Necromancy, Queerness, Relationships |
| Designers: Joanna Piancastelli & Jake Cyriax |
| Number of participants: 6-17 |
| Duration: 4 hours |
| The presenter feels that this larp IS suitable for young people aged 16+ |
About the larp
The Emperor Undying has called upon the scions of the great houses to undertake a series of deadly trials to discover who among you are worthy of becoming lyctors, immortal necromancers of immense power who will join Him in the fight to drive back the Empire’s greatest threats in the dark reaches of space.
Half of you are the necromancers who have been summoned and the other half are their cavaliers, sword fighters of tremendous renown sworn to serve their necromancers til the end. The trials will test your skill in your respective arts, yes, but more than that: they will test the bonds between you. And frankly, some of your bonds are a mess.
One Flesh, One End is about revelling in the gothic excess of being space necromancers and dashing duellists while teasing through torrid and often dysfunctional character dynamics. Relationships are at the heart of the story – often queer, optionally romantic, always intense.
The larp is based on Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb books, which you absolutely don’t have to have read to play: the plot is different and you’ll create your own characters. Be aware, though – the larp spoils some of the revelations of Gideon the Ninth.
Content Warnings: The larp uses themes of death and necromancy, and contains text descriptions of mild gore and human remains. Character death is possible and may not be in the players’ control, but the larp is specifically designed to give meaningful play to ghosts.
There is significant play on relationships which may be unhealthy or end poorly, and while romantic and physical intimacy are all entirely opt-in, the larp is designed to engender emotional intimacy.
Some reading is required during the larp (large text versions of printed materials can be made available if you let us know beforehand).
Joanna Piancastelli & Jake Cyriax: Joanna and Jake have larped everywhere from ships and fields to castles and pub basements, and they share a love for fun genres, queer stories and intense emotional play. One Flesh, One End is the first larp they have designed in collaboration from the ground up, but they’ve been writing for, editing and playtesting one anothers’ larps for years, including Joanna’s Marked: A School for Heroes and Mutiny on the Asp, and Jake’s Three Kingdoms.
Parameters
| Physical contact | Moderate contact; e.g. hugging, formal partner dancing |
| Romance and intimacy | Physical intimacy is represented by a kiss on the hand. All physical and romantic intimacy is opt-in and players are able to choose one, both or neither |
| Conflict and violence | Sword fighting is represented through non-contact, slow motion pantomime without physical weapons |
| Communication style | Lots of speech |
| Movement style | All players will move around the space at a walking pace. Some will additionally participate in non-contact, slow motion mock sword fights |
| Characters | Players build their characters around a predesigned skeleton or archetype |
| Narrative control | Intensely plotted and designed, but players have freedom as to how to achieve their goals |
| Transparency | There are predesigned secrets that the organizers will have from the players |
| Representation | The fictional space looks very unlike the play space, but players will use their imaginations |
| Play culture | Players all share a common goal but may try to impede one another’s success |
| Tone | Dramatic |
The Smoke 