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Greetings all! My fellow Kyoudai and I have only recently returned from our glorious escapades at the 1998 Lake Geneva Gaming Convention and WHOA, what a blast! This was my third GenCon and it far and away the best of the three. My penultimate enjoyment was due in no small part to the involvement of the staff of the Alderac Entertainment Group, publishers of the Legend of the Five Rings role-playing game. Let me just say that no matter how cool you think these guys are, they are cooler yet. Unlike the staff behind many prominent RPG's, these guys spend their time running games, talking to the fans, masterminding monumental events like the live-action role- playing session, etcetera, etcetera. I love the L5R RPG and I'll happily funnel my cash into such a cool game with such great people behind it.

Did I mention we took along our digital camera?
No? Well, we did. And to prove it, have a look at some of the stuff we saw.

			AEG's resident miniature mastermind, Clan War developer Ken Carpenter, hangs out at the AEG booth. Note the promo poster for 7th Sea in the foreground.

They went awfully quick, but there were lots of Clan War boxed sets available at the AEG booth. That's AEG'er Maureen Yates in the foreground and I think the guy behind her is Steve Hough of Shadis fame. Sorry about the glare.

			The man John Wick himself during his infamous "Experienced Gamers" session. We were in Otosan Uchi during the Scorpion Clan Coup. Although I should point out that none of us actually died, we were all really beat up. My character alone got two arrows in the gut and Bayushi Shoju himself pimp slapped me with the hilt of the Scorpion Ancestral Blade.

It has absolutely nothing to do with L5R, but I thought this was pretty impressive, so I thought I'd throw it in. Big, ain't it?

			Here's the crew from John Wick's game. Seated are Melanie "Ryosei" Howell and John "Uikuu" Wick. Standing from left to right are Ryan "Moto Chang" Carman (my brother), Matt "Mirumoto Kyuzo" Schenck (my roommate), Shawn "Ashinagabachi Ichiro" Carman (that's me!), Jeremy "Mad as Hell" Cobert, Carl "Kituski Kono" Moore (my roommate), Rob "Kaiu Osuki" Dake (my roommate), and Kelly "Shinjo Killbeggar" Crane. That big blob is the thumb of the guy we had take the picture. Figures. There's another picture of the group at the bottom that's a little clearer.

If you were at GenCon this year, you know the guy on the right. It's Syl, the door guard at the convention center. My boyz and I were lucky enough to get to know Syl. He took us all out on the town one night while we were there and let me tell you, he may look old, but he's got more energy than any ten men in their prime. After six hours of non-stop clubbing and mosh pits, my crew had to call it quits, but good old Syl just kept going. We saw him again bright and early the next morning, apparently none the worse for wear. The man is a machine, I'm telling you.

			Ree Soesbee at the L5R LARP as Kakita Ryubo, the event's humble hostess. I believe she's greating some guests here. The bald guy in the red kimono is my roommate Matt, who was playing the role of Daidoji Uji. The guy against the wall and mostly obscured by the gentlemen in the black kimono is my roommate Carl playing the role of Kitsuki Kono. He was pretty popular when bodies started turning up.

When asked what he'd be wearing to the LARP by my roommate Matt, John whipped off his AEG hockey jersy to reveal...the Shinsei 3:16 shirt!! Unfortunately for the rest of us, this shirt was custom made by an unnamed party and presented to John at the con. If the rest of us want them, we'll have to have the made ourselves. Sounds like the perfect ensemble for an outing to one of those professional wrestling events that John and so many other L5R fans seem to enjoy, doesn't it? Photo courtesy of Melanie Howell.

			Here's what the back of the shirt says. I find this horribly amusing. Photo courtesy of Melanie Howell.