Empire, other LRP, 141 day run of work with only four days of rest...
Hmmm. Had kind of concluded that I'd never post here again, but I have things that I want to set down about Empire that would not be appropriate on facebook which I try hard to keep to stuff that I wouldn't be ashamed to let historical interpretation colleagues and potential bookers read. Turns out that it's almost exactly a year since I last posted here, which somehow seems to make it all the more appropriate to do so now...
So, yeah. Empire. I only managed the first and fourth events of the inaugural year (my Summers are getting busier with work, with this year demanding a 141 day run that featured only four days off) and for all that the two events were remarkably comparable with regards to organisation and 'offer', my experience of the two was very different. I gather that Hot and NOt is the way these things are done these days, therefore:-
Cold and Wet, for the rain it raineth ev'ry day:-
- Pretty crappy weather for both events (cold and wet at event 1, really wet at event 4) meant mud at both, but I honestly preferred the conditions at event 1 when at least the mud would freeze into a solid walking surface by late afternoon.
- At Event 1, there was no support from PD 4X4 vehicles and trailers in getting stuff to the IC camp. Frankly, I wanted to turn round and go home rather than make the dozens of 400m journeys carrying stuff on my back. Trailer owning friends (and other people happy to lend a pushing hand) were a massive boon, but I was so goddamn glad that the ground was judged acceptable for vehicles to enter site for take down.
- At event 4, it all happened the other way round. We were okay to take the van on for Thursday set up, but the call went out on Sunday that the ground was too much of a quagmire to allow anything but 4x4 vehicles onto the IC field. This time, however, PD logistics were all over the need and a jeep and trailer arrived at our camp literally as I was bagging up the last of my tent pegs.
- I'd never been at the inaugural event of a PD game before (which is largely why I'd chosen to give up a lucrative Bank Holiday weekend to attend), but I found event 1 to be less than friendly to someone just tasting the game. IC, that made entire sense - it was all about 're'-establishing a system of IC government after a pre-campaign catastrophic blow to the establishment that resulted in almost every political/religious position being up for grabs - but that didn't leave much room for incentive for folk who weren't interested in a jockeying for a role that came huge responsibility/commitment. It really did seem all about the elections and, since I knew I wouldn't be able to attend events 2 and 3, that didn't seem to leave much for me.
- I made a lot of wrong choices at character creation. There's near zero point in being a priest unless you take Congregation as your character resource. I dedicated to a Virtue that (in combination with my group concept and character background) meant I had to be critical and judgemental of the people in my chapter rather than sociably interested and supportive of many people I hadn't actually RPd with before.
- All the general discussion seemed to happening on facebook which is i) horrible anyway, ii) so ubiquitous and throwaway to use that some really nasty stuff was coming out of it, iii) was so 'easy' as a discussion forum/format that it seemed to actually lessen the aspiration of the game.
Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows:-
- I do like me some visuals, and Empire is visually awesome. Costume and culture briefs mean that it's generally really easy to tell at a glance (or a few non-specific verbal exchanges) what nation another character is from. It's near impossible to mistake whose camp you have strayed into, there's a wonderful balance of pre-judgement and 'oh, actually it turns out that...' when interacting with a different Nation and a brilliant feeling of multi-culturalism in shared areas.
- Site props and shared focal areas are magnificent. The tavern is simply splendid and while several areas are still no more than dressed tents, they're generally dressed very well.
- I play in an awesome group. It's a mix of people I know intimately, people I have rp'd with as different characters in different games and people I've never even encountered before, but they've all been hand picked as group members and it makes for a very exciting group that forces me to up my game.
- As one of my group's 'steering committee', I'd taken on responsibility for making plot for certain other characters. I went into event 4 with the strong opinion that it might be my last as a PC and thus needed to drop my plot bomb at some point over the weekend. The object of my particular group plot responsibilities pushed an entirely unexpected set of buttons (a possibility which I have always delighted in as plot writer) which resulted in my being able to pretty much dump the secret backstory onto a couple of others and then take a huge step back so that it becomes their concern at least as much as mine. Suddenly I was able to play my character for my own enjoyment rather than someone else's and suddenly I had the freedom of being able to do whatever I wanted. And goodness, that made a difference...
- I was able to 're-spec' my character after event 1, making important adjustments from his initial generation and stats at event 1. I didn't actually change any character points (still an Artisan/Priest with regards to stats but a Jeweller with regards to background) and was easily able to IC justify the Resource/Dedication changes I did make, but damn, it made my character more enjoyable to play at my second event.
- At event 1 I had avoided commitment since I knew that I wouldn't be at the next two events, but at event 4 I took up an IC 'offer' and ran with it. Ran quite a long way surprisingly quickly, in fact, and faster and further than the Senate could deal with, it seems. Still, lesson learned - be careful in how you present the Senate with your request for help. I'm pretty sure they actually meant to say "We will not fund this at this time" rather than the "No, _fuck_ the dead. There shall be _never_ be a memorial to the glorious fallen who have given their lives in service of the Empire" that their vote actually resulted in, but I'm not sure that I could _write_ a better encouragement to make certain that the memorial happened anyway _despite_ their rejection...
- While travelling to the event, a friend asked me what my objective was. I answered "Hallow the shit out of stuff" and (after a spectacularly false start - see a previous point) I absolutely managed that. The ability itself is a piece of piss, but persuading people to let you do it to their gear is a different matter entirely... Most were, "No, sure, that's great", while a particular other was all "Ew, _screw_ you and your unconditional love. No, seriously, I hate you and everything you've been doing for me for the last twenty years. Wait, what do you mean, you're now not giving me free magic items any more? God, I hate you. I'm going to bad mouth you to anyone who'll listen and not notice that my rejecting your personal loyalty has resulted in your instead expanding your loyalty parameters to the rest of the faction, the nation and indeed all of the Empire... You selfish prick." RP gold!
I've tried for several years now to play only one game at a time since the 'high' season of the hobby almost exactly overlaps the 'high' season of the tourist industry, meaning that every event I attend costs me a hell of a lot in lost opportunity for earnings, on top of ticket/transport/food/kit expenditure. Insurrection, with its diary-friendly late autumn/early spring schedule worked very nicely for me, but there are only two events before endgame. This Autumn, however, I seem to be taking on a lot more than is my usual wont. There's already been Empire, next weekend sees Projekt:Ragnarok at Featherstone Castle. The game is pitched as "Immediate aftermath of the actual Battle of the Bulge", but I very much hope will also feature mad science, zombies or knowledge the like of which man should not wot. Any and/or all of the above would be extremely cool. I also have high hopes of punching a Nazi, which has long been on my LRP wish list. A couple of weeks after that, there'll be Insurrection Event 10 (two nights and days in an unlit underground tunnel system playing a game where the most deadly hazard has always been the other PCs? Hilarity will doubtless ensue.). And at the back end of November, I'll be at a reconstructed Viking village for an Empire player event (hosted by the Wars of the Roses/The Wickerman nation, while I hail from the Gondor/Kingdom of Heaven nation. What could possibly go wrong?).
So, yeah, that one game at a time thing is working out really well... I blame it on the company I've fallen into since moving down here.
* - Sarah Cook - I'd never properly met Sarah Cook before playing Insurrection with her (she's a charismatic elven dilettante with awesome cosmic powers and no sense of self-restraint! He's a dwarven Surgeon with adjustable morals and a truly mind-blowing amount of cash. Together, they do pretty much whatever the hell they feel like and manage to pass it off as fighting crime!)
* - Mark Wilkin - Knew him passingly through other avenues than LRP, played Insurrection alongside him once and near him a couple more times before he decided not to play any longer. _Really_ enjoying co-managing an Empire group with him.
* - Dave Ingham - Someone else I met through Insurrection. Dave/Lockwood - "Yes, my soul was eaten a year or so ago by a demon that actually wanted your soul, Dan/Hendrik, but now I want to be Sarah/Mercy's butler." Me/Hendrik - "This is a really bad idea." Sarah/Mercy - "Let's face it, it's not the stupidest thing we've done..." Me/Hendrik - "Dammit!" Hilarity ensued.
* - David Hennion - A long time player of Insurrection who simply wasn't on my radar until I realised that he was a survivor of a purge of another faction (that I/Hendrik had arranged) and had quietly transferred to another faction that eventually purged my faction in return... I/Hendrik survived, and he was one of the first to go down in the inevitable "diplomacy doesn't work any more" reprisal. Re-spawned in my faction, surprised the shit out of me _after_ my character committed suicide and turns out to be one of the nicest people I know in the hobby.
* - Bryony Baines and Tim Baker - I knew them passingly through Maelstrom and re-enactment, but mainly through Insurrection where they were the most deliciously "I hate you and want/plan to kill you" 'allies' anyone could ever hope for. Frankly, I'm proud of Hendrik having survived the number of attempts they made (especially since they once attacked when I was in nothing but underwear). I'm enormously looking forward to being at least nominally on the same team as them at Projekt:Ragnarok.
So. Anyway. Work and real life.
There's been little new to report since I last posted, truth be told. Still working with Trouvere, Griffin Historical and Past Pleasures.
* - Trouvere - Worked with them at Pendennis Castle in Falmouth again, providing music for a set of medieval jousts. Also the usual Reynard the Fox events, including at Pensthorpe Nature Park. I've done events that were more respectably historical, but few at sites more intrinsically beautiful. The proportion of Trouvere gigs that Paul and Gill are asking me to be a part of is falling, I feel. That's fair. They are both developing as musicians far more than I am and I'm simply not as local as I used to be. That's okay, I think. I accept that Trouvere and I are developing in slightly different directions.
* - Griffin Historical. Continue to give me varied and challenging work. Really challenging...
--- I was booked to do craft activities at Battle Abbey, but got a text asking me to go to Old Sarum instead. No problem, but what it should I pack? Mediaeval Troubadour will be fine. No problem. What's the theme of the event? Silence.... Two and a half hours before kick-off, I learn that the theme is 'Siege!' and that (while my colleague would be doing most of the military/practical stuff) I had to deliver four 30 minute story-telling sessions on the theme of sieges. Ummmmm.... My siegecraft knowledge extends to a show with a very specific set of kit (none of which was present) and a handful of anecdotes. Even a single evening on the internet might have led me to material for a half hour story, but it was far too late to trawl the net (especially since there were tents and safety enclosures to put up before the public arrived). Good thing I'm _damn_ good at my job, eh? My first session took the form of 'How to Besiege a Castle!', getting the children to devise ways to cross the moat and beat their way through gates and portcullises before marching into the shop to demand the surrender of the Castle Staff (all peppered with historical anecdotes) and concluded with "There are, of course, two sides to every story. Join me in half an hour to learn 'How to Resist a Castle against Siege!'. Second session likewise explored the physical remains of that particular site, featured references to actual historical events and encouraged the children (and their parents) to make difficult decisions and get beyond a 'knights and princesses' understanding of castles. My sessions were actually more of a lesson than a performance, but they went down an absolute storm with the children and I earned huge respect from the parents and the site staff. WIN.
--- I was booked for 'Myths and Legends' at Stokesay Castle in Shropshire. Briliant! An exquisitely beautiful site that I hadn't been to for some twenty years. Then I learned that my event partner would be a face painter.... (Nothing against face painting and her work was very good and imaginative, but it did meant that I would be doing _all_ of the history and performance work.) The proposed timetable of 30 mins story telling, 45 mins Treasure Hunt, 30 mins story telling, rinse and repeat just didn't work for me, so I kind of mashed the two things together. "There are six special objects hidden around this castle and each one of them is a seed for a story I'd like to tell... Three are within the castle walls and three are outside. Scatter, and look for a story object. Come back to me when you think you've found one one and, if you're right, I'll play a fanfare to gather everyone else so you can show us what you've found and I can tell a story... Go!". Cue a first set of exploring the castle interior and finding story seeds for "Why the Sea is Salt" (a millstone), "Phaeton and the Chariot of the Sun" (a grecian urn) and "Why there are no Englishmen in Hell" (a sack) and, after a short break, a second story set of "Pyramus and Thisbe" (a roman shield), "King Hurla" (a dark age helm) and "The Giants of Stokesay Castle" (a golden key). Once again, I made it at least as much an exploration/interpretation of the site as it was a simple performance piece and, once again, I got brilliant feedback to/through the castle staff.
--- I work in some fantastic sites with some fantastic people, but these two events were probably my favourites of the entire year. See, I haven't actually had much chance to something entirely _new_ in recent years; it's all been refining something already long established or working closely to someone else's brief. Twice in quick succession (at near zero notice), Griffin Historical gave me a vague theme and expected me to come up with something magnificent and I damn well _delivered_.
* - Past Pleasures - Same old, same old.... Make no mistake, the events and the sites we do them in are jaw-droppingly _awesome_, but I've precious little to say about PP work that I haven't said before. It's still a privilege to work with such learned people, in such exquisite costumes and in such wonderful places but, frankly, I'm a little bored. Even when we a new scenario or move into a different period, it still kind of feels the same. I want to direct an event or write a scenario... At the end of my first season/induction period, I got asked the classic question "where do you see yourself in five years?" and I answered "leading a team and writing scenarios". I'd do that _so_ well. Probably time to throw my hat into the ring for Hampton Court Palace Christmas or Feb half-term events...
So, yeah. Empire. I only managed the first and fourth events of the inaugural year (my Summers are getting busier with work, with this year demanding a 141 day run that featured only four days off) and for all that the two events were remarkably comparable with regards to organisation and 'offer', my experience of the two was very different. I gather that Hot and NOt is the way these things are done these days, therefore:-
Cold and Wet, for the rain it raineth ev'ry day:-
- Pretty crappy weather for both events (cold and wet at event 1, really wet at event 4) meant mud at both, but I honestly preferred the conditions at event 1 when at least the mud would freeze into a solid walking surface by late afternoon.
- At Event 1, there was no support from PD 4X4 vehicles and trailers in getting stuff to the IC camp. Frankly, I wanted to turn round and go home rather than make the dozens of 400m journeys carrying stuff on my back. Trailer owning friends (and other people happy to lend a pushing hand) were a massive boon, but I was so goddamn glad that the ground was judged acceptable for vehicles to enter site for take down.
- At event 4, it all happened the other way round. We were okay to take the van on for Thursday set up, but the call went out on Sunday that the ground was too much of a quagmire to allow anything but 4x4 vehicles onto the IC field. This time, however, PD logistics were all over the need and a jeep and trailer arrived at our camp literally as I was bagging up the last of my tent pegs.
- I'd never been at the inaugural event of a PD game before (which is largely why I'd chosen to give up a lucrative Bank Holiday weekend to attend), but I found event 1 to be less than friendly to someone just tasting the game. IC, that made entire sense - it was all about 're'-establishing a system of IC government after a pre-campaign catastrophic blow to the establishment that resulted in almost every political/religious position being up for grabs - but that didn't leave much room for incentive for folk who weren't interested in a jockeying for a role that came huge responsibility/commitment. It really did seem all about the elections and, since I knew I wouldn't be able to attend events 2 and 3, that didn't seem to leave much for me.
- I made a lot of wrong choices at character creation. There's near zero point in being a priest unless you take Congregation as your character resource. I dedicated to a Virtue that (in combination with my group concept and character background) meant I had to be critical and judgemental of the people in my chapter rather than sociably interested and supportive of many people I hadn't actually RPd with before.
- All the general discussion seemed to happening on facebook which is i) horrible anyway, ii) so ubiquitous and throwaway to use that some really nasty stuff was coming out of it, iii) was so 'easy' as a discussion forum/format that it seemed to actually lessen the aspiration of the game.
Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows:-
- I do like me some visuals, and Empire is visually awesome. Costume and culture briefs mean that it's generally really easy to tell at a glance (or a few non-specific verbal exchanges) what nation another character is from. It's near impossible to mistake whose camp you have strayed into, there's a wonderful balance of pre-judgement and 'oh, actually it turns out that...' when interacting with a different Nation and a brilliant feeling of multi-culturalism in shared areas.
- Site props and shared focal areas are magnificent. The tavern is simply splendid and while several areas are still no more than dressed tents, they're generally dressed very well.
- I play in an awesome group. It's a mix of people I know intimately, people I have rp'd with as different characters in different games and people I've never even encountered before, but they've all been hand picked as group members and it makes for a very exciting group that forces me to up my game.
- As one of my group's 'steering committee', I'd taken on responsibility for making plot for certain other characters. I went into event 4 with the strong opinion that it might be my last as a PC and thus needed to drop my plot bomb at some point over the weekend. The object of my particular group plot responsibilities pushed an entirely unexpected set of buttons (a possibility which I have always delighted in as plot writer) which resulted in my being able to pretty much dump the secret backstory onto a couple of others and then take a huge step back so that it becomes their concern at least as much as mine. Suddenly I was able to play my character for my own enjoyment rather than someone else's and suddenly I had the freedom of being able to do whatever I wanted. And goodness, that made a difference...
- I was able to 're-spec' my character after event 1, making important adjustments from his initial generation and stats at event 1. I didn't actually change any character points (still an Artisan/Priest with regards to stats but a Jeweller with regards to background) and was easily able to IC justify the Resource/Dedication changes I did make, but damn, it made my character more enjoyable to play at my second event.
- At event 1 I had avoided commitment since I knew that I wouldn't be at the next two events, but at event 4 I took up an IC 'offer' and ran with it. Ran quite a long way surprisingly quickly, in fact, and faster and further than the Senate could deal with, it seems. Still, lesson learned - be careful in how you present the Senate with your request for help. I'm pretty sure they actually meant to say "We will not fund this at this time" rather than the "No, _fuck_ the dead. There shall be _never_ be a memorial to the glorious fallen who have given their lives in service of the Empire" that their vote actually resulted in, but I'm not sure that I could _write_ a better encouragement to make certain that the memorial happened anyway _despite_ their rejection...
- While travelling to the event, a friend asked me what my objective was. I answered "Hallow the shit out of stuff" and (after a spectacularly false start - see a previous point) I absolutely managed that. The ability itself is a piece of piss, but persuading people to let you do it to their gear is a different matter entirely... Most were, "No, sure, that's great", while a particular other was all "Ew, _screw_ you and your unconditional love. No, seriously, I hate you and everything you've been doing for me for the last twenty years. Wait, what do you mean, you're now not giving me free magic items any more? God, I hate you. I'm going to bad mouth you to anyone who'll listen and not notice that my rejecting your personal loyalty has resulted in your instead expanding your loyalty parameters to the rest of the faction, the nation and indeed all of the Empire... You selfish prick." RP gold!
I've tried for several years now to play only one game at a time since the 'high' season of the hobby almost exactly overlaps the 'high' season of the tourist industry, meaning that every event I attend costs me a hell of a lot in lost opportunity for earnings, on top of ticket/transport/food/kit expenditure. Insurrection, with its diary-friendly late autumn/early spring schedule worked very nicely for me, but there are only two events before endgame. This Autumn, however, I seem to be taking on a lot more than is my usual wont. There's already been Empire, next weekend sees Projekt:Ragnarok at Featherstone Castle. The game is pitched as "Immediate aftermath of the actual Battle of the Bulge", but I very much hope will also feature mad science, zombies or knowledge the like of which man should not wot. Any and/or all of the above would be extremely cool. I also have high hopes of punching a Nazi, which has long been on my LRP wish list. A couple of weeks after that, there'll be Insurrection Event 10 (two nights and days in an unlit underground tunnel system playing a game where the most deadly hazard has always been the other PCs? Hilarity will doubtless ensue.). And at the back end of November, I'll be at a reconstructed Viking village for an Empire player event (hosted by the Wars of the Roses/The Wickerman nation, while I hail from the Gondor/Kingdom of Heaven nation. What could possibly go wrong?).
So, yeah, that one game at a time thing is working out really well... I blame it on the company I've fallen into since moving down here.
* - Sarah Cook - I'd never properly met Sarah Cook before playing Insurrection with her (she's a charismatic elven dilettante with awesome cosmic powers and no sense of self-restraint! He's a dwarven Surgeon with adjustable morals and a truly mind-blowing amount of cash. Together, they do pretty much whatever the hell they feel like and manage to pass it off as fighting crime!)
* - Mark Wilkin - Knew him passingly through other avenues than LRP, played Insurrection alongside him once and near him a couple more times before he decided not to play any longer. _Really_ enjoying co-managing an Empire group with him.
* - Dave Ingham - Someone else I met through Insurrection. Dave/Lockwood - "Yes, my soul was eaten a year or so ago by a demon that actually wanted your soul, Dan/Hendrik, but now I want to be Sarah/Mercy's butler." Me/Hendrik - "This is a really bad idea." Sarah/Mercy - "Let's face it, it's not the stupidest thing we've done..." Me/Hendrik - "Dammit!" Hilarity ensued.
* - David Hennion - A long time player of Insurrection who simply wasn't on my radar until I realised that he was a survivor of a purge of another faction (that I/Hendrik had arranged) and had quietly transferred to another faction that eventually purged my faction in return... I/Hendrik survived, and he was one of the first to go down in the inevitable "diplomacy doesn't work any more" reprisal. Re-spawned in my faction, surprised the shit out of me _after_ my character committed suicide and turns out to be one of the nicest people I know in the hobby.
* - Bryony Baines and Tim Baker - I knew them passingly through Maelstrom and re-enactment, but mainly through Insurrection where they were the most deliciously "I hate you and want/plan to kill you" 'allies' anyone could ever hope for. Frankly, I'm proud of Hendrik having survived the number of attempts they made (especially since they once attacked when I was in nothing but underwear). I'm enormously looking forward to being at least nominally on the same team as them at Projekt:Ragnarok.
So. Anyway. Work and real life.
There's been little new to report since I last posted, truth be told. Still working with Trouvere, Griffin Historical and Past Pleasures.
* - Trouvere - Worked with them at Pendennis Castle in Falmouth again, providing music for a set of medieval jousts. Also the usual Reynard the Fox events, including at Pensthorpe Nature Park. I've done events that were more respectably historical, but few at sites more intrinsically beautiful. The proportion of Trouvere gigs that Paul and Gill are asking me to be a part of is falling, I feel. That's fair. They are both developing as musicians far more than I am and I'm simply not as local as I used to be. That's okay, I think. I accept that Trouvere and I are developing in slightly different directions.
* - Griffin Historical. Continue to give me varied and challenging work. Really challenging...
--- I was booked to do craft activities at Battle Abbey, but got a text asking me to go to Old Sarum instead. No problem, but what it should I pack? Mediaeval Troubadour will be fine. No problem. What's the theme of the event? Silence.... Two and a half hours before kick-off, I learn that the theme is 'Siege!' and that (while my colleague would be doing most of the military/practical stuff) I had to deliver four 30 minute story-telling sessions on the theme of sieges. Ummmmm.... My siegecraft knowledge extends to a show with a very specific set of kit (none of which was present) and a handful of anecdotes. Even a single evening on the internet might have led me to material for a half hour story, but it was far too late to trawl the net (especially since there were tents and safety enclosures to put up before the public arrived). Good thing I'm _damn_ good at my job, eh? My first session took the form of 'How to Besiege a Castle!', getting the children to devise ways to cross the moat and beat their way through gates and portcullises before marching into the shop to demand the surrender of the Castle Staff (all peppered with historical anecdotes) and concluded with "There are, of course, two sides to every story. Join me in half an hour to learn 'How to Resist a Castle against Siege!'. Second session likewise explored the physical remains of that particular site, featured references to actual historical events and encouraged the children (and their parents) to make difficult decisions and get beyond a 'knights and princesses' understanding of castles. My sessions were actually more of a lesson than a performance, but they went down an absolute storm with the children and I earned huge respect from the parents and the site staff. WIN.
--- I was booked for 'Myths and Legends' at Stokesay Castle in Shropshire. Briliant! An exquisitely beautiful site that I hadn't been to for some twenty years. Then I learned that my event partner would be a face painter.... (Nothing against face painting and her work was very good and imaginative, but it did meant that I would be doing _all_ of the history and performance work.) The proposed timetable of 30 mins story telling, 45 mins Treasure Hunt, 30 mins story telling, rinse and repeat just didn't work for me, so I kind of mashed the two things together. "There are six special objects hidden around this castle and each one of them is a seed for a story I'd like to tell... Three are within the castle walls and three are outside. Scatter, and look for a story object. Come back to me when you think you've found one one and, if you're right, I'll play a fanfare to gather everyone else so you can show us what you've found and I can tell a story... Go!". Cue a first set of exploring the castle interior and finding story seeds for "Why the Sea is Salt" (a millstone), "Phaeton and the Chariot of the Sun" (a grecian urn) and "Why there are no Englishmen in Hell" (a sack) and, after a short break, a second story set of "Pyramus and Thisbe" (a roman shield), "King Hurla" (a dark age helm) and "The Giants of Stokesay Castle" (a golden key). Once again, I made it at least as much an exploration/interpretation of the site as it was a simple performance piece and, once again, I got brilliant feedback to/through the castle staff.
--- I work in some fantastic sites with some fantastic people, but these two events were probably my favourites of the entire year. See, I haven't actually had much chance to something entirely _new_ in recent years; it's all been refining something already long established or working closely to someone else's brief. Twice in quick succession (at near zero notice), Griffin Historical gave me a vague theme and expected me to come up with something magnificent and I damn well _delivered_.
* - Past Pleasures - Same old, same old.... Make no mistake, the events and the sites we do them in are jaw-droppingly _awesome_, but I've precious little to say about PP work that I haven't said before. It's still a privilege to work with such learned people, in such exquisite costumes and in such wonderful places but, frankly, I'm a little bored. Even when we a new scenario or move into a different period, it still kind of feels the same. I want to direct an event or write a scenario... At the end of my first season/induction period, I got asked the classic question "where do you see yourself in five years?" and I answered "leading a team and writing scenarios". I'd do that _so_ well. Probably time to throw my hat into the ring for Hampton Court Palace Christmas or Feb half-term events...