The Barrow: A Commentary

NOTE: Dirty words will be used.

THE BARROW is a novel published by Pyr, an imprint of Prometheus Books, which focuses on science fiction and fantasy tales. It is the first prose novel by writer Mark Smylie and is set in what he calls the Known World, a backdrop recognizable to those that know of the writer’s other published creation, ARTESIA. Mark saw ARTESIA come to fruition in comic book form, first from Sirius Publications, in 1999. Subsequently, it was self-published through Mark’s own company, Archaia Studios Press, now a wholly-owned imprint of BOOM! Studios. An ardent endeavor, as Mark is both writer and artist of this incredibly detailed story.

THE BARROW is an offset “prequel” of sorts, with the spotlight on Stjepan Black-Heart, a character that appears in the ARTESIA comics and graphic novels. It is set prior to the time of the ARTESIA stories, so knowledge of the Known World or Artesia is unnecessary. Stjepan and his cohorts are on the hunt for a legendary item that could change the face of the political structure, or so they believe. That’s generally all you need to know going into the book; the basic premise is fairly standard. Fortunately, the book isn’t.

Before further observations, I shall preface this with a number of things. Firstly, I am an avowed, vocal fan of Artesia and her Known World, of which I have been since the initial issue of the first comic book series landed in my grubby, manly hands, back at the end of the Millennium. Secondly, I know the writer personally. I will do my best to be frank, but know I am predisposed to be biased. Thirdly, I have never cared for the main character. That said, onward.

THE BARROW is good. I read it in one sitting, even though I wouldn’t call it “edge of your seat” exciting. It opens well, with a “Dungeons and Dragons” adventure flair. The characters are well developed, with enough room for continued growth away from the already published ARTESIA series. As the book progresses, it swings wildly in directions atypical of the modern fantasy novel, while being firmly planted within a circle of what I, in my critical eye, see as extremely typical of the modern fantasy novel. Let me explain:

Stjepan is the “hero” of the book. He’s not what I’d term as “anti-hero”, as his motivations are way beyond his own goals. He’s a murky every-man, a persona with a hard shell and a drive not completely explored, likely on purpose. When I was first introduced to him in the ARTESIA series, I basically felt the same way – he’s the rogue, the mystery man, the probable assassin with a heart. And, if not that, he’s the guy that the writer thinks is the coolest character ever. It oozes off the page, that. That, coupled with the characters of low moral compass, is where the modern fantasy novel tends to set itself now. No longer do you have tales of the proud knight defending the honor of flag and country, of overall good against overall evil. Now, it’s the guys that do filthy things that are much more interesting; good, innocent people being crushed along the way makes it all the better. Stjepan isn’t evil, he’s got issues. Issues draw readers, I guess.

Another thing typical of the modern fantasy novel is the need to name each and every character that appears in the book. I’m not sure when it started, exactly. Robert Jordan did this to a degree no one else has, that I’m aware of. I do know that when it started, I was not unhappy with it. I liked knowing the name of that basic soldier that did something special to save the main character in a bad situation, and that he (or she) was recognized, particularly by the main character. It certainly gave the more modern stories a more human aspect that a lot of the old Sword and Sorcery tales didn’t. Still, back then, it was likely a consideration of space for publication than anything else. Maybe. In any event, the reader learns the name of a secondary (or even tertiary) character, only to have that character killed off a short time later. Am I the only person to feel shortchanged by this? All right, it’s a nitpick. Moving on…

Where THE BARROW moves into atypical of the genre is in two very big areas, at least within its own covers. Within six pages, the first curse word, “fuck”, is uttered. By the time you get to the last page, it comes close to rivaling an episode of DEADWOOD in how often swears of the sort are uttered. The language of the Known World is a curiously modern one, which does make it for an interesting mix of verbiage. Compounding that is the intense sexuality within the book, inherit to the characters and, in some cases, their entire background. In fact, the pansexuality of many of the characters may put off less worldly readers, which is too bad. Sex in the Known World is quite descriptive, as readers of ARTESIA are aware – this ain’t no kids’ book! Still, the written word does quite a bit more than the drawing can do. An excerpt: “…the winking lips of her vulva puckering in invitation.” Yes, there is a reason for that description, though I’ll leave it to you if you think it necessary or not.

THE BARROW also spends lengths of pages in detailing history of the Known World, of which I have not seen the like in a single volume story. I would tend to decry boredom when reading the amount that was laid out within the book, except in how it was brought forth. While it is not unusual to get characters to explain the machinations of countries and sovereigns, the battles that shaped the world, the heroes and villains and belief systems, it is written extremely well. The only problem with the sheer amount of world history presented is it occasionally feels like padding to the overall story of Stjepan and his party.

As stated earlier, I found the book good. It’s not new or eye-opening entertainment, which could be due to my being a fan of the Known World. The overt sexuality and modern curse words make it titillating in some ways, amusing in others and likeable overall by pushing past the staid, single-sexed (or even asexual) characters standardized by editorial design. Mark has a flair for detail that differs from other fantasy writers, likely assisted by his artist’s mind. That, and a fully fleshed out world setting obviously begs for more books, whether prose or graphic.

If nothing else, THE BARROW has thoroughly gotten my blood up to reread my ARTESIA series. If there is a new reader of the Known World, I hope they, too, get interested beyond Stjepan and inundate Mark with desperate pleas that he finishes ARTESIA: BESEIGED! Because, if readers like THE BARROW, they’re in for an even more chaotic ride when it comes to Artesia herself.

So no, Mark, I didn’t hate it.

THE BARROW is available now at better retailers everywhere. Head over to http://www.pyrsf.com/ for more information, or to Mark’s own page, http://swordandbarrow.com/wp/ for all sorts of Known World goodness.

GaryCon VI leftovers

I felt that after a two-part tale of my GaryCon VI adventure, I may have been lacking in informing some of you gamers (and even you non-gamers) of the great goods and incredibly talented folk that bulk up the convention itself. If I leave anyone off this list, it’s unintentional. I’ll try again next time.

I’m going to start with Creative Mountain Games two adventures, FIGHTING FIRE and COLD, COLD HEART. Mark of CMG created FIGHTING FIRE to benefit Ernie Gygax, Jr. after his devastating home fire that occurred just before GaryCon V in 2013. Received with great applause, it is now available on RPGNOW for purchase, with funds going to Ernie. COLD, COLD HEART was run this year and Mark says he’ll make it available soon, to do much the same as FIGHTING FIRE. Apparently, they can be run together, or separately, to the DM’s choice. (Go on, you know you want to… http://www.rpgnow.com/product/127392/Fighting-Fire--Ernie-Gygax-Benefit-Adventure) I can’t say enough about Mark and his quick, fun game designs. In fact, if you head on over to his page, you may get to see his work on resurrecting an old boardgame classic, Steal Dabrony’s Coffee. It’ll return to glory for GaryCon VII, I’m certain. http://www.creativemountaingames.com/ for fun and games!

Speaking of Ernie Gygax, he’s got a new book out called SAMMI-ZOWA VERSUS THE DUELING DRAGONS. It’s published by GP Adventures, an imprint I’m sure many of you will be hearing about in the coming months, if not already. For now, head over to https://www.facebook.com/gp.adventures to check it out, as the regular website http://www.gp-adventures.com/ is not fully active yet. If you’ve got kids, here’s a way to introduce them to that wild Gygax imagination.

The vendor room had so much to offer the gamers this year. The companies that impressed me the most (if you’re not on the list, don’t be angry – I just didn’t get to your table!) were, in no particular order: Troll Lord Games, Black Blade Publishing, North Wind Adventures, Goodman Games and Lesser Gnome Games.

n  Troll Lord (https://www.trolllord.com/) is a great operation, with the improbably charismatic Steve Chenault at the fore. Steve has done some wonderfully over-the-top things for GaryCon for some time and I can’t imagine my gaming materials being without some of the fine books they’ve produced. Keep an eye out, as they have some new Kickstarters coming up soon, which should be investigated fully. You won’t be sorry.

n  When considering Kickstarter, you have to head over to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1409961192/metamorphosis-alpha-deluxe-hardcover-collectors-ed for Goodman Games excellent project to put the original Metamorphosis Alpha game into a collector’s print edition. It ends in 9 days and honestly, it’s a pretty interesting idea from the folks at Goodman Games, who really get the Old School Renaissance. Bully on them.

n  The OSR cannot be mentioned without Black Blade (http://www.black-blade-publishing.com/) and their OSRIC books. Not only are they good, comprehensive and worthy to play, Jon Hershberger and Allen Grohe are excellent people and gamers of note. Plus, Jon sold me some of the best hex paper I’ve seen in a long time. My future games needed it, but the players in my games may regret it… mwahahahaha!

n  You like OSR? You hear Basil Poledouris’ CONAN soundtrack in your head as you weave your way through traffic? You prefer your games called Sword and Sorcery instead of High Fantasy? Then you should be aware of Jeff Talanian’s North Wind Adventures ASTONISHING SWORDSMEN AND SORCERERS OF HYPERBOREA! If you aren’t, you should be ashamed and go back to playing diceless systems. See http://www.swordsmen-and-sorcerers.com/ for more information than I’m giving you.

n  Lastly, there is Lesser Gnome, the little company that could… and does. It’s new, it’s as OSR as you are likely going to get and I can’t talk up the box set enough. And, if you’re completely bored with OSR and just want to roll 20-siders all day long, they’ve got a Pathfinder-friendly version headed out soon, if not already. Do yourself a favor, go to the site https://lessergnome.com/ and see for yourself. Why do you need me to tell you any more than that?

Yes, there were more people jammed in that tiny vendor space than should have been. Or, more likely, it was a perfect collection of folks. I’m aiming for the latter. Isn’t it good, then, that organizations like the Dead Games Society (http://dgsociety.com/) don’t need a table. Are you one of the few that got a special pin? Are you one of the lucky that got to play in their wonderfully wacky games? Did any of them grope you inappropriately? O wait… that was asked for, never mind that. I push their presence because they bring out some of the best things in table top role-playing… creativity. Want to learn more about them? They’ve got a podcast: http://dgsociety.net/ ! Tell them Kristy McNichol sent you…

My final note will be on a forthcoming convention that isn’t GaryCon. Last year, some really weird guys put together a convention called GAMEHOLE. When I was handed a nice, shiny, thick paper stock promo card at GaryCon V, I had to chuckle at the name. It’s almost rude. I liked it immediately. They also had an incredible list of guests lined up – I just wish I could’ve gone. They are prepping now for Gamehole II, in November. I highly recommend going to their site (https://www.gameholecon.com/) and seeing what they’ve planned for this year. And then, attend in my stead, as its 99.99% unlikely I’ll be getting to Wisconsin again this year. Sigh. Sorry, Alex… I do owe you a game, though.

That’s it. I’m done with mentioning GC VI for a few months. It’s time to start on GC VII and other projects. Check in tomorrow, I’ll have something special.

GaryCon VI Odyssey, Part 2

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, March 25^th through April 1^st… Part 2!

Rising on Thursday morning was a beautiful event, with some quick printouts and character prep done for the GaryCon Tournament Open event, The Tower of Akbaba, with Luke. More attendees were filing in, to a surprising degree. It seemed as if Thursday’s numbers were going to be quite large, which is nice to see. I ran by the giant white board and “marshaling area” in the lobby, quickly making sure that “Steal Dale’s Coffee” was still properly notated on the board, as it somehow kept getting removed. I had enough time to grab some breakfast grub from the Resort restaurant, as well as much needed water and coffee before stumbling to the 10am First Round Tournament event that I was running. It was a good time, with great players, but the competition and scoring was fierce this year and they sadly didn’t make it to Round 2.

I have to say that, since becoming involved with the Tournament Open last year, the players I get are wonderfully inventive, work great together and always – always – make it a great experience for me as DM. So, thanks all, for gaming with me.

I believe I took a desperately needed nap after the game, as I was still bleeding peat out of my pores from the previous evening’s fun. Once that was finished off, I returned to the late afternoon festivities and listen to Dale kvetch about his missing coffee mug. I had a meal, chatted it up for a while, and then turned in early as I wanted to be all fresh and neat for my Friday 8am game.

“It’s Not My Fault” was the title of the adventure I ran on Friday morning, an idea I had that I’m hoping to flesh out fully in the near future. I ran it using AD&D 1e rules, with a small city setting, and all thieves as characters. The idea is to allow it to have a tournament-style adventure for low-level thieves, and then have more detail for a longer campaign, if wanted. The four guinea pigs, er… players, that showed, definitely put me to the test, as well as put their all into the plot. While it was mostly a character-driven adventure with little combat, I think it was a successful first test. I plan on finishing the entirety of the adventure over the next few weeks, with publication a goal. It won’t go under the title here, but keep an eye out.

I grabbed a Spotted Cow and a pizza before heading to my next game, all while dodging Luke, who was trying to get me to run another first round of the tournament later in the day. I was secretly hoping not to, as I had an old friend from the Chicago suburbs coming up to visit, and I hadn’t seen him in a few years. Before that though, I had to hit the noon ‘Don’t Give up the Ship’ gathering, which I got into at the last second and was looking forward to as I’d never played it and had always wanted to. I was amazed at how many players were already at the area, as well as amused at the concentration of yellow VIP badges waiting to play. I was speedily handed a rules sheet to read through and a stat sheet for the ship I’d be captain of. The GM was Mike (last name redacted to protect the guilty), who welcomed this newbie to the game with aplomb, introduced the setting to all the players and assisted everyone with as much speed as he could, considering the size of the group. We split down the middle, with my side playing the British and the opposing side as the French, representing an historic battle of 1808. Each of us was allowed to captain a single vessel, with the exception of one player who piloted two French ships. I and a VIP named Michael were the British frigates shadowing “the most foul French” while the Fleet Commanders prepared their capital ships that were sailing in formation. Four hours later, the French had the upper hand on the British, though if there had been another hour or so, the wind may have changed to favor the Brits. I had a fantastic time playing, fully enjoying the setting, my fellow captains and the complete lack of ego at the game. Two ships of the same side collide? Whoops! Better luck next round. The complete and utter chaos of it, coupled with the fun everyone was having just topped my Friday. While there were many minutes of standing about waiting for your orders to be followed through, it was never boring. Mike didn’t allow for much communication between ships due to distance and noise, which could have been detrimental for hardcore gamers. It was extremely pleasant to see everyone willingly accept this and just enjoy the game. My most specific observation from the event would be the median age of the players. I’m guessing here that the average age would have been near 55, a first for me. It certainly leant to some colorful and amusing anecdotes, quotes and language. The game itself is simple in style, yet complex in feel, and I urge all that have interest in an Age of Sail setting or even miniatures battles, to give it a try sometime. Great experience.

After, I discovered the need for me to run another tourney slot dissipated, so I was able to meet up with my friend Bob and his wife Lynn, who came up to the resort for dinner and see what I came out to every year for. Bob is a gamer too, so we shall see if I’ve enticed him enough to attend next year! Once we parted company, it was time to take a walk to one of the villas for further socialization. That evening will remain as [REDACTED]!

Saturday morning had me up and grabbing a quick bite from the table down by the registration desk, after once again making sure Steal Dale’s Coffee was up and on the marshaling area white board. I wonder who kept erasing that? Cheeky. The lack of real sleep was catching up on me though, so I reenergized with java and water as much as one could, before the next event I needed to run: Round 2 of the Tournament Open. The boys and one girl were not in my round one event and most were returning champs from GaryCon V, which was a cool factoid. These players were an oiled machine and came up with some fun ways to get around the second portion of the tournament, losing only one party member in the final outcome. This group went on to be the champions of the tournament, by a close margin. It may come that either Luke or I will run an adventure for this group next year, provided time allows. Congrats again, folks. It may be time for you to name your group!

I attempted a nap that refused to come to me, then headed out with friends Bryan and Jason to Popeye’s again for a bite before my next event, my annual Cyberpunk 2020 game. Since GaryCon II I’ve been running a somewhat connected ‘Punk game, with interested parties allowed to keep their characters and return the following year. I’ve had a handful of people that come back every session and always allow for new players, including first timers to Cyberpunk. This year I not only got new and first time players, but a young lad who came with his brother. Usually I add an age disclaimer to this particular game, due to some of the rather vile things that occur during play. Cyberpunk is not for the squeamish and can bring out a person’s inner psychotic. As I didn’t want to turn him away, (having not made the disclaimer in the game description), I made sure the boy’s brother was okay with the blood and guts of play, and the rest of us toned down the language and… other situations that occur during game. Considering that a number of the characters provided have cybernetic implants to enhance their sex, physique and appearance, all while being detrimental to their psychosis, it’s not always easy to do! Regardless, the game went off, with all too little combat. Those pesky gamers always go in directions you never intend – good thing us gamemasters can roll with their oddities. One other thing I’ve noticed about Cyberpunk, and this happens every year for me as well, I always – always – get women to play. This year we had a total newbie to the game, a woman from Canada, who joined us, picked one of the most violent characters to play, and had the entire table in stitches when it came to her decisions in game. If I’d had a table vote for best player, she’d have won, hands down. We stretched the game to more than the time I’d thought the game would last, just to slide in some last-minute brutality and weapon recovery (as I’d limited the arms that each character had – much to the returning players’ surprise). One of my players, we’ll call him Dr. Lovemore, graciously handed out miniatures to all those at the table, ending my Saturday for me. I headed on to bed shortly after, done in for the night.

I didn’t attend the auction this year, spending the time getting my new players prepped for Cyberpunk. In all previous years, the game usually ended by the time the auction started, or has been interrupted by it. I chose this year to run the game after the auction and I think I’ll do so from here on in. It went smoother and allows everyone to get their auction goodies with plenty of time. I’m not even sure how much was raised for Ernie and Jim this year. Anything helps, though. I hope the improved GaryCon website can host a donation window for continued aid.

Sunday had me up early, what with my first full night of sleep in days. I was a little rough around the edges still (scotchy-scotch-scotch recovery is lingering ever longer these days) but happy and ready to be playing in my only day of not running any games. I was looking forward to the Top Secret scenario with game creator Merle at 10am, so I wandered around, socialized, purchased items at the registration desk I’d been neglecting to and waited for the vendor room to open. I made sure that the SDC ending time was on the white board (what a shock – it was erased again), knowing full well that Dale wanted coffee badly. (Insert evil laughter here)

I purchased a few items from the vendor room, quite pleased to see it so busy on a Sunday morning. It seemed like everyone I spoke to had a lucrative con, which is great to hear. There was plenty I wanted, but being on a budget and having promised (as well as begging to make sure there was one for me) to purchase a box set of WHISPER AND VENOM (www.lessergnome.com), it limited me somewhat. I’m good with that; baggage space was at a premium. After, I went to check on table assignment for Top Secret, only to discover that the game was at 8am, not 10! Needless to say, I was rather annoyed at myself. I’d have felt better if I’d overslept! It was the one game I had intended not to miss, and here, I did. Hopefully Merle will return to GaryCon so I can try again.

The rest of the day was spent saying goodbye to those leaving early, passing contact information around, packing up the stuff lying about the room and enjoying a few Spotted Cows, as I wouldn’t be returning to the Constitution State with any this year. That, and anticipating the final game of GaryCon, the original Civilization, run by Mark of Creative Mountain Games (www.creativemountaingames.com). I’m a huge fan of the old Civ game and have been wanting to play with people whose gaming style I don’t know. I was very happy to see that the game didn’t get bumped due to lack of players and that we were able to get it moving to a good clip, finally calling it at around 2am Monday. Mark packed up the game, I packed in the remainder of the cider that Tom gave to me and I wandered around a bit, realizing I was the last attendee in the lobby at 2:30am. Weird feeling.

Monday had Cliff, Nick and I eating a late breakfast at Daddy Maxwell’s, a fine eatery just a hop and skip away from the resort, in Williams Bay. A few years back, when the resort wasn’t offering a breakfast of any kind to attendees, an infamous gamer known as The Keeper and his wife were cheerily handing out menus, and we of the Fond of Justice (League) have made it a “must do” ever since. For those of you that have yet to try it, do so when you’re in the area. Its cash only, but they know how to feed you. And entertain you, if you’re in the mood for it. We high tailed it back to the resort to see off Bryan and Jason, as well as a few others that we got to know this year, and a few known since GaryCon I. The rest of the day was spent shipping things out for easy travel, eating at Carver’s and being begged to run another Cyberpunk session… which barely happened at all. Afterwards, Luke and [REDACTED]!

A late rise on Tuesday had us checking out, saying goodbye to those still around like us (Nick) and trying to get everything not shipped fit into baggage. I had brought a rather large gift from my collection for Jolly of Knights of the Dinner Table fame (www.kenzerco.com), leaving me with what I thought would be plenty of room on the return. It was a tight fit and I ended up popping the seams on two pockets of my duffel. Time for a new one! Our return flight was redirected, having us stuck at a layover in O’Hare for a couple of hours. Considering our plane at Mitchell was delayed 30 minutes, it was probably a good thing. Heavy winds over the lakes caused a bit of turbulence but overall, it wasn’t a terrible trip. The individual TVs on everyone’s seat annoyed the hell out of me, though.

We arrived back at Bradley International Airport about 15 minutes earlier than expected, finding the temperature here to be quite comfortable. After a nightcap at a favorite pub, I was back in HovelHouse around 11pm. Another GaryCon was completed, rife with great times, some forgotten, some [REDACTED], and grand ideas for next year.

Once again, I thank everyone who assisted in my return to Wisconsin. It’s an event I will not miss and have come to appreciate far beyond my means to express. Gary gave us gamers much and GaryCon is just the smallest of ways to remember that, which I will. Besides that, I want a GaryCon exclusive d20 in 14 years to complete my set.

GaryCon VI Odyssey, Part 1

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, March 25^th through April 1^st.

Every year for the past 5, I have attended GaryCon, (www.GaryCon.com) a small, endearing game convention held at the Geneva Ridge Resort in the mecca of role-playing games, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Lake Geneva is a lovely resort community of about 7,500 year-round residents, not all that far from Milwaukee or Chicago, Illinois. Surprisingly, the weather when I go to the convention stays fairly temperate, considering it is March, it is Wisconsin and it is wedged in between a couple of lakes. With this year’s “Polar Vortex” having gripped the States (and Canada), it was interesting to see that there wasn’t much snow on the ground – just like my own… blessed… home of Connecticut.

GaryCon has become a “must-do” event for me, with nothing to keep me from attending. It was put together to honor the memory of the man that made the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game the worldwide phenomenon that it became, E. Gary Gygax, who passed from the mortal coil in 2008. It gathers many of Gary’s contemporaries, friends, fellow gamers and relatives and memorializes him in the best way: by playing games.

This year, GaryCon VI, I needed a little help to get to Wisconsin. In all previous years I drove/rode shotgun with other attendees, usually making it out there in around 16 hours, average. This year, it was decided no one was going to drive, so I had to take a flight, my first in 20 years. Having been officially unemployed for the year and bringing in very little money, I staged a GoFundMe (www.gofundme.com) that made its first goal set in under a week. GaryCon or Bust, indeed. It was a humbling experience, not to be forgotten, ever. I have some karma to pay forward, I tell you!

Tickets were arranged with my good friend Clifford (last names redacted) and we flew out of Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT early in the AM of March 25^th, to arrive in Cleveland for our connecting flight to General Mitchell Field in Milwaukee. Not having flown in 20 years I’d done a lot of pre-flight research to try and avoid delays. What not to carry, how many things I could carry, what not to say, etc. I was impressed at the sheer amount of TSA people at early hours of the morning. It seemed like there were two for every one boarder and they were pretty well organized. The TOTAL RECALL-like scanner was certainly a far cry from 20 years past. No complaints from this lapsed flier, though. The flight was quick, without delay and fun, considering the tiny jet we were on. Sadly, the coffee machine wasn’t working and they weren’t selling beer at 3AM, so it was aqua for me. Cliff and I tried to watch DREDD during the flight, but both of us sacked out. Who knew Slo-Mo and Ma-Ma would put a viewer to sleep? With nothing worth mentioning between Cleveland and Mitchell, I’ll move on.

Milwaukee and Lake Michigan were to give us a bumpy arrival and landing, which I expected. Even so, after 20 years of not being in the air, I was ready to get off that little plane. Where was the beer? Not far, it seemed, as there was a Miller “Brewpub” inside the airport. I imbibed in a nice 9am frosty beverage from Leinenkugel after Cliff retrieved the rental car and we waited for a fellow con-goer, Thomas from Ottowa. Tom needed a lift in to Lake Geneva and as fellow gamers, who were we to say no? It was his first time to GaryCon, so it was only right to show him how we all felt when we went for our first time. While waiting, we discovered that Mitchell has an amazing used book store that was worth many hours of perusal. In fact, I’d even tell people to visit the airport for the store itself!

Having picked up Tom, we headed into Lake Geneva. It took roughly 45 minutes and we all checked in without issue. We contacted the friends we had there already and went on to reacquaint ourselves with the resort. Many of the staff we’d gotten to know over the past few years were no longer there, moved on to other jobs and locations around the area, so I quickly made friends with the people I knew I’d be seeing more than the gamers, the bartenders and wait staff. Yes, know your servers, even at an event that is “only” 650-odd people. We gamers are a thirsty and hungry lot, as the new staff of the resort came to learn quickly.

Tuesday night was fun night with good friends and associates not seen in a year. Well, except for that anthropologist dude Nick, who visited gorgeous Connecticut in November, seeing HovelHouse and the Fond of Justice (League) in first-person glory. More on that guy later.

Wednesday was early badge day, but not before about fifteen of us went to Popeye’s in downtown Lake Geneva. There were the four members of the FoJ (me, Cliff, Bryan and a guy recently moved out of oppressive CT, Jason), the Geekpreacher (http://geekpreacher.org/) and his brother-in-law, a couple of English blokes, a guy named James and a few others that the Bloody Mary’s that we had can’t make me remember (sorry guys). This Popeye’s is not the chain chicken place, but a town standby that those of us from out of town like to visit at least once during the convention. The spit-rotisserie chicken and lamb are something worth checking out. After lunch, the four of us went to pick up room provisions at the local box chain operation, then on to Bruno’s liquor store, where GaryCon folk get a discount. I sampled out a few New Glarus Brewing fruit beers that I’d been wanting to, as well as picking up some cigars from the humidor. Bruno’s is also worth the visit, if you’re in the area.

Returning to the resort, we all hit up the table to collect our badges, black DM badge for myself and a few others, green for the players. The badge this year was a fine vinyl thing with a window for your name, zipper pockets and pencil holder. Talk about nerd accessorizing! I blame Dale. Wednesday afternoon also had an off-site gathering going on that I chose not to participate in, remaining behind to socialize with those arriving in early. Seeing the game masters of the Dead Games Society (http://dgsociety.com/), friends I’d been anxious to see again and meet many of the first-timers was an event all to itself. The yearly meet-n-greet with free New Glarus Spotted Cow (www.newglarusbrewing.com), freebie pizza and finger foods shouldn’t be missed, anyway. Free beer? This Johnson is in. Of course, our bartenders decided to inform us that there was a happy hour drink special as well, where everything was half-price. Ardbeg scotch (http://www.ardbeg.com) for half-price? Ouch. Thanks to Scott for the heavy pour, and to Dave for going above and beyond to make me finish the bottle…

As you can imagine, peaty drinks finished off the Wednesday evening, with me headed back to my room. Although, I do recall a bet being made with a certain DGS member in regards to “game”. Michael?

Read Part 2 of the GaryCon VI experience tomorrow!