Holy crap, it’s early.

 I should have known better than to take a flight at 8:10 in the morning, but I guess I’ve always been a glutton for punishment. At any rate, sleep’s overrated anyway. The flight out from Atlanta wasn’t so bad, but I bet that it was painfully obvious that I don’t fly very often. While the majority of those present seemed content to read the paper or converse amongst themselves as we took to the sky, I on the other hand sat glued to the window with a look of almost childlike giddiness, watching Atlanta getting smaller and smaller. Silly, yes, but I’m a simple creature. I couldn’t help but observe that the city seemed to be encased in a cloud of smog; sure, you hear about it all the time, but actually seeing it leaves you with a sense of how skanky it truly is.

 The flight to Columbus was a fairly short one, and upon arrival and hitting the baggage claim, I make another observation. Perhaps I’ve been jaded by Hartsfield (roughly the size of a third world country), but their airport seemed pretty small in comparison. This was definitely a good thing, as a few moments later I can actually hear myself being paged on the intercom. A quick trip to the Customer Service desk later, I meet up with both Bart and Prometheus, who surprisingly does not whack me with a steel chair.

Bart: The ringleader, if you will. The host of this weekend’s activities, and all around good guy. He’s been a part of Nu for about as long as I have, and he’s gone from being just a writer, to Character Approver, to even GM at one point. Even funnier in person than he is writing, he’ll crack all manner of jokes at the drop of a hat. Added bonus: his cel phone plays the theme from Chrono Trigger!

Prometheus: Prom’s been part of a number of the big RPG’s back in the day, and was pretty much my right hand man in Realmwalkers as well. A wrestling fan like myself, he was the one that truly encouraged me to come out to this year’s festivities; I’m glad that I took him up on his advice. Very mellow and calm, but freaking hilarious once he gets started, I swear the guy remembers every little detail from Realmwalkers that even I may have forgotten.

 It seems that I’m the last of the group to arrive for the festivities.

Rumor: The first thing Bart said when describing Rumor to me was that he was, and I quote, “A lot saner than we thought he’d be.” Ol’ Rum was a pretty buck-wild mainstay in the NuRPG chat room back in the day, and it was actually one of his early chapters that really inspired me as a young writer.

Thomas: The youngster of the group! I had run into Thomas here and there in some of the chat rooms back in the day, but he’s the guy I knew the least about coming in. Also quite calm and mellow, he’d surprise us with a random joke out of the blue from time to time. Also, his Thief/Sorcerer from the Exia campaign Bart would run later that evening was a constant source of amusement

Daria: Bart’s girlfriend whom I had not met until this weekend, she fit RIGHT IN with this group. Her sense of humor rivals that of Sir Barticus, sharing with us tidbits about the life of a pre-med, along with assorted tales of woe when she and a friend spent a summer in Japan. She also happens to swing a sword better than just about anyone else I know. More on that later.

A sign that you are truly amongst your people; within fifteen minutes of arrival, we’re all on the front lawn doing battle with these massive foam swords Bart had picked up at Origins the day prior. It took me a moment to realize that I really didn’t have to pull my attacks as much as I had been, simply because the weapons were FREAKING FOAM; that being said, I still was pretty much a pansy out there. The guys to beat were Bart (dubbed Bart the Betrayer by Thomas, due to a sneak attack earlier), and Rumor, whose martial arts background was becoming QUITE apparent during the sparring sessions.

Eventually we break, and plans are made to head out to Origins to do damage over that way. One of the first things I noticed before we head out is that Bart is now in possession of a copy of BESM d20, which I was unaware of even being out! “Picked it up yesterday!” he proudly declares with a smile. I smile as well, knowing full well what my first target would be once we arrive. We split up amongst the vehicles, and next thing we know, we’re Origins bound!

“I’m a Master of waiting in lines! I’m a Level 30!”
-- Guy standing behind Prometheus and I in line as we wait to get our passes. Geek humor at its finest (or lowest, depending on your point of view).

I’m in Geek Heaven.

Well not quite, but close. Everyone knows that Geek Heaven would have a videogame room tended to by angels dressed as your favorite anime characters. But even without this crucial element, it was heaven enough for role-playing geeks like our selves. I knew that there were a disturbing number of games out there- Aaron’s bookshelf back home was evidence enough of that- but egad, man! I swear to goodness, if you were looking to run a futuristic campaign with cross-dressing Orcs, you probably could have found a supplement at Origins.

Agenda

• Buy cool stuff
• Look for swords
• Taunt some LARPers

We hit the Dealers’ Room with a vengeance, though to a lesser degree for Bart, who had pretty much whored himself out to the gaming gods the day before. There seemed to be a massive assortment of goodies floating about that weren’t necessarily role-playing related, but still cool nonetheless. One of the things that caught the attention of Prometheus and myself was the entire DVD box set of Shaka Zulu, which then prompted a discussion of when TBS used to show it back in the day. That was the closest thing underage lads like ourselves had to porn back in the day; every other scene, I swear to goodness, had a topless Zulu woman running around. It truly was a glorious thing, and I am continually saddened by its lack of television exposure in recent times. And not just for Zulu boobs, mind you! That was an awesome series! But again, I digress.

The search for large, bladed objects wasn’t difficult in the least, as there was a wide assortment of potential death-dealing implements about. Of course I had to constantly remind myself that I was flying back into one of the busiest airports in the country in a matter of days, and so I opted not to partake of the orgy of steel. Rumor, on the other hand, didn’t seem very deterred, and in fact bought enough weapons to go to war, it seemed. Maybe they have roving bands of Orcs over in his neck of the woods in Canada.

Mental Note: Don’t go to Canada unless suitably armed.

As far as the taunting of the LARPers went, we were denied the opportunity, alas. There was supposed to be a massive Star Wars LARP session that day, but it wasn’t going on until later. Alas and alack.

The Espercon Crew: Prometheus, Me, Daria, Bart, Thomas, and  Rumor, taking a break from the orgy of RPG goodness.

The Loot: I went a bit buck-wild over at Guardians of Order’s booth. Amongst the snagged goodies was a copy of BESM d20 (not even officially released at the time! Whooo!), TriStat dX (a core version of the TriStat rules), and another Character Diary (hey, you can never have too many of those things). Also procured were two CD’s by Midnight Syndicate, a group that makes some very dark and atmospheric music, suitable for your role-playing needs. Also worthy of note is that they’ll also be releasing an ‘official’ soundtrack to D&D somewhere down the line. And last, but certainly not least, I snagged a nice shirt for Heather, depicting a very elegant woman in the midst of a forest. To this day we’re still trying to figure out who she’s supposed to be, if anyone. Heather thinks its Lady Guinevere, her friend Brandon is banking on Morgan Le Fay, while I’m at a loss between La Belle Dame sans Merci, and one of the elf-chicks from Lord of the Rings. The debate continues.

We also had another quick guest appearance for Espercon, that being our man Proverbian. Granted I had only run into him once or twice in the Fanfic room that Bart ran back in the day (I think), but he seemed to be a pretty decent dude. Our meeting was fairly brief, because shortly after, it was decided, and whole-heartily agreed upon, that food was in order. The debate, however, was trying to decide where to go. After some discussion, insults, and a mauling by a rabid mule, a local Japanese restaurant became the venue of choice. Very appropriate choice, especially with this group!

Line of the night comes from Prometheus, who couldn’t help but crack a joke at the fact that it ended up being me and him holding open the doors as everyone made their way inside; “Oh, so you got the brothas holding the doors open! See, there ain’t gonna be much more of that up in here!”

God, I love this group.

[At work the next week…

George: You went to a Japanese restaurant and ordered WHAT?
Me: *hanging head in shame* Chicken Cutlets…

]

What can I say? I haven’t had much exposure to sushi!

The rest of the evening was a pretty low-key affair, with more lounging, laughing, joking, and of course, more sword fighting. Soon, sleeping arrangements are made, and seeing as I was the last to arrive, I of course had last pick. Not a problem, as I’ve learned that I’m capable of sleeping just about anywhere with little to no problem. Curled up on the couch, I soon bid the evening a fond adieu, and vanished deeply into the realm of slumber.

The Good: I wake up staring into Rinoa’s beautifully enchanting eyes, as she sits lovingly across my chest.

The Bad: Rinoa is one of Bart’s cats.

The Ugly: I’m allergic to cat hair. Bleh.

One thing that I forgot to mention is that Bart and Daria are the proud owners of three cats, going by the names Rinoa, Selphie, and Irvine respectively. Rinoa was by far the friendliest of the feline trio, while Irvine was a close second. Selphie, on the other hand, avoided us like we were a pack of slobbering hounds. In fact, the closest I came to Selphie was probably on Sunday morning, as I make my way into the bathroom and see her seated in the sink! But I digress…

“I cast Magic Missile in the Darkness!”

 With it being a weekend of a role-playing con and all, we figured that it would be appropriate if we indulged in the arts ourselves at one point. With that thought in mind, we decided to have Bart run us through a quick adventure set in Exia, a world of his creation. Characters are created, and the mayhem begins.

Rumor: What happens when a Ranger goes berserk?

Mani: *making gesture of foaming at the mouth and shooting arrows into the ground* So… ANGRY!! GAAAAH! *throws the bow in disgust*

-- Conversation discussing what would happen if Prometheus’s Ranger/Barbarian were to ever lose his temper.

I swear to goodness, this is the longest I’ve ever gamed in one sitting! Hours flew past as we set out, got ambushed, and eventually ended up at our destination, an Orc village housing a particular artifact that we were in need of.

But first, another session of Foam Sword Combat!

Bart and Daria share a moment while Rumor and I attempt to  kill one another.

I actually became the man to beat for a moment, as I suddenly took an obscene liking to the long sword and began using that to go to town on the opposition. Don’t think that I’ve had any sort of formal training with it- pretty much everything I was pulling came from playing as Nightmare in Soul Calibur!

This is the sparring session where Thomas gives Bart a new title, that being Bart the Ball-Smasher. See, over the course of the weekend, Bart accidentally clipped more testicles than a veterinarian. I believe the only ones to escape injury were Prometheus, who often times was seated on the sidelines with me shouting random movie quotes at the group, and of course Daria, not having testicles and such. Even so, we acknowledged the risks beforehand; I’m sure many warriors took a shot to the boys during the course of a battle.

Coolest Sword Battle Moment of the Weekend: As he’s putting the finishing touches on Rumor, Bart has his back turned to Prometheus, on the other side of the yard. Seeing an opportunity to take down Bart the Betrayer/Ball-Smasher, Prometheus charges at him like a man possessed. Daria, on the sidelines, sees this and shouts, “Look out!” to her man, who simply reaches behind his back with his own sword to parry the attack. Bart then spins around in one swift motion and deals a deadly blow (or, as deadly as one can manage with foam swords) to Prometheus! Applause ensues.

Mental Note: See if you can find swords like this at Dragon*Con this year. And never try to sneak up on Bart. Ever.

Role-playing continues well into the night with a number of incidents ranging from the truly epic, to downright hilarious.

Epic: Prometheus rolling a natural 20 and sniping the Orc chieftain halfway across the camp, nearly taking him out with one arrow.

Downright Hilarious: Thomas doing recon work in the Orc village beforehand, accidentally stepping into their temple, and coming out quite stoned from the fumes.

Obscenely Cool: Rumor’s Necromancer polymorphing my half-elf Fighter into a Pit Demon, and having me go stomping through the Orc village. Somewhere in the distance, I hear music from Godzilla playing.

After hours of mayhem, laughter, and reminiscing of the days of old, we soon find our ways to our respective beds, and slumber for the evening. And this night, I opt to sleep on my side, as to prevent the possible shock of waking up with another cat on my chest. Take that, felines! HA!

Lesson Learned from Lunch That Day: Do not use hot sauce whose bottle says Hotter than Hell. Trust me on this one.

I wake up to the sounds of El Hazard on the TV. Which is cool with me, as I’ve never seen any of it before, and it comes fairly highly recommended from several friends of mine. It sure beats having a cat seated upon your chest, I’ll have you know.

[And as a random sidenote, I noticed that I wasn’t really sneezing that much this weekend! Have I gotten over the allergy by being exposed to Aaron and Shelley’s four felines during our own weekly RPG sessions back home? Curiouser and curiouser…]

Breakfast is served, and during the course of getting our grub on, Thomas suggests that we put on Greenwood.  It’s been a while since I’ve watched it, and I have to say that I’ve forgotten how truly random that show is. Love triangles, vengeful siblings, guys-that-look-like-girls, and even a cult being run out of the dorm… there’s something for everyone here.

Mission: Complete the session before having to drop Prometheus and I back off at the airport.

Status: Um…

Bart’s session was designed to be a one-shot, but due to frequent sword fighting breaks and the like the day before, we were running a bit behind schedule. Nonetheless, we tackled it like men and a woman on a mission, hoping to catch up with a mage assailant that had been harassing us since we undertook the mission. And he showed up again to lay down some hurt as we were passing through a canyon, on the way back from the Orc village. Another battle takes place, but it seems that the dastardly Wizard escapes once again…

And it’s getting to be the time for us to head back to the airport. Curse you, Elven Wizard. Your time will come!

Thoughts from the Weekend

-         I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that despite us knowing each of our real names, we would often times refer to each other as our online screen names. I don’t know how many times I called the guys Prometheus and Rumor, as apposed to their God-given monikers.

-         My worse injury of the weekend didn’t come from foam-sword related shenanigans, but actually from me banging my knee on the metal portion of my tray as we arrived in Columbus. Man, that’s just embarrassing.

-         After talking a good bit to Prometheus, I’m pretty damned psyched to revisit some of our Realmwalkers stuff.

 All in all, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. Origins itself was secondary to getting the chance to actually meet a number of the people that helped influence me as a writer back in the day, and that I consider to be my friends as well. Will there be future iterations of Espercon down the line? The desire has been expressed, and who knows… we may even go for a change of venue this time around.

Rumor: You guys should come up to Canada next year!

Providing they can keep those roving bands of Orcs in check, we shall see!

-- Mani