while my attendance is less than regular, and my posting here rarer still, i must give credit where it is due. the standout performances, as i experienced them:
doug pasko???: or whomever played the archdevil. the credit here truly goes to the designer of this role, as the devil never actually saw combat, preserving his air of invincibility. execution and effects were the name of the game here, not statistics. well played.
Joshua as Rione: if germaine had a daughter, rione would be that "fine military lad" he'd be pressuring her to date. seamless and crisp, joshua's portrayal of rione is the perfect example of a person playing to their strong suit to make a character feel exceptionally real. a true hero, or perhaps a bitter old general, in the making.
jake as elizar: a big thank you to jake levine for making a pretend battle plan feel risky, real, and calculable. while each of us knew damn well out of character that we could not predict the quantity or statistics of main mod npcs, jake's delivery of casualty expectations made anything less than full immersion impossible. his face expressed a hundred secret equations of risk before solemnly offering "i will need 8. expect 5 to return."
aaron as corporal culpepper: at two separate points, aaron convinced me that he had indeed been a military man for his entire adult life. first, when he greeted germaine with the respect he knew a knight would demand, but the brevity he understood the situation required. secondly, at the siege battle with a call to arms that convinced me he ate, drank, and breathed first and foremost for the glory of the king. as an aside, it was fun and refreshing to experience genuine friendly fire. coming across friendly soldiers you do not recognize on a chaotic field was a rare and nearly-disastrous treat.
last, but certainly not least, lauren as amalthea: goose's feasts always have their highlights(you're amazing), but they rarely come by way of Enaxian dogma. lauren delivered a true standout moment when she coupled a look of dread and embarrassment with a quick retreat behind her hat, perhaps sensing a confrontation between germaine and a then-preaching utgard. convincing emotional response is what makes these things worth doing! that said, it is no surprise that amalthea's response to war was similarly enjoyable for me. while it was andy (and an embarrassingly clean blow to my chest) that reduced germaine to a heap, it was the pounce and squeal of a then-unidentified healer that made me truly feel like a gory mess. i remember laying on the cold ground and thinking to myself "whomever is frantically prodding my vital areas is convinced i am a real dead man". and in doing so, made the experience that much more real for me. highlight of the battle, to be sure.
thanks for a good time,
Alex
now, it is a time honored tradition that my posts be edited for content. to that end, i offer this profanity:
FUCKFUCKUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK
OOG: Alex B.
