Empire LRP; Autumn Equinox 383YE

The last official Empire event of the year was a week ago, its high time I did a write up.  This event had a few ups and down, more on that shortly.  I'll do a loot  report at a later date because I bought a couple of awesome looking chairs and I need space to set them up, there's stuff everywhere and my flat desperately needs a tidy. 

Look an actual picture with people in it.  From left to right; Ringforge Nani, Violette, Lady Serenity Renard de Loup and Earl Bertrand de Loup the 3rd (aka me).

Let's get the nots out the way first.

1. Arriving on Thursday in the dark.  Now it's quite hard to put 3 tents up in the dark, especially when you're not overly familiar with 2 of them.  It's made even harder when the rental van we brought our kit in has a headlight out, dropped the ball there Enterprise.  Luckily we had my car too, so we managed to get enough illumination to put the tents up.  Not that we'd been left much space and our sleeping tent had to be pitched on the pegs of the other 2.

2. Sun burn.  It was stupidly hot the whole  weekend and I got burned.  Which might have had something to do with me falling asleep on my new chair.  The sun was so hot that I even got burned on my scalp down the central parting of my hair, first time fore everything.  My sunburn ruined the battle for me.  Sunburn and chainmail don't mix.  I felt like I was being grated to death by my own armour.  Because of that, and the baking heat I was not feeling that battle like I wanted to, I spent most of it wondering when it was going to end.

3. The freezing cold.  The weather was a hot and dry the whole weekend.  Conversely because of this the nights were freezing cold and dry.  It was so cold that a couple of our group slept in the group tent where it was still warm.  Some of the things we left outside had ice forming on them before the sun came up.  Top LARP tip, take clothing for all weathers.

4. I hurt my leg again.  But not as badly as last time.


Now the negitive stuff is out the road, lets get onto the good stuff.

1. Moonshine's Gin and Tea House was a massive success.  Thank you to everyone who came in, we appreciate your patronage, but appreciate your company more.  We had a lot of great conversations in there, many of which lowered the tone.  I'm seriously thinking about renaming the house to House de Filth.  We also had Moonshine's consecrated to ambition, which resulted in a hilarious bit of RP.  We are looking to make improvements for next year, including better lighting and a smut library.

2. The stove in Moonshines.  This drew in people on a cold night and my old bones appriciated the heat coming off it.  House de Carsenere were practically living in Moonshine's, some of the best people I know, great people, great conversation.

3.  The House du Soliel setting of the sun festival.  I didn't get to experience as much of this as I'd hoped.  I missed their singer, but did catch the fire dancers.  Also who doesn't like playing with sparklers?

4.  Trenchers.  The Wooden Spoon is the best eatery in Anvil.  Fact.

5. The Gathering of Hunters Dawnish council members selection.  This was mental.  It was supposed to be a bit of harmless fun where the Houses wanting on the council were to hunt volunteers through Anvil.  This almost resulted in a war between Dawn and Navar.  Safe to say it got sorted in a diplomatic way.  Was bit of an "oh shit" moment IC.  Not that I knew until much later because I was gloriously hiding in a ditch.  However I am now the Dawnish hide and seek champion, because no one found me before the game was called off.

This is the Gathering of Hunters tent.  I didn't spend much time here this event other than helping to put it up.


All in all I enjoyed myself.  House de Loup is growing, we've got a few more people joining next year.  More people to play with yay!

If Empire sounds like your thing then feel free to use my recruitment code

9066.16781  You get £15 of your ticket, and it helps me out too.

Bonus content.

We took a little detour on the way home and took a wee trip to Lochmaben Castle.  Lochmaben Castle is situated next to Castle Loch just outside Lochmaben (funnily enough).  It once belonged to Robert the Bruce, so if you like a bit of Scottish history, it's worth a visit.  It's free and not a lot of people outside the local area know about it so there's no bugger there, giving you time to have a good nose round.

Empire LRP Summer Solstice 383YE; loot and recap

So another exciting weekend in Anvil has passed.  Despite my head not being in it to begin with I did enjoy myself.  Some major plot happened at the end of the event, which is very exciting and effects everybody.  I really can't wait to see how that resolves.

I'm going to start with the nots... Imma make you wait for the good stuff.

Not the first.  Not having my wife with me.  Sarah is my rock and the anchor that keeps me mental health in check.  She couldn't attend because she broke her arm a few days before the event.  So worry was on my mind, and not forgetting I was missing her.  She will be making her triumphant return at E4.

Not the second.  I must have turned my ankle at some point on Saturday afternoon because when I woke up on Sunday it was throbbing.  That meant I couldn't Grendel on the Sunday battle (I did water carry though).

Not the third.  Not getting a chance to go to the Secret Tea House.  I wanted to go, but never found the time.

Not the fourth.  Wasps.  There were loads of wasps.  More importantly one of the little bastards decided to drown itself  in my wine at Earl's Council, so I had to throw it out.


Not the fith.  I jarred my neck in the battle.  We ended up fighting a pike block,  and I was in the front rank polearming them back.  I got knocked to 0 hits and tried to collapse backward (I deemed it unsafe to flop forwards into the pikes) but couldn't because everyone behind me had packed so tightly together.  I ended up suspended like I was sitting in mid air.  I had to shout "let me fucking fall" to hit the ground.  I managed to turn it into an ungraceful backwards roll while simultaneously using an unstoppable call.

Now the good stuff

Hot the first.  My spear.  My spear is awesome.  I love my spear.  I'd go so far as to say my spear is the sex.

Hot the second.  Fighting with the Tallstag/du Minos lance.  I have big love for these guys.  I was warned they'd do a lot of running, and a lot of running we did.  I need to run more to train me for the next event.

Hot the third.  Hanging out with Bors and Elionor (spelling?) on Saturday afternoon.  Two of my favourite people in Anvil.  Always fun, and always a good laugh.

Hot the fourth.  I had my first ritual cast on me.  That was cool.  And now my military unit got buffer for a season.

Hot the fith.  The Knight Protector of Summer Tourney.  That was very enjoyable to watch.

Hot the sixth.  I got to see a map of the summer realm.  Not a lot of people have seen that.

Hot the seventh.  Water carrying.  As part of team Hydrate, "Hail Hydrate!" I got to see the parts of the Sunday battle unfold.  Like the charge of the landsharks, three of them.  We even got to hear the funniest radio call I've ever heard.  "The sharks are eating the players... correction the sharks have eaten the players!"

Hot the eighth.  I caught a halberd in the balls.  Luckily it hit my maille stopped the brunt of it.  I spent the rest of the weekend telling people that I almost became a eunuch.

Hot the ninth.  Dawnish smut exists, and I bought some.

I still need to read it.  I'm going to be on the look out for volume 2 in  the future.


Hot the tenth.  Trenchers.  I fucking love The Wooden Spoon.

And the folk at the Wooden Spoon are so nice that when I told them what happened to Sarah they gave me one of there loaves to take home to her.




Hot the eleventh.  The new player events.  These are big and clever.  A big thank you to Martin and Jade for putting on the public speaking workshop, this is very helpful.  I actually made it to the combat brief this time, I'd advise anyone taking the field to go to this.  I also did the new player skirmish, which was fucking fun.

Time for the loots.

I bought a gorget and pauldrons.  I am now a medieval tank.  I picked up the gorget to protect the one weak point on my torso.  I got the pauldrons  because they were cheap.  The also helped stop the sleeves of my maille from flapping around.  I got this set from The Velvet Glove, but I'm sure it was made by Mytholon.

I picked up a round shield for monstering.  I got from Light Armouries.

And I got a potion pouch to aid my survival.  This is from Darkblade.

So you want to go to Empire? - a relative newbie's perpective

Before I start, I'm not in any way affiliated by Profound Decisions, I just play their game and am very enthusiastic  about it. 

So why would you want to go to Empire?  

Well there a multitude of reasons, but let's discuss the main reason first; it's fucking fun.  If you like RPGs, either tabletop or virtual, then you should try your hand at this.  You get to spend a weekend playing make believe in a field with 2500 other similarly minded nutters.  This might seem intimidating but everyone is there to have fun, which results in a huge super inclusive community the likes of which I've never experienced before.

 The second reason is its a surprisingly good work out.  You will find yourself wandering around Anvil, it'll happen trust me.  And for those who count their steps you will be smashing through those step goals.  If you go to battle you'll be running about having a whale of a time.  Of course we all know a healthy body means a healthy mind, so....

It's great for mental health issues.  I'm not going to lie, up until the last event there, my anxiety was kicking my arse.  Some days I was struggling to leave the house.  But even now several weeks on I'm still riding the high from the event, and I've feel at a mental best that I've not been at for years.  Honestly being someone else for a couple of days is great therapy.  Also the new player team are they're to look after you.  However the players have also formed a support network, there's a bunch of tents set up as quiet zones, there's a guy who hands out badges for those who are anxious or shy, and there's someone who hands out pronoun badges for those who are trans or playing characters of a different sex.  Between the players, the crew and the exercise the game's got you covered.

Reason the fourth; the spectacle of the whole thing.  Imagine this, a whole medieval city of tents springs out the ground, not only that it's fully populated.  With 10 nations each with their own costume brief it creates a multicultural metropolis.  Everyone is cutting about looking awesome, and guess what? you get to cut about looking awesome too.  At your first few events you will be in awe.

So how do I go to Empire?

1. You need to go to the Profound Decisions website and create a free account. 

2. You then want to go to Empire wiki and locate the nations page.  Read through all the nation briefs and find one that appeals.

3. Log into your account and create a character. Note you can edit your character right up until you play it.

4. Check out the Empire Facebook groups, especially the new players group and the group for your chose nation.  Ask questions, seriously do it.  This well help you immensely, it might also help you find a group to join in game.

5. Gather the kit you'll need.  It doesn't have to be amazing, your kit should be aspirational.  It will improve over time.  If you plan to fight by your weapons at the event.  This gives you a chance to check how the feel in the hand and if they fail a weapons check you can take them back.

6. Book your event.  Try and get a recruitment code.  You get £15 off your ticket, and so does the owner of the code.  Fell free to use mine 9066.16781

7. Read the relevant rules to your character.  Definitely read the combat rules and calls if you're going to fight.  Fighting is optional, but if you go into battle you have to monster the other battle, don't be a dick.

8. Figure out how to get there.  There is an Empire travel plans group on Facebook, and even a separate one for the Scots.

9. Go to Empire.  Definitely go to the new players briefing and the new players skirmish (if you plan on fighting).

10. Have fun.

What kit do you need?

You will need at tent definitely.  There are two sleeping areas out of character and in character.  Out of character sleeping means anything goes, modern tents and camping equipment.  In character sleeping you will need a canvas tent that looks in character.  You don't necessarily need modern camping equipment if you learn to hide it (we throw blankets over everything).  PD rent some tents, but these sell out fast.  Some people will have space and will be willing to take in strays.  Another thing to note is that you will take up the space of more than one person.  If you have a 6 man tent with 6 people in it you aren't going to have room for your kit.  A basic rule of thumb is your kit is a separate person.

You should also bring more socks and underwear than you can possibly use.  If you get wet it's really hard to get dry again.  Also spare dry soft kit is a must.

Money.  Most of the traders have card machines, but the food vendors may not.  Eating is important with all the walking around you do.

A water container.  Try to make it look IC.  If you can't afford a waterskin or other IC water container then wrap some cloth or leather around a plastic bottle.  Hydration is super important.

Good walking about shoes.  You'll be walking around all day, so comfy shoes are a must.  If they look to modern you can disguise them with some cloth.

Ear plugs.  Buy some earplugs, you can get a whole jar cheap on Amazon.  Anvil can be quite a noisy place shutting out that noise is a must if you find it hard to get to sleep.

Snacks.  These will keep you going.  Snacks are a must.

Your kit.  Don't forget that, it's important.  It is possible to buy all you kit in the field from the traders, but that will be expensive, better to build it up over time.

Toiletries, medicines feminine products etc.  Bring anything you need to keep you alive, and make you more comfortable.  Bring wet wipes, although there are showers, there aren't many.  Wet wipes will be your main source of bathing.  If you need electricity contact PD.

Any tips?

Don't worry about being a weak roleplayer.  Roleplaying is a hard skill, it takes time and practice to develop.  Do your best and don't worry.

Just say yes.  If it's something your character would do then do it.

If you don't like how your character is developing change it.  If it's a personality trait you can change it yourself.  If it's on your character sheet, contact PD.  And if you hate your character bin it and make a new one.

I said this earlier but make sure eat and drink.  Make sure you take water to battle.

Poop before time in.  It's easier to navigate the chemical toilets if you're not wearing flowing robes.  That being said make sure you go to the toilet before a battle, because you wont be able to go during.

Don't use glass potion bottles on the battlefield.  This doesn't really need expanding upon.

The phrase "I'm new to Anvil" is the most useful thing you can say.  It'll open doors.

Don't get totally wasted the night before a battle.  You do not want to be spewing chunks on the battlefield.  Also going into battle drunk is against the rules.

Find the aspect of the game that interests you.  If you want to be a policeman, join the militia.  If you want to get into the politics games try and find a senator and become an aide.  The game will not come to you, you need to find it.

Talk to people.  Ask strangers about their character, they will wax lyrical.  Also selling things will get you talking to people.

My final tip is just give it a go.  It might be your new favourite hobby.

Empire LRP Spring Equinox 383YE, the loot

So let's take a look at how things are progressing with my kit and have a swatch at my loot from the event.  But first an update on the mud kit.  I'm removing the garments out of the mud stew and putting them in the washing machine a couple at a time.  It's a nice day, the sun is out... or at least it was before that big, dirty bastard cloud appeared.  Fuck off! you big, grey steamy cunt!  Erm... on with the stuff.

Well start with my new stuff I took to the event

This is my stabidy-poker.  There are many like it but this one is mine.  It's a seven foot, stab safe hewing spear from Saxon Violence.  I still need to use it, and it will be getting used at E3.

This is my new ring.  I picked it up from larp fashion.  I really like it, but due to my fidgety nature I keep fiddling with it.  I'm getting married in a few weeks, so I'll be wearing two rings to my next event.  The question is which one to play with?

Now the stuff I bought.

I picked these up from Dark Blade.  The pendant had chain, which broke.  Luckily I had loads of ribbon in my bag.

I picked up these.  I'm a hunter I need a knife, well its a dagger, so close enough.  The dagger is from Eldritch and the sheath is from Dark Blade again.  The two vendors share a tent in the field.

I picked up a notebook from Chow's.  This is my flower crown orders book.

I also got an IC time piece, again from Chow's.  Super useful thing this.  If you don't have one, get one.

I picked up some big potion bottles, also Dark Blade.  This is for GLORY! Sauce.  Which I forgot to talk about yesterday.  It's a cocktail of Raspberry Ripple, Parmaviolet and Bramble Gins with a sploosh of plum wine.  It tastes amazing.  This is for recreating it.

And my money and resources.  Got just over three thrones now, and some crafting materials.

So that's all my new shit.  A don't think I'll have any new stuff before E3.  But I'm totally buzzing for it.

Right peeps I'm off to try and chase that big, dirty cloud away from my laundry.

Empire LRP; Spring Equinox 383YE

Best event ever! Or at least so far.  I'm going to talk about my hots and nots in a minute but first I'm going to bring up the subject of mud.  The mud can go in both categories.  I grew up in the countryside and did Ecology at university so mud for me is a big meh, although the general level of clart (good Scottish word for you) put a dampener on some peoples experience.  However the level of mud made it difficult for people to get things on to and off of the field.  Basically a lot of cars and vans were getting stuck in the mud.  However this is were it becomes a hot, a lot of people (myself included) banded together to push the cars out.  Also I have to commend all the PD staff and volunteers for their hard work in coordinating the traffic and building flood defences.  They were quite literally building bridges and digging ditches.

so let's get the bad stuff out the way first

1. The weather.  While there were sunny spells, and those were glorious, the torrential rain showers were a real downer.  Seriously when it completely fucked it down it was awful.  There's also the issue of wind, when it was windy it was freezing.

2. I'm still not totally comfortable being in Bertie's skin.  But I'm getting better. Role playing is hard skill, it needs practice.



okay that's the bad shit out the way, let's get on t the good stuff.  Take a seat this is gonna take a while.

1. New friendos.  I made a bunch on new friends at this event.  WIN!

2. Public Speaking Workshop.  This was so helpful.  I'm getting married in a few weeks, so I'm going to put what I learned to use.  Definitely be going again at E3.  Huge thanks to Martin.

3. Spending an evening in the Marcher camp.  So on Saturday night I went along to the Hunter's Rest which at this event was in the Marcher camp (it moves about) for a gin appreciation night.  The gin club didn't turn up, however I spent the evening indulging on the hospitality of a Marcher house who's name I cannot remember for the life of me.  They were all lovely.  And the bramble gin I brought along went down well.  The whole night was very chilled.  So on behalf of the assorted Dawnish who were sitting at your fire, thank you.  I'll be paying you a visit again.

4. The Empress Richilde Festival of the Arts.  This was amazing.  If you ever go to an E2 you need to spectate.  Admittedly I got soaked (thanks rain)  but the talent on display made me completely forget about all that.  The winners deserved it, and honestly as a spectator I believe it was a close run competition.  A massive highlight for me was Will from the Rusty Compass.  That magnificent bastard completely improved a song, sang it in a Varushkan accent, it was humorous and catch too... it's still stuck in my head.  Also the Herald of Fools had me full on belly laughing with his story about the goodest doggo.

5. The Secret Teahouse.  We got out and about a bit this event and found the Secret Teahouse in Urizen.  We were told about it by one of our friends (hi Libby if you're reading this) because she works there ic.  Such a chilled place.  Also as someone who is not a fan of  hot drinks I actually really enjoyed it.  I recommend the Autmun Gold, it tastes like apple strudel.

6. Floral Crown Spotting.  So I made a shit load of floral crowns.

 And sold a lot of them.  It was quite fun to spot my work as it made it's way around the field.  A big thank you to everyone who bought one.  Best start to restock for E3.

7. Food.  I think we ate exclusively at the Wooden Spoon.  The specialise in serving you food in a hollowed out loaf.  The don't waste the the middle either, they save them up and make bread and butter pudding.

This is a breakfast trencher.  This is a fry up in a bowl made from bread.  They can also fill it with other things like chili, pork stew, mac and cheese... I'm getting hungry.  The do waffles and other stuff too.

8. Losing an Egregor.  Ser Vyse one of our egregors did not return from battle on Saturday.  This hit me hard, he was very supportive to me both oc and ic.  I'm not sorry to say that I went back to my tent and had a little cry after I found out. 

9. Bors and Tieron.  You pair are bad influence on me and I fucking love you for it.  Life is never boring with the pair of you around.

Bonus content

Look at the fucking state of my coat.  It's currently stewing in the bath along with the rest of our muddy gear.

LARP craft - floral crowns

So I've been doing a different bit of hobby today, LARP stuff.  For those that don't know I play in a LARP called Empire.  I play in a nation called Dawn as an Earl.  One thing Dawn is know for, other than our collective obsession with glory, is flowers.  Every noble house in Dawn has it's own flower code, which can lead to some hilarity, and Dawnish folk will often wear flowers, often on their head.  Hence why I've been making floral crowns.  I'm also having a medieval themed wedding later in the year, and a few people have expressed an interest in floral headwear.

This one ended up being too small for an adult, but could fit a child nicely.

This one is for my Mum.  She wanted green and yellow.

This one is for a friend of mine.

And this one is my battle crown.  I plan to wear it over a maille coif.  I'll post pictures of my full battle kit in the future.  I went for a less leafy vine wrap for my battle crown because I didn't want it flapping about over my eyes.  Colour choice was dictated by my house colours, dark blue and white, which in House de Loup's flower language mean loyalty and death respectively.

My LARP Journey - Prepping For Empire part 2

It's been a while since I've done one of these, and Empire's summer solstice looms closer.  The good news is I've almost got all my kit together.  This time around I thought I'd show off a few bits of my kit.

Lets look at my walking about shoes first.

I got these from Wish.com for about £13.  And once I stretched out the toe of the right one are surprisingly comfy.  Seriously when did we stop wearing shoes that fasten at the side?  Actually I don't need to loosen them, I can slip them on and off.

This is my notebook.  I chose it for the howling wolf embossed on the cover.  The howling wolf being the heraldry of House DeLoup.  It's made by Lord Of Battles, and I bought it from here https://larpwarriors.co.uk 
It's got nice thick pages that are hand stitched into the cover with really robust looking thread.  The cover is made from thick leather making quite sturdy.  As for a writing implement I'm just going to scrape the paint off a pencil.

This is my bag for holding all my day to day stuff.  The book just fits in it, so I'll have to carry that, while my money, keys and whatnot go in the bag. This is the warriors bag from Epic Armoury.  The come in a variety of sizes and colours.  I went for the large black one (that's what she said... whoo!).  I also got this from the same store as my book.  I might also shove a pie in it in case I get peckish on the battlefield.

My purse that my fiance bought me.  Not sure where she got it, but they're pretty common online so shop around.  This is where my in game currency lives.

This is my sword holder.  It's from Epic Armoury, and again I got it from the same place as my book and bag.  It comes in brown or black, and right or left handed.  The astute among you may notice that this designed to be worn on the right hip.  That's because I'm left handed.  This wont be a problem in a shield wall because I'm planning on using a polearm.  The sword is just a sidearm.

And finally is my belt.  Again from Epic Armoury and I got it from the same place as the rest of this stuff.  It took me ages to find a blue belt.  It's really long, so I can loop it and let it dangle.  It's nice and wide.  That's important because it supports the weight of my maille on my hips, rather than just my shoulders alone.  I'm using this with both my soft and hard kit.

I'll try to get another one of these up in a few days.