Linguistic Dragon’s blog, Ultima Journeys, has been dormant for over a year (and Linguistic himself has been sorely missed from Spam Spam Spam Humbug episodes for about as long). However, he did see fit to post an update to his site, in the form of a reflection on the events of the Ultima Dragons 25th Anniversary Bash.

It is, true to Linguistic’s form, a lengthy piece, so here’s a bit of an excerpt:

I was excited about the prospect of meeting other Dragons, and even moreso when I found out Lord British and other Origin folk were planning on being there as well. At the same time, part of me was a little nervous. And not just about the lesson – I wondered if I’d get along half as well with Dragonly folk offline as I did online. I simply didn’t have the same experience as I knew a lot of Dragons did when it came to the UDIC itself. I knew a lot of folks had been part of the Dragon community considerably longer than I had. I’d known about the Dragons well before I ever joined, and by the time the Bash rolled around, I’d been one myself for a little over three years. I still considered myself a hatchling by Dragon standards. I didn’t grow up with the series like many of the Dragons had. I’ve said before that I’m as old as Ultima V, and by the time I actually discovered the series and played one of the games, Ultima VIII had already been out for a few years. I didn’t even have the tech background a lot of Dragons seemed to have. As excited as I was, I wondered if I wouldn’t feel a bit like a fish out of water.

That notion was dispelled the moment I walked into the Fellowship Hall that first day.

I’m still not entirely sure what it was that did it. Maybe it was the big hug Gallara gave me when we finally got to see each other in person. Maybe it was seeing Blu3vib3, aka Angelic-Demonic (or was it Demonic-Angelic?) Dragon, all decked out in Serpent attire and realizing that whatever else we might have been, just about everyone there loved the Ultima games just as much as I did. Maybe it was how jovial and personable Richard Garriott, Lord British himself, was when I finally worked up the courage to say hi. Maybe it was finding out just how far some Dragons had come to attend, or reading through the event book, hitting home that yes, we Dragons really did come from all sorts of walks of life.

But whatever it was, I had a grand time – even despite the fact I was sick the whole time I was there and was popping coughdrops like they were going out of style. (If you were there and got sick afterward, I’m so sorry, it was probably my fault.) I got to meet Dragons I knew from online, but never yet met in person, Gallara and Sorceress and Goldenflame. I got to meet Dragons like Shadow of Light, who I knew by name and by their work (I have stark memories of tearing through Shadow of Light’s Ultima-related writings when I was in college) but never had a chance to put face to name. I got to experience the reverse, too – I can’t tell you how many times I had someone tell me “oh, so you’re Linguistic Dragon!” and it still caught me by surprise every time. I got to sit back and indulge in one of my favorite pastimes – origami – with Doctor Cat. I was there when Dominus helped christen Lord British as Splut Dragon, I chatted with Dennis Loubet about the poster he designed for the event while he signed mine, I got to play a bit of Goldenflame’s The Dark Unknown with him right there to chat about its development. My Gargish lesson was small but glorious, soon turning into a discussion on what Gargish oratory tradition might be like. I exchanged favorite (and frustrating!) moments while playing the games over lunch. I joked about how riding the California Screamin’ roller coaster in the rain must certainly have earned me some valor points. There was laughter, there was joy, there was exuberance, and there was Ultima.

As much as those particular memories make me smile, though, I think what stood out to me the most wasn’t what I made of the event, but what my parents did.

Do click on through to read the whole thing.