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TyeDyeBoy · 04-27-2004, 15:03

Yes, it is time to retell the Danger Woman tale.

DragonCon 2001, Monday. Everyone had left except for myself (since I live in the area), and Hades. Hades was flying out the next day, but due to a scheduling mix up, he was going to be staying with me that night. I got up to the hotel and met him, we lugged his suitcases and such to my car, then decided to wander around a bit to see if we'd missed anything.

Our journey led us to the large dealer room, and after a halfassed circuit, we agreed that there was nothing new to see. This dealer room is held in a large ballroom, with several doorways leading to it from the main lobby. We were about ten feet away from the doors back to the lobby when an overly loud voice stopped us dead in our tracks.

'HAY YOU GUYS!'

Like most human beings, we turned around to see if we were the guys being adddressed, and we were astounded to see what stood before us.

It seemed to be vaguely human, or perhaps a hobbit. It was five feet tall or so. It wore purple pants that were a bit too tight for it's pudgy body, along with an identically matched purple shirt (I want to say it was crushed velvet, but the memory is hazy and the fat might have blinded me). It also wore a simple eye mask, like one might see at Mardi Gras, that was in that all too familiar purple. It had a backpack, and a belt bag, and a mop of dark curly hair on it's head. It (we later decided it was a she) stood looking at us expectantly.

I can't speak for Hades, but in the stunned silence in which we stared at the thing I was overcome by a sense of wonder, and more than a little awe. I don't know why. But it was shattered as it spoke, again in an overly loud voice. It... she... was not three feet away, but felt the need to shout at us.

'DID YOU GUYS HEAR ABOUT THE GAME THAT WAS BANNED AT GENCON?!?'

After pausing to cast an unsure glance at Hades, I found my voice. 'Uhm, no.'

'YOU DIDN'T?!?!?! IT WAS THE GAME THAT WAS BANNED AT GENCON!!!!'

In this instant, wonder, awe, and uncertainty gave way into definite fear, and not a small amount of terror.

'Really...'

'DO YOU GUYS KNOW THE NAME OF THE GAME THAT WAS BANNED AT GENCON?!?!?!'

Another glance at Hades assured me that he was as concerned for our well being as I was. We were under the impression that our previous assertion that we, in fact, did not know the game that was banned at Gencon (which, incidentally, is another convention that happens somewhere in the midwest... I want to say Minnesota) was enough evidence of the fact that we were unsure of it's name for most human beings to grasp.

'No... no we don't.'

'YOU DON'T?!?!?!'

'No.'

'IT WAS THE GAME THAT WAS BANNED AT GENCON!'

Fear had, by now, become abject terror. If the being in front of us was human, or some close relative thereof, then clearly it wasn't stable enough to comprehend the concept of 'no' or 'we don't know' or the unspoken body language that, I'm sure, said in no uncertain terms that we were uninterested in this mythical game banned from Gencon.

Let me take a moment to explain a bit further our distress. We were only ten feet from the door, from potential salvation. Yet we found ourselves frozen with terror, unable to cross the final distance. But even this relative safety was in question, because for all we knew it was capable of following and, surely, devouring us. We were entirely unprepared for the horror that was just around the corner, however.

'YOU GUYS ARE PRETTY COOL, I'M GONNA TAKE YOUR PICTURE.'

Hades and I gasped at the same moment, eyes wide with fear, no longer trying to hide it. It reached into it's belt bag and withdrew a camera. I was busy trying to decide on a fighting stance appropriate for the situation, and I was having difficulty as I've had no formal training in the subject of deflecting cameras.

'OH DARN, THE BATTERIES ARE DEAD. THAT'S OK I'LL GET YOUR PICTURE ANOTHER TIME.'

Hades spoke up with a simple 'No you won't.'

'HA HA YOU'RE PRETTY FUNNY.'

Hades again found his voice. 'And you're a bloody psycho.' I was mildly surprised at this, because until now I'd not seen anything of Hades other than a perfect British gentleman. It was only a hint of seeing him get all Crazy British during the effigy the next year.

The beast laughed. 'ANYWAY, DO YOU GUYS KNOW THE GAME THAT WAS BANNED AT GENCON?!?!?'

After the threat of the camera, it was with some small amount of relief that we moved back to this familiar territory.

'THERE'S A BOOTH FOR IT OVER THERE!!!!' Without turning she pointed in a direction implying that the booth was somewhere in the large room, but not much more specific than that. 'DO YOU GUYS WANT ME TO SHOW YOU WHERE IT IS????'

'Yes.' I couldn't believe that I'd actually said that. In retrospect I can only believe that I was delirious with fear. But she turned to take a step and lead forward, and seeing an opportunity, we bolted for the door. We must have covered the ten feet in less than a second, and were out of the hotel in less than ten seconds, out of Atlanta only a few minutes later. The rest of the day was spent watching over our shoulder for the Purple Terror.

But the story doesn't quite end there....

You see, the next year we saw her again. Luckily it was from a safe distance, but we found out that this thing had a story. She called herself Danger Woman. She was, in fact, some sort of live action roleplayer (she'd alluded to it in our previous conversation, but I can't remember too specifically what she said, so I skipped it... the first encounter lasted around five minutes). She'd participated in DragonCon since the early days, and had acted the same way throughout. Several of the regular D*C staffers said that she was generally credited with getting the ball rolling on D*C, helping to spread the word and draw the visitors, even though she was frequently mocked (GEE I WONDER WHY).

The staffers threw a party for her one year, and all chipped in to get her a $500 lifetime membership to D*C. Meaning she's there every year. And yes, we have spotted her all three years.

She also has a website, though it hasn't been updated in a long time. You can see the terror here. http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/DangerWoman/

To this day, I come to D*C armed in some small way, just in case. In 2003 it was a near thing, we passed within just a few feet of her again, fortunately unnoticed.

So you see, folks, DragonCon is an adventure!

04-27-2004, 15:03	#18
TyeDyeBoy Major Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Right here. Posts: 538	Yes, it is time to retell the Danger Woman tale. DragonCon 2001, Monday. Everyone had left except for myself (since I live in the area), and Hades. Hades was flying out the next day, but due to a scheduling mix up, he was going to be staying with me that night. I got up to the hotel and met him, we lugged his suitcases and such to my car, then decided to wander around a bit to see if we'd missed anything. Our journey led us to the large dealer room, and after a halfassed circuit, we agreed that there was nothing new to see. This dealer room is held in a large ballroom, with several doorways leading to it from the main lobby. We were about ten feet away from the doors back to the lobby when an overly loud voice stopped us dead in our tracks. 'HAY YOU GUYS!' Like most human beings, we turned around to see if we were the guys being adddressed, and we were astounded to see what stood before us. It seemed to be vaguely human, or perhaps a hobbit. It was five feet tall or so. It wore purple pants that were a bit too tight for it's pudgy body, along with an identically matched purple shirt (I want to say it was crushed velvet, but the memory is hazy and the fat might have blinded me). It also wore a simple eye mask, like one might see at Mardi Gras, that was in that all too familiar purple. It had a backpack, and a belt bag, and a mop of dark curly hair on it's head. It (we later decided it was a she) stood looking at us expectantly. I can't speak for Hades, but in the stunned silence in which we stared at the thing I was overcome by a sense of wonder, and more than a little awe. I don't know why. But it was shattered as it spoke, again in an overly loud voice. It... she... was not three feet away, but felt the need to shout at us. 'DID YOU GUYS HEAR ABOUT THE GAME THAT WAS BANNED AT GENCON?!?' After pausing to cast an unsure glance at Hades, I found my voice. 'Uhm, no.' 'YOU DIDN'T?!?!?! IT WAS THE GAME THAT WAS BANNED AT GENCON!!!!' In this instant, wonder, awe, and uncertainty gave way into definite fear, and not a small amount of terror. 'Really...' 'DO YOU GUYS KNOW THE NAME OF THE GAME THAT WAS BANNED AT GENCON?!?!?!' Another glance at Hades assured me that he was as concerned for our well being as I was. We were under the impression that our previous assertion that we, in fact, did not know the game that was banned at Gencon (which, incidentally, is another convention that happens somewhere in the midwest... I want to say Minnesota) was enough evidence of the fact that we were unsure of it's name for most human beings to grasp. 'No... no we don't.' 'YOU DON'T?!?!?!' 'No.' 'IT WAS THE GAME THAT WAS BANNED AT GENCON!' Fear had, by now, become abject terror. If the being in front of us was human, or some close relative thereof, then clearly it wasn't stable enough to comprehend the concept of 'no' or 'we don't know' or the unspoken body language that, I'm sure, said in no uncertain terms that we were uninterested in this mythical game banned from Gencon. Let me take a moment to explain a bit further our distress. We were only ten feet from the door, from potential salvation. Yet we found ourselves frozen with terror, unable to cross the final distance. But even this relative safety was in question, because for all we knew it was capable of following and, surely, devouring us. We were entirely unprepared for the horror that was just around the corner, however. 'YOU GUYS ARE PRETTY COOL, I'M GONNA TAKE YOUR PICTURE.' Hades and I gasped at the same moment, eyes wide with fear, no longer trying to hide it. It reached into it's belt bag and withdrew a camera. I was busy trying to decide on a fighting stance appropriate for the situation, and I was having difficulty as I've had no formal training in the subject of deflecting cameras. 'OH DARN, THE BATTERIES ARE DEAD. THAT'S OK I'LL GET YOUR PICTURE ANOTHER TIME.' Hades spoke up with a simple 'No you won't.' 'HA HA YOU'RE PRETTY FUNNY.' Hades again found his voice. 'And you're a bloody psycho.' I was mildly surprised at this, because until now I'd not seen anything of Hades other than a perfect British gentleman. It was only a hint of seeing him get all Crazy British during the effigy the next year. The beast laughed. 'ANYWAY, DO YOU GUYS KNOW THE GAME THAT WAS BANNED AT GENCON?!?!?' After the threat of the camera, it was with some small amount of relief that we moved back to this familiar territory. 'THERE'S A BOOTH FOR IT OVER THERE!!!!' Without turning she pointed in a direction implying that the booth was somewhere in the large room, but not much more specific than that. 'DO YOU GUYS WANT ME TO SHOW YOU WHERE IT IS????' 'Yes.' I couldn't believe that I'd actually said that. In retrospect I can only believe that I was delirious with fear. But she turned to take a step and lead forward, and seeing an opportunity, we bolted for the door. We must have covered the ten feet in less than a second, and were out of the hotel in less than ten seconds, out of Atlanta only a few minutes later. The rest of the day was spent watching over our shoulder for the Purple Terror. But the story doesn't quite end there.... You see, the next year we saw her again. Luckily it was from a safe distance, but we found out that this thing had a story. She called herself Danger Woman. She was, in fact, some sort of live action roleplayer (she'd alluded to it in our previous conversation, but I can't remember too specifically what she said, so I skipped it... the first encounter lasted around five minutes). She'd participated in DragonCon since the early days, and had acted the same way throughout. Several of the regular DC staffers said that she was generally credited with getting the ball rolling on DC, helping to spread the word and draw the visitors, even though she was frequently mocked (GEE I WONDER WHY). The staffers threw a party for her one year, and all chipped in to get her a $500 lifetime membership to DC. Meaning she's there every year. And yes, we have spotted her all three years. She also has a website, though it hasn't been updated in a long time. You can see the terror here. http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/DangerWoman/ To this day, I come to DC armed in some small way, just in case. In 2003 it was a near thing, we passed within just a few feet of her again, fortunately unnoticed. So you see, folks, DragonCon is an adventure!