Onhur and Ghuls, Thrones and Fools
This event felt kind of transitional for me. Two events ago we had the Giant Gold Finale, and last event was heavily focused on the Shadow plotline which more or less started and ended on the same weekend. That left this weekend feeling a bit like a new beginning or a restart despite the number of long term things that are still running. We also experienced the broadening and opening up of the Redeem Onhur plotline which helped set the feeling up this being an event of new things and restarts.
There was some concern from the southern contingent regarding which route we should take north this time. We knew that getting gas in NJ might be a problem, but what I was most concerned about was how heavy the traffic was going to be driving through the hurricane effected area. There was some consideration given to taking an alternate route that swings further west through PA, but my car opted to take the normal route. As it turns out other than a brief delay on the Merrit Parkway cause by some tree removal equipment we made it without any troubles.
The weather and snow conditions turned out to be not quite as bad as I feared. I came to the event well prepared for the temperature but I had not expected all the wet snow. Still, I didn't suffer much because of it and had the foresight to pack extra shoes “just in case”, and it turned out they came in fairly handy. They main aggravation of the snow was that it made travel back and forth between the main camp and Roskins a bit messy, and it made packet throwing on outdoor mods an exercise in frustration.
In general I had an enjoyable time this event. It was the typical mix of fun and excitement coming from meeting interesting NPC's and making progress on plot (Sir Nathaniel, High Priest progress, vampires) and frustration about missing things (Dreamfell, Angel of Eiremon, Kath). Events which are split across the two sides of camp invariably result in some missed connections. The Onhur plotline was a bit of a jumble of constant new information which took some effort to sort through and organize, but this is clearly a long term plot with lots of time to get up to speed. The related Vampire plot thread also became a lot more to the front this time and it can be equally difficult to follow given all it's old history and rapid new developments. I'm mostly on top of that I think, though I am still looking for the right place in that plot for me to take a fun role.
There were a few dead spots on the schedule, especially Saturday evening, but I attributed those mostly to the Well of Souls trips. The unfortunate reality of those is that they take key people away on mods that can't be bumped or preempted. This tends to get in the way of other stuff running, and afterwards when they all get back they aren't even allowed to include others by explaining what they did. I had the chance to take part in a Well of Souls trip once and I cherish the aura of specialness and mystery that surrounds them, and I am more than happy to take a break if that is what it takes to let other people experience it as well.
I was gifted with two opportunities to hook up other players this event, one of which was planned and the other of which was unexpected. This is the sort of thing I take a lot of pleasure in doing. I took a chance on an info skill and was able to learn a bit of information that may be of help to the Neverwinter Order. It wasn't much, but I think the timing was good in that staffing absences meant their ongoing plot was missing this weekend, so my info skill response gave them a small bit of a replacement. The second opportunity to hook people up came when a spirit came to the shrine I set up and empowered it to refresh people's void. I really hope that extra bit of umph was helpful to the people who were able to take advantage of it.
My team decided this event to do a little bit of reorganizing. This event closed out our sixth year of being together, and in that time we have experienced remarkably little change. We decided that some of our members would like to explore some different roles, and in the process I was asked to take over the leadership of the group. I accepted, and just a few hours later I ended up precipitating our first serious crisis since we started.
Given the seriousness of what had happened and the genuine amount of hurt and upset that was the result, it was surprisingly easy for me to play through it. I was immensely aided by the fact that I was very familiar with the players who were involved. Even at its worst I could work through it without any fear that the players were upset or not having fun. That said, the whole Chance and Nev'lith and Martin thing did cast something of a pall over the last part of the event. This was cool and genuine and appropriate in a lot of ways, but a little of this stuff goes a long way for me. I'm hoping we can quickly move past this and get back to being exciting and brave and heroic again. I think this will be the case.
For some time now I have had a notion about doing something creative and a little bit silly at an event. The idea has changed and evolved in my head quite a bit over time but just prior to this event I took my first step in presenting it. My original intention was for this to be fairly low key and anonymous in the beginning, but I had always intended it to be completely public by the end. It was made clear to me that the attempts at anonymity were a complete failure. Alas.
So, if anyone is interested in a bit of a peek at the dreams of a squirrel, then here is your opportunity. The dream was originally sent to Squires Nuts by Father Alexander at my request, but with my permission he is perfectly willing to share it with anyone who wishes to see it.
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