consent policy, and making the poor IG life choice to hit on the swamp witch
• BINGO! So many good moments – and believe that next time I play Lola (February? IDK), we will have BINGO as a new swamp witch tradition.
• JUREN ROBOTS. So upsetting! If you’re playing when next I’m playing Lola, you’re going on the BINGO card! Asaya: “Lola, I want to show you my smile.” YOU’RE TERRIBLE! (But wonderful!) And Mac and Jeff flirting! “You have also done a good job raising your children. Perhaps we should cohabitate and raise children together?”
• Cassie’s beautiful make-up as Nakiasha, the “Braveheart elf!”
• **** Dargok! Rallying people to Lola’s agenda and getting subscriptions to my newsletter. Cheering on Elwin and Lurk as they told Dargok off!
• Tableflips! “Baron Wally” (Morningtide) setting up a shield as a makeshift table for Lola to flip in the field – that’s a real friend!
• As a proper member of the Town Guard, fining the Mages Guild for “impersonating a Ward,” and Belswin just putting up with Lola’s ********
• Citing that the absent Aneira had sponsored Lola for membership in the Mages Guild when we all know good and well that the Order marked lawful boo most certainly did not sponsor the rotten-toothed swamp witch into anything at all (although she did legit teach me Read Magic! I’m a joiner!)
• Negotiating with Doomwing
• Emily & Sierra’s amazing Escape Room! We’ve all pondered how an Escape Room would fit into LARP. You made 2 great choices: (1) Limit the timer. Less than 60 minutes was the right call for a repeater mod. (2) Use traditional puzzles instead of things that strongly interact with mechanical abilities in the game rules – just further complication that’s unnecessary for entertainment. Great atmosphere with minimal atmosphere. The voice modulation and music were wonderful. Just a bang up job, and you should feel very proud of this effort! I enjoyed it immensely! (Thanks, also, to Mike along with Emily & Sierra for rearranging the roster to get us a daytime slot when most of our group was NPCing at night.)
• Transactions with Vandathron, with help from “Baron Wally”
• Razzing Alis on Sunday morning about the likelihood of her becoming, oh, how does the phrase go? “Instead of a Dark Lord, you would have a queen, not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Tempestuous as the sea, and stronger than the foundations of the earth! All shall love me and despair!” Start working on your outfit now – you gotta have that **** lined up and ready to go when Dreadrot calls! I eagerly look forward to seeking employment in your dark, but fashionable, army!
• Theatre of the Dead! Watching once more as Vincent brought Sark back to life – and comedic death. Jeff picking up what I put down in writing for the script, and adding just the right dry humor to Chorus’ narration. Oh, all the audience participation! You run a risk running literal “NPC Theatre,” and thank you, everyone, for getting into the spirit in such a lively way and being willing to become part of the show… and just wait it out and not turn it into a field battle instead of a roleplay encounter! “Give a hand for our volunteers, please: Doomwing, Entropy, and TRUE NAME!” SUCH BIG PROPS to Darrin, who played Dreadrot, and to Darrin and his partner Jaime who built that beautiful costume with help from Dia on the LED lights for eyes! Thanks to Mike and Jesse for rolling with the professional wrestling style plot, building toward the Pay-Per-View, with Dreadrot and Tar’Nekesis for the belt, and Doomwing as the manager!! It’s such a pleasure and honor to present this for the third year in a row, and I hope that anyone out there enjoys this nearly as much as I do!
• Dancing with Aden Corso at the fried chicken shack late on Saturday night when I was dead tired, but thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere!
• “Better Call Elwin” – GIANT PROPS to John S. for a smooth move of inclusivity, looping in Elwin on Jaymes’ trial. Elwin, it was great to watch the start of your legal career! John, loved the sly smile in the moment of discovery later, and the conversation to follow on that specific topic.
• Oh, Sunday afternoon, you afternoon of saucy conversations! Ah, Warchester. Wolsey, Finn, thank you for letting us all bring a little bit of the true spirit of Port Tyrok into New Acarthia! I loved every single moment of that interaction, and those were the moments that made my whole event. Truly, thank you! As much as you know I always enjoy writing for your city, I don’t usually get to face you as NPCs through it, so certainly our interaction was such a fun contrast for me from the conversations you’d have with Katherine instead!
• Sheriff Lagarde!!!
• A follow-up moment with Belswin. You truly GET Lola. Heart!
• Cryn: “Is this ********?”
• “You dropped this pouch on your porch,” to another PC
• Getting cowed by the imperious Baroness Tiatar at Lurk’s trial, and getting to put on my best show of peasant groveling – I just don’t get enough opportunity for proper groveling!
• Some timely advice from Lumi and Jax, with no need to tell Lola twice!

My initial plan for the next event in February was to play Lola for a second event in a row (weather permitting – if it’s bad, eff that! I’m staying home!) Not sure what’s up now with the apparent death of the Duchess, so… maybe swamp witch? Maybe knight in shining arcane armor? We’ll see! Either way, thanks for what has been my favorite PC season in the past 6 years, and all the many favorite moments in the whole year!



Trace

 

[Briannon]

In roughly chronological order

Friday:

• Lawyering it up with John F. I like walking in sync up behind people and waiting for them to notice. Bonus: Using IG lawyers to prevent interactions with OOG lawyers.
• Handing out fidgets to my fellow Eld (Ian M. made some really cool pendants for everyone). Remember class, "Boredom is the fastest path to evil".
• Reconnecting with the Eld mindset. Thank you Ivyleta (Jerilyn W.) and Mevanwy (Amber F.) for keeping the Reeve March alive this whole time.

Saturday:

• Blatant rummaging through people's items in the Tavern and the RP with Ember (Marcea CR.), Lumi (Mandi M.), and Vandathron(Ryan M.) that resulted. Thanks, y'all that interaction set was indirectly responsible for …
• Fuffle Ball! Nothing like wearing the Sorcerous Triage catalyst as a hair ornament when you, the player, are fully aware of its value, but you, the character are just entranced by the shiney. Do Not Taunt Happy Fun Ball.
• The escape room was awesome, Emily P. & Sierra G.! Excellent use of the voice modulator for Sierra's NPC, great ambiance, and a solidly good time.
• 
• Way to embrace the shenanigans, Mike M., Baron Morningtide (Ray B.), & Vandathron (Ryan M.).
• Juren denial practice. Thank you for inviting the lunatic to mix the elixirs, Balthazar (Mac. F), Asaya (Karlee N.), & Feha (Nissa O.) Duck flotilla > Squirrel wall 5ever.
• Juggling with Cryn (Jeff L.)
• Absolutely swank Disarm + Disarm + 500 Doom combo delivered to the black chess king by Lagarde (Jim G.)
• Chasing "Sark" (Vincent T.) with my hat during the Theatre of the Dead.
• The whole Theatre of the Dead was very well done. Magnificent Dreadrot costume and great monologuing when I knew to both expect monologuing and that I shouldn't be trying to interrupt monologuing with action = delightful.

Sunday:

• Thanks for letting my death water collection work, Taylor K.
• Components as jewelry
• Oh, Lola (Trace M.), your social game is always just beautiful to watch.
• Knitting on the couch while Lurk (John F.) took his “teaching opportunity”.
• Thank you, Jax (Jack R.) for the sage advice re: the alchemy i.e.
• 
• The horses! They were beautiful and I look forward to seeing all the pictures.
• I was truly shocked that the Duchess’s death was permanent. Huge props to the entire plot team and to Jenn B. in particular for rolling with that punch in such a way. It is so hard to let a character go.
• Barging in to the Healers Guild with no regard for propriety.
• “Do you… need a ritual marshal?” The OOG collaboration to get the Obliterate to happen was great! Thanks to Ian M., Paul M. Sr., Shane P., and everyone else who helped with that.
• I very much enjoyed Baroness Elavir’s (Juliet M) ritual monologue. Very descriptive and kiiiiinda bloodthirsty o_0. It was very helpful to visualize that during my get-back-into-character minute.
• Watcher's (Ian M.) one liner on the way out of the Healer's Guild.
• Ended up crying while trying to get a map to find Lurk. Really good roleplay with Rish (Bobby C.) and Baron Wolsey (John S.) whose sympathy I was definitely not expecting.
• Eld mourning makeup
• Stoic & dramatic renditions of Bella Donna literature: For all your restoring-faith-in-Acarthia needs. Thank you entire couch collective, with thanks to Asaya (Karlee H.) in particular. Just the “and now for something completely different” I needed to bounce back.
• Fynn’s (Mark CR) reaction to hearing that Lurk’s last fidget had broken on Saturday night and his recounting of another foreshadowing discussion.
• Poker was fun. I generally don't bet real money, but I adore card games. Thanks for starting that, guy-I-don't-know-who-may-be-a-magician-OOG.
• Obsessively watching the sands of time with Tivi (Kavi P.)
• Eld-ified cabin!
• The floating snuggle skull is warm and it loves you all.
• Listening to the debate between Feha (Nissa O.) & Watcher (Ian M.) on the nature of denial.

Monday:

• Thanks to Peat (Dia C.) for watching Jellybean for me.
• Thanks to Wulfgar (Brandon M.) and Madrigal (Kodie H.) for playing the silly card game.

 

[PirateFox]

Let's jump right into it...

• To everyone who went on my "go get the silly candle, ya coward" mod during the Theater of the Dead, a huge thank you. I hope you had fun, because I sure did, watching your antics and talking smack as the GateMaster. Clearly, there's nothing out in the woods... <.< >.> Specific kudos to Chris F for his role as the collector of people for said mod, as well as Emily/Sierra and all my NPCs.
• The evil nightmare box with Emily. Ho...ly...crap. Six years playing Lagarde without ever really explaining some of his backstory and how it shapes him as a character, and she manages to instantly recreate the entire scenario and make him face it...without having read said backstory. Sooooo many thank yous for that!
• One of the new NPCs...sorry I don't know your name. On the Rooks mod, he was wearing a red suit of armor and doing an amazing job holding off a half dozen crazed adventurers...until Lagarde snuck up and stabbed him. The absolute panic and shouts of, "OMFG THERE'S A FOX BEHIND ME WHY IS THERE A FOX HALP THERES A FOX ARGH!" put me in absolute tears of laughter.
• Peat both for being Peat and for feeding us yummy fud all weekend. Memorable LARP food is rare, but she pulls it off.
• Nick and Kavi (Thrawn and Tivi) for being awesome and keeping me entertained and amused all weekend. I hearts my deer friends.
• Jesse's nightmare mod...heck all the barn mods. I'm a sucker for physical challenges. Also, having a horse staring at you judgingly while you vault around is a new one on me.
• Soooooo many good RP interactions with people I don't normally interact with, or who were travelers/new. I hope you all know I adore the teasing banter back and forth and please don't ever take anything Lagarde says seriously (possibly even IG).
• "Sheriff Lagarde"?!?! Who the hell thought that was a good idea?!
• Slate's dramatic story. Now I know who I need to take public speaking lessons from.
• A big thank you to Darrin and Jaime for the roleplay scene that cannot be mentioned. I've said too much.
• The field battle for Sark. I might have switched sides, but still felt like I had some amazing interactions with everyone. Sooo much battle-RP, banter, and taunts going both ways. Apparently, even Cassie didn't realize it was me out there shanking her and her allies. And Ray...poor Ray. I can't apologize enough for being the bastard hobgoblin who snuck into the party, waited for someone to look like a leader, then murdered Eldred in the middle of the party. I thought I might have killed him in real life the way he jumped.
• Thank you so much to Ray, Jules, and the Wayfarers, as well as anyone else who helped put on the masquerade. I know that's a ton of work, and want you all to know how much we appreciate it!
• Lola's chicken shack and Elwin's waffles! Must have moar!
• Battlechess! Yussssss!

 

[Banks]

I don't often post in these, but this event certainly warrants it.

Friday:

• The masquerade was delightful and quite pretty to be at, even as I was wandering around as one half of everybody's favorite pair of lawyers along with Bria, asking suspicious questions and having people sign mysterious documents. Those characters are always quite enjoyable to play.
• Lola's dramatic reading of Dargok's letter as part of the storytelling competition, and getting to rabble-rouse along with her at the masquerade.
• Coming into game at the tavern, walking inside, and immediately getting volunteered to stack cups, and subsequently walking away with the trophy for doing so.
• I am a teacher
• Getting to talk to various people about Teaching outside of Lola's Chicken Shack

Saturday:

• Following Elwin after Dargok, fully prepared for whatever was about to happen, and subsequently getting to shout him down in front of about 15 people, and immediately afterward, following Dargok to the tavern for a second dressing down, courtesy of Elwin.
• The escape room was delightful, and quite well executed. Very fun, would do again!
• Minions!!!
• Getting to interact with several people I haven't had the opportunity to or have had limited encounters with, such as Goodwick. It took me a while to realize who this was, but I very much enjoyed the interactions we had over the weekend.
• Inserting 8 people in a mod to go dig up the death bell in the remains of the life grove, after having thrown a (comparatively small) wrench into the story by contributing to Dargok getting banished.
• Theatre of the Dead/Spooky Late Night Candle - I missed the actual Theatre of the Dead, but heard about it from many people, and even just getting to experience it secondhand was delightful. Getting to go on the late night adventure mod run by Jim that I had helped NPC the previous month was a lot of fun, even though I got spotted. I don't remember the names of the people I went with, but the female (human?) I got to talk about teaching with was delightful, and I enjoyed all of the interactions we had over the weekend.
• Vincent, making his triumphant return as Sark for the final battle. Vincent has such a gift for acting and the portrayal and everything else he did with Sark really made that character memorable.
• I am a teacher
• Getting to talk to different people about Teaching outside of Lola's Chicken Shack

Sunday:

• Breakfast from Peat was delicious, and exactly what I wanted: Carbs and protein!
• NPCing for the elemental aspirant mod with a bunch of other elementally marked NPC's

Sunday Afternoon....

• This might as well have been it's own event given everything that happened afterward. Even after having put in hours of thought, debate, and consulting with a few specific people about this, and having had a few days to think about how everything went after the fact, I still find it hard to adequately describe everything that happened and all of the heightened emotions that came with it, but I'll do my best:
  • Elavir, Morningtide, Watcher, and everyone else who rushed over to the circle after they realized what had just happened, and all of the roleplay associated with this.
  • Lurk, Teacher of the Eld, calmly explaining what he was trying to teach, even as the rest of the PC's scrambled for a solution while the Duchess' body lingered, then disappeared.
  • Meow.
  • Trumping Elwin's "most difficult to defend" case by repeatedly admitting guilt, correcting inaccuracies, and making sure that the record was straight! I think Elwin regretted his choice to be a criminal defense lawyer.
  • Seeing the Duchess reappear in the tavern, and then being confirmed as being permanently dead... This was NOT something that I had even considered a possibility, and I have major respect for Jesse, Mike, Paul, Dan, and especially Jen for how all of this was handled, the lack of OOG drama around it, and everything that happened IG. This was not scripted, planned, or expected by plot, and being able to roll with something this major so quickly deserves a significant amount of kudos.
  • The trial, and everything around it.
  • Getting to teach
  • Elavir's first ritual! Most people don't start with Obliterate, but there's something to be said for jumping in the deep end right off the bat.

There were many other things that happened at the event, so if I missed something, my apologies. One thing was for sure though: It was an incredible end to the season.

 

[Tayl]

This was a great event! SO MUCH HAPPENED! I'm sure there's lots that I will have forgotten about, but let's go!

Friday:

• Seeing Ja'Nuul at the masquerade! Thank you Ian for taking that time to portray my favorite NPC! Sad that nobody wanted to learn anything new from you, but very fun to play crokinole and watch you flip a table. Next time, I'm sure you'll have the horns figured out
  
• Lumi, being licked for chaos! Very fun roleplay came out of that! I'm excited to see where it goes
• CROKINOLE!!!!

Saturday:

• Alis! So much for us to talk about this gather! Starting off Saturday morning, comparing letters and our interpretations of the walk of the dead. Feels like there will be a lot to work out to fix this!
• Getting to just go relax in the cabin after dinner was very nice! Glad that Dia got to get some relaxation time after all her hard kitchen work!
• Chess! We didn't have a full team, but I was never worried in Wolsey's capable hands. Lots of salt about Lagarde getting to get the glory, but truly he deserves it in the way that he did it. 3 Weapon swings to kill their king, in traditional Lagarde style!
• So much done on this night! Sark, killed! Dargok, dead! Glad to see those stories finally come to a close, and to move forward with cleaning up the mess they left.
• Resurrecting Sir Noah! It was the first resurrection I've ever performed as Knox, and I hope to never have to do another! It went well though.
• Not expecting Wolsey, but having him show up meant having to help explain about both Lumi and Jax's situations. Warchester is a hard barony to lead!
• CHICKEN AND WAFFLES!!!1! What was already one of my favorite meals, made much better by getting to eat it at larp in cool spooky atmosphere with all my close friends! Thank you Elwin and Lola for choosing to host that, I hope you guys made BANK because it was worth it!!! SO GOOOOOODDDDD
• It really feels like I'm missing stuff here Saturday, so I am likely going to edit it and re-add stuff here when I remember!

Sunday:

• Starting the day with running a water elemental mod for Korric, The Eld, Noah, Van, Lynx, Oak! Thanks for going along, although I'm sure it was a little confusing for people not used to our chapters' elemental plotlines. Definitely some interesting consequences coming soon, excited for this story to continue
• Shane looked amazing!! He and Dia went all in on making this costume look great, and roleplayed it amazingly to boot!
• Closure on some long running plot lines! Vandathron finally getting his invitation letter to the flame cult, congratulations I hope you understand what you've just gotten yourself into!
• Tash coming into town with Firehawk! Lots of fun roleplay came from that, and it was super fun to be able to bring Tash back into town, even though my horns' decorations broke! Hopeful to spend more time as that character, and spend lots more time with Ember!
• Returning from running the Tash encounter into town, and hearing that the duchess was just assassinated, and has permanently died! Lots of
• Dani, out of game steering to be introduced to Tash, a plotline they wrote the beginnings of many years ago! I'm so glad they got to get that experience, they've made such a lasting impact on our game and culture!
• Getting to play a big necromancer! I definitely thought the card was going to be stronger, but man, the town has gotten very strong lately! Always fun to attack the town, I sure do love to be evil

 

[Jerilynw]

Had an AWESOME weekend! The Lost City quest is the coolest thing ever - thank you DERRICK, JEN & JAX for all you did, especially the physical challenges, they were all so cool.

Had an awesome time at the Ball dancing with Tork & Bladrym. Also really enjoyed interacting with Marquis de Marqueses de la Maison de Leon du Brittany, who I call Jacques for short. Where'd you go for the rest of the event?

Posing with the horses was AMAZING - thank you so much Jesse for that special moment.

Dusk & Midnight looked amazing in their make-up and costumes, Dusk blew me away, she added so much just by standing around.

Loved reuniting with all the Eld and getting to roleplay some madness, and loved the special Eld trinkets, thank you Ian! And so great to roleplay with Carcosa again, and seeing Vincent as Sark on stage.

LOVED participating in the Theater of the Dead, it was just as shocking and surprising as last year, that moment when everyone realized Dreadrot was actually present and everyone fell silent. He was terrifying and I'll never forget that.

Thank you Laithgir for playing the Royal Game of Ur with me. I loved playing Croconoll, too.

Thanks to Balthazar for suggesting a really awesome idea to Ivy and Mevanwy. And to Hilaria for decorating the porch with me. I also really enjoyed accidentally turning into an Ivy-shaped giant spider, lol. Thanks to Brother Coon & Electi for saving Ivy, and Slate & James for helping get rid of the pile of bugs. So much happened every section of each day, the Merchant's Guild quest was awesome, it was all so much fun with memorable moments and really great role-play. The huge battle against Sark was amazing. I got to successfully use my Repel spell, it works!

Also performing my first full resurrection with young Nightmare, he is such a good actor he was actually crying (only when in game, we made sure he was okay and he snapped in and out of it with ease). All the acting blew me away this weekend, Slate was amazing to watch, too.

Watching Electi & Nightmare run so fast and fight so well was incredible, too. Loved my interactions with Lolan and the Eld's new purpose. There's too much to put it all here, it was all perfect!

 

[marceasue]

Friday:
-Looved staying with all the people in our Cabin. So happy we could hang out more with Warchester, Rivervale and friends.
-Looved the Mascarquade. Thanks for everyone's patient when I was trying to teach/lead the dances. That was the first time I did that, Bria normally does it and she taught me right before the event and when I realized she was not going to be there to do it.
-Also just loved everyone's costumes, everyone looked soo good at the ball.
-Also, thank you to everyone, who bought my flowers, hopefully, it helped spark some passion that night.
-Dancing with fynn!!

Saturday:
-Meeting at mages guild and finally getting invested in the mages circle!! Then being a part of a whole mage murder squad against Dargok. This is what happens when you have a flame marked as leader of Mages guild
-Griffons and Griffon riders hurt...
-Loved Warchester/Rivervale snacky time while watching the chess tournament from our porch.
-Trying to form a small unity to Kill Sark and trying to figure out where we can find all the essences for it.
-Theater of the Dead super spooky love the costumes!

Sunday:
-NPC shift as water elementals.... that was fun being a whole elemental npc squad for elemental mod.
-Finnally getting to meet Mandi as the Star and Van now is one of us!! Also hoping that the moth kynn wont kill himself with the star.
-Fire hawk... do I need to say more?
-Getting to hang out with Tash and I was able to complete my task (with only one small issue, lol)!! A big thank you to Van and Bels, my flame brothers. Thank you to Fynn for healing us all. Best protector
-The intesting rp that happened when I was super happy and ready to party cause I completed my task and leveled up in my mark and then finding out the dutchess was murdered while we were doing the ritual.
-Dem is a Wachesterian now, yeah!!!
-Karlee playing her Juren and the Bria playing her eld reading a Bela Dona book was the best!! I could not stop laughing, thank you guys so much, this made my night!!

Monday
-I got to use my fae favor that makes it so nightmares do not affect me for the first time so yeah!! The slight sad part was not being able to kill the nightmares...
-Fynn completed all of his huge tasks and he got to level up in his mark too!!!

 

[KodieH]

Wild game!

Friday
- The masquerade was so fun! Everybody looked amazing!
- I will forever treasure the rainbow whack stick. It's going on my wall, for sure!
- Baron Egil, I took your warning to heart, even if it doesn't seem like it.
- Getting a talking to by the Death Elemental over hesitating to commit murder.

Saturday
- Speaking of murder lol. Thank you, Paul Senior, for your wonderful rendition of Elias! Breakfast was... very exciting! And this whole storyline is teaching me a whole lot about boundaries and managing myself on an OOG standpoint! Thank you so much for checking up on me when you saw that I was struggling a little with the content, it really meant a lot to me. That goes for Baroness Elavir as well! And trust me, this isn't the end! I'm really looking forward to seeing the Maestro again.
- My game revolved a lot around the murder Madrigal committed, so bare with me! I was crazy surprised by how many people came out of the woodwork with support for Madrigal! You all know who you are!
- Baron and Baroness of Tiatar we don't typically talk a lot, but we spend a good amount of game together this time! It was very interesting, the Interview, and advice you two had to give Madrigal! She's going to keep it in mind, going forward. We'll see how well it sticks, and in what ways!
- Paul Senior, you'll see yourself here a lot! Elias showing back up for dinner was... absolutely hilarious. The pointing, the screaming. I heard that Elias has been calling Madrigal 'Mad Girl', which I really love! Hearing that rumor from a few folks was pretty funny. Maybe I'll use that for something, some day!
- Thank you to the Wayfarers for bringing so much food. I missed breakfast (who knew killing someone would take so long?!) and you guys saved me from an empty stomach via bagels!
- Literally any and all interactions with Alis. They were all funny, or dramatic! I'll think over the Scion Trial Period thing over the break, and Madrigal will try and get back to you at the next Denver game! Madrigal was very honored that she was called upon to race to Yalinth to try and save the Land Bond Stone.
- My first Theatre of The Dead! Amazing! Jeff did so good, and so did Trace and everybody else! I think it was my first time seeing 'Sark' before the big battle, which was super helpful for knowing who to hit later on LOL
- Spooky Dryad!

Sunday
- The Execution. Elwin, you played such a big part in my game this weekend, and I thank you for it. It was amazing, watching you engage and interact not only with Madrigal, but in general. Thank you for the Doom, and Defense!
- Baroness Elavir even though Madrigal doesn't know it, I really appreciate the kindness you showed her whilst she was dead. She would've been very appreciative if she had been conscious enough to know.
- Alis. That was a beautiful resurrection, it's definitely going to influence how Madrigal does her's in the future. Thank you so much for honoring Madrigal by offering the Sword. Maybe next time she'll take you up on it!
- Grunt, the cinnamon buns were amazing. Baron Morningtide, hope you enjoyed post-rez drunk Madrigal LOL
- Lurk! You are an amazing teacher. Maybe you'll get a letter one day.
- Thank you to the Plot team for being so flexible when the Duchess died! I didn't know her much as Madrigal, or at all really, but it was inspirational to see PC actions making such a huge difference!
- Hilaria (hope I spelt that right...) it was awesome making friends with you, and thanks for helping me keep warm during the wait at the gate during the Boogeyman stuff! Madrigal really wanted to connect with the Eld after Lurk got banished, and your rendition of the Bella Donna book was a riot.
- Pretty Much All The Juren, holy ****. You guys are hilarious, even when keeping such stoic presences. Karlee, your reading of the Bella Donna book was also a riot, and your character failing at the Denial was amazing. I'm really sorry that I don't remember her name! The flirting later on was also really funny to experience, which goes for Mac's Balthazar, too! It was the last thing I thought I'd experience, Juren flirtation. It was really fun, acting all confused, and slipping into a sort of Juren-esque way of talking during our brief interactions!

Monday
- Cards! Cards were a lot of fun, thanks for bringing them, Hilaria!
- I was really tired, but the conclusion to the box was super interesting! Once again, Plot's amazing willingness to be flexible was so good to see, with the Juren Denial and Cea's fae favor!
- Thanks for letting me use the arcane armor stuffie, Hilaria lol

Overall, this was an amazing, and incredibly formative game! Playing to lose really does make such a difference, and I wouldn't have had such an amazing game if I hadn't've failed! Thank you guys, everybody at this game, who helped me or interacted with me in any way. This was such a great game!

 

[Mulgrum]

This was an amazing event for me as a player and character and there’s a lot to unpack so I’d like to start with a couple of shout outs.


Trace- Even before the event started you decided to do Lola’s Chicken Shack and weren’t upset with me when I decided to ride your coattails and serve waffles right alongside. Without you there is no Elwin’s House of Liquor and Waffles, and all the amazing things that came with it. Not only that, but Lola was behind Elwin every step of the way. Encouraging his business, pushing him to not wait to confront Dargok, pushing him to be the best barrister he could be. Thank you. You made my event so much better just by being there and being you (and Lola).


Ray- By allowing me to take charge on the second murder case this weekend you have opened so many doors for my character. I can’t thank you enough for letting me step into something and make it my own. It was awesome getting to work with you this weekend and I look forward to many more in the future!


So Friday kicks off with the Masque, which is 99% not Elwin’s scene at all. I actually almost skipped it entirely due to a lack of a date, but figured I’d go hang out and drum up waffle business. The party was lovely as always, but reached new awesomeness when Lola did a dramatic reading of Dargok’s letter. “He wants redemption? That’s an effing laugh, he can hide out at the Annex it’s not like he’ll have the balls to come up here….”


While everyone else went and Walked with the Dead, I tried to get a head start on waffles. I failed. The demand was insane! The atmosphere, the constant people at the door with gold in hand for delicious waffles, the whole “I’m kind of like a short order chef” hype without the drudgery of it being an actual job or responsibility. I love these feelings and waffles will be back with me next time, hopefully February.


Saturday morning began with waffle maker bacon and feeding my cabin a little snack before they went to real breakfast. Then a miscommunication on when the Merchant’s Guild meeting was and then STONE COLD MURDER. Madrigal decided to listen to a Death Elemental and murder a crazy old man in broad daylight and only one man was brave enough to take the case! Thank you for letting me step in and try to lawyer for you, it was a lark at first but eventually opened up my whole weekend to something new and exciting.


Going immediately from defending Madrigal to prosecuting James was a bit of whiplash, but I’ve been told I took to it well. I got to spend most of my Saturday afternoon during the Chess game doing interviews, hiring Destined to act as muscle if the suspect decided to get fighty, and getting to know so many people. I love this aspect of law in our game and will take pains to be as hands on as possible in the future.


By late afternoon, I've got a verdict decided on case 2, case 1 is basically decided, and it's time for a break at the tavern with my friends. “Hey, Dargok just walked into town.” Alright, I take back my earlier comment about him not having the balls, while grabbing up a pile of mana stomping off after him. He gives a speech about redemption, I’m angling for a line of fire, can’t find one that doesn’t potentially hit a Ducal Guard or the Baron/Baroness of Tiatar. Baron Morningtide basically tells him to pound sand and Dargok heads down towards the tavern. I decide that he needs a piece of my mind.


By the time I get there he’s talking to Baron Wolsey and a crowd of commoners are behind me. I elect to wait for them to finish talking when I get the best advice ever from Lola “Go now, you’ll lose your momentum.” Slam my hand down on the table and give Dargok a piece of my mind. My hat is off to Jesse for handling this the way he did, he couldn’t have known this was coming and did exactly what Dargok should have in the situation. See, I’ve been a bad player and haven’t sent in my background (Do it folks, don’t be me) and in this edge case it worked out perfectly. Dargok SHOULDN’T know or care about some dirty mercenaries that fought him over a decade ago, so his question of “What did I do to you?” was valid for the character, as was his shrinking away from the answer of “Would you like their names?” I said my piece and I left because there was no point in just murdering him right there, too much of my future to lose for trying to settle my past. It was never a question in Jon or Elwin’s mind if we could kill Dargok in that moment, it was if killing him was worth it, and it wasn’t. The cathartic cry afterwards was fueled by years of head canon, and how I just wasn’t willing to give up my future for my past. That decision will haunt.


After dinner I got to see my first ritual cast, major thanks to Bel for making it an awesome experience and convincing me that I want in on it. That made me a bit late for Theatre of the Dead and I almost missed that badass Dreadrot costume. Darrin knocked it out of the park! Immediately following that up with a mission to Yalinth with Alis and everything that happened while we were there. We’re going horcrux hunting, and that son of a birch is going to pay.


Waffle Night 2: Electric Boogaloo made me miss the Sark fight but I was much better prepared for the waffle onslaught. Highlights include feeding a dragon and all the love from my favorite cousin Knox. There’s no way I’m not doing this again.


Sunday I had the distinct honor, if that’s even the word, of giving my client a painless death. I’ve always roleplayed that a Doom spell hurts as much as the caster wants it to and in that case, it was not at all. Then, with Baron Wolsey’s assistance we passed our second judgement, and I was able to have a discussion of legal systems with Saoirse of Dragonhold. I hope that we can connect over the winter and have productive discussions that benefit both of our people.


After that I had all my high magic left and a few people needed Earth rituals done so I gathered them to get it all done in one shot when….STONE COLD MURDER! Lurk offs the Duchess, no one can find someone to break the circle, and even with the catalyst Elwin is just not powerful enough. The ensuing trial of Lurk taught Elwin some lessons, and everything around that was amazing roleplay. Lurk really was the best teacher in the end, and a bringer of change that will shape us for years to come.


As for Elwin, he’s been nominated for the position of commoner or estate Magistrate. So come next year you can bring your problems to him (Unless they involve a noble) and we can find ourselves some justice.


If I missed anyone I’m sorry, it was a wild busy weekend for me and every one of you helped make it amazing!


Next years theme: Hot Waffles, Hotter Justice.

 

[meirya]

Oh goodness. So many good moments! I went into this event expecting an emotionally light event, basically vacation for my character, since I didn't have any real ties to the various plotlines, and only had relationship ties to two other characters. So what could possibly happen?

Welp. The one plotline that could possibly hit my character, one I never expected to come into game while I was there: Yalinth. The game I thought was going to be light and fun turned out to be one of the more intense emotional boffer events I've played.

Friday:

• All the cool outfits! Everyone always ups the costuming game for the masquerade and it's really cool to see.
• Getting mercilessly teased by Alis about Orsolya and Hildr' having gotten together after Orsolya's angst and denial about the whole thing at the June event >_> and Hildr' also joining in on the teasing. Rude.
• The end point of the Walk of the Dead–– walking up to some recently-dead ghosts who looked vaguely Yalinthian, finding out that they were indeed of Yalinth, and in fact were specifically Horse Tribe (Orsolya's original tribe), and noping right out of there. (That feeling when you made some between-game character choices to explain a long absence and it... becomes relevant in interactions with NPCs when you didn't think it ever would. Oops. Maybe I should submit an updated character history.) But... super cool to see a group I wrote show up in game!
• Chicken and waffles! Didn't really manage dinner on Friday so Lola and Elwin saved my poor stomach. Also smearing syrup on Hildr's face on a dare from Alis.

Saturday:

• Plotting Corso treats with Saoirse. And coming up with Corso's new nickname. And calling the site corgi Aden Corgi.
• The box! Way fun plot device. Wish I'd gone into it more than once; after the Theatre of the Dead, Orsolya was self-destructive enough to do it, too, even knowing the risks, but there was no time.
• Defend the ritual mod with Myvanwy, Hildr', Belswin, Grim (I think?), Rish/Bobby, Ember, and... crap. I don't remember who all went on that, it was a fair number of people. Tough mod, lots of needing to do quick thinking (especially when the circles went down!), and that griffin was awful. I love defend-the-ritual mods, they've been one of my favorite battle mechanics since my NERO days forever ago, and it's the one thing I'm sad about with rituals being only 5-10 minutes nowadays. So I'm glad plot managed to put one together, and have it be so cool!
• Confronting Knox about his mark, and all the poking of Jax regarding Outsiders.
• Theatre of the Dead! I did not expect it to be as interesting, amusing, or impactful as it was. That Dreadrot costume is fantastic! F*ck that guy though. D: Finding out he was going after Yalinth was a shock to Orsolya's system.
• So... Friday night and a few times on Saturday, Hildr' told Orsolya that she needed to tell Alis about what happened to Orsolya in Yalinth. (FOIG, sorry.) Orsolya kept putting it off. And this finally bit her hard after the Theatre of the Dead, when Alis assumed Orsolya was coming to Yalinth with her on a madcap ride to get there before Dreadrot... and Orsolya had to say, shakily, that she couldn't go. Then Alis is yelling at her in the middle of the tavern, Orsolya can't even explain why because no time / she's too distraught / it's too late; Hildr' walks in halfway through and tries to get between them and head it off, and Orsolya tells her it's fine, leave it alone, she definitely deserves to be yelled at like this (it's true though); and then Hildr' says she'll go in Orsolya's place, and Orsolya is sobbing on the floor of the tavern as they head out.
  • If I'm crying in game, I'm having a good time. I roleplay for emotional intensity. But I don't usually get to all-out sobbing except in freeform games; boffer is usually just not as intense and doesn't tend to facilitate deep emotional experiences like the freeform larps I've been playing the last few years do. So I definitely didn't expect this, and it was great. Thanks to Leora for the fantastic scene.
  • Also thanks to Corso, Hildr', Slate, and... oh goodness, I was crying and not really conscious of who was around me, but there was someone behind me and someone in front of me when Orsolya was sobbing on the floor, and they were being really kind and I don't remember who they are. All of those people really contributed to the experience and intensity. (Thanks Slate for letting Orsolya distract herself and calm down by focusing on Slate's problems. I know he didn't mean to do that, but Orsolya latched onto it hard. I have an unfair [professional] advantage when it comes to getting people to talk about themselves and redirect the conversation off myself, sorry!)
• Hildr' and Orsolya finally admitting further feelings for one another. <3
• Finally getting to interact with Ky's ... condition. I've been itching to do so for months but Orsolya hasn't been around Dragonhold to do so! The roleplay with Vera!Ky, Dravvos!Ky, and Saoirse was absolutely delightful and one of the top highlights of my event. And the timing was perfect for Orsolya since she needed to distract by focusing on other people's problems while Hildr' and Alis were off in Yalinth potentially dying, who knows.
• All the interactions with Demvarian (sp?) really. Including getting on his case about Vera/Ky. I look forward to more roleplay, you've got an interesting complex character there, Orsolya still isn't sure if she likes him or dislikes him.
• Drunk Slate on Saturday night. And finding out what happens when you pet a cat-kyn's belly. (I'm sorry, cat-kyn, I don't remember your name!)

Sunday

• Skittering away from Alis's presence and dirty looks all day. Orsolya felt awful and despairing.
• Tea with Elavir. I am so sad I didn't get more roleplay with you, Jules! Let's fix this in the future. Still have to tell you that story, after all.
• TASH. I heard Ember say the name and run outside, and I leapt up. "I need to go see this," I started to say to Hildr' as Orsolya, and then put my hand on my head and said "Dani needs to meet this NPC!" Tash was one of my favorite elemental plotlines I'd written and I never got to see more than the very beginning of it before I left. It was really exciting to see it in action.
  • Honestly, really exciting to see all the elemental stuff. Found reasons to interact distantly with it because I wanted to see where it was all at, and was delighted. Y'all have been doing such cool things with it! I'm really glad the elemental faction/mark stuff has continued to develop.
• The Duchess perming, and Lurk's unapologetic, calm, matter-of-fact presence the whole trial. Things I never, ever expected. Mad props to Jenn for rolling with it like that!
• Getting cross at Hildr' swearing stuff to nobles again. And Acarthian nobles at that. Orsolya and Hildr' gonna have some serious fights about this in the future...
• Elavir's ritual Obliteration of Lurk. That was an intense ritual, and the visceral roleplay and description of it was morbidly captivating. A+ roleplaying.
• Denial practice with the Belladonna book in the Tavern. Absolutely hilarious. More of this, please.
• Conversations with Slate, Peat, Jinn, and Hildr' while prepping cookies. The Peat Code had me in stitches.
• Getting to do my first formal ritual as Orsolya! Thanks to Taylor for marshalling it at stupid-o-clock. I have now ordered an hourglass so I can pace my rituals better. Lots to adjust and refine for ritual style, but it went pretty well overall.

Monday

• Talking things through with Alis. Whew. And then snarking back and forth with Alis on the battlefield. (Back-line final-day healer griping is quickly becoming my favorite activity in Acarthia.)
• Literally slapping Hildr' across the face (with OOG consent of course) for being a moron and going into the stupid box. After the hilarity of hallucinating, box-delusional Hildr' waking up from unconsciousness, burrito'd by her own cloak, and raging at everyone about being orcs. (It was really hard for either of us to keep a straight face.)