Talk and leisure in the shadow of the Dragon (Elge)

Dragonbane diary
Sunday, December 18th, 2005
Stockholm, Sweden

”Come to Finland, we have a party, and there are people you have to meet”, said Timo, so I jumped on board the next plane and went. For some reason Helsinki had a lot more winter than Stockholm, although they are situated at the same latitude and by the same sea, but what do I know about the mysteries of climatology?

The party took place in a nice yachtclub house, right beside the ice-covered sea, with windows in all directions. There was Finnish sauna and an open fire in the cellar of course, nice things to eat and an endless supply of drinks.

The centerpiece of the party was a diorama of the village Cinderhill, an architectural model of what it will look like when all the buildings are in place.

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I was told it had been used for a tabletop role-playing game where some Dragonbaners had enacted a day in the life of Cinderhill. You can also do that. Use the maps of the village to role-play the way you lived before the arrival of the strangers.

The party rolled on, Timo giving out Christmas presents to various people from partner companies or from the costume department. I got engaged in some cardbased RPGs, but mostly I had a lot of serious discussions about things like environmental planning for the game, character coaching, dividing responsibility so we don’t do double work etc.

After a late wake-up, much of the day passed by travelling around Helsinki with PA-equipment and stuff, before some of yesterday’s folks gathered to start the shooting of the Tamers' Dueling Film. The film will be ready at the end of January.

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Of course it was the coldest night of the year, but the girls that played the tamers were incredibly brave, or just filled with typical Finnish 'sisu'. Around midnight I left and went to bed, only to be woken around nine when the filming crew returned after making movie the whole night! While they were sleeping I started writing a promotional text for a glossy airline magazine, planning development of witches culture and such. The afternoon ended with discussions about getting more coaches, who should write what and general planning before I left for my flight back to Sweden. A weekend well spent in the service of the Dragon!

Elge Larsson