The Pot Watcher's Daughter Postponed

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the next Strangehaven event "The Pot Watcher's Daughter" has been rescheduled to the 8th September. "The Little Green Men Come to Tea" will be run at a later date.

All participants have been contacted, either by personal email or telephone and we look forward to seeing you at the next event.

The Day the Cow Stood Still - Event Summary

The following is an outline summary of happenings at The Day the Cow Stood Still as witnessed by characters who were present at this event. The description is intended as a rough outline only and to serve as a future reminder of what happened when, from a player's perspective.

It is left to each player's discretion to decide if their character is privy to this knowledge or has an alternative view on the events described, dependent on your character's presence at The Day the Cow Stood Still or involvement in Strangehaven as part of your background.

The Day the Cow Stood Still - Event Summary
Two days previously, a young boy known as 'Hatstand' Harry had made his way to the village of Safehaven. He had fled from his uncaring parents, in the settlement on the other side of the island known as The Fleet.

Meanwhile, speculation abounded as to why Daisy the cow was standing still with hopes that the promise of Cinnamon and Cream Cheese icing might entice her to move.

Newly arrived visitors were welcomed to the island, including some representatives from a group called the Intelligencium. The Intelligencium intended to rescue their colleague, Stiltskin Ribbons who they claimed was adrift in time.

After a prolonged discussion, it emerged that eleven years ago Ribbons had accidentally set himself adrift in an experiment which went wrong. In doing so, he also caused the villagers themselves to disappear. Ribbons was rescued eleven years ago along with the villagers, but the Intelligencium had discovered the presence of an echo of that event rippling through time. This was their one and only chance to reach into that echo and snatch Ribbons, anchoring him to the now.

The Intelligencium carried out their rescue, after which the villagers started to disappear as the effects of paradox washed over Safehaven.

A plan was put together to lay down a path through time to put Ribbons back where he belonged. The Intelligencium were persuaded to help break the anchors they had put in place and a power source found. Eventually, Ribbons was back where he belonged and as the effects of paradox subsided, the villagers returned.

Meanwhile it had emerged that young Harry's parents were not his parents after all. Instead it seemed that they had been persuaded to raise him by the Admiral of the Fleet, representatives of which snatched him back whilst negotiations were underway with the Intelligencium.

Harry was subsequently snatched from them by a group of soldiers associated with The Fleet, the commander of which suspected he might be her long lost son. Whatever was going on, the Fleet's Admiral was keen to get him back, with his men laying siege to the soldiers' fortress but young Harry managed to escape, fleeing back to the village and his foster parents.

The Day the Cow Stood Still - Thankyou to all

A quick thankyou to all the players and crew who took part in the first ever Strangehaven event - The Day the Cow Stood Still.

The new players and crew portrayed some great characters which brought the island of Strangehaven alive, making it unique within the Shards world setting.

Equally, well done to the old hands who took the oddness of their surroundings in their stride, providing an interesting contrast in viewpoints.

I'm still surprised we managed to get through the entire weekend without any combat, except of course for Bastian hitting a few people with his hammer. And of course, who can forget the Baker mercilessly turning on her poor husband with a frying pan!

Thank you again for bringing my vision alive and hope to see you all next time.

Julie.

Shards website

Please note that the main Shards website and forum is temporarily offline due to a server move.

The webmaster is currently working to sort out Shardslrp domains, emails and hosting services and the website should be up and running again next week. In the meantime, you can still access Shards information on the wiki or post messages via the Shards yahoo group which has been opened for direct posting.

Please be aware that the wiki has also moved onto a new service provider due to circumstances beyond our control and is therefore under construction while we recreate the menus and links.

Shards Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shards
Shards wiki: http://shards.pbwiki.com

Event Logistics

Start and Finish Times
You may arrive on site at any time after 6pm during the Friday evening of the event and Time In will be at 8pm.

Departure on the Sunday will be early afternoon and we aim for the event to run as 24 hour time in until then.

If you arrive at site after Time In on Friday evening, please report to the refs for a briefing.

Directions
Murton Park is roughly 2 miles to the east of York, a Map to Murton park can be found here

Full address : Murton Park, Murton Lane, Murton, York, Y019 5UF

Upon Arrival
Park you vehicle in the car park (unless you have come by train), and make you way to the Dark Age Village, find a member of crew or a ref who will show how to get your car nearer to village for unloading any kit and where to park it once you've finished unloading.

Departure
Sunday morning you will need to move your cars from the parking area into the public carpark before 10am. We suggest you pack everything, except your costume and civilian clothes into your car well before this time and then move your car.
If you do need to move a lot of kit after 10am, there are in character wheel barrows around site, but please put them back where you found them when you have finished using them.

What to bring
The site provides raised wooden pallets to sleep on in various huts and very limited space for stowing non-authentic, out of character kit.

• Sleeping Arrangements
  
  While you will be sleeping in a hut on a raised platform, you should bring a sleeping bag plus any additional bedding you will need, such as an inflatable matress or sleeping mat. Blankets would also be useful, both for additional warmth and covering out of character kit and sleeping bags during the day.

• Food and Cooking
  
  This event is self catering, so you will need to bring all of your food and drinks for the weekend. There is a standpipe on site, supplying fresh drinking water but there are no cooking facilities, so you may wish to bring a small gas stove in order to cook or warm food. Remember to bring all cooking utensils, pots and plates that you might need as well as a kettle and cup if you'll require hot drinks through the day. Players can of course share resources in this area if they wish.
  
  Murton Park does have a cafe on site which is open between 10am and 3pm, serving hot food and drinks; however this is in an out of character area which will take you out of play whilst you eat. We therefore recommend that you bring suitable snack food for lunch so that play can continue throughout the day. It is possible to organise a full cooked breakfast, including a hot drink for £4 which may be eaten before the cafe opens to the public, but this must be arranged and paid for in advance. If players are interested in this option, please contact us.
  
  Again, please remember this event is self catering which means you will need to bring all of your food and drinks.

• Lighting
  
  Due to the nature of the site, no naked flame light sources (i.e. candles) are allowed in or near the dark ages huts. However, parafin lamps or tealights in suitable lanterns are acceptable for in character lighting. A torch or battery powered lantern would be useful for out of character use.

• What not to forget
  
  Please remember to bring your costume, weapons and any equipment that your character will use.
  
  It is also advisable to bring a toilet roll and some bin bags.
  

Site etiquette

• Modern/Out of Character kit
  
  Murton Park is primarily an Agricultural Museum which is open between the hours of 10am and 5pm. During this time, all out of character or modern kit must be kept hidden from sight. Once the museum has closed, we would prefer it if modern kit remains tidied away so as to maintain the in character feel of the site.
  
  The huts will double up as in character locations during the day, occupied by residents of the island of Strangehaven as their in character homes. It is expected that you will remain in character and in costume for the full duration of the event.
  

• Fires
  
  Fires are allowed in the huts on small raised brick fire pits, but as always safety is paramount, so please keep them under control and do not leave fires unattended.
  

• Rubbish
  
  All rubbish needs to be bagged up and taken to the large waste bins near the carpark at the end of the event. Please keep the site tidy during play, with any rubbish (such as plastic bottles or cans) kept out of sight. If drinking from cans, please decant into a suitable tankard or other IC container.

• Members of the Public
  
  The Dark Age Village being used as the IC location for Strangehaven is part of Murton Park's agricultural museum, which is open to the public between the hours of 10am and 5pm. We will be putting up signs asking visitors not to disturb us and while the site does not have many visitors, please be polite and considerate to anyone who does wander in. A few areas will be totally out of bounds to the public, including the crew changing areas and the toilet block which is reserved for our use.
  

• Toilets
  
  The toilet block is for our exclusive use and will be locked during the day to prevent members of the public using the facilities, meaning that you will need to find a key holder to use them. Outside museum opening hours, the toilets will be unlocked and you will have free access.

Basic in game calls

• Time In - When this is called the game commences. Everyone should be dressed in character and behaving in character.

• Time Out - Called at the end of the game, to signify a return to normality. Sometimes also used during an extended downtime period.

• Time Freeze - Called during the game when ‘something’ needs to happen instantly; players must close their eyes and remain stationary until ‘Time in’ is called and then may react accordingly to whatever they see.

• Man Down - If this is shouted, it indicates someone has been hurt for real. All play must cease, until the injury is treated and ‘Time in’ is called again. (Please avoid using the call man down in an in character context as play will stop whilst we ensure that no one is hurt)