November 2013 Highlights

First pass, before I pass out and deal with a new body clock schedule...

Gideon, in jest: "Excuse me, would you remind moving your shield? Your holy symbol offends me."
Danane: *Rubs shield all over Gideon*

The IG repercussions of the new lists and rules changes arriving. Almost everyone took it in stride, and even people who got hosed on certain things found gems they liked in others. The fact that characters now need to re-focus on who they are, and not what they have, is going to lead to some excellent development.

Gideon, on the way to finish off the Valerian Queen: "Hey Aleister, Black Sorceress Shield Bash Table Tennis?"

Lessons from Mirwen and Tsoli. You're never too old or experienced to stop learning.

Mod Marshal Mike Smith (to nearby NPCs): "Stop doing math. I didn't write this mod."

"If you have magical items or powers, do not fight the Arcanite." Collective sigh: "Well, I'm out..."

Carlotta: "Gideon, I killed an Arcanite to bring you your breakfast." They grow up so fast...

Gideon: "Would you like some food?"
Valerian Diplomate played by Ben T. "No."
Gideon: "Would you like some coffee?"
Valerian: "No."
Gideon: "Would you like a place to sit while we wait?"
Valerian: "No."
(Later in Logistics): "Ben, I'm going to photoshop GrumpyCat on to you and make a meme."

The item rewrite seemed to go smoothly - kudos to Jon, Mike, and everyone else in making it happen as smoothly as it did. I was in and out in a jiffy.

The collective eye-popping as the various Heroics were revealed IG, and OOG. The scrolls were phenomenal. Excellent work on the physreps, James!

Wow.

November game was a blast… even with the twitchy (for me) parts in facing Religious Zealots who simply want to kill you because of what you aren’t (which is them).

And yes, some of the ooc internal responses I had to IC roleplay on the part of the NPC’s early on nearly made me pull myself out of game BECAUSE of some very conflicting internal OOC emotion over it. You guys were damn good at doing the zealot bit and in at least one case too good (this is mentioned below and the reason why).

All you who played the Templars/Uber-dogmatic Soldiers that I ran into and actually had words with get kudos from me- and I mean that.

The Personal highs and Lows as happened to me-

Working with Daniel McKregor and Arden Ull Uidhir to escort the new Travancians on Friday… and encountering the first of the Valerians. Their (Valerian) activities, language and responses were all what I expected/experienced from Jihadists/Religious Fanatics… which elicited the first of the many twitches in me ooc all weekend.

To the NPC who spouted the sort of dogmatic drivel I had come to expect from Jihadists- which of course gave me the first of many, many, many twitches over the weekend- as I had him against a tree with a sword at his throat- Dude…. You hit mental hot-buttons absolutely no one other than Geoff, Dianne and Leslie would know were there... and if I could give you an award for that accomplishment, I would, because you were *that* good.
On other thing, it was this massive twitch you triggered that had me IC examine more than few things more closely and OOC showed me how far I have come from eighteen to twenty months ago mentally... and I thank you for it.

If I knew who ye were, I'd buy you a beer (as long as can drink it, of course. )

Other highs from the night ran the gamut of marveling at the IC attempts to disbelieve the zealotry coming our direction and how deaf some ears were to warnings until the excrement hit the fan… and how much even then some clung to the No Killing rule where the blindly dogmatic among the Valerians were concerned.

People, there are Mad dog-esque beings like this out there.... and sometimes game is gonna imitate Real Life.

A major low was the scolding I got from the Baroness for telling her to get inside during what I felt was an attempt to figure out where she was by the enemy… and I deserved it cause I knew better.

Not a half hour later, an observation on enemy reactions to certain events I puzzled out was given to The Baroness…. And it proved more accurate than I expected to my surprise and I think her delight.

Funny bit for me was fighting against two Valerians and being about the best dodging/RL parrying git I’ve been so far in the few months I’ve been playing…. And got dropped by a 100 Divine strike I couldn’t get my sword around to block. This will prove to be a theme for me all weekend…

Saturday Morning-
NPC shift-Playing Bodyguard Templar for the Queen was fun as using RL knowledge of such things and the RP of a Zealot Version of a BG was neat. I’m just glad no fighting was necessary- the figurative bloodbath that would have happened would have been hell to clean up before feast.

I get to play a fairly badass Merc Captain for predominately new PCs to face. First time fighting Florentine in years… and had a blast. I am sad to say my potential Villain for the future use by Zac got laid low by an alchemist. (granted, I made him mad for hurting his kitty… but hey, she had a nice pelt I wanted… )

note to self- target enemy alchemists for death first in the future …

More fighting and such during the day and one of the best was near the Armory where Gideon and I went to rescue someone on the road…. And promptly needed rescue/assistance as nine of them showed up to join the two we were facing. And I got a really funny exchange in the process which went something like this…

Valerian Soldier: You Will Die!
me (after evading/blocking just about every swing he made then jumping back a few feet for breathing room): Right- how ya gonna do that when ye ain’t been able to hit me yet?
(cue two more Valerian troopers joining him and the 1st one smiling very…. Evilly)
Me(with a sigh): Me and my big mouth

I immediately spin and run to the fence then vault to get away from the now charging Valerian trio & buy time for the Cavalry I know is coming to get here. This state of affairs lasts all of about thirty seconds post-vaulting as I get dropped for the SECOND time by a 100 Divine swing that I couldn’t get my sword around to block in time.

Anyone sensing a theme here?

Saturday night Feast… I had a distinct feeling we were to be attacked at Feast or just after; its what I would do AND if you want to mess with rhythm/inflict casualties on your enemy prior to assaulting with the main body, a raid on their rear area (or in this case, Feast and Morale Center) during their mealtime is just in the cards.

Of course, seeing a key telltale standing by a door… confirmed my suspicious thoughts. Kudos to you, Ben; that was an awesome thing to do in order to drive home the threat. I wholeheartedly applaud!!

Post feast-fighting, I made a point to find Lorelei and take up her offer to teach me Parry Skill. Those shots I should have stopped… I will now have a better chance of stopping.

Sunday battle….

Yeah… Epic. Just epic.

All of Travance marching to kill the Queen and her Loyal(?) Guards. Just a high note as a whole here… and a fairly epic battle. A battle that had two different flanking maneuvers to give extra fronts for the Valerians to worry over is a smart way of fighting. 

This battle for me gave me some serious RP after being dropped by the Queen with a Slay Strike and being brought back from the Edge of Death. There will be some IC repercussions from this day, I am certain.

What exactly, I still haven’t figured out completely yet but I have a direction- some of which is due to Alander and discussion about Brazen of all things...

Sunday funny parts… involved Grasp with Roots and a rude Barbarian- I am very glad those around at the time were entertained- I'll let others comment on this if they wish. .


Far too much happened this weekend to put into words… but suffice to say I had a massively good time.

The only absolute downer was Leslie (tpo Birgitta Drexel) could not attend this game. She’d have had a blast like I did.

Tried something new this game, but had to leave early before I could put on the buckled hat. Still had a great time for the 12 hours I was there!

-the new character meet and greet was a blast; I ended up climbing over more things in the barn than I had any right or reason to
-getting captured by the Valarians on the tour was disheartening, but the RP at the "enemy camp" was fun and got my character his most prized possession!
-meeting the greenskins of Travance was far too exciting on friday night
-seeing the hordes of Valarians was astonishing, both IG and OOG!

I can't wait until next month when I will bring my new character back with the rest of his gear!

Oh god this event is all of the feels all of the time!

Friday: random fun stuff as going out as an undead Dominic phantasm. Every ones reaction was great! Also, thank you Blacktree, I now have a reason to totally beat the holy out of Aiden. I buried two valosians near the tree between the barn and the inn. I got yelled at for trying to be nice to the second one and give him last rights. BLARG I CANT DO ANYTHING RIGHT!!! After that I submit to the Valarians and try to broker peace. I got to hang out in logistics with the NPC's, it was a blast hanging with you guys. Now I need to get captured again so I can bring a big bag of snacks and a butt load of drinks. Once I finally get to talk to be, It gets me killed. I end up losing all my stuff in the Valarian war camp including my jacket. Pissed rest of the night.

Saturday: I finally got to sleep in! I love sleeping in my car! I was up an hour before my shift so not much happened beforehand. Being an NPC is always fun. After Shift there was feast. I talked to Aleister beforehand about becoming a cavalier, and I had wonderful rp with him after about the difference between witch hunter and cavalier. By the way I cant remember who but to whoever made that mac and cheese with bacon I will personally pay you to make that again for me next event! But oh god all of the rp with Aleister and Dominic doubting himself more and more about his desires to further his training into mastership and heroic witch hunter. Then the witch hunter hero list came out. Shaden Jager, Dominic always had trouble with "bait" but sacrificing others for the hunt raised all of the red flags and Dominic stormed out. Thankfully I got to talk to magnus about my thoughts and thank you matt that was the perfect thing Dominic needed, every word of it! Then I went over to Aleister again to confirm my desires to become a Cavalier. Finally to highlight that night was the pre battle planning before the black sorcerress queen showed up. Aleister fights the queen, Magnus fights the demon, and Dominic fights the undead. The war was ended by a three man team! BOOYA!!!!

Sunday:Got my jacket back and was happy that morning. Went to battle with a new steel sword and my new mithril shield. I even managed to get a new mithril sword during the battle against the Valarians. Boom all of the happy!!!!! So much fun and so much awesome! Also Morwene(the white sorcerress whose name I probably messed up on spelling) Made that morning the best morning I ever had, making a barbarian cry with a stone skin and later gave me snacks. THANK YOU FOR SNACKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So what's going on peeples!!!! Okaaaaaaaay DEN! This event was so darned fun! Oh man! I really loved messing with a lot of you guys as a one Mr. Jack Dimms! SO without further ado, my highlights!


Friday: Well Leyon was called and Jack decided to track down the Dwarf Alander (SP?) for some catching up and a drink. After some banter and just general meeting up with some of the people I've missed, Lucius Knight had pulled me aside and asked if I'd like to go with him to help Dimitri with his little problem. Of course Jack decided to go! So he went off on an adventure that not only allowed him to meet Wulfgar, but also fight beside him which was amazing! Also, Josh Labarr evil Gypsy with point and click hexes....... Such a dirty, dirty move.... But Josh is always a fun boss to fight. In any case, so after that was a lot of rp with Wulfgar and Lucius (If I'm forgetting someone I apologize.) and Wulfgar said he would take Jack on as his student! Oh it was glorious. After that, I was pooped so bed, though it was nice to sleep in a cabin.

Saturday: Well the day started waking up a good 30 mins before NPC shift, getting some breakfast and then going out to let you guys have some fun! Though the only mod I really remember doing was the New Player Mod with this 5 pages. So first I was a phantasm of a lizard kin jumping in and out of mirrors, fighting everyone and even though that mod ended in some serious OOG pain for me, I still had a lot of fun. Now after NPCing, it was time for the event that set the tone for the rest of the event for how Jack was gonna act. Oh yes, the Inverted Tower mod! You see after battling the Valertion (SP?) and getting a wytchwood shield, Jack decided to take his first trophy in Travance, a fallen enemies head which lead to probably some of the best RPing experience of my short Larp career with a one Mr. Justin Torres AKA Augustus. I held up the head and he instantly was on me, screaming at me. After some banter and argument, Jack held up both hands and said "If I broke some sort of law here, then arrest me!" which Augustus gladly did. Jack yanked at the manacles he had on him, tugged and pulled with all of his might, only to end up getting let out of just as the fight in the field right in front of the armory had ended. From there is was just a slew of awesomeness. Jack took as many heads as possible, making sure any and all of the enemies before him had their heads collected and put on the porch of the Pen Darvin cabin he was staying in. This lead to some Gaians having a lot of problems with Jack as he took head after head as his trophies, his favorite head being one of a Steve Oros like undead. Oh man that was awesome. As he took the head, Jack was almost hit with some sort of Fire spell. Steve: "You there, you take a Fiery (can't remember the last part of the spell)" Me: Um.... is that a magic spell?" Steve: "Yes" Me: "Um....Ignore Magic?" Steve: "Oh...... Well, that works" Me "Well alright then!" That then lead into Jack being a completely sexist pig. Then that lead to a Smithing lesson with a one Mr. Parker Black. Jack acting uncivilized would just pick up a hammer and start hitting anything he could find thinking it would work, only to be told no. Oh god.... I can't remember exactly how it was led into, but Jack announced he could beat any woman in honor combat which got him a beating from Arden. After taking such a beating, Jack found himself infatuated with Arden and proceeded to chase her around whenever he saw her, yelling out his love for her and how he wished her to be his wife. Just oh man, it was so hard to do this, I really almost broke a few times doing this.

Sunday: Early wake up to getting breakfast to battle and then to the Inn for more hilariousness Jack had magic put on him, was beat up by Arden for proclaiming his love, mauled, yelled at, all those things I wanted to happen to him. I rolled around on the ground and acted like a child when Magic touched him. A parry lesson with Wulfgar that had Jack proclaiming his love for Arden over and over, and a ranger casting grass with roots on him, only to get out of it by kinda lying a bit and saying I really needed to use the bathroom. I loved getting picked on like that and I thank everyone for being such good sports with my antics. Well until winter ends, I'm off!!

My favorite part was the butts.

Also, mixolydia and orias.
Just. Everything. About that. My two favorite people. For days and days.

Sakane and Slack getting into a stage combat fist fight. Seriously, night made.

Eolian looking killer as hell in plate.

I have legitimate welts on my knees from a ridiculously great fall on NPC shift.

Corvis (sp?), a new player, singing at feast. I very rarely have the luxury of being in the audience and getting to listen.
Firstly, I cannot begin to explain how amazing it was to hear people singing along to his song and Secondly, I cannot express how grateful I am that a new player had the moxy to get up with an instrument and sing. It was awesome.

There's probably more, but i'm going to go sleep the deep deep sleep of larp.

Jack_Dimms wrote: and a ranger casting grass with roots on him, only to get out of it by kinda lying a bit and saying I really needed to use the bathroom. I loved getting picked on like that and I thank everyone for being such good sports with my antics. Well until winter ends, I'm off!!

That would be me doing that...

And the next time, I am gonna let you piss yourself. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me... :evil:

I handed out a lot of KR Cards and told a lot of people about KR...

Highlight of the weekend was seeing 5 people, sitting in the middle of an anime LARP, discussing KR character builds and lists....

^ same. Oh wait I was one of the people discussing and advising on builds and lists.

Despite the cold and wearing layers I had a great time this event.

Friday Night NPC Shift: NPCign for new player mod was awesome. Being told to kidnap younger players was interesting and even though I got caught doing it eventually how easy it was was definitely surprising.

JTinney: If you're talking about the one you had against the tree by the mages guild that was me. I consider myself a scholar of Theology, so religious zealots are kind of easy to portray for me. What I didn't expect was your reaction but the entire scene was incredible. Serious props on that moment, to to mention that the throat slit was perfectly timed. If I could have found an RP Marshal I would have asked them to give you all the points. I also don't think I thanked you for serving our country but Thank you.

Wandering around as a Cleric most of Friday night was amazing as was all the interaction. Despite a point where we stopped surrendering I was still being taken prisoner through disarm and other non-lethal attacks. I feel like the Valarians caused a slight split in town this event as those who wanted to capture the zealots bashed heads with those who wanted them dead. Ended up with a lot of great moments.

Late Friday was fun as well being 6 seconds away from death as Master Haroldson gets me up. That's what I get for not letting people walk alone. Not to mention walking off then hearing in the morning, someone else I was walking with got attacked not 5 minutes after I left.

Saturday was great as well. Teaching people is some of the best RP and I really like instructing people in things. The immediately after feast attack was fun as well as the Arcanite.
Especially with the slow that thing would just not die. Being able to Resuscitate came in handy post battle.

The late night Undead assault was awesome again as a Physician what with the Disease being tossed about. After about the 6th wave I almost couldn't lift my arm. All in all it was a great event and I'll post more when I've recovered a bit more.

November Highlights and Lowlights:

Pregame:
Panicking over possibly not being able to come to the game,
Handing out everyone left over Halloween candy.
Believe it or not, losing my character sheet so now I have a lot more room to grow on my character.

Friday:
My gods will this mod ever end, we were out there for so long the dark was practically bright as day.
Sleeping in a tent alone.

Saturday:
Fun mod full of traps and the excitement and curse of being the only healer.
Lunch yummy.
Wish I could have helped to find Cousin Ya Ya's Wolfgar. (Who knows if I'm spelling that right?)
Now I remember why I don't serve feast normally.
Oh my gosh, the weave! Who knows what may have slipped!
Hurray I can sleep in a cabin tonight not alone!

NPC Shift:
Ok, from now on we should make it a rule to look back in a large group in the dark for stragglers!
Oh hi mysterious person I don't know, yes, I have sold quite a bit.

Sunday:
From now on, it's probably not a good idea for all the healers to be standing to the side without at least quite a bit of protection.
I'm a bard now yay

Overall weekend:
Thank the gods for small miracles

So singing at the feast is still done I didn't notice serving

I really wanted to thank Ben, James, Steve, Luis, and everyone who was involved with the running of this event. I was already super pumped going into the weekend, and I am pleased to say that I had my socks blown way off, even more than I was anticipating.

I could go on for days with my highlights, but I have to do this quick and I knew if I didn’t post now, I’d never get around to it.

The one that I really have to point out though is Belashand (sorry for the spelling) pulling a Dr. Yueh with his poison tooth. Absolutely, hands down, made my night!

See you all at the Ball!

Ok there's a bunch
First off, just in general FINALLY bringing in my IG sister was a blast. The best part was all the countless times I asked "Where is my sister?", knowing OOG that I brought someone in who wasn't just clinging to me, but really getting off on her own and playing the game.
Other highlights include learning more about Bedouin culture from Nadir (or was it Nadid? My memory for names is always fuzzy), shenanigans in the room going to bed, and using Oil of Slipperiness to make the most low-budget trap ever.
Saturday was just amazing. The Chronclerite Library mod was just full of amazing stuff, from breaking mirrors to prevent phantasms from attacking us (and then confessing my sins as a Brazenite to Father Gideon), to getting hit with an itching powder trap (now Arza knows what it feels like to be hit with that stuff!). Chasing down a mercenary captain and melting a hole through his chest when he threatened his friend, and then interrogating someone immediately afterwards, threatening to do the same thing, was amazing. Business discussions saturday night around the fireplace was enjoyable, as well as having Ogres think I'm a mage and attack me for it, while I jump over a bench to get away from them, then run outside to fight them, ending the killing blow on one of them by saying "I'm not a mage. I'm an Alchemist. LEARN THE DIFFERENCE!" was brilliant.
and, then on sunday, FINALLY TALKING TO PEOPLE ABOUT BECOMING A WITCH HUNTER! AFTER A FREAKIN' YEAR OF PLANNING! Woo boy am I excited for the next event!

So, amazing event. The level of professionalism of the staff was the very first thing that made an impression on me, as well as the level of player assistance in helping staff with new players.

Friday Night: The new player mod went about as well as I thought it would. (No comment) But, seriously its been literally decades since I was on a new player mod, it was the first in a series of culture shocks for me. Hopefully my advice to the different character types was helpful, but I never got to see the result as.... I was captured straight away by Valarians. Ok, you say, it happens... except I am a Cleric of Valos. In the end it worked out and I was able to use the intelligence I gathered to meet the leadership of the Barony so that was a plus.

The later fighting with Valarians was perfect, the level of RP from the NPC troops fit well with the overall theme of the weekend and was especially good given the reaction of the PCs to it. I think it was mentioned before that there seemed to be a split among PC groups about how to deal with the Valarians and it got me into many heated battlefield exchanges. I also think I expended more faith points getting Valarians up then Travancians throughout the weekend.

Saturday: I was on a mission from the time I woke up to get the rest of the 40 extra build spent through finding training. First aid turned out to be the easiest training to find, and I thank Dr. de Montfort for that. My training began with an Empathic Healer, but in the swirl of names I forgot who, so thanks to you too! Father Cooper helped throughout my day trying to get me to people who could teach. Considering how much of a moving target Father Cooper is, he was very helpful and when not running to one situation or the other helped find nearly all the teachers I needed throughout the weekend. In fact looking at the list, he found all of them. So a big thank you to him too!

Inverted Tower: The rite of passage for new players. I had a fun straightforward mod with a ton of roleplaying at the end. I was talking going into the mod about not needing more armor cast upon me, saying that it would take a Holy Strike to fell me,only to have a Holy Strike fell me during the mod. :blink: Recurring theme from Friday night that carried through to this mod, eating Holy Strikes. I think I had a Holy Strike bulls-eye painted on my shield. I was felled no less than four times through the event by them, and had the good fortune to block or parry the other four.

The desecration of the Glommite altar was cool, being in the exact right place and time. Then the wrap up and moving away, RP with the Valarian Templar, after he was rescued, fought with us against the Glommite cultists, then argued with us as we tried to take him to the proper. Theology for the win? Again that split amongst the players showed as some present advocated he be waylay-ed and bound for the trip home. In the end he was allowed to leave, only to be found by Travancians and attacked.

Saturday Night: More Valarians, more roleplaying. I found myself discussing theology with alot of players through the weekend. First with some of the new players from Katan, then with the experienced players. Three conversations in particular stand out as I was conversing with people at random to try to get a feel for the needs of various places in the Barony for clergy.

In one, I talked with a warrior, lady and what looked to be a Buccaneer, about the need for clergy in their opinion. I was told, actually politely, but with much passion, that they had little need for clergy. I did my best to portray my side in the conversation until the lady spoke up and asked if I knew who I was talking to. Of course I didn't, she then introduced the warrior as Orias Wormwood, and thus began a history lesson on his background which put his opinion in context. Being able to talk to anyone regardless of who or what they are is such an asset and any new player should just do it. You learn so much in the process. My theology discussion with Veril was also a highlight in that conversation, not to leave him out. It was the first of two conversations and will not, I fear, be the last.

The second conversation I approached a group all dressed in colors Red and White, so I surmised composed an affiliation of an Estate, which was what I was looking to find. So there I met the Court of Alisandria, posing the same question as the first conversation and getting an even more passionate response. Most specifically advice to me given by the Lord of Alisandria on how to approach my time in the Clergy. Perspectives from the citizens already began to form my own, and its given me alot to think about on how to approach playing this character, so again this conversation was another highlight from my event.

My interview with the Baroness was interesting as the Alisandrian conversation provided me fuel to converse on this same subject and I learned a bit about her as well. I have to repeat if you are a new player, TALK to people. There is no other way to get the experience and feel for the game.

Finally talking with the Drega'mire Court at the suggestion of the Baroness, and learning that there is more to do as a Clergy in their lands than I could ever hope to accomplish in my lifetime. (Only slightly kidding) Lord Tartarous being accepting of my offer of assistance, and then introductions to his Court, and subsequent learning of the issues that need to be addressed. (It got worse and worse as the discussion progressed. The Baroness was right, Drega'mire was the most challenging estate to serve. -- though I still stand by my assertion that the most challenging issue I could face regarding religion would be the Baroness herself. ) It was an honor, really, to be included on what was by all rights a very challenging plotline and one that many more experienced members of their Court were addressing as well.

Arcanite Mod: I had been involved with this from the day and into its resolution at night, first being asked to relay ingredients needed from the Church, then in felling some of the smaller Arcanites, I felt I had to go to the final mod on this to see it through. It was interesting to be relegated to healer for this, given my usual mindset of "hit it til it stops moving". It was one of the first interesting changes to my mindset through the weekend.

Late night Saturday: Being on the last NPC shift of the night was interesting. One of the side effects of it being that those still up had no real reason to hold back their periodic skills. But for all of that, we had fun doing various things. One moment was being sent out as a RP NPC, the "Downtrodden Peasant" and it turning comical. Kudos for whoever convinced my "Wife" to drop my sorry arse and settle in Caledonia. Still I had fun lamenting my woes to the populace, and hearing their troubles and giving then the #firstworldproblems treatment:

PC: "The Weave is so out of order, I just cannot deal!"
Me: "Why are you so obsessed with your hair? I don't have a place to sleep tonight!"

Also interesting to note, I was given more coin and help than I was as my PC, hell this guy could come back and just live off being a pain in the arse at the bar!

Sunday: Way earlier than I would have wanted otherwise I got up and zombie like, went in search of coffee. 2 Cups later I was human, and the main mod happened. This was also important, as only a moment in, my shield was broken. This forced me to take a support role, and later made me begin to think about the way my character needs to operate. While I do not boast the career points for it now, going from Main Tank in other Larps to Support Healer in this one is a huge change in thinking. For those who knew me my thinking "My shield is getting in the way of providing healing" would have floored some of my friends in other larps. I will still fight, but having that other responsibility is a really big consideration now and I think I am beginning to understand the motivations of the healers who would always put my other characters back together in other games.

So, to sum up, Thanks to the Staff for the professional presentation and organized running of the game. There really are few other games that boast such levels of efficiency as what I am seeing here. Thanks to all the PCs that suffered through my conversations. Special thanks to the Clergy that welcomed me in and made me feel as a part of the group. Extra special thanks to the Drega'mire Court for doing the same!

P.S. Almost left out my training in Courage. Father Cooper having another Player grab hold of me, (Strength +12) and then being hexed by a Gypsy to be afraid of Celts, than a Celt (Billiam?) coming over and causing Fear at me. Me: "I am the Master of my own BLADDER!!"

Morwenne wrote: I am pleased to say that I had my socks blown way off

Rafiki says: You're welcome!

I had a blast coming back. I hate missing so much time, and lets face facts I was in better shape when I could come more often.

Highlights:

Writing in a fear trinket immediately figuring I might lose it if I waited too long (low and behold...) and then using it all to great effect when we got jumped by kobolds or gnolls or something.
Not aggressive if I don't provoke them my sweet gypsy butt!

My new best friend in a Kiterian who just decided immediately I was the best.

Orias

Gideon

Morwenne

The trapped chest in the inn.
Man searching chests: "Hey, a bar of silver"
Me: "OOG, there's a bunch of colored strings attached to that card. -switching to IC- Did you just set off a bunch of traps? Tell me you just set off trapped chest right here in the inn"
Moments later, Geoff confirms the numerous Achilles strikes! 3-2-1: laugh on.
Me: "The healer in me feels his pain, but the gypsy in me feels this is hilarious."


Newer townsman: "Oh, you're a Yhatzi. Are you Balthazar?"
Me: "That depends, does he owe you gold, or you owes him gold?"

First, just want to say thank you everyone for an awesome event. It was my first time back in over a year, and I had a blast.

Highlights
"Hobbits are like Arcanites, but with food"

Looking at Orias with a straight face while saying
Ridigan: "You're a good man Orias Wormwo..."
Orias: "No I'm not."

Getting into the black keeps library, and reading a few books while others were researching. Can't believe that actually worked...

The moment two dragoons realized I had a wytchwood pole arm.
Dragoon-"How much do you want for it?"
Ridigan- "It's near priceless to me"
Dragoon- "No, really. How much do you want for it?"
Ridigan - "We'll talk"

SerenityMoonstone wrote: Now I remember why I don't serve feast normally.

But I love you so much for helping! I love all five of you for helping out serve feast!

Jack_Dimms wrote:
This lead to some Gaians having a lot of problems with Jack as he took head after head as his trophies, his favorite head being one of a Steve Oros like undead.

I have no clue what you said that triggered that reaction in me. I was ready to unload all my tag skills on you. I have never called someone to honor combat. and I'm a little disappointed that you chickened out. Also my cousin was waiting for me to name him my second. But I'm glad you enjoyed the moment.

Dr. DeMontfort III wrote: JTinney: If you're talking about the one you had against the tree by the mages guild that was me. I consider myself a scholar of Theology, so religious zealots are kind of easy to portray for me. What I didn't expect was your reaction but the entire scene was incredible. Serious props on that moment, to to mention that the throat slit was perfectly timed. If I could have found an RP Marshal I would have asked them to give you all the points. I also don't think I thanked you for serving our country but Thank you.

As mentioned in my post, THANK YOU!.

I'm glad to have had the scene, even with the deck stacked against me (I know a thing or two about Theology so know what to somewhat expect.. of course I interact with the one who is a scholar of such things... My luck. :lol: ) No worrys about forgetting... this was an epic scene and despite replaying it in my mind a few times, I still don't remember exactly what was said but I know it was very intense... and I am happy to have impressed you as you did me.

Even though you had a stacked deck in the exchange, the offer for a beer stands.

As for the thankyou...thanks.

Well Ekatrina, at the time I really, really wanted a cigarette and that was the only thing on my mind. In any case next time I come I'm taking more heads. It was great roleplay and honestly, I love ticking people off.

This was a great month, great plot, and great feast! Biggest thanks to everybody involved making this event what it was! I can't wait for the next event!

So, highlights...
This is in no particular order!

-Introducing LaReaux to Travance, the first thing she noticed was men in skirts. Made her a bit uncomfortable but she got used to it lol
-brought my (Oog) sister to KR and she LOVED it! Huuuge thanks to everyone for being so kind! I was worried she would have been overwhelmed. But instead of me sticking by her side, she jumped right in and kind of ditched me for the whole event haha
-Jumping behind bar a few times throughout the weekend, and learning the people of Travance REALLY like to drink. Jack, Nalick, Dominic and the NPC healer, thanks for the laughs, that was great hahaha
-The Valerians. Getting sent flying across the room by one restrained, and then waylaying him *eye for and eye* I got waylayed too -_-
-The Baroness telling me she was impressed with my courage, it being LaReaux's first month in Travance and all.
-Happy birthday to Lindsay(IG and OOG) and the girl with the note from the bar! (I'm sorry, I never got your name
-The mod with too many traps, all for some pieces of paper! LaReaux didn't understand why it was important. She was just there to help. Was lots of fun!
-*Oog* where's Akira this month?" "She's visiting her family in Selendrias!" "Didn't that place blow up....?"
-SHENANIGUILD.
-finally getting to relax, and having a heart to heart with Chase.
-Cannot forget, the pre-game little nugget of info I learned that legitimately made me damn near fall over. That was excellent, I can't wait to see this happen IG!
-Sunday NPC shift was badass. Playing a mercenary master berserker was all of the badassery.

Aaaand finally, the biggest of thanks to Justin for helping us out after the game. That was seriously the nicest thing ever.

Is it November 29th yet? 

Ben, thanks for running an awesome weekend.

Every event lately I am blown away more and more at the level of role play that happens and the amount of emotion people put into their characters and actions.

While I have numerous favorite moments from this event: From talking with Keith about Shin Dance Fighting or Seeing Osred again, there is one moment that really stood out above all others:

I was having a conversation with someone about how travance used to be, and around that time (shortly after the weave was rebooted) Skeletons assaulted the inn. And the numerous 20+ people were taxed and given a hard fight by them. I felt it was inspiring and a testament to the changes and as close to foreshadowing you can get about how we are all going to once again have to work together to ensure continued survival.

Travance: We Got This.

-I haven't volunteered NPC so much in a long time, I enjoyed it immensely. Thank you Ben T. (Persistent Dwarves are scary)

-Painfully losing skills gradually through the weekend. It was fun to RP, though a bit grim telling the newer wildmages that their hopeful lessons were never coming. But, Travance offered a glimmer of something new. The lore behind the new list is good.

-Missed out on a few things I wanted to do because waiting for people to get up/a limit being reached kind of sucked a bit.

-Gradually RPing Ilana back to pre-Tortured Soul. At least I'll never have to go back to pre-serum.

-Valerians Dealing with people dealing with Valerians ><

-Being picked as a defense leader (though the plan never happened) Ilana was surprised, but was actually ready to take a lead for a change (Keillor, what have you done! Ilana's not allowed confidence)

-Watching the weave starting to collapse, Ilana believing for a brief moment of despair, before the weave mended itself. The talk with Morwenne afterwards.

-A lot of old faces returned, it was great! (Gorvax+Alander. How did this happen)

-Making a right guess. Mordra= the best. Ilana will make sure her efforts are recorded in this story.

-Galen's cloak trying to murder me (But it's okay, it was so warm and saved me from freezing to death while sleeping, I forgave it)

-Maybe somewhat gleefully assisting in the death of a Witch Queen.

-Heroic Physcian /SCIENCE

NPC shenanigans in logistics: "No one can resist Jack Cyper's mini blade."

Here goes.
1. Getting Croi to tell the epic poem of billliamm non stop was fun.
2. Though Valarians wouldn't surrender a few broken limbs later they had no choice.
3.Punching through a big scary Arcanite
4. All the impromptdu NPCing was totally awesome times
5. Billliamm Marionette," Aye!"
6. Old Family coming back together meeting new family the McKraegars might have a huge reunion soon
7.Personal talks with Tari.
8. Explaining to a curious pc why billliamm "hates" hobbits. OOC: All hobbit players you are awesome thanks for rolling with the punches.
9.Using real life camping skills to help a not so experienced person deal with some nature related mishaps.
10. All the lessons taught along with all the cleaves received.
11. Magic item stuff going very smoothly when I was there, you guys rocked for making it quick and efficient.

That is it for now.

Ok... lets see what I've got...

1.) Ah bureaucracy, nothing beats it when you want to dodge an issue, and I almost managed to completely get away with it too.
2.) Yet again, there were so many times this event I wish I possessed Ming Na's incredible ability to remember the names of every person he met.
3.) I don't think I've ever actually had to explain the significance of having a written record of transactions before... man that was awkward
4.) Yet again I was reminded of just how much I love the scholar list
"your a scholar, how are you so strong"
"I'm strong *because* I'm a scholar, maybe if you spent a little more time hauling books around you'd be this strong too"
5.) Nasty migraine at about 5:30, lie down for a nap and end up sleeping all night
6.) Gypsy mod -- burn it down... gladly
7.) Sunday morning -- finally got caught dodging Master Haroldson, figured he'd have a little more tact then to interrupt a lesson from a knight, must have made him pretty mad

<<7.) Sunday morning -- finally got caught dodging Master Haroldson, figured he'd have a little more tact then to interrupt a lesson from a knight, must have made him pretty mad>>

Although capable of using it, rarely are the words "Haroldson" and "tact" used in the same sentence. I happen to be on a first name basis with the knight in question (when in private) so I had no fear to interrupt. Plus, in case you did not notice, said knight was highly amused at your IG discomfort.

As to my highlights other than calling you on your IG arrogance...

For the first Event in the past 5 years, I only performed one Ceremony/Ritual. SIGH What to do with all my time

Teaching the gamut of skills and stations, from those just arrived to those in Travance significantly longer than me.

Leaving a profession

Beef Wellington - that is all

Feeding a pack of critters yogurt Sunday morning. They wee only hungry, not evil.

Walking from Pendarvin toward the Inn, I hear "Waylay" from someone I passed. ""No effect" as I turn around. "This is not going to end well" was his next sentence.

Putting down a Valerian in Honor combat

Wormwood and I fighting and defeating the Captain of the Valerian Queen's Guard. The look on Alex' face when I gave him some of the loot after.

Some research on various topics of interest to me.

Lots of good RP opportunity, (but nothing compares to that of Sorcery, in my mind) particularly with John T. Real tears he had.

Lets see, where to start....

Friday: Some fun introductions and a wake up call to how weak my character is compared to all the experienced players. I enjoyed going around Travance with all the other new players during a clear night, coupled with all the random attacks we encountered. I was up front with the other two that had swords and shields to be the main forward defense of the group. The goblin in the group wouldn't be quiet and I swear he was attracting all the enemy's attention to us. Later on it was just resting up at the Inn until some Valarians decided to show up. Suffered my first loss as I was literally overwhelmed by the Valarians with my back to a wall. I had to be dragged into the Inn in order to be patched up and healed. Of course after that I tried to stay out of fights until I was fully ready.

Saturday: Got up early to see if there was anything going on. Got breakfast from the Inn and relaxed a bit before me and two other newcomers decided to look around Travance a bit in order to find some treasure or something to beat up. Sadly, we didn't find either. After that I volunteered to help find someone who was kidnapped last night, but we didn't find him. Hung out at the Inn again for a bit before heading out to the Inverted Tower, which I had to wait awhile with two others until the rest of the group came. Beat up some guys in the tower, helped rescue a Valarian Templar who really didn't enjoy being saved by the 'enemy', only to find out later on that a battle was going on in a field and that the same Templar we rescued went into said battle and was taken down. I enjoyed the banquet and the all so wonderful song about butts, and after that just waited around at the Inn hoping to fight some Valarians, yet that didn't happen. Got some rest before my NPC shift at 12:00 AM, which I enjoyed. Surprised the bar tender with a wonderful donation from the Church of Light, attacked the Inn as a zombie alongside a few others, and then later went as a troll commanding some spiders to try and snag some PCs. Overall it was fun, and I loved picking on the one barbarian during the last battle I was participating in, hehe.

Sunday: Slept in a bit after NPC shift. Woke up and went out only to find everyone marching to battle. Joined in that to finally eliminate the Valarian threat and the Black Queen. After that things just slowed down and I was relaxing around the Inn until clean up started.

Overall, I loved this event. Just wished it was warmer, hehe.

Had a blast this weekend playing as my first pc. Enjoyed the new player mod/tour of Travance Friday night running into some shadowy people with nefarious intentions. Meeting my first Doctor Dentist Goblin...still alittle shifty in my opinion. Saturday joining Kanas, said goblin, my ig sister, and I believe it was a satyr, to address goblins raising and killing a farm and it's owners simply because they were hungry. Needless to say, the goblin didn't take to kindly to us defending ourselves against his kin. Watch the doctor "heal" Kanas, if that's what you want to call it, by cutting off his ear and cutting him open to start his heart. Realizing how much work I have to do in training with my weapon after having my butt handed to me not once, but twice by the same sword wielding npc, and walking away with a goblin head. But not just any goblin head, a beautiful goblin head (hope to have a ig prop for it by December's event.)Then came the inverted tower with the tortured templar. Getting him free didn't seem to hard, deciding what to do with him afterwards was. Seeing Augustus(sp?) arguing with Jack about beheading a fallen enemy and dedicating and dishonoring him. Then arresting him for doing so...which Augustus was totally correct in that argument. Saturday night npc for main mod. Extremely excited when I found out we were attacking right at the end of feast and not waiting around for a bit. Attacking the inn later that night as waves and waves of overpowered undead. Sunday morning spent talking with Augustus by the fire in the inn. Purchasing a mithril polearm from Kansas for extremely cheap (thank you so much!). Joining the march to finish the Vilarian(sp?) Sum that was their queen. Realizing how vastly unprepared I was for that fight. Receiving my first broken limb. Talking with many dragoons and learning more about them. All in all, excellent weekend!

This was an amazing event overall, and I need to give credit to all the people who made it possible, and the PCs who gave it their all.
I could go on for a while, but the short and sweet highlights:

Hearing of the destruction of Selendrias Friday night as Zach's ambassador NPC makes a return appearance, and holding onto a bawling Keavy.

Zach Theis's mod Friday night. What do you get when you combine gypsy things, dark druidics, and necromancy, in the middle of a highly corrupted forest?
Teaming up with Wulfgar to attempt to bring some order to our fighting force was great.

Friday night NPC:
Shenanigans and fun times, rolling with the unexpected.
OHMYGODALLTHEAMAZINGRP.
Ann, Cameron, Sam M. I love you all so much.
Went out multiple times as part of the Valarian army--knight templars and escort groups.
Getting into screaming matches with Galen and Ekat, and then getting body blocked into a chair, held down by Marika, and getting into an angry argument that lasted for a good 10-15 minutes.
I was certainly challenged trying to defend the insane troll logic of the Valarians, but that only made it better, heh.

Saturday, an awesome druid mod. I wasn't even expecting to unlock the heroic lists on that mod! Hilarity with Alisia's NPC as great minds apparently think alike.

Vanguard. SPEARS. ALL THE SPEARS!

Drega'discussions.

Philidin turning his skin into a book.

Closing the undead shadowy portal Saturday night. Defend the white sorcerers? Okay! Sticking to Morwenne like glue it is.

Late Saturday night dungeon crawl mod with Caelvan/Keavy/Cypher/Lathiel/Darius/Zafrin. Expected shenanigans ensue. Open pit in front of us? Sure, let's throw all the golems in it. Wait...isn't Lathiel down there fighting off three at once? Well, this could be mildly problematic. Nope, we have Darius
Note to self: never promise Zafrin treasure and then not give her any.

Kitchen conversations late at night. James can get away with anything.

Damsel in distress/unlucky nerd/designated victim Belegchand.

New discovery: Angelica's white fleece robe makes best pillow.

Good old beat-up-the-enemy Sunday mod.

Now for last-minute ball preparations!