So the Kings Stoke Wassil, for the second time in two weeks I’ve managed to attend an event that managed to evoke the Empire nation it was set in brilliantly. This was in part because of the excellent site at the Yorkshire Farming Musuem, it’s one of the most atmospheric sites I’ve been to being a recreation of a large farming village around 900AD. But it was the players and crew who made it come alive by filling the place with the Marches, from jolly wassailing traditions to a mournful remembrance of the dead and that perfectly sinister undercurrent of small town Marches life. I hope we responded in kind by bringing a bit of Highguard there in spirit as well.
My highpoints were:
Spending some quality time with my chapter mates among strange foreigners.
The food, dear god the food! The hot food laid on and all the food shared by everyone in the Wassail was lovely. I suspect Asher will need to roll home part of the way.
The mulled wine, spiced honey wine, mead and some glorious cider.
The warmth, decoration and light of the huts we visited while wassailing, it was just like stepping into a movie set .
Accidentally handing off trauma to one of my chapter mates by being a doofus.
Drinking deep of the Marches national surplus of drama and angst for export.
The glorious music and singing, which I only wish I’d managed to hear more of.
Bad horse related puns.
Being stared at by the severed heads of the Mandowlas.
Seeing the looks on people’s faces after a certain instructional story about hospitality had been told, with horrifying sound effects.
Discovering Origen has a fan club. It’s all about those oh so sexy barbels I’m told.
Actually getting to have several long proper conversations about True Liao visions, The Way, The Labyrinth and other subjects.
Drunkenly setting the Empire to rights long into the night, I like to think Highguard held it’s own there.
Meeting Virtue from the League who has the best name to jump to conclusions about .
Lowpoints:
Almost none apart from lack of time to talk to everyone I wanted to and listen to the singing as well.
Now I must poke some people about a Highguard event, we’ve got quite a high bar to clear (finding a site with a bath house might be tricky…).
Second that! The event was absolutely great fun and it was so good to meet some of the other characters. I’m in the Talbot kitchen a great deal at events so I don’t get to meet people from my own nation let alone other nations!
Food was superb by “Serve it Forth”, and everyone had made huge efforts to provide some representative nation food and drink for the Saturday night wassail.
I also very much enjoyed the beautiful singing, and the play about the ‘Tiny Cock of Dawn’.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to work off the carb-overload!
I was crew, but I still have lots of froth of my own. So here were my favourite bits of crewing the wassail:
Playing a human scout with the Jotun:
[ul]- Having a duel with Macsen/Jack. I only wish my hard-skills when it comes to fighting were a bit better!
My friendly rivalry with the other human scout Nath.
A League gentlemen trying to persuade me to join the Empire, appealing to (of all things) my sense of fashion.[/ul]
NPC #1: Mabel Upton, who I went in as early in the day and came back as later for the wassail:
[ul]- Andy playing the utterly incorrigible Jethro Upton was something to behold and fun to bounce off.
When comforting the youngest Upton sister, getting to say “…and Jethro is a c**t.” in exactly the same gentle, soothing tone I’d used for the rest.
Managing to slip a variant of one of the Marcher proverbs (‘Sword and shears both cut alike’) into my bit at the remembrance.[/ul]
Raiding the fort as Feni!
[ul]- Being told “GET. OFF. MY. LAND!” as I was cut down. Marchers are awesome.
Going in as the last remaining Feni and seeing how they’d react to surrender. It went about as well as I expected – that is, I ended up being executed by having my head smashed in with a hammer.[/ul]
NPC #2: Ida Chasely, aka one of those two Marchers who came looking for someone to hallow their hoe
[ul]- The exasperated-yet-polite look on the Highguard priest’s face (I’m pretty sure his name was Ira) as we insisted that it really was a very special piece of farming equipment.
When he was hallowing it:
[list]Ira: Your protection over, your loyalty . . . to your cabbages . . . Beth Chasely: Turnips. Ira:sigh. . . turnips, sorry . . .[/ul][/list:u]
The remembrance/wassail
[ul]- The remembrance had a great atmosphere – I especially loved the rendition of ‘Lay Me Low’, and I liked Friar Alan’s speech.
Mabel and Maud’s disbelief at the fanciness of the League food.
The food! So much lovely food![/ul]
Miscellaneous:
[ul]- Overhearing a debate on whether or not the moon is made of white granite, and if so whether or not it was a viable plan to try mining it.[/ul]
All in all it was a fantastic event to crew, and definitely has me excited for playing a Marcher in future.
High(guard) points
• The food was awesome. As was the drinking. (And somehow I still lost weight?!)
• My character having less angst than expected and less angst than her father!
• The late night talk with Bill.
• All the conversations with Henry.
• The offer of a bowl of water which was being boiled for tea as a proxy bathhouse.
• Being horrified at certain Marcher antics. And also certain Highborn moments (you know the one I mean. No wonder Eve is the way she is.)
• The kindness of another player providing me with caffeine free tea.
• Meeting the best root supplier ever.
• Being unexpectedly grown up on several occasions. Being typically not on many more.
• Listening to all the fab music and singing (must learn more songs).
• Chilling with amazing chapter-mates.
• I loved our hut (despite the point below).
Low points
• Not sleeping despite taking great pains to have gear suitable for cold weather sleeping (next time will make sure I’m not laying between a window and a door)
Top event, as mentioned previously the atmosphere was perfect all weekend, with the slight chill in the air a far more subtle indicator of Marcher life than any number of NPC’s.
Add this to some amazing play from the NPC’s and the caterers - first class all around. Tim you did yourself proud and I can’t ask you enough to do the same again at some point.
Because I went as a player I actually got to social RP! It was as fun as I remember it.
High Points:
[ul]‘The Food Fight in the Senate’. One of my highlights of Empire so far, and genuinely hilarious. If I don’t see copies around in E5 I will be very upset.
Incredible singing during a moving Wassail.
Putting the Empire to rights on the first night. My word, such nonsense was spouted, but also some great moments.
‘Senator’ [slight pause, in return] ‘Magistrate’.
The trial and branding of the kid. Excellent. I actually felt uncomfortable.
How many uses could we find for a giant pile of White Granite?
Walking towards the Fort during the Fenni attack while the enemy had been beaten back. Get halfway down the path, see enemy regroup, run back. Repeat.
The strange looking Bregasland Cows outside the fort.
Armoured Parsnips. Honey Roasted Ham. Salted Beef. Honey-wine. Pepper-cheese and soft fresh bread.
[/ul]
Low Points:
[ul]Coming straight from work at 6.30pm, staying up until sunrise on the first night and the inevitable crash on Saturday night. Don’t work and LRP, kids.
Still don’t feel my costume is in a great place. Compared to some of the gear on show and the environment we had I was glad for nightfall.[/ul]
A really enjoyable event and an excellent example of ‘Empire in miniature’. Combat was there if you wanted it and/or went in search of it, politics and power playing if that’s your bag and in the meantime there was social roleplaying a-go-go and everyone being magnificently on brief with regards to culture. And, of course, it was visually magnificent.
Murton Park was a brilliant choice of venue, being so very very Marches. (Half of the buildings were made of sticks and mud, for goodness sake!) Actually being able to occupy the buildings rather than just have them as backdrop made it even better and the positive encouragement to visit other people in their own houses as well as gather in the larger buildings was very cleverly judged.
I went with no small anticipation of some good music and for all that two players I haven’t performed with for too long weren’t able to attend after all, I was still not disappointed. Marchers have some excellent songs and some excellent musicians and it was a privilege to lend percussion support and to make my own offerings (though I was a little surprised at the reaction to my instructive parable about hospitality and Prosperity…). Making unexpectedly huge leaps forward in a personal project was a definite bonus.
Stand out moments and conversations (in no particular order):-
“So, we’ve been housed in the outlying building closest to the least observed gate. Does that make us the first and best line of defence, or does that mean our dying screams are the alarm system?”
“This game seems to be about throwing muddy sticks at other muddy sticks.” “Marchers.”
“There are some locals that want a priest to Hallow their hoe.” “Can I just check the spelling of that word, please?”
Pleading clemency for a Loyal Fool. The very issue was beautifully judged and the three NPCs were excellently played.
“How fucking dare you be anything less than magnificent?”
“May what you begin today continue until the sun has set.”
“Oh, the Highborn have a sense of humour. But we also have taste…”
“Where’s the bathhouse, please?”
Apparently agreeing to produce ‘The Little Book of Virtue’.
The Highguard house being the first stop for the Wassail and learning later from more than one person that they were tempted to stay with us all evening. (Deeply flattering, but I’m glad they did move on else I’d have missed out on the very splendid hospitality being laid on in other houses.)
The Saturday afternoon market, picking up a couple of pieces I’m very pleased with (including a replacement for a replica saxon horse brooch that went missing years ago), and a fun OOC chat with a fellow historical interpreter.
Getting to test my character’s grief/angst boundaries as a group colleague pointed someone in my direction who wanted to talk about memorials for the dead (one of my reasons for attending the event in the first place). The ensuing conversation pushing several background tragedy/prejudice buttons and the scene tipping over entirely into horror as another group colleague (albeit innocently) said exactly the wrong thing…
In short, 10/10; would go and be entertained/traumatised again.
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