Janet and I had the pleasure of attending this yearly event these past few days. Gary Con is special to me because, of course, it connects directly with Gary Gygax and it is just outside Lake Geneva, but also because many of my friends and colleagues are present as well. Though it is growing every year, this event has retained a certain friendliness and personality that much larger venues can no longer hope to offer. Where else would you be able to encounter this many former TSR folk without actually trying? The cocktail party Saturday night was a success and new familiar faces were there as well. The high point for me was spending some good time with an old friend whom I hadn't seen for thirty years: Merle Rasmussen, the designer of the original Top Secret game. Merle left TSR in 1984, about a year after I started there. Although he enjoyed a long and fruitful career in his native Iowa (and still does), he connected recently with Jayson Elliott at (new) TSR/Gygax Magazine and Luke Gygax. I was also very pleased to chat with Betty Elmore whom I hadn't seen for almost as long. Many other friendly faces haunted the halls of Geneva Ridge that cold, crisp evening. Sorry I didn't get everybody. All good times must come to an end, so I'll post my pictures here for your enjoyment . . . and get back to work on my current project.
As of early
March, the Calidar project is proceeding apace.
Since
last February, the first 63 pages have already gone through the editing
process with Karen S. Conlin. This includes the main story, "In
Stranger Skies," the overview of Calidar's universe (the planets, the
moons, the races, and the gods), and the world of Calidar (the
continents, the world soul, the Dread Lands, the Great Caldera, an
overview of the realms, and a detailed historical timeline).
Meanwhile,
writing continued for the Kingdom of Meryath gazetteer: its history,
geography, economy, diplomacy, armies, internal politics, the culture of
heroes, calendar, holidays, the NPC section (Heroes of the Star Phoenix and Heroes of Meryath), and the Guilds and Brotherhoods section.
