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Thursday, September 14, 2023

Why I Want To Go Double Feature: Cerulean Company and Tournament of the Branch

By Kyra “Omri” Barry

IC:

Cerulean Company is meant to be an excellent fighting force, and I can speak to the nature of many of the founding members as being kind and strong. Chimeron is a nation of many nations and this weekend will see the formation of another. 

I’m always excited to visit RAMS, Royal Academy for Military Science, because it’s a really nice new city type place and they’ve got a really shiny rock that I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with it. So far it seems like a secure location that hasn’t had much trouble, a rarity in my experience.

In the evening of the founding, there will be court where this new group will be officially recognized. The Cerulean Company “are a group that excels in small group combat. We are the first line of defense when threats arise and we hold them at bay until backup comes.” - Squire Ryu Goldscale. With passionate and dedicated individuals making up the group, I look forward to seeing what they do once they’re formed. I think even if they weren’t recognized, they’re the sort who’d work together and accomplish their goals of driving back foes and protecting others anyways.

It looks like both days will be great for enjoying peacebound fighting.

Tournaments of the Branch is a labor of love from the mind of Lord Sir Tara and the work of her allies. This is the second such event of what is looking to be an annual tournament. It’s looking to be even more ambitious than last year if the shared list of tournaments and challenges are any indication. I’m personally very interested in seeing how to pull off archery on horseback riding.

As a newer fighter who frankly did not do much of this sort of thing before traveling around the Realms, I am interested in trying my hand in everything I can for the sake of it. Win or lose. I look forward to fighting others in a peacebound manner, which is always lots of fun. The diversity of combat and non combat activities provide a variety for those who may not fancy one over the other. Some of the art and science tournaments, those that don’t require combat, will require preparation before the start of the tournaments. Some at least a few days.

This year there will also be a Champions tournament! A Champion of Champions Invitational. Come prepared and with an official notice from whom or what you champion.

Be honorable and have fun.

“Wounds heal,

People dig scars,

Pain is temporary,

Glory is forever”


OOC:

K here to discuss some ooc appeals of the events. For one, if you like convenience, they’re both in the same spot! And the site, part of a community with lots of players, has graciously allowed space for camping.

I’ve heard people say repeatedly Realms is one of the cheaper LARPs to play, which isn’t reflected in the quality of food served, the quests at events, or the overall experience. It’s reflective of the community’s dedication to fun that won’t break the bank, and Realms’ relatively unique play style of a collaborative open world with many plot runners and Event Holders and no overall central plot which also means any one player can easily pick and choose which events to attend. That said both of the events these weekends are on the less expensive side, making it an appealing option for budget conscious players.

Although that isn’t the ic draw for the Founding of the Cerulean Company, I’ve heard players can expect light questing in the form of “I’m sure nothing will go wrong!” Which means something is sure to go wrong. At least a little bit. I haven’t heard much in terms of big plot stuff, so look forward to maybe some world building fleshing out via conflicts.

Tournaments of the Branch last year got some great reviews, and it looks like an interesting take on the tournaments I’ve seen so far. The challenges themselves look very interesting and I think the non-combat ones are clever and make sense in character.

Explanation of the activities for Tournaments of the Branch can be found here and on the Realmsnet event page: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B5zH_zG_CptveIYtH8hUY16c3qHdjrifFAbdCvNA1Qk/edit#heading=h.5qc7vdpw1633