Rhiassa Presents: Feast of the Leviathan XXIII Gathering and Parting

Greetings my friends,

It has been far too long since we have come together to feast under the banner of Leviathan. When you find your way to Southland, Rhiassa this year and enter our hall it will have been almost two full years since the last time we all met there to celebrate our community and our bonds. To us, therefore, the theme of our feast this year must pertain to the joy we feel when we can gather together and the strength we find in one another.

Yet at the same time, the two years we spent apart were costly ones. Each of us faced tribulations. None of us endured without also bearing some kind of loss. And certainly the most present of all losses was that of a true paladin and paragon of our community who has left our company for the last time. Therefore, the theme of this year must also pertain to parting. To the pain of loss and the comfort we can find in enduring that loss as one people. This gathering is about giving us a chance to all say goodbye together.

The Feast of the Leviathan was a tradition from my rural homeland, a way of welcoming the deepest part of the winter with the resolution to endure and with the resolve to say goodbye to those who might not survive until the spring. It’s perhaps more appropriate than ever to have brought that tradition to the Realms. In the final analysis, The Feast of the Leviathan is about the fact that we need one another in our lives. These past years have laid bare that truth to all of us.

For our own part, Rhiassa pledges to extend to all of you a warm hall and all kinds of entertainment to make your day an enjoyable one. Lord Sir Gwen has always espoused that healing begins with good food and she will be cooking for all of you with that goal ever present. And lastly, we are honored beyond words to be able to hold, with the help of many, a traditional viking funeral ceremony for our dear friend who has passed on to Valhalla.

Life, as we know, is a series of gatherings and partings. Like waves across the surface of the ocean, relationships come into being though forces we don’t always understand, resonate with one another in countlessly complex ways, and then eventually fade away when their time is done. In those brief moments between when we gather and when we part is where we humans live the whole of our lives. So once again let us try to use this one day, when we come together in friendship, to make the most of the time that we do have with one another and with the relationships that we have forged. He would want us to. Of that I have no doubt.

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

First and foremost, it’s impossible to not address how COVID will be impacting the event this year. We’re very aware and completely understand that many of our community members and regular patrons are apprehensive about a large, indoor event with food preparation. We do expect this year will be a smaller event than usual but will do everything in our power to make it as successful as always. Please be aware of the following crucial things.

• To attend this event you must be fully vaccinated according to the current CDC definition. This definition was last updated on October 15 and can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/h5tz5476

• While you are indoors at this event you must be properly wearing a face mask. Masks may be pulled down while you are eating.

• Hand sanitizer will be widely available around the hall and we ask that people make use of it as needed.

• All staff will be fully vaccinated and masked and all food service will be done using gloves. All kitchen surfaces and utensils will be frequently sanitized throughout the day.

• Attending this event requires a paid pre-reg. We honestly don’t know how many people to expect this year, the numbers we plan for on a regular basis are likely completely inaccurate. We can only adequately prepare and budget by knowing who is going to attend. Those paid pre-regges must be received by midnight on January 2nd. Payment can be made through PayPal. The link is on RealmsNET or you can send it directly to jtrosa@giantsquid.net

• A person is considered pre regged once they have paid and also once they have filled out the contact tracing form found here: https://forms.gle/QY44G3ARTbeBXoALA

• Staff must also fill out the above contact tracing form.

• We will have reduced capacity to attend to dietary restrictions. If you have a common restriction such as being a vegetarian or having a nut or gluten allergy then there will still be a lot of food that you can eat. If you have a very restrictive diet please contact Jason to discuss it.

For those of you who joined us at the Feast of the Leviathan in 2000, you'll remember we made some significant changes to the format of the event that we felt worked very well and allowed people to enjoy the atmosphere and company to their fullest. This year that format returns with some modest improvements so please read below so you have a complete understanding of the day.

1. The bulk of the day will not feature traditional plated service to seated patrons. Instead, the hall will be set up with more widely spaced out tables which will seat ten for dinner but throughout the day will have seating for six. This will allow our guests to move around, sit together when desired or convenient, but be able to flexibly socialize with different groups throughout the day.

2. During this open hall portion of the day, food will be plentiful and varied. The kitchen will continuously be producing a wide array of small bites and amuse-bouche, brought out by servants on platters and circulated around the hall. Beyond that, there will also be a revolving station with more hearty offerings available throughout the day. We cannot stress enough that there is no way you will be able to spend the day hungry with the volume and variety of food that will be pouring out of the kitchen.

3. We will have a bar set up this year for drink service. The hall is dry, but we will have a welcome variety of both hot and cold drinks with some specialty items as well including the widely popular Rhiassan Fruit Fizz.

4. During this open hall portion of the day, entertainment and non-combat tournaments will be dispersed around both the large and small sections of the hall. Games and challenges, both old and new, will be available with some more grandiose games, announced periodically.

5. The Gilded Lion Carnival will return with opportunities to win gold and prizes through games of chance and skill!

6. The Chimeron Casino Royale will return along with Luck of the Lion the new Rhiassan table game introduced the last time the event was held. To encourage participation, especially by those who are new to playing at a casino, vouchers for some free chips will be available as you arrive at the door. There will also be a Stacked Deck poker tournament starting early in the day.

7. The smaller side of the hall will be set up with a stage and bench seating. Various games throughout the day will take place here. Announcements such as auction results, and entertainment such as bardics will take place on this stage with interested parties able to gather close by.

8. As always, there is plenty of space for merchants of all varieties to set up their wares. Contact Jason if you desire to do so.

9. Before dinner and while there is still daylight, there will be memorial services for Dave Hayden. These services will be outdoors either on the porch of the hall or the amphitheater depending on weather conditions. The full details of those services will be revealed on the day of the event but they will include a traditional viking funeral on the lake adjacent to the hall.

10. During the early evening, the hall will transition to a more traditional format. We will ask all of our guests to all gather on the small side of the hall and sit around the stage as we offer some unique and interactive entertainment with the opportunity for our patrons to have fun and win some valuable prizes! While this entertainment is going on, the large side of the hall will be transformed.

11. For this latter section of the event, the seating capacity of each table will be increased. We will have the usual reserved seating for nations available at ten people per table. Tables will be arranged with place settings and dinnerware.

12. Per our normal procedures, you can reserve a table for your group with pre-regges. Three pre-regges from the same nation will allow you to reserve a table. Again, this year tables will seat ten instead of past years where they seated six. Since all attendees will be pre-regged this year, I’ll let you know if you need less or more tables than you might have predicted when you contact me and throughout the process.

13. As our guests rejoin the larger part of the hall and take their seats, a hearty family-style dinner course will be served immediately followed by dessert.

14. During dinner Rhiassa will host court, followed by the awards ceremony.

This is a dry and drug free site. No alcohol may be brought on site for any reason. All real world laws are strictly enforced at this site and camp staff will involve the authorities if necessary. No pets are allowed on site.

This is a dry site. No pets allowed.