A Note from the Adventurers Guild

Adventurers of the Realms, 

We at the Adventurer's Guild would like to announce that we will have new quests we need completed this coming weekend at the Feast of Folkestone! Unlike in the past where the the tasks we needed to accomplish would take a short period of time, these quests that will be made available will take many weeks and months to accomplish, as well as the need to travel all throughout the Realms to do so. 

Members of the Adventurers Guild will be around periodically throughout the evening to answer questions, as well as early Saturday morning in the lands of Verai. Please see us there for more details. 

Thank you, The Adventurers Guild

Realms Weekly Poll #1

 by Becky "Kovacs" Baron 

Total Number of Responses: 59

What year did you start playing The Realms/the Realms of Wonder/The Game? 

 

Did you attend any official fight practices before your first event?

What was your first event?

 
Other Responses:

A feast at a church in Charlton, MA (Editor's Note: Possibly Festival of Remembrance)

A Midnight Breaks in Storm

Baron of Dingleberry

Feast of Folkestone

Feast of Ivory

Festival of Evergard

Land of the Dreamers

Mountainview

Newbie night quest, uconn

Orc Goblin War

Reflections on a Distant Land

Rumours of the Lost Wellspring

SCA light weapons event/practice 1981

Spring Blakavar

The Brenda Armageddon

The Event Which Must Not Be Named

The Silver Eye

Tournament of Blades

Tournament of Tunics

Tournaments of Rathkeale

Tournaments of Rhiassa

Tournaments of Teng Hua

Unearthed

Winters White 99

Note: Duplicate survey responses within a short timeframe were removed to reduce outliers due to technical error.

Why I Want to Go-Feast of Folkestone and Folkestone Questing

by Lani "Gwen" Grayson

It’s hard to believe that Labor Day Weekend has finally come, but I know where I’ll be spending mine, and I’d like to tell you a little bit about why I think you should come too. This is a big weekend in Folkestone, with the feast on Friday night and questing running on Saturday and Sunday. Folkestone has a lot of amazing stuff planned for this weekend, and you will be missing out on two hallmark events of the year if you don’t make it out this weekend.

Feast of Folkestone features a great laid back atmosphere, lots of food, and time to kick back and relax with a great community of people. We could all use an opportunity to relax and take our minds off of the real world for a while. And there will be a lot of people to relax with, this is a feast that will draw over a hundred people, and all of those people are coming for a great reason: the food. Jason Gray (Malaki) is one phenomenal feastocrat, and I’m positive he will knock this one out of the park. While I don’t know the exact menu planned, I know that in the past he has made his own from-scratch gnocchi, some killer chicken and dumpling stew, cheesy delicious lasagna, and dozens of other fabulous dishes. And if dinner isn’t enough to get you excited, then the appetizers and dessert should. In addition to some classics, I happen to have some insider intel that there will be a variety of cupcakes in some pretty epic flavor combinations. As you fill your belly, you can also empty your pouch of some extra gold hanging around because the feast will also include the much loved Folkestone auction. (Also, I hear someone cute works in the dishroom.)

Folkestone Questing is going to be epic in its own right. Folkestone and Blackwood have teamed up in the Folkewood Initiative to help address a need in the game: plot continuity. This weekend you will have an opportunity to explore more of the goings on in New Verai. This is a really exciting initiative that Folkestone and Blackwood are taking on because they are going to be focusing on connecting events to one another which will certainly help keep players immersed throughout the weekend and beyond. There will be lots of people and things to engage with and what you learn at one event can have an impact on your character at future events. So engage! Ask questions! Pay attention to the details that this event holding staff has laid out for you. In keeping with an immersive environment, the tavern will be in-character, so if you have any gold left from the auction, bring it! If not, then keep your eyes peeled because there just might be a way for you to earn some gold throughout the weekend.

This staff consistently throws great events, and they are always making adjustments to improve even more. You should make it a point to come out this weekend--be there or be square.

What You Missed - Demonic Invasion 3

  by Cory "Asharn" Roy 

We arrived in the forest of Kelvar ready to fight the oncoming invasion. We started by following a sound through the woods that led to a moon well that would be helpful throughout the rest of the weekend. Later that night we were separated into three teams -  the Constructs, Fiends, and the Beasts. Each team had the general and two supporters who were the strategist and the quartermaster. The generals were Garharz for Team Construct, James Swift for Team Fiend, and Rubis for Team Beast. Later that night I joined my team on the western flank while the rest of the adventurers battled coincidentally against some constructs who had a strange habit of cheering. After the fighting was done for the night we hung out and sang by the fire pit until ungodly hours of the night.

The next day we head to the tourney field where we compete in a bunch of interesting and fun different tournaments. Some I personally had never seen before so I  thought they were a lot of fun. Personally my favorite was one where we had to score as many goals as we could with boulders as our balls. It was exhausting but tons of fun. Later that night after the competition ended we had a wonderful dinner with some amazing bardics. You could tell that people truly put their all into them. After the bardics while we prepped for the night there were some children running around just eager for some bloodshed so we did the only reasonable thing we could. We created baby fights - a child gladiatorial combat pit where we bet on the outcome of the fights. Some people felt this was morally wrong but most seemed happy to cheer and place bets.

After all that entertainment we set out on more adventures. This time we found ourselves winding through a dark path leading up to what I imagine was some sort of prison holding in these creatures. One of them was very dog- like, almost like a puppy so I imagine they were a beast of some sort. We sadly failed to figure out what we had to do here but I did make a random friend with a demon whose name I can't remember but I'm sure our friendship will last a lifetime. Mostly because it already died but that's still technically their lifetime. We once more ventured back out into the forest where we were eventually faced with a chimera, where the adventurers narrowly succeeded in their quest.

The final day everything was wrapped up with the announcement of winners for class tournaments and the teams winners. Best in Class; Barbarian - Graken, Bard - Piper, Cleric - Estome, Druid - Borjid, Fighter - Rubis, Paladin - Malaki, Ranger - Elizah, Rouge - Bart, Wizard - Asharn. Best Quartermaster - Tempest, Best War Strategist - Piper, Best General - James Swift. The Legion was defeated on Sunday and Rubis picked up the blade of discord Mormegic. After grabbing it he started killing everyone until he finally scalped Tempest with the blade. Borjid brought Tempest back and Rubis was calmed and I can only assume everything is all well and good now. After all of that was said and done James Swift awarded Bones the MVP of his team.

Personally I  had a blast at this event. There were some heated tournaments, interesting quest lines, and from my view just a lot of people having fun. I know that when Demonic Invasion 4 comes around I will for sure be going and I recommend the same to anyone else.

I Can't Even

I Can't Even...

By, 

Sara 'Zarine' Jessop

… an important reminder

It's a friendly reminder as this is a friendly man

I know that it is hard to believe but summer is almost unofficially over. All those weekends of war maneuvers, monster hunting, partying, and hitting the beach have really made the summer fly by haven't they? I don't know about you, dear reader, but I didn't get half of the things done over the last few months as I said that I would. My closet didn't get cleaned, my flower gardens are still filled with weeds, and my painting project is still half done. There is still time to do most of these things. It's not like it will instantly turn to winter as soon as next weekends festivities are over. We still have the best season to come, after all.

Of course there is something that you are running out of time to do that you all may have forgotten about. This coming weekend is once again the weekend that the good folks in Folkestone have designated as their 'questing' weekend, and that means that this is the last week for wearing white! White is such a lovely summer color, but alas it is completely inappropriate to wear it after the weekend that Folkestone lures us to it's lands with the promise of fun and revelry only to end up having to fight monsters and close portals. Come to think of it, this is pretty much what happens every weekend and perhaps we should have a serious conversation about how dangerous our gatherings are. But whatever happens this weekend, I would highly suggest wearing white as it's your last opportunity until after next years Tournaments of Creathorne.

This goat-girl is about to get served BBQ ribs

I would also suggest wearing something white that you don't mind ruining. It's an unfortunate truth that if you wear white you are sure to be presented with a messy meal or suddenly have need to go on some sort of stain-filled adventure. I would suggest bringing a large bib for dinner and maybe some armor for other problems that could arise. The great thing about white is that it can be bleached and returned to it's former glory, or simply dyed a different color to hide whatever misfortune has befallen you. Or perhaps you could twirl though the chaos in such a way as to make an interesting pattern and be the fashion forward innovator of the 'blood spattered' look. Stranger things have come into fashion after all. 

Before and after killing the big bad guy.
The blood really adds something here...

I won't be there, as Trent has so graciously agreed to escort me to see one of my favorite bards, but I look forward to seeing photographs of you in all of your snowy splendor. I mean, I hope that it doesn't actually snow, that would be quite lamentable. I mean that I hope to see many images of your beautiful white clothing that you'll be putting away on Monday because I wrote an article that told you that you should here, and why not have one last hurrah with it, right?

So have fun, be fashionable, and don't do anything I wouldn't do.

See you next Tuesday.

Zarine is the proprietor and Madam at Alchimia Lupanar, a magic marshal approved practitioner of medicine, an award winning author, and has 36 years of experience in giving her unsolicited opinion.

Arc Sphere Distortions

Arc Sphere Distortions

by Steven "Therian" Matulewicz

10 More Questions with... Chris "Jaha" Marques

Photo Courtesy of Jesse Gifford

1) What achievement either in or out of character are you most proud of?

My greatest achievement by far has been my work within Grimloch. Having been a part of the group from the beginning, I have seen both up and down years. We have accomplished a number of things together both on the tournaments field and in terms of throwing events. I have had the pleasure of helping to train and develop many players over the years

2) Are you a fighter or a caster? Have you always been? How did you choose?

Currently I am a fighter. Over the years I have swapped between being a rogue and fighter. Most of the time is is related to what the group needs. Combat has always been my focus in the game, so I cannot foresee a time where I am not able to use a variety of weapons.

3) Have you ever owned an artifact, memento, or magic item that has meant a lot to you, and why?

Regulator, the first magic weapon that was specifically for me, is a 4'6'' magic axe. Back then, new members coming into Grimloch would get an item to use. Getting that axe was similar to getting my tabard, it was a symbol of joining the group.

4) What group of people do you spend the most time with and why?

Both in and out of character I spend most of my time with Grimloch. They are my family, and always know how to have a good time. They have supported me through the good and the bad.

5) Who is your best friend in character and why?

My best friend in character was Rohde. With him being dead I suppose XT (Rohde 2.0) wins by default.

6) What event or moment had the greatest impact on you as a player?
The finals of the first Order of the List invitational had a huge impact on me. Rohde vs Syruss in a truly evenly matched spectacle was the exact type of athletic display I envisioned when first cultivating the idea for the Order of the List.

7) What event or moment had the greatest impact on your character?

The first Best of the Best tournament also had a huge impact. It was the first high profile tournament I had competed in and won. For Jaha, it was a declarative statement that he had arrived as a fighter to be taken seriously. It also planted the seeds for the Order of the List.

8) What is your most embarrassing moment, either IC or OOC?

This is really series of embarrassing moments. Every time I've been pegged with an arrow while giving instructions during limited bridge battles, it's quite embarrassing. It is even worse when I am telling someone else to keep their guard up.

9) What is the best piece of advice you'd give to other players?

Be yourself. The community is amazing, but tends to be conservative about change and new ideas. Follow through on the ideas you believe in no matter how much negative peer-pressure you receive. Also, play the game so you have fun, even if that means sometimes taking some time off for yourself.

10 ) What is the most important thing you've learned through the game?

The importance of taking care of yourself. Throughout the years, I have thrown many events, and for quite a while was completely burnt out. Re-adjusting my game related workload really helped to re-invigorate my interest in the game and community.

BONUS QUESTION #1: Who would you like to see the next interview be with?

Adam Landry

BONUS QUESTION #2: Anything else you'd like to take the opportunity to put into print?
See you at the beach!

Ask the Editors

Ask the Editors 

by, 

The Editors 

Episode 16

Hello and welcome back to the fun. So this weeks original question from an anonymous source was “Should the Realms become a non-profit organization in order to get better sites, insurance, "be taken more seriously" by governing bodies that allow us to practice in spaces, etc.?". Unfortunately none of us felt qualified to answer or felt strongly enough about it to answer. So we are going to move on to the next question which come to us via email:

What is your favorite drink that came from the Realms? (or if the first time you tried it, it was in Realms)

~Anonymous

First up to tell us about her favorites concoctions, Lani 'Gwen' Grayson:

“I’m not particularly picky but I will share a few favorites. First, for a non-alcoholic pick, I enjoy a high-test red punch. I am disappointed when I think I’m getting liquid sugar and instead it tastes like water with a hint of sugar. The first mixed drink I remember having in the Realms was Packs-A-Punch, which I thought was called Paxel Punch because I was new to Realms and everything sounded strange and funny to me. It was delicious and I had a fun time at that event. In the past few years, I have always made it a point to bring some Bud Light Rita’s to damp sites, and now it’s kind of a thing. And the only drink I’ve ever had because of Realms was a Flaming Shot, and I would be perfectly content to never, ever, drink that again.”

Sounds delicious.


Next up, Jen 'Areni' DeNardis-Rosa:

“There is one Realms drink that stands out in my mind. This is something that is as quintessential to the Realms as duct tape and pipe foam, something that has and continues to make an appearance at many events through many years, the tasting of which is almost a universal experience among Realmsies. What is this illustrious drink? you ask yourself. What could she possibly be talking about? I'll keep you in suspense no longer - I am talking about that ubiquitous concoction known as Hint of Red. There is nothing quite like it in terms of taste (it's counterparts Hint of Yellow and Hint of Brown being much more full-bodied) and nothing can compare to a 16oz red Solo cup full of it after a few hours of hard questing or tourneying. While the exact measurements of the original recipe are unknown, each nation has their own version of this derivative of Red that can be found in 5-gallon drink coolers across the Realms. Truly a drink that is as familiar to each of us as our favorite piece of garb, and to me, something that elicits many fond eventing memories each time I taste it.

On a more serious note: I was introduced to mead through the Realms; I've tried a few varieties over the years but Moniack specifically is my favorite to date. It has just the right balance of flavor that I really like.”

Another vote for 'red drink'. Thanks Jen!


Next up, the great drinker Sara 'Zarine' Jessop:

“There was a time, back in the day, where the only thing I drank was Mike's Hard Lemonade. I've branched out since then, trying many different drinks. I usually bring a hard cider of some sort as my drink of choice when I plan on drinking quite a bit as it's easy to grab and go and I don't like many beers. The one drink I will say that I discovered that I enjoyed through the realms though was Mint Juleps. I was so worried that I would dislike the drink that you sip while wearing ridiculous hats and watching the greatest sport of four legs, but Neil 'Eldrich' Kusleika made them at ToC a few years back and I greatly enjoyed it.

Also, turns out Chartreuse the drink is just as disgusting as the color.”

No mention of non alcoholic drinks you should note... Thanks Sara!


So there you have it. A few of our favorite drinks to bring and discover in the Realms. Do you have a favorite drink that you think we should try? Bring it to the next non-dry event and make enough to go around. Sharing is caring. And it's perfectly safe to drink whatever that red stuff is.

Thanks for reading. Join us next time when we answer a question asked just to the ladies on our staff. “For the Ladies: "Because of the mark the Realms community has left on you, what skill or skills have you improved in that crossed over into your Real Life? For example: any first aid, or public-speaking?".

Questions can be sent to Sara “Zarine” Jessop via email (Sarajjesop@gmail.com), facebook messenger, or in person. The question box will also be making the rounds at various events. Please note if you'd like your question to remain anonymous and/or if you would like to address specific editors

Spotlight on: Foamsmith Tournament from QoH XXIV

[Editor's Note: scroll down to see photos of each entry and commentary from some of the team armorers. All photos by View Staff.]

Team Jack - Tony Quintana (Razmith)

**WINNER **

So the main aspects of the weapon can be divided into two parts, the blade and the handle.
Knowing I was making an axe, I chose to do a split pipe handle because when making an
edged weapon, edge alignment is important, and to help as a counter balance. I
wrapped the handle in leathers and used tennis grip tape.

The blade of the weapon is made of three layers of camp foam for axe blades, with pipe foam for the "sword" as well as the edges of the axe blades. The overlays are craft foam. All of the foam is
held to the core and together with DAP contact cement. After assembling the blade I
coated the blade with Plasti-dip, which is a non-latex rubber coating, and then a Rust-Oleum coat. And then a clear coat of Plasti-dip. (Do the handle wrapping after the bladed portion). 
                                                                                                                      - Tony Quintana

Double-bladed head

Overlay detail

Blade detail

Smooth edges

Wrapped split-pipe handle

Handle decorative detail

Team Saegan - Ben Greene (Sir K)

Overview of the blade

Weapon side view

Carved stag detail

Blade edge detail (plasti-dip)

Stag design mirrored on each side, meeting in back

Handle detail

Team Iste - Kevin Legace (Cronon)

My axe was made with a bamboo core. The blade was made with camp foam for shape and squishy foam for safety. The sock was a pair of black leggings. To make the leggings take the shape of the axe head I used a small amount of rubber string to tie to the base of the head and then sewed the remainder to the bottom of the squishy foam. The handle was simple rope and covered in electric tape. - Kevin Legace

Axe head with sock

Team Piper - Paul Tilton (Grindin)

Like a lot of Team Piper, the foamsmith entry came together mostly at the last minute, so I got hurried through a lot of the construction process. First off I only had the materials from a half-built 4’6”, so I knew I wouldn’t hit the 5’ mark, but as a 1-path I was infinitely okay with that aspect of the weapon’s construction. 

 Starting with a partially finished weapon posed a new issue with using Plastidip, however- it was already all taped up. When I’ve constructed plastidip weapons in the past, I’ve dapped the seam shut rather than covering it with tape as I would with a socked weapon. I decided to see how the coverage was, rather than losing part of the foam by ripping the tape off- and I was actually surprised that there really wasn’t a tremendous difference. I would suggest dapping the seam, but packing tape will apparently do in a pinch with enough layers. 

When making the axe-head, I knew that I didn’t want the majority of the hitting surface to be camp foam, so I wanted an edge of squishy foam- and that was probably the biggest learning experience. The squishy foam adhered extremely well to the camp foam with dap… and then I covered it in plasti-dip. Not only was the coverage not spectacular due to the nooks and crannies, it also turned it into sandpaper. A hint for future foamsmiths- DON’T COVER SQUISHY FOAM IN PLASTIDIP. It was the most common complaint I got on the scorecards, and I knew that it wasn’t what I wanted when I entered it, but didn’t have time to re-try. 

Some of the positive feedback that I’d like to share was the burned-in icons on the axe-head. With a little time and a woodburner (or soldering iron) you can make some amazing patterns in foam, that really can make a weapon stand out. Additionally, a few layers of different browns and then dry-brushing a lighter layer can create a quick wood-grain pattern, which the judges seemed to appreciate.

 - Paul Tilton

Axe head with burned and painted designs

Squishy foam detail, with "wood-grain" painted handle

Close-up of burned-in star on the back of the head