Toasting Merrymead with Two New Venture-Captains

Monday, February 6, 2012

Illustration by Alex Aparin

It is a rare occasion when a person can combine two fun events into one. On this Monday after the Super Bowl, I get to do just that!

First, I want to welcome two new Venture-Captains to the ranks in areas that have been in serious need of strong organization for some time. The first is St. Louis, Missouri. Originally, St. Louis wasn’t on my list. However, that quickly changed when Brett Sweeney emailed his interest in becoming a Venture-Captain. He provided a very good resume and some outstanding answers to my interview questionnaire. There already seems to be a very strong base of players in the region and I am excited to see how Pathfinder Society grows in St. Louis, as well as the rest of Missouri, now that we have the entire state covered with an awesome group of Venture-Officers.

I also get very excited when we are able to assign a Venture-Captain to a region, or in this case a state, that has had little to no Venture-Officer presence, but has been longing for someone to step up to the task of organizing Pathfinder Society. I’ve known Martin Shelby for more than 10 years, have played roleplaying, board, card and miniatures games with him during that period, and know his organizational and gaming skills are up to the task. When he moved from Atlanta to Nashville last year, I already had my sights on setting him up as a Venture-Captain there. We talked about it last year at Gen Con and he wasn’t prepared to take over the reigns. However, five months later, he has decided that he would like to see how fast he can grow Pathfinder Society in middle Tennessee. He will be our first Venture-Captain in Tennessee and I foresee good things happening for the growth of Pathfinder Society in the state.

Now, on to the second fun event for this week—another holiday blog (and anyone who knows me knows how much I love a good brew)! Creative Director James Jacobs wrote the below description of Merrymead and you will find a special Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet you can download and apply to a Pathfinder Society character. Merrymead is mentioned on page 248 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide.

The month of Calistril is much anticipated, if only because it signifies the end of winter and the inevitable (and usually much welcomed) onset of spring. And no time is more infused with this eager anticipation than the second day of the month—a day set aside in most areas of the Inner Sea as the holiday known as Merrymead. A key element of Merrymead, of course, is the consumption of the last of the previous season’s alcohol. Traditionally, this is intended to be little more than a communal sharing of mead supplies (a legacy of the holiday’s original origins in central Druma), but today, most celebrants use Merrymead as an excuse to get completely smashed on whatever source of booze is available. In high societies, aristocrats celebrate with the uncorking of bottles specifically set aside for the event, while in the city slums, roving gangs of celebrants carouse from bar to bar. It is here that the notorious “mead riots” generally happen, when not-quite-drunk-enough merrymakers, faced with the inevitable situation of there being more carousers than alcohol, grow violent and destructive. Cities with strong histories of mead riots generally draw upon additional troops from the militia to help keep the peace... yet sometimes, it can be hard to draw upon those troops when they themselves have been looking forward to their own Merrymead celebrations!

Welcome to our new Venture-Captains and Blesse... hic... Happ... hic... fun Merrymead all!

Click here to download the Merrymead 4712 Boon! - 815 KB (zip/PDF)