In our hobbies, you sometimes end up meeting people you regret. Not just regret meeting, but regret that you are forced to live in the same world as them. Regret that you both can somehow share some joy in the same activity, regret that you both have shared the same air.
I managed to stumble upon a gathering of these types. With circumstances keeping me from fleeing, I ended up spending a weekend with them.
My friend makes bad decisions. He's a good guy, just as long as you don't let him decide anything. As long as someone is deciding things for him, there's no problems, but the second he's left to his own devices, he will almost always come up with the absolute worst ideas. His exploits are carved into his body, with burns and scars from the dumbest of accidents, and he's even missing part of his ear thanks to an infection he got from trying to pierce it himself. Sadly, I'm not too bright myself, and often forget that I'm never supposed to listen to any of his suggestions.
So, when he decided we should join a fantasy LARP, I agreed.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:31
We, my bad-decision-making friend, one other, and myself, had gone LARPing in the past, way back in high school. It was pretty bad, but we were too young to know that. We ended up going to six of the monthly events, which was how long it took for us to understand the LARP and to figure out just how bad it was.
The way it worked was that it really only made sense to go if you had already been going there for years. We stopped going once we realized just how slow the character progression really was, and that it would take us roughly three to four years before we'd be above peon status, and another three or four before we'd be a little below average. While this may not be a problem at other LARPs, it meant that we would be doing nothing but running for help whenever there was a problem for all that time.
While the other friend and I had abandoned it, my misguided friend continued a bit, going to events every once in awhile, still chasing the dream of eventually gaining enough power to be able to go outside the inn without having to ask people to come along and protect him. Eventually even he stopped, mostly because he didn't want to keep paying the fee.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:31
A few years later, he managed to catch wind of a new LARP that had launched, an offshoot of the original one started up by disgruntled members who were tired of the bullshit of the first. He was excited about it, and kept talking about how they were going to change things and make it better. I knew it was just going to be the same old problems in a new packaging, and decided not to go.
While at first I was adamant about my refusal, his entusiasm was rather contagious, especially because each month he'd come back and would not shut up about how awesome it was. Eventually, my memories of the previous LARP started to blend with both nostalgia and wishful thoughts on how I had hoped things would have gone. The other friend, the who had gone before with us, ended up giving in first and agreed to go to it, about a year after it had started up. With no real reason not to go beyond a bad previous experience at a different LARP, I decided that we might as well all go.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:32
As we drove to the camp site where the LARP would take place, the three of us slowly converted back into our young high school days. Filled with innocence, optimism, and that childlike love of fantasy and pretend, we decided to "get into character," starting off with only referring to each other by our character names. The friend who had been going to the LARP for the past year was Hardule Nightwater, a mage. The other friend friend planned on reviving his old character, Lith Cloud, who was a hardy warrior. I decided on reviving my old character as well, Nephem Festiva, who would use both magic and weapons.
Hardule kept telling us about this and that, and how awesome everything was. He gave me tips on what the good magic spells were, and explained little nuances about the way combat was handled. Since the system was still fairly new, not everything had been really ironed out, and even Hardule said he didn't really think he had figured it all out by now. Lith kept discussing plans on reviving our old adventuring party, Cerberus, and maybe even spending enough time and effort into eventually turning it into a noble house or clan.
When we arrived on Friday afternoon, things seemed pretty good. In fact, the camp grounds seemed awesome. They were some distance away from the closest town, and had plenty of wooded areas as well flat fields. I was still filled with optimism, and barely could wait to go out and adventure and roleplay. I lost a lot of that optimism very quickly with the very first person I saw.
High Lord Ulcik.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:33
Or, at least, that's what he called himself at the old LARP. An overweight man in his late forties or early fifties, he would braid his hair and beard in a way I assumed he thought was very medieval/fantasy looking but instead looked like he had just come back from a teenage girls' sleepover. He always looked like he was scowling, except for when he made eye contact with someone, when he would open his small eyes wide and give the most unnatural smile a person could give.
He was responsible for some of the worst, including the very worst, memories at the old LARP. He had been a noble, and enjoyed ordering around people, especially during the big battles. Disobeying him was apparently a huge offense, and he had actually incarcerated Lith in the little fake jail room for leaving his position during a big battle. Lith had rushed out to help out Hardule, who had somehow been left out in the open, which created a gap in the line that the enemies took advantage of. He spent two hours in that little room before I managed to convince another noble to release him, and even then only after he took almost all of our gold.
As High Lord Ulcik ambled over towards us, I cast a sideways glance at my friends, with Lith appearing rather passive, while somewhat disturbingly Hardule seemed rather happy about seeing Ulcik. With his loud and forcedly gruff voice, Ulcik greeted Hardule and then asked who we were, having forgotten us in the many years since we had last met. We introduced ourselves anew, and while I did it so I wouldn't appear rude by saying we had met before and he had simply forgotten us, Lith did it because he had completely forgotten the man.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:33
Rather quickly, Hardule changed. Talking with Ulcik, his voice and mannerisms became more and more exaggerated, until I could barely recognize him. Using lofty and often silly-sounding language with complete seriousness, I had to stifle a somewhat mean-spirited chuckle at his earnest roleplaying. I then realized that the event hadn't actually started yet, and that neither Ulcik nor Hardule were actually in character yet.
Lith seemed to be paying attention to their conversation, but I was more interested in the other people that were arriving. A parade of various outcasts, most of them were male and in their thirties. A handful of teenagers kept together in clumps here and there, and eventually people in their twenties began to appear. Most were overweight, while the exceptions were exceptionally thin. Judging purely by appearance, it didn't seem like either me or Lith would have any real athletic competition besides each other. Even Hardule, who was somewhat out of shape, could probably challenge most of the people there to a fist fight and have a good chance at winning.
After everyone (a large amount, probably over a hundred people) had gathered around the parking lot, we made our way to the large main cabin. It had already been decorated with candles and various fantasy materials probably taken straight out of a Halloween store, and we went through the registration process, which included being assigned our cabins. Lith and I had to make our characters, and I was pleased to see that we had a fair amount of options.
With the amount of points you started with, you were able choose different abilities. Lith made a straightforward warrior, specializing in a one-handed sword and large shield style. He went mostly for raw statistics, increasing his HP all the way to 22 and spending a fair amount of points to raise the damage of his sword to the next level, from 3 to 4. Overall, it seemed solid, if a little generic.
I tweaked around, and ended up with primarily a mage that could also use a two-handed sword. 14 HP seemed like it was a bit low, but it was better than the 10 HP other starting mages typically had, and the two-handed sword dealt a solid 4 damage even without raising it to the next level.
As for my spells, I decided on two offensive fire ones, one that dealt 1 damage but I could use as much as I wanted, and one that dealt 7 damage that I could use once a day. I also picked an ice one that made my target forced to stand in the same spot (he could move his arms, but not his feet), and a healing spell I could use 3 times a day to cure 4 hp. To use a spell, I would say the spell name and then throw or touch my target with small bean bags of various sizes, some only an inch long and wide while others were the size of my hand, while most fell somewhere in between.
When we had the characters finished and registered, we went over to Hardule, who was with three other people, including Ulcik. The event had not started yet, so everyone was still in their everyday clothing and they were discussing the game itself. I listened in, and discovered a few things that I probably would have liked to have known before I had come here.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:35
As told by Ulcik himself, he had played a vital role in starting this LARP, and wasn't merely a player, but a partial owner and one of the three head "Plot Masters." Also, it seemed that during this event, Hardule was actually going to become a noble, a count, who would serve beneath the Archduke Ulcik (who was using the same name as his character from the last LARP). Lith was very happy hearing this, because it meant that the adventuring party Cerberus had already taken its first step towards becoming a full fledged noble house.
The event started after an hour, with dinner. By that time, everyone had changed into their costumes. While me and Lith wore what could barely could be called costumes, and there were some teenagers who shared our shirt-and-pants fashion sense, everyone else had elaborate costumes and makeup. Robes, capes, frilly shirts, full body paint and there were even two people who wore wolf fursuits (they were playing a werewolf type race). I barely recognized Hardule, dressed in a purple robe with a full cape and hood and odd rune-like shapes painted on his face. He also must not have recognized us, as he walked past both of us as he headed towards a different table.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:35
Feeling somewhat miffed about the cold shoulder, we walked over to him. He told us that he and his noble house had some plot-related things they needed to discuss, and that he wasn't allowed to tell us. This was understandable, so Lith and I walked back to the other table, and started chatting with the people around us.
It was odd at first, and I could hear myself matching the rough, low, and unnatural voices everyone was using. Lith seemed to get the flow of things faster than I did, and I guess I was being just a little too judgemental at first. But, soon I was just talking normally to them without any odd accent, expressing my opinion as my character would. I think I started to get the hang of it when me and Lith were ushered into the new player training.
Besides the two of us, there were eight teenagers and two other twenty-somethings. Among them I noticed something that clearly stood out. Among the women who I had seen so far, all were borderline grotesque. Even with layers of heavy makeup and robes they still required a moment to get used to them after the initial shock of their appearance. This one, however, was rather cute. She was stand away from the two clumps of teenagers and the other twenty-year old, looking nervous and confused, which calmed me down for some reason.
Eventually, an old man walked up to us. He must have been over sixty, judging by his wrinkles and white hair. However, he was in surprisingly good shape, enough that made me wonder whether he was in better shape than Lith or me. With a calm yet commanding voice, he started to explain the rules of combat as we walked towards the "Cave."
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:36
The Cave is a cabin where the monsters would spawn from. Monsters were people who either volunteered (and didn't have to pay the event fee) or were conscripted from the players for a few hours if there weren't enough. It was also the place they stored the monster costumes and a huge collection of foam, duct tape, and pvc pipe weapons.
Combat had very simple rules. Avoid the head, try not to hurt anyone, and that you had to call out your damage each time you swung. When we finally reached the Cave, he explained that we would now spend the rest of the night as monsters as a bit of practice, and then the next two days we'd play as heroes.
Stepping inside the cave, I felt my blood boil with excitement.
Apparently, all the athletic people spent their time as monsters. When we entered, there were two of them wailing at each other with foam weapons, hitting with enough force to make the old man tell them to stop setting a bad example for us. Beyond them being athletic, they also almost universally had the same evil smirk on their face, which was noticeable enough for even Lith to whisper to me that he thought they all looked like sadists. When the two of them didn't stop, the old man stepped in between them and shouted an order for them to stop, at which point they went into another room.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:37
We then got outfitted as "grunks," which the old man described as rat-like humanoids. Wearing brown furry cloth and wielding foam daggers, the thirteen of us went out. The old man led us skillfully, sniffing the air at intersections and directing us with short barks and hand signs. In moments, we were all grunks, searching for unprepared heroes ready to slaughter.
The first group we met was a lone warrior, who was absolutely shocked to see us. The old man motioned for me and Lith to surround him, and the three of us stabbed the warrior several times before he managed to run past the old man, right into the waiting daggers of the rest of the group. We continued on, all of us fairly pleased.
We stumbled into Ulcik.
Ulcik had an entourage of five people with him, which was still less than half our number. Even so, I knew that we were all going to die. Though, when we died, we would just lie down, wait until all the heroes left, and then get back up. Thinking it a good chance to at least take down one of these nobles, I was more than ready for the old man's order to rush in.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:38
I ran in, trying to get around the warrior with the shield protecting Ulcik. Just as I broke past him, Ulcik threw down a bean bag, shouting "Fire Storm, 10 damage." Unsure what just happened, I continued to move, until Ulcik shouted "Every enemy within a fifty foot radius of me takes 10 fire damage."
With all of us having 5 HP, we simply laid down. I couldn't help but feel somewhat pissed, but the old man seemed rather happy about the outcome. He explained that a monster's job wasn't to kill players, but to be killed by them. And, it was a good lesson about just how powerful one of the strongest people in the game was, especially compared to one of the weakest creatures.
We got up, and journeyed around for a few more hours. We mostly ended up getting killed from a distance, but occasionally we managed to get killed in melee. Though I could dodge and block fairly well, each dagger dealt only 1 damage, meaning even against a weak caster I'd need 10 hits before he dropped, and it took one or two hits to take me down. I started to get foolishly frustrated, even though I knew I was just playing a really weak monster. It was a strange sense of futility I received from that experience, and I definitely didn't want to repeat it.
Afterwards, we went back to the Cave, but away the stuff, and then went to our assigned cabins. Once I arrived at Lith's and mine, I realized that Hardule was in a different cabin. Lith asked me why Hardule wasn't in ours, and I could only reply that it must be because he's part of a noble house. We then went to sleep, exhausted from having been rats for so long.
When we got up, we looked for Hardule. We found him in the main cabin/inn, talking to a noble. He told us that yesterday he was officially granted his title as a count, and now he could initiate us into Ulcik's noble house. Lith was very excited about this, while I guess I was less than enthusiastic. Hardule said that we should go adventuring right after breakfast, which I guess I was very excited about.
We went out, and I quickly realized I didn't serve much of a purpose. Hardule had been part of this LARP since it had started, and his character was several times stronger than either mine or Lith's. Lith would stand between a monster and Hardule, and Hardule would lob a spell he could cast at will that dealt 10 points of damage, often killing our enemy in 2 shots. We found three monsters after two hours of walking around, which apparently was a pretty high amount, especially during the morning hours.
When lunch came around, Hardule said he had something he needed to do, so he left us in the inn. After talking to a few people, Lith and I decided to go out and adventure on our own. Leaving the inn, we set out on the same path we had taken with Hardule.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:40
We met our first monster, a troll. I hadn't really seen any of the monsters get a chance to fight while Hardule had been with us, and though the three of us had taken out a troll earlier, I only had a vague idea of how strong it was. Of course, it dealing 8 damage with its foam club at least told us that it was much stronger than we were.
The man who was playing the troll was skilled, but not cleverly so. His attacks just kept on getting caught by Lith's sword or shield, while I kept cutting at him with my two-handed sword, using its long reach to keep me at a safe distance. After ten hits, he dropped, and we went on our way. Lith had taken a hit, but with 14 HP remaining, we decided to save my healing spells for a more dire need (because I could stabilize a person brought to less than 0 hp so that they wouldn't die).
On our route, we encountered one of the werewolf people. He was accompanied by a fat woman dressed like a warrior, and when we told them we were just going around looking for adventure, they told us that they were actually looking for help. They wanted to go to a field where they had been told there was treasure, but they also knew that it was guarded by trolls. When we told them we had taken down a troll only minutes ago, the woman stopped and asked us what level we were. When I explained it was our first event, she couldn't believe it. Either way, the two of them decided to let us come with them.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:40
When we arrived at the field, there were three trolls (I assumed) standing beneath a tree, a small box between them. As soon as they saw us, two of them moved out towards us, the last remaining behind. Lith and I moved towards one, while the wolf and woman moved towards the other.
This one was more skilled than the last, and quickly scored a hit on Lith for 9 damage. With only 5 HP left, Lith was in a bad situation. As he moved back, I moved forward attacking more carelessly, just trying to get as much damage in as possible. I pressed the troll back, but just when I thought I'd get the last few hits in, I took 9 damage in the back.
Moving quickly to the side, I turn to see both the wolf and woman lying on the ground, the troll they were fighting now attacking me. With the situation turning against us rapidly, I did some quick calculations.
These were definitely stronger than the troll we had faced before, but hopefully not by much. If the first troll had about 40+ HP, then the troll we had been fighting was probably a hit or two away from dying. Pulling out my bean bags, I began to throw them at him, calling out my weak fire spell. After 4 hits, he dropped, just as the other troll managed to land a strike on Lith, dropping him. Lith had done fairly well against it though, and as I hit the troll with my strong fire spell, it dropped as well. I learned later that trolls take double damage from fire spells, which is probably the major reason we managed to take them down.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:41
I quickly healed up Lith back to 4 HP (one heal spell), but as I moved towards the werewolf and woman, the third troll started running towards us. As he neared, Lith shouted "What do I see?" at him, since the rags he was wearing could mean anything. He replied "A troll much bigger than the rest!"
With both of us being one hit away from death, we had to make a hard decision. In a way, I ended up not having to make it. Lith ran first, and I immediately followed. Looking back, I saw the troll begin chasing after us. Seeing how fast he ran, I suddenly realized something.
Spinning around, I began running towards the troll, a bit slower than I'm fully capable of. He continued to run at me, until he came close enough to swing at me. He swung hard, but I just ran right past him, at which point he realized what I was after. Sprinting now as fast as I could, I reached the small chest and managed to pick it up just before he reached me. He swung again, but I managed to dodge and start running, sword in one hand, chest in the other.
I managed to get out of the field and ran down the path, all the way to the inn, where Lith was trying to get a rescue crew together. I showed him the chest, and opened it to find 30 gold, an absolute fortune, along with two magical rings. I was rather happy with myself, not realizing just how much I was going to regret my actions later.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:42
Within the inn was a healer, and both Lith and I were healed back to our full HP. We then led the crew of six people to the field, where both the werewolf and woman were gone, and the lone troll under the tree. The six surrounded the troll, but even then it was a hard fight, as it probably had well over 200 HP, though I quickly lost count. Eventually, it dropped, and when I asked where the werewolf/woman was, I learned how death works in the game.
After your HP goes below 0, you have five minutes where you can still be healed by normal healing spells (like mine). After that five, you have ten minutes where you can be healed by advanced healing spells. After that, you are dead, and need to be ressurected, which means you lose both money and experience. More than fifteen minutes had passed for the wolf/woman, which meant they simply stood up, and walked back to the inn to get resurrected.
I felt bad for those two, but it meant that both Lith and I would be the only ones to split the treasure. To explain how much a single piece of gold is, you typically might be able to get 3 pieces of gold an event, if you work hard. Getting 15 (split between me and Lith) on the first day meant we could basically buy excellent gear for ourselves and still have some gold left over.
Thinking about our good fortune, I didn't even suppose that I have any sort of problem immediately as I returned to the inn, especially not because the woman had, somehow, while she was unconscious, managed to see me run past a troll to get a treasure chest as opposed to come over to them and heal them, an ability I had only shown I was capable of after she had been knocked unconscious. And her being part of Ulcik's noble house didn't help matters.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:44
The woman had been telling her story in the inn while we were out trying to save her, and as we returned she pointed me out as the guy who cared more about gold than people's lives. At first, the six who had come with us supported me, saying that I was new and didn't know how death worked and that I still went back out to help her. This was quickly drowned out by her mentioning that I had not even bothered to offer any portion of the chest's treasure.
Things immediately turned even more sour.
No one in the rescue party had even known about the treasure chest until they had heard her story, and they suddenly became very interested in why they, the people who had managed to kill the troll, did not deserve the treasure. The woman who had died, realizing that everyone was now caring more about the treasure than they did about her dying, began to harp even louder about just how terrible of a person I was.
I quickly offfered them each 5 gold pieces (thinking to keep the two rings for me and Lith), but they were more curious as to why I hadn't offered this to them before they had set out. I was in a very bad situation. If I explained that I had felt that I had earned the entire treasure, and would have been completely content leaving that troll alive and the two corpses where they were, there was no way that would have gone over well. However, my silence as I tried to piece together what to say instead didn't really help my case.
Especially, because during that silence, Archduke Ulcik decided to make his appearance.
Another person from his house told him what had happened, and he listened calmly, silently, making an odd head bobbing motion every once in awhile. As the story finished, he walked over to me, and told me to step outside with him.
He's an easy man to dislike. He started out by telling me what exactly had happened, what everyone didn't know. The huge amount of treasure, an extraordinary amount, had been placed especially for the werewolf and woman to recieve. They were actually waiting in the forest for two NPCs, who unbeknownst to them, were going to use nothing but an infinite amount of heal spells, and let them fight the trolls until they won.
I stood, listening to this, and I guess somewhat angrily asked what any of that had to do with me. He explained, calmly, slowly, that I had snatched away something that I didn't deserve, and that I could potentially imbalance the game if I used that gold. I said that wasn't going to be a problem, because I had already promised to give the gold away to the six people who had come with us.
He grew furious.
He asked me if I knew what I had done. How I had taken the gold and now made it so that it could no longer be easily returned without upsetting all those players. How this would cheapen the entire gold economy, and how I had singlehandedly devalued every magical item in the game. I said he must be exaggerating, and he said that there was no way I could understand.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:47
He then stood silent, apparently thinking hard, until he gave me the absolute worse smile I've ever seen in my entire life. He told me that he had a solution. Being an absolute idiot, I smiled back, thinking that the man would just magically smooth away the problem.
As he went inside, he said that I was being convicted of murder. That through my negligence, I had let two people unjustly die, and that for my crime, I would be executed through decapitation.
Absolute silence followed. So he continued. He said that leaving a nobles of his house to die was the same as leaving him to die. I would be an example to all, so that anyone who claims to be a hero will never make the same mistake of being overcome by greed. And, as a lesson to all, the state would seize all of my assets.
I looked out at the crowd, waiting for a reaction. Waiting for someone to scream "FUCKING BULLSHIT" or "He's a brand new player!" or "YOU'VE GONE MAD WITH POWER." Instead, the first one to say something was that fat, disgusting woman who I'm glad I had inadvertently killed and only wished she would stay dead, who shouted, "Long live the Archduke!"
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:48
The crowd slowly erupted in that chant, and to my horror I realized that Hardule was among them. I looked for Lith's face in the crowd, and was equally dismayed to see a look of absolute indifference, one that said "It's just a game. This might actually be fun."
I could only shoot him a pleading glance, followed by an angry one at Hardule. He actually paused, but one look from the Archduke was more than enough to get him going again. The Archduke, with a look of utter triumph, simply picked up the chest and walked away, leaving me to the other nobles.
I was then led into the "jail," an unused closet with barely enough room for me to stand. I was told that I was supposed to wait in there until my execution, the time of which would be decided by the Archduke. They then closed the door, leaving me in the cramped darkness..
END OF PART I
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:53
I waited in the darkness of the small closet, collecting my thoughts, trying to come to terms with what was happening. In a way, I was actually fortunate to have that little time-out, as it gave me time to think and question. I began to question what my next line of action was. My first option, and the most obvious one, was to just accept the sentence. Being executed meant that I would be permeanantly killed, in a way that prevented resurrection. I was a first level character, and starting up a new character wouldn't really change much. More importantly, it was the only choice that was presented to me, as neither negotiating for a fair trial nor escaping really seemed like options.
But, every fiber of who I was did not want to be executed, even if it was just for pretend in a pretend world. Even if the cirumstances around it were all make-believe, my innocence was real. Every ounce of rebellious spirit that I had in me said to find some way out of this mess, to oppose the tyrannical decision of Ulcik and the apathy of the populace that enabled it.
Even though I had found my resolve, I still could not find any way to remedy my situation.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:55
Hardule and Lith came to visit me, leading me out of the cramped closet. They tried to convince me that all I really could do was accept the execution, and try to make it a fun roleplaying experience. I told them that they could have a fun roleplaying experience in helping me escape.
With a rather downcast look, Hardule explained that there was no way he could oppose Ulcik, especially because it was because of him that he had finally become a noble, not to mention that Ulcik was possibly the strongest person in the game. Lith simply said that it would be easier for me to just make a new character, rather than try to iron out all the problems this one had. He even said I could make him identical to Nephem, except I'd have to change his name.
We argued a bit more, until it became clear that they wouldn't help me willingly. I then asked them why they had even bothered to come see me, if all they were going to do was tell me my only choice was death.
At this point, Hardule actually became somewhat angry, telling me that it had not been easy for him to come see me, and that he actually had to use his rank as a noble to get this chance. I responded with the question of whether he had actually bothered to take me out of my cramped cell.
Looking at the closet I was no longer in, Hardule, calming down slightly, said that it was obvious that he had, not realizing my intention.
I bolted.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:55
I was almost out the door before either of them realized what I was doing. They began to shout, but by the time someone took notice, I was a good, safe distance. A low level mage tried to throw spells at me, but his throws were short and a moment later I disappeared into the woods. Running far, deep into the middle of the camping grounds, I found a small ring of dense bushes in a wooded spot that was well away from the main roads. Moving into the center of them and feeling rather secure about not being spotted within them, I sat down and began to think of what to do next.
Before I decided anything else, I realized I needed to get myself prepared. In order to be a fugitive, I needed to get three major things: Food, a place to sleep, and perhaps the most important, a weapon. Once I had those three, I could decide on what to do next.
Food and a place to sleep were a problem. Meals were purchased at the Inn, which was also the place where I was sure to find plenty of people who could kill me with a glance. Beyond that, I had brought a fair amount of snacks with me, probably enough so that I wouldn't have to buy any food for the weekend. However, all these snacks were in my bags, which were in my cabin. That was also the place I was expected to sleep, which meant it was the place I was expected to go, which meant it was the place I expected they would try to catch me. If I was to even try to go there, I wanted to at least be armed with more than just a few bean bags.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:57
My character could only use a two-handed sword. Other mages typically could use daggers and small swords, but I had taken those points and added to them just so I could use a two-handed sword. My choice was made under the assumption that I'd never need or want to use a smaller sword, but now I was in a really bad situation.
In order for me to get a new weapon, I had three options. Stealing an unnattended one that a person owned meant that I had to get a specially sanctioned witness, which I knew was a stupid idea. I could always just break the rules, but that was grounds for being kicked out of the game itself. If I was going to do this, I was going to do this without anyone being able to condemn me for opposing the spirit of the game. If I broke a rule, nothing I did would matter, since they would just retcon everything. I had to beat them at their own game, with their own rules.
That left either taking one from a fallen person, or I could just grab one from the piles at the Cave. Neither of these options seemed very practical. There were very few players who used two-handed swords, and beyond just finding them, I'd have to defeat them unarmed. Going to the cave seemed smarter, since players avoided going near it and there was undoubtebly weapons there, but I also had an enormous chance of running into a monster, who'd be more likely to be able to outrun me, considering the monsters I had seen were more athletic than the players.
While I considered my options, I heard voices coming close. I knew that I was fairly safe within these bushes, invisible unless they decided to force their way through them, but I was still extremely nervous, holding my breath with the amateur thought that it would keep them from hearing me. As I listened, I realized that they were three teenagers, one who I remembered quite clearly because of his awkward, cracking voice that was an absolute challenge to respond to with the mindset that he was playing a gruff and strong warrior.
Peering out from the bushes as they passed some distance away, I was very glad I had chosen neutral grays for my outfit rather than the flashy colors that seemed to be in fashion here. The three of them, all warriors (though none with a two-handed sword), wore bright colors that encouraged me to think of them as targets.
Without a plan formed, I slowly slid out of the bushes, then cautiously, silently, I moved after them. While I was still a good distance away, I threw my ice spell at the closest one, calling out the spell's name in the most intimidating voice I could. Hitting him squarely in the back, he froze in good faith of roleplaying, while the other two wheeled nervously around. I hit the second before he had a chance to move, and the third kept close to his friends while I brandished another bean bag.
Counting down the thirty seconds in my head, I had very little time before the three of them tried to rush me. While my aim was solid, I doubted that I could hit them all without the element of surprise, especially since I only managed to hit two while I had it. I asked them first what they were doing, and with a strange obliging obedience the lone mobile one answered curtly. Apparently, I had a 30 gold bounty on my head.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:03
This was an obscene amount of money for just catching such a weak fugitive, and I didn't blame them for trying to hunt me. I, however, was not going to just lie down and let them take it without a challenge. With the thirty seconds almost up, I knew that I'd have to run. Looking back in the opposite direction from them, I realized my cabin was in that direction.
With a burst of inspiration, I ran directly at them.
The three teens panicked (with no real reason, considering I didn't even have a weapon), but I kept well out of there swords' ranges, running around them in the direction opposite my cabin. I made an emphasis of my speed, running with the intent that no sane person would try to keep up with me, until I was a good distance away from the encounter. Seeing that I had no pursuers, I stopped to catch my breath, wondering whether I could keep up such a pace all day. I continued on a little further in that direction before I looped around, with the guess that the three were heading towards the inn, telling everyone where they had spotted me and where they thought I was going. If I had any chance at getting my stuff from the cabin, this was it.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:03
The camp grounds were pretty large, and it could easily take more than an hour to walk from one end to the other. With a floating map fuzzily drawn in my mind, I tried to predict where people would be and where'd they be heading, thankful for the extensive travelling I had done on the grounds as a grunk. This may sound like a pretty impressive ability, but it was me mostly trying to figure out how to avoid the main roads while taking all the smaller paths.
I did fairly well for myself, using a few paths that were practically hidden that I would never have known of had I not been shown by the old man who had led us, and managed to get close to my cabin with only hearing people in the distance. However, just as I neared it, voices suprised me from just beyond a bend in the path I was taking. I dove into the woods, glad that the road was somewhat elevated and that I had basically dropped into a ditch.
A large group appeared from beyond the bend, and I nervously knew that I had no chance of staying undiscovered if they continued down the path. Thankfully, they took an earlier fork and moved away on a different, larger path, but I managed to catch snippets of their conversation. My guess had been correct, and they had been waiting for me at my cabin. And while they agreed that 30 gold was way too much just for capturing me, they however were not complaining.
As soon as they had gone a good distance, I moved out of the ditch, dusting myself off. I didn't waste any more time, and rushed into my cabin. With haste, I gathered my snacks together into my small sleeping bag, downing a candy bar and a bag of chips in the process. While it wasn't the most nutritious meal, it at least satisfied me. What was the greater satisfaction was that I had managed to outwit everyone into thinking I was elsewhere.
Everyone except Lith.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:05
Lith stood at the entrance. Blocking it. His sword and shield were readied, and the look on his face said that this was not going to end well. Even so, I greeted him, telling him I planned on being a fugitive, and that I could use all the help I could get. He responded simply, telling me that Hardule was no longer a noble. That he had been demoted because he had let me escape. And that now there was very little chance that Cerberus would become a noble house.
I told Lith that it wasn't my fault. That it wasn't Hardule's fault. That all of this was because of Ulcik. I even wanted to tell him about Ulcik's whole plan with the original treasure, but I realized that wouldn't sway him an inch. He just looked at me, knowing that I was unarmed, and calmly said that I should have just made a new character.
I replied, slowly, knowing that I would regret the scene that followed. I said that I was just doing what my character would do, that all I was doing was roleplaying, the thing we came here to do.
Lith agreed. He said that was what we came here to do. And that what he was going to do now was just what his character would do. That all he was going to do was roleplay.
He lunged forward.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:07
Hardule and Lith had both been giving me advice while I made my character, and both of them knew I had built him wrong. Compared to a pure warrior, I had lower stats across the board. Compared to a pure spellcaster, I had only a fraction of their spells and the amount of times they could cast them. Worse still, I had decided to not specialize in a single school of magic, which meant that I had only the weakest of all three schools (except for the 7 damage fire spell, which is the second weakest of the fire school). In the end, my character could not be a mage because he could not rely on his spells, and he was far weaker than any other fighter.
However, in this exact situation, to both Lith's and my regret, I was invincible.
As he lunged forward, I hit him with my ice spell. He was still blocking the lone exit, so he began to count to thirty aloud, trying to show me how futile that spell was.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:09
I then hit him with my 1 damage fire spell. I then hit him again.
It then dawned on him what my plan was.
Combining the schools of fire and ice, I had no chance of losing. He had no ranged attacks, no defenses, nothing he could do. As the thirty seconds expired, I hit him with another ice spell, and then continued. His 22 HP dwindled away rapidly, until he was left with a single hit point. I renewed the ice spell, and then told him that he should run to the inn and get healed. He was furious at first, but he seemed to realize just how terrible it would be for me to be the one to kill his character. As he nodded in agreement, I put down my hand, glad that this had not turned out worse.
As the ice spell expired, he lunged forward at me.
He would have hit me. He had actually surprised me, shocked me to the point where there was no way I could have conciously reacted. Had I not been casting the same fire spell over and over again for the last five minutes, I probably would have been captured right there, unable to defend myself against him after he had closed the gap between us. But the spell had been drilled into my mind, and I reflexively acted, tossing the bean bag at him before I came within his reach.
As he dropped to the ground, defiantly silent, I panicked. I needed to get a healer to him quickly, but there was no way for a fugitive to do so. Were I to go to the inn, I would simply be captured or killed, and even then there was little chance a healer would reach Lith in time. Finding one by chance on the road was a long shot as well, and I was very much more likely to just run into a group of bounty hunters or monsters.
With a glance at my watch, I saw that he had very little time before his first five minutes were up, meaning that he would require advanced healing, not just basic healing like the spell I had.
After realizing how stupid I was, I found myself debating whether I should use one of my two remaining healing spells on a person I myself had damaged. I knew that I was going to need them later if I was expecting to survive as a fugitive, and there'd be no other way I could get healing. Knowing Lith would never forgive me if I was the one that killed him, it became a very easy choice.
I kicked aside his sword and shield, well out of his reach. Grabbing my sleeping bag, I knelt down by him, apologizing that things had had to turn out like this. As soon as I healed him, before he could get up, I hit him with an ice spell. I then ran out of the cabin, food and sleeping gear triumphantly in tow, but wondering if it had been worth it.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:13
By now, it was late in the afternoon. With food obtained, I decided I'd do the next easiest thing, which was to find a place to sleep and to leave my stuff. That may be one of the better things about LARPing, I think. When playing a tabletop roleplaying game, carrying gear and sleeping meant absolutely nothing, to the point where I wouldn't even keep track of it. At a LARP, you learn to appreciate being able to ignore those things. Here, I would have a hard time esaping any pursuers if I had to carry a sleeping bag filled with food while doing so. And while sleeping in the woods with just my sleeping bag was a possibility, I wasn't going to do it if I didn't have to.
Besides the cabins that were scattered about the camp ground, there were other small buildings and sites, like picnic grounds with tables, that might be better to sleep at. My first choice would be to find a cabin that had been left unnassigned, but this was also the most risky. It would be a really bad scene to think a cabin was unnoccupied and then to find out it wasn't. Even so, the exciting prospect of sleeping in an equipment shed or outhouse wasn't enough to disuade me from taking that risk.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:15
Travelling far away from the inn to the cabins I assumed they would assign last, I found myself encountering less and less people and having to hide less and less often. The people who were pursuing me, who I assumed was everyone (considering the size of the bounty), really didn't seem keen on doing a good job looking for me. They were just patrolling around the main roads, not bothering to poke around in the smaller ones, let alone the woods. With the whole camp grounds to look over, I realized that within the outskirt reaches, I could basically move around without really having to fear being found.
I stalked several cabins, watching them from a distance. When it seemed like no one was around, I'd run up, check to see if there was any signs of people staying there, and if I saw bags lying around, I'd go to the next cabin. Finally, just as it was getting dark, I found a cabin that was well detached from all the others. Peering inside, I saw that there was no sign anyone had been in there. As I tried the front door and found it locked, I began to wonder if what I was about to do was going to be considered unlawful entry. I tried one of the windows, which were almost rustic with their simplicity, and opened it without difficulty.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:18
Inside, it was fairly bare beyond wooden bedframes with plastic wrapped mattresses, but there was a small kitchen and bathroom. After relieving myself and getting a nice drink of the tap water, I located a closet. Inside, it was not very large, but there was enough room for me to sleep in it if I slept in the fetal position. While sleeping on a mattress would be infinitely more comfortable, I wasn't going to be taking any more chances than I already was. But now was not the time to even consider sleeping, so I just downed a few more snacks, put my gear in the closet, and left through the window.
It was getting fairly dark, which was to my advantage. I've always had good night vision, meaning the poor light would only serve to hide me from my enemies. While I never prided myself on being stealthy, I guess that might have been because I had never had the chance to test myself. Even now though I still wouldn't consider it to be one of my skills, considering that the people I was sneaking around were often obviously not looking for anyone. It seemed that most people had given up on actively searching for me, which made my life all the easier. However, it didn't solve my major problem.
I had decided to take a weapon from the Cave. Moving towards it, I determined my earlier fears had not been misguided. Were it not for the darkness, I probably would have been quickly discovered and attacked by the monsters that wandered around near it. They were constantly actively searching for people, not just for me, as it was common for weak players to hide from the monsters at night.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:22
I pressed my luck, and was rewarded as I reached the Cave without being found. Stepping inside the large cabin, I was relieved to find the main room empty, and the large piles of weapons exactly as I remembered them. Perhaps taking my time more than I should have, I looked through all the two-handed swords, until I found one I considered to be the best. It was the maximum length for a two-hander, but was light and simple, without any senseless decorations beyond a thin foam cross guard. Though I knew my major tactics of running and hiding would remain unchanged, I at least felt like I now had the opportunity to fight.
Just as I was leaving, the old man appeared from one of the back rooms. My first instinct was to run, but I just slowly turned around and left, as normally as if I was just any old monster ready to set out on patrol. A moment passed before he called out to me, but by then I was already sprinting towards the safety of the dark woods, sword in hand.
Now, it was time to plan. The entire time I had been gathering and preparing, I had been thinking of what exactly it was that I wanted to do. There was no point in trying to clear my name, and just surviving until I was caught wasn't really much of a plan. Thinking of what Nephem, my character, would do in this situation, I realized that I didn't really have the choice to get out of this land, especially if you took the real world consideration that Hardule had been the one to drive us here. I then simply asked what it was that I really wanted to do.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:24
I really wanted to kill that fat woman warrior. Archduke Ulcik also really deserved to die. In fact, I wanted to see just about every player who had sided with Ulcik in hunting me suffer a bit, but I was more than willing to just watch the noble house of Ulcik crumble. Fantasizing about seeing everyone have their precious characters killed, I quickly realized the difficulty, if not impossibility, of me being able to accomplish something like that. Setting my sights low, I decided it would be best to just focus on having the woman warrior get killed, while antogonizing the Ulcik house whenever I could.
This didn't leave me with much of a time frame. It was already Saturday night. The event only lasted until Sunday afternoon, giving me only a few hours to do anything. Every second now had the utmost importance, especially because I planned on never coming back here again.
With such a small amount of time to work with, I needed every edge I could get. While just having the sword with me felt comforting, the tiny bit of damage I dealt with it didn't really seem like it would let me acomplish my goal within the time alotted. Though I was certain I could kill the woman in solo combat, I doubt there ever was a time where she'd be alone without some manner of backup. Combined with my spells, I might have a chance against two people, though not if one were a mage.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:26
Magic in this game was definitely overpowered, and I think I could understand why. Almost every top-tier noble was a wizard, including Ulcik himself. All the most important battles would be fought between mages, and warriors really only served the purpose of standing between the wizards, creating a nice wall for them to cast over.
What scared me most about the mages was abilities like Ulcik's Fire storm. While dodging beanbags wasn't easy, you still had the chance. With undodgeable area attacks, the only hope you had was that your character was strong enough to survive.
Thankfully, mages typically dressed like poison dart frogs, making it easy to not only see that they were dangerous, but easy to see from a distance. In order to kill the woman warrior, I'd have to attack her at a time when I could tell there wasn't a mage within running distance, which I doubted would be an easy task.
Wondering if there was anything I was overlooking on my character sheet, I fished into my pockets to retrieve it. As I did, my fingers brushed against two things I had completely forgotten about.
I had removed the two magical rings from the treasure box, and never returned them.
This was undoubtebly a cause to celebrate. While made out of cheap plastic and set with cheap plastic gems, the real worth of the ring could be determined by a chart that revealed what each type of ring did. Unable to remember the whole chart, or even more than a small part of it, I was at least able to determine that the gold and blue gem ring was undoubtedly powerful, but also that the silver and three red gemmed ring was most likely unique. Unique rings were ones that were not on the chart, at least not on the chart in the rulebook, meaning that in order to find out what it did, I'd have to ask a plot master. My joy quickly fading, I realized that without knowing what they did, these rings were just cheap pieces of plastic.
Even so, I was still glad I had kept them. Slipping them back into my pocket, I began to review my character sheet, only to realize that it was far too dark to make out a single word. Taking a bit of a risk, I moved towards one of tha major paths, which had large streetlights placed sparingly upon them.
Reading my statistics beneath a light, I found nothing I didn't already know. Even so, it was good to actually see what I could do, and I began to formulate what kind of strategies I had available to me.
In a somewhat ironic sense, while I mused over how to be tactful and strategic, I was standing out in the open beneath a street light. This may have been bad because I was clearly visible and vulnerable, but it was even worse because my eyes were adjusting to the light. As the two monsters approached me, I didn't even notice them until it was far too late.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:29
They saw me, and didn't even hasten their pace. I called out to them, asking what I saw. One replied that they were murdagrunks, and seeing my confusion, the other simply explained that they were "stronger grunks."
As they walked towards me, their short swords ready, I felt a strange calmness. It felt like a proper, gentlemanly duel, rather than an ambush. I felt like we were all on the same wavelength, understanding that what we were about to do was a battle that would test our physical skill and ability, rather than what our stats dictated. It was to be an honorable, feel-good battle, where no matter who was slain we'd all congratulate each other on an excellent fight.
Just as they leapt to attack me, three more of them leapt out of the woods.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:31
Cursing, I quickly struck one twice, relying more on the reach of my sword than any actual skill. He fell, making me take the guess that even though they were stronger than ordinary grunks, they were not stronger by much. The other four stopped advancing, and spread out to surround me.
Were the circumstances different, my principle thought would be to shout and delay them until help arrived. With that being a more deadly option than trying to face these four, I decided on a plan that may have been even more foolish.
Calling out to one, I challenged him.
A direct, clear challenge. The other three seemed indifferent, ready to just swarm and kill me, but I had chosen the right one. This guy was tall and fairly muscular, very unlike the rat-like creature he was supposed to be. With a few short words, he told the other three he could take me, and with a bit of reluctance, they moved away from the two of us.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:33
He leapt at me, in a way that you were not allowed to do at this LARP. Within the rules, combat was expected to be two people standing a few feet away from each other, tapping their weapons at each other until the person who dealt more damage or had more HP won. Jumping at your opponent was not allowed, as it was considered dangerous, and getting too close to a person was likewise prohibited. In that moment, and probably every moment like it, I simply didn't care and was glad that someone was willing to actually give me a fight.
He had charged in close, but too short for the reach of his sword yet within the reach of mine. I slashed at him, forcing him to block, and tried a second slash before he leapt back. He was skilled, perhaps even more than I was, but both my weapon and my statistics were superior. As he tried to figure out how he could actually strike me with his short sword, I interrupted his thoughts by rushing in at him. He was far too good with the short sword, blocking every strike I tried, but the difference in reach kept him from returning any attacks. Finally, I bent down low, striking his legs. It was a solid hit, too low for him to block with his sword, and I quickly followed it with another, felling him.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:36
The other three had remained silent spectators, but as they saw their comrade fall, they began to make odd, rat-like sounds.
I turned to face them, ready for them to swarm me. Instead, another one took a step forward, and with a bit of relief, I challenged him as well. This fight was short, as I likewise discovered he was a skilled fighter and that he could block my attacks with leisure, but two strikes to the legs was enough to defeat him.
The third didn't even wait for me to properly challenge him. And I didn't even wait to find out if he was good at blocking. I kept attacking his feet, forcing him to leap back each time, unable to find a counter. As he reached the edge of the path and his foot fell into the small ditch that was beyond it, I struck him squarely on the shoulder and followed it with a hit on the other side.
The last one approached me in a low stance, and I at first thought he was just acting like the rat-creature he was supposed to be. It didn't take me long to realize he had figured out the counter to my low attacks, and from his low stance his short sword guarded his legs with ease. I was also pressed with a different difficulty, in that the one target that I had access to was also the one I wasn't allowed to hit. He didn't even bother to guard his head, in a strange form of faith, and I was left trying to slash his sides, only to have my efforts wasted by his blocks.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:38
While his stance was good for defense, he had no real way to attack me. His crouch kept him from being very mobile, and we fought in almost the same position for far too long a length of time. Seeing that he wasn't even breathing hard, I suddenly felt all the exhaustion the last battles owed me. Gasping for breath, I continued to attack, knowing that each passing moment was just to his advantage. The second I'd stop my attack, he'd rush in, dealing damage that I could not risk to take.
With a final, wild swing, I gave up. Too tired, and too unskilled, I realized I had no chance of beating him in this manner of fighting. As soon as he saw the opportunity, he leapt forward, his sword flashing out at my shoulder for 2 points of damage. I responded in kind, however for 4 points. With no skill, no effort, nothing but raw statistics, I took his next hit and returned it with my own. There was a mutual feeling of disappointment, but I just could not let myself be killed by a bunch of random rat people. As he dropped, I asked if I found any treasure on them. They handed me 5 copper pieces, a fair amount of money, and then left them as they went to respawn somewhere else.
The two hits I had taken were bad, but I still had 10HP left. A bit low for a warrior to have, but I was quickly realizing that I might just not have what it takes to be a melee fighter. Knowing that I had to rapidly learn the style of fighting that took place here or I didn't have a chance at accomplishing my goals, I began to wonder if it was time to start seeking fights.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:40
I didn't have to, as it was all too easy for the fights to find me. Like most nights, that night had a special theme. Every monster that was out there was either a grunk or a murdagrunk, and they were out in full force.
The side roads were now just as deadly, if not more so, than the main roads, something that took me a few encounters to determine. Fighting against the people who played the monsters was a rare treat for me, and after taking down six two-man groups, I realized I was over-extending myself in order to keep fighting them. Keeping to the small roads, I kept fighting and fighting, ambushing one group or being ambushed by another. I went out of my way to pick fights, enraptured by what probably was some form of bloodlust. With each enemy carrying a single copper piece, I had a good way to keep track of how many I had been fighting, as I would have lost count otherwise.
I at first pitied my enemies, for having low HP and dealing only 1 or 2 points of damage. I quickly got over that, as my own HP dwindled and I saw that they basically all had infinite lives. I would fight a group only to fight them again within the next few minutes, knowing full well that I would see them again soon. The battles slowly became easier as I began to recognize people and how they fought, and the monsters seemed to slowly get used to the nature of having infinite respawns. As the night continued, they grew less and less defensive, more willing to do suicidal rushes and risky manuevers, knowing full well that they'd just return in a matter of minutes.
As time flew by, I began to wonder what exactly I was doing. With only 6 HP left, I had collected over 50 copper coins, half of a gold piece, but not having accomplished much else. With the large amount jingling in my pocket, I eventually asked a lone murdagrunk I had ambushed and slew if he had any silver pieces he could exchange for my copper. He asked me how many rat people I had defeated by then, and I started counting. Amazed, the murdagrunk introduced himself, and then told me that when he wasn't a monster he'd play a character named Vlaine. Vlaine explained that the Cave right now was basically empty, with every monster running about.
They were actually supposed to be assaulting the inn, where all the players were gathered together. However, I had chosen a fairly inconvienient hunting ground for the monsters, as I was right in between the inn and the Cave. With only a handful ever actually reaching the inn and being killed almost instantly by the high powered people that guarded it, most of the rat-people were actually prefferring to find and fight me then to journey all the way to the inn.
Realizing that I was ruining what was most likely Ulcik's planned event, I couldn't help but feel proud. Thanking Vlaine for the information and for exchanging my copper for some silver coins, I made my way back onto the small paths, reinvigorated thanks to having found a purpose.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:43
The ratfolk changed their tactics. Rather than moving in two-people groups, they moved around individually, searching for me. While they could have easily defeated me by just moving around in groups of four or more, I think I came to realize that their goal wasn't a collabrative one. Each monster wanted to be the lone one who managed to kill me. This made my life much easier, as ambushing them became almost too easy and the subsequent battles were over in seconds. The encounters were now paced closer together, but I grew less tired as the night continued, having found a style of attack that worked almost too well.
The legs were my favorite targets. The only way they could be defended was from the crouched position or by moving backwards. What this meant was that anytime they wanted to move forward, their legs became perfect targets. I would wait for my opponent to take that step forward to attack with his short dagger or sword, and with a step back of my own I would strike his exposed leg. With my "fading strike" working every single time, no matter how often I used it against the same person, I thought about just how frustrated all the monsters must be.
They continued to keep to the small paths I was on, a nearly continuous assault of battles. As soon as I dropped one grunk, I would spot another who had heard the sounds of battle, and I would rush to meet him. With adrenaline surging through me, I continued to fight, slowly learning how to use my sword until I felt that I really could match the monsters in actual skill, not simply cheap tactics and an abuse of my reach advantage.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:45
After exchanging coins a few times with Vlaine (who told me that the monsters were glad I did so, as they would probably have run out of copper coins), in the five hours I had spent fighting I had managed to collect two gold coins and three silver ones, an impressive haul by any standard. But, the five hours had taken their toll, with no healing spells left, only 3 hp, and I could barely move. Thankfully, it seemed that the monsters too were exhausted, and their numbers slowly dwindled until finally I was certain that I was all alone in these woods.
Trudging back to the cabin I had commandeered as my own, I opened the door, too exhausted to think. The inside was very dark, far darker than the moon lit night outside, but I didn't want to risk turning on the light. I moved towards the closet that would be my personal sanctuary, ready to pass out.
The lights suddenly flashed on, and I wheeled around, adrenaline knocking aside any fatigue. Standing by the light switch was the young nervous girl I had met many hours before, startled and surprised by someone she was clearly not expecting. She must have been either sleeping or waiting in bed, as she was dressed in simple pajamas. With the rules of the game dictating that we were both still active players, I looked at her as a threat. She had no weapon on her, but if she were a pure mage, that meant nothing. With only 3 hp, a single spell would be more than enough to take me out. Not wanting to take that chance, I moved towards her, sword ready.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:46
She surrendered, throwing both hands out wide, showing that she didn't even have a bean bag to throw. She then told me that she didn't even have any spells remaining, as she had used them up already. Perhaps somewhat foolishly, I trusted her, telling her to get back to her bed. I quickly turned out the lights, and locked the door, only realizing now how stupid I was for not noticing it had been unlocked earlier.
She knew who I was. At least, she knew how I was a fugitive murderer with a 30 gold bounty on his head. I told her that all I wanted to do was sleep, and that the closet was the only safe place I had found. I asked if I could trust her to not tell anyone, so that I wouldn't have to kill her. When I said it like that, she told me that there was no doubt that I could trust her. Slumping down into the closet, I waited for my heartbeat to slow, the last bit of excitement having roused it into a rapid tempo. Feeling hungry, I offered her a bag of chips as I opened one for myself. As we ate, she asked me what I had been doing for the last day, and I felt the strange need to tell someone what I had gone through. As soon as I finished, I asked her what she had been doing, and if she had any news that could help me.
Her character's name was Selenia, and she had come here with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend, much like Hardule, had been here since the very beginning, and was one of the most powerful warriors. He had convinced her to come, though she admitted she was very reluctant. He had built her character for her, telling her that he planned on working with her as a team. She was a mage, but could not use any weapon and had only 7 HP. All her points had been spent in healing spells.
He had made her into a pocket mage.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:47
These two words may not mean much to non-LARPers, because it may be something that can only exist in a LARP. While a warrior may be powerful, there was a way that they could be practically invincible. While they fought, they would have a mage with a hand on their backs, constantly healing them. This two person combo was so effective, it ended up being the sole tactic use by the most powerful players at the last LARP I had gone to. Fighting against a warrior who had a pocket mage was at best like chopping at a tree, trying to get the mage to expend all their spells so you actually had a chance to damage the warrior themselves.
She had followed her boyfriend around all day, healing him and others when neccesary, until it came to the big battle that had taken place at the inn. He had understimated the grunk swarm, running into the center of one, and ended up having Selenia use all her healing spells. Without her spells, she was effectively useless, and opted to go to their cabin. Her boyfriend also wanted to leave with her, but Ulcik kept saying that more and more ratfolk were on their way. Since he had to help defend the inn from a massive swarm that would never actually reach it, the boyfriend had stayed behind.
Reaching into my pocket to take out a piece of gold so that I could give her something in exchange for her silence besides a threat, I realized I still had the two rings. I quickly asked her if there was a rulebook inside this cabin, and she went over to her boyfriend's bags and pulled out á copy. Reading with a flashlight, I found the page with the ring chart, was impressed by what I had. The gold ring with the blue gem was a ring of minor spell reflection. What this meant was that I could block spells with my sword.
Ordinarily, one of the reasons why mages were so powerful was because both the shield and the weapon of a warrior were viable targets for their spells, forcing them to dodge if they wanted to avoid the spell. With the sword and shield being the most popular weapon combo, the shield served mostly as a giant target for the spell casters. However, with either a sword, shield, or ring of minor spell reflection, neither the sword nor shield counted as targets, meaning you could block spells that came towards you.
A major ring of spell reflection actually let you bounce back any spell you blocked right back at its caster 3 times a day, but the minor ring was still much more powerful than someone like me deserved. I also determined that the ring with three red gemmed was in fact a unique one, which was at least better than being unsure about it. Placing both rings on my fingers, I thanked Selenia, gave her the gold piece and explained that I was using it to buy her silence, and then dug into my small closet nest.
An hour later, her boyfriend marched inside, waking me from my light sleep. He seemed rather angry, and I quickly learned why. He and the rest of the nobles had been staying at the inn, waiting for an ambush they were expecting to come, but only a handful of ratfolk ever made their way to the inn after the first initial wave. Ulcik eventually ended up breaking character, calling the Cave, and finding out that all the monsters were too tired to go and attack the inn.
All the players who had stayed up all night at the inn were furious, having been denied what was supposed to be a fun and easy battle. Selenia explained that it had been me that had been fighting hundreds of ratfolk, and he quickly demanded to know how she knew. She explained that one of the monsters who was going back to his cabin had told her what had happened, and her boyfriend ranted and raved for a little longer before he collapsed into his bed.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:50
I returned to sleep, but with the urgency that comes from understanding I only had the rest of the day to complete my goals, I woke up after only another three hours of sleep. If my guess was correct, most of the players would still be sleeping at this time, especially since they had practically spent the entire night guarding the inn. After eating a pathetic breakfast, I looked out of the closet into the cabin. Selenia and her boyfriend were sleeping, in what I noticed were seperate beds. Looking at the gear her boyfriend had carelessly tossed to the ground, including a clearly magical two-handed sword, I wished vehemently that you didn't need a sanctioned witness in order to steal things. Just as I was about to leave the cabin, a dirty little rule suddenly entered my mind.
With the rulebook within reach, I went ahead and made sure I had read it correctly. I read it again to make sure that I had not ommitted anything. I then struggled slightly with my decision.
Available to all players was the ability to deliver a finishing blow to a fallen enemy. Dropping a monster or player to 0 HP meant that it had only fallen unconcious, and that it would still take the fifteen minutes for it to die. However, by delivering a coup-de-grace, a declared attack that you had to wait five seconds before you delivered it, you bypassed the whole fifteen minutes and just instantly killed your opponent. And, the rules made certain to say that this finishing blow could be used on sleeping people, making it possibly the best way to assassinate someone.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:51
I wondered at first if I was betraying Selenia's trust by murdering her boyfriend while he slept, but knowing that he was from house Ulcik made my decision very simple. With sword in hand, I declared my attack, counted the five seconds out loud, and gently tapped his shoulder.
I then gently woke him.
He did not awaken gently.
He knew full well what I had done even before I told him. He threw a fit, loud enough to wake Selenia, but I calmly showed him the rules I had followed, and told him that he had died in his sleep, not even knowing who had killed him. He had no choice but to accept his character's death, but I knew for certain that when he went back to the inn to get ressurected, he'd tell everyone that I had killed him.
I then almost ran right out of the cabin, before realizing something very important. I turned to the guy, and told him I was taking his stuff. With him being a fallen enemy, he would act as the witness as I looted his gear. He turned to Selenia, and he knew better than I did that she had no way to stop me. Emptying a pouch that held over fifty gold(!) and grabbing the two-handed sword, I felt somewhat reluctant about parting with my old sword. I asked him if he wanted to keep the physical weapon, an overly ornate and tacky piece, and he agreed that he'd prefer it if I just took the two ribbons that told people that his sword was both +3 and made of enchanted silver.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:52
Hoping my tiny bit of revenge against the noble house would not backfire on me, I ran off. Keeping to the smaller paths, I briefly considered going into other cabins and killing other people while they slept. This plan dissolved rather quickly, as within the half hour I managed to find two people talking at a crossroad. Moving off the path, I listened and discovered that the boyfriend and not even waited to tell people at the inn, but had warned a fellow noble, who was now rousing everyone awake. At first I felt bad that potential victims were now gone, but I realized this was better for me. They'd be weakened by lack of sleep, and more importantly they'd be active, giving me something to do.
The two people then parted and ran off in opposite directions, leaving me to figure out a plan. Attaching the two ribbons to my sword, I could now deal 7 damage, and double damage against creatures weak to silver. Since it was a brand new day, I had my full 14 HP, along with my one 7 damage fire spell and my three 4HP heal spells. I felt ready to take on the world.
While feeling pretty good about my newfound and restored power, I spotted Vlaine heading towards the cave. Seeing that he wasn't a monster just yet, I went up to him, and asked him what he was doing so early in the morning. Vlaine explained that all the monsters were gathering together in the cave, preparing for a huge battle.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:54
Questioning him further, he explained that this battle was somewhat unplanned, and was basically being cobbled together because last night's big battle didn't go as planned. While the monsters had had their share of fun, the players in the inn felt like they had just wasted their time. The funny part was that they couldn't really complain, because in a way I had been defending the inn, and would be considered a hero in the game. I explained I definitely would not be seen as a hero, especially since I had just killed a noble this morning.
Vlaine found this news very amusing. He, and most of the people who played monsters, all really hated the nobles, and this was only good news to them. My gears turning, I asked for more details about the upcoming battle.
This time, they wouldn't just be weak little ratfolk. They were going as various types of giants, including trolls and ogre mages. Vlaine was one of the few monsters who was actually good at casting spells, so he knew that he'd be chosen to play the part of an ogre mage. Since he was a mage, he'd probably be put in charge of a small squadron, probably of younger monsters.
I then told him what I was planning. He stopped me short, telling me that most of the monsters would not agree to doing anything like that, because they knew that a monster's role was not to kill, but be killed. I felt disheartened for a second, before Vlaine also explained there were definitely a few monsters, if not a few players, who would want nothing more than to help me accomplish my goals.
We planned quickly. The huge battle would take a lot of preparation, about two hours or so. During that time, Vlaine would talk to some of the younger monsters that he thought would be on my side. He said that was a pretty easy step, since I had managed to get a lot of respect through killing so many ratfolk by myself. After that, he himself would go on patrol, using the freedom of being a monster to look for players. He would then lead them to me.
Within an hour, there were six teenagers sitting around me inside a wooded glen. Asking them a few questions, it became quite clear that they hated the nobles, not just the ones from Ulcik's house. They told me themselves that they had heard I had defended the inn despite being a fugitive, none of them realizing that all I did was stop the nobles from having a chance to show off. Thankfully, whether or not they were trustworthy didn't matter, I explained what I wanted them to do. Handing them each a gold piece, I promised them another if things went as planned.
I met up with Vlaine fifteen minutes before the big battle was supposed to start, and he said that everything was ready. He even said that he had gone one step further than we had planned, and managed to convince a particular person to join us. It was the guy who I had been forced to resort to relying on statistical advantage in order to defeat. After that first battle where he had figured out to use the low stance to counter my attacks, I recieved the chance to fight him several more times. He was easily one of the most skilled fighters that was here, and it was only towards the end of that night that I felt like I had grown to be able to fight him purely with skill. Even by then though, I felt that had we both been outfitted with the same weapon, I would have lost each time.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:58
Vlaine then explained that that man was going to be playing a summoned air elemental, a creature that could walk right past a shield wall just by saying that he was flying. This meant that the battle could very quickly turn into the perfect situation for me.
As he ran back to the cave in order to get his costume on, I ran towards the large field where the battle would take place. I moved into the woods that lined the field, preparing a makeshift blind to conceal my position. What I needed to do now was just watch and wait, until the perfect moment presented itself.
The two armies soon gathered at opposite ends of the field. The giants were organized in loose squads, and were clearly out numbered almost two-to-one. However that was only in reality, while in the fantasy world there were more giants than there were players. When a giant would fall, he would go to the edge of the woods, wait a few seconds, and then come back as a new giant.
Typically, they had a set number of times they respawn, depending on how strong of a giant they were, with weaker giants respawning more times than stronger giants. However, this number would likely change as the battle went on, as the old man (the battle coordinator) would see how many mages still could cast spells on the players' side. If there were only a handful of mages left, the coordinator would just tell the monsters to stop respawning, and the battle would soon be over. Everything was geared in the player's favor, and there was absolutely no chance that they would lose.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:00
The players were organized by noble house. Those who were not part of a noble house were conscripted into one for the duration of the battle. Their strategy was simple. The warriors would form a shield wall, with the mages behind them as support. A few of the noble warriors were already in the front lines, with pocket mages already behind them. They would just let the waves of giants crash onto the shield lines, which would undoubtedly hold (the strong warriors would never fall because of their pocket mages, while the weaker warriors would just be replaced as they fell). Everything about the battle seemed to have already been decided.
I spotted Ulcik, safely in the back, with a large entourage. Among them, I spotted Hardule, Lith, and even Selenia and her newly resurrected boyfriend. Knowing that that could turn into a very complicated situation, I hoped that the battle would press the entourage to spread out.
As the battle began, the air quickly filled with shouts. The nobles shouted orders at the other players, while the giants simply shouted. I watched intently, seeing the players shift around, until I saw what I was looking for. Six players, with shields forming a line, were directly in front of Vlaine's squad of giants.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:02
I stood up, and walked out of the forest, behind the players' forces. Vlaine, who had been fighting lazily, spotted me, and with a great shout, lifted his staff into the air with both hands. Responding to this signal, the six players moved out and to the sides, forming a massive gap directly in the center of the shield wall formation. Ignoring those six, Vlaine and his squad marched right past the sheild wall, striking down mage after mage.
It all happened in an instant. The scripted battle, with it's foretold conclusion, turned into absolute chaos. The players tried at first to close the gap, but the other monsters knew an advantage when they saw one. They poured into the gap, striking the almost completely defenseless mages, dropping one after the other. With no healer support, the front line began to crumble and a complete rout seemed likely.
That was, until Ulcik and the other nobles decided to step up.
With a single spell, Ulcik obliterated Vlaine's entire squadron, stopping the spearhead formation that had managed to create such a large gap. As he continued to throw spells with abandon, the other nobles began activating their special abilities. Some became invincible, others exploded in damage, and one managed to revive ten of the mages who had fallen. The battle quickly turned against the giants, who were pressed back until the shield wall reestablished itself.
I watched all this with anticipation.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:03
No one seemed to notice me, or at least, they didn't seem to care about me. No one except Lith. As soon as he spotted me, he knew my intentions. He moved towards me, away from Ulcik, and confronted me.
There was no point in words. This wasn't a matter that concerned House Ulcik or this game, all that mattered was that this was a rematch, a moment for Lith to restore his lost honor. As he moved towards me, I threw an Ice spell at him, hoping to pin his legs. Without flinching, he simply replied "Minor Immunity" and continued forward.
This was fine by me. Being immune to all low level spells (which were all of my spells) made this into a straight sword fight. The only thing that irked me was that it was most likely Ulcik who had cast it on Lith, but even that meant one less spell Ulcik could cast today.
We were a bit of a distance away from the rest of the battle, and while I desperately needed to pay attention to it, I couldn't afford to. Lith was earnestly trying to kill me, and this time I was ready to respond in kind.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:04
He had not been through what I had been through. His sword was slow in comparison to the daggers I had faced, and his shield seemed to trouble him more than me. My sword sang, slicing through the air and then into his leg, and again into his shoulder. He was shocked when he heard me call out 7 damage, and now he was at best two hits away from dying. He didn't say a word though, and charged forward, slamming me with his shield.
I fell back, not expecting the illegal strike, but complimenting him on his willingness to use it. He wasn't holding anything back, and I was glad he had decided to take this so seriously. As he tried again to slam his shield into me, I used all of my strength to whip my sword into his, disarming him and tossing his sword away. I followed the blow with a light tap to his shoulder, before letting him pick up his sword.
Three times seven was 21, while he only had started with 22 HP. With his single HP left, I decided to remind him of our earlier battle, by telling him to run off to the inn to find a healer.
These might have been some kind of magic words. As soon as I said them, he shouted, threw down his shield, and leapt at me with his sword.
With a perfect fading strike, I dealt the 7 damage to his leg before stepping out of the way of his blow that was assuredly aimed at my head. As soon as I delivered the damage, he just smiled.
"That was a good fight," he said simply, before dropping ceremoniously to the ground.
Moving past him, I saw that our fight had not gone unnoticed. Selenia, attached to her boyfriend, were heading my way. This was not a fight I wanted to deal with, especially not when I was supposed to be paying attention to the bigger battle. But the boyfriend was not going to let his assassin just walk away.
He came swinging, and I wondered how he had survived in this game. He swung his two-handed sword almost as if the sword was swinging him. Realizing that he was the first "player" I was going to fight after going through all the monsters and even Lith, I didn't feel as much joy as I did a sense of tedium. I struck him, again and again and again, wondering how he expected to hit me. He was calling out 12 points of damage with each strike, but I was not worried in the slightest.
After hitting him ten times, he called Selenia to come heal him. As she did, I asked if she could save a heal spell to heal Lith. As she agreed, her boyfriend grew furious, which made his attacks all the wilder. Ignoring every rule, he seemed intent on chopping off my head with his silly looking sword.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:07
I kept attacking him, until I had hit him another ten times. After Selenia healed him again, she then ran off towards Lith, leaving the two of us alone. Without restraint, I whipped my sword into him, literally shifting him left and right with each blow, until he simply dropped. Picking up his sword and seeing no ribbons on it, I just tossed it away from him, to give him a little trouble if someone decided to revive him, but not wanting to use a finishing blow on him to kill him outright.
As I surveyed the battle, it seemed like the player's shield wall was doing it's job, and the giants were in a bad situation. Spotting Vlaine, I waved my sword at him. With another shout and a raise of his staff, the shield wall once again parted, and chaos returned. Looking on in satisfaction, I turned to look at Ulcik, who now had a worried look on his face. As I stood there, basking in his moment of despair, I was struck hard in the back of my head for 12 points of damage. Turning around, I saw the boyfriend standing there, and I looked around for any sign of a healer.
With none that could be found, I realized what he had done. He had dropped to the ground while he still had HP left, only pretending to have fallen. Thanks to the naivety that allowed me to fall for such a simple trick, I only had 2 HP left.
I don't think I really cared all that much about how much HP I had at that moment.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:09
With the back of my head throbbing slightly, I struck him hard in the hands, not even bothering to call out damage. As his sword dropped slightly, I began to rain down hits on his shoulders. He dropped after only four, but I continued to poke his body until I was sure he had taken over 300 points of damage to make sure he wasn't faking this time. I then performed a coup-de-grace, and watched as he stood up and ran off the battlefield.
Looking around, I saw that everyone was preoccupied with the giants. The hole in the shield wall was no longer closing, and it was hard to tell if there were any mages left standing besides the strongest of nobles. Looking towards Ulcik, I saw Hardule standing close by him, fending off trolls with his fire spells. Finally, I saw what I had been looking for.
Ulcik made a very specific motion. A sideways chop that he continued to do until the old man in charge of the monsters began to move around and issue new orders.
Ulcik was low on spells.
As soon as that signal was sent out, I sent an identical one at Vlaine. Rather than raising his staff with both arms, he raised it high with one and shouted, calling forth the air elemental.
Even when dressed and acting like a rat person, he had been intimidating. Now, dressed in a tattered gray cloak, dark gray make-up, and a grizzled gray wig, carrying two huge foam sickles, his appearance was more than enough to drain what little hope the player's had. The air elemental ripped people apart, carving a line through the players as they dropped before his sickles.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:11
The nobles panicked. The warriors had long lost their pocket mages, and were relying on their own HP. The mages had used all their most powerful spells, and were using up their items as if they actually feared for their lives. Ulcik, though looking somewhat stressed, appeared to be still capable of flinging spell after spell, dropping down giants. Finally, as the air elemental drew near to him, he called out a death spell, slaying the elemental instantly.
With that, he stopped casting.
I moved forward, knowing that now was my chance. Using my three healing spells, I returned to 14HP. I looked to see what was left of House Ulcik, and was pleased that only Hardule and Ulcik himself had not fled back to the inn or were lying facedown in the grass. The other noble houses were preoccupied with the remaining giants, leaving me and them apart from the rest of the battle. As Ulcik spotted me, his tiny eyes grew wide. Looking at my hands, he pointed to the shouting, "The ring! He has the Ring of Wish!"
Looking down at my finger, at the piece of cheap plastic I had completely forgotten about, I realized why he had placed such a large bounty on my head. Ulcik probably didn't care in the slightest about me being free, what he cared about was the unique ring I had taken from the chest. And if he cared about it that much, my only guess was that it was obscenely powerful.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:13
Putting that matter aside, Hardule stepped in between us. Throwing his ten damage spell at me, I blocked it easily with my sword. He looked at me strangely at first, until I showed him the other ring I had.
He continued to throw spells at me, forcing me to dodge and block, with a precision I did not expect from him. Though I tried to get close to him, he kept forcing me back, with a nearly endless amount of spells. As I tried to follow his eyes, I suddenly saw him glance behind me. Turning around slightly to see, I saw Lith, his sword ready.
Sandwiched between my two friends, with my truest goal just beyond them, I realized everything was for nothing. As Lith attacked me, Hardule threw spells at my back, forcing me to dodge and roll just to stay alive. Finally, as Lith managed to catch my sword between his sword and shield, Hardule hit me with a spell for 10 damage. Even so, I knew that if I could just drop Lith, I still had a chance.
Ulcik stole that chance from me.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:15
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him throw a bean bag at me. Instinctively, reflexively, without a single thought in my head, I batted it with my sword. As I connected with it, I could only scream with rage when I realized what that terrible, horrible man had cast.
"Shatter."
It dropped my no longer existant sword, the sword that had brought me all this way, just as Lith swung at me for 4 damage. I dropped, slowly, painfully, wondering if they would just let me bleed dry or if they'd finish me off. My face in the dirt, I could feel tears welling up, knowing that I had been so close, yet I couldn't even hit Ulcik once.
Ulcik was hysterical. He ran up to Lith and Hardule, hugging them and complimenting himself on his brilliant final spell. He laughed at me, telling me I had been foolish to oppose him, and that he had saved that spell just for someone like me. He promised both Hardule and Lith peerage, even joking that after this battle there'd probably be a lot of vacancies.
Hardule, overjoyed, asked Ulcik if it really had been his final spell that had finished me off. Ulcik laughed, saying that he was bone dry out of magic, and was right now nothing more than a walking sack of HP. What luck, he said, that it was his last spell that had taken me down!
With the truest ring of happiness in his voice, Hardule said he had waited seven years for this.
Hardule often made bad decisions. That's who he was. Left to his own devices, he will almost always come up with the absolute worst ideas. And, thinking reasonably, logically, this probably was his worst one.
He started casting spells at Ulcik. Lith didn't miss a beat, swinging his sword in a flurry. Ulcik, absolutely bewildered, first tried to understand what was going on. When that failed, he tried to run, but I doubt the man had ran in the last thirty years. Hardule and Lith chased after him, but didn't have to run far before Ulcik dropped.
As I watched wide-eyed in shock from the ground, I suddenly felt a hand at my back. Selenia healed me for 4 hitpoints, and with a word of thanks, I leapt up, rushing over to where Lith and Hardule were standing over Ulcik. Mouth gaping open, I looked at Hardule as if he had gone mad.
He looked at me as if he had planned this for years, smugger than a chesire cat. I knew full well that he had spontaneously decided to kill Ulcik when he realized he no longer had any power. Lith as well, who's true allegiance remained unknown, if he ever had one, tried to act like he had been the one guiding me through all this.
Selenia walked over to us, smiling for a reason I doubt I'll ever understand. Beyond her, it seemed like everyone was still more interested in killing the remainder of the giants than to notice that we had just slain one of the most powerful players in the game. One man did notice though.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:16
The old man in charge of the monsters ran over. Looking down at our feet, he asked how much time had passed. Lith, with a sudden realization, bent down and began the coup-de-grace procedure, as normally as if he were just bending down to tie his shoe. The old man just stared in shock, before he noticed the ring on my finger. Ignoring the pretend murder happening right in front of him, he gasped as he asked what I was doing with the Ring of Wish. I told him how I came across it, and then asked him what it did.
He said it was one of the most powerful items in the game, with the power to grant its bearer a single wish.
I knew what my heart desired. Or at least, what my character's heart desired. I doubt anyone in the circle (ommitting Ulcik) would have stopped me. I guess the one good thing about people that were easy to hate was that you were rarely alone in hating them. I asked the Old Man if I could wish someone's character to be dead forever. The old man laughed, saying there was no need, as characters could only die a certain amount of times that decreased each level, and Ulcik was the highest level character in the game.
With a bit of disappointed, I removed the ring, tossed it at Hardule, and went off, back into the woods to be a fugitive.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:18
A little while later, it was time for the event to end. Ulcik, who was supposed to precide over the closing ceremonies, could not be found. Instead, the Old man told us what an amazing event it was, and how the players had just barely managed to turn back the most fearsome hoard to ever attack. Solemnly, he then began to list the people who had died permanantly, sacrificing themselves for the good of all. Fourteen people, an astonishing amount, had permanantly died. Twelve had been nobles, and six of them had been from House Ulcik, leaving only one alive.
With a grave tone, he also said that Archduke Ulcik had mysteriously been killed by assassins, though everyone shot a glance at our table. After a moment of silence, he continued on with the ceremony.
After everything was cleaned up and packed into the cars, we chatted with some of the people before we left. Very few approved of what we had done, but that was more than fine, since it helped us know which people were miserable and which one's weren't.
Vlaine said he really hoped to see us here again, or perhaps we could start a tabletop campaign. The guy who had been the air elemental also was fairly cool, saying he really wanted to fight against me again. Every teenager there thought that we three were the coolest guys they had ever met, and all of them wanted to be part of the newly formed House Cerberus. Selenia seemed interested in joining in on Vlaine's tabletop campaign, and we managed to exchange e-mail addresses before her boyfriend (who's character could never be resurrected) grumpily dragged her away, berrating her for hanging out with regicidal maniacs.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:19
Ulcik, or the man formally known as Ulcik, when he finally appeared, tried to smile and laugh and accept his death in a noble fashion, but our grins were almost too much for him to take. He ended up finding consolement in the fat warrior woman, who I had completely forgotten about until I heard her name in the list of people that had died. She looked at me with absolute disgust, and I relished her revilement.
As we drove home, Hardule explained that he had always hated Ulcik, and half the reason he wanted to be a noble was so that he could eventually kill the man. I half-believed him, but was more willing to believe that he just had a "wouldn't it be awesome..?"" thought and ran with it. Lith was glad that Hardule had wished to start a noble house, and was more than happy to remind me that he had been the one that dropped me in our third and final battle. They then asked me my story, which took the entire rest of the car ride to tell.
I don't know if I'll ever go back. More likely than not, Ulcik would use every bit of his power to just try to ruin my day if I ever returned. But I would be lying if I didn't say I had fun, and while there may have been more bad times than good, I was still glad I had gone.
Maybe if the other two decide to go, I'll tag along.
127
u/Vinccool96 Transcriber Oct 15 '18
Image Transcription: Greentext
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:30
In our hobbies, you sometimes end up meeting people you regret. Not just regret meeting, but regret that you are forced to live in the same world as them. Regret that you both can somehow share some joy in the same activity, regret that you both have shared the same air.
I managed to stumble upon a gathering of these types. With circumstances keeping me from fleeing, I ended up spending a weekend with them.
My friend makes bad decisions. He's a good guy, just as long as you don't let him decide anything. As long as someone is deciding things for him, there's no problems, but the second he's left to his own devices, he will almost always come up with the absolute worst ideas. His exploits are carved into his body, with burns and scars from the dumbest of accidents, and he's even missing part of his ear thanks to an infection he got from trying to pierce it himself. Sadly, I'm not too bright myself, and often forget that I'm never supposed to listen to any of his suggestions.
So, when he decided we should join a fantasy LARP, I agreed.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:31
We, my bad-decision-making friend, one other, and myself, had gone LARPing in the past, way back in high school. It was pretty bad, but we were too young to know that. We ended up going to six of the monthly events, which was how long it took for us to understand the LARP and to figure out just how bad it was.
The way it worked was that it really only made sense to go if you had already been going there for years. We stopped going once we realized just how slow the character progression really was, and that it would take us roughly three to four years before we'd be above peon status, and another three or four before we'd be a little below average. While this may not be a problem at other LARPs, it meant that we would be doing nothing but running for help whenever there was a problem for all that time.
While the other friend and I had abandoned it, my misguided friend continued a bit, going to events every once in awhile, still chasing the dream of eventually gaining enough power to be able to go outside the inn without having to ask people to come along and protect him. Eventually even he stopped, mostly because he didn't want to keep paying the fee.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:31
A few years later, he managed to catch wind of a new LARP that had launched, an offshoot of the original one started up by disgruntled members who were tired of the bullshit of the first. He was excited about it, and kept talking about how they were going to change things and make it better. I knew it was just going to be the same old problems in a new packaging, and decided not to go.
While at first I was adamant about my refusal, his entusiasm was rather contagious, especially because each month he'd come back and would not shut up about how awesome it was. Eventually, my memories of the previous LARP started to blend with both nostalgia and wishful thoughts on how I had hoped things would have gone. The other friend, the who had gone before with us, ended up giving in first and agreed to go to it, about a year after it had started up. With no real reason not to go beyond a bad previous experience at a different LARP, I decided that we might as well all go.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:32
As we drove to the camp site where the LARP would take place, the three of us slowly converted back into our young high school days. Filled with innocence, optimism, and that childlike love of fantasy and pretend, we decided to "get into character," starting off with only referring to each other by our character names. The friend who had been going to the LARP for the past year was Hardule Nightwater, a mage. The other friend friend planned on reviving his old character, Lith Cloud, who was a hardy warrior. I decided on reviving my old character as well, Nephem Festiva, who would use both magic and weapons.
Hardule kept telling us about this and that, and how awesome everything was. He gave me tips on what the good magic spells were, and explained little nuances about the way combat was handled. Since the system was still fairly new, not everything had been really ironed out, and even Hardule said he didn't really think he had figured it all out by now. Lith kept discussing plans on reviving our old adventuring party, Cerberus, and maybe even spending enough time and effort into eventually turning it into a noble house or clan.
When we arrived on Friday afternoon, things seemed pretty good. In fact, the camp grounds seemed awesome. They were some distance away from the closest town, and had plenty of wooded areas as well flat fields. I was still filled with optimism, and barely could wait to go out and adventure and roleplay. I lost a lot of that optimism very quickly with the very first person I saw.
High Lord Ulcik.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:33
Or, at least, that's what he called himself at the old LARP. An overweight man in his late forties or early fifties, he would braid his hair and beard in a way I assumed he thought was very medieval/fantasy looking but instead looked like he had just come back from a teenage girls' sleepover. He always looked like he was scowling, except for when he made eye contact with someone, when he would open his small eyes wide and give the most unnatural smile a person could give.
He was responsible for some of the worst, including the very worst, memories at the old LARP. He had been a noble, and enjoyed ordering around people, especially during the big battles. Disobeying him was apparently a huge offense, and he had actually incarcerated Lith in the little fake jail room for leaving his position during a big battle. Lith had rushed out to help out Hardule, who had somehow been left out in the open, which created a gap in the line that the enemies took advantage of. He spent two hours in that little room before I managed to convince another noble to release him, and even then only after he took almost all of our gold.
As High Lord Ulcik ambled over towards us, I cast a sideways glance at my friends, with Lith appearing rather passive, while somewhat disturbingly Hardule seemed rather happy about seeing Ulcik. With his loud and forcedly gruff voice, Ulcik greeted Hardule and then asked who we were, having forgotten us in the many years since we had last met. We introduced ourselves anew, and while I did it so I wouldn't appear rude by saying we had met before and he had simply forgotten us, Lith did it because he had completely forgotten the man.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 22:33
Rather quickly, Hardule changed. Talking with Ulcik, his voice and mannerisms became more and more exaggerated, until I could barely recognize him. Using lofty and often silly-sounding language with complete seriousness, I had to stifle a somewhat mean-spirited chuckle at his earnest roleplaying. I then realized that the event hadn't actually started yet, and that neither Ulcik nor Hardule were actually in character yet.
Lith seemed to be paying attention to their conversation, but I was more interested in the other people that were arriving. A parade of various outcasts, most of them were male and in their thirties. A handful of teenagers kept together in clumps here and there, and eventually people in their twenties began to appear. Most were overweight, while the exceptions were exceptionally thin. Judging purely by appearance, it didn't seem like either me or Lith would have any real athletic competition besides each other. Even Hardule, who was somewhat out of shape, could probably challenge most of the people there to a fist fight and have a good chance at winning.
After everyone (a large amount, probably over a hundred people) had gathered around the parking lot, we made our way to the large main cabin. It had already been decorated with candles and various fantasy materials probably taken straight out of a Halloween store, and we went through the registration process, which included being assigned our cabins. Lith and I had to make our characters, and I was pleased to see that we had a fair amount of options.
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