Week In The Life 2015 Highlights!

Well.... As much as I loved every single moment I had this week, it was all so bittersweet for me. Matt, forever let your first event running be known as the death of Jack Dimms.

Wednesday: Wednesday was kinda a blur for me. I know I had a lot of great rp moments with everyone, but honestly with the what happened on the weekend, complete and total blur. I remember more of hanging out before the event on tuesday night with everyone.

Thursday: Such awesome stuff happened on Thursday. Readings with Remi (That kinda came true) The fight in the ring of fire, drinking, hanging out, all the things, just amazing. Talks of magic with Ib and friends was awesome as well! Jack died not hating magic!

Friday: This night was so hard for me, cause I saw the group of NPC's OOG before taking Jack's last steps. As a rp focused guy, I took a deep breath and took Jack's final walk. Lemme just say, Bridget Gibson, if anyone brought gravity and weight to the Jack's death it was you. The emotion over him dying was amazing and throughout the rest of saturday it made all the more weight as you were given the will and read it.

Saturday: The huge thank you's I want to give out here is to Matt and Kate Defranza, Gus, Pendarvin, everyone who was there for Jack's final battle. It was great for you guys to throw this part in last minute and give Jack the warriors ending he deserved. I have almost never cried so hard in my life, not only out of sadness, but out of pure joy. A two year journey, culminating in knighting after death and being allowed into the great hall.

Sunday: Not too much excitement. I got up, I hung out, cleaned up, went home. Tired Dane is Tired.

Thank you to both Matts for this event, you guys are awesome storytellers and keep up the good work. Thank you for everyone who has made Jack's journey from fool to hero the grandest tale of redemption in Travance history (in my own biased opinion) Thank you all. Jack is a huge part of me, and seeing his end brings me to tears every time I think about it, but the memories with him give me the courage to be the man I need to be, thank you.

After thought notes: Chris Mckenzie is a brillant comedic rper. I haven't laughed so hard in a while and looking back, your performance is helping me through the sadness. Theme song for this week was //https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9HsVScOYWo

Well, how is anyone supposed to follow that?

Wednesday: Met Carlotta, talked to Verrill, accidentally had Satyr's Wine (I asked Verrill for a drink, hoping for ale. Oops.) While hallucinating, I met the lying kobold and his pet viper, who Nalick murdered by putting his hand through his skull, and then encountered a talking iguana that wanted me to get him some satyr's wine, even though it was illegal for him. Found out later he was actually a wild mage, not an iguana. I also looked at a painting of a ship, but, hallucinating, saw a horse. I remarked, "What a beautiful horse," and the nearby exemplar unicorn Carlotta said "Thank you." I also had two tarot readings which were uncomfortably accurate (and with the first one, in AND out of game.) That evening, I "bought" (read: offered money for, received, and then the insane merchant forgot to take my money - Nice Ben H!) . I also made a friend. A very important friend to dragoon plot. By which I mean Utgard.

Thursday: The day started with learning about Visagalis and teaching coin games.

Then I NPC'd as a former inmate at Stonefall, whose number started with 4. I tried to play him as still frenzied, but trying his damnedest to be better. I think I did okay at that? I scared the bajesus out of Thalia, so I guess I did decent. Then I watched a chess game angrily, got waylayed, woke up made of stone, and then had grapes and apple juice until I was sane, and then Billiam gave me a job and my shift was over. Yay!

When I got back to the inn, Utgard was there, and he taught me about Enax and we ate pineapple. Yeah. It was cool. "Eating pineapples with plot" is my new pastime. Then I went to Pendarvin (can't remember why) and talked to Sir Dr. Maxwell for a little while before meeting and having a hamburger with (the late) Jack Dimms. Then I went to the inn again, and hung out with Thalia, Creepy, and Trent, and we were later joined by Carlotta and Stennard. I admittedly went OOG because I saw that Stennard's player (whose name I didn't catch and I feel bad about it) handmade his physrep, which was a really legit looking bardiche, and I wanted pointers, since I intend to home-make my physrep too, so I can stop using loaners from Logistics.

Then the exorcism happened. It was a blur of fear and confusion and love and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Though I was jealous that Telligrim didn't say he was proud of me. That may have contributed to my insistence at going to the Cairn thereafter, with Arden, Daniel, Stennard, and Arkelian. It was actually a really pleasant walk. But the roleplay once we got there was so much fun, as was finding out that I was bronze. Yes, bronze. I need a wardrobe change.

The song circle was ridiculous amounts of fun. Wow. Just wow. I loved every second. And all forty eight verses of moose. Then came the theological discussion, which was disappointingly cut short, but somewhat salvaged by Colin Flamel, Utgard, and Almat, who instead made it Q&A with a Visagalian rather than a Galmachian, which was interesting until I desperately needed to go to bed. But I didn't go to bed. Instead, I had a bad idea, and went to the Bloody Stump, wherein I had a Bad Idea. Yeck. Followed by a Bomb Collins. Ouch. I also had a really good hot dog with some really good hot sauce on it. Then I went to bed.

Friday: The shortest day, and sadly my last day in Travance for the moon. It was pleasant, relaxing. After happening to meet Karkat and Terezi in the inn, and not being injured or maimed or having my soul destroyed or what have you, I spent almost all of it in Kaladonia. It was nice. Had the most flavorful shot of espresso I have ever had in my out of game life. Unfortunately, around 2:30, I had to leave. What really sucked was seeing Eddie coming up as I was already finally out of game, and I had been really excited to tell the first dragoon I met that I was also a metallic. But alas.




I might not be back until September, because new job with a 90 day hold on taking off, but I want you all to know that I love you and you're great and Chenjing loves you and you're great and if we don't see you before then, we'll see you then.

First off, it was great seeing everyone I hadn't seen in years. Thank you to everyone that made me feel welcome, and helped me walk right back into the game after a 7 year hiatus.

Highlights:
- Being the leader of THE RED BADGERS! ...no, guys, it's just me.
- I was gifted a gambling hall after a 10 minute conversation. Still don't really know how that happened.
- The entire fighting pit. Everything from start to finish was fantastic.
- Going from "I don't even know you" to "You are now head diplomat" in under 10 minutes. I have witnesses, and it was fantastic.
- Being raised as an undead, learning we could talk, and threatening the few remaining townsfolk with all the terrible things I would do once Croi's song failed.
- Drunken RP at 3 am on Friday night. Well done, all.
- Being threatened, repeatedly, by Rowan to ensure there was no "fricky fracky."
- Being able to smooth talk my way anywhere the whole event. "Ah, yes... but what about Croi?"
- Mooning random PC's as an Orc, luring them into traps. Apparently all you need to do to enrage Travance is pull your pants down.
- INDIGUILD! IT'S TIME TO IN-DI-GOOOO!
- The entire Song meeting after main mod. Sure, it took two hours, and all the lecturing in the Inn afterwards, but it was totally worth it.
- Meeting my soulmate: a white moth that loved to fly around in circles in my shirt.
- Both Song circles, everything about them.
- Solving a year and a half old problem in under 15 minutes. Aleister, you owe me.
- Singing at the feast. My voice might have been completely shot, but I loved it all the same.
- Lake-side RP.
- Being baptized during the feast. Thanks, Father, I think this one will stick.

Lowlights:
- Missing a few walks. Guessing conservatively? About 18.
- I heard Amblor was around town...

So completely tired....

So- I actually stayed overnight at an event for the first time in about 2 years! Yay! Did not get completely eaten by bugs yay! (Did get some bites but only about 5-6 to my surprise and delight) Literally walked allll of the places and helped most if not all of the people! Yay! Got sunburned my very first few hours there! ..... >.>

So, seriously, I really did have an awesome time this event. It started with Adam and I (and Fairy Tail!) swimming across the lake! And then taking ice cold showers! And then... napping lol. Getting sleep was very nice though- its always a worry for me as I used to never be able to.

-Meeting everyone (sometimes again!)
-Teaming up with Lathiel and literally just going everywhere and doing all of the things
-Going to the fire giant fight and being assigned to a specific task!
-Getting a guard!
-Having that guard be pretty kick ass!
-Not dying!
-Battlecasting. Just. That.
-Getting a ring!
-Being invited to Pendarvin. Actually feeling bad saying no...
-Being pretty happy I could help everyone that asked anyways.
-Making a goal to somehow get a rune made with limited knowledge of how to do so- achieving this goal within a night. I need to keep this up! Thank you allll for all of the help whether it be sharing knowledge or selling essences or making the rune!
-Saving goblins!
-Insulting a goblin to get it to come out of a tree. Being fully aware I was going to be attacked when he did so and then taking him to the jail.
-Honorary guard member?
-Being part of the group of robbers that managed to find every noble ever... and trying to figure out on the fly what in the world to do about it.
-Meeting the other group of robbers in very humorous circumstances!
-Darts in the dark!
-Planning on going home early on Sunday and cleaning up accordingly.... to be asked on the spider mod. Which was pretty awesome.
-Being told that *I* am awesome
-Battlecasting healing is awesome.
-Trying to be a mediator between Magnus and Rudolf. Being kinda shocked someone can mess with souls. Then just wanting awkwardness to go away.
-It went away!

So, I loved that in one event (before which I was told to "stop being antisocial IG") I feel like I met everyone. There are sooo many more memories that I cant even remember at this point. But I will maybe be at the June event soooo hopefully I will just make more :)

OH! FEAST! Was just amazing <3

Week began with doing an extra shift as an NPC, I already forgot what I did that first shift.

Then begin being a hobbit cooking breakfast and dinner, doing some smith things when not busy cleaning up after said cookings. Happy that the barracks enjoyed the food.

Third master warrior lesson which ended with 4 Teen level PC's vs Grim and Oren. It was a beat down, I did things right and wrong. Noticed my mistakes trying to get the group to do things but worked out ok.

Trying to sell cobbler, not as easy as I thought it would of been. Couldn't even attract a hobbit lol.

Shower to feel clean again then back to NPC land.

Goblins meet gargoyle and being nimble for a big guy dodging a lightning bolt.

Surtur mod getting the jump on people and all the chaos alteration attempts.

Then assisting in the kitchen til the late hours of the night.

Passing out after being completely oog spent.

Sunday lessons of repel with Oren and getting that last knowledge lesson in with Burk.

Walking in to see Magnus and the Senshal (How is it spelled Josh Dykeman?) and promptly turning around to get out of the heat box that was the Inn.

Post game dinner with Will, Alex and Josh.

Forgot the rub down of one Jeff Balla trying to get him ungreen as fast as possible.

Also, Improv bards Friday night.

and drenching any shirt I wore.

Reckoning for a bagillionty damage.... hmmm.... I see.... determination.

Evernight, aka "Castle Oblivion: the mod"

Bad Decisions with extra rusty nails

The Red Badgers!!

Kalabacon with extra Bacon

The Stonebar brothers Stone Bar .... I don't know the rest

Nice Cypher is the creepiest guy in the proper

Storytime with Book

Greetings from Evernight, also known as giving the bird to Tellegrim

Pulling a Typhon. Focus walks hurt. On the plus side the scars looked cool

Losing a brother, but gaining a sister. Welcome to the family Eva, just don't do magicks to Dad.

Finding out weird stuff about my position in the clan.

Did not expect the haemonculi, and the alchemist who controlled them and the Black Knight.

Drunk Clytie has feelings, she just doesn't want to admit it.

Overall A++ event. Matt Magnus' plot was awesome. I am excited for more

A big thanks to Jeremy S., Bill F., and Damian V. for helping me be able to get the blackbird running for the weekend.
Also, Thank you everyone who came to the Black Bird. There's always a great time to be had there. And it was nice and cool, too.

Thank you Matt for a great event. I really enjoyed Main Mod.

I was happy to see everyone again...It's been a couple months.
Evernight was a fun Mod. It was pretty much just a treasure hunt with Demitri and Sébastien without the treasure..'Shadow' Arden and Daniel were acted out very well.
I got covered in spider and wild mage guts.

Drunk as a skunk Saturday morning from 10 am to 2 pm because AAA doesn't exist yet. I went into a couple battles like that.
Walked in on Pendarvin Mod. got invited to go along...Okay!

Storming the field north of the inn as a goblin with my goblin buddies in the last raid against Travance. I hope everyone had fun murdering green-me again and again. :)

Amazing singer at feast. Didn't catch a lick of what you sang...But the way you sang it was awesome! I grand applause for you, dark fairy mistress!
Main Mod Fighting and Black Bird antics afterward.

John's ichor monster Mod on Sunday was very fun. Thanks, John!

~ Miss Demeanor left in charge of unconscious folk... buwahahahaha
~ Getting a task, getting it done the comment after: "Finally, someone competent!" (fun during that task )
~ "Helloooooo Sweetheart! Mind if I have your leftovers?" Gin Yuki: "I want the weapons and armor, she can have the rest." "EXCELLENT HE GAVE ME PERMISSION!"
~ Responding to the question: "What do you do?" with "I'm an artist"
~ Poker lesson for a gambler who was about to cheat. See if they wanna play too? /shuffle deck.
~ Disturbing Chuck's PC as he held Demeanor's intestines to her during a lesson:

"Oh how interesting, so that's what that feels like."
"You are NOT supposed to enjoy this. What the f. is wrong with you"
"Do you want the short list or the long?"

~ Papa Gypsy. You are glorious. Leo, you're pretty fun too.
~ Mister Tartar and Misses Tartar at the bar. Jun and Swyft along for the fun. Sorry for disgusting you Renee <3 Did I get pseudo landed? I think I did. Your colors matched her hair, and the colors of her blood and her soul.

~ Omg that intimidate lesson with Korr "I changed me mind I'm sorry I'm sorry EEEEEEE" A+
~ Tower shenanigans, see why Demeanor hangs back? /waylay "whew, it was giving me a headache"
~ Tipping my healer who scraped my ass off the floor, then torturing a demon, then flaying it and wearing his face as a pauldron.
~ Sharing MVP with Pox, turning to the folks who stood beside Demeanor "Oh ok good, so I know who not to kill"

~ FEAST WAS DELICIOUS!!! Also, the fairy who sang, holy shit nice pipes seriously. Thanks for sharing your talent.
~ Berzerking Atrus, we probably should have just stayed out of his way... or let Aleister deal with him.
~ Confronting Magnus. Top notch RP. Like shit, went from shaking with anger to tears and breaking down.

~ Watching John take a beating and watching the reactions to the black goo we covered him with.

Setup with the gang is always fun. I got a great compliment about Grimkjell's roleplay and how he faces things ethically from Diane.

The low-key week long barbecue of the extended portion.

An unexpected lesson from Dr. Maxwell.

Roleplaying with Amalthea, Sir Danny, and Annora by the pond. All at various times.

Me realizing how much people trust Grim after some talks with Gideon about going into evernight.

The seneschal bustin up the theological discussion like a boss.

Lots of laughs with the guard.

The entirety of the date with Shade, and the many spies and snarkers that we had show up. Also, the food. Oh god. Laaaamb.

A long talk with Croi, and grim showing some actual emotions, while stepping away from others, or just generally holding back.

Later on finding out the origin of the word Grimpotence from Anhil.

Teaching several members of the town Ronin lessons. Apparently Grim is something of the go-to guy if you want to be the philosophical swordsman type.

Anhil was just particularly hilarious, and also very wise and merciful this game. Grim gained a great deal of respect for Sir Shadesar, and is glad to be his teacher in some aspects.

Hanging out with the extended Heargen Clan, all of whom made appearances at various points. Xod was a special favorite of mine, and I was glad to see he got some combat time that he was craving.

Grim was welcome in all the lands, it seemed, though he spent no time in Ostcliff due to time limitations, though I was through there as an NPC a couple of times.

Realizing I have no self control as I ate two cheeseburgers at about midnight on Thursday.

The mission to evernight was spectacular, from the boat simulation to the environmental effects to Shadow Danny and Ardin. The ending was incredibly emotional, though grim's usual stilted emotions had him just sort of vaguely hugging both Amalthea and Croi as they cried in each other's arms, unable to say what he wanted to, outside of a fight.

Hearing assassins GOT Jack Dimms, and reacting to it by hunting the assassins with Korr and his Orcs.

Arranging for a proper honor combat between Goard and Korr, and Korr winning an ally for the town like a boss. Korr and Pox were freakin on point.

Pendarvin plot is quite possibly one of my favorite ongoing plots at KR. Super kudos to Matt Defranza, all the marshals and NPCs. I loved throwing barbarians into lava as Grim, if only because using my crowd control tags to actually kill NPcs is deeply satisfying.

Weg the ogre, candy, and the peace delegation is one of my favorite things in Ever. Matt was cracking up as he ST'ed it, and Xod was top notch, so was Billiam and everyone else.

Rowan and the mages guild during the Weg procession to the beach.

Alisandria's reaction to weg. Edmund Patterson giving me the sleepytime marshmallow. Rowan EATING the sleepytime marshmallow.

Grim being made one of two acting warlords for the battle. A long talk with Owen piper, and an unexpected compliment.

Feast was superb, ree I'm still drooling.

The battle itself was amazing, Matt took into account our preparations and tactics and adjusted the NPCs accordingly for all the traps we threw their way before they even showed up. It was a great fight, and Revik went down like an honorable boss.

Sunday NPC shift was fun as heck, I finally found a card game I can play successfully when they send me out as a Gambler. (war) Also I got to be a big old troll and menace people until they ran away. Until Gideon and Winks happened to me.

I had a lot of generalized brotimes with the guard. Overall, this was just a haze of good feelings.

I made some great deductions as Grim after main mod, and they were confirmed by Magnus once they talked. Magnus and Croi's speculation that grim could be one of the 15 songs surprised him, as Grim considers himself unimportant.

An angry lecture from Brogan turns into a talk about being a soldier instead of a hero. To grim, Heros die. And soldiers live, and wonder why. (Points if you get the paraphrase)

Every interaction with Chris Zipeto, especially all the firstlaw paraphrasing and jokes. Sergei's long explanation that Grimkjell is in fact a Quinarian sorceried into being a barbarian, then all the Quinarians from Lords Silverbow and Weaveforger agreeing to it and explaining it was in fact a tremendous compliment.

People finally realizing Grim wears his helmet just so he can throw it to the side at a dramatic moment halfway through the battle cause it looks cooler that way :)

Making a reference to a bridge too far during main mod during Revik smack talk time.


Clean up.

Maveith coming through with a really critical bit of a data during the afternoon of saturday.

Other stuff I forgotted,.

Oh, and learning some very special skills from Goard after the battle.

I'd like to both congratulate Matt M. for a great first event and thank him for tapping me to be a plot NPC. Going in, I was excited if a little nervous, and didn't realize how much fun I would have. Everyone I role-played with as Gleck or "Edward" was fantastic, especially Xod's encouraging words, his spellsong (Fanfare of Bravery), and his in-depth chess lesson.

Keavy giving orders when I joined her and the newcomers
Everyone who stopped Gleck from trying to eat the fake grapes at the Scholar's Table and Caldor bringing over real ones
Thalia, Heather, and everyone who made sure Gleck knew he was in good hands and generally trying to comfort him.
Newcomers who owned a tailoring business and offered to make Gleck a new shirt after getting his measurements.
Running for my life with Galen and Feodor when General Ravik himself stormed the Inn
Tsoli's brilliant plan when we got back, the ritual scene, and running back to Logistics to make that a reality. This included, I think, four people in Logistics who dropped what they were doing to get me cleaned up. You guys rock!
Feodor coming up with Gleck's new identity as a cobbler named Edward from Kormyre
"Making" Edmund Patterson a pair of shoes (that were actually the shoes he had been wearing). Talk about giving someone the shirt off your back.
Trisana handing out pineapple to everyone, eating it like a savage, and Peonies(?) scolding me for my snacking etiquette and for trying to eat the rind. After getting dragged to the kitchen, I used Flee to run off. Antone, you were a good sport.
Sir Hurgar and Billiam hooking Edward up with a job at Billiam's "Blood and Beer" bar.

FRIDAY NIGHT. WHOA.Seriously, what in the world? The Evernight crew returns, dead bodies on the Inn tables. Goblins explode in the bar room. An enraged Caldor chases down Radu and defends his wife's honor. Croi is sitting at the head table bawling her eyes out. All that drama, perfectly role-played, and I'm sitting in the corner, taking it all in as an NPC who didn't know any of you.


PC Highlights:
INNUENDO. Everywhere I turned, but it was mostly my fault. It started right after getting in-game and bumping into Croi in the Inn.

Song circle!
Hearing and joining in during songs and then getting up to sing myself. Trent and I sang The Parting Glass as tribute to Tobar.
Rowan's "We're All Mad Here" song. Wonderful.

I forget which day, but Rowan teaching me Nocturne of Undisturbed Dreams and our conversation afterward, where I let her in on Nalick's plans for late this year. Ahem.

There were "Andorrans" at the Inn pushing Satyr's Wine on the resting heroes, but I think the real Andorran mod was sent out a little later. After the battle with General Ravik, Ostcliff decided to head to the Bloody Stump to get sloppy drunk. When we arrived, though, there was a whole lot of sloppy and not much of the latter. We started cleaning up. At one point, Orion showed up and wanted something to drink, except all the glasses were in varying stages of unclean, so I grabbed one off the bar and took it to the spigot in the field. On my way back to the statehouse, I hear Rane chatting with Aryia in her tent next door. A couple minutes later, a woman collapses in front of the tent and I run over to see if she's okay. Before I can assess anything, though, I see a figure out of the corner of my eye coming toward me, so I start running and call for help. I got hit with a Waylay and after realizing I didn't have any defenses, fell down and counted to almost 9 and a half minutes before anyone came over to check on me. Lidius was the first, and I scared him, thinking I was dead. Sorry, man!

Nalick heads into the Stump, fills the glass with a drink, and plops it down on the table in front of Orion.

Orion: "Wait... did you go out before to clean a glass to get me a drink?"
Nalick: "Yep."
Orion chuckles.

Then I grabbed my satchel and shield and head for the door, but Orion stops me and grants me a Displacement. I get to the Inn and I'm almost immediately pulled into bard plot by Dimetri. Obviously it was fate.

The Pit Fight between Billiam and Lord Tartaros in an actual ring of fire. You guys put on a hell of a show, but wow, I felt like an empath watching that.

Scaring the bejeezus out of Kanas, Jack Thorn, and a half-dozen other people. I was on the path between Pendarvin and the Monastery, carrying my shield. Kanas asks where my weapon is and before I can tell him that I have a sword in my "caravan," he offers me his axe.

Jack says, "Wait, Nalick, don't! He's trying to corrupt you!"

I take the axe anyway and look it over, grinning wider and wider and adopt a creepy sounding voice. Deciding it's not funny anymore, Kanas grabs the axe and tries to take it away. "Don't worry about it, Kanas. It'll all be over soon."

He pulls on the axe and I jokingly call Expert Disarm. Suddenly everyone thinks I'm both a Master Warrior AND evil, and I turn around, muttering more things. Banging the axe against my shield, I walk slowly toward the Monastery and I can hear them freaking out. Eventually, I turned around and headed back. A larger crowd had gathered. I smiled and tossed Kanas the axe, thanking him for letting me borrow it. Facepalms galore, people telling me they were about to sever my mind control, high-fives, and a couple "gimme a hug, you son of a bitch!"

It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Hanging out with Matt Magnus and some of the plot crew on Saturday afternoon. Good group of folks.

Coming back in-game late Saturday and Dr. Squire DeMontfort lecturing Nalick on being a politician in Travance. Ergh. Thank Andorra we had that discussion in a bar. Seriously though, I enjoyed the scene.

Getting wasted Thursday night with Wylla, stargazing, having silly chats, and goading Baneon/Beardy to doing shots with us at the Dragon's Claw. Unfortunately, he passed out behind the bar. Clumsily we carried him to Kaladonia and propped him up on a stump by the fire pit. The next day, he told me he somehow arrived in his bed.

Baaaaaad sheep puns with Brother Aldric at Zelretch's expense.
Breakfast at the Barracks. That was delicious.
Treasure hunting with Wylla and Oren, complete with a surprise cameo by the incredibly sneaky Imrahil!

The reading of Sir Jack Dimms' will. "Sorry, Haroldson, you're never getting your sword back."
Getting up on the table after the will was read and reading Jack's poem in the Chronicle. Rest in peace, Jack.

The fae who sang at Feast. Astounding. I love when the whole room goes quiet and people even stop eating to listen to a song.

Magnus and Sir Rudolf's shouting match in the Inn on Sunday afternoon.
Interactions with Rudolf all throughout the week. They were hilarious and seemed to go smoothly.

Making one of my first orders as acting head of Ostcliff and, when asked by Rose whether there was anything I needed of her, I ordered her to relax.

On Sunday, John H. walking toward the Inn after being a mod boss covered in what looked like tar, holding a bottle of dish soap and stopping to crack jokes. Funny stuff.

Utgard and Amalthea/Aaron and Lauren. Wow. I have so much to learn from you both. You two were something else. Keep up the great work!

I had an amazing week, but guys, check your calendar. We're two weeks from the next one. I am psyched.

Good times with good people right at arrival!

Squire buddy time with Anorra! Interesting chats with the Lord and Lady.

(Swyft jumps up to admire Peonaise's rainbow scarf.)
Aleister; You chose that.
Angelica: Well, you chose THAT.
(Anorra waves.)

Ben's RIDICULOUS salesman, omg.

Drega'party in the Bloody Stump, complete with inappropriate comments and cake!

Wonderful RP with Croinimara and Amalthea for most of the week. Oh my gosh, you guys are fabulous. I was blown away when you asked me if I would try and wield Maelstrom!

When I saw Amalthea lose her mind at Arkelian when she thought he asked Thalia to sacrifice herself to save Jack Dimms... Wow, girl. Though you be little, you be fierce!

Root beer floats with Ilana!

Bob is the best!

Carlotta's amazing card reading and advice...

Mary's demon possessed woman... ASTOUNDING roleplay!

A horrific encounter with Sylas Crone in Jed's shack... Throwing that SHADE, gurl.

“Karkat is right behind you.” Implant suggestion, paranoia, intensify.... Really? So mean, lol.

Ring of fire fight... geez, boys. What a show!

The engagement of Kit and Billiam! How lovely!

I can't believe that A'zeem (Oh I can't remember the full name, but the Galamachian high priest who came for a visit, again) got escorted out of the proper for not having a writ. And the storm that followed. Oh boy! Larry, you're awesome.

Ludwig, you were so hilarious. Anytime you spoke I couldn't help but laugh. I can't believe you found catnip... LOL! Please tell me that character will be around a while!

Alissandria talks usually devolving into something hilariously inappropriate.

Being parasol buddies with Terezi.

I got to witness Karkat perform an act of kindness! THERE IS HOPE!

Lady chat in Pendarvin!

Papa Gypsy's acceptance of Swyft's apology.

Horrendous conversation with Miss Demeanor in the Blackbird. Sorry but I had to leave because I started to feel my morals slipping away...

Serious chats with Artorious and Magnus about Glomm coming to town and whether or not I could do anything to save Jed. You guys were AMAZING. I will remember that conversation forever. Fate took Swyft Evernight instead, though, and even that is probably safer than giving Glomm a hug.

An interesting change in Jack Sypher...

A heartfelt goodbye to Jed, who planned on going with his god Friday night and had no interest in being saved from it. Ugh. FEELS. So many of them.

Evernight, oh my goodness... What a mod. I didn't even suspect that I might have to fight a duel for Maelstrom... Against a black dragoon! What a nerve wracking experience that was. But it worked out in the end, and how exciting it is to be a weilder! Thank-you for bringing me!

Atrus's ongoing recovery from the uber darkness. He actually smiles and laughs now, and not always sarcastically!

Getting to know the folks in the upstairs inn room. :) Loved our conversations!!! Hope you feel better, Justin!

Aleister's armor fixing ritual. Really the best ever...

Accidentally healing berserking people three times. Whoops.

The ogre child mod was amazing. Everyone on that mod did so impressively. NO COMBAT AT ALL. We solved it with candy, toys, kind words and laughter. It was a dream come true for Swyft to see Travancians using this tactic first. Grim, you were so impressive. Swyft has even more respect for ou now. NPC's, you guys were amazing.

Main Mod was really well organized. I rather liked being in the field team of “Find Those Damn Assassins.” Things got a little crazy though, when we got out a little too far. Can't say I enjoyed fighing the general, he was much too tall and scary, lol.

Magnus going crazy on Rudolph!

Talking to Artorious and Kenneth. And Atrus, I can't believe what you said.... It was heartwarming and kind of disturbing all at once...

Having a mod on Sunday! Yes, yes a thousand times yes! Thank-you for doing all that crazy stuff in the roaring humidity, John. It was awesome!

These five days were a wonderful experience for my soul. I constantly had places to be, people to see, things to do, it was awesome! I'm not sure if I was ever in one place for more than half an hour at a time, hehe.

Thank-you, all. Players, staff, everyone, for making it such an enjoyable time! I'm sure I forgot some things, but I enjoyed every moment with y'all. :)

Managed to get more highlights than I expected during just the week portion; in no particular order.

Cooking fires everywhere! First event where I haven't lost weight!
More "What brings you across the rift?" than any event previous. Responses I hope to gain insight into.
Bonding at the barracks/Angrin's mess hall.
If I were a scholar, I would have picked up about half a dozen lores. In depth analysis/extrapolation of draconic heritage with Aldric, Swyft, Oren, Ginyuki, Tessa and Argyle.
Kudos to everyone involved in the exorcism scene - standard setting rp from all of you! Especially Mary's exceptional creepiness and Dane's zealotry, but everyone present contributed to a fantastically wrought scene. If I were a marshal, it would be raining rp points!
Some great lessons from Oren and Kanas. Next game Imrahil casts more than fist! More that either didn't or couldn't make it to my card from Ginyuki, Namit, and Dr. Maxwell.
Teen wolf mod. Near immediate "Where is Galen?" Nicely done, Matt, May, and Jeremy!
Npc shifts, including Galmachian's for peace with maximum volume Creepy having a bit too much fun with the concept to remember the theme (sorry Geoff! You're welcome Stump!), Exorcism, and scholarly if ineffectual research physicians. Dr. Maxwell knows his stuff!
Pit fight! So much for Imrahil's "wisdom", eh Kitt? Congratulations to you and Billiam! Waiting to see the belt in Drega'room.
Root beer floats and cobblers. That chocolate cherry.
On point safety marshals!
Zipeto's lich, bounding past in the dark - "I think they are angry!"
Ben's verifiably mad junk vendor. Why are these characters always sent out well past the stroke of stupid bells? Because everyone can use a healthy dose of uncontrollable hideous laughter.
The great Tumblini, and positively dashing swordsman Friday morning.
A few largely fruitless treasure hunting parties, including one that didn't actually know I was part of it. Nalick's realization it's a good thing Imrahil isn't an assassin, and a good sport as always!
Speaking of Nalick, a reinforcement lesson pertaining to controlling his, erhm, urges.
Teaching meditative techniques to some pc's and even an npc nervous wild mage!
Nyad and peaceful, mute imp. All the jokes pertaining to blue fingers. Ciel's immediate reaction. Priceless.
Quick, satisfying rp blip with Grim and Rudolph.

Overall OOG highlights - Every one of you deserve a hand; between your generosity, concern for well being, insightful and inventiveness, creativity, and contribution to a greater whole, I can think of no better place to spend a few days than among you grade A nerds!
Til June folks!

I keep hoping to have time to post more L, but in short, I adored this event. Surter mod, main mod and the plot were great.. Weg mod was the best mod.

I ways have a great time at WitL, and this year was no exception! Between getting to break out the tights and accent for my new character or playing a quixotic old man for an NPC, this event was a great break from reality! My highlights, in no particular order, are:
-the fire ring fight was a fun, as was hurling insults at Billiam once he lost
-all of Ludwig's interaction with Swyft was a blast to play! Thanks for being such a good sport, Renee!
-late night chats with both Ravik and the Black Knight were tense, yet oddly informative
-greenskin hunting party in the woods was amazing! The 5 NPC's who played the orcs and goblins really put on a good show!

There are obviously tons more that I can't remember, but I had a blast the whole time! See you all in July!

First WITL and I loved every moment of it.

Got to have tons of bonding time with fellow guardsmen.

Joined Ostcliff!

Had two new recruits decide to shadow Wylla.

Drinking with Oren and Tessa in the Inn.

Drinking with Nalick all over the place and star gazing. Walking hand in hand back to the inn, "Roaming roving rogues..."

Looking for the black knight with Bob ended in a run in with a victim of Jack Willard believing he was him.

Shield buddies! Song circle! Fight at the Bloody Stump! Lots of fun.

Plot was awesome and the black knight was creepy and super nice.

Can't wait for the next event. See you then!!

Ok. Let's start with the negatives:
I couldn't be there the whole time.
I made Jeff Bala sad.
Mosquitoes

Well, that's it for the downsides.

This was one of my favorite events. Matt ran an incredible event that did almost all the things I consider hallmarks of superb, superior storytelling and game mastering. Fantastic job sir.

I'd also like to tip the hat to Matt DeFranza for a superb story that cumulated in an amazingly well orchestrated battle. Rarely do huge battles tell stories so smoothly, and have such cool environmental effects. But more on that later.

Thursday :
Arrived late, and immediately began having fun. WITL is the best. Found my wife and son at the lake. Got there just before the change of the winds, so took advantage to give some valances and put on my defenses.

Lots of rune crafting and protections.

Exorcism of Utguard was amazing. Everything Caldor wants Travance to be was there. We started with three people, some rp and the Exorcism ritual from ceremonialist. We ended with I think 30 people, from all lands, races, nondark religions, professions and levels working together towards this goal. Massively good rp from Aaron. Antone showed up at the exact right moment to save the day, and Lauren made the whole thing more emotional by showing up at the tail end. Mad, mad props to Gina for her crazy, on the fly ability to adapt and incorporate amazing ideas into what she was doing.

Mass for pendarvin at the monastery. First time I really got to take advantage of the new ass benefits. I was so happy to see so many nonbaptized cone and participate. I also enjoyed making it partly a mass for the night wings, since I didn't get to do a funeral.

Bard circle awesomeness is always awesome. I promise I will learn more moose verses for next year.

I love doing seasons wrath rituals. Since it requires all 10 people to participate, and has four variations, it runs differently every time.

Friday
Had to go back to work, and only made it back just before lay on.
I may have to ban ree Friom making cupcakes if she can't get help next time. It's so taxing on her.

Meeting goblins and happy to work with them. Wishing more were reasonable.

Being told I'm not allowed to go to Evernight. Only reason? "it's just a really really bad idea." I would have insisted, but 9 people told me no.

Midnight mass was awesome. Low attendance due to Evernight, but still good. I love the altar space.

Kept getting dragged into stuff until 530...ugh,i wanted sleep.

Had an amazing time with the burger King... I mean BK. He was surprisingly nice. It was creepy to be told to out my finger in his eyes.

Having the general defend on us is bad. Seeing him catch wife's uber double shot flame shot.. Terrifying. Wife fled somehow. Caldor was terrified she was getting slaughtered, and chased after her... But had to go back for the others.

Tim. Oh Tim. That face off between you and me and the sanctuary and th e gargoyle was so awesome. So much of an epic moment that will last in my brain forever. I barely survived, but it strengthened Caldor's faith so much.

The death of dimms. Damnit. I really wanted to keep you alive. Stupid assassins. This of course led to the "incident" between wife and Radu (sorry if I'm spelling it wrong). This led to an epic insult and screaming match, and probably the award for most uses of the word whore in a single evening. It was so good. Caldor rarely looses it, and then at really let me reveal a special side of him. I am glad we cleared up with eachother that we were cool Oog. While I know all of u are mature players, I think we worried others that it was a real fight.

While the Cooks Cabin has benefits, like being near the bathroom, I missed my tent. Doubly so when monsters kept getting between me and the door.

Saturday
Got to do a fun little NPC role for alisandria. It was nice to mess with Silus and get snooty with Edmund. I hope I get to do more with you guys in the future.

Scrounging to get ree kitchen help. Thank you so much to those who chipped in. Special thanks to Billy, the savior of the kitchen.

Thank you to Charlie for helping Xod with his lessons.

Had loads of fun just doing stuff but then got to do Surter mod. Man Matt, was that a brilliantly run battle. Th e lava was genius. The way you physically played him really brought the battle to life. And thank you for giving Xod and Benjamin a role to play.
Special shout out to my new favorite attack... Billiam on a pole arm.

Weg mod. Possibly the best mod I have ever enjoyed. Xod and Billiam were amazing. It was fun to have a team truly bent on non violent resolution and trying to protect the enemy as well. I felt bad for the npc when he said he couldn't eat feast because of how much candy we fed him. The rp was top notch. I loved the sandcastles and everyone's rp of the upheavals the best.

Feast was outstanding.

Main mod was so much fun. I love fighting by the Inn. In addition to the light, it was a blast to be able to use my churning earth. I'm sure the npcs were sick of the word hobble by th e end.

Matt, so much respect for how you had the traps affect the battle. That kind of thinking makes people truly feel useful and that they are making a difference.

Sadly wife and Xod left at that point.

Don't really remember much post main mod.

SUNDAY
John's inky mod. It was a fun set up, and I loved the concept, but the stairs made me nervous. I loved being a bunny in a red headband,and was sad the monsters saw me. Setting fire to the walls was not our best moment, but thankfully we survived. As I said about the surter fight, I love well handled environmental effects.
When John came out as the inky thing it was creepy. He really moved in a liquid like way. The goop on our weapons and packets made it even more gross. Very fun fight, and the post fight examination was really cool.

To the player who I had to entwine when he raged and attacked us... I'm so sorry I forgot you and left you there for the full 15. Mad rp props for staying there and still the whole time.

Teaching the Ranger whose name I keep forgetting germinate was amazing. Your rp of your blockage and the emotion when you overcame it really made my day. You were fantastic, and I look forward to teaching you more.

A final note: I hereby claim Jen Eff for kitchen cleanup. Forever. Even if she isn't at the event. Or I'm not. Or there is no kitchen.

In no particular order:
Brodarvin is no more! For the first time since the state house has been open for sleeping, we had a majority of females inside. Thank you to Heather, May, Kate, Bridget, and Abby for making this momentous occurrance possible.

Surtur mod - kudos to Matt and Kate and all the NPCs who put it together in the humidity and hot sun. Plenty of water, thanks to foresight.

Main Mod and the weekend was well done, and I can see where this might be heading long term. TY, Matt and crew. You always have permanent access to cream.

Pendarvin planned and executed well, even though no battle plan survives the first contact with the enemy.

Gideon's simple command at the start of a battle "Git 'em."

After the battle, Matt said to me he expected me to be at his throat more. I showed him my swords which were the color of his make-up and he agreed that was sufficient.

Seeing some of Bill Hannings' insecurity surface in Grim at the start of MM.

Being ordered by Dame Emeline to wheel left. To quote Andre the Giant "I do not think that means what (s)he thinks it means."

Being told by Hurgar to hold the right - the right held.

Serendipitously finding myself fighting in tandem with Edmund Patterson for the first time. It was rare experience to skirmish with a partner who knows what to do without encouragement. Essentially, we cut down anything trying us. Would partner with him again.

Really upset with Belegchand's rudeness.

The scene in the tent with the Dark Priest. Clarifying what I believed Rudolf's intent to Annora and she made a typical Annora snippy remark. I got to use "The Voice."
Great satisfaction on hearing she and the smallest knight spent a lot of time researching.

Finding my compilation of lores very useful for battle planning and research. For those of you who think I just pile them on, what I actually do is think of the world of knowledge as a Go board/game and capture them in patterns that make sense to me.

geezer wrote:
Surtur mod - kudos to Matt and Kate and all the NPCs who put it together in the humidity and hot sun. Plenty of water, thanks to foresight.

I didn't mention that specifically, but you are absolutely right. The forethought to have water brought out was really appreciated.

One lasting memory - wringing out my undershirt after the Surtur mod. By wringing out, sweat did more than merely drip off. Nice to know my cooling system is working.

Putting the new deck on the Alisandrian Steakhouse.

Relaxing during the WITL

Fixing Armor (for real).

Playing the Great Tumblini from the Tumblini Gypsy family then by chance meeting up with another NPC, Anna Murchison, selling trinkets and playing off of each other.

Rehashing Da-ho-te for a little bit.

Getting "almost" stomped several time by Tim Ponjican as Ravik.

Getting into several skirmishes during main mod maintaining stationary kill pockets with Eric Ratti, kill squads, then next to Edwin Haroldson smashing whatever was in our area.

BTW there can only be one Edwin - I'm Edmund

Props to the NPCs for their energy to keep it going.

Getting my grubby paws on the Spear and immediately surrounding it with Tari and Belechand trying to find its secrets.

Being disappointed when I could not rework it into something else but being able to give it to someone who could use it and then discuss business afterwards.

Lastly a smooth breakdown after a long several days.