Dec 2013 game Highlights

OMG. Oh my Game

This was the single most cool awesome deeply involved personally growing game I have ever had the privilege to play in.

From coming in with the Pegasus just missed and failing to bring him home. To the news brought from the highlands.

The book being revealed.

Herding cats gathering Dragoons.

Dragoons talking to a skull. Finding out what everyone else apparently knew...and volunteering Birgitta's life to make it happen.

Patrolling with the rest of the barony that night. 18 degrees cold warm cold warm. Folks RSD and Reynaurds be damned I CAN be here in the cold in the Inn with a hot shower and play through. Thank you James for bringing us inside the Inn.

I haven't gone cold and recovered like a normal person in 20 years... Anyone with these issues PM and I'll tell you what I changed!

Sleep.

Personal RP was amazing. Trying to up talk the troops. Trying to be hard and soft when needed. The dead list... Knowing so many from so long ago. Pain of losses.

More Dragoon frustrations. Moving NPC time twice because of being needed times...

And NPCing a Demons. More demons. Demons of twisted nature. Singing demons... Thus terrified a certain Hobbit. That was personal horror as funny as it might sound... It was NOT a light encounter. It even got me an IC chin swipe and middle finger. Giggles

Then NPC the low level Demon encounters... Archer with a perfect shot hits me perfectly on the point of my hip as I'm turned sideways and calls out the damage with the last battle in the run. I LOVED that...

Finally that done at two I figure soon to be ritual. Nope. Turned down two runs on demons...need to be available.

Again Dragoon cat Herding. Finally ritual. Detail awesome execution awesome. Judge. Man I need to tape your voice doing what you some day... Just an amazing RP experience. And a shocked Birgitta.

Rituals are cool...coming to that conclusion...

Dozing in front of the fireplace.

Summoning the Pegasus. The entire town incanting. I've seen casts try to sing as a group with music that were not as in sinc as this off the cuff repeating lines just heard!!

As John says...

I am not worthy!

Fire foes fighting fun... Transformation of known places was amazing!! Fighting from location to location...terms of jump. Low and high the organization of forces. I kissed a plant! Hey I've kissed worse...Birgitta hahaha... You don't want to know.

The only downsides were a slip on the ice... Ouch.

And being squished in the solarplex at Loez location. Sorry for the long hold folks. And whomever fell on me who did it. I'm sore but fine!

Which brings an up! Safety security fire EMS you guys... Are amazing.

Full 3 second bow to you. From the grab of my cloak... Man you were fast!!! I grabbed it too...darn thing. To those who did medical hold for the head injury I called out to, my own solarplex accidental crush on the battlefield. I got to hear it all from the other side from John too. If I only had all your names I'd call you out one by one.

Bravo. Thank you!

I find myself consistently amazed every time I go to KR. My joyful times are with you all.

Highlights, highlights, highlights…

Well shit. I’m not sure where to begin with this but since this event is now in the books, I can spill a tiny bit. *grin*

This event’s activities for me and Leslie McCormack started… oh, about an hour before the end of Moresca Ball. A wild hair of an idea was hatched and the die was cast for something cool or deadly; either way, the acts done as a result of the idea were faithful to the character mindsets of both my PC and hers… Sometimes the best RP can happen from a selfless act/faithful adherence to a persona and this can result in some interesting developments.

I knew full well my trip to the highlands for info could go poorly and possibly result in a life-tag. But with no IC info on the highlands (hell, there was no remotely current OOC info either!), someone had to go find out. As a member of the Highlands Blackwatch, I was about the best choice for getting the REAL story from those in charge up there…

Birgitta going was due to personal code and that the one who was supposed to had plot take him from going. She also expected it was possible we’d suffer a life tag loss result if things were that bad. And as more reports came in about how bad it was, it started to look more and more possible a result.


What did happen…. was certainly not expected at all.


Neither of us thought we’d discover what we did… nor how much of a catalyst we were to play on Friday (you see, there was a REASON why we disappeared after lay-on; for those wondering why, you know now.) this trip and what was discovered/learned also meant there needed to be a change of sorts for Duncan… which some noticed and at least one asked about.

After the reveal and the following monkey-wrench by the Time Mage, it was time to mingle as the very upset, sad and angered Celt.

Anyways Other stuffs…

-Friday night catching of Seamus Aeislin to update him on the TRUE state of the Highlands and how un-pretty it was. And giving said same info to the Baroness… along with how much the Black Watch leading the Resistance there believed in her and Travance to win this, despite many of them not expecting to see it happen.
(hey, that weight of the world on your shoulders? Lemme add a few more tons to it… and Jen- please don’t blame me, I was the messenger only…)

-Rescuing travelers in the road and reminding me even more why I asked to join the Guard. I do this anyway, may as well do it as a job…

-the grin on Magnus’ face as he said “Yes” when I asked if I was accepted as part of the Guard and no longer probationary was way cool to see. Seeing the very relived and thankful smile makes it well worth the insanity that being part of the Guard brings. He and the rest of the Guard are over-extended most times and it can be a thankless job. Strangely enough, I look forward to this.

-Wonderful role-play response from Croinamara when informed of the state of her clan, what was left and where they retreated to… going from questioning look to one of sadness mixed with touch of relief and tears is not easy to do. If I had a RP point I’d have given ye one.

-Saturday was more guarding the inn and the occasional role-play opportunity along with observations of how people were responding to events. Fore most among what I saw was two things: Watching/hearing how everything being done and the efforts of many being nearly blown to crap by by some acting, at one point, like a gaggle of five year old's with attention span to match. I know there was events not within my knowledge happening but with what I knew at the time, omg.

The adage of no plot survives contact with players unscathed really came to mind here and I think there would have been some very angry players had this blown up wrong... The fact it didn't is testament to determination, folks getting heads out of 4th points of Contact in time to ensure the tide of Resistance kept rolling on/over Xualla and the team work it took to make it happen. Kudos for this- y'all give me hope for the Fifth Age or whatever its being called now...

… and the second- the “sliding into home” maneuver done by Doc DeMontfort when he saw me go down fighting demons during the day. Dude… that was action hero level dodging to get to me and I’ve seen far worse slides by pro ball players. Your Barbarian Woman is rubbing off on you…

Speaking of aforementioned Barbarian Woman, what happened to her leads me to my next piece of Good Stuff I saw

Main Mod:

I want all of you to know how movie-epic this final series of battles looked from the outside looking in and there are three things in particular I find worthy to note in specific:

1- From the ramping up of morale among the Demons ( the very in-time chanting of “Xu-ah-la! Xu-ah-la! Xu-ah-la!” was awesome) to the coordinated fighting of the Heroes of Travance and the brutal back and forth seen…. It was very much Lord of The Rings in scope of battle. For that, all you on both sides should be proud of yourselves.

2- I want to give some props to the Celts. I implored to Seamus that word needed to be passed among you that the Dragoons (and in particular three specific ones) needed to be protected for the Ritual for beating Xualla to succeed and from what I can tell from the sidelines, you guys responded in spades. Between yourselves and the Mercs (learned about this from another), the level of protection given was stellar- three times I saw charges at the Celt line in order to get at the Trio and every time the charges failed.

Vengeance was had this night and you all performed as Angry Determined Celts should. Give no Ground and make them pay for the murder of Highlanders and Kinsmen… Bravo!!

There was some awesome fighting as a whole all over and with all the potential for epic disaster had something gone wrong, you guys all rock in not only avoiding it but in listening to the safety crews without quibble when told to move plus the near-instant Hold when Medical was needed. Awesome stuff, people… just awesome stuff.

3- Final props and by no means the Least must be given to all the crew on Main Mod Technical and Safety plus my deputized Medical group.

Everyone on Main Technical pitched in on fire safety and everyone’s smart maneuvers to keep people out of fires… giving the shove to those who aren’t paying attention to keep bad things from happening… and I cannot give enough props to everyone who volunteered for this when James put out the call, come up with stuff I didn’t think of during set-up and helping manage/extinguish fires as players moved on.

While it might has seemed simple and easy, flames never ever willingly do what you want them to all the time and killing off a fuel fed fire can be a task. Good job and great work to everyone.

As for the Medical Crew I outed/volun-told they were now my deputies… thank you for being my eyes when I wasn’t around/available and for responding when something happened. Your help is very much appreciated by me and I cannot say thank you enough for stepping up and being willing to help out.

Post mod…
-After-party shenanigans… and the very stoic Blacktree cutting loose after drink a bottle of Satyr wine in like nine gulps. Priceless.

-Happy reunions with both Celt and Non-Celt… and the sharing of some of the few bottles of the Highland’s finest Scotch Whiskey. Fun reactions and lots of rp from this all over...
One of the best exchanges was a wonderful bit of interaction between myself and a partially in-her-cups Baroness Hartwoode. (it is pretty funny in hindsight- at least I think so. )


Unfortunately, when I awoke Sunday morning, I got a message asking me to cover a shift at the EMS Serivce I part-time for. This meant I needed to leave far earlier than I wanted to, therefore some planned RP I wanted to do could not happen…


And its from said work I am posting this. :dry:

Awesome weekend, awesome role play and awesome fights. Can't wait to see what tops this...


(edits to clean up punctuation and spelling, where found)

Nice to be back after what felt like forever. Highlights in no particular order:
*Thrush getting punished for his brand of self-centered Gypsy Justice and Romany Wrath. The punishment was harsh, clever, and ironic, so pretty much perfect. I look forward to coping with this sentence! Props to that certain arbiter.
*Getting to see Sindarian be the Dragon Sword Authority, and all the highs and lows that came with it. Cheers for Sindarian, and everyone who helped him on his campaign.
*Two new and notable faces: Igor and the Goblin Dentist. Particular moments I enjoyed witnessing was Igor's emergency surgery on Dimitri during a high-level demon mod, and the Goblin Dentist's exchanges with fellow eggheads by the Public Lore Table in the tavern. Here's hoping I get another opportunity to converse with you two, hopefully not when the world is in peril. Imminent, Class 9 peril, anyway.
*The Public Lore Table in the tavern. Sure, maybe there are more practical locations to put a study, but seeing people of all different lower lists and affiliations sharing reports and speculations right at the physical heart of the game site adds much needed immersion and sense of community. Great idea that I hope to see used more often. Good job scholars, scouts, reporters, and the marshals who brought it all together and did their best keeping it clean, concise, consistent and entertaining.

-Returning from Xilinthax. Might move there, they're doing great considering.
-Klarington
-Research! Working with Psions (I feel like I should add I *loved* the public research table set up)
-Staying up most of the night. Rebuilding wild mage couch by the fire.
-Shield swap
-Losing Leon right in front of my eyes. But, also immediately realizing he might not quite be dead.
-Of course the only thing wild mages and chaos warriors can do is make everyone want to kill each other (at least we could chase Xualla after )
-Role playing too well leading to minor head injury/headaches
-Invited to join Celt meet. Honored.
-Catching a wild Sorel just in time.
-Glommites
-Speaking to the Pegasus.
-Drinking a dragon spirit vial (because why not?) led to a great conversation, great RP, and a final melting.
-The final field battle, the Pegasus, and Balfurous' (sp) escape. Need to kill an ice demon one day. (Fire!)
P.S. I shouldn't be scared of James, but I legitimately ran for my life from Xualla when he got near me and started calling skills.
-The brief interaction with Luis during the fight
-Sorel's departure. He might get a visit from a certain dragoon and wild mage in his new home.
-Ilana may adore Viktor, but the Thrush will go.
-What happened between a sweet Friday night that led to the crushing Saturday night?
-I guess what just melted was fragile, it was shattered in less than 4 hours. Went to bed early to refreeze and ignore the missing pieces. So needed the sleep anyways.

NPC:
Playing the various characters to interact with the town was fun.

**I also should add the Goblin/Rowan interaction was a blast. They're both terrified of everything around them and Rowan can't figure out if she's more scared of the terrified goblin that's hiding or the very dangerous spiders on the road in front of her (P.S. She decided to run towards the spiders and hope for the best)

last PC move:
-Came back to talk to one person and they were certainly elusive. Ah well.
-Ilana always expected, maybe wished, one would try and stop her. But, she's guessed, they never cared enough to in the end. This time, she just skipped out the door.

Won't be around for the festival, sorry~ Have fun in the new world

Drinking to the dead, and celebrating their lives.

Feeling the weight of the room, and working to help brighten the spirits of my friends.

HATED having to leave the camp for 10 hours. Thankfully I was able to jump right back in when I got back.

Helping people prepare for their various quests and battles. I was especially happy to have all the Heargen clan off doing their own things, but regularly gathering together to check on eachother and confer.

VERY happy to be able to continuously give additional information to those who were gathering the info and making the plans.

... Hearing them say they needed someone who could cast Summon Nature's Herald made me so amazingly ecstatic, as I JUST self taught that at the ball.

Having Lady Blackthorne agree with me that following up on my "bad luck" quest could be vital made me so very happy OOG and so very nervous IG. Caldor had been trying to be helpful, but not be vital himself...

I love Commune with Nature. Its so awesome, even when you only get little things or no real answer at all.

Getting attacked by cards sucks... especially when Wife takes to long to get her armor on... An Ace of Spades to the brain, while apparently a really good way to travel long distances is not recommended.

The "Fates" and "Corpse Tree" mod was amazing. Excellent RP by everyone involved. I know a lot of people rate an event as excellent if they cry... but for me its based on how deeply I have to delve into my characters emotions and being to find his answers and make his choices. The fates really pushed me and delved such a wonderful scene. I'm sad more people didn't get to see the things they were doing with the threads, scissors and knots. I was trying SO hard to pay attention to everything they said without accidentally messing up anyone else's thread.

Hearing the fates mention Valentine opened up some extra hope for Caldor. Hearing them ask about Keavy's wedding even more so. I loved trying to have Caldor figure out what they were trying to say to him. My favorite moment was getting yelled at for being vague, because that was "their job"


The aftermath of the mod was excellent. Getting to swing for ice rules. Getting to talk to the Baroness and Lady Blackthorne and other high ranking people and give them my theories and opinions on what needs to be done was even better. I was stunned, and thrilled that people took "Its important we plan for tomorrow and the future" to heart and followed up on it.

Lunch and Dinner were both amazing. I have to say I really liked the soup in a bread bowl idea and the method of service a lot.

Planning a wedding is not something I ever expected to do with Caldor, but he's on it. Venue and date determined, missive to the officiant being worked on, decorations arranged, guest list approved, requested bridal item arranged. Yep. going well.

Main Mod... HOLY AWESOMESAUCE. Beyond the fire, the RP and the awesomeness of it from an IG perspective, I loved so much of the OOG nature of this battle. I loved the chaos portal moving from location to location. I loved that there were weapons for use on the main boss that could only be weilded by low levels. I loved that there was a BETTER weapon that could be used on the main boss by all people. I loved that there was a boss that only the high levels had a chance against. I loved the portable focus. I loved the fire. I loved the way the town pulled together. Great main mod.

Also, tip of the hat to Chase for making my mod even better. Having a nature's herald and working with it to protect and heal everyone was SO much fun. There was RP during the battles with and because of him, and I was able to accomplish so much more than I could have without summoning him. I was so happy that so many people thanked the herald, bowed to the herald or otherwise treated him with respect and like an ally. Best of it was watching someone get healed by and then Kiss the nature's herald was great.

Kaledonea Cuddle Puddle.. AWWWW YEAAAH.

I crashed early on Saturday night because everything just took so much out of me.

Sunday morning I got up early, and immediately communed with nature again to ask about Angeliana While it was a simple, non-descript answer, it brought much hope to people, and I was excited by how much RP derived from it.

Brunch with the Baroness was amazing.

BEST SHIELD LESSON EVER.

Caldor got asked by some more people to help find suitors. This is getting harder.

Oh, and once again Caldor got to teach one of his druidic mentors a low level Druidic spell. I love doing that.

Gah, I'm sure there is so much more I'm forgetting, but I will add later if I remember.

I thoroughly enjoyed this event! The story was a nice conclusion to the year, all the NPC's really helped to sell the "end of the world" vibe, and it was nice to see the cold not putting a damper on the festivities. Awesome event, James!

In no particular order:

-The scholar/library set up was very impressive. Hopefully the library remains as openly available in the future!
-NPCing main mod and had a blast watching the players have fun. Getting to play a dwarf for 30 seconds was probably the most enjoyable half minute I've had in a while. I might consider that for an alt...
-The pyrotechnics and special effects at main mod is starting to get awesome. Between the demon gazebo and the fire pits of Xualla, we are getting spoiled with light on main mod recently! Keep it up!
- Meeting that new hunchback "Igor with an eye" was awesome. His views on linguistic courtesy are very intriguing.
-I keep missing that goblin dentist that everybody is talking about. Starting to feel like Captain Kangaroo to his Town Clown...