DragonCon 2014

[Evie]

Just popping in to say that we arrived in Atlanta safely, and I have been to a couple of KK's panels already and spent a bit of personal time with her earlier today, although she has sequestered herself in her room now to continue proofing TKD so she can finish that task before her upcoming eye surgery.  I don't know that I will be able to make it to chat this Sunday, as it turns out that our hotel doesn't offer free WiFi (it's $16 per night!), aside from complimentary WiFi available in the hotel lobby, and even that is only available for an hour, and then they charge for further use.  So I probably won't be uploading photos or posting updates until I get home, unless I can find a good spot where I can upload from my phone.  (Still no free wifi for the phone either, but I should be able to use my phone service provider's data minutes as long as I don't go hog wild with updates.)

KK's new Mini-Deryni still haven't met her yet, but I believe her reading is scheduled for tomorrow, so I'll hopefully have them with me then.

[Jerusha]

And you will be remembering every word in the reading, right?  Or have planted bugs on the mini-Deryni, of course.

Which ever works.   

[Evie]

OK, so here's the DragonCon update you've been waiting for!

I was able to attend all of KK's panels, although I missed the beginning of one due to forgetting to wear my con badge (it was my first panel of the morning), so I had to wait for DD to bring it to me before I could get into the room.  As usual, the highlight of my Dragoncon experience was the scheduled reading.  KK chose to tell the story of Jorian's execution, this time from Brion's and Alaric's perspective.  If you've read "The Priesting of Arilan," you already know the basics of that story, but it was nice to see the same events unfold through Alaric's eyes.

I tried to take a picture of KK actually reading from her manuscript, but it turned out blurry, as did the various photos taken at her other panels. My phone camera is not too great at indoor photos taken from a distance. However, here is a photo taken after the reading:

After Katherine's reading by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

And a closer view of the tinier members of her audience:

The Mini-Deryni and Evie by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

There wasn't time to set up a full scene for them, given how little time there was between panels and how many Mini-Deryni there were to pose, so before one of KK's other panels, I snuck in a little early and had this little scene set up for her on a side table when she arrived.

Snack break by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Enjoying the panel discussion by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

About halfway through the panel discussion ("Who needs dystopia when we have history?" I think it was), I happened to glance over at the scene, and to my surprise it looked like this:

Strong Ale by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

"A typical DragonCon," my husband joked. "Too much to drink!"  Oh, if I'd only known at the time this would be just the beginning of a very rough Con experience for poor Duncan!

The next morning, Duncan and Alaric asked to go sight-seeing.  I agreed to take them around to see the sights and get their pictures taken, if they'd go with me to KK's panel first that morning.  (That was the panel I ended up missing the beginning of due to forgetting to bring my badge; that also should have been a warning sign that the rest of the day was going to go downhill from there!)  But we set off in blithe innocence of what the day's events were about to bring.  Here we are stopping to take a picture while waiting for the elevator to take us down to lobby level.  Duncan and Alaric were tightly strapped into their "seat belts" on my backpack, as is customary for these con excursions:

Tour guide by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

The trip to the Hyatt, where KK was staying (and where most of her panels were located) was fairly uneventful.  The lads happily posed for a few photos at the top of the escalator leading into the Peachtree Center food court:

Little Deryni in a Big World by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Duncan and Alaric discuss where to go for lunch by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

They stopped by Guest Services to look through some tourist brochures:

Where to go, what to see by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Atlanta is an expensive city, so the lads wanted to be prepared:

Cash withdrawal by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

At least KK was free to join us, so we made our descent into the nearby subway station. 

Descent by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

That escalator was several stories tall, and riding on it in the Atlanta heat felt a bit like making an epic descent into Hell.  Little were we to know how prophetic that would be....

At the station underneath Peachtree Street, Alaric and Duncan were honored to be allowed to be photographed with their Creator:

Duncan and Alaric with Katherine Kurtz by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

It was somewhere around here when Duncan lost his sole.  Yes, his sole, thankfully...NOT his soul!  Which is indeed fortunate, considering what was to happen shortly thereafter.

After our ascent from the bowels of Atlanta to the America's Mart building, where the dealers' rooms (yes, plural...there were at least three) were set up, Duncan and Alaric did some window shopping, gawking at the pretty displays while awaiting our entry to the con-related Dealers' Rooms.

Window wonderland by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Taking in the sights by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Window shopping by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Little was I to know that these would be my final pictures of them in their happy, carefree state.  That the path between the Dealers' Room and the Peachtree Center Food Court would later become known to me as the Atlanta Trail of Tears.  But the rest of that story, alas, must wait until my next update....   

[Jerusha]

ARRGH! I'm not sure I can take the suspense!

Atlanta Trail of Tears?  Is this the beginning of a Road to Killingford in Duncan's time line?  Will Morgan come to the rescue?  Will Morgan need rescuing himself?

The minutes of waiting creep slowly by....

[Aerlys]

Hmm, sounds rather like an excursion with my own littles. It all starts out well, but quickly descends into purgatorial pandemonium. (There's a Subway sandwich shop I couldn't go back to for years...  ).

Will be waiting with bated breath for the rest of the story!

[Elkhound]

I'd love to read an account from THEIR point of view.

[Laurna]

Atlanta trail of tears!?

Oh dear, oh dear! You best not tell us there were casualties along that trail.  I don't think my heart could bear the hearing of it.

But do tell what happened next.

The adventure of Alaric and Duncan hiding behind the post discussing how they were to descend down the escalator is wonderful.

[Evie]

Your wishes have been granted...and yes, Elkhound, it's from their point of view!

Mini-Deryni Tales: Tragedy at DragonCon by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

And now for the backstory.

KK and I went shopping together in the Dealers' Room, where I happily found several cool items for Duncan's study (a world globe painted on a blue crystal sphere and several "shiral crystals" that would actually glow with a golden luminescence when lit with an ultraviolet LED), a lovely cloak clasp for Alaric, and a signed copy of The Legacy of Lehr, which is one of the few Katherine Kurtz novels I didn't already have.  Then we got tired of trying to pick our way through the crowds, so we turned around and retraced our steps back to the Hyatt, stopping at Dairy Queen long enough to get an afternoon snack, then went up to KK's hotel room, where I had planned to take more photos of the Deryni cousins.  Only, upon arriving at the 20th floor of the Hyatt, we discovered that part of Duncan was no longer with us!

Fortunately, Duncan was the only one of my littles for whom I actually had a spare head in my collection back home (because he IS my favorite, after all, and I had the paranoid thought a while back that it might be good to have a spare Duncan head or two in my collection just in case something were to happen to him, since I didn't know when that might end up happening, and I didn't want to wait until it was impossible to replace that head sculpt...or at least not possible within the confines of my budget).  So yeah, on went the spare head, and Duncan's back to normal now.  Or at least mostly normal.  There are some slight differences between this head and his former one, just as there were differences between that head and his original one, but they all share the same head sculpt, so hopefully I'm the only one who can actually tell the difference.

[Jerusha]

Thank heaven for spare parts!  I'm sure it must have been as traumatic for you as it was for Duncan.  Nothing like going shopping and coming home a head short!

I'm glad  Duncan is fully restored.  So next shopping trip he will be going fully warded?

[Evie]

I'm glad  Duncan is fully restored.  So next shopping trip he will be going fully warded?

Now there's a thought! They do have some little Ward Cubes now....   

[Elkhound]

There's a joke about "loosing one's head" in there somewhere, but. . . .

[Evie]

At least he's not Denis Arilan, losing his head over every little thing!  (No, really!  It's a head/neck joint incompatibility problem.  We're working on it.    )

[Evie]

So, you are probably wondering what sort of treasures poor Duncan lost his head over!

Tiny treasures by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here's what we found at the dealers' room. There is a world globe painted onto blue crystal, a bronze cloak clasp, and two marbles--one spherical like a crystal ball, and one flat-bottomed, like the sort of magnifying crystal that might be used to read manuscripts with small print.  But these are no ordinary marbles....

Glowing Shiral crystals by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

These are slightly irradiated glass marbles.  The radiation level is perfectly safe for handling, but they glow from within when exposed to ultraviolet light.  The marbles came with a small UV LED keychain flashlight.  I figured the "lit from within" look would give them a lovely shiral crystal effect in photos.  The little brass stand for the painted globe also works well to hold the tiny crystal ball in place.

Lip balm Thermos by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

If I cover the lip balm container with small patterned duct tape, it could easily become a Thermos with the traditional cup lid.  Not very medieval, but my modern littles should enjoy it.

Tiny teacup by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here is the lid as a stand-alone teacup.

[Laurna]

Careful!  The irradiated marbles may NOT be harmful to giants like us, but something caused Duncan's head to disappear ( did he go invisible, like the invisible man?) I recommend Alaric or Denis use the ward cubes to approach with caution until they determine the radiation is safe for the littles as well.

So glad Duncan is recovered, even if he is a little blonder, at least he didn't earn a grey streak from his ordeal.  Though I bet you got yourself a grey streak from finding him beheaded. EECK!
I'm glad you got the group photo's in before that occurrence.
"Gypsy Evie and her Wandering Troupe of Deryni Littles Visiting for your Pleasure at DragonCon".

Tell us how did the parting of Rhys, Evaine, Camber, and Joram go. Were they ready to leave and go to their new home? Was KK glad to take them in? Any images to show the change in ownership?

[Evie]

The parting of the ways was mostly uneventful.  KK's littles traveled to her reading in a separate container (I had already packed them in a box for shipping before it occurred to me that it would be easier for me just to give them to her at DragonCon), and once the photos were taken and it was time to put them all away again, they just went back into their box and handed over to KK, and my own Mini-Deryni went back into their travel case.  I did have an easier time with transporting them this year, as my office recently got rid of a small, wheeled suitcase, so I was able to acquire it for the littles.  It has several small zippered pockets in addition to the main compartment, so I was able to bring some of their clothing and accessories as well.  And the towing handle and wheels make it a lot easier to lug around through the Con.

Speaking of Duncan's hair color, I have had some thoughts of dyeing the underlying hair browner, but leaving a few strands on top more golden (if I can manage to do so) to give him a sun-streaked look.  KK had suggested the highlights when I dyed the last head, but I think I'd already colored his hair a light brown shade overall, and didn't know how to go back and highlight it with a lighter color.  I also have some pearly white paint that I didn't have before, so I might thin it and brush a few individual strands with it, maybe around his temples, to give a slightly aged look.

As to the missing head, I suspect the explanation is a lot more mundane, alas.  Several areas we passed through were very crowded, with lots of bumping and jostling.  I suspect his head got snagged on someone else's sleeve or purse handle and got caught, probably rolling on the floor unnoticed as we passed through the crowds.     If I thought the irradiated marbles had anything to do with it, I'd probably be tempted to experiment on making a Ghostly Camber, so it's probably for the best that they seem to be completely benign.