The Last Summer
East Wyrwood Shire, early August. Perhaps the most beautiful time of the year for lavish parties and happiness in love. At the Elmwood Estate of the Wentworth family, the widowed Cecil Wentworth celebrates his engagement to the love of his youth, the also widowed Gladys Jennings. A weekend full of dancing and joie de vivre is about to begin.
But while the family, guests and house staff prepare for the joyous celebration, a Shadow is gathering over the country - the impending outbreak of the Great War. The year is 1914 and this is the last summer of an era that people will soon only remember as a fading dream.
A larp about drama, happy summer romance, passions, conflicts, inequality and hopes, inspired by drama series like "Downton Abbey" and "Upstairs, Downstairs".
May 29th - June 1st 2025
(English)
June 6th - 9th 2025
(German)
Practical information
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Date: Run 1: 29.05. - 01.06.2025 (English)
Run 2: 06.06. - 09.06.2025 (German) -
Location: Gutshaus Belitz, Northern Germany (between Hamburg and Berlin)
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Participants: 15 upstairs, 10 downstairs
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Age limit: 18+
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Tickets: 525,- Euro (Upstairs) 375,- Euro (Downstairs)
Paying in installments is possible.
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Included: The experience includes prewritten characters, an eventful program, accommodation in a historical manor house, food, drinks.
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Costumes: All participants are responsible for their own costumes.
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Alcohol: Alcohol is allowed during the game. A few glasses of wine for dinner are included in the price. If you want a cognac for a late evening scene, you’ll have to bring it along yourself. We do not want to see any visibly drunk players at the game.
The event will take place in the manor house Gutshaus Belitz. The house was used as a filming location for the German reality serie “Abenteuer 1900 – Leben im Gutshaus” and was set back to perfectly fit the 1910s conditions.
Accomodation
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Although Gutshaus Belitz looks and feels like a manor house from the 1910s, there are some modern amenities at the location. There are electricity outlets (but not in most bedrooms), showers and toilets.
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The bedrooms will be in-game during the play time. However, the players can have privacy in their bedrooms during the breaks between the acts (e.g. during the night time). Should a player need a break from the game during the act, there will be a space for this.
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The player accommodation will be according to the status of their character, with most upstairs character players staying in more luxurious upstairs rooms, whereas the players of the downstairs characters will stay downstairs in smaller and less comfortable bedrooms.
"Elmwood Chronicles - The Last Summer" is a larp inspired by series like "Downton Abbey" and "Upstair, Downstairs". The story is set in an English manor house right before the start of World War I and focuses on drama, happy summer romance, passions, conflicts, inequality and hopes.
Experience
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We aim for an immersive dramatic experience in a beautiful historical atmosphere that feels more like a condensed television series rather than a historical simulation.
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"Elmwood Chronicles - The Last Summer" has a pre-written set of characters, which will be assigned to the players after the signup is closed.
The characters include rich description, challenges, conflicts and connections and have room to be customized and enriched by players. -
While we want to play on themes of social hierarchy, position in the society and struggles with gender and class, we will not play on the subject of racism and will not tolerate any form of off-game discrimination.
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The characters are parts of different groups that give the possibility for connections. The two main defining groups for every character are the downstairs and upstairs groups.
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Playing upstairs: As upstairs characters you are enjoying your time in diverse social activities. You stroll in the gardens with your flirt, enjoy a lavish dinner with your family or a game of cards with a friend.
While you are trying to find a way to solve your financial issues or avoid a scandal, you are heavily relying on the assistance of your true servants.
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Playing Downstairs: As a servant you have a possibility to play in a house with conditions remarkably close to those of 1910. However, your work is almost always about people and relationships and should add to your play rather than take away from it. This means physical tasks are never performed alone. The family and guests require lots of personal wardrobe assistance giving you a chance to talk and gossip.
We will have some off-game staff and catering, so playing a maid doesn’t mean cooking meals, but rather having the possibility of boiling a tea kettle on the wood stove and preparing platters of cookies for the afternoon tea.
Playing a servant will give you the possibility to spread gossip and influence the story. You will tend to the members of the family and guests, performing tasks and chores that are meaningful to you and add to your play.
An immersive experience like "Elmwood Chronicles - The Last Summer" needs some rules to ensure the safety of everyone involved and to provide a great larp experience for all participants.
Safety
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We have a set of rules and mechanics to protect the physical safety and emotional safety of our participants.
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During the castin process the participants will be asked what potentially problematic or triggering topics they might be uncomfortable to directly play on and this will be taken into account when assigning the characters.
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Additionally, we don’t tolerate any form of off-game discrimination, may it be due to sexuality, appearance, heritage, gender, ability, or anything the like.
Accessibility
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The venue can only be accessed via stairs, there is no wheelchair-ramp available.
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There are stairs and steps in various places inside the venue - those have no lifts or ramps.
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There is now low-barrier bathroom available.
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There are uneven areas both inside (old floorboards, worn stairs, slippery tiles) and outside (meadow, tree roots) the location.
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The outside areas of the location are largely unlit.
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During the nighttime, the lighting in certain areas within the location will be very low.
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There may be both visual and audio game information during the course of the game.
