Rhiassa Presents: What Lurks Beneath V The Fury of the Flame

That was a really good five years.

When I look back at everything that went into the What Lurks Beneath
series of events, I don't so much remember the days of time that went
into building a new dungeon, and then fixing the broken pieces year
after year. I can't really recall the hours that went into the myriad
of props, especially the ones we gave away every time and hopefully
ended up in some memorabilia collections. I've mostly forgotten the
mistakes and embarrassments that were a part of the overall learning
process for all of us.

What I do remember was how much fun it was to tell that story.

What I do remember is how great it was to watch the latest group of
Rhiassans grow up along side this plotline, learning how to plan
quests and administer magic, and build props and all of those other
dozens of skills that go into these productions.

What I do remember is watching the players, over the years, slaughter
hundreds upon hundreds of monsters, go toe-to-toe with our puzzles and
physical challenges, struggle through boss encounters, and earn every
measure of their victories through floor after floor of hard fighting.
And sometimes get turned into frogs.

That was a really good five years. Thank you to everyone who was a
part of it, in all ways, great and small.

We closed out the What Lurks Beneath story in the style we were
accustomed to. Challenging, non-stop slogging through an endless horde
of enemies, light-hearted and engaging challenges, costuming and props
and effects that pushed our own limits in a lot of ways. And as
always, all of those things can only be done when you have a crew of
dedicated people working diligently toward the same goals.

We have 27 of those reversible brown/green NPCing tunics. We didn't
have enough for all of our NPCs. That is, frankly, amazing. I am
humbled that so many of our friends and allies turned out to help
staff this event. You truly made it possible to present the players
with the level of combat challenge we dreamed of. Thank you to the
people of of Grimloch, of Ashenmark, of the Southern Wastes, of
Mayerling, of the Oaken Guard and the greater UCONN community, of
Suffield practice and points beyond, and of course my loyal Rhiassans.
You fought honorably and with little rest for hour after hour of
dungeon room.

Preparation for an event like this is not easy, and I would be remiss
if I did not mention some individuals who went above and beyond to
bring this event to fruition. Lani Grayson, for making the newest
generation of cloth masks in the new imp style (available for loan
very soon!). Alysha Metcalf and Ben Grant for making an amazing fire
dragon, and Ben Hamilton and Alex Groom for giving it claws. Heather
Magnoli for manufacturing many, many fireballs and planning and
orchestrating her fire breathing skills to great effect. John Gouthro
and Christine Poulin for fulfilling the menial task of painting many,
many boxes. Jeremy Grayson for resuming his role of dungeon engineer.
And, of course, my wife, Jennifer DeNardis-Rosa for hours of work
along side me on countless little props, and for capturing the entire
event on film.

And, last but not least, my deepest thanks to all of you who played
through our final chapter of What Lurks Beneath, especially those of
you who made the journey more than once, and were there for many or
all of the years we told the story. Your enjoyments of and reactions
to everything we did was what made all of the effort worthwhile.
Please review the event. I cannot say for sure what is next for us and
how we will use that feedback, but I can promise that the years of
experience we gained holding dungeon crawls will not be put to waste.

Yeah, it was a really good five years. Time to start planning the next
five!

Best,
Jason