Baylan

Tell us a bit about yourself and what got you into larping

Hey everyone, I'm Baylan, but most folks know me as Taios, or That Goblin with the gold face tattoo. I've been LARPing for about 9 years now, first in TOG, but now I'm excited for the change to Convergence! I work at a hospital as a Sterile Processing Technician in order to fund my LARPing addiction and also my other stuff like rent and the basic necessities for human life.

I got into LARPing like I mentioned about 9 years ago through a friend of mine, who had been telling me stories of his LARPing career that at that point had been for almost as long. We joined up together, bringing in my two other best friends, and we've been hooked ever since. I even started running our own setting with those same two friends, the Kalinthas Isles, which people have actually seemed to enjoy!

What are your other interests?

I have a variety of interests, but I can't seem to focus in on them too much. Here's a brief overview:

-Music: I am a musician at heart-spent most of my childhood involved with vocal music. That being said I don't really perform anymore, but I still like to listen and sing along. Right now I am on a Viking Metal kick but my tastes are somewhat eclectic.

-Literature: Mostly reading (huge but recent Brandon Sanderson fan), generally Fantasy/Sci-fi, which might be a bit on the nose for a LARPer, but I have been doing some writing recently which I like. Also a huge fan of Philosophy and can read that as well, though it is sometimes a bit dense.

-Games: Of the video, table-top, and Board varieties, I like to play stuff. I play a metric ton of D&D due to the pandemic, but I dabble in others as well. Board games are awesome due to the social aspect but have dropped off due to the aforementioned pandemic stuff.

-Politics: Shocking, I know, but I am a huge fan of politics and political theory, but seeing as it is a bit of a taboo subject I'll leave off talking about it here.

There are others of course, but those really make up the majority of my personality, beyond referential humor and goblin stuff.

Tell us a bit about your character(s)!

Well my only real character is Taios Irani, an Arcane Goblin. He doesn't really keep secrets as much as people think, though honestly that doesn't say much since people tend to think he is hiding a ton all the time. He's a twin, with another character named Banradi Irani Moduri Newberry, though they do not look as similar now that Taios is a Goblin and they are a robot. He also is related to Ardos, a Defender of some renown. All that aside, Taios is very much a jack of all trades normally (due to the fact that I cannot choose a single direction to go due to everything being super interesting). Not sure what he looks like in Convergence yet, but I am extremely interested in seeing where that goes.

Clicks is another character on the back burner-they haven't fully formed yet and I am waiting until they do to talk more about them.

What is your favorite larping memory?

I have a variety, though to be honest Travis usually tells the stories better than I do-Taios being first turned into a Goblin is interesting to say the least, and fighting the BBEG Bleak's Spirit Dragon guy was also a personal high. Taios has done a lot of weird stuff in this world which all have interesting aspects to them that I enjoy. I can't choose just one because this hobby has been such a defining aspect of my life for so long, and the times and memories that have come about from it are just too good to pick one.

When someone meets you at larp, how can they best get to know you/engage with you?

I try to be engaging with anyone that comes up to me, but when he is distracted Taios can be a bit standoffish. The best way to engage with me at LARP is honestly to come up and show genuine interest in whatever is going on. Alternatively, if you ask him for help Taios can sometimes be a bit of a sucker so you'll at least get advice, but possibly more.