Initium!
Quest's newsletter
vol. 87 - September 12, 2011
Highlights in this issue:
Events:
Upcoming events
The Events Committee is looking forward to seeing you all at our upcoming event on September 17th, “A Knight in Ink-Stained Armor”. We also wanted to let you know that the rest of the fall schedule is wide open, and we're looking for people interested in GMing. If you've been sitting on a half-written staff packet or game proposal, we'd love to hear about it. If you have an idea and need help turning it into a game, we're here to lend a hand. Even if you are looking to run sometime in the murky future, the Events Committee can be there for you now in putting together your team, finding kitchen staff, and helping you navigate through the process.
We're looking for GMs for October 15th and for a Saturday in mid-November (either the 12th or 19th). We can negotiate on those dates, given enough notice. E-mail ecoord with inquiries or proposals.
Your creative force makes all of this possible. Thanks so much! We look forward to seeing you at September's event and to seeing your ideas brought to life and hopefully defeating them (but not in a soul-crushing, wreck-your-entire-plot kind of way).
Bring a friend
And don't forget the "bring a friend" discount — bring a new player to any game and get $15 off!
Board of Directors:
Dear Quest Community,
Once again, it's election time!
We'd like to thank our outgoing Board and committee members for their dedication, hard work, and exceptional service to the organization. Quest relies on their efforts, and couldn't exist without them.
We are putting out a call for nominations for the committee position of Historian, and the Board positions of Treasurer and Board Member-at-Large. We ask you, the Quest community to assist us by nominating the people you think should serve as officers. Self-nominations are heartily welcome, as are nominations for anyone in the community who you think might be suited for a given job. Nominations can be sent to Jackie Anderson, the Board Secretary, at nominations. The list of open officer positions and their respective duties and positions may be found below.Everyone who is nominated will be contacted by the Board Secretary to ask them if they accept the nomination. All nominations must be made by Saturday, September 17th.
If you're nominated for more than one position, you may accept nominations for more than one position, and may specify your preferences in your response ("I'll take Position X or Position Y, but not both," or "I can do Positions X or Y or both.")
The next Board meeting and officer election will take place on Sunday, September 18, on the Wesleyan University campus (please contact the Secretary for the meeting location), at 1:00pm. The Board will be having elections for all open positions during this meeting. It will also be completing business on the Strategic Vision and discussing other issues that affect the community and business. The first portion of the meeting will be open to the Quest community, and the elections will be closed.
On behalf of the Board,
Jackie Anderson
Secretary, Board of Directors
Quest Interactive Productions, Inc.
Quest Committee Officers
Who are the Quest Committee Officers?
The committee officers are the people who provide leadership to the groups within our organization. Officers are, in general, responsible for the normal operational needs of Quest, both at and between games. The qualities looked for in a good officer are commitment, responsibility, and a desire to get things done.
Who can I nominate?
Anyone can nominate anyone for any position. You can suggest someone new for an office, or nominate the current office holder. You may even nominate yourself (this is a useful way of letting us know you want to help out!).
How long is the period of tenure?
Officer positions are one year. This year's term will run from October 1st, 2011 through September 30th, 2012.
Board officer positions up for election:
- Board Member at-large: The Board welcomes all members of the Quest community to participate as Board Members at-large. These Board members participate in on-line discussions and up to 4 in-person meetings per year, and also vote in discussions and group elections. The Board member at-large responsibilities can range from doing special projects to helping out with the operational needs of the group. The key qualities for Board members at-large would be enthusiasm for Quest, strong professional and communication skills, and a willingness to participate in special projects and tasks as requested by the Director of Operations and the Board Chair.
- Treasurer: The Treasurer is responsible for monitoring the organization's finances and mail, and supervising the game fee and waiver elements of check-in and depositing the funds in Quest's account, as well as reporting to the Board with a summary of the expenses and revenues from each event.
Committee leadership positions up for election:
- Historian: The Historian is responsible for keeping track of all characters for continuing game worlds and supervising the character related issues of check-in and check-out. The Historian is on the Operations Committee and all Game World committees.
Development Committee:
The response to Quest's 20th Anniversary Fund Drive was heartwarming and amazing. With pledges, we raised over $1700 — almost twice our goal! We'll be using that money for prop repair, set piece and costume creation, off-campus site fees, and advertising. We are very excited for the next twenty years of amazing Quest stuff and very grateful to have the support of the community!
Everyone who gave at least $25 has been added to our new Honor Roll. Thanks go to these donors: Jackie Axnderson and Jackie Axnderson, John Exure, M. Zachariah Fxraser, Julie and Jeff Gxoldberg-Zxieger, Heather and Richard Jxackson, Erhard Kxonerding, Benjamin Lxash, Carlos Lxaureano, Jamie Mxacia, Ian MxcLean, David Mxeierfrankenfeld, Joseph Mxelendez, David Oxlsen, Jen Pxatrick, Rebecca Sxlitt, Jim Vxincent, Ben Wxarfield, Alan Wxitt, and Jeff Yxaus.
Publisher:
Save time at check-in! You can now download blank character sheets, so that you can print them and fill them out ahead of time.
Continuing Game News:
September 12, 1011:
Duvarna, Bilgosh:
On May 20, Queen Catherine of Chardreau and Prince Edmund, Regent of Allondell, led their armies across the border into Bilgosh. They were joined by knights and soldiers from Veneza and Castagna, who despite being small countries had boosted the crusaders' morale by their arrival. The crusaders employed a strategy drawn up by the Chardrois, where they engaged the forces in late afternoon, drew out the unholy creatures laying in wait as dusk approached, then withdrew to a defensible position to wait for dawn, when many of Emilian's forces would be weakest, especially the vampires, who would be forced to withdraw entirely.
The crusaders took heavy losses throughout the night, but rallied as the sky turned blue again. They repeated this tactic twice, each time moving closer to the stronghold of Stoyanka the Red, a Dark Lady necromancer. As the crusaders' front grew closer to the fort, the morale of the Bilgosh peasant armies deteriorated, and many fled, leaving mostly Stoyanka's skeletal armies to guard the fort itself. However, the skeletons did poorly against the mace-wielding chaplains of the crusaders. While the crusaders expected to have to mount a siege around the front, Stoyanka, apparently outraged at being put on the defensive, led a rally against the crusaders. She was felled by a lightning bolt in mid-air, and fell to the ground halfway incinerated.
Queen Catherine and Prince Edmund declared Duvarna liberated, and raised the old ducal Bilgosh banner above the fort on May 23.
Alsoria, Steinlands:
Rumors spread from the crusade's back lines that a stealth team of crusaders was able to somehow sneak into the Bilgosh heartland and shore the defenses of a monastery that had been holding out against Emilian's forces. The rumors are not clear on which of the monarchs allegedly sent this secret team. Many in the crusader armies believe that if this monastery does stand that it might be used as a waypoint for crusader strikes further into Bilgosh.
Gyuvos, Bilgosh:
Confronted by a Chardrois crusader force under Countess Emilie de Debergne, Dark Lord Tibor, a vampire, fled his lands after the scattering of his minions and armies.
Lady Emilie waited until Tibor's human armies had engaged her front-line soldiers, then sent in her knights to break the line and advance further into Tibor's ranks. When Tibor sent his unholy minions after the knights, the knights quickly retreated, allowing the Chardrois chaplains (many of them new to their vows) to step up and radiate holy auras outward, stopping the unholy creatures dead in their tracks. The chaplains pushed their line outward, scattering the unholy creatures and stretching their lines thin even as the chaplains took heavy losses. The knights then advanced once more, attacking the thinning lines and slaying the vampiric creatures one by one.
After more and more of the vampiric minions fell beneath the knight's weapons, the human peasantry broke, and Lady Emilie led her remaining knights and chaplains in a charge on Tibor and his inner circle. Tibor transformed into mist and fled the battle, abandoning his cohort to the crusaders' wrath.
Mourange, Roudoigne:
Stating that “the cause of the gods is a just and worthy one”, Duchess Nicolette of Roudoigne stated that she will contribute money and supplies to the crusaders. She has ordered several ships filled and sent northward to Tolbury, Allondell so that the materials can be brought with crusaders departing Allondell for Bilgosh.
Duchess Nicolette's coffers have swelled over the past few years as an unusually good period for wool and cloth have meant more trade for Roudoigne, and thus more tariffs and taxes for the Duchess.
Zrenevo, Bilgosh:
A band of adventurers hired by Radmilo, the Rannashite bishop of Dezdevo, unknowingly exposed a Chardrois sabotage team when both groups attempted to capture the fort at Zrenevo.
The bishop's group planned to take the fort from the south by creating a diversion to the fort's north that would draw Emilian's troops out northward. What that group did not know was that Queen Catherine was already assembling a team in hiding to the fort's north. Emilian's troops followed the distraction and explored the area to the north, saw the numbers of the gathering Chardrois, and withdraw to the fort to dig in, thus spoiling both group's plans.
The Chardrois leadership angrily confronted Bishop Radmilo, questioning his authority to conduct such a mission without involving the monarchs who lead the crusader armies. The bishop, who has been in exile from Bilgosh since Emilian's rise, asserted that since the Collegium had called for the Crusade, the churches are the true leaders of the Crusade. The Chardrois and Allondines countered that the Collegium has always called for others to act but has not lead Crusades itself, since the Collegium has no army and no command structure.
In Collegium Hall, Allondine and Chardrois emissaries met with the Rannashite Collegiates, but no details of these meetings are known.
Gameworld news comes from GMs, story authors, and other Quest participants, not from the Game World Committee. If you have material to contribute, please email it to cg-chair.