Ayla, The 8-Bit Belly Dancer

WHERE DID APRIL GO?! Eh, I’ve been a bad kid with some internet issues for the past month… so let’s post “ALL THE ARTICLES”  I’ve wrote for the past month in one day! Huzzah!

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It is an understatement to say Termariel is a pretty enthusiastic LARPer in the NEPA region (North East PA).

She used to LARP when she was younger, but in the past year and a half she really started to pick up this hobby.

She’s asked all of her friends, family, and any stranger that she comes across if they’d join her. After her brother told her he’d go for Christmas as an Elf… a Christmas elf… she stopped asking him (though his second choice was Indiana Jones-hahahahaha).  I don’t understand why Termariel didn’t enjoy these ideas 😉

I know she really enjoyed LARPing, especially since her forte is acting in character (and of course hot glue costuming), so I told her I’d take her LARPing to one of her events for her Birthday.

“SO WHAT IS LARP?”, I asked myself. I jumped to Wikipedia to find it defined as…

A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters’ actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules, or determined by consensus among players. Event arrangers called gamemasters decide the setting and rules to be used and facilitate play.

The first LARPs were run in the late 1970s, inspired by tabletop role-playing games and genre fiction. The activity spread internationally during the 1980s, and has diversified into a wide variety of styles. Play may be very game-like, or may be more concerned with dramatic or artistic expression. Events can also be designed to achieve educational or political goals. The fictional genres used vary greatly, from realistic modern or historical settings to fantastic or futuristic eras. Production values are sometimes minimal, but can involve elaborate venues and costumes. LARPs range in size from small private events lasting a few hours to large public events with thousands of players lasting for days.

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(Termariel (top Left) and two other “Wild Elves”. Bottom photo is Termariel and a Ratkin. All photos are from the Nov 2011 Event, except for the slide show which is April 2012. Photos are Copyright of Wyvren Rising, The Players, and I)

I didn’t know what to expect, the Wikipedia article only gave a general overview of what COULD happen. Termariel told me it would be like when I cosplayed in character or acted/performed at Ren Faires, except with more fantasy & fighting. Her character doesn’t fight much, but is heavy on Role Play- getting drunk at the tavern, telling stories by the firelight, playing a song on her flute to cheer up the town folk.

She said it was somewhat like D&D (Dungeons and Dragons). I’ve never played D&D before, but I’m guessing it’s not like 8bit D&D. ^_^

I won’t lie, I was a bit worried how this whole thing would go. I was really stepping out of my comfort zone, but I knew it would make Termariel happy; so I went all in. Actually, what really scared me most though, was how I would react to the woods with all of my allergies. I had a pretty rough summer when I went camping, and I wasn’t sure about how it would be in the fall.

Termariel suggested I be a Reptilian-Human race as they are more middle eastern & East Asian influenced, as well as I had an excuse to cover myself head to toe in reptile print cloth (They suggest green face/body paint, but I would break out if I wore it). The species/races they also have include humans, Human-Birds, Orcs, (two types of) Elves, Dwarves, and primitive humans as playable character races.

(One Female Dwarf, and a HUNGRY Barbarian)

Termariel invited me to Wyvren Rising,  I’m not sure what the term/type of LARP it is (I know it’s not a “war LARP”, but it does have combat. I heard it called a “Boffer LARP” before). I found out in the world of LARP, there are tons of classification with intricate systems! Yeesh! It’s much more popular in Europe, but is gaining in popularity in the States!

Before I went, I spent a couple hours for a couple days reading rules for my “trade/skill path” (you could be Rouge, Cleric, Fighter, Mage, or Craftsmen), what happens when you “die” or “faint”, armor evaluation, etc etc etc. I won’t lie, that part was very fun. It reminded me of preparing to schedule for high school and college classes seeing what classes I could take to fill up the time slots perfectly.

(Traditional “Healing” Cleric (Left), “Fighting” Cleric (Right))

When I actually got there, I was not prepared for how interesting and complex the fighting world Wyvren has: all of the spells, prayers, & skills on top of knowing what to “swing for” (how much damage you can hit someone with, depends on the weapon type). I had spent more time on the RPing part, since it was Termariel forte. Luckily the older characters and staff were SUPER friendly and patient with me- even though I had to stop and ask questions “Out of Game” (OoG) all the time.

After the first event I attended I noticed very few people took photos, and uploaded them to the website. I thought, “I have a nice camera… I want to practice taking photos…

These people have cool costumes… They seem patient enough…” and -poof!- I found out Termariel was actually in charge of the flickr page (Thought it just got downgraded a few days ago, and they’re looking into upgrading or moving to photo bucket).

The next event I got to attend (mid-November, season finale) I dragged many people out to get their photos taken. I was super happy the way they turned out ^_^ The photos you see above are all from the Nov 2011 event!  I even had some chosen to be on Wyvern Rising’s Front Page 😀 huzzah!

Those photos gave me the courage to take my camera again to this past event; In early April I went for my 3^rd time! It was fun to see all the friends I had made 6 months prior. I still ask a ton of questions, but I have started to get the understanding of how the world of Wyvern Rising works and how my character works. It was nice to meet new characters, and take new photos!

Sadly, since I didn’t want to seem like a “chicken” and step “Out of Game” (OoG) every time a fight happened, I got just a few “action shots”. I did get some cool poses. Below is a sneak peak of the photos I took, I have about 450 photos to go through (I never said I wasn’t trigger happy); but here are my “TOP 20 of APRIL 2012” (or at least some that caught my eye).

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Cheers,

Ayla

Tags: Corsotha, LARP, LARPing, Larpy-larp, Live Action Role Play, NEPA, Photographs, Photos, Wyvern Rising