The century was steamy.
Saturday night was the inaugural meeting of the Scarlet Ribbon Society. In other words, the first-ever mystery event of Steam Century Kaposia.
leorathesane and I had a truly lovely evening chatting with fellow steampunkers and unraveling the mystery of the money stolen from Catsby Shipping. The SCK crew did a wonderful job of throwing in red herrings to mask the fact that the real solution was fairly simple - which was as it should be; I mean, none of us are Sherlock Holmes, here. Plus, everyone was so gracious, and the character interactions were a real treat (especially Miss Catsby vs. Poppy, which we were lucky enough to be in the middle of at one point). I also found the atmosphere more convivial and less competitive than it had been at CON, plus actually being able to talk with both cast members and fellow players on a much more casual note than we could when we also had to dodge hundreds of other drunk CON-goers.
The personal highlight for me was the unveiling of a new persona. Name: Miss Pia Aarons-Lawrence-Hughes. Occupation: Professional Dilettante. Many players were in costume, but I may have been the only one in character. I knew the name and the "profession" before we went, but everything else I was just winging. Watching the character unfolded and hearing the things that jumped out of my mouth was delightful. Her "catch phrase," of a sort: "I made one of those once! It didn't do anything, but it was quite pretty." Pia goes through "phases": "I've never been fond of Winter. Except when I was in my sled-dog phase"; "I tried to have an academia phase, until I discovered that I would have to work for tenure."
Leora kindly indulged me by playing along. When I mentioned a demolitions and explosives phase, she said grimly, "I remember." Later, when my shirt was having a button malfunction, she said, "Dear, we don't need to revisit your exhibitionist phase." A long time passed before I could stop laughing enough to rebutton myself. Leora even helped me feel better about my outfit. I cobbled it together last-minute and wasn't feeling very confident in it until she said, "You look very Blavatsky." Instantly, Pia was in a spiritualism phase, and everything made sense.
I'm excited for the next event. Who knows what phase I'll be having by then!