Sunday, October 1, 2017

Chapter 1: An Introduction

What better way to get through life and overcome life's challenges then to imagine it as one's greatest Live Action Role Play adventure.

The participants in a Live Action Role Play (LARP) physically portray characters in a fictional setting, improvising their characters' speech and actions somewhat like actors in improvisational theatre. LARPs may be played in a public or private area and may last for hours or days, typically played irregardless of an audience. Players typically dress as their character and carry appropriate equipment, while the environment is sometimes decorated to resemble the setting. LARPs can be one-off events or a series of events in the same setting, and events can vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand.

Celtically Primal's character goes by the name of Theowyndwood Keyote. Theowynd has appeared in multiple LARP settings since development. First developed in the LARPing world of Dagorhir, before making appearances in the primitive survival game that was living a full year at the Broken Spoke Outpost that was Britannia Faire, before jumping back in time to the Middle-Ages as she began to explore the living history feel the Society of Creative Anachronism offered. Given her fade between the worlds of Fantasy, LARP, Living History, and Modern Day; she is best described as a Wandering Coyote Shifter who can portal jump into different periods of time while surviving and blending into their setting with the best of the RangerRoguesScouts Classes.

Most LARPs maintain a clear distinction between the real world and the fictional setting, while Celtically Primal prefers to live in the in-between, mingling fiction with modern reality. By "gamifing" ones life by turning daily tasks, habits, to do lists, etc into objectives that need to be conquered, what once felt like "work" is now just a fun goal to achieve. What better way to view work, learn information, complete tasks, design projects, or explore the outside, than as just another level up... 

Step back in time and walk alongside Theowynd's Path as the full year of Living a Fantasy at the Broken Spoke Outpost unfolds in the chapters to follow.
August 2014 - It has already been three months since the portal of Britannia Faire dissolved. Since then, the life of Theowynd's Avatar has shifted to unimaginable places; most of them positive while the rest remain quiet challenging. But enough about that for now. That is not where the story resides, nor is it the focus. For this is a tale of recollection, reflection, and appreciation. For remembering a sacred land that many found balance, sanctuary, and solace on. This is a tale of reality mixed with fantasy---of Work melded into RolePlay--- of and an educational lesson or two coyly disguised as a photo book. This is the Tale of Britannia Faire, and how it impacted the life and storyline of Theowyndwood Keyote.

A capture of the Britannia Faire Battle Field dressed in Spring, as taken during April 2013

Contained within the twenty chapter tale is the retelling of a true story set within a primitive live action fantasy world.

This is not your typical blog, but rather a journey retold through photography.
Accompany Theowyn on a full year's adventure living a primitive survival game, brought to life again through personal photography; documenting changes within the environment while overcoming the hardships of leveling up. It should be mentioned that Theowyn is only a side character within these chapters; the main character within this plog is the fantasy land itself. 

There were many trials that came from living primitively in BF’s remote location, absolutely all of them worth the increased connection to nature and the peace-of-mind that living away from civilization in the woods provides to your character. A recap of past adventures, skill explanations, ration recipes, field ecology tidbits, documented changes in weather, seasons, patterns of nature, funny tales, as well as any additional story of Chaos that was thrown into the mega “Britannia Faire melting pot of a computer file” and the two personal journals that documented Theowyndwood’s journey within BF’s province will all be brought to life again through her captures.  

There is something woven into each tale sure to interest a variety of individuals from Environmentalist, RolePlayers, Landscapers, Set Designers, Theater Majors, Contractors, and Primitive Living Enthusiasts alike. Let imagination and curiosity take flight in the world of Live Action Fantasy Living.


The Battle Grounds in full Summer foliage - 2013

When you read this blog, try to think about the backdrop in this way: When individuals come to Britannia Faire, or any Dagorhir event for that matter, they are asked to portray a character from a Medieval Tolkien-esk Fantasy Realm. As a character, one is able to leave their lives as (insert random profession/job description) and fall into an adventure unassociated with any of the worries modern day forces into our awareness. However, sadly, at the end of each game session, each player reluctantly fades back into the realm of reality and proceeds about their “real life.” The land of Britannia Faire equally plays a Character of its own. As a Character: Britannia Faire is a Primitive Medieval Encampment that holds resources at the centrally located Broken Spoke Tavern, when in real life: Britannia Faire is an ever-changing primitive survival outpost.

The Faire's front lawn sporting the look of Fall -2013

It is to be made completely clear that Celtically Primal (hereby referred to as CP) was not the sole person involved in the Britannia Faire project, as there were several others who where there before the portal opened to her, and many other individuals influenced the land and backstory of Britannia Faire. Again, the intention is NOT to make it seem that she was the sole person involved in this project and CP would be an absolute fool to say that she completed all of what was accomplished in the 2013 season alone; for credit will be given to all that deserve.

A small overnight snowstorm November 10th 2013

By giving followers a better glimpse of Britannia Faire’s back-story and what went on behind the scenes, I hope to provide a more realistic yet comedic perspective as to what is required to truly live a LARP. Let it be known that it is not an easy lifestyle nor is there any true money or profit to be made with this type of living. The reward was found in other facets. Britannia Faire required Theowyn to have a non-stop work ethic centered on progress, organization, scavenging, and survival. As the groundskeeper and set design moderator of the 2013 season, her motivation was to labor hard using her “Elvin magic” to bend and shift the physical earth and alter the tavern setting so that other players may enjoy a well manicured set in which to play in. This photo blog will recap the happenings, with sections both in and out of character, of the Broken Spoke Tavern and Outpost as captured through the eyes of a wandering Native American Half Elf Coyote Shifter.

May all who read be able to pull something from its texts.

 

 

1 comment:

  1. What is Larping ?
    Larping is an acronym for “Live Action Role Play” this skill is often times portrayed by many actress/actors. Larping is when a person act’s within a role of a character in which they are pretending, larping tips




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