Lucy

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

My name is Lucy/L.J. Richardson (She/They) and I'm an actor and author by trade. Ever since I was young, I loved stories. My parents used to read the Chronicles of Narnia to me every night before bed and eventually I tried my hand at writing myself and completed my first novel in my Senior Year of Highschool in 2016. Along with writing stories, I loved telling stories. When I saw a touring production at my local library for the first time at about 7 years old, I thought...That's what I want to do. Flash forward to January 2019, and I'm in college studying Theatre, and playing Dungeons and Dragons with my future partner Caitlin and our friends. One night Caitlin brought up that they had been interested in a nearby LARPing group and we all joined forces to brave the unknown and LARP together for the first time. We got hooked big time.

LARPing for me is the combination of all my passions. There's the element of essentially writing a collaborative story with your fellow players and GMs to tell an epic story you never thought possible, and the added rush of adrenaline from getting to live the story by embodying your character. It's the safest I've ever felt expressing myself and allows me to try so many things I wouldn't otherwise. But the best thing about LARPing is the people. I have met actors, surgeons, lawyers, musicians, accountants, artists, and so many other incredibly talented people I probably wouldn't have met otherwise all coming together with the express purpose of living in a story together for a weekend each month.

What are your other interests?

As an author, in addition to my novel, I got the privilege of being able to write, premier, and star in a historical fiction period play called "Man of the Woods" about the story of Petrus Gonsalvus and the origins of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast. As an actor I've been able to play roles like Laurie Lawrence in Little Women the Musical, Jack "Ernest" Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest, and Pat Gilbert in Rodger's and Hammerstein's State Fair. In 2019 I was cast in an independent limited crime tv series in development called Chemical Bonds (filming completed before the pandemic, release date tbd) and got the chance to direct a semi autobiographical comedy short film called Stars in their Eyes.

I love radio and hosted my own radio show in college and currently host my own Podcast about LARPing for beginners called LARP 4 Life with my partner Caitlin.

I also love singing and playing my guitar, (thus why I chose to be a bard) and currently lead worship at my Church in Concord Michigan.

I love reading, and my favorite book is The Neverending Story by Michael Ende and it's 80's film adaptation is my favorite movie.

My favorite tv shows are Doctor Who, The Mandalorian, The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance, and The Witcher

I also enjoy videogames, particularly rpgs like Oblivion, Dragon Age Origins and Knights of the Old Republic II

I'm a connoisseur of seafood and Chinese food and my favorite restaurants are Panda Express and Red Lobster

But most of all I love my partner Caitlin and enjoy sharing life with them.

Tell us a bit about your character(s)!

Faethana Moonflower (She/Her): Faethana is a young moon elf bard in her late teens/early twenties, somewhere between adolescence and adulthood. She has silver hair, pale skin with a bluish tint and purple-blue tattoos of her family tribe though her most striking feature is a patch of skin on the right side of her face with the appearance of a starlit night sky. Born to a family of dressmakers, she never goes anywhere without a complete wardrobe and accessories, always wearing a fancy dress; a pair of white satin gloves; and a fan and parasol to protect her delicate Moon Elf skin from the harsh sunlight.

Faethana has two loving parents named Allafel and Delina and a feisty little sister named Valindra. The three run a dress shop in the city of Gateway on the plane of Phantara. Faethana is betrothed to her childhood friend Hana, a Valken-Vi who aspires to be a witch hunter.

Faethana is kind, energetic, inquisitive and fashionable. She loves talking to people and is most likely to just walk up to anyone and ask for their name and a little about themself. Faethana has a calming voice that carries wisdom and empathy. Her greatest fear is losing the people closest to her and she struggles with choosing between actions for the good of the many, and actions for the good of her closest friends. She is also very naive, easily trusting due to her desire to make friends.

Veil Virago (They/Them): A character I want to play eventually at Convergence is Veil Virago, a draconic sylvan with scales on half of their face. Veil is a con artist, a trickster and is always getting into trouble, while being roguishly charming about it.

Other Characters from other LARPS

Dravyn (She/They) (CARPS): A tortured, stoic, yet emotional High Elf Battlemage on the road to redemption.

Hal Buttercup (He/Him) (CARPS): A silly Guthrie bard with a voice like Mickey Mouse meshed with Gomer Pyle and a baritone singing voice.

Cordelia Clearwater (She/Her) (CARPS): A bubbly, accident prone, and hapless Allerian healer with a rich upbringing and no real world experience who frequently gets in over her head, yet is always ready to lend a healing hand to any fallen adventurer.

Elro Berien (He/She) (KANAR): The most unlucky wood elf in all the world who not only lost his father and friend, but accidentally helped murder a shopkeeper and got blamed for destroying a town.

Luna Stark (She/Her) (Archon): A Wolfen (Natural Born Werewolf) Assassin with the personality of a puppy, a love of the woods and mystic grove where she lives, and a thick Scottish accent who seeks to learn more about her heritage.

Lady Twilight Valdris (She/Her) (Archon/Shifted Lands): A variant of Faethana from a timeline where she was separated from her friends and family and left in a hostile world where she embraced dark magic to survive, becoming the enigmatic diplomat dark mage Lady Twilight.

Bluebelle (She/They) (Shifted Lands): A former tree that was transformed by magical mists into a Sprite. Now able to speak, eat, feel emotions, and see for the first time, Bluebelle is excited to be really alive and discover all the joys of being a fey.

Emmory Rosewood (She/Her) (Sylvaris): An elven archeologist, fortune teller, and artificer who is on a quest to unearth ancient civilizations and recover priceless antiques with the help of her wisecracking twin brother Derick and their would be pirate friend Icarus.

What is your favorite larping memory?

Oooh! That's a hard one!

I'll give you three:

>As my character Draven in CARPS, I had a moment after the worst possible day where his good friend Horus died, and he nearly lost his life in the Darkwood leaving him feeling worthless. All his friends and family came to him and each helped in their own way, from his surrogate mother figure Orren having a heart to heart, Orren's butler Ridgewell giving Draven a duel he could win, and his mentor and guild leader Peter Rand giving Draven a pep talk about how no one can be expected to face the world, and that Draven had all the time to grow and had no obligation to face things just to prove himself.

>Starting my first event at KANAR as Elro the Elf and in a few short hours...
>Accidentally assisted an assassin's guild in a murder thinking it was a thieves guild, thus gaining the dreaded black spot.
>Survived the disappearance of the town of Illveresh and consequently got blamed for it.

>My first ever LARP event where I got to sit around a barbarian campfire and eat meat cooked on sticks over an open flame, listening to the laughter and stories of all the other players and feeling the immersion for the first time.

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

The best way to get to know me is simply to come right up and introduce yourself! Tell me about your character and their family. Tell me what they like and what their goals are! I love hearing all the creative stories people come up with and I love making new friends! Don't be intimidated by my extravagant gowns and seemingly posh exterior. It doesn't matter if you're a warrior, a mage, a politician or a thief. As long as you're willing to share your story with me, I'll be there to sing of your exploits and tell the world of your feats and triumphs! Let's tell new stories together!