TAG Talk Tuesdays – Gena/Zephyr
Hello hello and welcome back to TAG Talk Tuesdays, where we ask our fellow Odyssey players all about themselves- both as a LARPer and as their Odyssey character! This and next week we feature Gena who not only is our Marketing board member but also as the intelligent merchant/magistrate/mothwoman, Zephyr! First, let’s get to know Gena~
Hi there! I’m Gena and I’m the head of marketing for TAG. I’ve been LARPing for about 15 years and I play some version of Zephyr in most games I attend.
Fifteen years, that’s a teenager lolol What kind of roles do you play?
Well, I started in Quest as a kenku fighter. Just straight combat skills and damage buffs. Eventually I branched into shape change and had to carry around a whole bag of additional tabards to represent the different shape change skills. Then I started selling in and out of game items and became a merchant. I played that role for many years and it was one of my favorite things to do. After Quest ended, I realized I wasn’t ready to stop playing Zephyr so I just kind of shoved her into whatever game I was playing. She was a diplomatic human pirate in one game, an elf caster in another, and now she’s the rosy maple mothman in Odyssey. I’m still trying to figure out what kind of skills I really want here, but I’m having fun with the journey.
Oh man. How could I forget about the Goldenwind Teahouse, lol. When I started merchanting I wanted a way to draw folks into my store. So I started brewing tea on site. Come on in, sit down and have a cup! And maybe buy something while you’re here.
I’m the same with my OC Melbourne, hahaha. Just shove him wherever. I also am a merchant! What drew you from fighting to selling?
Well, to be honest, I wasn’t a very good fighter. My armor kept getting destroyed and all of the money I was making from adventuring would go straight to the blacksmiths to fix my armor so I could go back out on modules. Back in the day, armor smiths at Quest had a going rate for fixing armor. You either bought an armor patch for a certain amount or they’d use their smithing points to repair your armor and that was also a certain amount of armor points per copper. As a new player with no combat experience, it got expensive real fast.
So I started selling chainmail jewelry for a few silver. And then I added skill sashes. Then plushies and other sewn items. Then the tea, and although I didn’t charge for the tea, my patrons were generous and left me tips. Suddenly I was adventuring less and less and manning my shop more and more. I got to chat with everyone in game, and I didn’t have to worry about my armor anymore, all while enjoying a nice hot cup of tea. It was a good time.
Eee, your plushies are so cute! I still have the rainbow bat I bought from you. If I recall, you do other LARPs as well! Are you a merchant with them?
Not really. I tried some events as a merchant at other games and I just didn’t have the same rapport with their players as I had with the Questers. While some games were welcoming of a new merchant right off the bat, others were very distant and wary. It just wasn’t the experience I was looking for so I moved on from the merchant life.
What life did you take up then?
Well, Odyssey is my main game now and most of the folks there should know me as the Magistrate. It started off as a joke to annoy my husband Kyle (Deadward from a few interviews ago) who plays a powerful NPC named Xan. I ran for the position with the promise to make Xan’s life as hard as possible and the players seemed to really like that statement. I like being the person who supports the players and alongside my new Magistrate position I’ve sort of fallen into a kind of tavern keeper role as well. Need breakfast or dinner? I’m your gal!
That sounds so fun! So you seem to be the type to take charge ‘n keep things moving- how’s that been for your board position as Marketing Head?
Haha, I’m definitely the sort of person that gets stuff done. Being part of the board has been a lot of fun so far. I have a degree in graphic design and job experience as a Marketing/Media Coordinator so it’s a position I’m already a bit familiar with. Even though I’m the Head of Marketing, I do a fair bit of the logistical work as well. I currently keep track of everyone’s points, player attendance, and printing books and resource cards.
This year I’m working to get TAG involved in some local events to get our name out there and hopefully see some new players. We’re invited to the Traveler’s Conflux in South Park on May 11th, and we’ll be running a demo at Armistice on June 7th at Cooper’s Lake. We’ve also applied to be a Visiting Partner with Tekko in July, but it’ll be a few weeks before we hear if we’ve been accepted or not.
So much going on! We thank you for your service~ With so much to do real-life marketing, how do you find time for Zephyr’s busy life as well?
Hmmm, mostly I just make it up as I go along. I don’t have any specific goals or aspirations for my characters so when things happen I’m usually just as surprised as everyone else. The surprise is part of the fun so I prefer to just let my characters lives happen organically.
Surprise!! That’s the fun with LARP~ Speaking of organically, we’re gonna part ways here so that you can continue with Mat to tell us more about the lovely Zephyr! <3
Everyone please thank Gena for such a lovely interview! And if you want US to interview YOU, please don’t hesitate to comment here, on Facebook, or hit us up in the Discord!
Have a lovely day now~
Other than small spelling and/or grammar mistakes, the interviewee’s text is left largely unchanged.
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