Secrets of Shattered Iron

(Chapter 3: The Legacy of Shadovald Reaches A New Age)

The University of York Science Fiction And Fantasy Society has a long tradition of running high quality LARP. The past nine years have seen countless friends join together to create and play in a multitude of systems; varying from campaigns stretching over several years, to one-off LARPs, and everything else in-between.

Age of Iron is the newest twice-weekly system. It will take place during university term times, on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. The first session will be held on the Sunday of the Week 2 SF&F convention (that's the 21st of October for everyone using the Gregorian calender). Future posts will give you all the details you need to attend, but seeing as that's almost two weeks away, we have time to wallow in a little nostalgia...

We present here some photos from a few of the weekend events have run over the past few years.

It all started off nine years ago with The Secrets Of Shadovald, which we shortened to simply Shadovald. This was a game where everything was against the players. The world was being overrun by undead, demons were hidden secretly among the gods, and the people of the world had all given up hope. All, that is, accept the heroes of the Dagmari Arms, a pub filled with people who refused to role over and die. Lets take a look at them. 

The adventurers had made themselves a nemesis; a gobby, vindictive creature who wanted vengeance for his death. After a gruelling fight into the dreaded Shadovald, they dealt with the politics of the undead, the politics of the living, aggravating vampires, and the king of the dead city Atharu; all cumulating in a final show down in the city's crumbling Colosseum...

Regional politics had left the city of Gilzenburg ridden with civil war. Planetary seismic activity had left rifts in reality that spewed forth creatures from other worlds. Demons wanted to consume the city, and with their stolen iron-clad ship, they had the fire-power to do so. Into all this came the conscripted adventurers, sent in to do the work that others would charge too much to do...

During the first event, the death or departure of everyone who knew what was happening left a great many loose ends. The undead used this to their advantage, and the King of Atharu began invading their home city, Inselburg. With the help of a manipulative necromancer and a nuclear weapon, the adventurers bought their people enough time to escape the city, selling their lives heroically in the process.

With the destruction of just about everywhere on Shadovald's map, it was time for a new system. It was named Shattered Legacies, though we all shortened this to Shat-Leg. This was the game where the adventurers sold out, abandoning any heroic ideals for their own ends. The tsar of their city, their barman, and various other important people, all ended up possessed by the same demon, and the players were more than happy to go along with it. 

At the start it all seemed so innocent! These are the adventurers of the New Star, setting off to destroy the twisted, false-god of destruction. They journeyed to the ruins of Zenith, destroyed Dragon, took control of the city's golemic protectors, and began rebuilding the city.

The rot has well and truly set in! Civilisations have fallen before their blades, and worse is still to come. The adventurers of the New Star, now known as the Knights of Ambala, return to Zenith. They leave the city a crumbling ruin, discover they have been manipulated by the demon Slayer all along, then happily hand their master the Mantle of Death. How could things get any worse?

The end of the world is upon them! Nemesis, a tentacled beast from beyond the stars, is descending to wreak havoc upon the world as it has so many times before. The Knights of Ambala must destroy the god of fear, journey beyond the ruins of Zenith, and vanquish this threat of the ages. Only then can they begin beating the world into submission, forcing all to kneel before Slayer... 

These are but a few highlights of the past. Shadovald and Shat-Leg have been accompanied by so many other short-term LARPs that I dare not try to list them all, least I do any the injustice of overlooking them. Now, as we enter the tenth year of Secrets of Shattered Iron, they find themselves joined by Age of Iron. We have a lot to live up to, but I believe we are up to the task. 

This blog will act as a celebration of the past and the future. The next few weeks will see the release of more information, and you can contact us by following the links on the right, up towards the top of this page.

Hope to see you soon!