by Kai "Luke John" Yang
This past weekend was the second Gilded Lion and Silver Branch Summer Festival. Couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day, sun shining and just warm enough for comfort. Contrary to other things you may have been told, it was far better to not avoid chances of treachery by remaining in the safety of a guarded fortress; but instead make the trek to the border of Chimeron and Rhiassa for the festivities.
The day began with a series of friendly group Tournaments hosted by Sir Shader of Ashenmark. Some staples like bridge battles and a variation on capture the flag were great to shake off any potential combat rust and kick us all off into fighting shape for the upcoming warmer months.
Later in the afternoon a group of adventurers answered the call for help from Blackwood against a fire cult intent on spreading their burning corruption. Luckily the heroes managed to purge the cultists in the area, though we are still working on puzzling out their rune magic and coming up with a way to stop their intended blight on the land.
Smaller activities throughout the day that I had the pleasure to take part in included attuning subconscious minds to gain intel on the movements of the Risen Kingdom, combat training from the Gi Resistance against some truly despicable creatures, and a ritual to ensure/cement Rexan’s defeat. That’s not to say that’s all that there was. Indeed, the festival had the arrival of a Yosei Trainer, Tea Time with the Fae, Tables from the Stacked Deck for newbie and veteran players, two other calls for aid from Stonewood and Voraniss, and much more I was unable to attend.
Last but certainly not least, the Rhiassan kitchen cranked out a myriad of food and drink throughout the day. All of which was of the excellent quality we’ve come to know from the chefs of Rhiassa. This included BALT’s, Roast Beef Sliders, Various Pizzas, Meatballs stuffed inside Buns, etc. I was told there was entire course involving Grilled Cheeses, Fruit Skewers, and TWO different cheese fries that I missed – (reason enough to attend the next festival). Though the capstone of the event was the Rhiassan Smokehouse. A delicious mountain of drumsticks and ribs coated in smoky goodness that were best described by Sir Tao as “large hunks of meat that [he] was very much looking forward to eating”. This was then followed by a bountiful table of cookies (made by Fern) that I would compare to a charcuterie table but for desserts – of which I may have eaten an inordinate amount of. Fantastic fare all throughout and a round of applause was well deserved by the entire kitchen team.
Looking forward to the next Summer Festival and will be very content If it is as great as this past one. Though someone will legitimately have to stop me from consuming too many cookies – not joking, there’s a good chance I ate like 20+ of them.