With summer fast approaching, I have decided to put up what I do on summer break (besides assist with Habbox Summer Spectacular!) for my first article here.
I play with a LARP group called the Mixed Medieval Arts – LARP is short for Live Action Role Play, which is like war reenactment but in a fantasy setting á la Lord Of The Rings. Well without further rambling, here we go… let our adventure into the true meaning of LARP begin!

King Audwinn Ravensguard of Draynor

Every year a group of fantasy-loving nerds gather in the forests near Watford, Ontario, for a set of weekends in the fields we know as Sunderwall. What we do here is extraordinary, immersive, and even daring at some point. We are LARPers (Live Action Role Players). It is like jumping back in time to a world with heroes, villains, and magic. It is an immersive story, and we love making our armour and weapons just as much as we enjoy putting them on and wielding them in massive field battles. At the end of the day, you can never replicate the sense of peace that being out in the sun brings over your soul.

We arrive on the nature filled landscapes just like every other time, awaiting the beginning of the grand story for the weekend. We set up our camps, get the fires going, and mingle with each other in our great capital city, known as Thunderfall. Then things usually get nutty… and by nutty I mean interesting. The NPCs show up. They are Non-Player Characters hired by the game developers to move the story along. The NPCs could be anything from a sieging army to a massive dragon that has come to burn us all alive! The great thing about being immersed in the story is that you decide what you do, with no script. If you slay the dragon, you actually feel like you have slain a dragon. Nothing in the world can compare to this feeling.

Left- King Audwinn Ravensguard
Right – Champion of Draynor, Evol Takana

Since I was 10 years old, I have been playing with swords and practicing proper technique, and eventually even made my own. However, my favourite part of swordplay is when I actually get to step out into the ring or on to the battlefield. When you’re in battle out there, you get a surge of adrenaline that is almost addictive, even though you receive bruises, fractures, and sometimes even a sprain or two. Those are the things that make it much more interesting and enjoyable.

Another one of the bigger draws of coming to our game is the fact that all of our great gear is hand crafted, in whatever style we like. When people see you hit the battlefield in your master craft armour and you draw that sword you put so many hours of work into, it is an incomparable feeling.

Finally, there is my biggest personal draw: the fact that being out there in nature truly puts my mind, body, and soul at ease. My life is filled with the constant stress of working radio station upkeep, bills, and all the other stresses of modern life. However, when I am away from my phone, computer, and tablet, I truly feel like no stress can reach me, nothing can breach the almost magical barrier of peace that those trees create. I remember what my good friend, Dusty, told me out there, “Think of this as your happy place. Enjoy the way the light hits everything, the sounds and smells of the forest“. Those words help me in my stressful day to day life. Just thinking about the lands is a little fragment of peace. For me, this is the biggest draw.

King Ravensguard, ready for battle!

I guess a lot of things draw me, my fellow companions, and even the random people we share the lands with into Sunderwall, whether it’s the immersive story or the hand crafted armour, weaponry, and clothing – or even the bruises and occasional broken bones from a duel gone sour! However, most importantly we all share a love for nature and the unexplainable peace it brings, that is why we journey to the magical lands!

What do you do in the summer? Is it as crazy and daring as this? Tell me in the comments below and leave a like while you’re there! I always love to hear from the community. I hope you enjoyed the first of my many articles!

-DJ TripJay HxL DJ, Events Host, Recruitment Staff, Competitions Mastermind, Noob Articles Staff and Slayer Of The 24 Hour Airtime Record Mission

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