The
towering Ogre-Mage at the gate stared down at me, its cyan blue skin shimmering
and curly fangs snapping viciously. It raised a heavy polearm, its
chromed-coated blade flashing in sunset's reds and purples, as the beast inspected my badge. This was the mental image I had ahead of Gen Con.
Weather was gorgeous, and the roads were clear. Janet and I
made it through Chicago, barreled through the pigtail-shaped exchange near
Gary, and zoomed down I-65 straight to Indy. Hurray! This time we
experienced none of the road work agony and other travel hags of the
previous years. Despite the long lines of trucks notoriously
populating this part of the interstate, we reached downtown Indy in
less than four hours. We left the ogre running far behind us,
somewhere in a haze of road dust, crushed bugs, tire particles spewed
into air, and car exhaust.
We'd
secured a room at the Marriott, just across the street from the
convention center. Oh, bliss! We'd suffer none of last year's driving miles out
of town every day. An empty spot waited for us right by the entrance
of the underground parking lot and the elevator to
the hotel's lobby. We got there early enough on Wednesday to avoid waiting at the check-in desk--not even a wee glitch with the
reservation to besmirch our initial experience.
1. See Illustration key at the end of the page |
“Twelfth
floor, corner room at the end of the hallway, away from the elevators. Got it.
Thank you so much!” It was an important consideration for anyone expecting some sleep during a game convention. The truth is that
gamers will be gamers, which means gaming until very late and a lot
of boisterous shenanigans in the hallways. The room was wonderful and commanded
a sweeping view of Indy.
Illustration #2 |
After
a restful break, we were off to Loughmiller's, a pub less than a
block away, to meet up with our fellow panelists of the Writers' Symposium. Now and forever known as the Fearless Leader of the
bunch, Marc Tassin warmly welcomed us. Many were already there. Mugs rose as we
joined the merry coven. It's always such a pleasure to see familiar
faces and matching new ones with names heretofore only heard
of. I've been out of the publishing industry for far too long. Time
to find out who's who and toot my horn. So there. Toot, said I!
Illustration #3 |
Dinner
was over in what seemed a fleeting moment. Good times never
last long enough. Marc passed along everyone's Gen Con badges. I commented to Janet how fortunate we were to avoid the line
at the con's registration. She nodded and gently reminded me I had
event tickets to pick up anyway. Curses! I'd forgotten about them.
Soon, along with a small bunch in the same predicament, we departed
for the convention hall.
Illustration #4 |
It was
Wednesday night. The lines were still there, as long and sinewy
as ever. They'd grow longer yet by the morning, like the tails
of monstrous dragons. Last year, the convention boasted 37,500
visitors. Based on what I found out later, the 2012 vintage would
definitely meet or exceed 38,000. The lines moved swiftly,
and collecting my precious tickets demanded far less time than I'd
expected.
Illustration #5 |
When the attendant delivered my envelope in a halo of golden
light, I could hear the distant blaring of angels and their trumpets.
What? No mistake? No misplaced file or pesky computer glitch?
Kudos for the staff! Of course, not one Gen Con booklet lay in
sight. The Gen Con gremlins took them away when no one looked. They
are known to chew up massive numbers of Gen Con booklets to pad their
sprawling nests, or wipe their festering boils with them.
Illustration #6 |
Under
the ominous gazes of those gremlins hiding in the shadows, in the air
ducts, on the roof, and under the ample robes of certain wizards and sorceresses sweeping along the convention's endless hallway, we headed off
to the Marriott's bar to relax some more. As if we'd needed it. Any
excuse was good enough to stick around with good friends. Along came
Troy Denning, another veteran from old TSR. Major group hug.
Convention registration, alive & well. |
He and
I kept on chatting until everyone else left. He told me of his
new home, away from civilization, and how quiet things
were. A writer's paradise. I have to contend with the neighbors and
their kids. It drives me nuts when I'm in the mood to write
something and it all vanishes in a poof of greenish, noxious
resentment at the sound of clumsy thumping next door, ear-piercing
screeches, inane babbling, doors slamming, and so on.
Illustration #7 |
Add to this
the evil
lawn-mowers-edgers-trimmers-blowers-aerators-mucksuckers-nosepickers,
the trolls across the street who leave their cars open with bad music blasting, the misbegotten bloke who stands in the middle of the
street yakking on his cell-phone for all to hear, and the town's
weekly tornado siren. Yes, yes, I know. I should get a
sound-damping headset from the hardware store. I went on to tell
Troy about my plans for Mystara. I definitely have support here.
Alas, none of what was said can be related now. But it was all
very, very good indeed. . . Off to
get some sleep.
Illustrations (guess who's behind the camera)
- Clockwise: Don Bingle in his ubiquitous Hawaiian shirt, Brad Beaulieu, Dylan Birtolo (in the back,) Marc Tassin, Kerry Hughes, John Helfers
- Janet Deaver-Pack (far left), Robin D. Laws, Don Bingle, Ken and Kelly Swails (with a big smile)
- Tammy & Paul Genesse (left), Patrick Tomlinson (in the black cap)
- From left: Maxwell's assistant, Maxwell Alexander Drake, friend of an author, W. H. Horner, Dave Gross.
- Gabrielle Harbowy, left. Dave Gross, across.
- Janet Deaver-Pack (left), Dylan Birtolo (in the white T-shirt), Elizabeth Vaughan & Maurice Broaddus (across), Jerry Gordon (far right from Maurice.)
- On the left, a gamer checks to see if he still has a pulse. On the far right, another grimly realizes he'd followed the wrong line.
Great GenCon report Bruce! Sounds like you had a blast! :) Oh...and what would I give to hear more about those plans... :)
ReplyDeleteThe best plans are the ones that reach a resolution. It will be a while before anything has a chance to shake through on this one. . .
DeleteI was wondering if we should play test some of those ideas on a Wednesday night or two!
ReplyDeleteTalking about Eadrin's Shadow Lords? I'm working on a couple more additions to that entry. I'll probably post the update in a couple of days.
Delete