Fire away on the ending here. All questions, comments, etc. are welcome! As are cookies!

The thread you want is here.

: Thanks, you are a love. I guess I jumped the gun a little. I went back and revised my question and made a post.

Permission to speak freely?

Of course.

torn between laughter and tears A VULCAN NERVE PINCH! <3

GO LARIANNE! But why isn't Lightning still lying? O.o

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE, WE DID IT!

Also, since we're winding down, can I get three cheers for our lovely leader, GreenRowan? She deserves an award or something. <3 We're not an easy group to lead, but she does it with style.

Believe me, I know folks who can do that IRL.

Crown Prince dispensation, and of course, he won't be lying anymore...

REally? That's awesome.

AND OH JEEZ. Lappy! sobs But Larianne, you're blaming Tanaka? Silly child. sigh This is going to be fun.

I want to know more about that girl in the crystal, and bounces Now I'm already excited for next year. ^.^;;

:

: Thank you.

I really enjoyed working with my crew on this adventure, they are an outstanding group and very creative. I am extremely proud of them for overcoming difficulties and producing fine work. ( pneumonitis, surgery, getting married { not a problem at all, just a very happy event that was much more a priority then WS, that's for sure} , falling off the planet and never being seen or heard from again, broken jaw, monsoons, losing internet, English as a third or fifth language...) Way to Go Rogues!!

I enjoyed the adventure, puzzles ( some extremely hard and challenging ) the HA challenges and especially the Companion Adventure. I greatly appreciate your hard work in hosting this event and your thoughtfulness and forbearance in dealing with our difficulties. You make this event worthwhile.

But our team struggled with the role plays, in that they were all battles aboard a vehicle of some kind. While I felt that our group did well enough, writing a battle in such close quarters demands cooperation and that requires a script / outline so that everybody knows what they are supposed to do as a group in order for the story to be cohesive. There was very little opportunity for each member to go off and do their own adventure because that strategy just doesn't work so well in a battle where your survival depends on your friends. Consequently, some of our team felt hampered by the structure of the outline, like our bards ( we had two ), who often felt like they had nothing within their skill set to contribute during the fighting except passing out arrows. Our alchemist felt like all she could contribute was throwing bombs that she had made. ( our bards didn't feel they had the knowledge or ability to perform battle-song spells, etc. ) The one exception was the off-world adventures, which was great, we each chose a planet or moon that was intentionally not within our skill set just to mix it up...

In comparison, last year, Kitcher the Alchemist made healing potions, knockout drops for Kobolds, dressed like a boy, ( which she hated ) filled in for Nancy on the stage and then got to blow up the Infernal hourglass. Donner fought rats, not battled them, gnawed on them and fought them. Teislyn wrote songs, mingled with a ritzy crowd, and used her bard skills in a variety of ways. There were a variety of RP situations other then just battles.

I'm not one to complain, I'm not offering advice, and my observations about the role-plays are most certainly clouded by the extreme nature of our difficulties. I most sincerely do not presume to have the knowledge, skill or talent to be in a position of telling you how to run an event as massive as Wayward Squirrel. I just wanted to express my one concern, and my one hope for next Wayward Squirrel adventure, that there are different kinds of role-playing opportunities other then battles.

Please forgive my impertinence if I am out of line. I mean no disrespect whatsoever, only my utmost admiration for you and your team. You are most fair and honorable, and I look forward to more Squirrel Adventures in the future.

As Always, I am,

Your Little One,

Frieda.

You should then be relieved, my Frieda, as should your teammates to know that WS4 will be set back in Crystania, and while it will involve defending a country, defeating an avaricious warlord, and dealing with some very nefarious magic from a pretty nasty enchantress, it will not have the full scaled battles of this one.

You and a LOT of our adventurers will be overjoyed to know that we will never, never, do vehicles again--no, no, no. They have been buried by Hamda under a 1000 year old willow, who is already weeping.

(In every round, even using all great player suggestions, there are always one or two things that don't work. The vehicles were one of these!)

This was a fantastic WS :D Poor Lappy though!

Paddy would like to make a request for some more "paws on the ground" stuff next time though - she really doesn't get on with heights, and was a little put out there were no rats to nom hehe :P And she would like to agree with that while the vehicle-based battle scenes were fun, it did make for challenging role-play, especially with her lack of battle skills ;)

However, she is already looking forward to WS4, and is considering asking the team's warrior to give her some tuition in the art of battling anything that isn't a rat ;)

So hoping that my schedule will allow me to participate in WS4. It was so fun following what I could of this yer's adventure!

Battles are never my favorite thing either. (In fact, I bloody hate them.) However, the Firefly scenario seemed to call for that type of conflict, and it made it possible to blend it in in the context of a Seelie/Unseelie war.

In all fairness though, there were only three of them. I think it was the intensity and magnitude of them that made them seem more and bigger. There will be some combat in WS4, but it will be much more individual, and more tuned to the classes that like that.

And to Lappy? Well, hope has wings.

battles she can do, but battles in vehicles were a bit of a nightmare for her (add in the heights, and she's more scaredy cat than werewolf) :P I think I was just a bit lost on the whole Firefly thing anyway - I need to watch more stuff like that! ;)

It was definitely a good WS though :D and I'm already looking forward to WS4 (and Nutsy!) :D

It was my first time playing WS and I loved it - and I am going to miss it dearly now! <3 Thank you so so much for hosting this, I can only imagine how much work it was and is! ^-^ I am really looking forward to WS 4 and to get Lappy back to normal and reveal the mystery of the girl in the crystal! <3

Myra wouldn´t mind less battling next year, too, however, where is battle, she can heal, so a little bit of battling is in oder, LOL.

( weeping now....) Thank you for caring. I was so nervous about even bringing it up, I have been thinking about this ever since I set up the captains forum, I didn't want to sound ungrateful or snarky. Thank you for your love and caring and understanding. ( offers you a cookie )

: ( sniff ) The rats in the tunnels of Crystania were nasty. At that's what Donner said. Kitchie didn't get to see rats, she was on stage as Nancy. You nom rats? Have you ever had creamed rat en croissant?

I think Paddy didn't realise rats were so tasty until she nommed one on a full moon - she prefers them raw, with maybe a side helping of ketchup ;)

Tanaka did mention some trip that might help. But Larianne blew up. ^.^;

I agree, the vehicle battles are tough. The biggest problem, really, is characters that aren't too familiar with them. I think giving people the /option/ of vehicle use for a segment that can work with or without would be fine, but saying everyone has to use 'em is not so much. My team actually had a lot of fun with the motorcycle maze battle. At least one person said that was our best rp.

Jean is excited to be returning to Crystania!

For any teams that want a better place to visualize their posts as they come together, I highly recommend TitanPad. I moved the rp segments over there, and putting them together became a lot easier, especially on me since I didn't have to stitch the different pieces together on my own, but just let everyone put their stuff where it needed to be. Googledocs is another good collab site.

You are incredible. I look forward to nutsy and squirrel adventures to come! :)

: in my tribe on Terra, our kind raise domesticated rats and mice as herd-beasts for consumption. Consequently, we have collected a lot of very fine recipes for the preparation of these beasts. One such recipe from my favorite author, Mr. Farley Mowat ( Never Cry Wolf ) called "Mice in Cream (Souris à la crème)" You can find the recipe on the internet. What is interesting is that he uses 99% grain alcohol for a marinade. Since it kills all bacteria, the alcohol can be re-used for a marinade the next time, or can be used to fuel an alcohol cook stove, or to remove paint.

We want you back, too! Whenever and wherever!

Unless you're joining Tanaka's fighting style, you shouldn't be airborne for a battle. You might be on or in a Cryspirate ship, but not have to fight with one. As to rats? Between the Wolfenhague sewers and the various dungeons of Falkor, you'll be right at home.

munching cookie When I host one of these, I expect criticism, and I'm critical of myself as well. Now, do be aware that the battle lovers haven't responded as yet, so you may well not get everyone in agreement. Battles won't be entirely eliminated for that reason. There has to be a balance--which vehicles rather disturbed, so they go.

Oh, I'm so glad you had a good time! That's what it's all about. And yes, hope floats with Lappy, and the girl in the crystal is a mystery that needs to be solved. When the past threatens to become the present, it must be dealt with.

If you get too nostalgic, please join in for Nutsy. :)

Option scenarios are always lovely, and I don't mind writing my way around them, BUT they also create another separate challenge for the judges. They have to be judged along the same total criteria for the points to be allotted correctly. This was the big killer here---the three events were BIG battles.

Still, unless you are traveling to or from a place, NO vehicles, and certainly not team designed ones!

Yea! Thanks, and I'm looking forward to seeing you there!

Haha, yeah, that was...awkward. <.< Jean loves her new hovercycle, though~ Expect to see her tearing up the road.