Medieval Fantasy

Generally, the visitors to this pine-studded peak are latex-clad mountain bikers, bearded hikers and bird watchers, not hobbits, half-elves and hobgoblins.

But last weekend, more than 30 fantasy-loving men and women from around California turned the picturesque summit into the fabled land of Irroquin, packing it full of preternatural monsters and denizens of the underworld for an elaborate game called Campaign.

“I’m out here looking for bad people,” boasted an armored paladin as he stowed his foam sword in a belt. “You know--the monsters, the undead and the truly evil.”

For the past two days, the normally quiet vistas near Los Padres National Forest’s Chula Vista Campground were awash with medieval action as armored knights battled pig-nosed orcs and goblins amid shouts of “Slay the wretched beast!” or threats that “The demon shall feast upon thy bones!”

Unlike dice and paper-driven games such as Dungeons and Dragons, Campaign is fantasy come to life, where players assume the guise of carefully crafted characters, going as far as to slap on an accent while wearing ornately detailed uniforms that might thrill even a Hollywood costumer.

“It’s pure drama,” said 29-year-old Andrew Gaughen of North Hollywood, who is one of the game’s organizers, or game masters. “Normally, people read a book or go see a movie to get this kind of drama, but this is real life. You are the drama.”

Campaign began eight years ago when a handful of friends, mostly film majors from Ithaca College in upstate New York, trekked into the forested Adirondacks to play out simple scenarios with swords and daggers.

Eventually, the weapons evolved from metal replicas into PVC pipe wrapped in foam padding and tape. That allowed players to let go of reality as they let loose on one another.

After college, most of the original players migrated to Southern California to work in the film industry. Here they found dozens of others who thirsted for worlds filled with powerful sorcerers and ghastly ghouls.

“When we got out here, we all found a lot of other people who thought it’d be fun,” said Dave Miner of Burbank, another original Campaigner and organizer of the weekend’s event. “After that it just got a lot better.”

And more sophisticated.

The game, which is played up to 14 times a year, revolves around a basic plot that almost always pits good against evil in a desperate race against time.

The players, however, are not told about the mission and aren’t even required to take part. Many come simply to steal things from the various camps or to settle a score with another player or a race of monsters.

The players who are there to chalk up another win for the side of good learn about the plot from other characters, such as the “travelers” who have come to the inn for a goblet of Dwarven Ale--a.k.a. Mountain Dew--or a snack of N’ost Karean chocolates, better known as M & Ms.

Campaign organizers say it is important that the plot remain flexible.

“Players feel cheated if you tell them something doesn’t work, so we just go with it,” Gaughen said. “Basically, we just let them [the players] run the game.”

This weekend’s plot centered on an evil cadre of warriors and wizards called the Sequestrum, who planned to conjure a demon from some ethereal plain to wreak havoc on the peoples of the continent of Xania.

That didn’t scare Otto Goslear, an expert swordsman and fugitive from the country of De Mekrium.

“Ha!” barked Goslear, in reality Los Angeles resident Gintaras Valiulis. “I cherish the chance to stare evil in the face.”

The players spent most of Saturday wandering about the knotty pines and rock croppings searching for clues on what the game masters had in store for them. And it wasn’t long before they got a taste of evil in the shape of a crab-clawed creature who’d been afflicted with some magical malady.

The monster, painted red and sporting black armor studded with sharp spikes and hair, wielded a long sword, while the crab claw shot out disabling webs of sticky orange party string.

“Kill the cursed beast!” yelled Zachary, a warrior wrapped in a furry black vest who’d been bested by the skulking creature. “Kill it now!”

But Brothers Jonathon and Franklin, both holy men who follow the goddess Sheila, protector of the meek and helpless, tried their best to save the menace.

“Stop this madness, you fools; this is a man who has fallen prey to evil magic,” Brother Jonathon begged just before the arachnoid monster clobbered him with a sword.

For the most part, players, who are generally in their late 20s and early 30s and have jobs ranging from special-effects designer to accountant to teacher, said Campaign is an exit to another world where freakish fantasies live and breathe.

“It’s an escape from the modern world,” said 27-year-old Andrew Elkins of Studio City. “You get to be that person you always wish you were.”

While Elkins and a number of others generally choose characters that embody the deeds and temperament of a hero, there are those like Dave Murphy, who opt for the roles of servants, innkeepers and thieves.

“Sometimes it’s fun just to irritate the other players,” said the 23-year-old Murphy, a Burbank resident who played the parts of both a thief and Brother Franklin. “It keeps it interesting if there’s more than just an orc or zombie to fight.”

Ingrid Debeus has been playing for about a year. Her character, the carefree Lady Olivia Goslear, allows her to forget about her real-life commitments and responsibilities.

“She’s the exact opposite of me,” the 26-year-old Santa Monica resident said. “Olivia’s very fun and always gets into trouble.”

She’s also pretty good with a sword, as she demonstrated when she brought down an orc with a combination to the belly, chest and head.

“This’ll do nicely,” Olivia said as she lifted the fanged mask off her vanquished foe. “Orc heads are worth a gold piece each.”

Organizer Miner, whose roles included a crazed Sequestrum warrior armored in a ribbed exoskeleton decorated with fanged skulls and bony spikes, said he’s not surprised by the gusto with which players approach Campaign.

“We’re all playing the same game we did when we were kids,” he said. “We just have better props.”