Brace yourself for this will be a very long post.
Trying to sum up and capture our experiences at Czocha Castle in one post will be impossible, but in a few words it was all at once scary, exciting, challenging, stressful, confusing, exhausting, magical, intense, light-hearted, fun, and will be something we will remember always.
On our last night in Berlin we were invited to go to dinner with a large group of players who were staying in Berlin as well and were going to take the buses with us to Czocha in the morning. I was a bit nervous getting ready to meet these people for the first time since I had it in my mind that these were going to be some strange folk and that I wouldn't fit in very well, since I had never done anything like this before and had not really prepared very well for the event. In any case I was glad to get a chance to wear my fancy new jacket that I had packed all the way to Europe. I also wore one of the scarves Kat made for the trip, a yellow and blue striped one, the colors of House Faust.
When we got to the place, an Italian themed restaurant called Da Vinci's, we found a huge group piled into the back room of the place already eating and drinking. We sat down and more people trickled in soon after. There was a continuous chaotic flow of food and drink that arrived almost as quickly as it was ordered. Some people where on their second or third round as we were just getting started. The food was good despite the confusing atmosphere.
During the meal we got a chance to get to know a few of our fellow players. Across from us sat Ashley, an American living abroad, and a return player from previous CoW events. She was playing "Professor Briar", a slightly quirky teacher of Rune Magic. She was excited to hear that my character would be taking her class. She taught her lessons wearing pajamas and slippers while making us form the various rune patterns with our arms and legs. Imagine the YMCA dance routine, but while standing on one leg. She was especially delighted when I spontaneously busted out a dance routine based on the rune patterns during the ball on the final night.
We sat next to a Danish woman who would be playing one of the most memorable players at the college, a Libussan named "Hannah O'Hara", a loveably bumbling misfit of a student whose robes were always in disarray, was constantly dropping things that would make squeaking noises at the most inappropriate of times, was constantly late to the classes I had with her, and just a general disruptive influence on everything, but in an absolutely adorable way. She even wore my house banner as an improvised toga dress to the final night's ball. Her housemates both hated and loved her because her antics cost them many house cup points as annoyed Professors would deduct points for her many interruptions, but in the end house Libussa still won the cup.
I got to meet a few of my fellow Faustians that night as well. Sitting next to me was a tall and gregarious Dane whose character was "Gabriel", a Guardian who was very stern and militaristic being something like a wizardly soldier and lawman wrapped into one. His full formal uniform was quite impressive and he struck an imposing figure. During the LARP his character could frequently be found haranguing other students for their minor transgressions against the codes of the school and the wizarding world in general.
Also from house Faust were "Gerard Jordan", "Abraham Sokolov", and "Ray Frost". Gerard was a Prefect from my house, a Senior Artificer and was a bit of a mentor for my character "Dorian D. Ward" who was supposed to be a Junior Artificer. Abraham was an impressive character, a wild loner draped in wolf pelts with a mohawk and beard. As a Cursebreaker his story arc was intricate and deep and by the end he had to give up his magic as part of a pact of which he was sworn not to speak. Abraham and Dorian had a few good shared moments of mutual respect for one another as we had Magical Theory and Ritual Magic classes together and often paired up with one another. Ray Frost was a flamboyant blue-haired Cryptozoologist obsessed with himself and his own power and who had grafted various bits of technology to himself, making him a sort of cyborg-wizard. I'd say some of Dorian's more challenging scenes came from interacting with him.
After dinner most of us continued on to drinks. The bar was a forgettable restaurant with watered down drinks, but the company was good. Soon it was quite late and Kat and I needed to get back to our hotel near the airport for some rest. It was our latest night out in Berlin and got to experience what happens when the U-Bahn shuts down and everything changes over to the night bus system. We were very confused at first when our U-Bahn stopped short of our final station and everyone disembarked. After regaining our wits we followed the press of people up into the cold windy night and went in search of a bus that would take us home. After successfully navigating the first leg of the trip we mistakenly took one of the transfer buses going in the wrong direction and it was several stops before we discovered our mistake. It was getting quite late at this point and we were in danger of missing the last #109 bus that would take us to the stop outside our hotel. We quickly retraced our steps, ran to catch the correct transfer and the finally got back to our hotel at the last possible moment.
In the morning we packed all our things and caught the shuttle to the airport where our bus to the castle would pick us up. I withdrew some Polish zloty for the trip, picked up a few snacks and some booze at the shops, and we had a rather nice breakfast of bagel sandwiches, and a couple to go for lunch on the bus, at a coffee shop while we waited, making full use of the internet while we still had it.
Soon it was time to gather for our bus outside. We met back up with some of the people from last night as well as some new folks who had just arrived. The bus started at Tegel airport and would swing by the other airport to pick up the rest. I snapped a quick shot of us all together and then we headed out.The ride to Czocha took just over five hours. Half of that was off the main roads and on small winding roads through tiny towns and villages. Crossing over into Poland you began to notice how the buildings on the roadside changed. There were old houses that were in such bad repair that they were barely still standing right next to brand new and expensive looking homes.
To pass the time I sat with more new people who would be playing with us. Many of them were first-timers like Kat and myself, had never LARPed before or been to the castle. A couple were even from the US. We were all a bit nervous but the excitement and encouragement from all the returning players was infectious. Some of them were already getting into character. I was still wearing my yellow and blue scarf, which marked me as a Faustian, so many people started treating me rudely if they weren't in my house. I was confused at first but soon came to learn that all the other houses generally hate Faust, because Faust is filled with ambitious and focused individuals who tend to be elitist jerks. They also tend to win the house cup most the time due to their studied discipline. The animosity of the other houses just serves to make Faust even more insular and tight-knit however. I decided that my character, Dorian, was an atypical Faustian and would try to do his best to show the other houses that he was one of the good ones by being friendly and helpful. Throughout the weekend I continued to get glared at and cursed while I was always polite, if a bit stuffy, in return.
Finally we arrived and Kat and I got our first look at the castle. To be honest it didn't blow me away at first from the view from the parking lot and I was feeling a little bit let down. However that soon changed as we walked down the long driveway and up to the front courtyard. As I looked up at its funny-looking tower and its somewhat chaotic asymmetric collection of multi-pitched roofs I felt something magical. This place was perfect. It was laid out like a crazy labyrinth and it was very easy to get lost so it wasn't hard to believe that it was alive and that the passages and staircases were moving and rearranging themselves at night. We were told during orientation that this was quite a common excuse for arriving late to a class in progress.
There was a large crowd gathered on the narrow stone bridge connecting the courtyard to the front entrance, some of them new arrivals like us, others had been at the castle for awhile helping to get set up for the event. I started to get a sense of just how large a group this was and the kind of effort that was going into the event. I later learned that there were over 150 participants, not including the regular hotel staff.
We checked-in and found our private room. It was on the top floor up several flights of stairs that we would come to dread climbing by the end of the event. I think we had both assumed we would be living in less than ideal conditions while staying at the castle, so we were pleasantly surprised by how nice it was. The floors squeaked and the water heater made funny noises, but it was really quite spacious and far away from the noise of the rest of the castle. After putting our stuff down and freshening up a bit we headed back to the main hall for our orientation meetings, where they gave us a brief idea of the rules, codes of conduct, and what to expect. After that we were given time to get into our costumes and after a few announcements from the organizers we were split into small workshop teams based on our houses and learning paths. Kat and I went our separate ways and wouldn't see each other again until later that evening.
We were given school robes and ties color coded by year and house which we were expected to wear during classes and at dinner. This worked well with my costumes since I went with classic prep-school attire: button-up shirts, vests, gray slacks, and black dress shoes. Some of the players' costumes were much more elaborate than mine, others not so much. There were more than a couple people who were just wearing logo t-shirts and jeans under their robes.
In my house workshop we discussed Faust's motto and creed "Knowledge & Power", learned our chant "Wisdom is Might! As Dragons We Fight!", our oath "Dragon's flame burns eternal", met our prefects and discussed house rules and general school politics. In my learning path workshop I got to meet all the other Junior Artificers that I would be having classes with. We discussed the group dynamic and once again I was singled out as the only Faustian and how I would probably be ostracized by the others, but I made sure they knew I wasn't playing a typical Faustian and even made a few new friends in the group. Then as a group we sort of spontaneously decided that it might be fun during play if we worked on a secret project for extra credit that would go horribly wrong in some way. We ended up doing the project, but unfortunately never got a chance to present it in class.
After workshops we gathered up outside at night to officially begin play. We lined up in the castle courtyard by house and year as Klaus, one of the founders of the game, gave us our marching orders and gave us the signal. The Czocha College them song began to play as we silently filed by the professors, now in costume as well, waiting for us on the bridge who would say things like "Welcome back" or "Good to see you again, Dorian" or "Hope you had a good break" in passing as if we really were just returning from Spring break and ready for our mid-terms to begin. I'd say my memory of that very first moment when play began is one of the strongest and it gives me chills to think of.
In the Knight's Hall we stood as the Headmistress, overlooking us from the balcony, formally welcomed us back to school and gave the opening announcements. Juniors were forbidden to enter the Dark Forest and the secret passages as was traditional, and that curfew for all was at midnight. Then dinner was served. The food was plentiful and filling, but somewhat bland by my standards. Still, we were getting a great deal: room, board, and days filled with entertainment for the entire weekend in a real-live freakin' castle!
Aletha (Kat) and I ate at our separate house tables and I tried to get to know my fellow students a little bit better. Many of them had well developed backstories and ready made relationships as they greeted each other like long-time friends and swapped stories. I started to suddenly feel very lonely and a bit sad. I was having trouble getting into character and pretending to know these people just wasn't coming naturally. As soon as dinner was over I got up and wandered around by myself. I'd quickly lost track of Aletha and wondered what she was up to.
Faust was hosting a party later that evening and had installed some kind of magic mirror as part of the entertainment so Dorian had invited Aletha to join him at the party. During the party it was announced that there was a spirit trapped in the mirror that could answer any question from your past that you asked it. It was actually quite a cool setup, an actor in ghost makeup stood behind the mirror holding a lamp, making it look like they were inside. People lined up to place their hand on the mirror and ask it questions. The trick was that the ghost would possess you and answer in your own voice, so the question asker effectively got to answer their own question in front of the group. This led to many people performing dramatic soliloquies in front of a captive audience. The party mood turned somber as many of the askers had questions about dead relatives, betrayal, loss, and gloomy topics. Only one joker got up front and asked where he'd lost his ring, which turned out to be in his pocket. Aletha and Dorian dared each other to go up and give it a try, but we both chickened out.
Aletha had made other plans and said goodbye to join some others on some adventure or other while I stayed at the party for a bit longer. Suddenly there was a commotion as several Faustians cried out in terror and fled the castle. I curiously followed to the courtyard and watched some sort of drama play out between various members of Faust and a girl holding a plush wolf toy. Apparently it was some sort of demon trapped in a wolf-pup and the Faustians had suddenly regained memories of being trapped in a burning building. I never learned quite what it was all about and the group eventually dispersed.
There didn't seem quite anything in particular to do that night. There were little groups here and there doing various things, but Dorian wasn't really a part of it. I was still suffering from stomach troubles and feeling a bit bored and tired so decided to call it an early night and headed on up to bed. I had to get a good night's rest in order to be ready for my classes in the morning after all.
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