~~~April 2016 Event Highlights~~~

Oh god this was an amazing one you guys!

-All the lizard kin shenanigans including
--Watching Fyodor literally ride a storm drake and having so much fun that Kardin wanted to get struck by lightning three times as well.
--Fighting ferociously with the Fire Tribe lizards.
--Me and a chaos warrior named Drake thinking it was rather smart to chaos blast open a chest to test our intellect.

-Speaking with both Oren and Duncan about the path of the Cavalier and its power of Nope!

-Argyle buying Kardin as a gift for Birgitta, who still hasn't gotten her non-specific revenge on our heroic ranger for incorrectly saying her name.

-This conversation
Lt. Grimjkell- Officers, what are your thoughts?
Cpl. Kardin- *raises hand* Grim, am I an officer?
Pvt. Arradir- No Kardin you're not a-
Lt. Grimjkell- Yes.
Cpl. Kardin- SUCK IT GO-DRINGOL!

-Being all sneaky sneaky with Rowan and Drake at Ostcliff after the Null showed up.

-Breaking my shield so many times and thanking my lucky stars that I have an Alchemist like Ellion to glue it back together not once but four goddamn times.

-Breaking so many arms and legs in battle that Fenri basically ran out of heal limbs during Morgazi mod.

-Singing with the Creepy Bard and everyone in the Inn. Meeting so many new friends and wonderful performers. (I will try to remember you all but I am so bad at that. Can't wait to see you all again)

-Meeting up with Nesterin and be mercilessly violated together by vines. Thank you Lion Man!

-The look on Willi's and Arradir's faces when they heard their verses from my Elf-Friend song.

-Fenri's reaction when Kardin decided to leave his severed legs behind and go back into the fray. Fighting alongside Ellion, Maer, Triss, Rowan, and a Warrior Monk whose help was greatly appreciated.

-Making even the undead do a double take when Kardin lost both his arms AND his legs but continued fighting by holding his sword in his teeth.

-Actually helping take down an undead like that.

-Going back from a fight with no arms and carrying Mr. Smith the (currently legless) smith on Kardin's back to become one fully functioning person.

-Being called Kardin Arm-less-ter for like ten minutes straight.

-That feeling when Kardin had a new townsperson tell him that they heard such amazing stories about him and felt better with him leading the Adventurer's Guild mission.

-Lark not realizing that she hadn't actually mind enslaved the Dragoons and that things were about to go very crazy very fast.

-Fighting off two storm drakes.

-Freaking sock Magnus

-That moment when Aldric got to tell Kardin that the person he had just questioned was the Baron.

-BASICALLY BECOMING OREN DURING THE RITUAL AND REALIZING THAT LEADING PEOPLE, USING TACTICS, AND KEEPING EVERYONE FROM DYING IS MORE COMPLICATED THAT KARDIN HAD THOUGHT. AND HOLY CRAP THREE HUSKS AT ONCE HAD BE TO FOUGHT OFF AT THE SHIELD WALL.

-Ellion comforting him when the battle was over and the nobility closed in.

-Trapping self in manacles while drunk, having Ketteryn chase down Kardin for no reason, and then having the entire town get in on trapping him.

-Paying Jun a cookie to shoot a pistol and laugh all pirate-like.

I think that Kardin had the most character development he's ever had and I can't thank everyone enough for such a wonderful time. I hope to see you all again soon!

Kardin wrote: -Speaking with both Oren and Duncan about the path of the Cavalier and its power of Nope!

Considering he and I spoke about you, Young One... Notes and ideas were traded.

Be afraid? I don't think so...
Be Concerned? If you are smart.... :evil:

I had a wonderful time this weekend with all of my friends!

There were countless events and interactions which kept me going and riding high all weekend long; What follows are but a few.

Talks with "Imrahil" (spelling) about the nature of violence and respect and appreciation. The poise that that character gives off is subtle but vibrant. A lot can be said with very few softly spoken words. Thank you!

Palling around with "Maxine" and really finding out the natural "vibrations" of my character. How he acts when he's just humming along without any particular mission in mind is something I find very important to living inside of a character.

Pendarvin - Squad levels: supreme . Really solid group of players with a great ability to interact naturally with each other, despite the great diversity. I loved the meeting on Saturday and hearing and seeing everyone together.

Super-quote: "What do I want in a Knight? I want a real ass-kicker." - Lord Silverbow

My character has had some misgivings about the notion of fealty , but I think he is decidedly comfortable with his choice of service!

The fight with the Morgazi. Despite it being interrupted by persistent holds and clarifications and things of that naturethe actual portrayal of desperation created by the players was excellent. At times it felt like that scene in Braveheart where the battle is almost over and people are exhausted and just hitting eachother with whatever pointy object is nearby. In my minds eye people were wrestling and picking up sticks to defend themselves and bashing the undead with rocks in a last ditch effort to kill them.

Special props to Renee Day , Mike K. and a couple of new players who must have felt completely lost but were Combat Roleplaying their hearts out. Especially the fellow in the Kung Fu uniform who went all Bruce Lee on my ass after getting dominated. I saw a lot of combat RP out of him all event.

Many small conversations before, during and after feast which really got my head screwed on straight.

Main mod was made very chaotic and exciting my the sheer weight of numbers we had. Very grateful for the attendance! That moment when someone was body blocked into the Obelisk and it looked like the worlds shadiest Jenga tower ever. I may have pooped.


The lunatics: I got to take on one of the most fun and satisfying NPC roles ever, and I am very glad that I will be able to return in the future for more madness.

All the NPCs who came out with me from 2am - 4am Sunday m orning acting like absolute nutters with so much energy even after the entire event. Hilarious and terrifying all at once.

Where's the baby?! Baby's got the scent! I will be laughing about all of that for a month.

See you all in May!

This event was special for me due to the culmination of much work by players to get the church organized and start it back towards being functional again. I want to thank you all, Rebecca, Jason, Ben, Samantha, Joe S, Chris Z, Michaela, Chris D, Alice, Jeff, Josh, Cassie, Joe H, Shane and Tom for coming together to get this started.

As for the event, I was busy from Friday night on. First, getting drafted to go to the underdark to try and get the obelisk only to have to begin running from the Null, all the while cursing the white tabard I again was wearing at night.

After that turning in early to do my NPC shift, got to play Captain Morgan again, business was slow... apparently the captain's bric a brac was not in demand. Then run back and get into Aldric garb to do Bar Mass. Then being made to do the Mass using an Aldric sock puppet, by a demented Satyr.

Church meeting went smoothly and we got stuff done. Even being attacked only brought us together as the clerics and templar stood guard on the meeting and repelled the NPCs who got too close. Church Main mass went well, with one mishap that was handled well by Maralas. I had the spirit as they say for the sermon, I really like the church RP I have to say.

Feast was good, even with giving smaller portions multiple times, it worked well. Might give thought to doing it that way more. Met a Hobgoblin Valosian Cleric, but didnt get to do a proper introduction to the Church, but it will come I promise!

Valosian Mass went fantastic. I didnt think anyone was going to come at first, only three people followed me over to the tent. Then people started coming over and then people saw people coming over... in the end I had a really great turnout. Thanks to Damien and Romeo for coming and Romeo, thanks for singing the Psalm. I definitely want that one for my Book of Valos and a wonderful addition to the Mass. I even baptised a new follower of Valos, and had my other baptized members welcome him without me prompting it.

Then the main mod, realizing based on the number of NPCs and that we had to defend a static location, we were going to do an honest to goodness Line Battle. I live for Line battles! Even eating a crushing blow (again and again) didn't diminish how much I liked that battle. The NPCs did a good job being intimidating and throwing themselves on us like mindless Husks would do.

Then the sass of Sergei, and the retreat back to the Inn and arrival of Fiona. Then the sass of Fiona to Karkat. Lovely time, would obelisk again.

Oh and my odd highlight would be Aldric being an actual prophet during Aldric's sermon. "I would not want to have to be the one to decide about waking Miranda..." (it was not hard to anticipate really.) Then having that be the drama of the night after Main mod, and feeling bad about it and apologizing to the Baron.

Then the Fire and the subsequent hold of the event... really only served to calm everyone down a bit and get us into a decent mood with the lull. I even met another Valosian Priest, named Artemis and spent about 40 minutes catching him up on the Church as he continually rubbed his temples at each new piece of news. Welcome back!

Overall, great event and even if I didnt do a whole lot of side quests and mods, I am too busy making my own plot to really care. Thanks to all the staff and NPCs making this possible each month!

P.S.

The most hilarious and honest piece of third party appraisal goes to Lord Rudolf at the Smokers Porch after main, when asked to tell a new player thinking of joining, about the Blood Spirits. I needed popcorn for that one, though I had my pipe and got to watch it all unfold in its horrific glory. Think the new guy joined them anyways though.

The difficult thing involving this month is that, while I was not able to do main mod or anything major because of IC interests (I was not around long enough to have felt that anything I would have done mattered, and I felt auto-locked out as a result, which affected me in some cases i.e. main mod) and OOC weather related reasons (I am not going to be able to withstand it being cold enough for me to freeze while at main mod, which also sucks since I never got to the Scholar mod), it felt more of a major RP session this time around, which is fine, because this is a holiday that my character outright abhorred, and I worked with it. That being said. Here are some notes that I figured I'd have to mention:

• Kleidin, thanks for showing me around during the Druid walk, as even now I did not know how far the property line went (which I am now dubbing Outer Travance) I do have to see that other lake eventually, albeit carefully since it is a bit off the trail. (And definitely not at night since I am rather weak when the sun is down.)
• To all those involved in the Auction, thanks a lot for tolerating me in my counter ramble, because it was all IC to reflect my character's disapproval, and I was doing my (rather futile) attempt to get the guards out of this deal. (Including the Knight Captain, although that went nowhere fast.)
• Speaking of which, to the person that cursed me, a rather amusing tale happened shortly after I left and the effect kicked in. All I can say that IG, I ended up getting thrown into the lake after getting trapped between a mischievous goblin, and the unicorn summoning team, with me walking back to the Inn, being IG drenched in water. (Not OOG since I had my personal effects on me.) So yeah, you got your money's worth on that.
  
  (By the way, to the person who met me after I came back from the Inn and was told by someone else that the effect was complete, please PM me. I need your IG name so that I can make note and keep a track of that, since you recognized me earlier from a previous encounter and referred to me as "that [REDACTED - Find Out In Game] guy." Thank you. )
  
• To the marshals during the lizardkin mod. Honestly, when that happened and I lost myself for a sec there, I would have stepped aside and recovered quickly, but since this is Travance, I figured I'd RP that just for the sake of. I think if anything, it worked for roleplaying and I want to thank those that helped me out. (and I understand completely that you could not continue with the scene. It was rough being felt like I was locked out of things, but this made sense, so I did not question it.)
  
• The Light and Valos Masses. - On the plus side, my character found out about the truth behind the day, and realized that after hearing it from a Valosian POV, it made more sense. (Also, hooray for hymns that don't make me want to IG walk out of there in disgust. Seriously, that was good singing.) On the down side... well, you had to be there at the end of the Valos mass to find out what that was, so for the Templar and the other two faithful there, you got a glimpse of a character arc I may take. (Also, I think I met Jed? Not sure since I could not tell if he was the Gloominite Priest that visited the mass that time.)
  
• Taking notes with Tobias, and that scene with Caldor. Oh, there may be more with that depending on how things go, but I am ready if anything does come as a result of it.
  
• To the guy who I borrowed those boffers, thanks. My other ones did not clear safety, so thanks for that. It even gave me an idea on how to improve on my original set.
  
• Fun fireworks with the group that appeared around 4-5 bells. Turns out that rumor was true after all.
  
• Lastly, I met Crataeis. Interesting conversation we had, but I get the feeling things will take an unexpected direction with her. Also, I'm probably banned from going on-board her ship.

As for May, I am planning to come, since the summer months seems outright crucial since there are scenes I hope will happen. However, that all depends on if they are willing to follow through with it. (Not to mention it looks like my pants got some gum on them. Will need to rewash them to get it off.)