November 2024 - Checkmate.

[Z]

Thanks everybody for attending the finale, what a fantastic game, now go post your memories! I'd love to see them!

[Callum Parcs]

Friday night

- our nerves are on edge with Nero on our doorstep, always have someone watching the front gate, oh and it's pouring rain. Lovely atmosphere. F*cking Titus walks in so gotta try and get as many people out here to help as I can. Apparently, he just wants to talk, so he's led in and has a chat. I made sure to watch the gate in case he's not alone. Come back after to find out Theo destroyed his sword and Lexicus tried to throw him into the faerie ring?? F*uck yeah get his ass. He needed to pop his recall necklace so win win. Oh, he also warned us of an attack coming.
Head back out and keep watching the gate, start to hear blubs and fish sounds turn to see weird aquatic creatures coming from the direction of the water circle, everyone's called out and the fight starts. I borrowed a blend of lexicus after the first wave to find the source of them. They're coming from the river. People are calling them the Cold Cuts or something, they're bikbuns people... he was taken by the collective. Fight two more waves before The Queen Of The Sea decides to come out wearing some sick-ass f*cking armor. I blend off of Theo to move around and be ready to get the jump on Bik or then other cold cuts. Dimitri, like the badass he is, challenges Provy Bik to a one-on-one that seems to be an even fight. During said fight, Bikbun says he can see me which is terrifying, but the fight ends with both standing just a spar it seems. We talk for a while till what I premise is Nero in his ear and our two forces clash ending in three dead on our side and the cold cuts dead and Bikbun has been brought down but not killed. We bring him in and remove the armor (after a while of figuring out it worked) and the guild has me Stasis him and they take him away. We move all the armor into the attic which has slight bends due to the weight of the armor.

Saturday

Morning
- Really early morning we were all up for like 7 for breakfast and after that, we head to the psychic circle for Kez's ritual to help kill Titus and his Myrmidons. Mostly not quite sure of the end goal but it doesn't matter as he appears from the sky and bombs go off all around us, we barely push Titus and his men away with Teek's help and I steal one of their swords. We slow recovery and head to the inn before we find more bombs at the Faerie circle as they go off as well. Not sure about the after-effects of that one.

Afternoon
-I barely remember when they started but it just became wave after wave after wave of collective members. What I do remember is Mid-fight Gull pulling me to the side and saying how he has a way to save the collective after Nero is dead so they do not unravel with him. He explains how Nos is talking to him and told him to find a person to sacrifice with himself to save them. After about 30 seconds of internal conflict, I decided to join in this ritual. We head back to the fight which all goes well... Till Declan and Aerith show up. The fight rages and I have the Nullifies scroll ready for when their weapons drop but before I get the chance, while in a fight with Declan in the earth plan he breaks my legs then while saying " I commend your fight ability and spirit" suppresses all of my awareness then leaves me there. After fixing my legs I'm called over to shut down Aerith's sword, sadly I could not do it myself but the sword is down and broken completely. Next is Declan. After more fighting, he's down and his axe is destroyed. It's dark now and we're starting to tire but we keep going as we feel a single collective fucking with the circles. Me, Ceredwyn, Emilia, and Ari head down to the earth circle to check on it blended with earth. Ari and Ceredwyn drop out to look on the material as Emilia and I pull back to keep an eye on the surroundings when Titus and co appear and drop the two on the material immediately popping into the earth to get Emilia and I. I feel Emilia fall and I play dead. They start killing all of us and before I can react I'm the only one alive as I watch a sword swing for my head I teleport away and warn town of what's happening. We prepare to head into the woods to hunt Titus and find the bodies of the dead as we make it close to the circle we hear cries from the inn. We rush up to see Titus has gotten in and is killing or has killed almost everyone. We push in and after we kill two of his Myrmidons (and I get frozen in ice) he retreats. We regather our strength and eat supper.

Night

-I don't remember when but were attacked again (not Nero) and Taka breaks the super infini-psychic necklace and starts heading out imparts like candy. I end up with over 150 states. Tensions are much higher now as we prepare for Nero himself to show. Drixar gives us a motivational speech and we are all now very hyped and motivated. Finish our preparation and have a few sing songs with Gull and Francis.

- It's time and he's here. I give Gull a look of acceptance and readiness as we all head out to finally end this war.

- we rush out and see Nero and the Confluence standing there, we rush in and Nero vanishes within the Confluence and lights and tentacles come out to defend it. We rush to dispatch them quickly but more spawn. The lights start controlling people and making them attack each other. I fell to their tricks a few times but recovered or was snapped out of it. The tentacles hit like a truck and threw people into the air before smashing them into the ground. When Nero came back out and was hit by the anti-Nero oil we had two minutes where we could hurt him, and that we did. A few rounds of us swinging for the stars on Nero and him retreating to the Confluence. He eventually had to use his ultimate rending soul ability, luckily we were prepared and only a few were knocked out. With no confluence to retreat to and the lights and tentacles dead everyone rushed Nero. Right before we had him down I heard the voice of NOS asking what I was willing to sacrifice, and I responded with the only thing I could think of, Everything. With that we landed the final blows on Nero and as he faded away to nothing I felt the deal I had just made take hold as I lost all strength in my body and I felt multiple people hold me up as I fell. Next thing I know I'm in the inn looking at Gull the both of us saying “We did it we saved them.”

Sunday morning

It's all over and we are free, so I'm sleeping in a thing the rest of the world is too lmao. Breakfast is amazing and while my soul feels weakened I can at least walk on my own two feet. I'm still not sure if the whole ritual worked or not but then Bikbun appears in the inn alive and healthy but with his soul damaged. I sent a dream to Titus and Julie (A Collective member I met in Providence when I visited) to confirm how many Gull and I saved. (now we wait for the math to be done!) Also, the merchant is here and wants what he is due. We already have the finns needed to save Sofie’s life but he's also got another deal for a gem that can restore someone's soul so it's on to collecting finns or else we lose Corkin. 6 more and he’s safe.

[Briony Damaris]

Friday
- I am so incredibly eepy sleepy that I sleep through Bikbun fight. It's okay though bc I get a lot of entertainment out of watching the absolute downpour of rain before going to bed! Very glad that rain wasn't present Saturday night
-
- When Titus comes in for discussions I wonder whether or not it's a good idea to show him our memorial for the other Heralds. I decide not to approach him.
-
- I watch from the deck as Lexicus brings Titus to the faerie ring totally honest and not lying about him being 100% safe, nothing will go wrong!
-
- I go to sleep zzzzzzz


Saturday
- This day is a blur at this point, but I'll see how much I can remember!
- Early rise, eepy Briony
- Many bombs, why are there so many bombs in Holdfast oh my god
-
- I sit down with Rook and teach him my shout song, Little Wolf. He adds some beautiful harmonies to it, and Gull joins us with a harmonious chorus as well. It's an incredible moment between bards that I cherish as I become more and more attached to bardic magic and the effect my song can have on people.
-
- Z returns!! How exciting! I haven't seen Z in two years, so I'm eager to give him a hug but first wake up Rosco to let him know he's here. Then Z tries to eat a chicken wrap to no avail with his hand preoccupied with holding off the confluence for Teek while she rests. Merric AND Dog both try to wrap Z's wrap for him (and fail) and Dog almost knocks over the entire plate. I'm near tears from laughing.
-
- I lend my voice to Corrin multiple times to help them smith faster, which makes me feel like a very good friend. Same for Rosco and Rudi as they heal. The aid I give to my friends through the power of my song makes me incredibly, incredibly happy.
-
- Aerith and Declan show up for battle. I know no one will be coming inside to be healed, so I finally take initiative into my own hands for once and muster the courage to join my fellow Holdfasters on the field. I set and mend as many broken arms as I can, throw earth mana for heals like it's no one's business, and save Merric as he's bleeding out on the ground. I go down myself (owchie my hip) but am brought back up and my adrenaline is up to my ears. We win the fight, for now.
-
-Somewhere else in this there's devil shit?? Rosco's involved in it and my heart aches for him. I try with Dog, Diodia, and Drix to comfort him as much as possible as Francis and Gull attempt to deal with it. Devil shit is bad, guys.
-
- Time goes by and people run to check on the earth circle after Ceridwynn gets a bad feeling about its safety. We hear salvation calls and that people are getting executed down there, so nearly the entire town runs down to check on the circle. This, unfortunately, is exactly what Titus and his myrmidons wanted. A split Holdfast. Myself, Lady Val, Corrin, Diodia and others stay in the inn. Since I have given Rosco my last mana I run to the keeper to get more, but as I leave the bunkroom a myrmidon attacks me from behind and I go down. I manage to get up a few times, healing my friends as they're downed one by one around me, but am knocked into my bleed again as Lady Val is beheaded in front of me. I come to as the rest of Holdfast returns to take back the inn from Titus and his crew, but I'm left more shaken than ever before at the damage done. I barely escape the encounter with my life. I cry (a lot) and am comforted by Merric and Gull before returning to my job, sitting with my recently deceased cousin and Rudi in silence as we process what happened.
-
- You can't keep Holdfast down though. Myself, Gull and Rook buff the town as much as we can, we prepare and brace ourselves for what is to come. Nero and the confluence arrive, and this is it. Our final stand. I'm so blinded to the carnage and avoiding the confluence's bright light that I don't even process my own sister, Diodia, getting killed in front of me. (Thank god tbh because that would've been some ROUGH RP). Thanks to some blessings from Sebastian, I heal to the height of my abilities with all the earth magic I can muster. Merric dies and I scream very loudly, but luckily Drix gets him revived in quick time (thank you so much Drix). When the SW Psychic coma calls happen, I know I might not have much time left on my feet with less SW Physic than most people on the field, so I run as fast as I can and heal as many Holdfasters as possible in what I believe will only be a minute left on my feet. But then, we do it. We get his ass. Nero is defeated. I weep with relief and joy as we all return to the inn, exhausted, but victorious.
-
- Lexicus gives a speech that makes me incredibly emotional. As he lies down on the ground, prepping for a deep sleep, I thank him for everything he did and gave for this fight. He tells me that if my faehood hasn't been restored by the time he returns, he will do everything he can to help me. We share a few tears, and I thank him again.
-
- I go to bed for a second then return in my Briony pyjama fit *patent pending* to have victory cookies with my Holdfast family before finally heading off to a well deserved sleep.

Sunday
- I wake up to find Lexicus crawling on the ground outside after his staff has exploded, very sad, sorry my friend
- I look directly above this to find Rosco, Diodia and a Skeleton doing a yippee circle and it looks REALLY fun
- Myself, Merric and Dimitri debate the colours of the elements and I somehow accidentally having to debate the sky being brown. Dimitri now believes I was colourblind as a halfling and am only seeing colours correctly for the first time now that I'm human. VERY funny (I think this was Sunday but truly can't remember at this point lol)
- Theo tells us that he is leaving Holdfast for the foreseeable future to be Rincewind's full time student. I'm sad he's leaving, but just don't understand why he's so buddy buddy with Rincewind. I don't trust Rincewind farther than I can throw him, but I'll miss Theo nonetheless.
- I play Johtzee with Merric and Rook (very fun game!) while Ryn tells us she's gonna be gone for a while in the circle. I'll especially miss Ryn - my fae sister who sacrificed just as I did, and someone I can always go to for a hug.
- IT'S SNOWING AS GAME IS CALLED YIPPEE!!!!



What an incredible game and season, thank you so much to everyone involved, everyone who participated, everyone who ever said a word, kind or otherwise, to Briony: it means the world!!

[snow_gnoble]

Saturday Night Final Showdown
(I'm putting it in as Snow because it's funnier)
I don't really know how the battle with Nero and the Confluence is going. I've been to war before, but only as an observer for the University.
That doesn't matter. I know the battle isn't over, and I look for ways to be effective.
At the very start of the battle I shot a bomb arrow into the group of enemies, but they are powerful. I'm not sure how effective it was.
There are many targets, but I discover quickly that most are difficult to hit with my bow. Nero also iseems unaffected by my efforts. But the brain... it's a large target and it doesn't seem to enjoy being shot. I focus my efforts there when I'm not being attacked by monsters or my own mind controlled friends.
I try to use my medical training where I can, but most are dead before I lay hands on them...
Then I see Corkin and Emellia laying on the ground with some others. They are not moving. My heart stops.
I run over, and finally someone isn't fucking dead. I see Grimmdellgar there as well. I had only really just gotten to know him the past day or so, but I knew him enough to feel my heart break at the sight of him. Fortunately he could also still be saved.
I do a quick triage and start on Emellia. I'm trying to get her up but she's in bad shape. It's hard to see as tears rim my eyes.
No time for that now.
She begins to come around and immediatly instructs me to help the others. I refuse, and to calm her I to tell her that if I heal her first we can help twice as many people. She finally calms and I continue to tend her wounds. She finally sits up by her own strength just as the Confluence sends out another blast. I tilt my head down so my cap blocks my eyes and I quickly reach out and cover Emellia's, who reacts in confusion. She quickly catches on, and we are both safe.
In proper Emellia fashion, she picks herself up and runs off to help others. From then on I only see streaks of her as she runs around helping anyone in need.
Then I turn to Corkin, likely the bravest person I've ever known, and tend to him as well. He is in bad shape, but is anxious for me to get him back in fighting conditon. He's laying face up, there are screams all around us, the world thrums with power and the earth shakes beneath our feet. Our faces are painted with worry, I continue to put him back together, and then Corkin lets out a fart that can be clearly heard over the apocalyptic battle raging directly behind us.
We stop. We look at each other. We begin to laugh all the way from our bellies.
It rallied me, and i believe Corkin, in a way that cannot be measured.
Who would have thought that someone passing gas could allow you to face such danger with such vigor.
The encounter showed me I will never undestand how the mind works, and I will never understand why Corkin insists on eating cheese before a battle...

[Z]

Friday
-Bikbun and the Cold Company goes super well, fighting in the rain felt very cinematic for that mod, especially fighting against a former friend
- I genuinely thought you guys would take the Parley and go for a bloodless battle if possible, dear god

Saturday
- Time to hit that ritual, shoutout to the mole for planting our explosives and letting us know when to show up
- I thought that mod would be deadlier, pretty relieved it wasn't, y'all fought excellently down there in the green corridor
- get nap #1 in before lunch
- Lunch! And time for Z, nice to be able to swing in even if only very briefly and in a not-entirely-real way, but also to lend a hand!!
- Connect my ritual sanctum to the one Ryn set up, and get a quick bite to eat, and take some reprieve in the fact that I am helping Teek hold up the weight of the world.
- Say my fond hellos and goodbyes, I'll do my best to be home soon!

The Beginning Of The End
- We start our first attack waves, town did good funnelling us through the main gates! Excellent work with the spiders!
- I show case the Subjugator puppet early so there'd be less confusion later on, had a good bit of fun mind controlling a few people!
- We take a brief break, then a wave goes out without 2 of us while we kit up
- Declan and Aerith arrive to fight, god I remember walking in and hearing the calls go out that we had arrived and the slight panic and nervousness that we brought with us
- The time for talking is past, and we get to business and fighting. Ceridwynn is on my ass almost immediately and I quickly learn I can do almost nothing to him, goddamn boy got some buffs, with some quick thinking and evasion I am mobile and taking targets where I can
- Eventually I see Aerith across the field lying on the ground and know it is not going well for us
- At some point Callum attacks me in the Earth Plane and after breaking his arms and legs I do commend him for his bravery and ability before suppressing his awareness
- Other highlights include nullifying Merric's sword, breaking Dimitri's arms and then pushing him down, and just the fight in general, you guys got me with some heavy stuff and I was on the defensive a lot
- Eventually only one of my soldiers remained with me, and I see Krond grab her and start choking her out, and rush across the field to try and save her, arriving just a moment too late and exposing myself in the process
- There are too many of you, and I soon see my last, the Axe gets dealt with almost as soon as I go down, and at least 10 or so of you all called that killing blow
- After that, there is some heavy, lovely rp down at the Faerie Ring, and then the Earth Circle, genuinely it was such a highlight of my game and I cried a lot at it, thank you to those involved
- I go lie down for nap #2 while some more skirmishes are ongoing
- I get up and get filled in on what I had missed, and we look at doing some more but supper is starting shortly instead, mmm lasagna
- After supper we get kitted up and head out for Titus and the Myrmidons, I am the one to set the trap, and head into the woods to hit some circles and draw people out
- I then end up going on a goose chase trying to catch up to our forces since I was the only one separate, took a little bit but I linked back up with them in the Inn and it is a bloodbath, many lie dead or bleeding and I only help with that, Corin runs some really good interference on that with the snail hat, excellent work there
- Get hit with a freeze and Titus dispels the state, throw back a void kills or two
- Highlight of this fight for me was fighting Dog, and I get in close with the mace and grab his sword with my free hand while hitting a disarm and toss the sword away, no hesitation he starts punching me, was fucking awesome tbh
- Dimitri tags me with fast poison and follows it with a rapid burst of other alchemy, I reach into my pocket and I'm out of mana, and after a minute I collapse almost directly in front of Titus, rip
- I go oog and hop into the kitchen so I'm not at risk of being stepped on or anything, and Titus sounds the retreat pretty quickly after, was really cool to have you guys pushing into the inn
- We get a final 30m rest or so before setting up the Confluence and and arriving with Nero
- This is it. All or nothing Holdfast.
- We fight like hell, the Crusher Tentacles going after people, the Subjugators turning townsfolk against each other, the Confluence doing AoE effects, and Nero throwing out Monstrous Strength killing blows and mind controlling people himself
- You fight like hell, secreting alchemy from your body, healing with your voices and granting vitality, everybody has a dozen clarities and more, magic flows like never before as 2 champions pull their necklaces and unleash fury
- In the end Nero falls, and unravels. The purple light that has loomed over Annwm for so long faded, and the people of the collective are forever changed, with Callum, Dimitri, and Gull.
- Good game everyone, take the rest of the night, and tomorrow morning to unwind, and collect yourselves
- 2 down, 5 to go, see you next year!

[J'Rasé // Ryuo]

November 2024 : Checkmate!

Keep in mind these are jot notes and I possess proverbial goldfish memory

I spoke to kondor/Dane and had some really good RP about Ras growing as a person and joining the snurch so that saa can heal me!

Titus showed up and I apologized for killing those two guys last month!

I have a serious conversation with Theo about how we need to strategically decide when we start killing collective members.

My soul shatters as lexicus comes in 2 minutes later...

I think at this point I go pledge to saa! Snake hugs are nice :3

Some fish and coal guys show up?

Badbun fights Demetri!

Badbun remembers what lexicus did to tidus

I get killed by a fish in the rain

Ras brain goes "okay so I got killed by collective, Saa forgive me, for it is on sight"

I proceeded to stay awake until like 5:40 and woke up at 7 for breakfast!

We wait like so long to go try a ritual!

The ritual happens! However we get jumped by Titus!

I get teleported to the citadel, but so did others so I lived!

They start attacking the circles!

They eventually attack the snircle and due to blind Loyalty I defend it with my literal life, I die meters away from my circle, due to instant death poison.

After sulking and lashing out a little at Demetri (sorry Ian, Ras was feeling edgy), and getting the most terrifying describe scene the moment I enter my bunk room...
I hang out oog until I go temp cast for a little mod.

Casting was VERY fun, strategizing what we're doing to get town riled up was great.

Big memories of casting were being .2 seconds from killing Luis is a hallway fight

And getting to a killing blow 4 count on gull when we attacked the circles!

After casting Ras came out and I think we ended up fighting Declan and aerith at this point??

Real fun fight and then like 10 of us turned Declan into a pin cushion.

Rest of the day was a blur until Nero showed up!

Absolutely tore my voice apart yelling "SAA HEAR MY PRAYER, AND INTENSIFY MY FLAME! WITH FIRE I HEAT YOUR CONFLUENCE!" Like 7 times as loud as I could. While ineffective it still felt super cool.

Then I did my best to not die until I realized it was time to jump Nero. He almost got me with a monstrous strength killing blow, but I had one single sudden clarity so I did not die a third time!

Once Nero died I played telephone a little with Alex and Sharon to see if any Nero residue could be eaten in the name of Saa!

There wasn't.

Rest of night is blur, but I remember not wanting to celebrate, it didn't feel like we won, just survived. Kondor came back bloodied, and we lost a lot of people. Ras didn't feel like making merry.

Sunday morning was chill, I remember some fun stuff with Emilia's sword.

I had a great game despite literally dieing twice (I got better)

((Also I'm like 99% sure that on Saturday night after the Titus fiasco, I (due to having like an hour of sleep) hallucinated losing my red ribbon, then woke up after a dogbed nap and I just like, had it so idk))

Also! Ryuo, my other character, was simply in Autumn shade spending time with wife, they heckin love their wife guys you have no idea how excited I am to get wife crpd in next year.

[Corin]

Friday
- Guess what?? it's Smithing Time for Corin! Dimitri needs some armour, Merric needs a new shield, it is business as usual
- It starts absolutely pouring outside just in time for waves of the Cold Company (i stay inside for this bit) followed by BikBad and his Very Cool Armor. It's so cool to fight scary fish in the rain! We do get our butts handed to us, but eventually we take them out and capture Bikbun.
- His armor isn't just providence steel, it's also...powered somehow? we don't really know enough to understand it, but each piece is far too heavy to be used unassisted. We eventually get it all off of him and stash it away for later

Saturday
- after being one of the last ones awake last night, i sleep through the morning ritual as expected, but i hear it works mostly as planned
- the Providence waves begin at some point, I get hit with a Knockout and almost killed (thanks Dimitri for the shield cover oh my god) and then spend the rest of the fight chasing the necromancer who made the couple of undead soldiers and trying (unsuccessfully) to convince him to stop running away from me. By the time he gave up and left entirely, both heralds were dead, so I'll call that a success on my end
- Story has turned Misty's skull mace into a dead body? That sounds rude but at least it doesn't seem like any more than a fun prank
- Boy Was That Ever Wrong
- Dimitri and I help Rosco hide the thing from Story bc they're being weird about it
- Next thing I know, there's a little voice in my head telling me to go get the body again, which sounds like a great idea!!
- People are twiddling their thumbs and delaying me for clearly no reason, including my dear son who Just Needs to Move Aside (nobody liked that very much)
- i am pretty quickly knocked out, then put into my bleed and stabilized so Hayden got to OOG hear the exorcism and then sit in the Inn while dinner started until we got sharon to supervise me getting back up :p
- we then get the excellent rp of oh FUCK i threw my son on the floor oh no
- at least this mod gave us -
 "why is there a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD CHILD ON THIS ISLAND" (Story)
 "most islands have children on them" (me)
- after dinner it's Titus Time - most of town ends up down at the Earth Circle after repeated salvation calls, and I use a scroll to seal the front door (this turned out to be a bad plan, that's enough of that strange earth magic for me) just in time for Titus' hit squad to teleport in and take almost everyone out. I do a strange unarmed hokey pokey with Marcus' npc trying to stop them from killing a downed Diodia, and as we get rightfully banished from the kitchen into the hall by B I find Diodia's shield and get very very lucky not letting myself or Diodia or Briony die. I eventually find my gauntlets and sword and try to get in the way as much as possible but am just *barely* too late to stop Titus' killing blow on Theo (i do a power slide directly into Moggy's ass in the process)
- we regroup and recover after everyone returns to take back the inn, now already at a higher death total than any previous game
- eventually the call finally comes - Nero and the Confluence are here. the plan is put into action. We fight off big tendrils and little neurons spawning out of the confluence (i mostly fight these little guys because i can reach them with a sword while they're way up in the air!) and when Lexicus gives us the word we Get His Ass until his Ass is Grass
- it is a very bittersweet victory for me as I find out immediately afterwards that Nero killed Drixar at some point partway through the fight after all of Drix's excellent touch cast potion healing. we get very good emotional death rp, and i am reassured that he's back in one piece
- Bikbun is back too, as are all of the other dead from the fight and the weekend - we're very lucky nobody was lost permanently, and now at least we have a few months to recover while relief efforts begin so that nobody on the island will starve over the winter months

Sunday
- I think people are carving pumpkins? I make a new bow for Snow, game is called at some point, i think I slept through everything else :p
- we find out at postgame that Ryn, Kez, and Theo are all going to be mostly or entirely absent next season while their players season cast. i do not feel ready to be Acting Fire Champion but here we go!!

[Rosco Agassi]

Oh God, I shoulda done this ages ago.
For sure forgetting something but it's *fine*.

Friday:
-Before game on I'm told the super fucking cool abilities I got for my donation to faerie!!! Wow!!!
-I'm exceptionally tired and do not plan on staying up for long. I say this every Friday.
-Cold company shows up, Bikbun really /has/ been taken, then.
-Lots of ripped off limbs to be fixed. Shoutout Lexicus for literally diving over me to keep me from getting my shit rocked. That was really cool
-Get to use my amulet for the first time! Hell yeah!

I go to bed as Bikbun shows up. Get woken up by Dog telling me 3 people are dead? Cue panick(tm) and pyjama Rosco kit as I go to resurrect them. Stay up for a bit processing That and then go to bed for real

Saturday
-7am wake up call my beloathed. I grumpily eat breakfast and then do dishes.
-At some point I go back to my bunk and debate taking a nap. I've just taken my shoes off when Briony runs into my bunkroom.
-"Can someone else deal with it?" I try to say. She cuts me off by saying Z IS HERE????
-I tackle him and almost cause the entire confluence to fall down on town. Oops. Worth it.
-We "chat", Z is here but he isn't here. He sets up a sanctum for Ryn and I.

(Lunch time!)

-Z can't wrap his wrap while he's doing jazz hands with one hand. It's a bit funny. Dog tries and drops it. That's more funny. It's nice to have a laugh even knowing that the day is gonna bring war.
-Embarrass my baby cousin in front of someone they find hot
-Z leaves, our new sanctum starts filling up on its "own". Fuck Yeah.
-I investigate a mace-turned-body. Turns out it's a former devil host. I am wroght with panic and an urge to prevent my new least favourite person in Holdfast from learning void magic.
-It keeps asking me questions, I keep saying no (that's what I'm supposed to do???). I try to start figuring it out when Declan and Aerith show up.
-Shoutout to Briony for being my right hand man during that The cousins are such a fucking powerhouse when they're all together and oh boy do I love it.
-We defeat them both. Very emotional rp with some people at the faerie ring and earth circle as we lay Declan to rest.
-Dog comes down to excitedly tell me he has a way to fix my devil issue. That's the straw that breaks the camel's back. Rosco starts crying and doesn't stop for the next hour.
-More really good rp where Rosco processes his anger at Story for doing this to him, processes his guilt for doing this to town (as it's spreading) and listens to Dog and Diodia decide to get revenge on Story once Nero is dealt with. (This does not happen).
-Thanks Gull and Francis for the Exorcism! I'm sure that plot line isn't done yet but it gets the devil off our backs until after we, uh, save the world because we still have to do that.

(I'm so tired at this point I debate going to my bunk and napping. I do not.)

-Titus fight goes....way worse than I expected. Wave after wave of people, we get split up and then absolutely obliterated. Rosco dies, is ressurected by a super cool sword and then immediately sees the hesdless corpses of a Lot of his friends. That's unfortunate.
-Callum appearing in the inn and going "They've executed us all at the earth circle" is one of my most impactful memories of game. I felt oog terror, even.

(I'm not gonna lie, around here I really started to worry we were gonna lose the Nero fight.)

-A series of watches as we wait for Nero. We teach Rairun the phrase "That's racist!" as well as what "trans wrongs" are.
-"Rosco, if you go to war does that mean you commit twans wongs?" Kinda, Rairun. Kinda.
-A hold is called. Dimitri is alone on the field while the rest of us are on the porch. A GIANT puppet is brought out. Haha he's in danger.
-Nero and confluence fight! Wow! During the Godo fight a few years ago I only watched. Now I'm a more seasoned player and oh boy was I in the middle of it all. It was intense, difficult, emotional but we did it! We got his ass!
-Teek died at the end of it all, which I think is very fitting for the moment (though hearbreaking). I send a dream to Z to let him know.
-Help some people locate her soul and make sure everything is secure. It brings Rosco some peace, too.
-Lexicus makes a beautiful speech before it's time for him to go into a coma for awhile. I let him know what's happening with Teek and give him a hug and a goodbye-for-now.
-I go sleep? I go the fuck to sleep

Sunday
-PANCAKES FOR BREAKFAST YIPEE
-Meet a very silly skeleton. We do a little jump around in a circle with it.
-Lexicus is actually awake? His staff if shaking. It explodes. While we're doing the yipee circle with the skeleton he's on his hands and knees trying to pick up the (non-existent) shards. Sorry buddy.
-We try to resurrect Declan and he (reasonably) does not come back to his body. At least I tried.
-Theo is leaving to be Rincewind's student and Ryn is going into the psychic plane? People need to stop doing weird shit for approximately a year at a time.
-Game is called. Clean up and rest up before oog Stone Jug time!

[Brydee]

[Grimmdellgar]

The Last Two Months
Being hit with Verbina's pride explosion by pure chance two months ago was an... Interesting development for good old Grimmy. He ended up saying some... Not so nice words to his brother, who shot back some words of his own. They haven't spoken since, but Grimmy had more important things to do. Holdfast was on his bouldershoulders afterall, so he set out to rally allies and gather supplies to better bolster Holdfast. Two months later, and with nothing to show for his efforts, the prideful spark in him faded. In a flash he realized his foolishness, and he set off for Holdfast as quickly as he could.


Friday

I arrived in town at a decent hour for once, shocking I know! (I only had to drive to Bay Roberts earlier that day, back to town to gear up, and go back over the highway a third time to Carbonear )

Upon arrival, my brother was nowhere to be found. Nobody seemed to know where he had went, everyone was asking ME where Briar was. My only hope is that he decided to join a backline force, as far away from the wall of spiders as he could get.

But that would have to be put aside for now, there were more important things to be concerned with, as painful as it was to admit it. Seeing everyone's preparation and sacrifices really drove that point home, I had to get over my petty family squabbles and focus on the task at hand. Saving the world wouldn't be done by my hands, but I would do whatever I possibly could to help out wherever I could.

Titus showed up to offer a no killing agreement, which we reluctantly agreed to.

When I heard we were having an early rise, I knew I needed to get myself to bed before 3am or I would be cooked. So I went to bed at a modest 1:30am. As I'm safe and snug from the rain in my tent, lulling on the brink of sleep, foul beasts were lurking in the shadows. Suddenly without warning the walls of my tent rustle, and all I can hear is:
DESTROYING TENT 1...
DESTROYING TENT 2...
Me:

Shadows dance on every wall of my tent, I'm both in shock and giddy smiling ear to ear. Then the chaos eruoted as town noticed what was going on. Pandemonium unfolded as dozens of voices shouted over each other, clanking armor, stomping feet, damage calls, shadows racing across my tent walls. I think at one point someone was downed right in front of my tent, and I was just using all of my energy to hold back myself from breaking out laughing at the spectacle of it all. Once my head was on straight, I grabbed my phone and recorded a little snapshot of my perspective inside the tent
I did at one point have to run inside to use the bathroom, so I got a glimpse of the standoff OOG. Boy oh boy was I both sad and absolutely okay with missing the fight in the pouring rain, as awesome as it looked.

Saturday

I hit snooze on my alarm at 7am, I'll get up in 15 minutes. The next time I open my eyes it is a little after 9, not good, I scramble inside OOG to see how things are. Quiet, just the perfect moment to sneak off for a mcgriddle and kit up.

Saturday was grueling and utterly exhausting, but equally so exciting, anxiety inducing, thrilling, and just goddamn fun.

The First Wave
They came from the gate, sending in small but potent groups in, probably to both gauge our strength, and to wear us down. It was also at this time I learned that we had broken the no killing agreement, when we managed to kill a few of them, but we knew that was but a drop in the bucket. Then suddenly an explosion rocked the woods, and we had no idea what we were in for.

The Second Wave
Chaos, confusion, panic, they were going for the circles. Good thing I can't see five out of six of the bloody things. The one that was hit was the psychic circle. But with the help of Teek and other psychic folks, they managed to fix the damage. Also now Teek was holding back some of Nero's power, so that was nice. We got word that there was another bomb planted at the fairy circle, but this one was dealt with before it could explode thankfully. Then a lul, the quiet was honestly unsettling.

The Third Wave
We were all weary and on edge, nobody liked that they managed to hit something so close to home. Then they began attacking from the woods, they were coming in from the damned circles. Warriors that could strike me down in a single blow, who could vanish and reappear at will, coming from circles of magic I can't see. Great. But I couldn't let excuses get in the way, not this time, I had to help out somehow. I couldn't be of assistance in taking out big threats, or doing supernatural things to fix things I don't understand. So I picked a circle, fire of course, and rallied around fire champion Kez. In the still moments between attacks, his words held my resolve firm. Theadora was also part of our small party, and we shared stories of family and home. Which was painful, but calming in its own right. After a longer period hearing nothing, Kez requested that we split up to check up on the other circles and report back. As he couldn't leave his circle unattended. So I sprinted to the earth circle, all good. Checked the psychic circle, all good. I then looped back to the fire circle, and reported that all was well. I made this loop a few times, and a few attacks happened at different circles over the next few hours, it was exhausting(but very fun). Then they hit the Saa circle, as soon as I got word I sprinted over as fast as I could. When I got there it was a lot of shouting, then the collective fled, and in that time Ras was killed. I remember screaming into the sky, and stomping away furiously. Though I don't know Ras all that well, it was I and Briar who initially brought her to Holdfast, so it struck a nerve.

The Fourth Wave
It was sudden, some heralds and other collective fighters attacked.

It was also during this battle that my hammer completely exploded As Sharon menacingly walked towards me, unfazed at my meager damage calls, and in the sweetest tone says "oop watch out" indicating my hammer which was coming apart at the seams. So I ran and tossed the pieces of my hammer in my tent, grabbed the tiny hammer Corkin had pointed out to me earlier, and rushed back onto the field.

I didn't expect the hammer to survive the weekend, and had resigned to use this little hammer. Boy did my tune change quick once I got back out there.

We managed to take out the collective forces, and I immediately got to work patching up my hammer. (Thank you duct tape)

The Fifth Wave
Then it went silent, silent for quite some time. Silent until long past nightfall. I remember making the rounds in the dark, my lantern hanging from the end of my hammer slung across my shoulder. It was all I could do to pass the time, trying to focus on being helpful and staying alive to find my brother. Then some people invited me to play jotsee, I reluctantly agreed, and picked a seat that allowed me to see the gate from the window. They joked that you never get to finish a game of jotsee, because something always happens before it can be finished. Sure enough they were right, as the earth champion suddenly sprang into action shouting that there was trouble at the earth circle.

Chaos erupted once more, this was most assuredly a trap and a ploy to split our numbers up. There were two camps, the camp I was on board with thought it was a bad idea to split up and didn't want to go into the forest in the dark to be ambushed.
The other camp didn't want to leave those who had already gone to die in the woods, which was hard to argue with.
In the end it was agreed that everyone would go together. But about halfway to the earth circle we were turned back to the Inn, as apparently they were dealing with the earth circle. So we began marching back to the Inn, and sure enough, there was Titus. He and his myrmidons had claimed the inn in the brief time it was left unguarded. We began poking and prodding at them through the door, someone went around to use magic to seal the other door, some people broke in from the windows. Then Brummbar fired up his new dangerous weapon, someone shouted charge, and we stormed in. Brummbar was the true hero of this battle, singlehandedly pushing back Titus, and forcing him to flee.

The Final Wave
After this it was a lot of nervous sitting and waiting again, Brummbar had to be helped from having the weapon explode, and a lot of powering up for what we could only assume was the final battle. Taka used some magic to gain a massive temporary psychic power boost, and was hitting everyone with all sorts of things. People were getting massive amounts of boosts, but I was just happy with my two uses of sudden clarity. I also got the ability to see psychic stuff for the first time, I just wish it wasn't under such dire circumstances.

I was on the deck when Nero and the giant brain fell from the sky, I was both struck with awe and sheer terror at the sight. Nero shouted his grand monologue, and the final battle unfolded. I don't know where I managed to pull the courage from, but for the first time I felt like I was really contributing in combat, in my own small way anyway.

It was a chaotic mess, Nero was flying across the battlefield left and right, the gigantic brain was blasting off pulses of mind controlling energy, while it's tentrils whipped and lashed at us, and little mind controlling orbs kept pouring from the brain.

When Nero was first hit with the vulnerability oil and Teek shouted "FUCK HIM UP!", the mob was truly extraordinary, and I heard some absolutely insane damage calls. The highest of which was from the psychically blinding Dimitri, who called for an absurd number over 1000.

I was truly bouncing around the battlefield, doing my best to avoid major threats that were out of my league, while also doing my best to get in damage to Nero and the brain wherever possible. Then I realised that I was one of the few people who had the reach to hit the orbs, and made a split decision to focus my efforts there. This also meant getting mind controlled a good few times, but I also managed to take out a good few of the buggers. Thankfully I was generally  Whenever I fell, it was either Rosco's voice or Drixar's magic that pulled me from the darkness, bless them for that.

Thankfully whenever I was forced to attack my allies, I was almost always turned onto someone who could put me down rather quickly. There was only one occasion where I did not avert my eyes from the brain's glow, I instantly regretted that mistake when I began bearing down on Cassius against my will. But to his credit he is a quick and crafty fellow, and he managed to gain distance and shoot me down before I could cause any real harm. Then everything was a blur, as my barely conscious body was flung onto the deck by Chrom, and I was quickly healed up and back on the field.

I feel proud to say my hammer was among the final blows struck to end Nero, by no means was I a major contributor, but proud nonetheless to have been even a small contributor to his demise. He exploded in a brilliant blast of purple, and it was over, we did it.
We won.

There were cheers, and tears. As all of the pent up stress and emotions were finally allowed free, and Teek lost their life after everything that was done to help us. But sleep was calling, the exhaustion finally setting in like a sack of stones placed on my shoulders.

Sunday
I shockingly got up at 7am somehow, and it was FRIGID. Everything had a nice thick layer of frost on it, and I needed warmth. When warmth had returned to my bones after breakfast, I debated kitting up for the last couple hours. As I was still considering kitchen asked for a dish volunteer, and I decided to be the last dish hero at the old site. I always underestimate how many dishes breakfast generates, on top of everyone getting showers to drain the hot water. So the last couple of hours were spent scrubbing away with lukewarm water I'm usually not a fan of doing dishes, but for some reason I find doing them in such a setting relaxing in a weird but enjoyable way.

Final Thoughts
All in all, my first season was such a fun wild ride.
Going from being overwhelmed and leaving my first game early on Saturday that weekend, to the last game of the season running around all day and staying up until 2am swinging a giant foam hammer in the dark on Saturday this weekend

Thank you so much to this community for making me feel welcome, I can't wait for next season, and the new site!

[Drixar]

Time to add my memories! Only took me like. 2 weeks

Friday
- started game in the bunk room talking to people! Yippie!
- Literally like 1 minute after game call dog bursts into the bunk room, “heralds are coming tonight”, well fuck me time to go prep
- Turns out it was Titus, alone, he came to negotiate terms for the upcoming fights
- I don’t trust this mother fucker as far as I can throw him and spoiler alert; I can’t throw him
- Lexicus walks in awhile later,“The deal is off” “how do you know?” “He called it off when I tried to throw him in the faerie ring” LETS GO THATS MY MENTOR
- The cold company arrives, I reveal a little too late that the runes affixed to them are protective runes to help them breathe, town figured it out first…… oops
- Bikbun arrives in full providence steel, urging us to join him. Drixar can’t face him in shame (OOG Phoenix was soggy and wet hair sensory bad)
- Sat inside with the medics for awhile before calling it a night, gotta make some wake up calls for an important ritual

Saturday
- start the day with some breakfast and hanging about!!
- Myself and Callum get kitted up to do our usual rounds, I bully him for taking so long
- We check in after our laps because we are needed for kez’s ritual
- We check around the circles, between trees, in trees, and even off the beaten path, everything is safe! (This is foreshadowing)
- By the time we finish rounds people are ready, to the psychic circle!
- I stand where I did last year to observe the ritual, ah memories
- Alex OOG comes down the trail in providence kit and stands behind me, I was sweating BULLETS until he moved
- The ritual finishes and Sharon calls a hold, as she reveals not one, not two, but THREE bombs from under our feet
- “We are bad at our job Jona”
- It is a blood bath at the psychic circle, with only the mercy of teek protecting us from the overwhelming pain of the confluence that touched down in the distance. Thankfully, we all live
- Had an “oh fuck” moment and I head to the faerie ring with Lexicus, look between my heels and behold! A bomb!
- Managed to get one out, would have been 10x more devastating if both had detonated plz mom needs a BREAK
- The day became a blur, we fought Declan and Aerith, then had a sentimental moment at the faerie ring, we fought Titus more times than I could count, most of the afternoon was spent wondering if I should use the blessing from faerie yet. I decided to wait until the Man himself Nero arrived
- In the middle of all of this Corin begins acting odd, saying they need to leave without giving details, hrm
- Being the good son I am I grab them to tell them to be safe, I get thrown into a table instead :<
- Turns out, a devil is puppeting them, cool cool cool burn it.
- Rosco starts apologizing to me saying he’s at fault, buddy ur not and even if you were you didn’t tell them to yeet me like a sack of potatoes! It’s okay
- Corin is freed!! Yippee! Very good post angst rp of them feeling very bad for yeeting me and me promising I wasn’t hurt
- The closer we get to fighting Nero the more both Phoenix and Drixar realizes that he could very well die in this fight. Diodia consoles him outside as he finally admits that despite his confident demeanour all day, Drix is terrified
- Lexicus pulls me aside, telling me I will be fighting with and tending to his staff during the big fight and once he’s asleep. Gulp. I take the staff with equal amounts pride and fear
- After some chaos down at the earth circle moral is very low, naw that shit ain’t gonna fly speech time
- I call for everyone to listen, and I’ve never felt the inn go quiet faster. Gulp. I give my speech and by the end the cheers are so loud people can be heard clear as day at the ash circle. Thank you everyone for giving me my main character moment

The final fight.
- Waiting for Nero takes. Ages. I nap sat upright under the meal window.
- I hear chaos outside as my eyes are half closed. With a bit of an OOG jolt I jump up
- “Get in position while he’s monologuing” aye aye teek off I pop
- Holy fuck I didn’t expect the confluence to look like THAT. alright time to fight
- A beautiful chain reaction goes off, “I invoke the wrath of faerie!”“I invoke the wrath of faerie!”“I invoke the wrath of faerie!” “I am the storm!” “I am the fury!”
- I have never felt my lungs burn from running like I have in this moment, I’m ignoring it tho ppl are dead and dying
- At around the 20 minute mark of my hour long boon, Nero finds me, and I’m hit with a monsterous strength killing blow.
- I’m pretty beat up about forgetting my clarities for awhile but it was a cinematic death
- I get thrown onto the bridge by Krond, and as Val attempts to heal me it takes every part of my soul to muster the words “no effect”
- It killed me to hear everyone calling out for me as I’m hauled inside, def had a bit of bleed with this death (I’m okay pinky promise)
- Trix helps me regulate in time for people to kill Nero and flood back into the inn
- “They got em, you ready to come back to the living?” “Not yet, I promised some people death rp” LMAO I love my friends
- The rp is 10/10, “coming back” surrounded by my found family is a moment I will cherish forever
- After peddling about and just hanging out I call it a night, today was a long day

Sunday
- wake up and eat breakfast with rosco and callum. Pancakes hell yeah
- Lexicus is awake!!!! I get more time with my mentor and I’m beyond thrilled
- I give Callum the staff long enough for me to grab something out of my bunk, as I leave he SHOVES it into my hand, it’s vibrating?
- Oh yeah this thing got baaaddddddd juju LEXICUSSSSS
- Eventually, the staff goes kaput and explodes. It was so pretty too
- That’s all I remember, then game is called

This season has been absolutely incredible and I’m so thankful for each and every one of you. I can’t wait to see what the new season and new site brings for us. Thank you for welcoming my little blueberry into your lives

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