Cave Canem (Republished pictures from 2015)

I don’t even remember when I first heard about this game. The reactions were overwhelmingly enthusiastic – we’re going to play fairy tales in Ardavia. Then two dates were announced, and I found out I could only go on the second one, so, of course, I went to take pictures.

Admittedly, after the first run, I heard some not-so-flattering rumours, but there’s always someone who’s dissatisfied, and there’s nothing you can do about that. What was striking was that I heard many more rumours on site. Even though “the game” was like a LARP version of Macbeth.

Based on the players’ reactions and what I saw, it was far from a disaster, and most of the participants were in a positive mood. Yes, there were occasional hiccups, but who has never stumbled? Sometimes, a storyline that a teammate suppressed, a character or event that just didn’t fit… Everyone has experienced something similar at some point in their larping past.

The so-called Macbeth curse mostly affected equipment: cars stalled, computers failed, and my camera lost focus options, requiring some improvisation.

But enough about curses, it’s time to say a little something about the game, unless you’d rather read about it directly on the Cave Canem website. Fairy tales, lots of fairy tales, probably all the classics you can think of. From the curious fox in the forest to the puppeteer, up to my favourite, Krabat (especially the version by Karel Zeman). Everything was slightly adjusted to fit better together; for example, Krabat didn’t live in a mill but in a smithy. Those were just details.

Enough rambling, it’s time for photos.