I slept pretty well last night, woke up feeling good, and headed down to breakfast to find that a storm of gamers had blown in, littering the lobby, the restaurant, and most importantly the Starbucks, with throngs of people.

Around this time I got a text from Tom & Stacy from Indiana, who’d just hit town, so we did coffee, and I’m my case a breakfast muffin, in the lobby of the Hyatt, where the Starbucks was bafflingly uncluttered with gamers.

The VIG room opened at noon, so we got there a little early & stood in line for a few minutes before the sedate amble to pick up badges/swag/cold water.
A certain amount of hanging around & going through the swag-bag happened.

After some sitting & nattering time there was a move towards lunch, via people’s hotels to drop off the aforementioned swag, and it was as I returned from the JW that Frank called, having just hit town, so I met him in the VIG lounge & he came along to a rather nice lunch at Johnny Rockets. Or maybe Jimmy Rockets; Not sure.

Post-lunch, it was back to the VIG lounge to meet up with Steve & Monica, then we ended up staging out to The Stink, for the acquisition of Free Stuff!
OK, so I got a “Stink 10” D6 and a bag thingy, but I also got to see people try Vegemite

After that, off to Scotty’s which is apparently a Gen Con hangout, but was mostly crowded & loud, and struggling to cope with food & drink service.
Still, we stayed there for a few hours, got the free die for ordering off the Gen Con menu, and eventually people drifted off, mostly to get sleep, I suspect.
Ended up wandering through the ICC with Frank, Monica, Steve & a couple of guys from Boston, Charley & Graham, mostly to see what was happening. Talked to some people behind a student-made ARG, the name of which escapes me, but which seemed all multi-media-y & complex.

As things do, the evening wound down, and we all wandered back to our respective hotels. (in the case of Steve & Monica, this involved getting a lift from Frank, because they had to spend one or two nights at a hotel out of the city centre. naturally, when it was time to go, the third person they’re staying with had vanished, said he’d be back soon, and wasn’t answering his cell, so I think they abandoned him after a half-hour or so.
there was also the issue of Frank’s van being parked outside a government building; he was concerned about being towed, where I was more concerned about it being surrounded by caution tape & being investigated by a bomb-squad robot

Tom picked up a Goblin mask


City-Building at Cardhalla.

A possibly recognisable person, “The Professor”