We had a mystery visitor at our house last night or early this morning. There are tire tracks in the snow in our driveway, and footprints going to our back door and back to the car. I can't tell how big they are, because they were windblown and half-buried by the time I saw them, but I thought it was pretty strange, especially since I had a nightmare last night that we had a burglar.
Forest and I played at Yeffy's house last night, and was it ever crowded! I admit, I wanted him to meet some of my friends, but I think every single person I know in the world was there last night, even one person I haven't seen in years, and a couple of new people, too. I have no idea how we're going to play a D&D game with 16 people or so (I lost count, honestly) but Yeffy's going to try it, I guess. I was really glad to be back among my friends as a large group. Forest was comfortable, and fitting in just fine, I think. I made a character who is a female Fighter-Mage, who is trying her darnedest to be a Sith Lord, but just can't overcome the fact that she's basically a good person at heart. Her name is Darth Mary Sue. She's going to be a lot of fun to play, and yet not disruptive, I think. She's not entirely useless, either. It's hard to find fun characters that aren't useless. I had a good time playing her.
I was really suprised that Jeff was there. He hadn't been playing on weeknights at all when we were together, because it means he can't get enough sleep. He gets up really early to go to work every morning. I had mentioned to him that we'd be there, and he said that was fine, however he didn't say anything about being there, too. I think he was okay with everything, but it's hard for me to say, because he didn't talk to me a whole lot. I was already playing before he arrived, though. I get the feeling he's created another of his favorite kind of character (a disruptive but fun one) and plans to play whenever he can. It was really wierd for me, because I think he had time to prepare for my presence, but I didn't have time to prepare for his. It was a bit of a shocker. Happily all my friends handled it with relative ease (at least externally) even though it might have been a bit strange for them, since many of them weren't aware that either of us was coming.
I hope it hasn't caused any problems for anyone, because Forest and I both had a really good time, and are quite looking forward to coming back. In a few weeks the group will likely slim down a bit, because it's just plain hard to get that many people together regularly, and then it will be a tad less insane. Many of the folks were very creative with their characters, though, and it will be sad to see them not there. Andy and Shelly are particularly awesome. They are playing twin priests of the god of Two Faces (life and death). It's really interesting. Fred has a Priest of Mischief, and while he's playing him as a priest of stupidity, at least he's *playing*, and doing something different from his everyday characters. Forest has a lizardman wizard-in-exile who is fixated on food and does that tthhppttt thing with his tongue. Tiff has an enchantress who is a pacifist and a floral designer. I still don't know what four of the characters will be, because they haven't joined the party yet.
I was particularly glad to see Yeffy. I've missed him a lot lately, and we are both insanely busy, so there hasn't been a whole lot we could do about it. It's funny sometimes how being successful and in demand changes your life. Sometimes I think I'd be happier with an awful part-time job and all the time in the world to do with as I please... but then I kick myself in the head, remind myself of how much I like to eat and have health insurance, and I quickly return to my senses.
Speaking of which, I have a Multiport Serial card to install on a server. See ya.
