DING DING HERE COMES THE DORK TRAIN.

So, I took that first drop off the cliff towards becomeing a LARPer and attended a NERO event that master_kenneth, Jenn and other friends ran/were a part of. I NPCed, which means that I played the part of mosters, random villagers, undead, etc.

NERO is basically like live action D&D (to give you a quick mental image) and combat is done through these "boffer" type weapons-- basically semi-soft foam covered weapon shapes (though I think there's a move over to general latex-molded weapons and some of the costumes get wicked elaborate).

The picture below was recorded of me taking my very first swing during sparring practice, where I was fighting faux-Florentine style.

So, here we go...

( Cut for <strike>dorkiness</strike>imagesize )

And no the headband wasn't some sort of fashion statement, it was to signify that I was "out of game" at the moment.

Sadly, it turns out that my idea for making a "boffer" version of Go-go Yubari's spiked-ball-on-a-chain thing is untenable within current NERO rules. SAD FACE.