Carnage 16, pt 1

Going to Vermont this year for the Carnage Convention was awesome. I needed the trip. Not because I was overworked or really stressed out, but because I needed to get around the mass of great gamers to get energized. I haven't seen my PeryPubbers since August. While my local gamers are awesome, we've all been too busy to really game. Beckett was just opening his own gaming store (Weird Realms), three have been caught up in the World Series, another was moving, one was way into the election, and Peryton just doesn't often like me. So getting into the car on Wednesday night, was pretty exciting. So exciting that we left all my printed scenario outlines with the shopping list for the trip in a shopping cart outside of our nearby Target store.

That's a floor for gaming!

The trip itself was, as always, a lift. For the night drive Peryton and I were doing Bowie albums because there wasn't much to see. So when we arrived in Syracuse at our special Red Roof Inn, it was very romantic. We even got a ground floor room. The next day while visibility was better, it wasn't much so with all the rain. The route we took was inexplicable due to relying on GPS and having forgotten to bring along even rudimentary maps, but hey we probably saved fifteen meters here and there.

Once we got to the Grande Killington Resort, the Thursday evening pre-show was in full swing. Dr. Nik and I had our obligatory hug in the lobby, where we checked our schedules and realized that we wouldn't see each other for the rest of the convention (as usual). I thought about heading to the pool but Robin made sure that Matt and Steven Dresser were in the room to keep the conversation alive until it was time to start her game "Aliens Love Jazz." T.D showed up not too much later and we were able to pull Ray Hickey into it. Matt disappeared just before Ray showed up.

Everyone is smiling because the pizza showed up.

Thursday night was Pre-Con party night after the game as it always is. TD mumbled something the Game of Growlers being in "...room 329 or 327. Which ever room is open and loud." He had to go check on something and would meet us there. We stumbled down to room 329 and busted through an unlatched door. I announced our presence with a party gift of New Cleveland Pilsners. from the Platform Brewery, for anyone willing to try and everyone was talking about comic book heroes, Batman in particular. Something strange happened then, I turned into the half-sober, observant person of the assembled group. I noticed that the two groups, the folks sitting at the couches and us newcomers, weren't mixing it up. Every time someone reached for the bottle of Maker's Mark on the counter between, the couch gang would scowl.
I dragged a chair to the couch group and did my best social graces, which is like a 4th grader at a biker bar, at the best of times. Through a couple minutes of dialog I discovered that this was the after-party for the Vermont Educators' Information Systems Conference. After a few minutes of the folks being polite, I slipped back over to the party at the other side of the counter.
"This party is a teachers' conference." I said to Robin, with Steve and Ray close enough to hear.
"It's free booze." Replied the Peryton as she grabbed the whisky bottle, and the stares from the couches ensued.
"I'm going to the pool." I said finally.

Spending the rest of the evening swim pooling, until the staff called the police to get me out of sauna, I would receive texts from Pery like 'Oh the party is in room 327,' 'TD found us, Loce yuo.' After a butt dial on my phone where Robin was saying "My thouffts on religion..." I walked down to room 327 and found her and Steven D hanging out on the balcony. Seeing that it was him and not some creep in a red tee shirt or something, I returned to the room. At about 1:30 am, Matt knocked on the door. Though I was getting ready for bed, I had him come in so I could find the text with the room number. Steve, and Peryton busted into the room for the night cap. And there were Matt and I sitting on the edge of the bed, with me in bath robe. We all had fun with that scene for at least 20 minutes. Steve started telling us about the Pathfinder campaign he and Matt were working on. I asked about the other party. Robin explained to me, "I thought you were speaking metaphorically."

 The nightcap lasted until about 2:45.

(part II)