An Empire Past Events: Summary Dump

Since we've now had two events cancelled this year, I wanted to go back over the hots/nots/reviews I'd written of previous events, centralise them in one place, and have a look at how I and Delora have developed and changed over the years. These are little rants taken off facebook, so no care has really been put into how they were written.


EMPIRE 382YE SUMMER EQUINOX (JULY 2018) - IN WHICH DELORA MEETS NEW FRIENDS AND JOINS THE KOHAN,
A HOTS AND NOTS LIST:

photo by Quiet Nerd Snapshots

Hots:


- Reactions to my ~surprise~ attendance. Quite a few of them immediately slipped oc but thank you for making me feel loved

- Meeting old friends as new characters! Having spent so much time hearing about these new characters it was so exciting to play with them. Raza was just delightful; you had this gorgeously smarmy charisma and I love the little vocal changes you make. Iñes is so forthright and energetic and chipper, and you have this subtle new way of holding yourself that easily differentiates her from Iris, she's great! Beatriz' costume is magnificent - your ability to craft a new character identity just through style is incredible. Katriya, YOU ARE MY FAVOURITE TINY ORC. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with any of your characters this time but I am so excited for more.

- I had/witnessed one or two really lovely character conversations. Delora has lots of emotions over the man her baby cousin has become, and I loved the conversation borne out of the temporary 'no Delora do not do the fight' drama. Ginger and Ben your argument was superbly done, a really beautifully played meeting of two people with different ideologoes that both make sense in the setting. I loved it.

- FAUXHAN PLOT. Me and Amy will definitely need Lora & Flora to address it ic because our conversation over it was very abrupt. I love that there's tension between the twins! Meeting the Kohan properly and beginning to spend amounts of time with a new lrp group is wonderful. I love how enthusiastic you all are about the lore, the game, your characters, etc. I am excited to ic befriend a whole new cast of characters.

- I love team 'make Falafel behave like mature responsible Freeborn adults and make ridiculous threats of impalement'

- The FUNeral! What a great nation we are.

- The UNFUN will reading. It was however lovely to be in that encased space of emotion. You had all put such care, thought and humour into your wills. It was a great moment that truly showed the wonderful effort people put into this game.

- MONSTERING. Ok this deserves its post of its own but wow - I had so much fun! It was such a hectic, scattered battle but so much fun. I discovered CLEAVE and also KNEES and how WELL THEY GO TOGETHER. I also got to meet so many lrpers I had lrp crushes on? Meet as in cleave but yknow all's fair in love and war? Also the navarr really fucked us up wow it was great? And then we fucked them up? The charge of the cultists? How after the first two minibattles we were just thrown into the field in chunks to make chaos? The very kind lrper who executed me and then quickly helped me up oc? Getting muddled up into another emu? I HAD SO MUCH FUN.

- god bless my little new-bought tent let nothing it dismay; it fought the rain and wind and storm and never once gave way

Nots:
- i didn't get to spend a lot of time with my pals at cassia chimes

- the weather really dampened a lot of stuff. If i hadn't been monstering I also would probably have written off Sunday. Saturday night was a write off.

- i didn't get to enact any of the fun backstories I had made with new lrp friends. Next time folks :(

- sol leaving :( good luck Oliver! My first event was your first as egregore and yet you still made such an impression. you will be missed.

EMPIRE 382YE WINTER EQUINOX - IN WHICH DELORA GOES TO BATTLE, AND STARTS HAVING OPINIONS
 

- Monstered again, so that made twice before setting foot in an actual battle, which made me a lot less nervous oc. Druj are fun! Shoutout to the druj who got shot on the mail-covered butt and bootyshaked at the empire.

- Went out alone/with Santana on a skirmish which felt very naughty when at last solstice all the Sol-Dev's had been like NO DELORA NOT ON YOUR OWN. But felt good to actually go through the sentinel gate! The skirmishes themselves were hectic due to many of us being inexperienced players, but I'm really glad PD made these chances for us to go out and get our first experiences of battle.

- The Sunday battle - I'll never forget that feeling of dread and nerves when the wood jotun rounded the corner and charged and as far as we knew we Freeborn were own our own. It was cool to watch Vrael and Aracelis manage to wrangle the Freeborn to stand fast and trust their orders, despite us not knowing that the Wintermark were going to turn and charge at the last minute. Delora was like 'oh shit I should've gone to the palisade' lmao but I was so glad I didn't! It would've been mostly oc nerves behind that decision and I was glad I ignored it and was a proper kohan about it.

- I loved watching Vito and Samu leave the Freeborn line to deliver a wounded Jotun to his comrades. I hope someone got a picture of it.

- The Mask of Erigo makeup is fabulous. Loved being able to put another player's designs to life. Delora is still 99% not staying kohan but I'll probably incorporate the smaller aspects of the face into makeup for battle afterwards, to show her respect and gratefulness to her tutors.

- the first hit I landed was on a jotun who was on one hit and they went down and boy. The POWER.

- I had like 2 three-second interactions in total with Vrael but we made them count (also him and everyone else being so undeniably happy at her safe return - in such a muted and respectful way - was awesome, and definitely made her feel some type of way.)

- Delora has strong feelings about things happening in the Armada and since she's on hiatus she can't do anything except brood, but it does also seriously affect how she feels about returning to the Armada when her contract is up, or how she might return. I'll have some cool game if she survives the training.

- Getting peripherally involved in military matters was kind of cool and also was a really great, convenient opportunity following Delora's musings on the Armada/the tribes. So hello @ Aracelis prepare for ANOTHER hanger-on (prepare to be my ic new bff Ines)

- Delora had been considering becoming a Riqueza, but this event REALLY made her reignite that connection to Erigo. She's quite happy being 'Delora I....' for a bit though.

- Kohan - oh kohan. I was nervous to step out from my home group and from my friends who I've known for years, who brought me to the hobby, but I really feel welcome, and you've given me the opportunity to slowly draw Delora out of her shell. If Delora survives her year, she'll be back frequently as a friend.

- I, by accident and chance, ended up spending an hour or two at the Fijadoz tent - and now one of Delora's aims for E3 is to spend some time with as many of the other families and groups as she can. It was lovely, she will definitely come back to Fijadoz, and it was extra lovely to realise post-event that I was socialising with Ellen unknowingly.

- Loved the moment of Dino giving Delora a potion. I had so few interactions with Armada folks but it meant that each one counted. Returning it will be a nice moment!

- 'Please come back' 'I will' honestly, Floradora make me totes emosh fam

- So happy to have Oliver back. My first event was your first as egregore so Delora has always felt a special bond with Sol/Glass and I'm glad to be spending more time with you when I do see you.

- My tent is the real MVP. E3 and this E1 were her first two voyages and I didn't even lose a peg.

- Most importantly - my fucking armour. Oh my god Daisy. You knock it out the park each time. Completely worth waiting for.

I was feeling really run down - throat infection, stress from work catching up to me - Friday morning and legitimately was considering emailing pd last minute to see if they would do a fee transfer. I'm really glad I didn't - I definitely didn't have a filler event. This was an exposition event for Delora - another corner-turner - and it was awesome.
 

EMPIRE FICTION: 383YE, Summer: The Masks of Erigo, for the Last Time

Delora spotted them five minutes before she came upon them, a jolt of red, gold and blue against the pale, rolling sands of the Iron Plains. The path had been a blistering trial in the mid-summer heat - any breeze whipped up bitter grains of sand, and the sun glared at Delora from its imperious peak in the sky - but when was finding the Masks ever an easy quest? At Lucksprings she had received a letter to confirm that they were camped half a day’s walk from Anozel. The rest, as usual, was up to her to figure out.

She’d started with inquiries in the town. That was the easy part; a recent band of kohan wasn’t exactly hard to miss. It was tracking them through the sand that was the difficult part. The Plains shifted through the day, and if you were several days behind your quarry, any tracks could be erased as if they’d never existed. In the first hour or so out of the town there was still enough plant life for the ground and shrubbery to hold signs of movement, but as the palm trees and bushes thinned out, Delora’s task became more difficult.

Thus, it had taken her the better part of the day to track them. She was used to this dance now, and had made sure to rest under any shade she encountered, and to return to her last marker quickly should she change her mind about any leads. She rationed her water wisely, a task which she had found more difficult than anything a year and a half ago. As she finally spotted the group, she felt relief mixed with pride, as well as her nagging thirst suddenly become unbearable.

She heard singing go up as she came into earshot, in voices that were as hoarse and rough as usual. They had sung Come and Be Welcome to her last time too. They were a tough group, holding fast to tradition, but they had embraced her nonetheless and for that, she was always thankful.

“Sit, have some water, if you have any left.” Dihya - a tanned woman, ten years Delora’s senior - called out as Delora stepped up to the rocky outcrop that the Masks had made into their camp. Delora shrugged off her bags and dropped onto the blanket space that Dihya was indicating for her. “Oh, actually, well done.” Dihya commented, feeling Delora’s waterskin. “That’s almost as little as we’d drink.”

“Here, get your bowl, eat this.” Itri offered her some lukewarm stewed meat, which Delora took gratefully. Itri led the Masks, and had done so for half a decade. Though she resembled Luzia about as much as an orc did a rabbit, Delora knew the two to be kindred spirits. “You can tell us your adventures while you eat. We’ll camp here tonight, then head back in the early morning.”

Delora took a great gulp of water, and a big mouthful of food. The Masks were not big on pleasantries or any kind of hosting duties, but she instinctively understood their language of care. Have you drunk? Have you had that wound wiped? You’re looking pale, have some tagine. Want to talk after dinner? You’ve been quiet since your sister’s letter, come spar with me. It was similar to the hospitality that certain other nations had shown her, but it never felt out of place with the Freeborn spirit. “So,” Delora said, through her mouthful of food, “we fought in Feroz with three other nations.”

There were noises of approval throughout the group.

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