Who said that every wish would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it,
And look what it's done so far.
- The Rainbow Connection
One of my passions growing up was reading Greek Mythology. I've loved it since I was in third grade, telling stories about Heroes, Gods, Impossible things and explaining the world around us. To this day, I still have the copy of D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths from PS 71's library on my shelf (I consider it payment for putting me through hell during puberty). My favorite Myths were the descent into darkness, the tale of Persephone's Abduction and Orpheus and Eurydice. Since then I became a de facto Classics Minor (I did not take Greek or Latin, which was the only other requirement), and I studied the works of Aeschylus, Homer, Virgil, Hesiod. I studied the Gods, Monsters and Heroes of the Golden Age.
I've also added to my library other cosmologies: the exploration of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven by Dante Alighieri, I studied Jung and his concepts of Archetypes and the process of Individuation, and the more modern fare of Neil Gaiman's Endless, of Jim Butcher's Dresdenverse, Frank Herbert's Spice Addicted Universe, Tolkien's Legendarium, the Cosmere of Brandon Sanderson, and forays into other works of Myth that explain, through some detail, the nature of man and the transformation into something greater. Through these readings, I've come to one conclusion:
Man requires Myth. Even when we don't deal in religion, we still build myth. How much of our behavior is based on the stories or actions of those we've placed higher than ourselves, like our parents or personal idols and role models? We, as a species, require information and explanation from sources outside of ourselves. Unfortunately, I was also aware that most of the Western World is bankrupt of any solid Mythological sources. Religion has been very much on the decline since the enlightenment and industrial revolution. Both Religion and Technology have taken the notion of fact, rather than Belief. And Belief is more important than Knowing the answer than believing in it to enhance their growth.
Which is where I think the geek world has taken over. With various new forms of media, each with their own set of rules and laws inherent to each system, mythologies are forming everywhere, and people are taking things out of them and adhering to them as if they were pantheons of old. People require Myths, and they will take it from wherever they come. And through the formation of groups that practice role play and scenario work, those influences become personal yet shared myths between groups.
I became fully aware of this process shortly after I joined New York Jedi, a Stage Combat group that focuses on the universe of Star Wars. First, I was more than aware of the mythological inspirations George Lucas implanted into the original trilogy, this is a given and goes into a lot of what made Star Wars so universally popular. One of the key things in New York Jedi is that we build and create our own characters, complete with history and interconnections between each other. From there, some characters become infamous even in a shared world.
One such character was General Sun. General Sun was a Jedi Master, and one of the most powerful figures in NYJ's cosmology. There are many stories, myths, and outright lies about his exploits. One such is his impromptu visit to an idyllic tropical planet that did not acknowledge his presence, and using his great and terrible power rendered it into the volcanic Hell that we know Mustafar to be today. There is also the Chuck Norris fact that General Sun and Chuck Norris had met once, in a temporal void. In one moment, they nodded, and proceeded to roundhouse kick each other. This is how we believe the Big Bang created both the Real Universe and the Star Wars Universe.
In Real Life, General Sun was created and portrayed by Damon Honeycutt. Damon is a performer, instructor and a master (my terminology, he's decline the sentiment) of monkey-style Kung Fu. A humble man, an enlightened person. If Star Wars were real, Damon would be on the short list of people I know who qualifies legitimately to be a Jedi.
Conversely, we have Jinduri. Created by my friend Paul, Jinduri is a Sith Alchemist of immeasurable power and ferocity. He is dangerous and charming, Nigh Immortal and completely devoid of sympathy and compassion. He has with him at all times a cadre of fellow Sith known as Jen'Mas, who act as his will and his intent throughout the Galaxy. If General Sun is the pinnacle of Light, Jinduri is very much the pinnacle of Dark.
This phenomena is impressive. Here we have a universe already fleshed out for us by Movies, Books, Online Resources and fan groups, and now we've created characters that interact with that world and inspire/create/alter the world around us and for newer members.
Which brings me to the ultimate point: LARPing. New York Jedi wasn't about LARPing, it was about performing these for the benefit of a passive audience. As Sarah Lynne Bowman states (paraphrasing) that the difference between theatre and LARPing is that in theater, the audience are passive observers while in LARPing the audience is in the scene and interacting as well as their own characters.
When dealing with a LARP, we're dealing with three kinds of Myth. The Canon Myth, which is the source material set forth buy the developers of the game. Using Requiem, this is the founding of the Clans and Covenants of Vampires; for the Changelings the founding of the Courts; for the Mages, the Awakened Island and the Fall; For Dystopia Rising, it's the fall of civilization and the Rise of the Zombies. That is the mythology that has been created for us and which we all go in (relatively) knowing. This is the World Myth.
We engage in the World Myths by following the rituals and protocols that they dictate to us. As a PC playing in the Ordo Dracul, that's the Serpent's Tail, following the ripples of a single event, and the Titles and Oaths, as well as following the tenets Vampirisms's Original Bad Boy, Dracula. In Changeling, there were the protocols of the Courts, the oaths sworn and the ways of the Hedge and Wyrd.
Then there is the Local Myth, the myths that we create together. Requiem in New York had a figure like Simon Cassio, Khaibit Prince of New York for a chunk of game. I never got to interact with Cassio in game, I started playing shortly after his player, Dain, had moved to Texas. However, before I even joined the game, I was told one main commandment: Tell Cassio. Cassio was considered with legitimate reverence as he was the Benevolent Tyrant that kept New York in check. Even when he was gone for two years, "Cassio's New York" was still seen as the ideal Camelot for Kindred Society.
Then, at the tail end of the Chronicle, my character was tasked with going to France to find Simon Cassio. Both myself and my character shared nervousness and apprehension. This was a globally famous character, whose presence was ubiquitous around the venue. His legend preceded him and the weight oh his return affected the game as much as the players who knew. This was the local Myth, dealing with those who have altered, challenged, or were forces of nature in the venue and existing with them in place.
Finally, there is the matter of Myths being made of players. We all have stories and exploits of what the players do as much as the characters they portray. Through speaking with players, we learn of the reputations of others, of anecdotes. We learn, we absorb, and we take aspects of what we absorb into how we perform. In this way do other players take on the roles of mythic figures. We take part in these by making friends, learning the customs of the players around us, like an initiate learning mysteries and rituals of a private religion. We learn their secrets and interpretations, and things take a weight of their own, including their own opinions of players they keep in high regard. This all goes back to the sense that People Require Myths, and will use their own experience to create them when one does not present itself.
To conclude, I think that the world is suffering from a dearth of something to believe in. Science deals in fact, and Religions seemed to be following suit. There is no real centralized system of beliefs, and as the more secular we become, the more we need to require something to believe in. The Geek culture, with the various mythologies and cosmologies floating around both traditional and modern, have a headway in terms of finding a system to have a basis for morals and ultimately inspiration. LARPers have the edge in actively dealing with these concepts and effectively assist in gaining skills, morals, growth in a way that modern society is some times ill equipped to handle.
We are all creatures of Myth, and we're living the most Epic of Tales every day.
Later.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
Goodnight but not Goodbye
This weekend was the close of the New World of Darkness venues in Domain of New York City. It's been a long run, two years for me and nearly a decade for some. This has been a very trying and emotionally draining weekend for quite a lot of us. This blog is me processing that weekend from my perspective.
Friday Night- Changeling The Lost
Oh Lord. So New York was faced with dealing with a Keeper. One that ran on Narrative and used Toy Soldiers to do his bidding. So, in preparation, the Freehold started making Goblin Vows. These vows involve making deals with Concepts.
Let me explain, in World of Darkness, there is a hierarchy of Spirits. Rank 1 Spirits are very basic beings of the Shadow Realms, Ten are Unknowable Concepts like God. Most Mages, who have access to Spirit Magic, rarely deal with anything higher than Rank 4 or 5, Lesser and Minor Gods. In Changeling, they can make deals with Concepts, which are technically speaking Rank 8 Spirits. Those don't have stats. They can't be killed or fucked with.
And we're making deals with it. Now, Declan is an Author in both occupation and Kith. So when it came time to make a deal with the concept of Narrative to make their plans as Narratively succinct to counteract the Keeper's Narrative Causality. However, Magic comes at a Price. Declan made a deal with Narrative to write the story of the Changeling he came in with at the beginning of his chronicle, who was part of a major plot that he was emotionally invested in. He rights the novel to that, and everyone involved forgets it until they read the novel.
So in short, Declan doesn't remember the details of his coming into game. Keep that in mind as I go on.
The night went by quietly as the Sovereign's all plotted and planned. When it came down to it, and everybody rolled out, Declan was the only one that stayed behind. My PC is a non-combatant, and since his main function is basically a Living Black Box for Lost. The idea is for him to survive and move on. As such, I moved myself out of the room to speak out of Character to a friend. Before hand, Declan runs into his Sovereign, Erised of the Spring Court. At this point, Erised has made a plan to try and take the True Fae's place and then sacrifice himself. Declan, who was just named Erised's successor, does not want this to happen. Declan doesn't want the Throne, especially since the Throne was recently burned down.
So, when it came time for the final dungeon, Declan stayed behind and Craig went to another room. I spent the next twenty minutes speaking to a friend in the Out Of Character room, talking and bullshitting. Then, a player comes in, in character, holding a long white coat with green flames on it.
Erised's coat.
I don't actually remember my reaction, but from what I was told, it was just stunned silence. I had no idea what had gone on in the room, I had no idea. So when Declan is being informed of the situation, I'm being informed. The look of abject shock and sadness was probably the most in the moment acting I've ever done and franklly it was the sweetest thing.
AND THEN GAME ENDED.
I walk into round robin after game was called, and people saw me walking in wearing Erised's coat, and the reactions out of character were just as real as IN character. And I was just one of a few horrible tragedies that happened that night. It ended on such a high note that it may continue next month just to wrap up, which, in a way, I'd be for, since I want to play Declan-as-Sovereign. This is Changeling, where they can never have nice things. But it isn't about Changelings always lose, it's about Changelings getting further fucked and dealing with it.
During round robins both Greg and Chris, who were responsible for building the Lost venue six or so years ago, were at the point of tears as they said their goodbyes. And I'll admit it, by the end of the night, on my way home, I cried to.
Fuck you Changeling, that's twice now you've hit me in the feelings. Stop that.
Saturday Evening- Mage
This is the one I was running. In a way, this is the game I've felt the least bit nervous about running, because the players had something to work with already going in. There was a purpose to the whole thing and not a Monster of the Month game.
A lot of the plot of the game has revolved around the concept of "What would happen if the Abyss were gone tomorrow". There has been a lot of discussion about how that would reflect, what would happen to the Sleepers, would they all wake up? How would the Seers react. It got to the point where the Abyss was seen as a levelling tool for all the Mages. Last month, two PCs took it upon themselves to enact a ritual designed to eliminate the Paradox from a City. When they pulled it off, the City was plunged into perpetual Paradox and Abyss.
Mage: Infinite Cosmic Powers, and the reason we can never have nice things.
This month, the plan was to fix that, using the surviving of the two PCs. They drugged him, controlled him, and sent him willing back to the site of the ritual to sacrifice himself to shut it off. They did that, with some trouble caused by what I can only describe as "Abyssal Shamblers". I figured there needed to be combat at the end, and I was missing out on Dystopia Rising. So having constructs made out of the metaphysical and physical Pattern of the Abyssally Ravaged New York Consillium building made a good final encounter, especially since it took forever to get them out of there in the first place.
In the end, when the PC made his sacrifice, the Paradox stopped. All of it. This lead to one of the other PCs going "Wait...were those two RIGHT!?"
From then on, Anarchy reigned. Because the one thing that kept Mages in check was GONE. SO it became asshole central. This lead to the consillium edging towards fighting each other. So, like the responsible ST that I am, I did the only sensible thing.
I pushed them off the edge.
The player of the Hierarch wanted to kill his character off. He had purchased a Merit called Destiny, which while it gives you points to add to any pull, comes with the Catch of a Bane. The Bane can be anything thematically speaking and agreed upon purchase with the Storyteller. So, in short, the player was cashing out his Destiny. So as everyone was talking about all to whatfores and whyhows of a Paradox free New York, the Hierarch went outside, where by coincidence (hey folks, Fate magic. This shit is WEAPONIZED COINICIDENCES) the husband of a woman he had an affair with recognized him. This was the same man who shot him, thereby initiating his awakening in the first place. In a split second, Doc was shot in the head. The man shot himself.
The mages, stuck with leaving Doc outside to not arrise suspicion, stayed downstairs and began arguing over the top spot. Now it was getting to be an arguement and Mages started leaving. Historically, this is in keeping with New York's tradition of actually not having any form of centralized government in it's magical circle. So the game ended with the Consillium collapsing around them, all while the Mages got the greatest boon of their existence.
At the end of the game, the Hierarch's death was called "The Joss Whedon ending". I take this as a fucking compliment.
Saturday Night- Requiem
Requiem was a subdued game. And by game I mean that it was to resolve a scene that was put on hold due to massive combat scene (read: 50 characters involved, those are convention numbers). I was part of the plot scene, defeating a Spirit created by an artifact running on Narrative Causality by using Narrative causality. I was a tertiary character, not doing much but staying in the back line and roleplaying. By the end, the monster was destroyed, the players got some jollies in about the delay. It felt more like a series ending, because of all the Narrative Causality, and my PC just walked away with a smile on his face as he has one more scene to do before the end.
The bulk of the night was about establishing the settings and introducing everyone to their New Chronicle characters. It'll be fun, but I still feel a lot of ennui about Requiem. A lot of the reasons I won't go into in this blog. Requiem is a game I loved since I started playing it two years ago. I have a lot of faith in it, but it has just as much going against it.
In the end, I'm sad to see the old Chronicle go. My characters, even the ones I didn't like, ended up in odd places. Declan, even if I don't get to play him as Spring Sovereign, is due a story about the aftermath. Rhys is getting imported over to the Accord venue when it starts. Taglia still has one more thing to do in the end. And then I have Jin, Ides and Owen to work with for Lost, Awakening and Requiem.
Goodnight but not goodbye
C
Friday Night- Changeling The Lost
Oh Lord. So New York was faced with dealing with a Keeper. One that ran on Narrative and used Toy Soldiers to do his bidding. So, in preparation, the Freehold started making Goblin Vows. These vows involve making deals with Concepts.
Let me explain, in World of Darkness, there is a hierarchy of Spirits. Rank 1 Spirits are very basic beings of the Shadow Realms, Ten are Unknowable Concepts like God. Most Mages, who have access to Spirit Magic, rarely deal with anything higher than Rank 4 or 5, Lesser and Minor Gods. In Changeling, they can make deals with Concepts, which are technically speaking Rank 8 Spirits. Those don't have stats. They can't be killed or fucked with.
And we're making deals with it. Now, Declan is an Author in both occupation and Kith. So when it came time to make a deal with the concept of Narrative to make their plans as Narratively succinct to counteract the Keeper's Narrative Causality. However, Magic comes at a Price. Declan made a deal with Narrative to write the story of the Changeling he came in with at the beginning of his chronicle, who was part of a major plot that he was emotionally invested in. He rights the novel to that, and everyone involved forgets it until they read the novel.
So in short, Declan doesn't remember the details of his coming into game. Keep that in mind as I go on.
The night went by quietly as the Sovereign's all plotted and planned. When it came down to it, and everybody rolled out, Declan was the only one that stayed behind. My PC is a non-combatant, and since his main function is basically a Living Black Box for Lost. The idea is for him to survive and move on. As such, I moved myself out of the room to speak out of Character to a friend. Before hand, Declan runs into his Sovereign, Erised of the Spring Court. At this point, Erised has made a plan to try and take the True Fae's place and then sacrifice himself. Declan, who was just named Erised's successor, does not want this to happen. Declan doesn't want the Throne, especially since the Throne was recently burned down.
So, when it came time for the final dungeon, Declan stayed behind and Craig went to another room. I spent the next twenty minutes speaking to a friend in the Out Of Character room, talking and bullshitting. Then, a player comes in, in character, holding a long white coat with green flames on it.
Erised's coat.
I don't actually remember my reaction, but from what I was told, it was just stunned silence. I had no idea what had gone on in the room, I had no idea. So when Declan is being informed of the situation, I'm being informed. The look of abject shock and sadness was probably the most in the moment acting I've ever done and franklly it was the sweetest thing.
AND THEN GAME ENDED.
I walk into round robin after game was called, and people saw me walking in wearing Erised's coat, and the reactions out of character were just as real as IN character. And I was just one of a few horrible tragedies that happened that night. It ended on such a high note that it may continue next month just to wrap up, which, in a way, I'd be for, since I want to play Declan-as-Sovereign. This is Changeling, where they can never have nice things. But it isn't about Changelings always lose, it's about Changelings getting further fucked and dealing with it.
During round robins both Greg and Chris, who were responsible for building the Lost venue six or so years ago, were at the point of tears as they said their goodbyes. And I'll admit it, by the end of the night, on my way home, I cried to.
Fuck you Changeling, that's twice now you've hit me in the feelings. Stop that.
Saturday Evening- Mage
This is the one I was running. In a way, this is the game I've felt the least bit nervous about running, because the players had something to work with already going in. There was a purpose to the whole thing and not a Monster of the Month game.
A lot of the plot of the game has revolved around the concept of "What would happen if the Abyss were gone tomorrow". There has been a lot of discussion about how that would reflect, what would happen to the Sleepers, would they all wake up? How would the Seers react. It got to the point where the Abyss was seen as a levelling tool for all the Mages. Last month, two PCs took it upon themselves to enact a ritual designed to eliminate the Paradox from a City. When they pulled it off, the City was plunged into perpetual Paradox and Abyss.
Mage: Infinite Cosmic Powers, and the reason we can never have nice things.
This month, the plan was to fix that, using the surviving of the two PCs. They drugged him, controlled him, and sent him willing back to the site of the ritual to sacrifice himself to shut it off. They did that, with some trouble caused by what I can only describe as "Abyssal Shamblers". I figured there needed to be combat at the end, and I was missing out on Dystopia Rising. So having constructs made out of the metaphysical and physical Pattern of the Abyssally Ravaged New York Consillium building made a good final encounter, especially since it took forever to get them out of there in the first place.
In the end, when the PC made his sacrifice, the Paradox stopped. All of it. This lead to one of the other PCs going "Wait...were those two RIGHT!?"
From then on, Anarchy reigned. Because the one thing that kept Mages in check was GONE. SO it became asshole central. This lead to the consillium edging towards fighting each other. So, like the responsible ST that I am, I did the only sensible thing.
I pushed them off the edge.
The player of the Hierarch wanted to kill his character off. He had purchased a Merit called Destiny, which while it gives you points to add to any pull, comes with the Catch of a Bane. The Bane can be anything thematically speaking and agreed upon purchase with the Storyteller. So, in short, the player was cashing out his Destiny. So as everyone was talking about all to whatfores and whyhows of a Paradox free New York, the Hierarch went outside, where by coincidence (hey folks, Fate magic. This shit is WEAPONIZED COINICIDENCES) the husband of a woman he had an affair with recognized him. This was the same man who shot him, thereby initiating his awakening in the first place. In a split second, Doc was shot in the head. The man shot himself.
The mages, stuck with leaving Doc outside to not arrise suspicion, stayed downstairs and began arguing over the top spot. Now it was getting to be an arguement and Mages started leaving. Historically, this is in keeping with New York's tradition of actually not having any form of centralized government in it's magical circle. So the game ended with the Consillium collapsing around them, all while the Mages got the greatest boon of their existence.
At the end of the game, the Hierarch's death was called "The Joss Whedon ending". I take this as a fucking compliment.
Saturday Night- Requiem
Requiem was a subdued game. And by game I mean that it was to resolve a scene that was put on hold due to massive combat scene (read: 50 characters involved, those are convention numbers). I was part of the plot scene, defeating a Spirit created by an artifact running on Narrative Causality by using Narrative causality. I was a tertiary character, not doing much but staying in the back line and roleplaying. By the end, the monster was destroyed, the players got some jollies in about the delay. It felt more like a series ending, because of all the Narrative Causality, and my PC just walked away with a smile on his face as he has one more scene to do before the end.
The bulk of the night was about establishing the settings and introducing everyone to their New Chronicle characters. It'll be fun, but I still feel a lot of ennui about Requiem. A lot of the reasons I won't go into in this blog. Requiem is a game I loved since I started playing it two years ago. I have a lot of faith in it, but it has just as much going against it.
In the end, I'm sad to see the old Chronicle go. My characters, even the ones I didn't like, ended up in odd places. Declan, even if I don't get to play him as Spring Sovereign, is due a story about the aftermath. Rhys is getting imported over to the Accord venue when it starts. Taglia still has one more thing to do in the end. And then I have Jin, Ides and Owen to work with for Lost, Awakening and Requiem.
Goodnight but not goodbye
C
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