Rhiassa Presents: Feast of the Leviathan XXII Hearth and Home

January 18, 2020

Site was JN Webster Boy Scout Camp - Ashford, CT.

Event Holder was Jason T Rosa.

Feastocrat was Lani Jones.

Event Description

Greetings, friends,

It is that time of the season again and eagerly the kitchens here in Rhiassa bustle to life as we begin our preparations for the turning of the calendar and the arrival of the next Feast of the Leviathan. In truth, this is the happiest time of year for our nation. The anticipation of welcoming all of you to our halls provides us with great joy and we cherish the opportunity to fill your bellies and warm your souls. Beyond that, however, readying for the Feast of the Leviathan sustains us in a different way. The very nature of the undertaking requires that we all come together often to work long hours in preparation. That gathering of our selves and marshaling of our efforts helps remind us of our shared mission and passions as a nation. The planning for Leviathan is an opportunity, in many senses of the word, for Rhiassa to come home.

It is in the spirit of home that Lord Sir Gwen has designed this year's menu. Keeping with the format innovations from last year, we've designed a day where everyone can fully enjoy the atmosphere and activities around the hall by bringing hors devours and amuse bouche to you wherever you are. In the evening, however, dinner service will feature a hearty menu served family-style at your table. We're excited to share with you what a taste of home means to all of us.

Home means different things to different people, backgrounds and upbringings differ greatly among us and certainly everyone has had different experiences that made them who they are. Yet despite whatever specific joys or sorrows that connect us to our pasts, despite the geography of where each of us came from or the physical construction of where we grew up, the ideal of home conjures up something much greater than these details. Home is a place where we feel comforted, a place that heals our souls, a place where we are welcomed and cherished and where we in turn cherish others. A place where we truly feel at home is not always easy to come by, it can be a long journey to finally find ours and it can be hard earned even when it is in sight. But we can assure you though our own experiences that forging a home for yourself in these Realms is a possible and worthwhile goal.

So to all of you who have freely opened your homes in the past and to all of you who are still searching for a home of your own, we invite you to spend a day sharing in ours within the halls of Southland, Rhiassa. We hope you can find comfort in the friendship you will find, we hope you can heal your soul through the merriment and joy that will abound, and we hope that you will feel welcome and cherished even as you cherish those around you.

Leviathan with you,
Lord Sir Aeston, Lady Dame Areni, and Lord Sir Gwen Stromgate

Event Wrap-up

Hello all,

Well, that wraps up another Feast of the Leviathan. I chuckled a bit to myself this year when a couple of old-timers who were both there for the first Leviathan asked incredulously if this was really the twenty-second of them. Yup, it sure was. Itâs hard for me to believe it too. After all of these years, though, it never gets less exciting to throw them. The weeks of planning and cooking never become a chore. The execution of the event throughout the day is always the same rush of joy and adrenaline. I could spend some time contemplating why, but I already know the answer. Itâs because of the people. The people who step up to help every year make this event a joy to prepare for and a joy to run. Jennifer, Leilani, and myself would like to take some time now to thank those individuals who not only make the feast a success but who make the entire process a worthwhile endeavor.

First of all to all of the members of Rhiassa and other members of the community who we welcomed into our home to help us cook. The volume of food this year precipitated the need to buy a second chest freezer and we needed many willing souls to work their hardest to help us fill it. So we would like to extend our sincere thanks to Mary Rosa, Ben Hamilton, Alex Groom, Katie Cannamela, Katherine Skeggs, Siona Gouthro, Laura Bushaw, Cory Roy, Nick Quadrini, and Alyssa Lee.

It takes a whole community pitching together to throw an event as multifaceted as Leviathan so next we would like to say thank you to the very many individuals who staffed all of the parts of the event, both in the front and the back of the house, to keep food coming out of the kitchen and to make sure there was a myriad of entertainment options throughout the day. For running the Chineron Casino Royale, the Stacked Deck Tournament, and for helping Luck of the Lion make its Realms debut as a new table game, we would like to thank Sean Veale, Megan Willianson, Zack Koval, Steven Matulewicz, Nick Quadrini, Dave Harvil, David Rubenstein, and James Murphy. For setting up shop and giving a chance for the economy to circulate, thank you to Steven and Megan Matulewicz and Kelly Bonci. For keeping all the young members of our community entertained with Cub Care, Jen Gallagher, the Matulewiczs, Zach Senchuck, and Neil Kusleika. For staffing the Gilded Lion Carnival and the Shop, thank you to Ben Hamilton. For running Merchant Barons with me, Pi Fisher. For helping invent and executing Asirwar throughout the day, Alex Groom. For taking pictures all day, Nica and Shane Carlson. For general admission, Joel Henchar. For hosting the View from Valehaven awards, Keith Cronyn, Renee Booke, and Ryan Welch. For setting up and running the Zone of Meditation, Katie Cannamela and Crystal Roy, For creating challenging and entertaining questing challenges throughout the day though the Adventurers Guild, Tucker Noyes, Zach Senchuk, and Pat Bobell. For bringing the bar experience to new heights, Cal Marsden and Justin Theriault. For tirelessly working the dish room throughout the day and jumping into the kitchen as necessary, Doug Gibbs, Stephen Anthony, and Seth Flagg. For enduring the non-stop fast-paced action of the Leviathan kitchen and for helping make sure every one of our patrons got fed, Chuck Jones, Tammy Jones, Katherine Skeggs, Katie Cannamela, Cory Roy, Alysha Metcalf, Heather Magnoli, Anthony Quintana, MJ Rodriguez, Jacob Ruggiero, Angie Gray, Alyssa Lee, Nataliya Kosteno, and Madigan Kusleika.

And of course, thank you to the entire community who comes out to patronize our event each and every year. We only made it as far as the twenty-second Feast of the Leviathan because of all of you. Without fail you make your way to our doors and give us the privilege of doing our best to keep you fed and entertained, bodies filled with food and drink and hearts filled with joy and camaraderie. It is truly our greatest wish to give you the absolute best experience at Feast of the Leviathan that we can and to that end we humbly ask you all to review the event on RealmsNET.

Thank you again to everyone and see you all next January at Feast of the Leviathan XXIII.

Jason, Jen, and Lani

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