Most of my time on Gaia is spent wandering about, dropping in on random RP threads, though I'm probably most well known for my events. I started the whole RP Event craze that's gripped a sizeable group of RPers.

It all began with Grand Wish. Grand Wish was supposed to be a collaboration between me and another RPer. It was to be a two-parter, where I would handle the story and management of Part I, which would then lead into his deal with Part II.

Part I was the Wish. Adventurers the world over were promised any wish, if they could be the last one standing in a bi-millenial brawl on holy ground. The event itself sucked for most people, but the finalists had a massive fun attack. I also learned the basics for how to run a good event, all from my own mistakes.

Well, this other RPer never logged on to Gaia again, and I had no way of reaching him. I also had some issues with a friend's betrayal, and I decided to take a hiatus. Not before putting into motion the sequel to Grand Wish, the Grand Hunt. Grand Hunt was a two-week long event, in which the players wandered freely from thread to thread, vying for six mystical pendants that were hidden in their own ranks. themightyjello ran this event in my absence, and by all accounts, it was lots of fun. I did get to make a cameo at the end of the event, and made sure that the new plot I had created to cover for the missing collaborator continued smoothly.

Next came Grand Battle. The Wish had opened the door, and the pendants from the Hunt were involved in a dark ceremony to let the forces of general badness in. Barton Town was under attack, and it was up to the players to choose a side and have at it.

This event was an unmitigated disaster. So many administrative errors were made (many for the first time), we were lucky to squeeze out a few good, solid weekends of fun out of the whole thing. It dragged on for six months (!), before finally laying down to die in its own filth. I wasn't in charge of this event, either... though everyone involved, including me, learned lots.

Over the next year or so, a friend tried to work out a few Grand Wish-style events, but unfortunately, they never got off the ground--often due to flaky collaborators, just like the original Grand Wish itself.

Thankfully, every failure and semi-success taught me a new and valuable lesson, and in December of '05, I was ready to go at it again. Enter Broken City. The game structure was modelled after Grand Trilogy.

The story: Carter City, a metropolis to the west of Durem, is under attack. Four robots of unknown origin have declared war on the city, driving the citizens out and turning the thriving civic center into a ruin. An equally unknown group has called for the robots' destruction, a call for vigilante justice that the authorities cannot condone. Dozens of heroes flocked into the city to do battle with the machines, mere hours before the city itself was nuked and most barely made it out alive. This took place over a single weekend.

So, the conquering heroes can go to enjoying their reward now, right? Wrong. Begin Broken City, Part II: the group calling for the robots' destruction is revealed to be the robots' very creators, and they've been forced into hiding. Those with the robot cores, proof of their victory, have to hold onto the cores until they can collect their reward, but there's a catch. Whoever carries a core is struck with a powerful curse, each curse distinct depending on the robot its core was attatched to. Plenty of opportunity for competitors to steal the core from the original winners, and a week of chaos ensued. Finally, the group was able to contact the victors, and they were summoned to an abandoned hanger in Desert X.

Of course, Part III of Broken City was a trap. Taking place for several hours on a single day, the four win

Yeesh, ran out of typing space.

So, Part III of Broken City was a trap. Taking place for several hours on a single day, the four winners faced off against a fusion of the original four robots. Former foes became friends to fend off a far more powerful enemy. In the end, they managed to blow it up, and they walked away with tons of cash prizes. Sweet.

General consensus is, Broken City kicked a**. It likely launched us into a new age of sweet events, and was soon followed by the crazy Petals of Chaos and the intense Shades of Grey, both conceived and run by former Broken City competitors.

A little over a year later, and I'm still at it. Triad happened in early February of 2007. A weekend of players insanely vying for marbles, and it has perhaps resulted in the most property damage to Gaia at large out of any event yet. In the end the players were betrayed by their employers, who wanted nothing more than to get home. All the fun of Broken City, plus I learned as many lessons as I had learned in, say, Grand Wish. Double bonus.

At the moment, two events are coming up. The first, A Clockwork Purgatory, is being run by event running vets themightyjello and Joseph Brown, is going to be a plot-intensive event with limited player slots. The run date is yet undetermined, due to unforseen events.

The second is Arcturus Highwind's Plan Black, an event of war, assassination, and mayhem, scheduled to run in late April. I'm on the crew, and he's sure to tap many other event-crewing veterans, so you know it's going to be good.

Coming to you from the year 2013, an update!

Over the years I've come and gone like a tumbleweed on a pub crawl. I attempted several more events in that time, but it turns out that having a job divides my attention a little too much to be able to do events on the same scale that I used to. Funny, that. Still, I have a job I love and a wonderful family and cats, so I can live with less Gaia in my life.

One noteworthy event that came after the bulk of this profile was written: Unity. Unity was largely an exercise in tying together loose plot threads from other events, trying out wacky new game mechanics, and sneaking in bonus materials for players who come out to immerse themselves in lore. I don't consider it as great a success as Broken City, but it was up there with Triad and held lots of useful lessons. If anyone ever wants to try their hand at running an event like the old days, drop me a line and maybe I can give you some pointers.

With that, I'm going to hang up my Gaia hat, maybe start a nice fire in the fireplace, and drink a cup of tea. It's been a real blast playing with you, and I'll never forget it!