Summoning 2016: Introducing Rosamunde
Aug. 20th, 2016 10:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzA while back I e-mailed a bunch of my friends that I wanted to larp again, and asked if they would join me, or if they had advice. We had a concept for a group on Maerquin, but it didn't pan out as we'd hoped since we couldn't integrate with the other players. A couple of replies came back, and then J-Jochem said "come to VA with me."
Since back in the day when I stopped playing Beriadanwen on Omen, he was one of the first to interact with my new character (completely out of the blue, surprising me with his play), I accepted. He plays with a new faction called "Manticore" and they could use a more experienced player.
I created Rosamunde Ingolfsdottir, a Wise Woman. She was what would have happened if Granny Weatherwax would have had an apprentice and kept on living and approaching life with a boot-with-nails-in attitude.
So, tired of waiting for the old Wise Woman to die, Rosamunde left her home and ventured out into the world, looking for a place where she could do her job and make a difference. She ran into Siht (J-Jochem's character) and came with him to the Vortex world.
I didn't know anyone else from the faction, but I was smart enough to write orcs, goblins and dwarves into my background, as there were goblins with Faction Manticore. But then began the tedious job of integrating into the Vortex, figuring out what the world was like, how the factions worked, and what was expected of her.
After a little while, one of the other new players on the Vortex came up to Manticore's camp to tell us that one of ours had been murdered. The entire faction (those who were dressed, since this was 5 minutes after time-in) went to Faction Wyvern to claim the murderer. They returned with the culprit, strapped him to a torture-chair, and started their work. Apparantly, an agreement was made that the murderer would be ours for four days, but we had to keep him alive and not let him die. Horrendous torture followed.
This was pretty difficult for Rosamunde, as she was still very new on the Vortex. Back home, the chieftan would dispense justice (perhaps taking advice from a Wise Woman or her apprentice), and justice would be swift. Torturing one of the farmers for a grave offense would be very counter-productive, as the man would not be able to work the fields or tend his sheep afterwards. If the man had murdered someone, his sentence would not include torture, but a swift death would settle the matter -- torture would be inhumane and take too much time.
And Rosamunde didn't know who had dispensed this justice, the standing of this judge and whether he was a wise man. It all reeked a little.
So when Siht suggested she used the poor man as archery target, she refused. This world was a strange one.
As it turned out, Faction Manticore was not even properly a Faction on the Vortex. They still needed to summon their Elemental Princess to build the world we stood on, and then imbue her with proper powers. That night, the ritual to summon the Princess started. Rosamunde did not participate in the ritual. The way the preparations went and the things that were told beforehand also caused her to doubt. Was this the way things were done?
Saturday
On Saturdaymorning she was one of the first to awake, and she broke her fast in the morning sun (volkorenbrood met echte boter en pindakaasssss!!!). The previous night, she'd been introduced to the mistresses and master of Siht, who had dark skins and white hair. They had dismissed her almost immediately, and Siht had told Rosamunde this was not abnormal for creatures who were just so obviously superior to humans.
But Rosamunde was still unsure of Manticore. Their Princess was now summoned, and needed to be strengthened before she could assume her role. But she was told that only six Princes and Princesses could have a stone in the Pentagon to harbour their strength, and there were now seven to contend for that position. Leviathan and Phoenix were in trouble, not having yet summoned their Princes and internal strife and indecisiveness slowing them down.
Rosamunde was invited to a tournament, organised by some nobles and faction Leviathan. There were swordfighting, group fighting and archery competitions. People gambled who would win the next fight, and bandages were sold at high prices. The tournament took forever, but the waiting was not so bad as jesters started to mimic the two nobles with shields that were fighting in the final round, and then a kerfuffle with some pirates snagging the jewelry chest from one of the noblewomen happened as well.
When finally it was time for the archery competition, it was canceled. :-(
It was warm that day, so I sat with one of the priestesses, a Master of Solar, who told stories of the gods. Back home, priests were bearded fellows, muttering prayers and spraying mead on the fields to bless the wheat. Rosamunde always held that if the gods did not interfere with her, she would not have to interfere with the gods, and that always held true. But the gods of the Vortex sounded very different from those back home.
That night Manticore gathered near their faction campfire to discuss the coming ritual. We had gathered a lot of money, 25 gold pieces, to buy an orb of the element mist to strengthen our princess. But I had suspicions of where the money came from, as several of the servants were acting in a very strange manner near the guild tents.
The coming ritual would be to coax Leviathan into action. "Let's burn books, their knowledge." One said. "I have their banner, we can burn that too!" said another.
Before Rosamunde could speak, it had been decided: the ritual would be a kick in a sore spot, hoping to coax Leviathan into action.
Again, she decided she could not endorse such a ritual, and decided to stay outside of the ritual circle. It stung that there was no discussion possible, that everything was already decided, and started to wander if these people could ever become her friends.
Back home burning the flag, the symbol, the sigil of another clan would leave that clan no alternative but to go to war. Yet in the ritual Manticore stated that their actions could be seen "as a raised fist, or a hand extended". Rosamunde shook her head.
Worse, her new friend Emily, who was also new, had now decided to join Manticore, along with her friend Lucius. Yet Lucius' brother Stan, who was part of Leviathan, had shaken his head.
Rosamunde was desparate to talk to Stan, and finally managed to engage in a conversation with him. He seemed nice, thought about what he was going to say and about what consequences his actions had. And he listened to what she had to say.
Later that night Emily, Stan, Lucius, Siht and Rosamunde gathered at a table in faction Leviathan. They discussed the Elemental Princes and Princesses and who had been summoned yet. The age-old debate of people thinking Maticore stood for Chaos was once again discussed. "That is just not true." Siht said. "We don't endorse Chaos, we fight Chaos with everything we have. Our camp is the first line of defense if the Chaos portal ever opens."
I broke in, finally getting a say. "I get that it's frustrating to be misunderstood in such a way. And you keep telling everyone this: you don't stand for Chaos. But then with your actions, you say something different entirely. And people the Vortex look at what you do and see chaos. Your words and your actions don't match, and it confuses people."
I doubt Siht understood what I was saying, although next to me I could see Stan nodding in agreement. The conversation continued and focused on the real problem: the Vortex would be crumbled by the Void unless the Elemental Royalty would build the world, and so far Manticore, Leviathan and Phoenix had either not summoned their Princessesses or they did not have enough power. Siht explained to Stan that the element Mist would be used to strengthen our Princess.
Apparantly, Mist had appeared at the elemental plain of Air as well, and Stan told us about a Ferryman they had encountered in the Underworld, who also let them (people from Leviathan) choose between Mist and Water. We wondered about this.
"It's a bit strange, two separate people, unconnected, both talking about the Element Mist." Rosamunde said. "I wonder if this is because they have forseen that Mist will rise, or because they are trying to steer us in this direction. If it's just a natural evolution of the Vortex, like the Faction Ent becoming a part of it all, I'm okay with it. But if we're being directed by something, I would want to know why and by whom."
In the end, the hand of friendship was again extended. Siht invited a party of diplomats to come to the faction the following morning, to talk about the possibility of a merger or a friendly co-operation between our factions. Stan accepted this gladly.
Emily, Lucius and Siht returned to faction Manticore, but Rosamunde dragged her feet so she could talk to Stan. "Are you worried about your brother and Emily?" she asked. "Because I am."
Slowly, Rosamunde had realised that Faction Manticore would never become a place where she felt at home. The rash decisions, the inability to take part because there was never any time to be heard, and mostly the manner in which Manticore presented itself to the rest of the Vortex just rubbed her the wrong way. In contrast, Leviathan was horribly slow and indecisive, and Stan spoke of how sometimes you just had to make a decision and go with your gut.
"A child has to run, and sometimes it will fall;" said Rosamunde; "but it will always have learned something."
Sunday
Again, I was the first one awake on Sunday, and this time I broke my fast with coffee. Soon enough, I saw a ritualist I had seen earlier approach the faction. He was also the leader of Faction Leviathan. He asked after the faction leader of Manticore, and asked me if I would convey a message to her.
Then I pulled him away from the tents where some were still sleeping, hoping for a bit more privacy. I spoke softly of how I wouldn't feel at home at Manticore, and whether it would be possible for me to join Leviathan at the next gathering.
"Since our Prince is very new, he still needs members of the faction to prove themselves to him. Many have not done so, and Leviathan is very small because of it." the faction leader said. "But you can pitch your tent with us, and work from there. If you prove yourself useful, and I think you will, I don't foresee any problems."
That only left the matter of leaving Manticore. As soon as everyone was awake, the plans for the day were discussed. Once again I sat in a gathering where everyone just ploughed through without even checking the others whether they were okay with it. They discussed the upcoming ritual to strenghten the Princess with the orbs of Mist we had procured, and finally a chance came to speak.
Rosamunde thanked the faction for their hospitality, and spoke of how she didn't feel at home within the faction.
"Well, if you feel more of a connection with another faction, you should go." the Faction leader said.
"If ever you need my help or healing, please do ask." Rosamunde said.
When the meeting broke up, I packed my tent and dragged my things to the car. The Summoning would go on for another day, but having closed off my part of the role-play it was time to go. I'd be home by four, and in bed by eight-thirty, ready for work at six the next morning.
There was, of course, a lot more that went on. There was a ritual with the goblin god of diseases, that would (hopefully) cleanse an artifact of any remaining Chaos. There was a ritual of Faction Darkness, that was utterly terrifying. There were attacks in the night, looking frantically for Lucius with a very, very worried Emily. There was tea at the Pict's campfire, with a lot of old OT friends. There were honey-cookies and elderberry water at the hobbit's cooking stead. And there was a bandit, who walked with me and then attacked a group of Vortexians out of the blue, shocking me and making me fear for my life (what if they thought I had helped him?!)
All in all, it wasn't all that bad, and there is definitely a lot of potential for more play in the future. It's just that introducing a new character is always a bit tedious, especially if you already know what the setting is about.
Since back in the day when I stopped playing Beriadanwen on Omen, he was one of the first to interact with my new character (completely out of the blue, surprising me with his play), I accepted. He plays with a new faction called "Manticore" and they could use a more experienced player.
I created Rosamunde Ingolfsdottir, a Wise Woman. She was what would have happened if Granny Weatherwax would have had an apprentice and kept on living and approaching life with a boot-with-nails-in attitude.
So, tired of waiting for the old Wise Woman to die, Rosamunde left her home and ventured out into the world, looking for a place where she could do her job and make a difference. She ran into Siht (J-Jochem's character) and came with him to the Vortex world.
I didn't know anyone else from the faction, but I was smart enough to write orcs, goblins and dwarves into my background, as there were goblins with Faction Manticore. But then began the tedious job of integrating into the Vortex, figuring out what the world was like, how the factions worked, and what was expected of her.
After a little while, one of the other new players on the Vortex came up to Manticore's camp to tell us that one of ours had been murdered. The entire faction (those who were dressed, since this was 5 minutes after time-in) went to Faction Wyvern to claim the murderer. They returned with the culprit, strapped him to a torture-chair, and started their work. Apparantly, an agreement was made that the murderer would be ours for four days, but we had to keep him alive and not let him die. Horrendous torture followed.
This was pretty difficult for Rosamunde, as she was still very new on the Vortex. Back home, the chieftan would dispense justice (perhaps taking advice from a Wise Woman or her apprentice), and justice would be swift. Torturing one of the farmers for a grave offense would be very counter-productive, as the man would not be able to work the fields or tend his sheep afterwards. If the man had murdered someone, his sentence would not include torture, but a swift death would settle the matter -- torture would be inhumane and take too much time.
And Rosamunde didn't know who had dispensed this justice, the standing of this judge and whether he was a wise man. It all reeked a little.
So when Siht suggested she used the poor man as archery target, she refused. This world was a strange one.
As it turned out, Faction Manticore was not even properly a Faction on the Vortex. They still needed to summon their Elemental Princess to build the world we stood on, and then imbue her with proper powers. That night, the ritual to summon the Princess started. Rosamunde did not participate in the ritual. The way the preparations went and the things that were told beforehand also caused her to doubt. Was this the way things were done?
Saturday
On Saturdaymorning she was one of the first to awake, and she broke her fast in the morning sun (volkorenbrood met echte boter en pindakaasssss!!!). The previous night, she'd been introduced to the mistresses and master of Siht, who had dark skins and white hair. They had dismissed her almost immediately, and Siht had told Rosamunde this was not abnormal for creatures who were just so obviously superior to humans.
But Rosamunde was still unsure of Manticore. Their Princess was now summoned, and needed to be strengthened before she could assume her role. But she was told that only six Princes and Princesses could have a stone in the Pentagon to harbour their strength, and there were now seven to contend for that position. Leviathan and Phoenix were in trouble, not having yet summoned their Princes and internal strife and indecisiveness slowing them down.
Rosamunde was invited to a tournament, organised by some nobles and faction Leviathan. There were swordfighting, group fighting and archery competitions. People gambled who would win the next fight, and bandages were sold at high prices. The tournament took forever, but the waiting was not so bad as jesters started to mimic the two nobles with shields that were fighting in the final round, and then a kerfuffle with some pirates snagging the jewelry chest from one of the noblewomen happened as well.
When finally it was time for the archery competition, it was canceled. :-(
It was warm that day, so I sat with one of the priestesses, a Master of Solar, who told stories of the gods. Back home, priests were bearded fellows, muttering prayers and spraying mead on the fields to bless the wheat. Rosamunde always held that if the gods did not interfere with her, she would not have to interfere with the gods, and that always held true. But the gods of the Vortex sounded very different from those back home.
That night Manticore gathered near their faction campfire to discuss the coming ritual. We had gathered a lot of money, 25 gold pieces, to buy an orb of the element mist to strengthen our princess. But I had suspicions of where the money came from, as several of the servants were acting in a very strange manner near the guild tents.
The coming ritual would be to coax Leviathan into action. "Let's burn books, their knowledge." One said. "I have their banner, we can burn that too!" said another.
Before Rosamunde could speak, it had been decided: the ritual would be a kick in a sore spot, hoping to coax Leviathan into action.
Again, she decided she could not endorse such a ritual, and decided to stay outside of the ritual circle. It stung that there was no discussion possible, that everything was already decided, and started to wander if these people could ever become her friends.
Back home burning the flag, the symbol, the sigil of another clan would leave that clan no alternative but to go to war. Yet in the ritual Manticore stated that their actions could be seen "as a raised fist, or a hand extended". Rosamunde shook her head.
Worse, her new friend Emily, who was also new, had now decided to join Manticore, along with her friend Lucius. Yet Lucius' brother Stan, who was part of Leviathan, had shaken his head.
Rosamunde was desparate to talk to Stan, and finally managed to engage in a conversation with him. He seemed nice, thought about what he was going to say and about what consequences his actions had. And he listened to what she had to say.
Later that night Emily, Stan, Lucius, Siht and Rosamunde gathered at a table in faction Leviathan. They discussed the Elemental Princes and Princesses and who had been summoned yet. The age-old debate of people thinking Maticore stood for Chaos was once again discussed. "That is just not true." Siht said. "We don't endorse Chaos, we fight Chaos with everything we have. Our camp is the first line of defense if the Chaos portal ever opens."
I broke in, finally getting a say. "I get that it's frustrating to be misunderstood in such a way. And you keep telling everyone this: you don't stand for Chaos. But then with your actions, you say something different entirely. And people the Vortex look at what you do and see chaos. Your words and your actions don't match, and it confuses people."
I doubt Siht understood what I was saying, although next to me I could see Stan nodding in agreement. The conversation continued and focused on the real problem: the Vortex would be crumbled by the Void unless the Elemental Royalty would build the world, and so far Manticore, Leviathan and Phoenix had either not summoned their Princessesses or they did not have enough power. Siht explained to Stan that the element Mist would be used to strengthen our Princess.
Apparantly, Mist had appeared at the elemental plain of Air as well, and Stan told us about a Ferryman they had encountered in the Underworld, who also let them (people from Leviathan) choose between Mist and Water. We wondered about this.
"It's a bit strange, two separate people, unconnected, both talking about the Element Mist." Rosamunde said. "I wonder if this is because they have forseen that Mist will rise, or because they are trying to steer us in this direction. If it's just a natural evolution of the Vortex, like the Faction Ent becoming a part of it all, I'm okay with it. But if we're being directed by something, I would want to know why and by whom."
In the end, the hand of friendship was again extended. Siht invited a party of diplomats to come to the faction the following morning, to talk about the possibility of a merger or a friendly co-operation between our factions. Stan accepted this gladly.
Emily, Lucius and Siht returned to faction Manticore, but Rosamunde dragged her feet so she could talk to Stan. "Are you worried about your brother and Emily?" she asked. "Because I am."
Slowly, Rosamunde had realised that Faction Manticore would never become a place where she felt at home. The rash decisions, the inability to take part because there was never any time to be heard, and mostly the manner in which Manticore presented itself to the rest of the Vortex just rubbed her the wrong way. In contrast, Leviathan was horribly slow and indecisive, and Stan spoke of how sometimes you just had to make a decision and go with your gut.
"A child has to run, and sometimes it will fall;" said Rosamunde; "but it will always have learned something."
Sunday
Again, I was the first one awake on Sunday, and this time I broke my fast with coffee. Soon enough, I saw a ritualist I had seen earlier approach the faction. He was also the leader of Faction Leviathan. He asked after the faction leader of Manticore, and asked me if I would convey a message to her.
Then I pulled him away from the tents where some were still sleeping, hoping for a bit more privacy. I spoke softly of how I wouldn't feel at home at Manticore, and whether it would be possible for me to join Leviathan at the next gathering.
"Since our Prince is very new, he still needs members of the faction to prove themselves to him. Many have not done so, and Leviathan is very small because of it." the faction leader said. "But you can pitch your tent with us, and work from there. If you prove yourself useful, and I think you will, I don't foresee any problems."
That only left the matter of leaving Manticore. As soon as everyone was awake, the plans for the day were discussed. Once again I sat in a gathering where everyone just ploughed through without even checking the others whether they were okay with it. They discussed the upcoming ritual to strenghten the Princess with the orbs of Mist we had procured, and finally a chance came to speak.
Rosamunde thanked the faction for their hospitality, and spoke of how she didn't feel at home within the faction.
"Well, if you feel more of a connection with another faction, you should go." the Faction leader said.
"If ever you need my help or healing, please do ask." Rosamunde said.
When the meeting broke up, I packed my tent and dragged my things to the car. The Summoning would go on for another day, but having closed off my part of the role-play it was time to go. I'd be home by four, and in bed by eight-thirty, ready for work at six the next morning.
There was, of course, a lot more that went on. There was a ritual with the goblin god of diseases, that would (hopefully) cleanse an artifact of any remaining Chaos. There was a ritual of Faction Darkness, that was utterly terrifying. There were attacks in the night, looking frantically for Lucius with a very, very worried Emily. There was tea at the Pict's campfire, with a lot of old OT friends. There were honey-cookies and elderberry water at the hobbit's cooking stead. And there was a bandit, who walked with me and then attacked a group of Vortexians out of the blue, shocking me and making me fear for my life (what if they thought I had helped him?!)
All in all, it wasn't all that bad, and there is definitely a lot of potential for more play in the future. It's just that introducing a new character is always a bit tedious, especially if you already know what the setting is about.
