GMs: Ran McFadyen, with support from Andrew Lin, Eric, Leo (as Mercymourn), Victoria (as Augustine)
Players: Ian Gervase , Tony McGinn, Aer van de Water, Renee Ritchie, Loren, Moth Staples, Sean Nittner, Yev, Payton Martin, Andy, Alex, Zach Hauptman, Roisin, Reggy, Dragon
System: One Dance, One End by Hannah
THIS WAS THE GAME. This was the game I really wanted to play. It was my first choice in the sign ups and I was so happy when I got in. 1D1E is full of waltzing and necromancy and dueling and silly rules and true love and abusive relationships and real connections and service to the King Undying. It’s got it all!
Pitch
You receive a letter. Written on real paper! It reads:
“The Emperor, the King Undying, Necromancer Divine, King of the Nine Renewals, His Celestial Kindness, the Necrolord Prime, has determined a need for new Lyctors. He, in his great wisdom, has foreseen that the next set of Lyctors must combine Necromancers and Cavaliers from different Houses. He has called forth one Necromancer and one Cavalier from each House to attend a formal dance, at the end of which each Necromancer will select the Cavalier that they believe to be their divinely chosen Ordained Thanergic Partner.
You have been selected to represent your House. The coordinates of the Midnight Ball are attached. Find your Ordained Thanergic Partner and thereby prove yourself worthy to become a Lyctor.”
–
One Dance, One End is a knock-off of Warren Tusk’s The Dance and the Dawn games set in the universe of the Locked Tomb books by Tamsyn Muir. The target audience is people who are familiar with the Locked Tomb setting and want to spend an evening living in it; those who haven’t read the books often enjoy it as well and a summary of the setting is provided in the info sheets. No previous knowledge of Dance games is required.
One Dance, One End is set several generations before the events of Gideon the Ninth in an alternate universe where the Emperor had a different plan for recruiting new Lyctors. The premise is that seven necromancers and eight cavaliers will dance a series of dances with one another while each person tries to find their OTP. Some may find their OTP, others may fail and end up with a partner who is okay but not quite perfect, and at least one person will end up alone. This game is not about overthrowing the Emperor, discovering the secrets of Lyctorhood, making breakthroughs in necromantic research, unraveling political mysteries, or anything except finding your divinely chosen OTP. The primary interactions are dancing and (for cavaliers) stage-combat-style dueling.
Casting
I was able to sign up as a cavalier during game sign ups, so it was nice to have that locked in place (I wanted to duel), however I didn’t know which house I would be. Then I got the fated email with my casting….
Lisko Triune, Cavalier Primary of the Third House, Dauphin of Ida. Mouth of the Emperor, the Procession, House of the Shining Dead. Three for the gleam of a jewel or a smile.
And I could not have been happier. Lisko was everything I wanted in a cavalier. He was kind, abused by his necromancer, obsessed with fashion, in love with his necromancer, rusty with his blade, exhausted by his necromancer, and just wanted to see the world.
It should come as no surprise that this was the larp I went all out on for the costuming, complete with the purple and gold nail polish.
Prep
I read over all the notes, which thankfully weren’t too long so I was able to remember most of the details (not posting to avoid spoilers). I also contacted Tony who was playing Idowu Trigenius, my necromancer, and we plotted out a suitably tragic and dysfunctional relationship to be in (it involved a lot of Ido bossing Lisko around like a puppy dog and immediately melting down if Lisko wasn’t there to take care of him).
I also watched a few waltz videos and practices the steps. I decided I’d probably just use swing moves (which I know), the basic box, or stepping side to side if my partner wasn’t excited to dance.
The Play is the Thing
There was so much in this game, I’m going to start with a list of highlights and then expand on some of them.
- Fought (and lost) six duels.
- Constantly chastised and ordered around by Ido (my necromancer).
- Carried favor of 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 9th houses and had them taken away.
- Was part of a necromantic experiment done by Blythe Quinetus (5th house) who took a bit of flesh, but then healed it right up. I’m sure that was fine.
- More than once I had my would be dance partner sabotaged by another necromancer using blood vials. I felt so desired!
- Fell in love with Melias Septanimus (7th house), but I was not destined to be her partner. Even so I was ready to tend to her at her beside as she withered away, or go out into the world and return home with stories to tell her.
- Cared deeply for Moriah Quarinus (4th house) and was greatly saddened to learn her fate.
- Took pity on the Swithin Duo (2nd house cavalier) when it was clear he would pair with Ido.
- Traded wonderful banter with Brandeles Hectakirion (6th) and wondered if there was some secret that even I didn’t know I had!
- Formed a truly wonderful friendship with Gorehark Novarius (9th house) and though we both knew we were not to be OTPs, she helped me greatly through the the night, including once using her necromantic powers to silence Ido when he would have berated me for an entire dance.
- COULD NOT STAND Cadel Dyanarius (2nd house) which was ironic in multiple ways. One of which was that he was played by Ian, who was my lover in Kingsword. The other, I won’t revleal.
- Spent a LOT of time in the sulking corner, and got to speak with cavs from the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th while I did.
- Finally stood up to Ido “I must refuse, no I choose to refuse you!” Felt right.
- My soul was transformed into a black hole by Augustine causing unearthly pain.
- By process of elimination, practically on accident, I was chosen as a OTP. We would seek Lychtorhood together, though not happiness.
I could not have been happier.
Duels
I was really excited to duel in this game. I brought a gauntlet to use as my secondary and just thought it would look cool. It did look cool, I just never won. There’s mechanical reasons for that, which I won’t divulge because of spoilers but when I fought my 3rd duel with Melias’ favor, I knew I was doomed from the start, even though I wanted so very much to impress her.
How they started:
How they ended:
Not featured here was my duel with the 8th house (also lost, but was happy for Pilar Oct to win their first!)
Losing a duel meant sulking in the corner, but I often had company (there were frequently two duels between dances) and even when I didn’t I was pretty when I sulked. As a player I was hoping that I’d win one of them, but the more I lost the more I began to revel in being the last Cavalier to “figure it out”.
Love
I write this early on in my notes. “Ido is fucking killing me. I’d kill for him.” My relationship with Ido was strained (at best) and wholly dysfunctional (most of the time). Still, even after rebuking Ido we were tied together and in the end we did have a conversation about what life would be like apart. He almost seemed to regard me as another person with wants and needs of my own. Almost.
I’m not sure why, but i instantly wanted to protect the 4th house. Lisko just did like that the fate of the 4th was to die young for the Lord Undying. He just wanted them to have more in life. Though I couldn’t do much with Karis Tetra (4th house cavalier) besides lose to him in a duel, I did have several dances and subsequently several quiet moments with Moriah Quarinus (4th house necromancer). It seemed like we both felt trapped and had partners that didn’t understand us. I fought for Moriah, but it was clear I was not her OTP. Still, we had some lovely talks and I think we each inspired each other to be more hopeful. I was so sad when she picked Deidamia Nova (9th house cavalier) as I didn’t think they would find anything together but death and dismay.
But the 9th house was not as depicted in the books. Gorehark Novarius (9th house necromancer) was a wonderful spooky friend. Again, we realized that even though we enjoyed each other’s company greatly, we were not OTPs, but that didn’t stop some incredible acts of kindness, including Gorehark silencing Ido for one dance I share with him so I could have some peace. I spent a lot of my downtime sitting besides Gorehark sharing out thoughts on the world and our fates within it. A true friend.
Maybe something could have happened with Brandeles Hectakirion (6th house necromancer). We had one wonderful dance, full of grace and banter. I was enchanted at the end, as I believe he was as well, but he never asked me to dance again, so there was no way to tell.
But my heart was held by Melias Septanimus, Heir of the Seventh House, Countess of Halikarnassos. From the very first time she sent a warrior off to duel for her and I saw the glitter in her eyes, I was enchanted. We danced many times, sat together quietly talking about our passions and what we wanted in life. We even went so far as to speculate what a life together would be like. But I fought three duels with her favor and lost every one. It was clear we were not meant to be together. Such is the injustice of it all.
More Human
At one point, in the throws of my defeats I turned to the Lyctors to ask if there’s anything that could be done. Augustine took pity on me and asked if I knew the fate of Cyrus the First. He told me that Cyrus lured a resurrection beast into a black hole to destroy the creature and save the Emperor. He then asked if I would be willing to do the same. I looked with love and hated in my eyes at Ido (who at the time I still fought for) and said I would).
He took me out to the center of the stage told me to go to my knees. He placed his hands on my head and I felt all that was me, my soul, my body, my everything compressed and expanded, transmuted and transformed into something “else”. It was sheer agony, but after I had a moment to recover, I felt empowered by the ordeal. And I had the interest of many of the necromancers. Even the 2nd said I had a special “something” now. [Out of character Victoria told me to show this being as painful as I wanted it to be. We didn’t get pictures but I think I looked like I was dying…and I stared right into Ido’s eyes the whole time. So good!]
Thoughts on the game
This was the game I was most excited about from the beginning and it did not disappointed. I’ve heard there is a 2nd game (Two Dance, Two Furious) that I would gladly play as well. I had a wonderful time dancing, dueling, and working my way through the necromantic theorems of love.
Tony and me, with matching fingernails:
