OOC THREAD

[Telcontar]

My RPG engine is a little dry at this point but I'll get caught up and something posted for Hathcyn.

[tomcat]

Well as you have seen by my pace of posts over the last four weeks, I have been out of juice for a while.

Do we all want to take a break from the game for a bit? I do not want to lose you guys as players - ever! I really enjoy our collaborations. But if we need to step away for a bit, we can do that. Matt and Shawn used to work with my 'burnouts' back in the day, and we'd take time off.

You all let me know. I am in this no matter the consensus, but refreshing the batteries never hurts.

[Eclecticon]

I have no objection to a hiatus for a while, if that's what you need.  Would you set a date to recommence, or would it just be a'wait and see' deal?

[Eclecticon]

By the way, Tom, how was Austria etc? 

[GandalfOfBorg]

Don't recall if I told you all, but I will be in Israel 1/20-1/29.

[Eclecticon]

Cool, have some hand-made felafel for me!

[Eclecticon]

Hi guys,

I have a player, fairly new to roleplaying and not a huge Tolkien-head (yet) but very enthusiastic about the idea of PbP.  If nobody has any objections, I'll share a link to the forum with her and explain what's what. 

[tomcat]

Sounds great!

[Eclecticon]

Hey, just noting that I'm continuing to check the forum regularly.  I'm not trying to pressure anybody, but I'll be ready and waiting when you're all good to come back. 

[GandalfOfBorg]

Im back, yes still alive and a bit wiser.

[Eclecticon]

Great.  How was it?  Did you see anything really cool?

[Telcontar]

Paul,
 Sorry for the late response, but real life has been a drag lately.

Austria, specifically Vienna is an interesting place. Visually it reminded me a lot of Budapest, but as they were both principal cities of the Hapsburgs this makes sense. There is also a bit of a communist construction stamp on Vienna too because the Soviet occupation of part of it after the war. The city is in many ways an Imperial City without an Empire. All the monuments and squares are there, all the haughty highbrow sense of superiority.  The city is German, but unlike say Munich it's flavor and feel is more a melting pot. The polyglot nature of the Hapsburg Empire has made it an international oasis. The Slavs, Germans, and Hungarians have created this flavorful melting of culture and custom. Everything is German, but sprinkled with paprika in a way.

The German beer is way better than Austrian, some of the white wine was delightful.  The city is more strict than say Munich where you can drink on public transit and you dont need to muzzle your dog. Small things like that made it feel very different.

The military Army Museum was epic. I saw captured prussian flags from the seven years war, a turkish tent from the siege of Vienna. A multitude of pikes and chest plates. The car he was in and uniform Archduke Ferdinand wore when he was shot, replete with blood. 

Best food I had was a Serbian place, which fed into the whole ethnic melting pot we felt while we were there.

[Eclecticon]

So, now that it's February and everyone's back from their travels (I think) what are you guys thinking about the prospects for continuing the game?

[GandalfOfBorg]

Israel was gorgeous, fun, hectic, exhausting, ancient, and thrilling.  Can't recommend enough the trip and the tour providers. Ate a lot of great food, saw great sights/sites, and slept on the hardest beds I've ever felt.  The places I connected with the most were the teaching steps just outside the walls of the temple where Jesus had taught and being out on the se@ of Galilee.

[Eclecticon]

Sounds like an awesome trip!  I haven't been anywhere of note for nearly twenty years now, so I always like living vicariously through other people. 

Also, I'm sorry to keep badgering people about the game - I know you've all got a lot on.  For my part, I'm just getting the hang of a new job (in time to maybe finish it at the end of this month) and I had what I'm fairly certain was my last law exam on Wednesday morning.