The team at Witcher School do an amazing job of conjuring up a real spectacle.įirst there's leatherworking, where we cut circles in a cow's hide and sew it into pouches to use during the event. After breakfast we launch into our lessons. We run, we jump, we stretch and we do the first of what must be hundreds of push-ups over the course of the weekend. Friday starts after a broken night's sleep chasing a werewolf, as one does in these parts, followed up by exercise around the castle grounds at 7am. And Poland in March is bitterly cold beyond those deceptively blue skies. We are pushed to physical breaking point - some do break, almost literally - and robbed of sleep. Witcher School isn't for the faint-hearted it's more like military boot camp than a holiday. Will I find the Temerian Captain and keep them happy with information, or will I be discovered by the witchers and punished? Armed with motivations and backstory I stride into the courtyard with the other recruits and stand before the witcher masters, bedecked in their impressive assortments of leather and metal, capes and scars. I'm Lester, an email I receive a few days before the event tells me, a spy and a deserter from the Temerian army captured and forced to infiltrate Witcher School. Dormitories may be flagged as 'out of game', and the organiser's backstage area and office is 'out of game', but otherwise everywhere and everyone will be in character for the duration. Then, after the workshops and dinner, the game begins, and runs non-stop Thursday evening to Saturday night. There are safe words, and there are some guidelines about how often adepts like us can use witcher magic - i.e. There are more specific mechanics, including sex cards non-player characters can hand out to simulate the raunchy side of the Witcher games and fiction without things getting weird. Support the role-play, don't poo-poo it because you want to be the hero. It's not complicated the general rule of thumb is 'don't be an asshole'.
#WITCHER CONTACT BAR SCHOOL QUESTION SERIES#
How you play the game is explained in a series of workshops upon arrival, and there are so many new players this explanation is essential. The organisers work tirelessly all weekend on a number of memorable events.
There are 39 of us playing and as many again of them organising and taking on various roles. It's a significant amount - as much as week's break somewhere hot - but it's a far bigger and more impressive operation than I expected. Witcher School costs €350 (£276) to attend, a price that includes a weekend's accommodation, food and rental of a costume, although travel's not included. Zamek Grodziec, the gorgeous backdrop for the school. CD Projekt has nothing to do with the Witcher School, incidentally, beyond being name-checked as a partner. It's all a testament to the extraordinary success of The Witcher video games, which have propelled Andrzej Sapkowski's fiction far beyond Poland. People have come as far as from America to play, as well as from all over Europe, and for many (myself included) this is their first larp. The event ran for the first time last year, though was only open to locals this year it's international, and is carried out entirely in English. Witcher School is a weekend-long live action role-play event - or, if you will, a larp. And everyone here - everyone - is in costume. For the duration the castle will be lit by torches and candles and by fires roaring in hearths. All signs of modern life have been disguised or hidden, electronics outlawed (except in dormitories). We have the complete run of the place: we sleep here, take witcher lessons here, eat here and fight monsters here. I'm at Witcher School, all the way over in wintry Poland, living in a centuries-old hilltop castle for the weekend. The man attacked in the woods was from our group. Subdued, reeling, the werewolf is led by the mob back to the castle, the casualties of her escape carried behind. Dirk approaches from the side, mace in hand, and stuns with the Axii Sign before leaping to strike.
Master Dirk leads a group of adepts in casting the magical Igni Sign and flames flare in a circle around the monster. The werewolf retreats - and a trap is sprung. Grandmaster Swar steps forward and unsheathes his sword.
It's the princess - no longer the harmless young lady chained to a cold laboratory floor but a large, snarling monster, chest heaving for air. Then, a savage roar and scream, and torchlight streaming towards the source. We move out in a line guided by witcher masters and their fiery torches, nervously edging forwards.
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