Carnage 13, oh the horror.

Ah yes. Back home from Fairlee Vermont, where Peryton and I attended the 13th annual Carnage Game Convention, our second ti
me there in fact, for those of you who might've not heard. Pery and I loved the outing last year and couldn't wait to get there this year for sure. So we left on Wednesday evening so that we would be there early for pre-Con game ran by Andre Kruppa, whom I like to call "Action Hero," on Thursday evening. We stopped off in Syracuse, NY. where we argued about whether "syracuse" was Mohawk indian for "place to stay the night" or the city that was halfway on the road from Rome to Jerusalem. Thursday's drive was mountainous and rainy, which we were both fine with. We were using a GPS unit so the route of course was a weird mixture highway and intimately backroad driving. Once we passed a small town which proclaimed itself the home of "the US Navy" in upstate New York, we mostly followed the Woodstock River in Vermont.

Once we arrived at the resort, we already started to feel great and in a partying mood. We said hi to Action Hero who was busy setting up his special gaming room. Peryton tended to her luggage while I went to sauna, the Lake Morey resort, has one of the best that I have encountered on the North American continent. On the way back to the room, CCrabb shouted a hello, but I was a little too overheated for much more than a wave back. An hour later after a nap, we were up for cocktails and pizza with CCrabb and Tyler, a Carnage Con Brahman. Around 7pm, three out of four of the dinner party were into Action Hero's game, "Incident at Owl Lake." We had a good group CCrabb, Peryton, Ray and Nyssa (two more Carnage Brahmans). Can't really remember what we ended up doing after the game, but I am pretty sure that Pery and I went to bed.

Awake at 4:30am on Friday, I had a five-pack of beer for breakfast while I typed up final notes for my days events. Peryton slept until about 10pm, maybe just before noon, proclaiming that Saturday game was at 8am. In any case, no one showed up for my 1pm game, WHAP's "The Silver's Jungle," so I was able to try to nap. After dinner, of store bought hummus, tabuli, and flat bread labeled pita, I went to run the Spacers scenario, a prequel for CCrabb's Cpt. Zayit character called "Blood on Red Sand." Original, NOT, I know; but the players Steve, Zack, Patrick, Hanna, Derek (the Young Ones), as well as CCrabb made this little Mars-based rendition of the Hills Have Eyes worth while. Afterward Pery, CCrabb, and I hung out with a gang of the RPGBombers including Dr, Nik, Angelica, Don Higgins, BLamm, and various others. It was kind of like a school renunion but for gamers. Dr. Nik kicked my but at "Blow Football" (meaning soccer and wooden straws), but I showed some skill at a word game.

After a while everyone except CCrabb and I dissappeared, so she and I banged on Action Hero's private little theater. Luckily he had wrapped up early, so the three of us sipped cognac and assorted other drinks. Ray showed up as well, and I spent some time getting to know him as well. I winded down my part at 3:30am, hoping to sleep well.

Awake at 6:54am, even before Pery's alarm went off, I even showed up at her Saturday morning Dr. Who RPG game of "Beyond the Caverns of Chaos" before she did. At noon, when the session wrapped up, the two of us went up to the room and did the snacky lunch thing and relaxed before my afternoon session-- the room really felt like home. Well my T&T scenario "The Wuthering Depths" had no players show up, so I was able chat up CJ Henderson in the Dealer's Room and then nap for the afternoon, while Pery, CCrabb, and Zack of Mars played a new Witchhunter: Dark Providence game or some such.

My CoC game, "The Testament of Dr. Eugenesi" came up at 7pm, and as usual when it comes to that game, it was a full house. The plot was complex and twisting, but once again the players, I remember all but one of their names, so I'll leave that part alone. But by the end of it, I had enjoyed watching some very strong role-players doing some great work. I swear it was better than a TV or a movie. Running over time, we finished up at twenty past midnight, I saw Peryton hanging with John, who had played in my "The Mars Incident" scenario the year before, and playing in his Midnight-hour Old School D&D "One More from the Vault." Zack of Mars found a Mage or Gammaworld, or something, game to jump in on, so once again, I was hanging with CCrabb, Action Hero, and Ray until 3:30am. I couldn't believe it, I was in bed at a convention before Peryton for the first time in a year.

Sunday AM, about 7:30am, I was awake and packing. Pery's started her morning ritual about 8am! By around noon we were able to have the car loaded and we had time to visit with everyone. We had several email addresses and a couple books by C.J. Henderson as well as a print from Dark Magic and Donuts. So we were then on our way to explore a bit of New York the following day.