Violence by sea, land and vacuum
Nov. 1st, 2005 08:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
king_pellinorFest was interesting.
Got off to a good start with the ferry staff getting all hot and bothered about my swords. As I entered the terminal some chappie rushed up and said "Are those swords real?". When I answered "No", he replied "Then the Captain might not let them on board". Not sure what he'd have done if I'd said yes.
Then while I was merrily re-tailoring a mail bracer another chap came and asked if they were metal. No, foam rubber, I said; OK, he replied, and rushed off.
No more word until I was about to board, at which point I was given two black bin bags to hide them in "Because people might get intimidated by them". Fine...
It's interesting that I've only once been challenged about them before, in three years of carrying them on that route. That time I got asked three times if they were real, and the only reaction to me saying "no" was a joking request by one ticket-collecting chap to prove it by hitting his mate. The other ferry company's never bothered about them at all. I suspect it comes down to over-zealous individuals, and that once a question has been asked a full enquiry must be made and some action taken.
The fest itself was great fun. Not too many people, which made it easy to get involved in the plot. Once again I find that simply asserting some level of authority grants it to you - technically I was probably junior to almost everyone else. being a mere low-ranking mercenary, but by claiming noble blood and adopting an air of command I had knights doing my bidding :-) Of course when the chappy who was actually in command (and knew that I'm in the pay of the Vampiric Sheriff of Portsdean - oops) was around this got a bit curtailed, but never mind.
The plot consisted of a mage who was about to do terrible things via a ritual and had to be stopped. Conveniently we had half a dozen clues as to how to do this, so by going off on adventures on the Saturday we found ourselves in a position to stop him on the Sunday. Now there's a surprise ;-) The missions were all nicely put together, and I got to do a couple of magic rituals which is a bit of a first for me, never having played a spellcaster. I also put myself in a position to be tremendously heroic on the Sunday by volunteering to kill myself in order to become The Thirteenth Ghost, the only person who could stop the Big Bad. Unfortunately I ran into a tree, and the five minutes of time-out I took to shake off the slight daze was *exactly* long enough for someone else to step into the breach. Ho hum - at least I tried.
So we stopped the Baddie, and then it all went pear-shaped: a lich turned up to take the Artifact of Doom that the ex-Baddie had been using. We couldn't stop him, due partly to a certain mercenary who shall (ahem) remain nameless being ensorcelled to "Kill all the humans", which led to about eight people being slain (they got better though) as they milled around in confusion wondering why their friends were all lying on the floor :-)
Still, we got paid and it's all good.
Oh, and I got slapped on the wrists by the Gods for breaking the peace at the banquest. Some vile heretic abused the Swearing of the Peace, and made themselves unwelcome guests. I tried to tie up the most obnoxious (I always seem to end up in hand-to hand combat with Stinky :-) ), but the rope miraculously fell off as I did so. Humph. I maintain that it was him breaking the peace by resisting arrest (I do work for the Sheriff, after all...).
I now hurt - though that's due to the hoovering I did yesterday, not to the running round in armour. Typical. I bent over to pick somehting up as I finished tidying up the house, and my back has gone, leaving me absolutely fine so long as my spine stays in *precisely* the same position and orientation. I even need to move both arms at the same time to avoid the leverage sending a twinge right up my back. Oh well. I'm sure that client didn't really want to see me today anyway.
Got off to a good start with the ferry staff getting all hot and bothered about my swords. As I entered the terminal some chappie rushed up and said "Are those swords real?". When I answered "No", he replied "Then the Captain might not let them on board". Not sure what he'd have done if I'd said yes.
Then while I was merrily re-tailoring a mail bracer another chap came and asked if they were metal. No, foam rubber, I said; OK, he replied, and rushed off.
No more word until I was about to board, at which point I was given two black bin bags to hide them in "Because people might get intimidated by them". Fine...
It's interesting that I've only once been challenged about them before, in three years of carrying them on that route. That time I got asked three times if they were real, and the only reaction to me saying "no" was a joking request by one ticket-collecting chap to prove it by hitting his mate. The other ferry company's never bothered about them at all. I suspect it comes down to over-zealous individuals, and that once a question has been asked a full enquiry must be made and some action taken.
The fest itself was great fun. Not too many people, which made it easy to get involved in the plot. Once again I find that simply asserting some level of authority grants it to you - technically I was probably junior to almost everyone else. being a mere low-ranking mercenary, but by claiming noble blood and adopting an air of command I had knights doing my bidding :-) Of course when the chappy who was actually in command (and knew that I'm in the pay of the Vampiric Sheriff of Portsdean - oops) was around this got a bit curtailed, but never mind.
The plot consisted of a mage who was about to do terrible things via a ritual and had to be stopped. Conveniently we had half a dozen clues as to how to do this, so by going off on adventures on the Saturday we found ourselves in a position to stop him on the Sunday. Now there's a surprise ;-) The missions were all nicely put together, and I got to do a couple of magic rituals which is a bit of a first for me, never having played a spellcaster. I also put myself in a position to be tremendously heroic on the Sunday by volunteering to kill myself in order to become The Thirteenth Ghost, the only person who could stop the Big Bad. Unfortunately I ran into a tree, and the five minutes of time-out I took to shake off the slight daze was *exactly* long enough for someone else to step into the breach. Ho hum - at least I tried.
So we stopped the Baddie, and then it all went pear-shaped: a lich turned up to take the Artifact of Doom that the ex-Baddie had been using. We couldn't stop him, due partly to a certain mercenary who shall (ahem) remain nameless being ensorcelled to "Kill all the humans", which led to about eight people being slain (they got better though) as they milled around in confusion wondering why their friends were all lying on the floor :-)
Still, we got paid and it's all good.
Oh, and I got slapped on the wrists by the Gods for breaking the peace at the banquest. Some vile heretic abused the Swearing of the Peace, and made themselves unwelcome guests. I tried to tie up the most obnoxious (I always seem to end up in hand-to hand combat with Stinky :-) ), but the rope miraculously fell off as I did so. Humph. I maintain that it was him breaking the peace by resisting arrest (I do work for the Sheriff, after all...).
I now hurt - though that's due to the hoovering I did yesterday, not to the running round in armour. Typical. I bent over to pick somehting up as I finished tidying up the house, and my back has gone, leaving me absolutely fine so long as my spine stays in *precisely* the same position and orientation. I even need to move both arms at the same time to avoid the leverage sending a twinge right up my back. Oh well. I'm sure that client didn't really want to see me today anyway.
