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.