Friday, May 17, 2013

Blast from the Past - Part 14

Once upon a time the Realms had a dedicated body of Marshals who offered their services to do such things as weapons inspections and tourney marshalling at anyone's events...called the Marshal's Guild. Here is the Marshal's Guild Handbook from 1992. Is there a place for such an organization in our modern-day Realms? Yes, I believe there is. (copy provided by Janna "Iawen" Oakfellow-Pushee)






















Thursday, May 16, 2013

Funny Pictures

In this series, we're posting some unique pictures of us as we play in the Realms. The challenge we present to you is to provide us with funny captions for the pictures in the comments section. Try to keep 'em relatively clean and fun. (Photo by Dustin Mack)

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

10 Questions - Callahan "Syruss" Marsden

Callahan "Syruss" Marsden

How long have you been playing?
Photo by Casey Lemay

I started going to fight practices in late 2003 for a few months before my first event. My first event was Tournies (they spelled it that way) of Chiron 10 on March 7th, 2004 so I am going closing in on ten years now, hard to believe..

How has the game changed since you've been playing?
The game has changed in several ways. We have made spell progression easier (it used to take much longer to learn spells), we went from two cost to one cost buydowns, we got rid of the rule where spell casters use to have to wait three seconds before switching combinations, we have seen the rise and the fall of the Skirmisher, spells have gone away and new ones have been added and that’s just the magic side.

Fighting wise I've seen the introduction of shark mail and then neo-prene as well as fiberglass and bamboo.  Armor and weapons keep getting lighter, which I feel is a good thing as it allows those with less muscle mass to still be combat effective. 

We have also started to see an upswing in competition which I think is a good thing.

Who have you learned the most from?
This question I have given the most thought and hands down was the hardest to answer. You see I learned from so many different people. In fact I still learn from so many people, new players and old players every time I take the field. I find in order to keep growing you need to continue to learn.

In short these people taught me the most:
Tom Johnson (Blade) who brought me into the game taught me I can take easy roads or hard ones but hands down the harder paths would bare the most fruit.

Henry Giasson (Guilliam) taught me to open my home to new players and give every kid a chance because we were all new once.

Matt Daviault (Zula) taught me how to pick a lock and be a shady individual. Damian LaHaye (Sabboth, Dell) taught me how to quest and how to use seer magic. Bobbly Blache (Gryf) showed me that there doesn’t need to be a North/South divide and that if you give people a chance you might just make new friends.

And probably the two most influential people in my career are Ben Grant (Rohde) Chris Marques (Jaha). They pushed me to be the best version of myself with countless fight practices, weapon making nights, event planning, and being the two best friends a guy could ever dream to have.

What was your best moment IC?
Hands down my favorite IC moment was when Jaha and I went to (now) the Dark isle (then) Dracula’s Island. We were in a village were a murder had just happened; people were running around panicking except for one mill girl. We went over and tried to extort her for her grains so that Grimloch could eat during the winter. When she would not bend to our threats we killed her. Then the guards came over and were very upset and wanted us arrested.  Jaha and I were quick on our toes and said she was the murderer who had killed the local blacksmith. We explained that she was in a jealous rage when he turned down her love and affection for another women. The guard clearly didn’t believe us until another guard said  “Sir we found this bloody dagger on her and it appears to be the same shape and size of the victims wounds.” So they raised her and asked her what was up and she started screaming, “If he won’t love me he can’t love anyone.” Jaha and I were rewarded and from that day on we became super sleuths.

Also there was this time were I joined the greatest fighting nation the game has ever seen. You know them as Grimloch I know them as family.

Photo by Angela Earle Gray


What was your best moment as a NPC/EH/Player?
NPC: I really liked playing the nameless knight for the Duke of War during the Oberon portion of the Fae events. I got to assist the rise of Sir Owen to Cullculen (sp?) up to the final encounter were I sacrificed my self to get him up with full armor so he could defeat Oberon.  I never really role played before this I always kind of played Syruss as Cal with garb so this really got me into playing different roles and made me want to expand my horizons.
EH: Proudest thing I did as an EH was help to resurrect the Tournaments of Blues Rose along side of Eddie Reed (Qualoyth) and Kyle Vaihinger (Caspian)  (taking place at the end of this month). More important than resurrecting it however, last year we lost a dear friend Jason Massey, and I was privileged in organizing a charity version of ToBR for the family of Jason Massey. I got to see our community step up and really donate to a great cause and show me just how much of a family this Realms community could be. We raised well over what we expected to and PJ told me the joy on the face of Mrs. Massey and how proud she was to see a community her husband loved so much step up in her family’s time of need.

As a player from a non IC perspective. My favorite moment was when Jaha and I held the beach at a North South war. The two of us made a final stand and killed 22 people (who for some reason decided to stagger in on us one or two at a time). While we were eventually killed it was hands down one of my favorite fights of my career.
Oh and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the other top three: Winning Champion of Grimloch back to back years, going on to Win Champion of Queen of Hearts and of course my victory at the Invitational last year and being inducted into the Order of the List.

What would you like to see changed or developed more in game?
More EPIC plots!!! We used to have a whole slew of Big Bad guys then in like 2006 we killed them all.

We are now starting to see the rise of great Epic quests again. I would like to see more of those.

More interactive puzzles and pickable(is that a word?) locks, better costuming for NPC’s heck better garb for players.

Also continuity would be nice, maybe a group of EH’s that work on ONE HUGE EVENT together, with epic costumes, puzzles, and cross over event character’s.

What advice would you give new players?
Four things.
1. Go and support your local fight practice. It is one of the best ways to meet new and great people and hone your fighting skill as well as your ability to call shots.
2. NPC and NPC often. I was brought up in the game with the mindset you NPC every third event you hit. It is a way of giving back to the community as well as another great way to practice different weapons and spells, but more importantly you allow your friends who NPC all the time the same chance to have fun on the weekends as you often do.
3. Give everyone a fair chance (sometimes multiple chances) if you put yourself out there and meet knew people you might find that preconceived notions of them were less than accurate and you may even find yourself with a new best friend. But at the very least you will have given someone a fair chance, which is something we all deserve.
4. And as a wise man named Jason Rosa once said wear kneepads (I wish he told me ten years ago lol)

What do you love most about the game?
Late night drinking parties…….just kidding. What I truly love most about this game is the community. I have met my best friends on the planet here, heck most of those friends have transcended from friends to family along time ago.
Time and time again I see us come together as a community, whether it is for a fundraiser for a lost love one, to raise money for cancer, to support community kids school fundraisers or to work together to help improve a event site we all love. There is nothing this community can’t do when we set minds to common task.

Who would you like to see the next interview be with?
Tom Johnson (Blade) (good luck)
Bobby Blache (Gryf)
Eddie Reed (Quayloth)
and if you are really stetched for interviews
Jacob Ruggiero (Grebinar)

Anything else you'd like to take the opportunity to put into print?
Yes put yourself out there as both as student and a teacher and never be afraid to try something new or make a mistake
Also…Hey Ben its me Cal

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Why I Want to Go- Feast of Chimeron XXI

Feast of Chimeron XXI
May 17, 2013 (Friday 12pm) - May 19, 2013 (Sunday 12pm) 

[The author of this article will be running plot at this event.]

One of the longest series of events has been the Feast of Chimeron. They are following their format of questing during the day and a grand feast Saturday night. There will be a variety of different quests this year; you will be able to see the Shades, Book of Moons and Bedlam plots (and maybe more) making an appearance at different times over the course of the weekend. Of course, the highlight is the feast which was superb last year. So, join the tradition!

This is a new site for us. I was able to walk the site earlier this year and it is really nice. The feasting hall is wonderful; large enough to accommodate everyone and it has a rustic feel to it. There are also various buildings on site for our use and a wide variety of terrain/questing areas all over the place. The event is allowing for their Trappings of Civilization so make sure to check out the event posting to see which one best suits you. Also, if you can NPC for a portion of the event (Friday night, Saturday day, Sunday day) you will get back part of your event entrance fee ($5 per NPC portion).

Monday, May 13, 2013

Question of the Week - 92

What is your favorite event site and why?

Friday, May 10, 2013

The Grimloch Tribune


The Grimloch Tribune
By Callahan “Syruss” Marsden


LEAD STORY: ZOMBIE WORMS!!!!!!

The Necromantic Blight that plagues Grimloch knows no bounds!   The dirt and worms are even being infected!

So-called zombie worms — and yes, they actually exist — like to munch on bones for dinner. The creatures also use the bones for shelter. Spread throughout Grimloch, zombie worms are quite adept at making the bones of people and other large animals look like Swiss cheese.  
But these worms don't have any mouthparts with which to gnaw the holes. So how do they do it? A study published on May 1 in Westwood by Dr. Venture states that the "bone-drilling" worms, are actually "bone-dissolving" worms: The worms’ skin produces acid in large quantities to break down bones.

They also have reported to have excellent echolocation and follow the above ground foot traffic. They wait for an unlucky adventurer to meet some horrible fate then they go and infect the corpse. They also have been known to infect a careless adventurer looking to camp on the ground under the stars.
Grimloch resident Stryker was quoted saying “There is a reason we sleep in tree forts it is simply too dangerous to sleep on the ground with all of these undead creatures lurking about.

Upcoming events:
Looking to make your fortune?
Want to win something magical?
Or perhaps want to see some games you’ve never seen before?

Then come to the grand opening of Nymbous and Syruss’ “New Eden Casino”!

There will be a VIP poker tourney that will give you a chance at a magical artifact that you can alter yourself as well as a pretty decent sized purse (gold not actually a purse Grebinar you silly dog!).

The entrants of this tourney will be treated like kings (Ask Cecil how awesome that is) you will be waited on hand and mouth with delicious Drinks, Snacks, and Cigars or candy Cigarettes depending on you preference.

Also there are still openings for server and dealer positions so if earning your coin is more your style and you would rather not gamble and WIN then please send your Ravens to Syruss’s weird home address at Rohde and Syruss’ Hump House and Bar
That’s P.O BOX syruss83@yahoo.com Compton Grimloch 69697

Order of the List Activities and Points on the horizon 
When is the next time you can win points? Please continue to check Grimloch tribune for up to date articles on when you can score your next points and shoot for that top 16 spot!

Hey Guys we have two more events coming up this month where you can either can either battle for a top 16 spot, or continue to solidify your spot in the standings.

The Iron Lotus Presents: Dragon Master is providing Moonlit Tournies this Friday night.

Also Tourney of Creathorne is right around the corner. So sharpen your steel stretch your hamstrings and prepare for some excellent competition.

All of the results can be located At the Order of the List’s data collection station located in Grimloch (another weird address) orderofthelist.com
 
 Obituary.
This week in Grimloch we are mourning the death of Captain Fatty McGargle.

Cpt. McGargle first came into Syruss’s life as a little wooden puppet he got at Uncle Cecil’s four years ago this year.

They grew as more than just puppet and puppeteer and became life partners.
Traveling everywhere getting into all kinds of shenanigans these two were inseparable.
 
Until the tragic day when Syruss came home from Green and Gold not to his loving Puppets wooden arms but only to find Rohde playing fetch with Grebinar. It was not a mere stick they were playing fetch with it was in fact Cpt. McGargle.

“He had so much love in his stick heart, and he was always smiling with that painted face of his” **sobbing** “I will never love another puppet again!” Syruss cried.

When asked why he did it Rohde said this “ I hated that fu*$ing puppet.

Well that's it for this issue I am Theddy Quill along side Syruss reporting the facts, the whole facts, and nothing but the facts. Stay safe see you next week



Thursday, May 9, 2013

What You Missed- Tournaments of the Blue Rose VIII

Photo by Casey Lemay - 2013
Photo by Casey Lemay - 2013

Photo by Paul Tilton - 2013

Photo by Paul Tilton - 2013