The leadup to the event was filled with nerves, panic, checking postal tracking (Note to self: order things from Poland at least 2 months earlier) and trying not to grumble that I was the only person who’d posted in the Character Introductions section of the Discord. Fortunately, everything arrived in time, and by which I mean the cloak arrived the day I was due to leave. Also, in further confirmation that I don’t have a problem, AT ALL, I made an inspirational music play list. And while I’ve said it elsewhere I’m saying it again here: I bet you’re all thinking I’ve met Gav, I’m sure that Anvil of Crom is Track 1, and you’d be wrong! It’s actually Track 2!

So, what’s the game actually about and who was I playing? Well, Lost Settlers is a survival game where 3 factions have sent settlers to a new land. Those nations are:
The Orthos, inspired by 1700’s British and Dutch explorers. Their non-Human allies were cockney Goblins, and from what I’m told they outnumbered the humans. Red coats and black powder were very much the order of the day.
The Barsori, inspired by 1600’s Germans and Spanish, aka mix of Conquistadors and Landsknecht. Fancy and yellow were on theme, with some fantastic headgear, while their non-Human allies were Elves.
The Broch’Tir, or Broch for short, my nation. We were inspired by Iron Age Celts, Gauls and Picts and our colours were blue and grey. Our non-Human allies were Dwarven, and we gave them great respect. We had rope and rucksacks, and lots of them. And later on, we got a cow!

The game was themed around survival and discovery. There were resources to gather, from farming, hunting and mining. Also, as I found out later, bees to run away from. Salt was needed to preserve food, and previous metals to ensure weapons remained keen. If you wanted to mine you had to find one that hadn’t been emptied, and physically chisel out the resource yourself. Game time was split up into seasons, with each group having to return to camp between them, for head count and to ensure they had enough food to go around. Food was tracked by tokens, with some foods having positive or negative effects. Some of the mushrooms have Dwarves the squirts, etc. Some crops took longer to grow than others, needed different conditions, while animal tracks could be of different sizes or types. I’m proud to say that at no point, IIRC, did any of the Broch starve, though I’m willing to be corrected. Mysterious notes had been left by now vanished earlier settlers, telling of hideous beasts, and there was screaming and horrors lurking in the night. Not all nations had access to all the skills, with the Broch having most of the gathering skills, but no access to black powder weapons, and it all seemed to balance out nicely. It meant we had to interact, instead of turtling around our camps. Given we had the smallest number of players, lacked guns and also had the fewest warriors (4 out of 31 players, IIRC), we were justifiably nervous about being raided. Our camp being in a spot at the bottom of the location with only one way in our out didn’t help my nerves, though I’m glad we didn’t build the bridge across the river on one side of the camp. That also made it a long trek back up to the cabins where I was staying. Oh well, anything to keep the step count up. Oh, and the bees! Model beehives were scattered about the trees, and you had to put your hand in and read the note inside to see if you got honey, or a lot of angry bees.

Of encounters there were many. Seeing the Basori and Orthos in a stand off over a bridge to the North, with the Orthos forming a gun line one one side felt genuinely threatening to stand in front of. Neutrality and trust led us to get over the bridge, and there may have been some light smuggling involved. A great 2 headed beast wandered the woods, which the Barsori shot before we could try to befriend it. I was there as one of our Druids gave it a blessing, and we were nervous as to whether it had kin who might be angry. Maybe so, as there was more screaming during the night, though some of that may have been cheering, it’s had to tell. Negotiations over resources and access to areas of land continued, and we soon became known for it. Rituals abounded, which were gorgeous and atmospheric, even the more the first night which went a little wrong. Our Ysbrydwein (Spiritual Leader) was not herself, and an election had only just taken place for a new Rhyrwein (War Leader), as the previous one had recently died. So, everyone who witnessed the ritual (Including visitors from both the Orthos and Barsori) went a bit mad (What flavour determined by drawing a card). Accidents do happen. I’m told her body was found the next morning in a tree, horribly mutilated. I’m not sure of further investigations, or if that will be something for next years event.

The War Leader was a surprise – I’d decided to put my name in the ring, as part of my background was wanting to mentor the next generation, to ensure they did better so it seemed natural. Only 2 of the 4 of us stepped forward and I thought I gave a pretty good speech. As horrified as I am to hear my own voice, I’d love video of it to show to my wife, even if I’m certain she’ll immediately show it to everyone she knows, as what happened the last time I gave a good speech. My opponents speech wasn’t bad, but finding out later he deliberately tanked it made sense, as the chap is question can be rather elegant when he needs to be. He’s another I owe great thanks to, as he stepped up to the job when I was indisposed on the Sunday. Anyhow, getting about 90% of the votes, now that was a fucking shock. I was torn between “Well, you wanted the job” and “Oh fuck, now I have to come through on the promises I made.” Haven’t been in the job 5 minutes and I’m already thinking like a politician. *sighs* I’m certainly pleased to have gotten the position, it felt as if my character was becoming what I’d written, as opposed to a costume and bad accent. And I’m certain to have more to do next event, though I’m certain to still be yelling at people to not go out alone. How many bloody times did I have to tell people that, and they’d still wander off. Damn kids.

At the end, when I emerged from my sickbed, it turned out that we accomplished all our goals and had food to spare. (Bless the camp Quartermaster) By which I mean, not only did we not starve at any point, we also managed to achieve the goals for each Heritage (aka character class), in my case being not to have any casualties from among us and to have enough Precious Metals stashed away. I didn’t complete my secret motivation (as determined by stating how keen you were for intense role play and drawing a card, conducted during sign in before play), but would have had the chance had I been healthy. Oh well, these things happen. I also missed something about strange rocks that had been unearthed from some of the mines that were driving people mad, and the cursed dolls that were being found somewhere. I’m still frustrated I didn’t to interact with fellow players I knew would be attending, or even seeing, but there’s nothing I can do about that.

So, interrupted yes, but still a joy. It’s the little things that are sticking with me. The other groups knack for getting our ritual gestures wrong. One of our dwarves wondering why her pack was so heavy, then realising she’d been collecting actual rocks all event. Our immediate and ferocious devotion to our cow. Getting to use the line “It’s an old joke, but I’m an old man.”
The shouting when visitors to our camp didn’t disarm beforehand. Why, despite not speaking to him yet, did I want to punch the Orthos Major in the face quite so hard as soon as I saw him? How swiftly a fear of the dark can grow when hearing screaming from the woods. And the costuming. *swoons* Seeing how peoples costumes were different, but fit the brief for each nation and class. That we looked coherent, as if we matched, despite the differences. (I was reminded of the kit standards for the game Weekend Warrior, which go right down to the colour paint for armour and shade of fabric for costume. If I was being snarky, I’d say it’s done less for consistency, and more to funnel money into affiliated stores, but I’m not here to talk shit about other games – that get’s done enough) It was a beautiful sight to see us assembled, and again, I’m gutted I missed the end game photos.

So, future plans? Well, a cloak pin or clasp to stop it falling off my shoulders so quickly while I’m wearing my armour. A circlet, to denote my status as War Leader. Some time to practise with the blowing horn I bought and didn’t get to use. An IC water container and comfier shoes. As for the Broch, who knows? We may maintain our status as underdogs, or will our relative success go to our heads? You’ll have to come to the next event to find out. As the speedway ads when I was a kid used to end with, “BE THERE!”

NOTE: All images taken from the Broch’Tir Discord and are not of my own creation.