Welcome Prospective Students
You are invited to enroll or apply for a teaching position in a school designed to make you into a spell caster who can have a place in society.
You can choose your specialty, be part of a research project, just as long as you don't challenge or question those in power.
Displays of emotions are strictly discouraged, as are romantic relationships, and following the traditions is the only way to succeed. Or is it? There's more than meets the eye going on within these castle walls.
Come see what you can endure and what you can get away with at the University of Sonder.
University of Sonder
Enrollment Details
Facts
Date: February 6-9th
The game will begin Thursday evening then we will leave during the day on Sunday.
Location: Schloss Altenhausen, near Magdeburg Germany
(2.5 hour train from Berlin)
Exact Address: Schloßstraße 16, 39343 Altenhausen
Food will be provided (gluten free and vegan) & rooms will mostly be shared,
Cost
180: Mimimum Price Ticket for Team Leads
250: Low Income Price
350: Regular Price Ticket
450: Single Room (Luxury)
Our minimum cost for a ticket is 180 euros because each night at the castle cost 30 for the room and 30 for the food.
We also need to rent the rooms we will use for play, pay for event insurance and give several times (like decoration) their budget.
If you have circumstances that might keep you from paying, reach out to us directly.
There are discounted tickets for those who take lead roles.
If you pay more for your ticket - the money will go to helping make the event possible for those who need sponsorship, and if you would like to have a room with more privacy than the shared bedrooms then you could have that as well as our gratitude.
This is a Nordic Larp, and our games usually feel a bit more sandbox than some others, we will have plot based within factions and an over arching plot.
Players can have an excellent time without engaging in the main plot or they can choose to be very involved and influence the direction of the story. We do not have a set ending and it will depend on the character's choice what happens.
There will be classes in the form of workshops (or lectures) and although this game will have a competitive element- that is not the primary way of derriving enjoyment from the setting. Winning under a twisted system is not a complete victory. We will be striving to play to lift within an oppressive system and the levels of oppression which will be use in play should create an environment where it feels fun to break the in game traditions and rules, and see what your chaacter can get away with
What to expect from this kind of LARP?
What does Collaboratively Organized mean?
This event is run a bit differently than most LARPs, Instead of having a central organization team for each LARP, everyone who comes helps participate in some way in making it happen.
Everyone who comes contributes something to the creation of the event. It is organized in teams on Discord and with check in meetings.
What kind of help might you participate in giving?
Decoration for the faction HQ's, helping us find a magical objects
Recipes for the kitchen
Help with spreadsheets
You are expected to at the very minimum participate on Discord with your faction before the event, beyond that you are encouraged to join a team and figure out how you can use your special skills to make the event more awesome. If you would rather pay in money rather than time, then buying a luxury (supporter) ticket is one way you can contribute.
Another thing to expect since this is LARP which is born out of the tradition of Burning Man is that we will actually burn something.
We will have a wooden sculpture we will ignite called an effigy and fireshow as we go out of character
The flavor of this LARP is dark fantasy academia.
It will take place in a world called Sipio at a place called the University of Sonder.
Player will embody characters who are there to study magic, usually to become powerful- but also to survive.
In this world, if people use magic it can often lead them to insanity- thus it is highly controlled.
Emotion is also seen as weakness, and expression of it is strictly discouraged.
Possible schools of study include: Alchemy, Anatomy, Arcane Didactics, Astronomy, Energetic Expenditure, Engineering, Herbalism, Illusions, Influence, Psychology, Scrying, Summoning and Symbology
This is one of our darker LARPs, as it's set in a realm where distrust in common, but the game play will not only focus on suffering or oppression- but also potential for change.
What to expect from this setting?
What inspired this game?
This game was inspired by these books:
Babel ((RF Kuang): From here we drew a school which studies a strange system of magic, which punished failure highly- but the students had the chance to resist
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Susanna Clarke): We were inspired by the impact of a fource likethe fae- a source of power but at a high cost and moral dilemna
Some HP Lovecraft: While we do not condone his racist undertones, we drew from this author the effect of magic deteriorating one's mind over time
The setting was originally written by Carnelian King, 15 years ago as a Dungeons and Dragons game, and has the setting for 6 of our past larps and over a decade of players
Elements from the genre of the "New Weird": These can be described as works that have: an unconventional deeper meaning that's shown in atypical ways, melding magical realism / sci-fi / fantasy, with bits of darkness and symbolism.
A definition for this genre : New Weird is a type of urban, secondary-world fiction that subverts the romanticized ideas about place found in traditional fantasy.
New Weird has a visceral, in-the-moment quality that often uses elements of surreal or transgressive horror for its tone, style, and effects
Secret Societies
Plotting Against Authority ( and each other )
Feeling like you're getting away with something
Academic Collaboration
Power Dynamics
Campus Newspaper
Rebelling Against Tradition
Rituals
How do you know if this LARP is for you?
Would you enjoy any of these themes?