* Getting two, two, two events in one, basically!
The Tiatar Feast
* Nobody throws a party like Tiatar! The atmosphere, food, and merriment were all a delight. That was the most delicious miso soup I have ever eaten!
* I like LARP prom! I wouldn't want a fancy dress-up occasion every event same as I don't want them often in my real life -- but now and then, they are positively magical!
* Jay as Emaric really kept the trains running on time. Everyone's service took a lot of energy, but the role that he performed whether loudly or quietly is one that I know can often go overlooked in the world. I really appreciated his keen attention to detail!
* Running continued commentary on the dessert throughout the rest of the weekend: the gift that just kept on giving!
* Utterly fictitious smack-talk among the fighters about the Tournament We Knew Would Never Be... I
loathe competition, personally, and thus would never actually engage in that kind of banter were we really competing. It was a fun license for me, even within a game, to truly roleplay that!
* Daring Brom to go to Banks to borrow money from the team treasury to pay Thorgrim to get him (with special guest tag-along, Graham!) to remove Banks' chopsticks when that ****** wouldn't stop tapping with them! (Fun fact: IRL, I have a form of synesthesia called
misophonia which means that I cannot drown out of my attention any kind of repetitive noise like tapping or pen clicking. It's kind the most amusing and stupid disorder ever, really. My good friend John Fawkes knows this, and has fun doing things like clicking his chopsticks from across a very loud, crowded room to see how long it will take to drive me positively batshit! So, word to the wise, if you've tried six "Katherine!"s and they're not working, click a pen ten times, and you have my immediate and undivided attention!)
* Friday night roleplay at Club Noble
* Getting to see my former squire knighted!!!1111!!!! Dozens of people managed to keep a secret for over a year about his knighting, that Brom would be formally adopted into the Albright Family at the end of the ceremony. "Rise, Sir Brom
Albright!" I think it only took being called that about five times before it sunk in! That journey is one of the things I love most about LARP: The chance to wear different masks, try different roles, challenge our inner selves while we roleplay outwardly. For three years, the player of Brom - Mark - has worked actively to challenge himself with public speaking, leadership, self-confidence, and the qualities even a game hopes for in its knights. He naturally brought to the table Brom's best nature of generosity, humility, love and real care for those around him. Brom got knighted, and Katherine could not be more proud of her cousin and former squire -- but how Katherine is impressed with Brom pales insignificant to how proud I am of
Mark, and how he's matured, and refined his already lovely excellence over this three-year journey. Here is much love to you, my friend!!!
Saturday
* "
Mac, how far are we going to have go through with this tournament farce before we travel through time??"
* "Why is
Lucian hanging out off to the side over there?... Oh, we're about to travel through time, and he's got to go get back into his MWE horns to greet us!"
* EPIC IN MY FACE UNDEAD FIGHT OF THE CENTURY! Man! What a great fight! LOVED. EVERY. MINUTE. Got my *** FULLY handed to me! Was
way dead, and no hope of a Life spell in sight! I was saved only by the timeshift. And if I'd have rezzed, I'd have had a huge grin plastered on my face all the way to the rez circle! I LOVE earning a fight like that, win or lose!
*
Liz's roleplay as
Lady Aurelia was consistently spot on, immersive, emotional, and detailed throughout the whole exhausting day. Big kudos to Liz for that job she did! We had a touching introduction when Dame Katherine said, "
Eldred Morningtide has been my best friend for ten years, and if I'd have been around during your childhood, I'd have been your aunt. So my sword is yours, and my life is yours if need be." Aurelia burst into tears, and said, "You mean I now have family??" and gave me a big hug -- it was such a great character moment! Only to make me cry totally OOG later when...
* EPIC SECOND FIELD BATTLE OF THE CENTURY NOW WITH
UNDEAD SCION PCS! Another super enjoyable fight! Died a million times. Lost my sword physrep while unconscious IG. Fought on the front line with a frickin’ DAGGER! LOVED. IT. Loved it!
* Got
way deaded… again. Got dragged into the tavern, so hey, at least I wouldn’t get dragged off by the undead, so that’s something! Liz sat there during my death count, with Lady Aurelia gently cradling Dame Katherine’s lifeless hand in hers, crying softly. “She just said she was my aunt, and now she’s going to die!” I sat there snuffling and crying OOG, it was so moving!
* In the absence of mod or other opportunities, I decided to make myself useful in a confusing situation – Had a lot of fun with others in the same boat IG, just trying to spitball ideas!
Blue, you’re now Vice President in charge of finding out if this is related to the Undead Ducal Court a few months ago.
House Theerio, you’re in charge of hunting some food to sustain us here.
Aikall, you’re an archer, great! The hunters can use your help – BTW, you know as much as the rest of us, so don’t sell yourself short! Just had fun sort of trying to make the best of it, which is a role that I enjoy.
* Ivanya’s House of Mysteries: Had a BLAST solving the puzzle of who could approach the building without the heebie-jeebies and what that meant. It was a rare moment for me when a win IG had nothing to do with either my character card, or the white belt on my character’s waist. The info I helped find may not have been important, I’m not sure – but I found great satisfaction in it!
* Fortress doorway fight: The third just flipping AMAZING fight that afternoon! IG, loved the cooperation at my door among
Lucian, House Theerio, Radulfr (getting to be the mage who saves the day!!),
Eldred, Ber'ial (pardon me that I know that's not nearly spelled or punctuated correctly) -- and the general coordination before and during that fight, all over IG! Special props to
Adrian for working with
Warchester, and
Egil for agreeing to a support role when his knee was busted OOG. Just everyone was awesome!
THE BEST:
* Excellent customer service from
Jordan and
Izzy. Snafus and mistakes are gonna happen, but they showed they cared and were on top of trying to make things better. That is priceless!
Rivervale
I love my team. There were repeated moments of OOG care from everyone on the team for everyone else on the team – My fun is challenged, I need a hug! My toe is blistered, I need a Band-Aid! The orange food is too far away, I need a delivery! I woke up with a LARP-hangover, I need a bottle of water and some Tylenol, and a hug! It’s just the best group of friends ever.
Sunday morning, we sat unhurried in the cabin as we woke up, joking OOG about comic books, “My arms are broken! My parents are dead!” and laughing and being friends. Also priceless!
Trace