JULY EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS & PRELUDE: BLOOD SOAKED LANDS - JULY 2023
JULY 2023 EVENT
ANNOUNCEMENTS & PRELUDE
__𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑: 𝐖𝐄'𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏 𝐌𝐂𝐍𝐄𝐈𝐋𝐋!__
This special event takes place at a different site than usual. July Event will be held at Camp McNeill, 13165 NC-53, White Oak, NC. The Ops Building for this event is at the Dining Hall, pictured on the map.
There are multiple cooking fires available for use, as long as the Fire Safety rules are observed appropriately and a fire is NEVER left unattended. There is no air conditioned sleeping space at Camp McNeill, but there is power for CPAPs and portable AC units. If you have food that needs to be kept cold, you will need to use a cooler - or ASK at check-in to be put on the fridge use list in the Space Station (be aware that due to extremely limited space, the answer might be no). **YOU CAN ONLY USE THE KITCHEN/FACILITIES IN THE SPACE STATION IF YOU ARE STAYING THERE, NO EXCEPTIONS**
__𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 & 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋__
In your Ticket Confirmation email after pass purchase, you received the link to read and sign your waivers & releases. ALL waivers must be digitally signed now - make sure to read the directions and fill out the forms completely.
__𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆__
Reminder about our Covid Testing guidelines, which are on our website here. EVERYONE needs to email their test results BEFORE you arrive at the site, per the guidelines. Absolutely no on-site tests will be accepted.
__𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋 & 𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐃𝐄__
On-site arrival begins at 5:00pm on Friday. At 4:40pm on Friday, an email containing the Gate Code for the gate at the bridge will be sent to the address you used to purchase your ticket. Close the gate behind you, make sure the lock is locked, and then spin the numbers so it’s not left on the code! You cannot arrive sooner than 5pm, in fairness for claiming bed space.
Reminder all sleeping spaces are first come, first serve for this event, aside from the pre-purchased Private Fort Rooms. There is VERY LIMITED unloading space in front of the Fort: unload QUICKLY and return your vehicle to the parking lot. The walk from the parking lot is a small distance, so we recommend bringing a wagon or other transport item if you have it.
Be careful driving over the road right before the Fort, as it can be very narrow and precarious, especially after dark. There will be lights set out to help direct your vehicle.
__𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊-𝐈𝐍 & 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒__
Check-in starts at 8:00pm at the Ops Building and goes until 9:00pm - staff needs additional buffer time to do a secret thing, so Check In is cutting off earlier than usual. If you aren’t checked in by 9pm you’ll be checked in after opening announcements (come to Ops immediately after announcements). At Check-in, your digitally signed waivers & release forms will be checked and you can view your NPC shift. Bring all weapons for safety inspection and a filled-out character sheet.
Opening announcements are at 10:00pm at the Fort, with Game-On starting shortly afterward. At 10PM we will go through a workshop to divide you into the “Mission” groups for Friday night.
__𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐌𝐄!__
Be ON SITE, IN COSTUME and READY FOR ORIENTATION AT 8:30PM! Meet at the Fort at 8:15pm, and follow the New Player Marshals to New Player Orientation. Orientation is required for all first-time players and takes an hour or more– please eat in advance. After Orientation, you'll go to Opening Announcements, and then the New Player Marshals will escort you to your New Player mod! Bring two copies of your character sheet to check-in. **New Players start with 20CP this season!** If you had 19 or fewer total CP as of the March event, you may round to 20CP total.
__𝐍𝐏𝐂 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄__
For NPC Time, meet at Ops Building. Be ON TIME: late arrivals will need to do additional time. When using game-provided clothing and props, neatly return them to where they were taken from: try to remember, or ask a staff member. Wet or sweaty clothing should be placed in the wicker hamper labeled "DIRTY." Thanks for helping! It saves HOURS of work on Sunday. NOTE: NPC time is not required for First Time Players.
__𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓__
There are three major special mechanics things you need to know going into this event:
Friday night missions: The mission information for Friday night, which is covered in the prelude below. Start thinking about what missions your character would go on.
Land mines: If you step on something and hear a large pop (like a balloon), you’ve stepped on a mine and your leg is maimed. Check the spoiler schedule for mods where you might encounter these, and for other content warnings. Mines cannot be dug up or reused.
The Dark Space: no light can be used in the Dark Space. Anyone who enters the Dark Space is under the effects of Soothe and Slow, and these cannot be resisted (they are perpetual effects). See the plot note at the Dark Space for more in-game information.
There are other potential special mechanics… but you’ll learn about those in game.
__𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐂 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐄 / 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐄__
The Public Schedule is what's going on in game, in-game. The Spoiler Schedule is an OUT OF GAME document with some additional items, for player knowledge. The Public Schedule and Spoiler Schedules will be posted in a common area in the Fort on Friday night… assuming the Reach is successfully reclaimed from Exiled Forces! ;)
At the end of the Saturday night encounters, no matter the outcomes, we will be going out of game at the Firepit directly beside the Fort (pending rain - may move into the Fort) to decompress, debrief, and spend time with each other as our actual human selves.
__𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 & 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒__
This event will be particularly hot. Please make sure to take care of yourself and your friends! Stay hydrated, wear sunscreen, bring bug spray. Don't overextend yourself and know your own limits. Watch for signs of heat stroke.
__𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓-𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐔𝐏__
On Sunday morning it is our responsibility to make sure we leave the site as clean as we found it. All players are required to clean their own sleeping areas (take out trash, sweep the floors), meal messes & dishes. You can earn Feather Points by helping to clean communal spaces like the bathrooms and taverns! Find the Clean Up Coordinator (Shy Dotson) to see how you can help, and so she can check off that your area is clean.
Below is our prelude for the event - welcome back to Sentinel's Reach - BLOOD SOAKED LANDS!
"BLOOD-SOAKED LANDS" - JULY 2023 GAME PRELUDE
It is the 𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 of the 𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 After Fire.
To the Town of New Haven,
We gather here at a critical crossroads, somehow prepared to face what once seemed impossible: the retaking of the Reach.
An attack on Sentinel's Reach of this scale is not a choice we make lightly, but all other options have been exhausted. In the face of aggression, in the face of tyranny and injustice, we can no longer wait for them to come to us– but must bring the fight to them. Regaining control is a pivotal point to ending this war.This is the only window of opportunity we will have to take Sentinel’s Reach back - the majority of the Drow’s forces have moved in to take the Elendari stronghold of Nos’teldor, leaving Sentinel’s Reach unguarded.
That is not to say that this will be easy - we are still attempting to retake a location held by the Drow for almost a year. I know many of you have fought, and died, but this will be like nothing you have seen before. I have lived a long time, and have seen many of my friends and soldiers die - especially when the Drow took Sentinel’s Reach. I know in my heart that it’s this moment, or never.
Tonight, we shall make our approach to The Reach. Every step of the way to Sentinel’s Reach has been easy, kind, and gentle: the opposite of what we will face in the Reach itself. Heavy rains conceal our approach and allow us the element of surprise; the forest, normally impossibly rough terrain and impassable to traverse, is suspiciously clear. I believe that you are blessed by the Water and Forest Fae, and that our entry is so exemplary because of your actions. Thank you for your actions with the Fae, and thank you for coming to the aid of Sentinel’s Reach.
I do bring unfortunate news – we have received reports that the Drow are beginning to move their remaining scattered forces into the area of New Haven, attempting to take a control position nearby. There’s a great chance that New Haven will be overrun within the next few days. I would recommend that anyone in New Haven leave for Sentinel’s Reach as soon as you can. As someone who lost my home, which you are now helping to reclaim: you have my promise that the Fallen Sword will help you recover yours.
Reports from our scouting forces suggest that the Archons of Evolution, Inquest, and Beasts regularly visited the Reach, and are presumed to have gone to Nostel'Dor. Exiled Forces keep Warpstones around their major strongholds, especially those that host Archons and Augers. For those unfamiliar, Warpstones are portals that work as an area of effect. They can be used to transport troops in and out in the blink of an eye. The Fallen Sword forces will be disabling all of the Warpstones in the outer perimeters of Sentinel’s Reach to ensure our success; but reports suggest that there are three Warpstones directly in Sentinel’s Reach that will need to be disabled by us. We know the approximate location of two Warpstones, and that another exists – but we will have to track that third one down after disabling the first two. One known Warpstone is within the Fort itself, and the other is in a place our scouts call the Dark Space.
Our biggest enemy tonight will be time. Our top priorities are the first two Warpstones that we know the locations of: find them, grab them, and disable them. I need you to understand: disabling the Warpstones is the only way we have any chance of winning this. If the Warpstones are not disabled, the Drow will be able to flood their army back in at a whim. They think of us as small and weak, like ants crushed under their stride - but when they realize that we have actually taken the Reach, they WILL try to come for us.
We will break into three groups as we approach the Fort. Team Fort, Team Disable, and Team Dark.
Team Disable will break off halfway to meet with my colleague, who will explain the confines of the ritual, and begin the preparation to disable the Warpstones and the ritual space. Team Fort will continue with me to assault the Fort. Team Dark will break off to go recover the other known Warpstone. Before we break off, I will assign a runner for each group to run Warpstones to Team Disable, but if they fall, remember: get the Warpstones to the disabling ritual at ANY costs. If a Warpstone is taken from its original position for too long without being disabled, it will kill everyone around it and possibly be recovered by the Drow forces.
Team Disable should be those that can concentrate well under pressure, and/or have the ability to manipulate magic or perform rituals. Team Disable is the fulcrum of our entire assault: they will be disabling the Warpstones. If a Warpstone is disabled or activated in any way outside of its original location it’s taken from, it will kill everyone in the vicinity. Team Disable will join the Fort assault when they have been briefed by my colleague and are prepared for their ritual.
Team Fort will continue on to the direct assault. We will directly assault the Fort by surprise, and it will have a Ward: we need to steal Ward keys or drop the Ward. Once we are inside the fort, a few of you will break off as security for Team Disable. Remember that time is absolutely critical: our goal here is to get the Warpstone from the Fort as soon as possible, and get it disabled quickly. Those of you volunteering for this mission should be able to hold your own in direct combat, find weaknesses in defenses, or can swing a sword very well.
As for Team Dark, you will go to the Dark Space and recover the Warpstone as quickly as possible and bring it back to Team Disable. We do not have much information about this location: but we do know that there is a Warpstone there. No light works in this place, and animals observed entering the Dark Space acted very strangely. Those of you that go on this mission should be swift, quiet, and be able to navigate in shadows.
In summary:
There are three teams: Team Disable, Team Fort, and Team Dark.
Team Disable is responsible for disabling the Warpstones via a ritual.
Team Fort is responsible for assaulting the Fort, recovering the Warpstone as quickly as possible, running it to Team Disable as quickly as possible, and taking control of the Fort.
Team Dark is responsible for recovering the Warpstone from the Dark Space as quickly as possible, and running it to Team Disable.
After this evening, we must hold the Reach and set up defenses for both short and long term preparation for the Drow's return. The rest of the Fallen Sword will rendezvous with us in two days time.
May the Eldest watch over us, may your magic be true, and may your swords strike fast and quick.
-Toross Emberfall of Nighthelm
Commander of the Fallen Sword
