A Warwolf's Tale (Now with Pictures!)

[Warwolf]

I was hoping to get this up sooner, but here's the first of the two installments I have written:

Part 1

The trip to the ’09 Open House started just after midnight on Thursday morning. I had gotten everything I could need packed, I had a full tank, and there was nothing but relatively open highway between me and Mike’s place. The only occurrence of note was pulling high-speed maneuvers to avoid hitting a large opossum at 85 mph.

I got to Mike’s just after 2 AM and packed his stuff in the car (that costume ate up a lot more room than he thought). After dropping by to pick up a camera at my grandparents’ place, we made good time to Effingham to pick up Lucas. He still seemed to be in the process of waking up, but was in excellent spirits nonetheless.

Indiana was where things took a turn for the worse. We were actually on target for making it to the warehouse a couple of hours early… I should have known then what would happen. We were 7-8 miles out of Terre Haute, cruising along in the rain behind a semi, and the windshield wipers suddenly stopped moving. I was instantly blinded by the spray from the tractor trailer, only able to navigate by its tail lights.

We limped along for a couple of minutes in this state, looking for a place to pull over, when Lucas spotted a weigh scale ahead. We pulled into the lot for the state patrol cruisers and parked in an open spot under the awning. After fruitlessly searching my fuse box and looking at my owner’s manual, I found that my lovely little piece of Japanese engineering had mounted the electrical component of my wipers somewhere I couldn’t find. Luckily, one of the troopers came out and helped us take a look, diagnosing it as a mechanical rather than electrical problem (which I had been afraid of).

Under the officer’s suggestion we left to limp along to Terre Haute in hopes of fixing the wipers there, but the rain was too much to see through. That was okay, though, because I had a plan. Since the wipers were moving freely, I removed my boot laces, tied one to each wiper arm, ran the other end through each of the front windows, and used them to operate the wipers! That got us to Terre Haute, a series of people that didn’t know where the Honda dealership was (but gave us directions anyway), and ultimately to the Toyota dealership where I helped the bay manager remove the wiper assembly so that he could fix it.

Three hours and $50 lighter, we were back on our way. We made excellent time through Indianapolis and Ft. Wayne, reaching Ann Arbor only an hour or so after the VIP started. But that’s when Mr. Murphey played his ace-in-the-hole; we were coming around a blind corner on M-14 when the lady in front of me slammed on her brakes. BOTH lanes of traffic on our side had come to a complete stop and she narrowly avoided hitting any of them. Unfortunately for me, that didn’t provide enough space to stop in, and I hydroplaned right into her.

After a couple of hours in the rain waiting for the police and tow-truck for my vehicle, we finally had things squared with the authorities and were ready to roll. But I had nowhere to take my car. The best estimate I could get was $1000-2000 to fix my car, since Michigan law made me the liable party (never mind that I was obeying the speed limit, left the proper amount of space in front of me, etc.), which I figured before I was even informed. So there I was, with a couple of guys that were counting on me to get them to the event and back home. I had a busted car, not nearly enough money for repairs, was worried about my insurance rates, was supposed to be driving home Sunday, and had nowhere to tow the car to.

I did the only thing I could do at that point. I called Kevin. I hated to interrupt what was going on, but he provided me a place to haul the vehicle while I figured out what to do (he even offered to cover the tow truck but I had that covered already). Needless to say, I arrived completely frazzled, disheveled, and sick with worry about what I was going to do next. Mike and Lucas were doing their best to bolster my spirits the entire way, for which I am extremely grateful. But just making it to the warehouse with everyone intact was enough to keep me from simply collapsing. Somehow, I had a feeling that the worst was over…

[Warwolf]

Part 2

As soon as I entered the warehouse, a multitude of people sought me out to let me know they were glad I was alright. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stop to talk with them since the tow truck driver was waiting. I found Marker to have him help take a look at the damnable machine because he apparently knew some good local repair guys. Between he, Shawn Hall, the tow-truck driver (for the life of me, I don’t think I ever got his name in spite of how awesome he was), and I, we decided that the car would drive well enough to make the trip back home.

We got the car situated in the spot the guys had reserved shortly thereafter; I thanked the driver for his help and chatted with Dennis a bit before returning inside. Once again, I was inundated by well-wishers wanting to make sure I was OK. Just knowing that so many people (at least a few of which I had never met) actually cared enough to take time from enjoying the event to check up on me was boon in and of itself. So, I managed to find a minute to change into dry clothes and straighten myself out mentally. I joined the festivities and tried to forget about things for a little while.

That night I was scheduled to run Nightbane, and though I wasn’t sure if I’d be up to it I was determined to give it a shot. The players were absolutely awesome and understanding of my predicament, putting up with my still slightly distracted demeanor. Most of the group had never played Nightbane (only 2 or 3 of them post here), but they really got into things and I was finally enjoying myself as the night drew to a close. We made arrangements to meet up at the hotel Friday night to pick up where we had to leave it.

And this is when my miracle happened, folks…

Out of the blue, Kevin comes over to the table carrying something. As I greeted him, he handed me a stack of money… all of the VIPs had pitched in to a collection to help me with the car. Now, let me take a minute to be clear about something. My family, while not “technically” poor, is damn near the bottom rung of middle class. Like a lot of people these days, one disaster, like a major car accident, is enough to really put a hurt on our finances. So here the Palladium fans, staff, and Freelancers were rallying around me in my time of need.

I didn’t want to accept it, those who know me know that I don’t do well asking others for help or accepting it when they offer, but I knew that to refuse the outstretched hand would be a slap in everyone’s face that contributed. So, in what was probably the most humbling moment of my life, I accepted the same charity, the same good will that saved Palladium Books in its darkest hour. It was amazing to me, and I’m sure Kev must have felt similarly during the Crisis, that everyone would be willing to help out someone they hardly knew (well, the vast majority at least).

So, I want to take this moment to thank each and every one of you that pitched in to help me out of a jam (even if it was a simple kind word or little prayer). I wish you all could have heard the relief in my family’s voices when I told them, it meant more than you all might realize. Even sitting here writing about it, it’s almost enough bring a knot to my throat and a tear to my eye... so thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you. I may never be able to physically repay each and every one of you that helped me out, but if there is ever anything I can help you with, you need only ask. You have my eternal gratitude and that of my family and friends as well. You have proven yet again just how caring, giving, and awesome Palladium fans are. Today, I find myself that much prouder to count you all among my friends. God bless.

[ApocalypseZero]

We have to keep the Nightbane writers happy. Few and far between.

[The Galactus Kid]

EPIC STORY FTW!!!

[Misfit KotLD]

More humbling than having fleas?

Glad it worked out for you and hope to see you next year at OH.

[Danger]

I believe that when I called you on Thursday, it was shortly after the incident happened, and I was shocked to hear the news. Most importantly, I'm glad that no one was injured, and secondly that your car was drivable (I know you told me this when I called on Friday). I would have called again, but knew you would be busy with the OH, and prepping for your upcoming finals this week.

Knowing Warwolf only for a short time, I know that he doesn't accept charity often (even if it's only my picking up the dinner tab ), so for him to accept such a generous offer from my fellow Palladium fans, I know it had to have meant alot to him. It is this and similar gestures that makes Palladium's fans stand out in a crowd. I wish I could have been there to be a part of it.

Warwolf - I'll be in town the weekend of the 15th-17th. Hopefully finals & everything else will have calmed down by then. I'll look you up, and we can grab a cold one while I'm there.

Take care, brother. I'm glad you made it home safely.

- Danger

[Warwolf]

Yeah... Brandon... I made the comment after the wiper incident that I had enough friggin' stories for one lifetime. Apparently someone doesn't agree...

Lonnie, I see your ulterior motive now. I guess I picked the right line to write for at least.

Danger, I should be around that weekend... working on the car (hopefully). So, you can pick your shirt up while you're in town and we can grab refreshments since finals are done this Wednesday for me.

Anywho, here's the next installment of the overview:

Part 3

Upon returning to the hotel and unpacking, I milled around a bit, still to jittery to sleep. My friend Dan was making his way up from Missouri alone, so with what had happened on our trip I wanted to stay up until he got in. So, I found Dennis (Subbie), Lonnie (Apocalypse Zero), Lucas, and a couple of others chatting in the conference room. After a nice discussion about firearms, I took my leave to see Dan in and get some sleep… it was only 4 AM…

Friday morning caught me unprepared. We were later getting to the warehouse than I wanted, but my roommates and I were all dragging our behinds. I had wanted to arrive at the warehouse a few hours early on Thursday because I still had a bit of work to do on my Rifts game. Obviously, that didn’t happen, so I had an hour before my game started. In the end, I couldn’t pull the prep off that quick. However, all of my players were MORE than accommodating, especially since I had a better than average excuse. Once the game got going, everyone seemed to have a good time with it. I dare say that the scenario had them scratching their heads, but they were really starting to get things figured out when we had to quit to make way for the next group at the table.

We tried to organize a time to get together at the hotel, but that never fell into place. Who knows, maybe enough of them will be back next year to polish the adventure off (or at least explain to them what the truth was). In the meantime, I want to thank each of them (Zach, Tom, Owen, Paul, and the other guy whose name I unfortunately can’t remember) for being an excellent crew that was full of laughs, extremely perceptive, thorough in their logic, awesome at staying in character, and just an all around great group of gamers. I’m not sure how long it’s been since I had a group pick up on every single clue I laid out! And to those that signed up before realizing the game was closed, my apologies. Try and hunt me down next year and I’ll see if I can’t give you preference to get into one of my games.

After the game, I meandered over to my Freelancer spot to make myself available for autographs and whatnot. After shooting the breeze with Brandon Aten, Nick Bradshaw (who has a sales pitch like you wouldn’t believe…), Mike Mumah, Apollo Okamura, the Manning brothers, and John Philpott for a while, a few fans filtered my direction. Specifically, I got to chat extensively with our Spanish compatriot, Pedro, who had some pretty impressive Nightbane art to show off. Andreas and Daniel, our new German friends, came by hunting signatures. I think I may have been more impressed meeting them than they were by me; that’s a long, expensive flight to make on our account! Kev also came by at some point to crack the whip at me, apparently there was a table of books I was supposed to sign so I had to form a sweatshop with Brandon and Taylor to get ‘em cranked out.

The day came to a close waaaay too quickly, and I headed to the hotel to get back to the Nightbane game from Thursday evening. Once there, I found Trey and Lonnie waiting on me. I went to gather Amy and then paid a quick visit to Rat Bastard’s room while we waited for a couple of the other players. Their drinking antics were in full swing, and all seemed to be having a good time. I hung out for a minute or two (complimenting our German pals on their choice of whiskey), checked out what was left of Ratty and Evil’s bathtub-stash, and headed back to the conference room. Joe couldn’t make it, so I found Paul from my earlier Rifts game and had him jump in to take up the role of the Underground Railroad Nightbane.

Shortly after we got things going, the homebrew party migrated to our table to bring Amy some beer (or so I was told). Andreas and Daniel started handing out beer like party favors, and I soon found a Bastard’s Brew opened and set in front of me. I hadn’t intended on drinking, but I wasn’t going to refuse free drinks being foisted on me. The party settled in around our table for a while (even managing to draw Pedro in from wherever he was), causing quite a bit of chaos and hilarity. Needless to say, we didn’t get much gaming done that night, but just sitting around with some awesome people and throwing back some drinks seemed to be more than enough fun for everyone involved. We even had one of the most epic rolls that night I have ever seen. I told Lonnie to “roll me a twenty” at one point and he sarcastically asked, “The number or the die?” Going with it, I answered, “**** it, both.” He then proceeded to bounce the die into my cup of J.D., rolling a natural 20. The whole table erupted in laughter, and I got some pictures of the “Jack 20” for posterity. Not too long after that, we dispersed to get some much needed sleep.

[ApocalypseZero]

I told Lonnie to “roll me a twenty” at one point and he sarcastically asked, “The number or the die?” Going with it, I answered, “**** it, both.” He then proceeded to bounce the die into my cup of J.D., rolling a natural 20. The whole table erupted in laughter, and I got some pictures of the “Jack 20” for posterity. Not too long after that, we dispersed to get some much needed sleep.

[Simpsons Comic Book Guy voice]"Best Roll....Ever."[/voice]

You need to put more exaggeration into it. The heavens parted. A choir of angels sang. Millions and millions of fans errupted in cheer. There was a touchdown/endzone dance ending in a congaline though the hotel. All ending with everyone euphoric and at peace.

Okay, it may not of been THAT awesome, but it surely was....awesome.

-Lonnie

[Warwolf]

Here's the first 50 of my Open House photos... enjoy!

http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt143/Warwolf03/

[ApocalypseZero]

http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt14 ... Jack20.jpg

The shot heard round the world.

-Lonnie

[Warwolf]

Part 4

After another stint of less than 4 hours sleeping on the floor, I was back up and at it. We managed to get to the warehouse an hour or two earlier than Friday, giving me plenty of time to hang out and greet fans before my evening Nightbane game. I tried to wonder around a bit and get some pictures, but inevitably I was drawn into conversations along the way. One such conversation was had when I finally got to meet Mark Hall for the first time. He was discussing his material on the Coalition, so we had a bit of a meeting of the minds. Seems we might just have to try and bring him in on the CS Missouri source book MadManMike and I have been talking about doing, as his material would fit right in.

At some point, I found myself back at my spot talking with the Manning brothers about how I thought their art had gotten better and better since their first publishing. We were also giving props to Apollo for his freaking awesome Robotech covers and the cover of Shemarrian Nation when the topic of our favorite New York bum came up. We were all lamenting his inability to show up at the OH when I had an idea. So, I whipped out my phone and called him up so we could all wish him well. For those that don’t know, Josh has seemingly hit a bit of a rough patch here lately, so I wanted to pay the recent good will I had received forward a bit. At any rate, I passed the phone around to anyone within reach that wanted to/was able to chat with the kid for about 20-30 minutes. Josh seemed to be genuinely surprised and pretty darn grateful that we thought of him, we just have to be sure to drag his butt down for next year (along with Irvin and a couple of other guys who couldn’t make it).

Ben and Jen Mason (Ninjabunny and Shinitenshi) made a fashionably lat entrance with a giant bag of goodies, but Jen was immediately apologizing for forgetting my buckeyes. In truth, I was looking forward to seeing those two a heck of a lot more than the food, so I was happy just getting to hang out and visit with them for a bit. Jen oozed a bit over the NSG manuscript, and I even submitted to pictures this time (one of the only bad things about having that Freelancer tag, though since it was those two it wasn’t bad for that occasion).

Another guy it was great to talk with was Shawn Hall, who was working the door. He snagged me for a bit to talk with me about “Casualties of War,” seems the subject matter struck a nerve with him as a father of five. I hadn’t really considered the effect it might have from that angle, but he took things in stride and complimented me for sucking him into the story. It was great to hear such a detailed critique and I’m glad Shawn liked the story, even if he would have greatly preferred a different ending.

The afternoon seemed to fly by again, and before I knew it Pedro was in his costume and wanting some pictures. Amy had done a nifty little paint tattoo on his face, which he was excited about. Before long, they were making the call for contestants, so I grabbed my camera and headed over. The costumes were even better on average this year than the past two (as I’m sure most of you have seen from the pictures).

After the costume contest, the auction started up. I didn’t expect to be able to pick up anything that I really wanted (the few things I was interested in went for a substantial amount more than I could afford). However, I did manage to pick up one of Kev’s old staff shirts for a paltry $25. Now I can actually say I have the shirt off of Kevin’s back! The auction ran over, but I wanted to see the awards for the contest, so I stuck around past when I was supposed to start my last game. I’m glad my players were cool with that.

Pedro’s shadow warlock took first place in the fantasy category, so I’m sure his mom (who it turns out, sewed the costume a few days before he left) is due for a nice dinner. Greg’s Wayne was so spot-on that he won the modern/horror category… well it was pretty horrifying to have two Wayne’s in the same place. Mike got an honorable mention for the hard-luck Tolkeen mercenary with home-spun armor. Not bad for making the armor out of salvaged laundry soap containers and spray paint! Carl’s juicer took first in the sci-fi category, and with the attention to detail throughout his costume, he deserved it. But the crème-de-la-crème was the Ley Line Walker displayed by new-comer to the boards Elle G. She put a lot of love into that costume, and it paid off for her!

Once the awards had been handed out, I rushed over to my table. My voice had been shot all day, and I was starting to feel a little run-down, but I assured the people at the table that I would give it my best. I introduced myself to the group and chatted with them a bit as I set up. As with the first Nightbane group, most of the table hadn’t played before, and those same players knew next to nothing about the setting. So, I set about giving them the quickest run-down I could (not easy with as complex a back-story as Nightbane has) and we got down to the adventure. After filling a missing slot with on Mr. John Philpott, we got going as best we could. Everyone seemed to have a good time with it, even only getting about halfway through (it’s turned out to be too long for a convention game). I know I had a good time running it for you guys and hope you all pick up the NSG when it comes out (as Steve said he plans on doing).

While the game was running, Glen (Reagren Wright) stopped by and took a look at the manuscript. He seemed impressed with what we had put together, giving it a rather ringing endorsement as we chatted. I’m glad we found time to hang a bit, as Glen is one of the guys that I had seen around the last two Open Houses and is a fairly regular presence on these boards. But even with all those chances, I had never actually said more that ten words to him in any meeting that I can remember. This convention rectified that problem, and I look forward to hanging with him again in the future. Now if only Kalinda and I could stop passing each other and find time to visit.

Next, it was back to the hotel to try and actually finish the game we started on Thursday (Lonnie was being rather insistent that we do so). Trey and Joe were down, as was Lonnie (obviously). Amy couldn’t make it, prompting me to drag Zach from the Rifts game in to fill in (which led to the joke that Amy wasn’t really at the Open House, but he had been running around in an Amy suit to fool everyone). Justin Kugler (Phalanx) even wandered in and jumped in as the Wampyr, nodding in and out of consciousness as the game went well into the morning hours. We did manage to complete the scenario (an Open House first for me), though the group effectively had to punt and took an easier route to completion. We all chatted for a few minutes afterward, but shambled off to bed relatively quickly.

[tenknifefoot]

Sorry I couldn't rejoin the Nightbane game at the hotel. I'm getting too old for the all-nighters

The Guardian character was very interesting. Gave me a renewed interest in Nightbane.


At least I was able to contribute the Jack Daniels to make the magical 20 shot possible

[ApocalypseZero]

I can see it now....At 2010, we all will be shooting D20's.


Well, if it brings us better luck.

-Lonnie

[Warwolf]

Soooo... Here's the final installment for those of you that are actually still paying attention.

Part 5

Sunday morning was one of those “way too early o’clock” mornings, but I got up and set about gathering my stuff anyway. Maybe it was my lack of sleep, or the fact that my friend had laid one of his bags over the top of it, but I thought for a little while that I had left my mother’s camera outside the conference room the night before. With my crappy memory for such things, I couldn’t remember carrying the case back to my room, so I thought it had walked off with one of the other hotel guests. After going through the trouble of making a report to the front desk (and having Glen feeling bad for me) I actually found the d***ed case. Needless to say, I felt like a horse’s ass, but was glad that it hadn’t disappeared.

At any rate, I got my busted car packed up and gathered Mike and Lucas to make the trip to the warehouse. On the way there, we got to have a wonderful chat with one of Michigan’s finest. He pulled us over not 1000 feet from the warehouse, which fits my luck perfectly. Seems he took issue with the fact that I had an air-freshener hanging from my rearview mirror, and Lucas continually looking back at him (the guy was practically in contact with my back bumper). The officer went through some routine checks, complimented Mike on his temporary tattoos, and let us go on about our way. I’m sure he expected more when he pulled over a messed up car, with out of state plates, being driven by a long-haired guy in a Jack Daniels hat, but I’m happy for once that we could disappoint.

Once at the warehouse, we met up for a few minutes with John Adams (Xar) and the crew he brought up from Columbia. They all seemed like good guys, so it was too bad that I didn’t get to spend much time chatting with them. Hmm, maybe I’ll have to find a weekend later this year to head up and run a game for them or something. Anyway, Sunday I had set aside for relaxing and visiting with people. My voice was practically gone from speaking loud enough to GM, so I had to turn down no less than three invitations to actually play in a game for once. Instead, I sat at my spot and hung out with some of my colleagues.

John, Justin, and myself had a civil political discussion (which was a pleasant surprise given how political discussions normally go around here). Then Amy, Apollo, Jason, Justin, and myself discussed topics ranging from urban exploration, to cars (well, that topic excluded Jason for a bit to be honest, as he is admittedly “car stupid”), to the paranormal. At some point, Kevin came by to see if any of us were interested in touring the offices. I hadn’t gotten a good look at them since the move, so I agreed. In the process, I got to chat a bit with Chuck Walton and his new lady. For those of you who don’t know, Chuck is quite possibly one of the wickedest artists I’ve ever seen, not to mention about as humble and friendly as someone can be. His “better half” seemed to be a bit bewildered by all of us strange people, but she was still as pleasant as could be, laughing and joking with Chuck and the rest of us the whole time.

The next thing I knew, it seemed we were all saying goodbye. I scrambled to get a few final signatures, tried to catch everyone before they left (though inevitably I ended up missing people like Josh Hilden and Carmen Bellaire), and bent Kev’s ear one last time before we made our own exodus. Other than getting turned around once or twice on the way home, it was a relatively uneventful trip. I drove the whole way again, so by the time we got to Mike’s place in Cuba my eyes weren’t wanting to focus on things any more. So, I accepted his invitation to crash for a while before I finished the last leg of my journey to Springfield. Luckily, the car drove just fine the whole way, and I ended up making it back in time for my evening class. Another Open House down, and I’m already looking forward to seeing everyone again next year.