Seven and a half years.
That's a really long time.
Especially in game terms.
But this past Saturday, I put to bed WEF, my once-a-month Amber diceless game. (don't bother looking at the page, there isn't anything there really, and now probably never will be).
I figure in all that time, we probably missed about six or seven sessions, basically making it 7 years of running. 7x12=84 sessions.
Whew!
It almost died a number of years ago. I was losing interest, I couldn't keep myself excited between sessions about running it. Day of the game, I was always on, always having fun, always wanting to keep it going. Then it would fade after the players left.
The first ennui was solved when one of my players, Jim, aka Myth, got talked into helping me run it. This worked out somewhat well - he helped me with some of the plotting and planning, and ran some of the NPCs with which I had saddled myself. But not all...I had tried to give some away, but had players protesting, so they were quickly reshuffled.
Then, late last year, I realized I was heading to the end. It was time. I'd done a lot of stuff, but it was time to move on. I planned toward ending by the end of this year, though I hadn't told anyone save Jim and Lou.
I finally had to break it to my players a few months back, when one of the players had finally gotten her husband to submit a character, since they were driving together to the game. I couldn't, in good conscience, let him start playing when the game would be ending in a few months. They seemed to take it all pretty well.
Then, last month, Lou and one other player, Kevin, put the final nail in the coffin. Lou's character Brennan, still in the grips of his Logrus Madness, got everyone together to solve the Fauxberon situation, and Kevin was going to get himself killed due to a poor assumption on his part, which would take out the NPC he was trying to kill, as well as another NPC, which would put Caprice, the most recent player and PC addition, in charge of the entire Dreamlands.
I realized it would all be wrapped up in the next session. Not even the end of this year as I had originally anticipated.
And so, this past Saturday, it all came to pass. Oberon exploded (literally!), Chyle killed Alex, but was killed by the Pattern in retaliation, which also killed Vash, which brought the Dreamlands into full Reality, an equal realm to Amber or the Courts, and Caprice as the only one with the training and ability to move easily back and forth to it. Stephan, Adrienne's twin and lover, is stuck in the Dream, alas for her. (eventually I see Adrienne as able to move into and out of the Dream, but probably not for a while.)
And in the end, the final wishes of Oberon were revealed. His eldest daughter, Cybele (re-founder of House Barimen, with her consort Brennan, and her personal bodyguards Benedict and Samuel) was to be the next Queen of Amber, or it would all fall apart. So said Oberon.
Grace, the one behind the false Oberon (this time...it was him, he was just compelled) died at the hands of her daughter Darcy and her former lover, Selwin.
I think Adrienne will spend time between Barimen, Amber, and Dream (when she can get there). She won't be happy with this, but she'll deal, as she always does.
I think Jerrym and Rhiannon will leave the Courts and return to Kashfa, visiting their daughter when she's available.
I see Phineas as moving into Barimen with Deirdre and Alain, and maybe eventually finding out who his Amber parent was. Most definitely finding out that Sevaren was the Benedict who had trained him.
I see Brennan encouraging Cybele to take up the role Oberon had prepared for her, and maybe finally giving in on the whole children thing (not that Cybele's desperate for children either), though maybe not taking the throne quite yet. Gerard did well as regent for a time in the past, he could be again.
Lydia could move into the Amber Ambassador to the Courts role, as she's somewhat more balanced with the powers within her, but not quite. Though she may take over as Head of Barimen; I could see Cybele offering her that role.
And I see Caprice being the Dark Queen of Dream for some time to come, with her two mentors dead and being such a very young person to come into so much power.
I think the game ended on a decent note. Not a great note, necessarily, but at least it didn't slowly fade away, or end on a really bad note.
It's hard for me to believe that, when I sent out my original call for players in late 1994, that the game would last as long as it did. I never anticipated it, even though the game's name was "Which Endureth Forever." Lou laughed and said that it should be "Which Endureth For a while," and I countered with "Which Endureth For a really long time."
I wish to thank all my players, past and present.
The original WEF cast list:
Julia Frizzell - GM and player of too many NPCs to list here, but some of the original characters were - Liam, Galen, Moira, Rhiannon, Rhys, Sebastian, Cybele, Samuel, Grace, Stephan, Margarethe, Lindra, and Alain
Louis Evans - Brennan, son of Bleys, consort to Cybele
Michael Curry - Jerrym, son of Brand, partner to Rhiannon, father of Caprice
Jim Smith - Artor, son of Osric
Yi-Mei Chng - Alaina, daughter of Faiella and Oberon, mother of Ardath
Jose Cunha - Selwin, son of Libra and Oberon, father of Darcy
Scott Whitney - Alexander/Snow, son of Fiona
Kevin Hudson - Chyle, son of Mara, originally of House Mishrak in the Courts
Corey Araujo - Rowan, son of Oberon
And the later additions:
Deb Atwood - Adrienne, daughter of Cybele
Dawn Baldwin - Lydia, daughter of Sebastian
Sarah Wishnevsky - Ardath, daughter of Alaina
Pat Washburn - Phineas, son of someone...it was never revealed in game
Jenn Jackson - Caprice, daughter of Jerrym and Rhiannon
Jim Smith - as co-GM, creator of Darcy and Simon, who discovered his Inner Flora one night to all of the players' amazement
You all helped me to have one of the best games I've ever run, or even participated in. I will miss you all terribly. (and oh $diety, I hope I'm not missing anyone!!)
I had a blast for the most part, and will remember the game fondly for the rest of my life, and I hope you will as well.
[Edited to add:] And I never could have done it without the support of my loving husband.