Once more, another Open house has passed and with it, another milestone in my creative and professional life. As we have reported in earlier installments, Alex and I are writing a second book for the Federation of Magic. Based on its current size (about 250 pages), and considering the 100 or so pages left to be written, it’s likely the book will be two or perhaps three books! Alex and I feel kind of bad since the last time we saw Siembieda (at Ubercon 2006 in October) we told him the book would be completed. Alas, there is still much more to do. Once Alex and I get on a roll, the ideas keep coming and coming and it becomes difficult to stop yourself from expanding and sprawling on. FfW (our webmaster and fellow member of the AFR Crew) dropped some sage advice to us, telling us that we need the creative discipline to eventually say “Enough” and find a point at which to finally end the book. Though we may still have many more ideas for the Federation, there comes a time when a good writer has to just let it go and move on to complete his work.

Easier said than done, I’m afraid.

For Alex and I, the Federation is our Masterwork. Both of us feel like two old alchemists who have stumbled upon the formula for creating the philosopher’s stone, but keep working to improve it rather than just finishing the damn thing. I think part of the problem is that the Federation of Magic is such a melting pot of cultures, societies, politics and ideas. It consists of so many fractured groups, each with their own stories and histories, and I feel like we’ll never do them all justice. I’ve really worked to try and capture some of the individual flavor and uniqueness of each group, kingdom and nation, yet there are so many of them within the Magic Zone. Sometimes, I feel as though I’m only capturing a fraction of the Federation’s eclecticism and that there’s so much more I could expand on (which I suppose is true). But since the Federation is such a maelstrom of groups, it would truly take volumes of text to cover the Federation in its entirety, so we’ve done what we can to depict some of the most noteworthy and interesting groups that we think comprise Nostrous’ national legacy. At some point, Alex and I will finish this freakin’ thing.

Anyway, the trip to Michigan wasn’t as problematic as I’ve come to expect cross country trips to be. Alex left Wednesday night (May 2nd) to Madison, New Jersey to stay with Brandon Aten for the night. Feifei had just left to China and was unable to attend with us. Because of work obligations, I was unable to head out to Aten’s place until Thursday morning. Though I hit massive amounts of traffic in New York and the drive took two hours longer than expected, I arrived at Brandon’s pad safe and sound. I got a chance to meet another Palladium freelancer – Josh Sinsapaugh, author of the upcoming Dark Woods book and Shemarrian Sourcebook, and contributor to the Rifter and the D-Bees of North America manual. After grabbing a bite to eat, Alex, Brandon, Josh, and I embarked in my Honda Accord from New Jersey to Taylor, Michigan to meet our destinies.

The car ride was productive. Alex and I discussed our book, gave Josh a peek at the printed manuscript (incomplete, as I’ve said), and joked around with Brandon pretty much the whole time (I don’t think I’ve ever used the word “gay” so many times in my life). We stopped at one point to meet up with some guy that Brandon met on the message boards. The guy wanted to caravan with us to the Open House, so after a quick introduction, we went on our merry way. This guy, whose name escapes me at the moment (sorry), was very chill. For that reason, everyone kept calling him the “Dude,” and that’s all I really remember about him.

The car trip was exhausting and literally took forever. Though we left Madison at 11:30 AM, we didn’t arrive in Taylor until around 10:30 PM. This was directly the result of a police officer who we were stuck driving behind while passing through Pennsylvania. This guy was driving so slowly that it physically hurt and put us two hours behind schedule. Once fatefully arriving in Taylor, we make a quick stop at the Ramada hotel (same hotel as last year, but minus the hot Asian concierge) to drop our things off at our room. Taylor White popped out at us in the lobby, and we all make our obligatory greetings and what not.

Finally, we get to the Palladium office and burst into the meeting room just as the entire Freelancer evening is ending. We skulk in, looking like (as someone in the forums said…) “a bunch of hoodlums crashing a house party,” and everyone turns to stare at us. Not the entrance I would have liked to make.

I immediately go over and talk to Kevin, apologizing profusely for the late arrival. As usual, he’s very gracious and shows me a copy of Machinations of Doom. No lie, I got seriously aroused and had to sit down. After speaking with Kevin and Wayne Smith for a short time, I walked around and checked out other new books on my wish list (D-Bees of North America and Revised Sourcebook One). I got to talk to Julius Rosenstein for a while, and both Alex and I agree that he is the man! Honestly, Julius is our BOY and no one fucks with the Julius.

However, this night was also when I realized that I didn’t have my debit card with me. This was bad because there were no Banks of America within a hundred miles, and I did not have checks with me. Consequently, I had to subsist on what money I had in my pocket, which was a little under three-hundred dollars. I was going to need some extra money if I wanted to pay for a room, food, and all the books I needed to buy. If I had to choose between the three, then it would be books. They were a necessity. Food and shelter I could do without if I had to (NOTE: AFR or “Anything for Rifts” means just that… anything, even giving up the necessities of living).

After racking my brain for a while, I finally thought of getting some money wired to me. Ultimately, this is what saved my ass, though I didn’t think of this course of action until Saturday.

V.I.P. Friday was probably my favorite day of the Open House. Siembieda did his obligatory gathering at the loft in which he thanked everyone for coming and spoke a little about the state of the company. Though Kevin answered some quick questions, I was disappointed at the briefness of his exposition. Last year, Kevin spoke for hours about Palladium and spent hours more answering every single question he could. Granted, there weren’t many questions left to ask, but the whole thing still felt somewhat rushed. However, the food completely made up for all of it. Kev’s girlfriend Karen made a literal feast, complete with salads, sandwiches, Swedish meatballs, pasta, and a variety of other goodies. It was fantastic, and she insisted that everyone go for seconds. Honestly, I ate my goddamn heart out.

The rest of the day was a very active time in which we looked at manuals, perused merchandise, and spoke to freelancers, both artists and writers alike. Alex and I had some great and very productive conversations with almost everyone working for Palladium, including many people I hadn’t spoken to last year.

Julius Rosenstein, who needs no introduction, was really fun to talk with. I only wish he hadn’t been too busy to go out and eat with us.

Levi Johnstone, a Palladium staff member and contributing writer, was a cool guy who asked us about our book and seemed genuinely excited about our ideas for the Federation.

John C. Philpott, again had some informative things to say about Rifts and the Deep South. I spoke with him for a long time about voodoo and it’s presence in the Federation. I had some great revelations after speaking to him, and now I’ve got some crazy ideas about doing bokor in the Federation of Magic. Also, I told him about the Ghost Mage O.C.C. (one of the character classes in our upcoming book) and their relationship with hougans/mambos. I think that Ghost Mages, being spirit poachers and controllers, would try and manipulate loas, which is something I imagine voodoo practitioners would not appreciate. We brainstormed some wonderful ideas together, and he was kind enough to give me some information about voodoo religion and culture so I could portray it accurately in the book.

Jason Richards was nice enough to check out our manuscript. Though I’m not sure how closely he read it, he said he liked it and gave us some good advice, particularly a little trick for determining the ultimate size of the book (after edits and art, etc.). We also told Jason about how the AFR Crew has made heavy use of his Arzno material in our campaign over the years (this being the material from the Rifters, not from the World Book). He was genuinely flattered, as I would probably be in his position. I got an opportunity to ask him why he changed Clan Libson to an Atlantean House, and made Bagh Dach the Atlantean clan of Arzno. I was curious since I had always liked the concept of Clan Libson, and I was disappointed by its removal in the World Book. Jason explained that he wanted to give props to Bagh Dach, since it’s only mentioned once in Rifts England and never again (in Sir Galahad’s description). After listening to his reasoning, I felt I could more sympathize with his decision.

Carl Gleba was also a creative maestro with which Alex and I got to converse. Last year I didn’t get a chance to speak with Carl because one of his friends came up to us and usurped the conversation. However, his friend wasn’t around much this year, so Alex and I had free reign with the man. Primarily, we spoke to Gleba about the Minion War (surprise, surprise). I was curious to learn his plans for it and how he imagined that it would affect the Federation of Magic. Graciously, he told us that it could affect the Magic Zone as much or as little as we wanted it to, and he asked us our opinion about what should happen. Alex and I hadn’t thought about it much, but the three of us brainstormed together for a while. We also checked out both his completed manuscripts for Hades and Dyval, which seemed really kick ass. As an important note I should mention that, out of everyone at Palladium Books, Carl seemed like the only other writer who had a strong interest in the Federation of Magic. In fact, before beginning the Minion War series, Gleba had started writing a manuscript for the Magic Zone (and offered some of his ideas for the region). Based on what we discussed, his concepts for the Federation are oddly and eerily similar to ours.

Erick Wujick was a cool cat. I was only able to speak to the man for a few minutes because he was on his way to run a game. In fact, he was busy the entire Open House, much like Siembieda, so I was lucky to get those few minutes. He was walking by me so I stopped him and insisted on telling him how much I like his old school Transdimensional TMNT manual (which I use as the basis for time travel adventures in my Rifts campaign). Erick was a very intelligent man, both well spoken and possessed of a keen understanding of the spirit of role playing. As hard as it may be to believe, he said some very profound things to me about role playing, and I have to admit that I was totally floored. He also regaled me with some quick stories about China, particularly about Chinese women (and so everyone knows, I have a thing for them). Anyway, I honestly could have spoken to this man for hours, but alas, such was not to be. I jokingly chided him about the third China manual, to which he responded with a smirk and told me it was on its way.

Apollo Okamura, our old buddy, is a familiar and welcomed face to see at conventions. He’s a genuinely nice guy, and I always make it a point to try and get in a conversation or two with him. He’s also done some sketches of various characters in the AFR Crew’s campaign (they can be viewed in the Ink section of our site). I particularly like his Optimus Prime illustration, which is sick.

Nick Bradshaw was a new face for me. He was a big guy with sunglasses and a mohawk who did a majority of the artwork in Madhaven. His style is very bizarre and macabre, and I really dig it. Actually, I think he’d be great for some of the Magic Zone creatures in our book, which are supposed to be extremely alien. Anyway, I got a chance to speak to him and he’s a very cool guy. He told me some funny stories about his days in art school and talked about his style of illustration. Apparently, he is a very versatile artist and can do both bizarre and “normal” drawings. Hopefully, we can snag his services for our book.

Chuck Walton was an awesome dude! I loved speaking to this guy. He was a very introspective, very interesting man with a variety of cool interests. Additionally, he is an incredible artist (one of my new faves, second only to Perez) and I commissioned him to sketch one of my characters for me. He didn’t have time to finish the character but promised he’d mail it to me (I’m still waiting). When I requested the illustration, he asked me some very unique and surprising questions that none of the other freelance artists have ever asked me about my characters. Chuck wanted to know about the motivations, beliefs, and habits of the character he was illustrating, as well as personal tastes, insignias, and the like. The level of detailed information he requested was unprecedented for me. Even Ramon had never asked me questions like those. I was very much impressed with the guy and only wish I could have spoken to him longer. Alex and I both agreed that he has to do illustrations for our book. I explained the basic plot of our manuscript, and Chuck thought it sounded great. He was especially floored by our idea to use the Blood Shaman and make it official material (but greatly revamped). He, Apollo, and the Manning Brothers had never heard of the Blood Shaman or Blood Magic and we explained what they were all about. The four artists were all extremely appalled yet intrigued at the idea of a mage who cuts himself to use magic, and I couldn’t help but laugh at their reactions (a mixture of fascination and disgust).

Brian and Allen Manning, who Alex and I had met last year, are a very chill pair of artists from Las Vegas, I believe. These guys are always fun to talk to, and both Alex and I really like their sense of humor (which is very similar to ours). They both did a sketch for me (one brother drew it, the other inked) and were kind enough to participate in an interview for our website. Additionally, they’ve visited the site and refer to us directly as the AFR Crew.

Mike Mumah was another new face who I’m glad I was fortunate enough to meet. He was a friendly guy and also another sick artist that I’d like to see illustrate our book. He did an awesome sketch for one of my NPCs, a muscle-bound fallen Cyber-Knight named Lord Maelstrom. He gave the character some interesting features I’d never considered before, such as a mustache and a large, Viking-style fur cloak. I really liked his interpretation of the character, and I can’t wait to see what he’d cook up for the Federation.

Other freelancers that I met only briefly but deserve a mention are John Zeleznik, Kent Burles, Mike Dudley, Jeffrey Scott Hansen, and Jason Marker.

Last but not least is the man himself… Ramon Perez. It’s probably unnecessary to explain the AFR Crew’s infatuation with Mr. Perez’s work, which is a combination of admiration, envy, and near-religious reverence. Ramon has always been a nice guy who kindly puts up with all of the AFR Crew’s badgering and pestering for pictures and such. He did two sketches for Alex and I. Alex got a drawing of his character Aranor, and myself, a drawing of one of my NPCs, Evermetrius. Needless to say, they were fantastic. The amazing thing is that, if you watch Perez do his thing, he whips these pictures out like they’re nothing. He spent only twenty minutes on each sketch, but you’d really never be able to tell by the level of quality and detail present in each illustration. Honestly, I’m not exaggerating. Each of these sketches is a book-worthy piece of art. I almost can’t believe we only paid twenty dollars for each.

We told Ramon about our book, and he seemed very happy for us getting the opportunity to work for Palladium. Unsurprisingly, we also spoke to him for a while about his graphic novel. He told us that he enjoyed working on it and would love to do more projects like it. Alex explained his idea for a graphic novel about Aranor and conveyed how much he’d like Perez to do it. Ramon said that he was working on other projects at the moment but wouldn’t mind doing a handful of pictures for our Federation book. I was extremely ecstatic to hear that (he’d probably do illustrations for all of the Old Guard). This is wonderful, since Perez did much of the art in the first Federation Book, which kind of brings the whole thing full circle.

On top of this great news, Perez also came out to eat with us!!!

It was approaching the end of V.I.P. night (about 9:30) and Alex and I began talking about where we were going to eat. Suddenly Ramon, who happened to be nearby, asked if perhaps he could join us. Being the huge Perez fans that we were, we couldn’t believe what we were hearing. My first thought was “Doth mine ears deceive me?” However, after overcoming our initial mind frag, we emphatically said yes. Then on top of that, Scott Johnson also asked to come along. I was grinning from ear to ear as Alex and I got into my car with two of Palladium’s top artists. We drove around for a few minutes until we found a random little restaurant right off the road (its name escapes me). We walked into the restaurant at about 9:45 and were unhappy to learn that they were closing in 15 minutes. We felt kind of like assholes coming in to order food so close to closing time, and we deliberated amongst ourselves about leaving. The waitress at the counter didn’t look too pleased at our arrival. However, Perez walks up to the counter and switches on the charm. He started smooth talking the girl (I’m completely serious here) until she finally smiles and tells us it’s no problem if we stay and eat.

Grabbing a booth, the four of us decide that we don’t want to order too much food, and that we’ll stick to appetizers. Though we’re all really hungry, we don’t want to give the restaurant’s employees more work than they already have. However, the waitress comes by to take our orders and after talking with Perez for a few minutes, she ends up insisting that we order whatever we want and not to worry about the staff. Again, Ramon doles out the charm and I’m left wondering if the guy even realizes what he’s doing.

The conversation was very engaging. Ramon and Scott told us freelancer stories about their work for various companies, as well as their opinions on different topics, such as the Bill Coffin incident. I’m unable to repeat most of what was discussed over the course of our meals since I don’t wish to betray the trust of those artists whom we dined with. What I will say is that they are both intelligent and interesting gentlemen who I wish I could have more opportunities to speak to. I’m not saying that simply as a fan boy, either. It was a hugely memorable night for us and a point on the AFR Crew scoreboard.

Saturday was a very full day for us. Alex and I signed up for one of Kevin’s games and attended his Game Design panel in the loft area. The panel was a two hour discussion about the fundamentals of the gaming industry and what one needs to do to get started. Kevin and Erick were the speakers on the panel and both had some great things to say. Kevin’s always a pleasure to listen to and Erick Wujick was equally as fascinating. It’s easy to tell that the two of them are old friends. Kevin and Erick had a comfortable and witty kind of back and forth discussion style with each other that bellied their long history together.

Then came time for the freelancer panel. This panel was composed of Jason Richards, Jason Marker, Carl Gleba, Kevin, and a few other individuals. I didn’t stay for the whole thing, but I remained for most of it. It consisted of the speakers taking turns answering various questions from the audience.

At one point, someone asked each panelist about his most memorable or unexpected moment in a game in which he gamemastered. The mic traveled around from freelancer to freelancer, each describing different experiences ranging from the comedic to the absurd. Eventually, the mic gets to Siembieda and he begins regaling the audience with an experience he had several years ago while gamemastering a BTS session. Slowly but surely, the story he paints starts to sound more and more familiar. Suddenly, I realize that he’s speaking about a specific session that I played in during Origins 2004!!! Siembieda was describing one of the exploits of my character, Professor Higgins! Kevin talks about how, when my character was cornered, he ended up turning the tide in the adventure by stabbing the main villain in the neck with a ball point pen (impressive, as my character was 84 years old). Siembieda finishes his story by pointing me out to the crowd and identifying me as the player who portrayed Higgins in the infamous session. Everyone looks at me, and I bestow all about me with a rapid, slightly embarrassed wave.

When the Godfather mentions you personally to a group of strangers, you know that life is good.

After the panel came time for Siembieda’s game. The game was a treat to play, particularly for Alex, I’d imagine, since this was his first time playing a session with the Godfather himself. It was a Palladium Fantasy adventure consisting of about 25 people, I believe. The group was composed of everything from clerical characters to mind mages, to warriors, to thieves (all pre-generated, of course). Alex selected a human thief/rogue, while I went for the young, human Palladin. The adventure involved the group trying to stop a crazed sorcerer named Lord DeSulca from sending an entire town down into hell… literally. The session had a real time limit of two hours, and if we didn’t defeat DeSulca within exactly 120 minutes (real time), all of us would automatically go to hell (and obviously have lost the adventure). This left me a little worried, since Siembieda’s larger gaming sessions tend to descend into a lot of frivolous goofing around, heckling, and time wasting (at least that was my experience playing the BTS game at Origins 2004). Consequently, I was skeptical that everyone would be able to get their shit together to meet the demands of the grand quest before us. Fortunately, I was mistaken.

The session started out pretty badly for me. At the beginning of the adventure, while we searched a cemetery, one of the players stupidly decides to shoot his crossbow at a helpless old groundskeeper who didn’t have answers to his questions. In a vain attempt to protect this seemingly innocent man, my character tries to step in the way of the bolt. I figure that I’ve got some hefty armor so taking a crossbow bolt couldn’t hurt me that much. However, upon rolling my D20 I get a “1” and trip over my own feet, falling into an open grave. Everyone laughs and I sigh, realizing that this is not going to be a good session for me (probably a counterpoint to my BTS experience as Professor Higgins).

Anyway, the group eventually found an entrance going underground, and we excitedly enter. At some point, the group splits up and Alex goes with one half of the players, while I go with the other half. Unfortunately, I had to leave the game right around this time so I could grab the money at Western Union that my dad had sent me. By the time I returned to the session (about a half hour later) there had already been some battles with DeSulca’s minions, and I think Alex hemmed some shit up with his knives. The group of players that I was working with (all of which were extremely loud) were advancing down a long flight of stairs. As my character leads them down (cause he’s arrogant and insists on being in front), my holy sword gets whipped out of my hand and pull down the stairway. Again, things ain’t looking good. I rush after the weapon, with everyone in toe, only to come face to face with a fucking BAALROG at the bottom of the stairs!

At this moment, all the players in my group look at me to do something since I’m the damn Palladin and best warrior among them. I’m not too happy, since the Baalrog has my demon-slaying holy weapon and starts laughing at me. Siembieda, as the Baalrog, mocks my character and says something about my being a “boy.” Of course, everyone goes ooooooh and one player brilliantly shouts that I’m being called out. Good one, dumb ass.

Combat goes a little slowly because everyone’s taking actions, and Siembieda’s jumping around to different areas of DeSulca’s underground hideout. Fortunately, I succeeded in saving vs. horror factor against the Baalrog, while most of the player characters who’ve followed me have failed. Without my trusty weapon, I decide to utilize some of the interesting equipment that Siembieda has bestowed my character with. I end up whipping two magical chasers at the Baalrog. Though I’m not expecting them to frighten the Greater Demon, I’m hoping they’ll at least distract him a little bit. Interestingly, the chasers do zilch to the Baalrog, but they do chase away the supernatural shadows shrouding the room, which reveals a hidden passageway (this being the path directly to DeSulca). Now, the other players go on to stop DeSulca while I battle the Baalrog alone.

My entire goal during my fight with the Baalrog was to disarm him of his fire whip so I can grab my holy sword back, then fuck his shit up. I proceed by doing called shots to his hands with my demon deathblows. One of them succeeds, but before I can grab my sword, one of the other players brings the Baalrog to its knees with a psychic attack. It’s my turn now, and the Baalrog’s in front of me on its knees. Consequently, I punch the fucker in the face with a demon deathblow and, low and behold, I roll a motherfuckin’ NATURAL 20, bitches!!! Somehow, this is enough to kill the damn thing and, of course, everyone cheers at my awesomeness. As Alex put it, “It was righteous.”

A few moments later, the remaining players defeat DeSulca, and the group wins the adventure with a good eight minutes to spare. I didn’t really pay much attention to this last part of the adventure because, honestly, I was still too high on my victory over the Baalrog. And really, who cares about DeSulca after killing a fucking Baalrog?!

That evening, Alex and I played in another game. This one was a Chaos Earth session being run by our buddy Taylor White. Brandon and Josh played, along with a few other people that I didn’t know. Of course, my character (a Chromium Guardsman of my own creation) was the highest ranking soldier in the group and, consequently, the leader. The adventure consisted of our group being charged with the protection of civilians and trying to prevent an incursion by extra-dimensional cyborgs. It was a fun game, though all of us died in the end and I’m not sure any of us really stood a chance. Brandon and Taylor started bickering with each other at one point, and the tension made me a little uncomfortable. It was kind of funny though, with Brandon informing Taylor every few minutes that he was the worst GM in the world and that his games suck. I guess they were just joking around with one another, but the agitation I detected seemed genuine.

Later that night, Alex and I return to the room while Brandon, Taylor, and Josh stay out somewhere. Alex goes to bed and I sit down to read Machinations of Doom. Eventually, I fall asleep but wake up about twenty minutes later to the sound of knocking. I go to the door and answer it, thinking that it’s our fellow freelancer roomies and that they’ve forgotten/lost their room keys. I open the door and find a small group of about nine people, including Apollo Okamura and the Manning Brothers. They all seem slightly inebriated. They mention something about having thought there was a game in our room, then realize that it’s probably at the room above us. The group comes in and begins making a shit load of noise. I don’t really care, since I’m not minding the company, but I feel bad for Alex who is in the bedroom trying to sleep. The group stays for fifteen minutes and then trickles out. However, one guy (I later found out he is known on the Palladium forums as “Ninjabunny”) remains behind to use our bathroom. I hear him talking to himself the entire time, after which he comes out and sits down next to me. He begins relating the story of his life to me (some highly personal shit) and I realize that he is incredibly drunk, a fact that he repeatedly informs me of. I don’t mind the guy though, and he seems harmless. Eventually, his wife comes in to collect him, and they go off into the hotel to find the rest of their group. Silence once again pervades my hotel room. NOTE: The Manning Brothers also mention this encounter in their Open House report.

On Sunday, Alex and I got our promised tour of the Palladium facility and had our official conference with Kevin in his office (closed door and everything). He explained a few things about working for Palladium, giving us some advice and tips about functioning in the role-playing industry. It was good advice, since I think Alex and I are somewhat naïve when it comes to the business end of publishing and freelance writing. He also made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that we’d better not screw him over the way Steve Shiering (A.K.A. Judas) did. Then, Alex commenced explaining our concepts and metaplot for the book but with more detail than we did at Ubercon. Kevin listened patiently and seemed to have no problems with our plotline.

Furthermore, Alex hit him with the clincher.

Big Al described how one of the book’s NPCs, a character named Aranor Aelsavideth, is very important to him and that he wanted to do more with the character than a simple manual. He wanted to do a graphic novel. Though Alex and I were a little concerned that Kevin would take offense or think we are being presumptuous, Palladium’s CEO responded very well. Kevin completely understood what it was like to have an idea that you didn’t want to part with (and sign over the rights to) unless certain conditions were met. Alex said that if he couldn’t get a graphic novel for Aranor, then he would rather not use him in the Federation book. Kevin’s response was somewhat unclear, neither a yes or no, citing that paying for a graphic novel is very expensive. Though he didn’t say “no” to the idea, it seems unlikely to me that Kevin and Palladium books will have the funds necessary to make a graphic novel anytime in the near future. Consequently, Aranor’s place in our book is still tentative.

Kevin gave our manuscript (what we had thus far) a quick flip through. He smiled and genuinely seemed to like some of our format ideas (ideas which we hope he’ll be willing to carry over into the published product). He said that based on what he saw, we definitely had the makings of two books. Alex and I were ecstatic. Unfortunately, Wayne interrupted the conference, saying that Brandon had called looking for us and that everything had to be out of the hotel room by noon time (it was 11:30 AM). Consequently, we rushed back to the hotel to pick up Brandon, Josh, and Taylor, only to find them and our stuff gone. We found them back at the Open House, having gotten a ride there from a charitable gamer.

During our last few hours at the Open House, the Manning Brothers were kind enough to provide us with an interview for the AFR website. The interview came out well, and the Mannings proved themselves to be informative and entertaining individuals to speak to (check out their interview on our website).

There were several surreal moments during the course of the Open House that I thought I’d mention.

The first one was when some random guy at the Palladium office recognized Alex as part of the AFR Crew. Furthermore, I heard people consistently referring to Alex or myself as “one of the AFR Crew,” yet I hadn’t met a majority of these people. This recognition came as a surprise to us because, honestly, we didn’t think people really read the material on our website. Granted, we get a decent number of hits, but I didn’t think visitors were actually reading our profiles. I figured people would just gloss over that stuff or skip it, which tends to be what I do when visiting a website. The guy who identified Alex asked why we hadn’t updated the website in a while and told Alex that he liked the Federation material, specifically the stuff about the Federation’s Most Wanted. I was impressed when I heard about this. Josh made a similar comment during the car ride to Michigan, stating that he had read all of our convention reports from over the years. I’m glad to hear that people check out our site and take the time to read through our material. It makes me feel like the website isn’t just taking up cyberspace.

Finally, it was time for us to go. Taylor had made his goodbyes an hour earlier, and now we bade our farewells to the entire Palladium staff. Siembieda gave me a hug, and I gave Perez one last handshake. I fought back a sniffle and some tears, maintaining my hardcore gamer image, and Brandon, Alex, Josh, and I set of into the Michigan sunset.

The ride back to Madison was much like the ride up to Taylor, except without the ridiculously slow cop. There was a little less talking, since we were all wallowing in the pleasurable numbness that seeps through one’s body after visiting Mecca (A.K.A. Palladium offices). Taylor White’s car broke down about an hour after he left Palladium, so he and Brandon were in constant contact. Otherwise, the ride was uneventful. We arrived in New Jersey at 2:00 AM and decided to spend the remainder of the night at Brandon’s place. The next day, we bid au revoir to Aten and Sinsapaugh, and clamored back into my car for the four hour drive back to Rhode Island.

In closing, I’d like to say that I had another great time with Palladium Books and the Palladium staff. Every meeting with Kevin has been an uplifting experience. Hopefully, the next Open House report that I write will be from the perspective of a published freelancer guest and not just as an attending fan.

---IXS