Hook Finale Favorites

Kitaruen

Knight
So I rarely start the favorites thread as it feels odd to me as an event runner. But I had soooo much fun this event I have to. Many thanks to NPCs and PCs alike. A special call out to Alexander for epic props as well! Also just big props to Ractor/Thomas for ending a 21 year old character with such grace. A few favorites in no particular order. I know there would be more, but my brain is addled with addleness.
  • Thaddeus and Peter rallying the Ternians
  • Isabo making what could have been a really long political back and forth mod turn into about 30 seconds.
  • Late night Dark Elf discussions in general but the highlight being "what time is it about 4?" -Yeah- wait its 12
  • Ritual of Woe Wall planning list
  • Seeing how some people actively avoided Viktor like plague on the field and others were omnipresent
  • Twice having like 3 folks start to chase Viktor into the woods and someone being like Woah...don't do that
  • Epic Elven Tower rp twice, with a dwarf tossed in one of the times.
  • Ractor sweet talking the Princess into the circle and Viktor being oblivious cause PCs made sure to keep him distracted
  • Sid's Butler
  • Ranvier and Shen spear heading negotiations with a drake on a sulfur mod
  • Prove your not order, arrange yourselves as is proper...Yeah were good like this
  • Dinner Beef!
  • Seeing how well the community is doing at welcoming new players and respecting each others pronouns and boundaries in general.
  • Awesome jokes and fun in monster camp... the top memory has to be "You know whats the worst suicide" I heard it out of context (context was the running exercise that sadistic coaches and PE teachers have used since the dawn of middle school)
  • Being soooo excited for Nadine to bring me cheese curds that I ripped the culvers bag open and spilled them everywhere. All curds were eaten have no fear!
  • Finding Ryan's phone with my idea of having folks walk shoulder to shoulder
  • Everyone pitching in for clean up
  • 5k degree afters bathroom with good friends
Is addleness a word spellcheck says not!?
 
Work kept me away and leaving early. But, thanks to the battle in the early evening it felt way later. Here are a few of my favorites.
  • Amazing elven tower role play with elves and a dwarf. Remember Franz, I said we would go to interesting places and meet interesting people.
  • Elven meeting before getting rifled to the tower, especially since it interrupted Dram's soliloquy.
  • Late night Dark Elf discussions, insert anime bathhouse episode and Asura being way too over dressed.
  • Ractor's retirement. It's been one heck of a ride. At this point there are a very few of us left playing those characters from Tyra.
  • Dinner with the King and Queen after. The shenanigans of elven politics are just getting started.
  • Meeting the unicorns thinking that we were going to get jumped, and not getting jumped. I feel we dodged the arrow on that one.
  • Five snakes in mummy wrapping. How am I in game the only one with a flint and tender?
  • Ranvier and Shen spear heading negotiations with a drake on a sulfur mod
  • Not having the Viktor Hook battle at night in the dark. That could have been dangerous out of game. Thank you Plot for making that call.
Amanda
 
Wonderful time this past weekend. Thanks for pushing off the snow.
  • Great time with the Fire Drake (more here a ah I made a mistake and lets talk because I am in the wrong place right now) and Order Elemental roleplay to possibly change the path of the adventure. Always great to have that interaction.
  • Gerty getting a little too excited and shattering the Order Elemental because experiments!!! Mistakes were made.
  • The amazing town save up for the Ritual of WOEs.
  • Non-linear path for the final fight. What do we want to do and what can slip is always interesting. Seeing the impact at the final fight.
  • Amazing phsyrep of the salt plane with snow falling as we started. :) Sorry for those other mods that had to deal with that.
  • Great inclusion of different play styles during the Victor Hook mod.
 
Oh completely forgot an absolute great moment when Agate busted into song "A whole new world" at request and did great!

Oh and Gerty being giddy at the great forge!

Oh and man I really just loved this event I keep thinking of more and more little moments.
 
Emotional and Wonderful weekend as always.

  • I'm glad I prepped cloak greater commands for the Hook fight but was terrified when everyone rifted out except me, Liddia, and the dwarf( sorry I don't remember your name)
  • I'm glad I was able to see Ractor's ritual RP. Super cool.
  • Late night mod with Corbell, Drake, Garwon, and Skylark for the golden acorn. How did you have that much energy to run after everything, Emma?!
  • The squirrel coming into the Tavern after everything to complain about their acorn. lol
  • The wedding invites were beautiful! Amazing work on those.
  • Chasing DeSyliva across camp after he stole my bow. I may not be fast but I'm persistent. :)
I'm sad to see Ractor retire since he was always someone Vanya looked up to but what a way to go.
 
Aramis: "Beryl where you going?"
Beryl: "Off to fight in the crypt of the Leaf Crown."
A: "Alone?"
B: "Yep."
A: "Beryl No."
B: "Beryl Yes."
A: "Beryl No. Wait please."
B: *huff* "Fine."

"Beryl can you and Auryn figure out the logistics on who is getting Ritual of Woe?"
"Yes."
***2 hours later***
"Sweet Jesus! Everyone? Yup. We're gonna go loot Krueger for the rest of the scrolls."

Feeling cared for. I spent probably 12 hours doing ic logistics but I never felt like I was alone or unappreciated. People checked on me and brought food and drink and teas and it was really nice to not feel like an unwanted/resented Noble track pc.

Shark punching
 
Yelling match with Alexander as his dragon npc then having to take a knee to get him to give us back our perm earth circle

Desylvia drinking unicorn blood and the ensuing insanity
 
I have a few favorites, and I'm sure more will be added as I think and process the weekend, now in no specific order other than how my brain squirrels are moving. :)

  • The elven rifts, to the lich tower
  • Stepping in front of Victor every time I saw him, Corbell was not happy having been enslaved three times.
  • Completing Corbell's last squire task, thanks Emma! I kinda threw that idea at you last minute.
  • The Squirrel mod! Always fun doing a late night mod.
  • Coming back from Victors tower only to have Ractor yell They're enslaved get them!
  • Ritual casting, I don't do it often and it shows, but its always nice when I do it every now and then.
  • The isle of Nex, looking forward to that next trip with the universal speech for the stonemelders.
  • All of the new PC's I promise I'll forget your names and have to ask again, but at some point I'll remember your names :D
  • Plane of junk
 
my favorites :)

  • The unicorn, it was nice speaking with Penelope
  • RP with Victor Hook after being rifted
  • Seeing Desylvia after he drank the unicorn blood
  • Pebbles beating me down, as I'm saying "But we're friends" (while I was enslaved)
edit
I forgot :)

  • The squirrel mod
  • giving Mutt Victors blood money that Skylark didn't want.
 
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  • I cast 9 rituals at this event which was pretty wild. 8 Successfully without flaw!
  • Backlashing my first ritual on the preserve to start off the batch rolls 0 sweet this scroll has cool flaws rolls another 0 uh oh rolls third 0 shitt. opens a planar gate at 3am.
    • thanks, Deslyvia for saving us
    • thanks, Adlao for the additional Preserve so we could actually still do our ritual
  • Being invested in the battle circle for the hook fight which allowed me to fight in a very new way battle medic of being able to jump in and out of the circle to get the passing backs as I heal and tend to others has to be a new favorite fighting style for me and plays into my frontline battle medic backstory.
  • Dinosaurs iykyk.
  • Having a small auction with the newer adventures (which names I will learn I promise) and talking before how they want it and I was like I want it to and they were like how much would you pay and I was like probably up to 10 gold. *Auction starts* NA: 10 gold *cue Roff not even bidding due to being both shocked and impressed by the audacity.
  • The many many positive responses to my first attempt at full makeup that all came in on Thursday night.
    • The Kin pile and conversations at the makeup party before the game even started.
  • Webbed Polearm
  • Dysilvia Mutt
  • Feeling both welcomed and feeling connected to the waysidians as a traveler I really appreciate it and enjoyed being able to play with you all this season, after living 10 hours away for the last 6 years.
  • Last but not least Firefly and Shiny Squad I hope we can adventure together once again Rengar and I shall teach you the way of the Adept.
 
So here we go:

*Having MR. Bunny Kins provide a haven of the living on any place we were at.
*Mutt calling Dibs on Pebbles, which apparently is going to become a thing now.
*seeing enslaved PC's and beating most of them down.
*fighting Hook in general. The fight was great overall. Getting in his face so much and getting so, so, so many shatter spirit and destroy magics on me. Carrie was terrified and I tried my hardest to not let it show through in Pebbles.Thanks to friends, spell shields and intercepts, I made it through.
*backing Hook into a small spot in the woods with like 3 of us there. We stopped and waited for him to come out. He called upon his lineage blah, blah, blah to get a doom blade. Shiny and I looked at each other and said "now he's got a doom blade" knowing that one hit was taking both of us out...which it did.
*spending my whole card, even my toys, which I hardly ever use against Hook.
Doing a stupid thing with a small close group of friends. Being told to pick a # and then spent the next 5 hours biting my nails with Adam about if a dragon was gonna come and get us. Which it did. Alexander was terrifing...
*ending up in our circle with the dragon and the dragon changed the circle to his...looking at Shiny and reading our thoughts like whelp...this is it.
*getting invested into King Ractor circle just for the purposes of collecting the cheese and meat that was in there. One of the few reasons Pebbles will get in a circle willingly.
*Desylvia and Bobo literally, physically wresting on the ground.


Good times!
 
THANK YOU! To all of you for making this a lot of fun!

*THANK YOU BINAR FOR MY BOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Thank you to Isabow and Adloa (Even though I kept saying Ney!) for making me feel included in the battle for Hook on Saturday - following the green bow around like a beacon and running to go sing- made me feel like I was doing something!
* Thank you to everyone who didn't peace out on the friday puzzle mod like I did and kept at it XD - and to the dragon asking us questions so we felt included in the hallway of targaskdhfweo and isodkjfhw things. And then the party on the floor in the corner XD
* TO the NPCS! You guys are wonderful! Teddy bear in the junk yard may give me nightmares... skunk in the junkyard was cute and I wanted to pet it... even though I think Emma may have bitten me if I tried... I loved the moment that the bearded NPC looked at me and yelled "NO" because I kept killing him hehe - thanks to all the people that kept making my bow blessed with healing so I could actually fight the undead!
*Thanks to Sid for being a good sport when I didn't realize he helped run nationals - and for making me feel like I could actually fight ! And for understanding when I explained how I messed up the body/armor count. THANK YOU!
* It was really fun to have people actually buy Tuli's Trinkets! And then to see them worn around during the weekend made my heart happy!
*Thank you to kitchen/The Company for bringing me into the crew - I smelled like sausage for hours... DISHES ARE DONE DANCE!
*Thaddeus and Grimshaw - thank you for letting Tuli pepper you with questions in an interview so she can attempt to write ballads about you.
*Thank you Jadar for being super welcoming
*To the elven King and dead girl queen who gave me an epic bow boon - and for Thaddeus directing me their way! I was slap happy sleepy and had taken an intoxicate potion from Calliope that was then almost hard to stop acting drunk because I was so sleepy.
*TO Peter for chatting with me while I sat at Tuli's "Store" - i like your coat!
*Thank you to Alexander and ROb for playing bad guys who I would NOPE at when I saw coming
*The cutest fey I have ever seen- I wanted to put firefly in my pocket! And even though I was bent on getting the Fey drunk and maybe started chanting about peer pressure... you guys were amazing! cutest little flower demons ever!
*Alex running Blackjack was fun- sorry for stealing money and losing it in bets... to fellow noob with purple gem You re living sophmore year of college was hilarious.
*That tea from Rynn was great!
*I have a lot of moments I'm really grateful for !

Some quotes I remember:

"The doors shut and are locked"
"Oh for Pete's Sake!"

"Oh you sweet summer child" (I maybe heard this multiple times...)

Eve finding one more spoon at the end of the event "No! Throw it away! I already did the Dishes are done dance!"

"It's tea"
"Oh it looks good! ... Actually no it doesnt... it looks like swamp weeds but I can tell its a special tea now that you mention it and I wouldn't ever drink it unless it was in a pretty tea pot like that."

"SINGERS!"

"Are you guys doing something important over here?"
"Yes. Hiding."
 
Excellent way to end the normal season, I felt on edge and ready to go each and every moment of this event. It felt like a full weekend with the kitchen duties tacked on. Without further ado:

  • The Elves rifting back, "They're Enslaved!" Queue Hot Fuzz meme
  • Talking down Bloody in the woods, "Haha I'm in danger." I was sure we were all dead.
  • Fighting the blademaster undead, then trying to do a burial for them. Alexander adding in "blademaster not Blademaster."
  • "Iggy stop being so loud." "Sorry I'm passionate about lost children not being killed."
  • The Isle of Nex
  • Logistics of getting everyone a Stake of Woe
  • Having an afternoon big town mod, it was a great change of pace
  • Joking about Rathfall. So glad we get to play dumb about everything that happened.
  • All the extra kitchen help. Couldn't have done it without a few extra hands.
Thanks again, can't wait for the feast!
 
Lots of fun and I really enjoy the new site even if the indoor temp is too hot.

-finnishing a costume piece while sitting on the floor in the dorms before 7pm and having a quilted petty coat.

-organizing all of my shops stocks I'm so happy to have more invintory even if it put me into debt

-earning enough almost to get me out of said debt

-Binks forgetting he is in a group and biding against us or forgetting to collect group shares

-having a rug under my feet and my cozy shop and corrner

-Mr Thunderfist, beard styling and being my intern, one of the more attentive ones I have had

-Giving Beryl my honey tea masala spice hot drink and thinking better of putting a parinoa in it as she was in full WoE logistics mode and nothing would have changed.

-Beryl latter saying that said hot drink helped her go to sleep.

-The ritual backlash and trying to consider the balance of self preservation, being the only one invested in the circle there, and well what if there is no air there? glad it worked out but I think I made the wrong call I should have gone in with the new adventures for a rescue.

- That's a sexy Great Forge you got there.... Can I use it? to make potions?...Alchemy?...a Sword?...maybe some fancy scrolls.... you know while I'm here I might as well make my trap globes here too. Sexy big workshop.

-Mutt as always, I love how we can update each other about our real life without breaking character, and I notice all the little details you do in you physical role play that just blows me away all the time

-People coming to me for problem solving, not just the tagged items but realizing that yes I have tape and scissors and markers and pens and paper and a whole bunch of crap in my shop just to be able to be prepared and helpful

-Getting to be included with the load stone fixing and keeping the two of them up and protected from the door. Also hearing about the forbidden magics and being like wait a second, Gorka knows about that, and Lilly helped defeat shadow. I have been around a long time just not Gertrude. Same thing happened when I realized oh we are talking about the leaf crown I remember this.

-having my brain picked about siege weapons and lco crafting ideas and realizing I could be considered a bit of an expert on crafting things.

-Alchemy Roulette but realizing that I forgot how it used to be played and why it used to be played but making a whole table of people roleplay for paranoia, hallucinations, intoxicate, and paralysis So glad that Sid was the paralysis, I forgot to look at what each person was getting. I'm so glad everyone liked the drink though.

-Accidently bringing an NPC fey on a mod because I thought she was a new player PC and I'm all about being inclusive and everyone thinking that was funny/great

-Roff and Dysilvia desinging and making for me 9 wonderful instant traps that essentially I'm the only one that can use (must be Dwarf, have Scroll making, and Potion making) so excited for my emergency oh **** boxes, and I'm excited to have an awaken alarm for the really bad ****.

- Dysilvia's role play when casting, and his reaction to my pre ritual set up for him, I like caring for people.

- Making a mistake on the salt plane because I was too tired/ignorant to keep in my head what the goal was. But also finding out I can shatter order elementals to harm them, and then refitting the order elementals armor. Also finding out I was the shortest adventure there and thinking oh but we are on a hill but then noticing I was on the higher point.

-ignoring danger from time to time just to buss dishes

-realizing if Gertrude ever became a noble and someone kneeled to her I would just start refitting their armor, new goal!

-Roff amazing me with his irl merchanting skill

-The drive being so much shorter for us

Thanks for everything
 
-Giving Beryl my honey tea masala spice hot drink and thinking better of putting a parinoa in it as she was in full WoE logistics mode and nothing would have changed.

-Beryl latter saying that said hot drink helped her go to sleep.

-100% would have changed nothing beyond more agressive list management and I wouldn't have stopped at group building. There would have been timing layouts, high magic allocation math, back up plans.

-OMG yes. It was the only real sleep I got that event. <3
 
-Bringing all the new dwarves to the First Forge and watching Baby's First Oath. Just makes me so happy to see our growing dwarf population after years of being the only dwarf of the chapter

-Draco and Nyio having a chat with Jrajj giving the Tribal Law of Conquest line and both of us giving each other the same look of "This feels like ********, but don't know enough about tribal law to call it out."

-Chasing the Butler around in the finale fight so I could pour all of the Aegis's Destory Undeads into him.

-Draco's little adventure with Auryn helping with a cupbearer task. Glad the timing of things falling into place aligned that Draco had the perfect means of getting Auryn where she needed to go discreetly.

- Having front row seats to the terrifying power that is an angry dragon. Before it was thankfully fixed, the realization that Harycon (sp?) just destroyed the permanent Earth circle, "Oh we dead"

-Just overall the amount of new players diving in head first into plot and mingling with us old fogeys.

-The post event adventure of finding an Afters that could take all of us. We got there eventually!

Can't wait for the next one!
 
In no particular order
  • Randomly walking up to no less than three adventuring groups coalescing outside the tavern, interjecting "Hey, do y'all need a bow attached to a snooty elf?" and being readily accepted. Y'all are just the kindest folk.
  • Trying with Binks and Roff to speak "Horned Gem Eater" to Sid while Vanya and Ignatius were huffing crushed gemstone in the background. Still not sure whether Foghorn Deerhorn is a super intelligent subspecies of Stone elemental, or we were just making "moo-cow" noises at a rocky moose for 45 minutes whose occasional farts we took as sophistication.
  • Winding up Glenn, Liddia, Ractor, Vanya, Garwon, Corbell, and all the elves for an intense discussion on the nature of the Leaf Crown and how we can "save" Victor Hook from himself. He must have heard, since he instantly Rifted us all out mid-speech to his keep and proceeded to spank us like upstart children. That'll teach me to try and help a 4,000 year old Dragon Mage who is set on suicide by adventurer.
  • More than a few folks actively seeking the Wayside Times. It really is a labour of love by all the artists who put tremendous effort and creativity into their articles and artwork and it's heartening to see it being enjoyed.
  • Alexander as Larone[sic]. His physicality as five-snakes-in-a-trenchcoat was amazing. Not only how he moved in combat, but outside just chatting people up. His hands were focused on two folks, his face another, each foot a fourth and fifth. It was On! Point! Plus, the line "I smell your sweat with my feet, lady. You're not going to trick me!" is forever immortalized.
  • Working hand-in-glove with Auryn, Beryl, and Corbell to finish out their Cupbearer and Squire tasks. Dram has put his shoulder to getting them into their positions these last few games and it's gratifying to see them crossing the finish line.
  • Talking Ternian politics with Franz and Thaddeus sporadically over the course of the "disaster" that was all the Ternians coming back to life. The shift in mood from "half a million Spirits saved!" to "half a million mouths to feed" was palpable.
  • Chatting up King Ractor and Queen Alandra about their new kingdom and trying to broker conversations with the adventuring gentry. After the fourth introduction, King Ractor said, "Damnit, Dram! I'm on my honeymoon! Leave me alone." Uneasy is the head.
  • Trying to talk sense into Victor Hook only to see his diseased mind slip back into its rotten path time and time again. Dude was just unwell. Even better was watching from the corner of my eye as Corbell and Glenn limbered their swords and took attack vectors knowing that talk was futile. Can't blame an elf for trying.
  • Dragging Blue Skinned "Super Sneaky" Kobolds back to Lorilei to be First Aided and tied up while we ransacked their cave, only to later realize we were desecrating their sacred burial ground. Auryn's face when they said, "Wait, that's your grandmother's grave?!" was precious.
  • When Spectral Hook came back shamed by the First Tree (gotta talk with that twig) and giving him a shawl to wear only to see Pebbles tear it off later in a fit of pique. Her stony silence when Dram asked "Feel better about your self, do you?" was murderous.
  • Chatting up Ibn al-Hameed about becoming a noble. At the beginning of the conversation he was "I want to start now! This will be great;" by the end "Hmm, maybe it's something to work on next year sometime." Maybe, I didn't sell it so well.

And so much more. ¡Fun was had all around!
 
  • When Spectral Hook came back shamed by the First Tree (gotta talk with that twig) and giving him a shawl to wear only to see Pebbles tear it off later in a fit of pique. Her stony silence when Dram asked "Feel better about your self, do you?" was murderous.

I owe Pebbles a cheesecake for that. She's my hero.
 
For mine, it's a bit more generic. I enjoyed the feeling that everyone seemed to be moving and shaking on things for most of the weekend. It felt like when stragglers were looking for something, there was always a group they could hook up with. Finding the balance between that and turning every mod into an adventure for 20+ people is amazing.

I also enjoyed watching Beryl do the logistics of getting everyone a stake. IMO that's a perfect role for someone on a noble track (as opposed to trying to make everyone a battlefield leader). That type of leadership is undervalued and I was glad to see her shine in the role.

On an IG level, Binar was frustrated with the fact that Hook came in with the shame stuff on him and everyone was acting like it was ok and he was forgiven. I even saw the level of shade thrown at the First Tree for making him come in like that. He caused untold pain to multitudes of people (including the pain/death still to come in the aftermath of his regime), having him wear the weight of his deeds for a few hours was the LEAST punishment he could receive.

Then I heard that Pebbles took the shawl off and it made me happy. Redemption must be earned, you don't just get forgiven cause we beat you.
 
So I am sure there is a bunch but my brain is a little fried on remembering them all.

MASSIVE kudos to Sid for making my event with getting one of if not the last needed downing of the butler. It absolutely made my weekend to watch the butler soak a spell strike Life and crumble at that point. I have had to make a major step back from front-line fighting and to get to dart off and do that one big final blow made me excited and gain a bit more enthusiastic about getting back into really enjoying LARP and being a major part of things.
 
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