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Return to Issue 17, Part 1
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When I said that the second part of Issue 17 follows in the next days, I didn't intend it to be two weeks. I could say the circumstances were against me to finish the report earlier than that. But better late than never. So here is the report and the last update information.
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"Blood and Wine" by Anya
A Dark Elf story:
"...
There was silence, where by simple hearing the priest would not have known if his second visitor had stayed or left, but he knew when he had. The priest stared with empty sockets out over the bazaar, then nodded to himself, as the second visitor, too, began to forget what had transpired. "Vhaeraun will have you soon enough, as well." And he waited for his last visitor.
..."
"Three Little Pigs [Llar inlul rothe]" by Anya
Dark Elf humor:
"...
"Gangsters?" Drizzt clutched at the clipboard tightly. He'd looked at the title of the script, and not for the first time in his life, had that slow, sickly, cold metal gut feeling that this was not going to be a good day. His suspicious were confirmed when Catti-Brie, trying without particular success to stifle her giggles, went round the main crew handing out their costumes. She shoved his into his arms, then burst into a gasping fit of unladylike laughter.
..."
Updated Fiction:
"Murder, Who Cares - Part 6" by Anya (Dark Elf)
"A Clash of Fates II - Chapter 13" by Robert DeFrank (Star Wars)
"Travels to a A World that Might Have Been" (WoT Roleplaying)
Read them!
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We knew after EWoT 2000 that we wanted to repeat our fan meeting, preferable with a bit more time at hand than only a weekend. Though it wasn't simple to coordinate the vacation dates of about a dozen people we managed it for a week in Ireland. Many thanks and blessings to Ulrica & Louis who took over the planning and to Asha for the excellent information flow at Cyberia.
I have included only some small pictures in this report. For more of my photos follow the provided links to the picture galleries. They are graphic heavy by necessity. Reports and photos by other EWoTers are available at Cyberia.
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The Journey to Ireland
I was a bit nervous and excited when I was preparing my trip to Ireland. The last time I travelled by plane was nine or ten years ago and I found me worrying about the smallest details. I had started looking for air tickets very late and to get them for an acceptable price I had to accept a not so good connection. On the other hand I would meet Bran at the airport London Stansted and take the same flight with him to Dublin.
So on Friday the 29th June I struggled to get up at 4am to eat breakfast before I traveled by train to Luebeck. There I took a taxi to get to the airport. I chatted a bit with the nice driver who wanted to convince me that Mallorca is a far better place to spend the summer vacation than Ireland. I didn't agree.
Check-in at the airport was quick and then I had to spend somehow the two hours before boarding. An act I would repeat more than once this day - waiting, I mean. The Ryanair plane took off on time and arrived 85 minutes later in London Stansted where I waited 20 minutes for my luggage.
I had a layover of six hours at this airport. The airport of London Stansted was bigger than I expected - and overcrowded. Lots of people were coming out of the arrival gate at any time and I was anything but certain that I would spot Bran when he arrives. So I passed some time by improvising an identification sign. Thanks to that we found us and could then wait together the small eternity before our check-in for the flight to Dublin. We agreed that the frequent repetition of the same announcement ("Please don't let your luggage unattended at any time. Unattended luggage will be impounded and may be destroyed.") was very annoying.
 When we finally arrived in Dublin we were greeted by Ulrica, Demon and Wishmaster. We had still to wait (again that word!) several hours for Yorrick and Asha. The last to arrive was Asha who we had to page as "Asha Katzer" in the crowd. It was about 10pm.
A hour later we took the bus to Mullingar where we arrived shortly after midnight and encountered a small problem. There was a taxi waiting, but it was too small for seven persons with luggage. Away it went and we were left to wait (again!). But later another taxi arrived and then a second, they even knew our destination, but supposedly no one had sent them?! We didn't question our good fortune and arrived finally at the Multyfarnham Holiday Village at 1am.
Louis was waiting for us there. That brought our number to eight. Though tired to the bone we still sat together to chat a bit. I was so sleepy that my understanding of the English Language had dropped to zero long before though. Well past 2am we called it a day and went looking for our beds.
Go to the pictures
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The First Day
 While Ulrica and Lois had to leave very early to pick up Falcon the rest of us could sleep in. So as they came back most of us were eating breakfast, I should rather say lunch. And the first point on our agenda were the eating arrangements.
A few of us went into the village to buy the necessary food. We used the opportunity to become acquainted with Multyfarnham. Unfortunately the little shop there could not provide everything, so we called a taxi and went shopping in Mullingar. Of course, to return we needed again the big taxi. Let's say we became fast friends with the driver. And we had to move table, chairs and the tableware from the second bungalow to the first to make place for us all.
Go to the pictures
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Having a good time
 I don't want to give a day to day account, so I will just say that we used the time to get to know each other. We chatted and discussed various topics ("How Many Shades of Green...?"), read our favourite books, played card games... or watched the Formula 1 (everyone but me). That may sound boring, but actually we had much fun. Some events I will mention especially, for more look at the other reports at Cyberia.
Go to the pictures
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Dublin
 All the days before we had comfortable temperatures, mixed between a bit rainy and sunny. But just on the day we made our trip to Dublin we had a completely cloudless sky and it was hot! As we started very early and would return late it became very exhausting and we would appreciate each break and cool drink this day.
First we did a bit sightseeing in Dublin. We visited the Cathedral of Dublin and the Dublinia - an exhibition about the medieval Dublin. Then we took a look at the Castle.
After that we went shopping. First stop was a gift shop for a few souvenirs and then we started looking for, you guess it, books. Serious book shopping is a time consuming matter. The first book shop we visited had a lot of bargains, second hand books and reduced prices so naturally we stayed there a while. The upper floor appeared to be somewhat of a Black Hole. Everyone who went there didn't came back, at least not for a good while.
Next came a big book store. You would think that you find there any book you want. But to my disappointment I had to realize that whole shelves in the SF & F area were reserved for one author and/or series. Apparently the stores offer only the bestselling authors and don't risk many of the less known ones. When we left this store I still had no book found that I liked.
The streets were rather crowded and sometimes it was difficult to stay together and not to get lost. We decided to take a longer break in an Internet Cafe. Besides of the opportunity to get something to drink we could contact our friends. At this time I didn't feel much of the need to do so, but later the week I would actually feel withdrawal.
Finally we visited yet another book store, one specialized in SF & Fantasy, and this time I got lucky.
 Louis and Ulrica had reserved a table for us in the bar of the Arlington Hotel. I just say nice, very nice. If you happened to be in Dublin try it and I am convinced you will like it too. We surprised Asha with a little gift as thank-you for helping organize this and the last EWoT meeting. We ate dinner there and waited for the Irish live music. Unfortunately the entertainment started very late. We have enjoyed it, but had to leave for the last bus to Mullingar just as the dancers appeared.
Go to the pictures
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The EWoT Contest
Like last year we formed two groups to compete in the EWoT contest while Asha judged our performance. First, we had to prove our knowledge of the Wheel of Time books. A number of quotations were to be assigned to the correct character. Actually, that is a favourite task of mine. Robert Jordan writes his main characters with a distinct 'voice' so it is quite easy for the most part (in my opinion).
 Then we had to rhyme a song about EWoT or our team members to any known melody and had to perform this song later for full points! I'm just glad that Asha had forgotten the microfone. She wanted to tape it! It was a hard choice to find the right melody and then the right words. Finally our team sang a cover version of the "Minstrel Boy", choking for laughter.
Last but not least we had to stage a plot scene from the Wheel of Time books. Our team choose the scene where Mat (Demon played this role) has to surrender all his weapons to the Wise Ones (played by Wishmaster, Yorrick and me) before he can go to Rhuidean. Alas, as participating actor I couldn't take photos of this scene. But Asha took a series of shots.
Go to the pictures
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Athlone
 We took still another short trip, this time to Athlone. We visited the Castle and the local exhibition about the rich history of this town. We ate lunch in a tiny cafe named "Ship of Fools" and no, the name doesn't explain anything about us. What are you thinking!
Go to the pictures
But nothing is forever and too soon the time to say goodbye came. But we have promised to see us again next year to the EWoT 2002.
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© Copyright 2001 by Ulrike Großmann, Dragon's Library, all rights reserved.
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