Rhiassa Presents: Feast of the Leviathan XXIII Gathering and Parting

January 15, 2022

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

Event Holder was Jason T Rosa.

Feastocrat was Lani Jones.

Event Description
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
Event Wrap-up
Hello everyone. In the wake of Feast of the Leviathan XXIII, Jen, Lani, and I would like to thank everyone for their amazing and sustained efforts that brought the event to fruition.

For helping with the many hours of food preparation that happened before the day of the feast, thank you to Alex Cannamela, Katie Cannamela, Katherine Skeggs, Ben Hamilton, Nick Quadrini, Alyssa Lee, Nataliya Kostenko, and Neil Kusleika.

For food service at the event and making sure everything ran well in the kitchen throughout the day, thank you to Nick Quadrini, Alyssa Lee, Nataliya Kostenko, Jax Kusleika, Rhiannon Kusleika, Cory Roy, and Katherine Skeggs.

For taking shifts tending bar, Cal Marsden and Neil Kusleika.

For running the Carnival and taking care of other tasks as needed around the hall, thank you to Alex and Katie Cannamela. And thank you to Katie for setting up the Zones of Meditation. 

For running Adventurers Guild questing challenges, Tucker Noyes and Zach Senchuk.

For the operation of the casino and the administration and operation of the Stacked Deck tournament, Sean Veale, James Murphy, and Steven Matulewicz.

Also thank you to Realms Outfitters for setting up their merchandise and the Order of the Peacock for running the Pop Up Swap Shop.

We would like to extend a very special set of thank yous to everyone who worked hard to make sure that the memorial for Dave Hayden was a special and memorable event. Thank you to Matt Butler, James Murphy, Steve Nelson, and Keith Cronyn for building the amazing vessel that was launched to hold the funeral pyre. Thank you to Sean Veale, Neil Kusleika, Alex and Katie Katie Cannamela, and Kevin Weeks for procuring the supplies needed to make sure it ran well. Thank you to Kelly Bonci for organizing the ceremony and speaking words on behalf of all of us. And thank you to Christina Hayden for her support and her love and for making sure in all ways that what we attempted to do was worthy of Dave.

Finally, thank you to everyone who braved the bitter cold and the long drives and all other obstacles to be with us for the event this year. It was a tough one in a lot of respects but we are happy we were able to see you all and feed you all. Please do us the favor of leaving an event review on RealmsNET if you are so inclined.

Thank you once again and we look forward to seeing you next year.

Jason, Jen, and Lani
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