Elements
Walpurgis is an immersive and narrativist larp that throws away any pretense of naturalism, favouring the irrational and the symbolic. The techniques implemented will be practiced in pre-larp workshops.
Intense contact
Intimate and violent contact will be regulated by escalation techniques, more focused on expressing violence, desire and submission than enacting them. Safety comes first and opting out is always an option. The threshold of physical contact is medium: hugs or light shaking being enough to enjoy the larp.
Read and misread
Most knowledge of the coven is based on misreadings. Interpretations are taken too literally, others are incomplete or heavily weighted to a given course. Misreading and suspending logical thinking in favour of irrationality are encouraged.
Second Sight
Follow your impressions and insight. Open your Second Sight to decipher the whispers of the Dark Gods, to journey beyond the obvious and the gross to the living truth and meaning.
Wrestle for your wisdom and create your truth.
The Great Work
A work of becoming, of culmination, of achievement. Initiation brings both power and slavery through a pact with the Dark, and it is the beginning of a journey to fulfill The Great Work. Each Initiate has a series of suggested tasks and mandatory fates that compose The Great Work, crowned by an achievement that unveils the Truth about the character’s self.
Even if they are mandatory, they are a light fateplay and won’t compromise your decisions as participant.
Beneath the Dark Goddess
The fickle flame of the Light Bringer cannot stand Her ocean of darkness, even if She tolerates Her husband childish play to give form to Her creations.
Primacy of women is not just a feature, but a rule of conflict. No man can prevail over a woman in a conflict, although futile resistance is allowed.
Fragmented Time
Not fluid, but broken, disjointed. Intoxicated, even cyclic. Fragments of past and future nights will enter the time stream, while objects that should not be there are part of the scenery. Initiates break the usual perception of time as the Walpurgis sabbath approaches.
Path to No End
Deep in the night, far from mundane light, roads fade to darkness. Paths turn and shiver for the return of the prodigal son.
There is no way out until the last veil unfolds, no escape by your own foot or in the arms of death.
What is life but a dream, an illusion grounded by flesh. Fear not your existence to end, but to remain under the slavery of the Unknown.
Into the Other Side
Reality, the limited perception of the human mind. The awakening breaks the illusion in a sea of darkness. In imperfection, mercury mixes with gold. Confusion to foul the seeker of truth. Impossible, nonsensical paradox, arm in arm as a long accepted companion.
Incubation
The Greek knew that caves are openings to the Other Side. During the days before, the coven sleeps on caves and perform rituals inside or close to their openings, in preparation for Walpurgis Night. Caves are not just an exotic place to live, but a tool for transformation and inner journeys to the Dark Gods infernal realms.
The Womb
Through a ritual, Initiates can enter The Womb, alone or with others. Inside, all things are dissolved into the Prima Materia. What they see or experience in the Womb is beyond time and space – it is a mythic journey sketched by the Initiate, and others inside are perceived through the lens of a magickal trip, devoid of sophistication. No word can be said inside The Womb. Physically, this symbolic space is the hammam, the arab baths in the cave houses.
Magick
The path to the Underworld opens both ways and magick is the key and the gate. It is communion with the Other Side of reality, that which is Unseen. Magick is composed of diegetic techniques designed to make the Initiates relate: to each other, to oneself, to the caves inside and outside. Initiates throw themselves into magick, no holds barred.
Tarot Arcana
Characters are written by the organizers, but tailored to the participants.
The Initiates spawn from the Tarot Arcana. They symbolize and embody that given Arcane and have a psychological dependency on it, in a conscious as well as unconscious way.
Original Arcana are limited to 21 aspects, with the essence of those who share the symbol linked, their destinies intertwined.
The Fool
There are some Initiates that are also vessels for the Other Side. The psyche of such bridges is damaged by the close contact with the Other Side and they are both reviled for their weakness and needed by the coven for the rituals and ceremonies that require a channel.
Play to Flow
We want you to play not to win, neither to lose, but to flow. Flow along the actions and reactions of other characters, flow along whatever is coming. Don’t stop anything. Don’t block anything. Don’t attach yourselves to any expectation in your mind.
A proactive attitude of the participant is needed to create and meddle in other character’s affairs.