Candoranien Romance

Roleplaying is romantic. Whether you're a player or not, it's impossible not to see the romance in the way stories are woven by minds working in sync to explore themes their shared experience brings together, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. 

There's something deeply romantic too in the commitment of friends, often over many years, not just to bop together to a few tunes, but to bring imaginations together, working to maintain a unique shared fiction. 

Candoranien is one of those places. It's doubly romantic because the theme is Medieval, with a nice wide margin each side, veering into the late Dark Ages on one hand, and the Early Renaissance on the other. pirates, Vikings, Merchant Adventurers, Damsels and Knights - it's all happening here - what's not to love.

This week a new exhibition was inaugurated on sim Path of Glory (HG Addresses, as always at the end of the post) and here you'll find a lovely tribute to the RP group, as the sign says " From Hohenburg to Candorania, a journey through the career of our role-playing world......Experience the development of our role-playing world. wine gallery of the adventures, successes and stories that have shaped our role-playing world, dive in and let yourself be inspired."

On the Welcome sim, and in a lot of other places, you'll see signs that detail the way the sim is run. There are set times for roleplay, and opportunities in the week for new people to come along, ask questions, and perhaps try out for a spot in the RP family. Bring a translator, or use the new group one, so you can follow what's going on. Scarlett von Candors, dressed in a magnificent brocade gown from the period, was on hand to tell a little bit of the story.

Scarlett vonCandors: It all started with Hohenburg, on Metropolis grid, back in 2012. Here you can see some photos of events and moments that happened while we were on that grid. The number of participants has fluctuated over the years. In our good times we had 30 RP players.

It is a luxurious build, with lots of sims beyond the main RP region Candoranien, shown in this map. The photo below, for example, is Mystery Runes, it's both beautiful and a little spooky, with a ritual area hidden away in the rocky woodlands.

Another fabulous area that needs no introduction is the Market on sim Historical, which is a little town with loads of half timbered buildings, and a great variety of freebies, from buckets to pigs to fireplaces, so you can complete your Mitteleuropa paradise, or just hang out and enjoy the photo ops.

Every corner draws the eye, including Liberty Arena, where they meet for Training and Meetings every Thursday at 8 p.m. German time (that's 11am SL) You walk in through this tunnel to find yourself in the center of an ancient amphitheater... watch out, or you may not be able to walk out again!

But of course it isn't all fighting and questing, the grid also has a nice rock and roll region called HaliGali. It's still perfectly themed with the look of the other sims, but with a bit of a lighter feel, so you can relax and soak up the tunes rather than wondering where you left your battleaxe.

Each roleplay group in opensim approaches the  question of backstory and continuity in a different way. Some have copious notes and details on their website, so you can go back years in the storyline. Others take a much more in the moment approach, with stories having a more free flowing, in-the-moment feel. Of course, this is a German RP group, so if you know that language, this is a great place to express yourself in your best Medieval manner! And of course, visitors are always welcome, How can people get in touch?

Scarlett vonCandors[de→en]: We don't have a website for this, but we do have a Facebook group where we provide information about it. There you can also find general information about the role-playing game and how it works. Stories build on other stories, and new ones are added.

Thirza Ember: what do you think is the magic ingredient that has allowed your group to continue for so many years, Scarlett?

Scarlett vonCandors[de→en]: Well, Middle Ages is what we love and carry in our hearts and we can't do it without role-playing games and the Middle Ages ;)

Thirza Ember: The regions are really lovely. And the display of historical photos is fascinating. Do you work together to build the regions, or is this all your creation?

Scarlett vonCandors[de→en]: I'm happy if visitors like it, that's praise enough! I do most of the building, but I'm happy to accept criticism and suggestions for improvement.

Thirza Ember: What about outfits, do you make them also?

Scarlett vonCandors[de→en]: No, unfortunately that is something I'm not very good at. There are great people at Opensim who are happy to provide clothing, for example, Chubelz_Welcome, they have very nice fantasy clothing there.

We ended up at the absolutely colossal Drachenfels Castle, where there's an Audience every Monday at 11am SLT, 8pm in Germany. The forbidding grey walls enclose a charming courtyard, and there's more romance here too, as Scarlett confessed... how lovely.

Scarlett vonCandors[de→en]: My husband Marius vonCandors built the castle many years ago and I couldn't resist calling it to life again.

HG Addresses:

Jump to the Welcome sim for details of all the regions, meeting times, and more

hop://candorsrpworld.ch:8002/Welcome/148/139/23

Here's the excellent freebie town

hop://candorsrpworld.ch:8002/Historical/92/117/23

And the new art show

hop://candorsrpworld.ch:8002/PathofGlory/121/98/26