Wendy

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

I got into LARPing because someone I knew wanted to get back to a game, and asked if I was interested. I threw together a quick outfit of garb I had from Renaissance Festival times and pulled a cloak over it all and became an Elf Mage. That game did not go so hot, and we ended up leaving early in the weekend.

A couple years later, we went back, and I stayed for a few years, playing a couple different memorable characters. I've since played in a couple of different systems, did some beta testing and now I'm hanging out at Convergence.

Outside of LARP I do the boring 40 hour work grind to pay for my hobbies, which include chainmail, leather and assorted other crafts.

I like to get in on tabletop games when friends are involved, and generally try and do creative things.

What are your other interests?

I'm currently doing the college thing, for a personal goal of finishing a degree in Global Studies, though I will likely take forever to get it, because I'm planning to take all sorts of interesting courses along the way, just learn things and basically make college another hobby.

I also love to work on creative things, leather, chain, foam and assorted other things that catch my interest.

Tell us a bit about your character(s)!

My first serious character was Kairavi Ashwind, a Kesserin, who had left her home to hunt down her brother after he had turned traitor to the family. That led her to the outpost of adventurers at Shifted Lands, and she began her training with goals of becoming a Paladin and Dragon, with hopes that her Paladin mark would be a sun and her scales would be one of the good aligned colors.

My second character was Amaya, the once 9-tailed Kitsune who lost eight of her tails when her home plane was destroyed, depositing the survivors in a new world. She felt the pain and anguish of all of those who passed on in the destruction, and that manifested in Chaos and raw Mana magics. Her go to spells were nightmares and death for her enemies, while doing all in her power to protect her remaining and newfound friends. She had regained her third tail just before I stepped away from that game, and was on her way to becoming part of the fae world.

At CARPS I play a Sylvani Dragon Mage, following a Red Dragon named Sheldon. Kalani is a bit naive, a little flighty and easily flustered, but she's a force of Fire and Life who will do what needs to be done to protect her friends.

And now at Convergence I play Keeta, the Celestial Red Panda. Her story is just starting, but it mostly includes all things apple, tricks and a bit of mischief, keeping her friends on their toes and going off on adventures.

What is your favorite larping memory?

Kairavi: Attending the May Fair, getting her face painted by the Harlequin and looking in the mirror to see a sunburst and gold scales on her face.

Amaya: Meeting the Queen of the Fae, explaining her plight of having lost her tails, waking up the next morning with a second tail and feeling just a faint bit of hope. Closely followed by a number of nightmare memory plots that left her in various forms of distress over losing her tails, her people and hope.

Kalani: Wow, sort of hard to call it for her. There was the day she was made a Dragon Mage by Sheldon, with the help of someone who believed in her. There was waking the Elder Red Dragon, Doanne, in Necroverse, while my friends and loved ones were fighting to save two worlds. There have been so many memorable times as Kalani.

Keeta: Still a little new around here, so I'd say Red Panda shenanigans, because it's just too fun.

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

Honestly? I'm not all that great at being approached directly. I'll get to know you by doing things in groups and sort of introduce myself as I get comfortable around people. I tend to stay around the people I really know and trust, and slowly meet others.

I promise this is not because of anything other than the fact that I deal with a lot of social anxiety, so I have to do things at my own pace.