Aralis
In retrospect, I think I am glad I attended the session because I did get a couple good conversations out of it, but I could have left when the sun went down and been happy. I did not mind the final fight because it was fairly clean on both sides from what I could see and, in the end, probably winnable if certain PCs had not decided to give the enemy their winning condition. Sure, a fight becomes many times harder if it starts with a "by my voice stricken by curse", but it's not the end of the world. No, my problems with that fight was the hour prior to it where nothing happened but the time getting later and later, the fact that once it "started" there was argument for far too long, and near the end, a PC decided to yell at everyone at the top of his lungs for far too long. It was the last part which left a very bad taste in my mouth that bled into my feelings for the entire event. I, personally, believe there is never ever a reason to yell. It reminds me too much of my fear as a child when adults would yell. And what, exactly, does it accomplish? Does it make one feel better? I'm not so sure. And the late hour did not make it any easier to deal with, I can tell you that!
All that being said, some good things did happen. I think my tavern set up was a decided success and not only did people get fed which they appeared to appreciate, but I made some good ig money for a one day event. If I should do that set up again, I certainly have some lessons learned - such as setting up a string of Christmas lights near the set up in order to continue service after dark and bringing more root beer. The porch at Wales gets very dark indeed! Big thanks to sarrciano and the rest of my staff for helping out. My favorite part of the entire session was being able to have an unhurried conversation with one of the vireni of the Shinsei Project. I feel that my conversations in Aralis with important npcs tend to always be rushed because there is somewhere else either the npc or I need to be. So, it was nice to just hang out and get a feeling for each other in a setting where I really did not have anything else to do. I was not involved at all in any of the politics or troop movements which were the point of the session and which was a little disappointing, but from what my husband says, I am probably happier for that. He seemed to feel it was an exercise in futility. I also would have been happier with a bit more fighting during the day, but lack of npcs and heat stopped almost all possibility of that. I have come to the conclusion that I really don't enjoy fighting after dark and that I should keep that in mind.
And now, thankfully, LARP season is over!! Although the fact that I don't have a free weekend in sight does make me rather sad. I do love activities and parties and such, but I am thoroughly exhausted. We tried to go to bed at 8pm last night and the dog decided to pant and walk around the bed through out the night. And if we put her downstairs? She would attempt to get to us to the best of her ability. I am worn out and exhausted today. The best part? She has slept non stop since Mark and I got up this morning. Sometimes, despite how much I love her, I hate my dog.