The event timed in about three hours after the end of the second event, with all of the players having been captured by the Inquisition and put on trial for murder (penalty: death), attempted murder (penalty: death), consorting with demons (penalty: death) and disturbing the peace (penalty: loss of freedom...).  We were tried in two groups, with the prosecution attempting to get each group to rat on the other (think of the Prisoner's Dilemma, with the downside that if you were aware of a crime but didn't attempt to stop it, you're equally guilty...).

After some wrangling and wriggling, we were eventually all sentenced to hanging; taken upstairs in groups of three, with sacks on our heads.  All you could hear downstairs was silence, a sudden thump, and then a body being dragged across the floor...

As it turned out, we were being set up to act as plausibly-deniable assets for the Inquisition, set to investigate some odd goings-on in an area of the city (known as a "trap," cos you never get out of the traps...).  On our walk in, we were chased (slowly) by shambling, vacant-faced people.  While their taste for brains was never established one way or the other, they were soon referred to as twitchers by anyone who encountered them.

Investigation and trial/error led us to suspect that rat-people (we'd never heard of them either) were spreading a disease via food and water; the area we'd been sent to was a food distribution hub.  When we went to destroy the infected food, we met a nasty surprise: three twitchers, with weapons welded to their hands, who could run.  Having previously assumed that they moved at shambling speeds, this was a definite shock.

Over the course of the event, we also got linked with other groups, interested in the titular Resistance, thanks not least to a pamphlet being distributed that identified (obliquely and incorrectly) several PCs as Resistance heroes.  This strand of plot led to deals being made to get weapons for the group, as well as plans being made for future activity.

Back in the heat of the moment, we needed to research the rat-people's "Lord of Corruption" by getting access to the Inquisition's library.  By (actually) forging library passes, we were able to get a lot of information, which really challenged how we all saw the world previously and also gave us an idea of where to go from there.

With the (metaphorical) sacrifice of a PC, and help from a Resistance-friendly noble, we got to the general area of the city's main water source, which was heavily defended by twitchers and rat people (including a magic user.  Apparently you pronounce "rat shaman" like "Matt Damon...").  We fought our way through and succeeded in preventing a widespread infection of the populace.

This event had a really different feel to the previous one; instead of total fear of the authorities, we were their catspaws this time, but we're also starting to get more of a sense of control over our own destinies.

There was less fear and more urgency, I felt -- but I mean that as a good thing. The feeling of events needed to develop, cos otherwise it might feel like we were never getting anywhere, so it's pleasing to see that it is.  It's a small event (18 players/10 crew at this event, and they've said they'll cap attendance at 25 players), which really helps the feel of things.  It's also pretty intense at times, and combat has extreme potential to kill characters; the design team don't pull any punches with that, either.  There's no healing magic, much less resurrection, so once you're gone, you're gone.

I'd definitely recommend it to people.  Next events are February and May 2008.

---
Joe Rooney, the Enemy Of Fun

Insurrection LRP: high fantasy in a dystopian setting.

Bladelands: Raoul Ortez - heretic, medium, bodyguard and scumbag
EOS: staff (probably the best job in LRP!)

Joe R's LARPCard