Larian Studios Forums General Chat Chat (Anything) Define Infinity

[color:"yellow"]Welcome adventurers, to a new story entitled: [/color][color:"pink"]Define Infinity[/color][color:"yellow"]. This artform has been successful in stories like The Wasteland Chronicles and its predecessors. But this story starts out with you, the authors, arriving at the Larian Gaming Conclave as your real-life selves. Your characters should begin by arriving at the Convention Center prepared to register at the Check-In Desk.

Let us begin ...[/color]

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Having waited impatiently for weeks, the envelope from Larian Studios arrived in the post today.

The words across the top of the letter are embossed in gold: [color:"orange"]"Congratulations! Your application to attend Larian Studio's gala 2003 Larian Gaming Conclave has been accepted."[/color] The rest of the letter gaily summarizes your itinerary, meeting agendas, your hotel reservations, and, of course, acknowledges receipt of your deposit of 475 Euro, the remainder to be paid in full upon your arrival.

The envelope also contains the following:

• A voucher for transportation from Saint Pieters' Station to your lodging at the Convention Center in Oudenaarde.
• A voucher for three days and two nights lodging. Room upgrades may be available on a limited basis.
• A schedule of seminars, demonstrations, and exhibits.
• Directions to and from various local attractions, eating/drinking establishments, and other points of interest.
• An embossed invitation to a Special Conference, with a note attached.

The last item catches your eye. The note says:[color:"yellow"] "This conference is by special invitation only. You have been chosen to attend because of your inciteful and interesting posts on the Larian Forums. If you intend to participate in this event, you must R.S.V.P. at the Check-In Desk on the first day of the conclave."[/color] The note is signed in gold ink: [color:"orange"]"Lar"[/color]

I took a deep breath as I walked into the Convention Center in Oudenaarde, “Wow, I can’t believe I’m finally here. I wonder if I’ll recognize anyone. I’ve seen Kiya’s picture so maybe I’ll know her. I wonder who else is going to make it? I know Hypatia’s going to be here; Seth said he wasn’t sure, although I hope he will.” I grinned: “jvb’s going to be here for sure.”

I pulled my bags up to the check-in desk and handed my confirmation form to the gentleman behind the desk, silently praying that he spoke English. I smiled at him hopefully: “Excuse me; I’m here for the Larian Conference. Here’s my reservation confirmation.”

He accepted my paperwork and wished me a “good morning” in perfect English! As he turned and put my reservation number into the computer, I pulled out the additional Euro for the room. He smiled and handed me my key, explaining that my room was on the 5th floor and that he believed several other people attending the conference were on that floor too.

After thanking him, I was turning away to go to the elevator when I suddenly remembered the special meeting tonight. “Oh, excuse me; I have a meeting this evening that I’m supposed to RSVP. The information Larian sent me said that I needed to do that here at the desk.”

He smiled and pulled out a sign-up sheet and handed it to me to sign. I looked at it and then glanced back at him in surprise. “Am I the first one to arrive?”

He smiled again and told me that no, others had arrived; however I was the first one with the special invitation to sign in. I was really surprised; I hadn’t been a member of the forum that long… Why had I gotten a special invitation? I smiled and told him thank you again and went up to my room to take a nap and get ready for the 7:00 PM meeting.

Dump! I groaned with relief as I was able to get rid of my heavy bag containing every single important thing I could think of. "Well, I guess, I'm prepared for the unknown."
"Hi, there, my name's Kiya" I said to the desk guy."Here's my invitation card, can I get the RSVP from you? And could you help me to fill it out? I'm not very good at it..." The desk man smiled and helped, handing it then over to me. "Here it is, you just have to draw a clear cross, here... and here..." he pointed his ballpoint pen on the appropriate places. I sighed, all that bureaucracy..."Ok, done. May I have the key please? And if it is possible, I need someone to help me with my bag, that Slasher Axe and the machine gun is a bit heavy for me... Not to forget the waffle iron and my chemistry kit. I didn't want to keep anything important behind," I smiled wickedly. The clerc looked at me flabbergasted. "Now, don't you look at me like that, I know the Larian humour and I want to be prepared," I said somewhat defensively. The clerc changed his expression to a neutral one, snipped his fingers for a boy and handed me a key.
"Ahm, is the room by any chance a single one? I need my privacy and does it have a window going to sunset? I need it for meditation. Oh, and I hope the bathroom is not in pink and..." The clerc's face changed to panic. "Hey, I just made a joke, no need to panic, but a single room would be nice. And please wake me up at 16.00, so I can prepare for the meeting."
He nodded:" Single room of course, Lady Kiya - but please, don't use your chemistry kit, we wouldn't want the house to blow up, would we? Boy, show Lady Kiya the room, please."
The boy standing nearby tried to pick up the bag, shrieked and dashed off to look for a wheel cart. I waited patiently, arms folded, foot tapping. When all was done we went off to the elevator and I noticed the clerc secretly dabbing his sweated brow with a handkerchief. "Hope, the other customers won't be like her... We're a respectable house," I heard him muttering. - "Hmph, he really doesn't know the Larians..."
I observed my room and turned around to the boy:"Thanks, mate - here's a tip. Now run along, I'll do just fine." He turned on his heels and fled.
"Ah, that bed looks good," I jumped a few times up and down on it to prove its reliability. The bed groaned but kept bravely in place. "And now for a nap, have to prepare myself for this evening. I'm going to ask the Larians a few questions this evening dealing with bugs, crashes etc. This needs a calm, clear mind". I turned over and fell asleep at once.

finally i was there...
after sitting in the bus for several hours.
i wanted to travel in another way, but because I had to pay 475 euro, i simply couldn't afford anything else.
to get the money, i even had to take one of thos job thingies. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />
after all the administration work i was shown to my room.
Strange, i thought, I dont have a clue of who else is gonna be here...
we'll i guess i'll find out.
but first i have some sleep catching up to do <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

This would be so much fun . From the moment that she heard from a Larian Gaming conclave there was nothing else she talked about . Her co-workers , friends and family already started to roll with their eyes whenever she wanted to tell something because for months it was nothing else then: "Larian this , Convention that , Divinity this , forum that ". Even a child on Christmas Eve wasn't that exited like this girl .

Now the young woman sat in the train to Gent and told the man in fromt of her about her luck and the conclave . The man seemed not very intrested in computergames but the woman didn't care at all . She only knew that she was exited and she had to tell the world .
When the train arrived the man jumped up quickly with a stressed face and ran away from the chatting girl who didn't noticed anything at all .

She grabbed her stuff and bags together and left the train . Filled with a childish joy she walked to the tram who would bring her to the innercity of Oudenaarde . This time nobody was annoyed with stories filled with dwarves , elves orcs and stuff and the girl arrived in no time at the check in desk from the hotel . She presened proudly her invitation and asked for a reservation paper for the convention later in the evening .

Backpacking across Europe was an adventure that I had dreamt of since early childhood. Now, at the age of fifty, I was finally doing it. I spent the entire winter planning and replanning my itinerary, packing and repacking my backpack, and shopping for just the right clothes, shoes, and things. I had to compromise between quantity and quality -- after all, everything I was bringing had to be carried on my own back, I was ready for any emergency, contingency, situation, and eventuality.

Except for blisters on my feet, that is. I should have known better than to go hiking in brand new boots. I ran out of bandages on the third day, and at that point I had only walked halfway through the Chunnel. I tried hitchhiking, but nobody stopped to give me a ride. At least they yelled words of encouragement to me (I hope that's what those words were ... they were speaking in foreign languages).

When I finally arrived at the end of my journey, I found myself standing in a que behind six huge crates being wheeled into the Conference Center. Each of them had a word stenciled on them that I recognized: "DQueene".

"Pardon me, sir" I said to the burly fellow wrestling with the last crate in the line, "what are all of these crates for?"

Between grunts and groans he replied, "They belong to someone attending the Larian Conclave. We're delivering them to her just now."

I began to think that my backpack wasn't quite as omnipotent as I had hoped it would be. Nonetheless, when I registered at the Check-In Desk I received a key to a single room on the fourth floor, "at the end of the hallway near the stairs" as the gentleman described it. I also signed the R.S.V.P list for the special conference and received a handbill describing the meeting's agenda.



I went up to my room for a wash-up and a nap. Before dozing off, I reminded myself to wake up at precisely 18:50 (I have an internal mental alarm clock that never fails).

As I was sitting on the train, playing Divinity on my laptop, poeple stared at me if I was some spoiled boy riding first class with computer and all, but I didn't care I was to involved with the game, when then train stopped, looking out of the window I saw Gent. Oh I got to hurry to catch the next train to oudenaarde quickly closed my laptop, put it in my backpack hopping of the train.

Hmm where is the train to oudenaarde, as I saw some poeple just getting into the train next to me I saw it was the train to Oudenaarde, isn't that nice 5 meters I had to walk, but this train was much older as the one Between Oostende and Gent but I'm used to this, This would be a short ride so I only listend to my mp3 player.

Finnaly I arrived in Oudenaarde itself, I searche my bags for the route, wich seemed longer on the map so after a short while I arrived at the center.

I looked around wow classy place this is, I walked to the desk and asked "ik ben hier voor Larian conclave", 'Ok' He anwsered with a broad smile I don't know why but he seemed happy to hear me. 'Geef hier je naam op en zet hier je teken' ' aub hier is uw sleutel, 2de verdiep ' " Bedankt "

"Finnaly" I tought "it has always been my dreams to be in the gamedevlopement industry maybe this is my chance." as I trow myself on the bed.

Bounding through the door I stop to look around and see if I recognize anyone. Of course I don't as the magic that would make everyone look like their avatar has been held off until the convention proper starts. Wouldn't do to scare off all the non convention patrons after all.

I quickly step up to the sign in desk and present my invitation and ask about the special invitation I recieved, practically glowing with the warm fuzzy feeling I get everytime I look at it. The kind gentleperson gives me a key to a nice room on the fifth floor and explaines that there are others from the Larian group already there. I thank said person and hand over a euro, after looking at it and feeling it, my first euro after all, one wants to savor the moment. I also pay for the rest of my stay and open a room tab since I've never been overseas before and always wanted to go.

After receiving my room key I snatch up my bags before the poor bellboy can and dash up to my room, taking the stairs rather than the elevator. I'm so excited AND I got 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep on the flight. (Unheard of in a house with a 2 year old and an 8 month old).

"Oh!" I exclaime as I toss my bags on the bed, "There seems to be time to do some shopping before the super special secret meeting later on. I'd like to get something special to wear...something exotic and feminine and flattering."

I wonder if anyone wants to go with me?

I grabbed my smaller backpack and made sure I had my passport and Visa charge card and all of my Euro safely tucked away and walked out into the hall. "Oh my, I wonder how I will recognize anyone? Should I just knock on the doors and ask if they're here for Larian?"

I shuffled my feet, and very hesitantly raised my hand to knock on the door next to mine. Suddenly down the hall, two doors opened almost simultaneously. I jumped back guiltily, as if I had done something wrong when I hadn't. I looked at the two women who had just come out, and wait, was that... "Kiya, Kiya is that you? It's me, DQueene!"

"Hi, DQueene, this is you? Wow, I never knew you were that tiny," I rushed over to hug the fragile little red-brownhaired woman. "It's really funny to have a pic of someone in my head and then it turns completely different. So, you've got an invitation, too, huh? Wonderful, we'll have a lot of fun and really mix up this town.
Oops, hang on a sec, girls, introduce yourselves, please. Forgot my bag, be right back, in a sec." I spurted into my room, looking feverishly for my trusty handbag.

At 19:00 the conference room's doors were opened. The caterers inside were removing the covers from the various platters and chafing dishes. The bartender was stabbing at the ice in the ice chest to loosen it up. In the far corner a string quartet began playing quietly.

Just inside the door, an easel held a sign saying:

Conference Room 17
2003 Larian Gaming Conclave
Special Conference

A man, wearing jeans and a LarianStudios T-shirt and a long black ponytail, stood at the door waiting to ask guests to show him their invitations. As they did so, he handed each of them two blank nametags and a black marker pen and suggested that they place one of them on a chair to reserve themselves a seat. His manner was pleasant and his smile was genuine, but he very effectively denied access to several people who tried to wander in uninvited.



The food and bar were situated at the rear of the room, near the entrance doorway. A handful of chairs in the center of the room faced a projection screen on the dais and a lecturn. On the screen was projected a photograph of a group of people wearing LarianStudios T-shirts, just like the one being worn by the man at the door.

I rushed back to DQueene, eager to exchange some news with her, then I heard the gong. "Drat, is it so late? I shouldn't have spent so much time searching for my passport, my visa-card, money - and it didn't help that I had to check my pepper-spray was there and my chewing gum an those cigarettes and the lighter and... Ah, well, sorry DQueene. But when the big bosses have said their welcome, we're sure to have a glass of wine and chit-chat, hm?"
DQueene looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Ahm, well, I'll better confess it at once - I'm not that organised, ye know? Things keep hiding from me... Hey, the gong went, we'll better go get a good seat and something to bite on, hm?" I tried to distract her, a little embarassed.
When we reached the entry, I took a long glance at that pony-tailed guy, looked at DQueene, grinned. "Hi, my name's Kiya and this is DQueene, we've both got the invitation. May we enter?" Ponytail checked his list and waved me to proceed handing something to me. My eyes widened - goody, food. I stuffed the cards and the pen carelessly into my Bermuda bag.
"We'll meet at the bar or maybe at the buffet, see ya. I'm starved..."

"Hey! Wait for me!" I run after Kiya and DQueen and introduce myself. "I'm Hypatia. Time to get this shindig under way I see."

"Lets get a table together." I take my embroidered purse over to a table and claim it for us, after showing the ponytailed gentleman my invitation with a breathless flourish.

I already had my glass of wine and a full plate of food, and had sat down to eat in my chair (last row, left end, nearest the buffet), when three lively women entered the room. I recognized Kiya right away from her picture.

I quickly put my backpack on a chair near Kiya's. "Food! I am starved and this backpack weighs a ton. I don't know why I brought all this stuff down here."

I saw an interesting looking guy holding a plate and looking at Kiya. "Kiya, do you know him?" I pointed at him discretely, "Do you think that's Soul or Seth? I've never seen a picture of either one, have you?"

"Nope, haven't either - but I'm sure they won't run away if they're here. Have you seen Ponytail? Guess, he won't let people go out of this room before the Larians let us - so, what's with a nice full plate of tit-bits? And a nice longdrink? On my behalf: food comes first, guys come after..." With these words I crept up to the buffet and started to pick on vegetarian food.

"Hypatia, are you hungry? Let's eat before all the good stuff goes away." I smiled at both of them. "Uhm, Kiya, I know you're a vegetarian, but ... will it bother you to much to see us eat meat? Let me know and I can be a vegetarian for at least one meal."

I grabbed a plate and started putting carrots and celery and broccoli on my plate with lots of ranch dressing.

"Hmph, no," I gulped down my tomato slice."No, not at all, just feel free to eat anything you wish. But leave the ice cream for me, will you?" I added with an impish grin, knowing DQueene would commit murder for ice.

"Hypatia, won't you join in the fun? As long as the crowd isn't here, we can help ourselves to everything without using elbows and forks for defense."

"No.. no Kiya, you just leave the vanilla ice cream there, okay? You can have the chocolate." I grinned back. "Well, at least leave a scoop of vanilla, please?"

I grabbed a few more things from the buffet and quickly scarfed up a small bowl of vanilla ice cream, laughing with Kiya and Hypatia. I found our seats and sat down and started eating, glancing around the room to see if anyone else had arrived.

"Great idea! Thank you for your tolerance Kiya."
takes a plate and fills it up with food, "Mmmmm smells delicious." Goes and sits next to DQueen and Kiya and commences eating.