ConQuest 2009 - Mythodea

1. In the beginning, there were the elements: Fire, Earth, Water and Air. They existed in their contradicting and antithetic way and created nothing but themselves. Chaos and raging of the elements lasted until a fifth element was born from the primordial four, completely equal to them. Magic, the power in between, flowing in all existence and combining it all.
2. Some of the more complex beings created by the elements developed the ability to cognize and mentally interfuse the nature of the elements. A long time ago, the Rulers reigned the land, an old and powerful race of gifted and wise beings. The powers of the Rulers had their origin in the elements: Fire, Earth, Water, Air and Magic. But longing for independence from the avatars, they outgrew the five elements and created, what was to haunt the land as the "second creation"...

3. Black Ice instead of Fire, Void, where once was Air, Pestilence from formerly clear Water, Undead Flesh instead of Earth and Technical Ratio as a substitute for Magic in order to combine the new creations...

4. Soon, war rose between the followers of the Forsaken and those of the original elements, which devastated Mitraspera (as Mythodea was called once).

5. Some of the Forsaken rulers recognized what they had done. They repented their deeds and freed Fire, Water, Earth, Air and Magic from their chains. Chains, that the forsaken themselves had made at the beginning of the war, in order to bind the mighty original elements.

6. Furiously, the elements rose against their enemy and ignited the Worldfire, which devoured every single mortal being on earth that was part of this war. In this way, it even altered the face of the world...

7. The Worldfire ended the war and the Forsaken and their Rulers were banned beneath 5 Seals. 5 Seals which also sealed the world to give it time to heal.

8. The last True Rulers were banned from Mythodea - they or their descendants were not to come back until the land was completely healed and prepared to be filled with new life.

9. Now, this time seems to have come: The new arrivers are being scrutinized by the elements. Their task is to open the Seals - if they prove dignified. To do this, the new settlers have to find an Archon (mundane lord) and a Nyame (spiritual leader) for each part of the country.

10. But the awakening of the land and the opening of the Seals also awakens the second creation that is banned beneath them. The settlers have to face the heritage of the ancient Rulers of Mythodea...

And so it began......

Dawn breaks, war looms, the evil Lord is gathering his armies to wage a campaign of destruction upon the free peoples of the world. It is up to I, Sir Maximilan Pegasus to stop him, with my trusted band of adventurers we must gather the enchanted sword of Tek, the Shield of Way-Lem and the amulet of Subsidence and together we shall slay this abomination! “TIME FREEZE” And bam, the fantasy world fades away, the enchanted sword of Tek in my hand is a rubber sword smothered in coloured ribbons with a laminated card cable tied to the hilt, I look down and I’m wearing plastic armour and unflattering heropants, and the magical world of my imagination washes away to reveal a field in Wigan, but you know what? It’s larp and I’m a larper, it’s what I do.
I started larping when I was 17, I’d never role-played before, I’d never played D&D or Warhammer, never played WoW or any form of online game, I’d never even read Lord of the Rings, I feel somewhat privileged that I hadn’t done any of those things, I think it gave me an untainted attitude towards what larp could be, I had no preconceptions about saving the maiden fair, slaying the dragon or smiting the liche, to me it was just a new thing to try.
It was cold, really cold, 10am on a September morning, the rain was battering down and I’d been given a faux fur tunic, a mouldy old sword and been pointed towards a man and told, “You’re monstering, there’s the ref he’ll tell you what to do.” I obeyed, I played wave after wave of zombies, orcs and various line monsters and to be honest, was cold, bored and hungry. That is, until lunchtime, the teams switched sides, I got into the kit I’d scrounged up, as with most first timers, a black trenchcoat. I took the mouldy old sword, stood with my fellow adventurers and it hit me, I’m a god damn hero!
Pow, there it was, a new larper was born.