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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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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