The Hellwar Chronicle, Volume II

by Gerald "Gray Erikkson" Chartier

[Editor's Note: Volume I is available here]

Once again, in the waning month of summer, the forces of the Realms found themselves embroiled in conflict in the infernal plane.  I, Gray Erikkson, write this chronicle of the events that transpired as one who bore witness and took part in the events described.

Like a slow moving storm, conflict embroiled us slowly at first.  The entity known as Guile called upon the Realms to honor the agreement made to back his ascension as one of the Princes of Hell.  In order to affect this power play, we had to seek out and break four seals to the Citadel, so that we could access that location and use the Quill of Judgement to enact Guile’s ascension. 

Demons began to appear at the borders to Respite, our domain in the nether realms.  We faced them in battle, pushing forward against initially weak resistance, but gradually we face larger numbers of the infernal beings, and had to regroup.  I found myself able to keep them at bay with the power of Order, but only those I could directly face, and the chant that warded them off also interfered with my ability to cast other spells.  I became isolated from the bulk of our forces trying to recover some of our fallen and was overcome, but recovered and raised shortly afterwards.

As we pushed forward, I encountered a sultry demoness offering to trade for information.  I passed along her open offer to Janus of Chimeron, but had little time myself to dwell upon it, embroiled as I was in fighting our way forward alongside our warriors and combat mages.  Eventually, we cut our way through to the location of the first of the four seals, which was within a volcano.  By the entrance was a placard and a cauldron.  We found we could not just enter when Grebinar strode through the entrance and promptly asphyxiated.  We had to recover some sort of volcanic stone from the demons in the area and place bits of it in the cauldron as an offering in order to pass safely within the volcano.

The interior chamber of the mountain was protected by animated rock guardians, within which were pools of lava and eldritch rings upon the stone floor.  The guardians were slow, but proof against most attacks.  They would however reel back from a magical blow or spell.  This discovery allowed us to herd them into the lava pits, where their attacks became imbued with hellfire, but they became vulnerable and could be destroyed. 

We divided our efforts, with some of us fending off the guardians while others worked to break the seal.  When those efforts succeeded, the mountain shook so violently we were repeatedly knocked off our feet, and an even more formidable guardian came forth, requiring our full numbers to defeat.  When that champion guardian fell, the volcano flooded with lava, forcing us to flee and sealing off the interior.

With most of Mayerling attending to other matters, I joined with the members of Gau Dring in investigating rumors of a mine of some sort, in search of resources with which to empower Respite and enhance our warriors’ weapons so they could fight the infernal denizens more effectively.  We found the mine, but it was almost entirely worked out, leaving very little left for us to find.  Moving on through the shifting hellscape, we found a realm where souls needed to be sorted to their proper final destinations, while reapers sent undead husks against us to add our souls to their collection.  I found the demon-warding powers useless against these creatures, but my usual combat magic proved effective.  Restoring order to the judgment of the dead broke another of the seals.

More demons appeared to oppose us as we added successes to our tally, and we were obligated to fight our way to the next seal, finding it on the shore of a sulphorous lake.  There, statues of warriors had to be maneuvered into their proper places by applying globes of energy to them, with each statue responding to only the correct form of energy.  We harvested the energy from the demons who continued to harass our forces, eventually succeeding in maneuvering the statues into their correct locations, at which point they animated and attacked.  Defeating them brought down the third seal.

The fourth seal was a labyrinth we were only able to access in small groups.  Finding ourselves scattered, we first had to reunite before we could properly explore the maze while fighting off attacks from demons looking to pick off weak groups and stragglers.  We found dismembered entities within looking to recover their missing parts, which of course were scattered among the demons within the maze.  Restoring the body parts to the revenants of the maze brought forth another master guardian, whose defeat broke the fourth seal.

With the seals broken, we returned to Respite to regroup, while Rell conferred with Guile on behalf of our combined forces.  We planned our assault on the Citadel, and our defense for the counterattack which would be inevitable when we began using the        Quill to write Guile’s ascension into reality.

The Citadel was a strongly defended fortress, with vicious warrior demons holding the gates and the ramparts, and assassin demons emerging from the darkness to harry our rear and flanks.  I dared not unleash my power in the packed confines of the fighting front, so I turned my efforts toward keeping the raiders at bay.  With the assistance of my apprentice Zinc and a few others, we kept our forces safe from the harassers long enough for the front line warriors to breach the defenses and clear out the fortress.

We then arrayed our defenses.  We did not have long to wait for the counterattack.  I watched from the ramparts as wave after wave of demons broke themselves upon our defenses.  Then, Sir Guilliam of Invictus called for a counterattack.  We surged out, cutting down the remaining attackers, the last falling to my summoned lightning.

During the fighting, the ritual to sign Guile to princedom of Hell was enacted, and the Quill disappeared, as it does whenever it is used.  Having accomplished our immediate goal, we withdrew back to Respite, dined on rations, and prepared to face the night’s onslaught.

Despite our location in the realms of damnation and perdition, a miraculous event took place – Sir Guilliam manifested angelic wings.  This certainly made him stand out in the infernal night as we battled our way through demons, recovering orbs of light we used to dissolve barriers of darkness and destroy the nocturne champion dogging our heels. 

We fought our way to a darkling plain, where pools of illumination awaited to be lit and guarded against demons who strove to snuff them.  We were obliged to divide our forces to protect multiple pools from ongoing attack.  What followed was a confusing melee in almost pitch blackness, but the forces of the Realms prevailed.

We then returned to Respite, set our watches, and took what sleep we could.

The next day, we fought our way forth to recover the Quill.  We found it in the possession of a demon-magus, who set powerful wards all around it.  The demons in the magus’s employ were not particularly difficult to destroy, but the magus himself proved harder to destroy or contain.  He could be felled, but regenerated quickly, even in spite of efforts to impale or mangle the body to prevent him from doing so.  He also proved able to escape magical confinement when he vanished from the Circle of Protection I’d set around him.  Eventually, he was defeated permanently, though I know not how this was accomplished.

While I participated in holding off the magus and his minions, our more bookishly inclined adventurers strove to recover the Quill from the concentric circles of wards the magus had set around the artifact.  This proved to be a difficult task, coming close to stymying the cleverest of our number.  I lent what assistance they could, giving blood sacrifice to my gods in exchange for their aid.  My sacrifice evidently pleased my gods, for when I was revived, I found that most of the wards had vanished, leaving only the innermost to be overcome.  When we finally did so, the Quill was returned to the care of Invictus, whose might is unquestioned and whose honor is impeccable.

Upon returning to Respite, Sir Guilliam had a few choice words for me for offering blood sacrifice in Hell.  I have to admit, he has a point.  In my defense, I was improvising.

Having recovered the Quill, Atticus of Chimeron went forward with a plan to change the artifact from its current form to something safer for the mortal planes.  He was able to prevail upon Arioch to change the Quill of Judgment to the Quill of Storytelling.  In exchange, the Quill is to be used to write stories for Arioch’s amusement.

An optimistic man might think the danger of the Quill has been resolved.  I am not optimistic enough to believe it.  Regardless, we’re still left with the small matter of an open portal to Hell, to say nothing of the repercussions our actions there will have generated. 

Gray Erikkson, Sorcerer of Mayerling

Lord of Respite

The ninth month of the year 1016

What You Missed - Folkestone Questing 2016

By Ryan "Orion" Welch, with Alex "Tarun" Gorowara and Ian "Tam Lin" Struckhoff

_____________________________________________________________________

After Action Report

Events of 3-4 September 1016 (B.M.R.)

Fulfillment of a Contract Between Hell and the Realms

The morning after Folkstone’s annual feast, I traveled with my countrymen and other adventurers to Respite, which is the Realms-controlled domain in Hell. There, Laird Rel immediately met with General Gile (spelling unconfirmed). As a note: A year ago, Rel had signed a contract on behalf of the Realms with General Gile that promised our assistance in installing him as a Prince of Hell in exchange for his assistance in destroying The Quill. Now, General Gile had information regarding the location of the special ink required by The Quill: a stronghold belonging to the last user of The Quill. The citadel was secured by four locks, and the each of the four corresponding keys were sealed away in various locations in Hell. These locations were not known by us, so we set out to find and conquer them.

Shortly after setting out from Respite, I split off from my group and shapeshifted into a demon so that I could scout areas that more dangerous for a questing party. Learning from my mistakes at the Iron Road skirmish in Fae earlier in the year, I took care to study the behavior of the demons before disguising myself. Shortly after casting the spell, I tested myself by attempting to pass through a roving band of armed demons. I was relieved when I was able to walk by them without raising any suspicions, and having proved the quality of my imitation, I spent the next several hours ranging far and wide in enemy territory. However, because of this, I was not present for the breaking of the first and second seals. I feel that this report would be incomplete without those details, so I asked Tarun Ul-Sikar of Griffindor to help me fill that gap. He provided me with the following information:

==========

The Volcano: the first seal was in the depths of a volcano. It roasted anyone who stepped too close, including a curious but foolhardy Tam Lin and Grebinar. Luckily, the demons assailing us had what we needed - obsidian tokens. A single token, dropped at the entrance to the volcano, was enough payment to protect one person from its heat for as long as they stayed inside. Around the volcano were written words in a strange language. The letters were common, but Tam Lin recognized it as Old Morporkian. Rosetta noticed that it bore a similarity to the language  of the Wellmen, and I noted that it had a lot in common with the Insectafae tongue. Tam Lin's second-hand education in Old Morporkian let him translate most of it, but the phrases were clearly out of order.

Within the volcano, meanwhile, were creatures of rock who were nearly impervious to our attacks. Magic staggered them, however, and once beaten back into a lava pool they could be destroyed. These were minor nuisances, but proved to be informative. We cleared most of them out, and discovered seven circles: one in the center, and six surrounding it. Tam Lin and I began a call-and-response chant of the Old Morporkian, and experimented with the order after clearing up some small issues, like the sudden death of one of our participants (not naming names, but if it were a different time of month, you'd have smelled his fur burning). With some trial, error, and seer magic, we eventually found the right order (Tam Lin's translations in parentheses):

Mors potest non nocere! ( cannot harm me!)

Ego veni! (I arrive!)

Ego sum nolite timere! (I am not afraid!)

Ignis non nocere mihi! (Fire does not harm me!)

When we stumbled upon the right chant, several of the circles disappeared with a quake that rocked the volcano and knocked us all down. I repeated the process with each of the remaining circles in turn, each one disappearing with an overwhelming tremor. When the last circle was gone, a great golden golem emerged, like the rock creatures that had been harassing us, but more dangerous and less vulnerable. Eventually, he was beaten down, and determined to be the first seal; when he was broken, our work was done. As best I know, everyone managed to escape the volcano before it flared.

Later, in the Spirit Realm - this I know less about. There were undead, some weak, others strong; the strong ones we called reapers, and they could raise the weak with a touch. While the reapers were standing, we were able to enter the spirit realm; when they died, we were expelled. Inside the spirit realm, there were tiny orbs on the ground: souls which had been, in the great cosmic scheme of things, misplaced. We were to carry the blue-tinged ones from one side to the other (placing them in a special depository), and return the green-tinged ones from the other side in turn. This was simultaneously aided and complicated by the fact that dying on one side would merely carry you to the other.

Oh yes, there were spirits inside which were substantially larger than the centimeter-sized orbs, and a great deal more violent. They were threatening enough in close quarters to a spellcaster such as myself, but when they were struck a blow as would kill a mortal, they instead became dancing pillars of fire, incinerating all who came too close. This was something of a problem when there were still lost souls within their reach, or when a particular well-meaning but overexcited adventurer ended up turning one into a pillar of fire near one of the soul depositories. I'm told that his shot with a lightning bolt, while tactically ill-chosen, was an excellent throw. Luckily, they returned to their original states when we were expelled.

After many cycles - there were always more souls, it seemed, until they suddenly stopped - we completed our task and found one of the seals waiting for us in the center, where the wall between portions of the spirit realm had been. We broke it, and continued on our way.

-Tarun Ul-Sikar

==========

While the main party was working on the seal in the spirit realm, I committed a critical mistake while disguised as a demon. I killed a fellow adventurer for the sake of maintaining my cover, which later resulted in my own death at the blade of one of his countrymen. I won’t say that I didn’t deserve that, and as I watched through the eyes of my corpse, I became frustrated at myself for letting the situation worsen and escalate. Sir Rillan of Invictus saved me from being scalped for my offense and had me raised so that I could speak for myself. With his moderation, I was able to explain myself, apologize, and move on without further conflict.

Shortly before that fatal encounter, I had met up with a group of my own countrymen (everyone had long since realized that the most effective way to accomplish our goal was to split up into smaller groups instead of wandering around as one huge questing party). With my demon disguise dispelled, I ran to catch up with them. I found them off a trail among some tree-sized stalagmites, working to solve a magical puzzle that could grant some kind of small boon. After exchanging information with them, I snuck back to Respite to collect all of my gear that I had left behind when I first shapeshifted. As I was getting some food in the tavern, I heard that another group was preparing a ritual to empower the Banner of the Realms, and that they required a great deal of us to sacrifice into a fire something that had been on our person for at least a year. It only took a few minutes to offer enough (sacrifices ranged from pages of spell books to worn out daggers to Sir Tao’s bottle opener) to the fire, and soon the Baron of Bancroft planted the Banner in Respite. Once empowered, it slowly beckoned the corpses of Realms adventurers to itself.

It was not long after completing the ritual that Warlord Wisakatchekwa flew back to the tavern to inform us of the location of the third seal and to request reinforcements for the battle that had broken out there. I followed him with a group of battle-ready adventurers. As we got closer, I recognized the terrain my earlier scouting, and split from the others to put myself in a strategically advantageous position for shooting the lightly armored demons with my bow.

I was eventually forced to come down off my hill to recover my arrows, and after that I was more or less stuck on the beach where we were fighting (I’m not sure what kind of lake could exist in Hell, but I am very sure that I would not want to drink from it). This third seal was protected by metallic golems that we could move by throwing colored spheres at them. Each golem could only be moved by a particular color, and for some reason the demons that kept assaulting us possessed all of the spheres we needed. By this method of slaughter-throw-repeat, we guided the four golems into circles matching the colors of their spheres. When they were all in place, they came alive and attacked us (surprising someone somewhere, but not here). We easily defeated them in contests of matched weapons. With that, the third seal was broken.

More wandering. More searching. Eventually we found a way to access the fourth seal, and that was by sending groups of four individuals that had certain characteristics through a set of small portals. The requirements of the portals seemed to be random and would change after a group was sent through, but we met a helpful creature that could read the desires of the portals for us. I was in one of the last groups to go, and upon passing through the portal, I found myself in an elaborate labyrinth full of demons. My group quickly caught up to several other groups, and as we fought off countless demons, we eventually discovered three hooded figures wandering the maze that each asked small tasks of us. One shade asked for small parts of several of our souls, another asked for a particular kind of bone found only in the maze, and a third asked us to collect… severed limbs that had been lost in the far corners of the labyrinth. The halls were long and winding and on many occasions I became separated from one group, only to come across another. Sometimes, walls collapsed and revealed whole other sections of the maze, and in these new sections we found other groups that had apparently been portaled into the maze in some other location. In all of this I mean to say: we spent what felt like a very long time in that place and the errands set to us by the shades were challenging. Finally, when all three of these tasks had been completed, a number of greater demons burst from the endless walls and sprinted through the maze. They all seemed to want to throw themselves into a pit of lava at the center of the maze, and given their sudden appearance, we were unsure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Ultimately (perhaps “instinctively” is a better word here), being as we are, we decided to resist them, but the scattered nature of our party did not lend itself to that end, and several of the fast demons made it to the fire practically uncontested. A few others were challenged by our blades and I know for sure that at least one was slain. Regardless of the manner of their deaths, the demise of those particular demons seemed to break the fourth seal, which happily ejected all of us from that terrible place back to the place with the small portals.

With all four seals broken, we collected the ink for The Quill (with surprising ease). General Gile then came to us and told us that if we were to write him in as a Prince of Hell, we would have to make our way to a center of great power in the plane. As we expected to have to fight our way to that place, we decided to first go back to Respite and spend a couple of hours to eat dinner and prepare ourselves for the upcoming march.

When I arrived at the Chimeron camp, I found that some of my companions had already prepared dinner for all of us. I reveled at the chance to sit down, stretch my legs, and shove more food in my face. You know, because I hadn’t had enough to eat the night before at the feast…

After what felt like too short a rest, the Warlord was rallying us to return to Respite to meet up with the rest of our force. Our numbers had lessened slightly as some were still exhausted from the long day, but we were able to muster a fighting force worthy of marching under the Banner of the Realms. I took it upon myself to carry that Banner as I had several years ago when we marched to the final battle against Mad Tom. Unfortunately, I found that I could not bring the Banner as close to the line as I would have liked because its magic was opposed by the magic of the enemy’s banner. As expected, our march was opposed by many demons who favored the current chaos of Hell and would hate to see the power vacuum closed. The way forward was dark and blocked by many barriers. We suffered heavy casualties and were quickly running out of the last of our combat support magic. With the help of Sir Rosetta, Roni of Thorn Valley, and Gherradyne of Fairhaven (and an entire watermelon), I empowered the Banner with my mystic forge and the divine hearthfire of Vesta; this gave the Banner and aura that would repair the armor of the living in about a minute.

As we pressed forward, breaking the barriers down, we discovered several powerful lights. Finally we came to the shadow demon that was responsible for the barriers, and we engaged him in battle. Of course, being a shadow demon, it was tricky business to fight it in the darkness, so we surrounded it with the powerful lights and beat it into the ground. As it died, the final barrier between us and the place of power. We took several minutes to rest and attempt to restore some of our vital magic. Top Laiko took inventory of our remaining resources and organized a small ritual powered by the dregs of our divine magic. I was neither able to participate nor benefit from that ritual as most of my magic was still bound to the additional enchantments on the Banner, but I was later told that the result was a handful of power potions. Then it was time for the final push.

Under the Banner of the Realms, we marched on the place of power; it was a fortress with high walls and surrounded by a thin forest of tree-like stalagmites. A hoard of demons formed a strong defensive line at the gate of the castle and stood atop the walls with long pikes. The siege that followed was loud with the shouts of commands and the ringing of steel. We finally breached the walls and stormed inside, though it took time and blood. Once inside, the contract that named the Princes of Hell was located, and Laird Rel and General Gile worked out the exact wording of the lines that would make the General a Prince. When it was done, The Quill vanished and at the same time, a second force of demons descended on the fortress. We had worked so hard to fight our way into these walls, and now we had to fight our way out. That battle was not as bloody as the previous one, as we now had the advantage, and we once again broke the enemy line and poured out of the castle. Our objective had finally been accomplished, so we returned to Respite and rested for the night.

As the Hell-sun rose, we regrouped in Respite and made plans to find The Quill again so that it could be “dealt with”. Some people thought that it should be destroyed outright so that it would no longer be able to cause chaos, but others did not like that idea because it meant that the Maker would be destroyed in the process, and during the actions of the previous day, she had proven to be a free-willed being of great power and grace. Soon, most people agreed that it would be worthwhile to try to find some other way to destroy The Quill without destroying the Maker, so we again went out in groups to explore the Hellscape.

I once again went off on my own, as I could move faster than any group. I looked near the locations of the four seals found no sign of The Quill nor any demon for that matter. When I returned to my companions, I found them searching through some hellish underbrush, speaking of maps and treasure. It seemed that the allure of loot had distracted from the search for The Quill, so I returned to Respite to await news of our actual quarry.

The Quill did finally appear, though it seemed to take its time about it. We found it in front of the hut of some mage-demon who had surrounded it with warding circles. As we approached, the mage-demon pelted us with Hellfire and sent his minions after us. We cut them down in waves and kept the mage-demon at bay as best we could, while some of our own mages worked out a way to take down the wards. There were seven in all, and by my recollection they were in this order, outside to inner-most: a ward against the living, a ward against the dead, a weak ward against everything, a ward against weapons, a ward against everything except magical projectiles, and inside that last circle there were two wards side-by-side: a ward against non-infernal and a ward against sentience. The former surrounded The Quill and we never figured out the true purpose of the latter (Magus Tam Lin suggested that it could have been a way for us to prove that The Quill was sentient, but why would the mage-demon set up a ward for that? I suspect it had some other hidden meaning, but we never had the chance to figure it out).

It was relatively easy to pass the first four wards: people could be killed outside of the first circle, given a seed of life, then passed over the ward. Once they regenerated, they could walk right over the second ward. The third ward, the one against everything, was weak and could be disrupted. The fourth ward could be passed if you cast ghost blade on your weapon. The last two wards were more tricky. I won’t bother writing out the entire process, because it involved a lot of trial-and-error, but eventually Vesper of Blackwood tried to scoop up The Quill with a ghost blade-ed throwing mug (basically a weaponized mug, much like a throwing knife, I suppose?) that had been enchanted with blacksmithing magic, rubbed in Hellbloom, and was tied to a magic belt provided by Magus Janus. The whole contraption made it through all of the wards, and after some doing, was able to drag The Quill to the edge of the ward against everything except magical projectiles. Of course, The Quill could not pass this ward. While we were trying to figure out another solution, the mage-demon was slain, which caused the magic of the warding circles to fade for just long enough for us to collect The Quill and get out of there.

With The Quill in our possession, we returned to Respite for the last time. Now we only had to break the chaotic nature of The Quill without destroying the Maker in the process. Many people (such as myself) decided that they either did not have much to contribute to this or had more important things to attend to back in the Realms and started to make their way home. I was later informed by several of my countrymen that those who chose to work on The Quill were ultimately successful. At my request, Magus Tam Lin provided me with written details about those happenings, as he actually witnessed them:

==========

We spent much of the weekend focusing on how to fill the empty seat among the Nine Princes of Hell, in large part because of Shandar and Rel’s contract with General Guile, on the part of the Realms. However, in that back of our minds was what to do about the Quill itself. Both situations seemed to be stuck in a binary— Whether to place Guile in the role of Prince, or one of the Angels of Elysium. Whether to ask the Maker to sacrifice herself to destroy the Quill, or call on some other god to make a different sacrifice to do so. I was fixated all weekend on finding a third path for each of those, because all solutions seemed unacceptable. I suggested to Rel that we not merely use the Quill to place General Guile on the throne, but to do so in a way that could mitigate future chaos and violence in the face of power vacuums. We discussed a number of options, and in the end, Rel enacted a contract that will allow any member of the Nine to abdicate, by rejoining the Wheel, so long as they name their own successor— Eliminating power vacuums and violent transitions, and allowing them a way out, since many in Hell truly just long to be free from Hell itself.

Later, once we recovered the Quill, I attempted to call upon Antioch to change the nature of the Quill subtly, so it’s repercussions would be interesting events for Arioch to watch, rather than destructive Chaos. Antioch agreed with the plan, but felt that if he enacted it himself, or attempted to explain it to Arioch, the chaos god would be immediately predisposed against it.

In the end, I granted Trend Shadowdragon, a devoted follower of Arioch, and the Maker, the ability to speak with Arioch themselves. Trent took my original ideal and ran with it, and ultimately convinced Arioch to make the Quill a quill of stories, not of contracts. The heroes of the Realms now owe Arioch 50 stories in the next year, as an offering for the Quill.

-Magus Tam Lin

==========

Other noteworthy events that I could not fit into the chronology of this report:

-Angels from Elysium wanted to have one of their own written into the Prince of Hell position, but this would not make things better because angels don’t belong in Hell and they would have become corrupted

-Sir Gilliam seems to have regained his wings

Conclusions:

Balance has been restored to the plane of Hell and The Quill should no longer pose any danger to that world. It is always good to see that the adventurers of the Realms can still join together and accomplish a common goal without major mishaps. I addition, I personally learned that proper preparation pays off when shapeshifting, but the art of deception has many nuances and I still have a lot to learn about the effective use of the spell, especially when it comes to interacting with my fellow adventurers.

---

Captain Orion Mars, Chimeron Militia

Squire to the Knight Protectors of Faerie

Sworn Member of the Azure Guard

Why I Want To Go: Storytellers and Green and Gold

Oh neat!  This weekend brings us two classic events.  Up first is the event called Storytellers.  Since last year was a whole decade of tales, this brings us to year eleven.  (math is useful!)
This year you hear stories from 3 minds:  Ryan, Gau Dring, and Rua Thar Cin.  Each segment will tell its own, individual story.  However, each story must adhere to a theme, and this year's theme is "Do-Over".
As always, this is an event thrown in which all who play must also be prepared to contribute.  Play two quests, and NPC for one.  Do not try to skirt this rule, it is there for a reason.  Believe me, people notice.

The next day, classic Green and Gold!  Its an event that has been around almost as long as me (yikes!) pitting the new, fresh players against the experienced and possibly jaded population.  Tourneys all day!!  Pause for a yummy BBQ (small extra cost, totally worth it!) and then swing right into the night quest.
Sunday, more tourneys.

Im sad to see this is the last year Green and Gold is planned to be run.  Please do not miss your chance to have a great time.  Someone play a round of hammer ball for me!

An Atypical View: Season Two: #36

Happy Labor Day!

Take some time to relax after a full weekend of eventing, barbecuing, family time, or whatever else you've been up to and we'll be back tomorrow with our regularly scheduled content!

But for now....

Happy Labor Day from The View from Valehaven!

Friendly Neighborhood Fight Practices and You!

It’s that time of year again! It’s time for your local college fight practice to start up and welcome new potential Realms players in the form of frosh. I know what you’re thinking! “But, Diana—what can I do to help the new players at practice?” I’m so glad you thought about asking that question, because I would love to answer that in my six simple answers!

#1 Attend a Practice

            This seems like a no brainer but I feel that it needs stating. Local fight practices are not only a place to get better, but also a way to give back to the community. When you attend fight practice, you offer a chance to new players to see the diversity in our player base.  I understand that people have time constraints, but try and make a commitment to attend once or twice a month. Not only does that help the community, but it helps you as well!

#2 Offer Help

The chances are very good that there will be more first timers than experienced players at first.  Talk to the individual who is running practice and offer your assistance to take a new player one-on-one.  Also, see if you can take two newbies aside and have them fight each other while you offer helpful suggestions. You’re thinking, “But, Diana. I’m not a good fighter.” Well, Jimmy, you see, it doesn’t take a great fighter to be a trainer.  All you need is patience and consideration.  They will need help with the most basic of concepts, at first. If you do think that someone is beyond your training ability, offer to bring them to someone more experienced.  They will be happy with any direction given to them.

#3 Don’t Be a Show-off

            Don’t be that guy. Obviously, you can beat them.  They have been playing for less than four hours. It’s like teaching a 3-year-old the rules to candy land then stacking the deck.  Yeah, you’ll look super cool, but what’s that worth? Instead of just trouncing them, talk them through what you are doing and why.  Explain how long you have been playing and that you once started off flinching while swinging wildly, too! Don’t let them win, but don’t make them feel belittled. We all started somewhere.

#4 Talk About Cheating

            There’s that elephant in the room. It’s something that people don’t like to face, but it’s a normal part of any game, and it’s not the end of the world. Explain to them that calling shots is hard! Even the best of us misses shots at times. Being a newbie and missing shots go hand in hand. It is usually not done on purpose, but it should be pointed out and corrected, though not in a negative tone. Just remind them that it takes a time and effort to get good at fighting, but even longer to lose the stigma of blatant cheating, especially when you’re new and this is the first impression you are going to make on people.

Let’s not forget to make sure we are fighting cleanly as well, since it would leave a bad impression that cheating is okay.  It could also make someone not want to come back a second time to practice. Be mindful of yourself and hold yourself to a higher standard, especially when training new players.

#5 Workshops

            Most college campus practices have workshops for weapons making and clothing. Try and attend them and offer as much help as you can, even if it’s just offering to cut things out.  Anything is helpful and it can make a huge impact on newbies continuing to play if they have their own weapons and garb.

#6 Make Newbies Feel Welcome

            Remember, this is the Realms Community. It is built on the foundation of fun and goodwill. Without that, the game becomes bitter and curmudgeon-y(Wordsmithing!). Remember:

·         Be kind

·         Welcome people with a smile

·         Treat others as you would like to be treated

·         Participate while at practice—lead by example

You are the Realms first line of defense against stagnation and dwindling newbie populations! Remember the things that I said, and you’ll be a great teacher.

I would like to leave you folks with some insight from players who recently started Realms and began at UConn, WPI, and UMass Lowell, respectively:

Nataliya Kostenko: One of the things I always found was that a lot of veterans always do really good one-on-one training really well but then when it comes to line or team battles, newbies are left to fend for themselves. So, one of the things I always found most helpful was when at UConn practice we'd do a buddy system and someone more experienced would stay near me in a line and teach battle field awareness or take me on the flank with them or something like that. I also think it's helpful when, after the battle they explain why they told you to do things.

Rae Nistler: Neil [Kusleika] almost always warms up with me with short sword. I know he holds back and he'll do the same thing over and over until I learn to correctly counter it.

I saw how you[Diana!] were training your squire, Chalan. By watching her in line battles or being near her. It looked super helpful, then taking her aside and correcting, reminding, explaining, etc.

I like when more experienced players even at events give/yell instructions to/at me. Like, stay in line, slow down, shield up, or if I'm off by myself... get over here. Our just tell me what my job is in a group. The more simple the instructions the easier.

David Benoit: The veteran players who attend the Blackwood and UMass practices do a really good job at coaching new players through line battles. They often spend time between battles to discuss and demonstrate team fighting techniques.

When I first joined, they would have us practice "dotting the i" as an individual and "crossing the T" as a group. We would even do the exercises without weapons/combat, just to hammer in the concepts.

Another thing I find helpful is that they always encourage us to fight outside of our comfort zone. Sometimes it's fighting with weapon combos we aren't comfortable with. Other times it's fighting at a disadvantage such as a shorter weapon combo than our opponent, a two-on-one match, or starting in the center of a grand melee circle.

One of the most valuable things for me is definitely all of the one-on-one time that many of the veteran players spend with us. They are always excited to teach us and help us improve. This community is so warm and welcoming, which is really powerful to a new player. I think the environment that the veteran players create for us is as helpful and important as any of the individual fighting tips they provide. It's what motivates us, and keeps us eager to come back for more.



          In closing, let me say that everyone has to start somewhere. One day, this first practice newbie you are helping may be a future paragon of the game, and he or she will look fondly at their days when that player really helped them feel welcome.

What You Missed, Tournaments of the Void 7

What you missed

 Grimloch Presents: Tournaments of the Void 7

by Michael "Vuel" Durocher

The Event Holder Team that has been running Tourney's of the Void has spent the last several years building a concept for what one-day tournament event should be. The usage of public parks can often deter from an event in some opinions, but it allows for the Eventholder's to have a minimal cost for content that they provided. It's a worthwhile trade off as long as the Event can provide, and Tourneys of the Void always provides a good time.

The Event itself provides participants with a full day of tournaments, both combat and several puzzle quests, a unique bear pit that pushed different concepts of fighting styles, as well as a scavenger hunt and plenty of food.