As Night Falls: The Crimson Ball

Mythic Echoes present As Night Falls: The Crimson Ball; a vampire live roleplay that combines immersive storytelling and interactive theatre in the gothic former library of The Wardwick.

"You are cordially invited to join the Cabal of vampires at the Crimson Ball. As the sun sets, we will open the doors of our ancient repository to hold a masquerade ball and join in the restoration of our monarchs."

Vlad Tepes, founder of the Tepes Dynasty, has returned, which was heralded by him weakening the monarchs, current leaders of the five vampire dynasties. Viewing the monarchs as pretenders, Vlad has been recruiting others to his cause. Seeking to thwart Vlad Tepes's plans, the Cabal has found a way to restore the monarchs to their full strength through a blood ritual led by the mistress of ceremonies, but it will only possible with the blood of the dynasties. A crimson ball has been called to bring everyone together for a celebration of gothic elegance, decadent music and bloody horror.

What is As Night Falls: The Crimson Ball?

As Night Falls: The Crimson Ball is a rules-light live roleplay (LARP) set in the modern day. It is a purely social-based LARP, with zero combat, allowing participants the opportunity to immerse themselves in the bloody world of vampire politics, within a 19th century gothic former library.

LARP is akin to live theatre, except there is no audience and everyone involved is part of the cast. Each of the participants dress as their character and the outcome of the story is determined by their actions. There is no script or predetermined narrative, but a story told by the participants through their character’s actions.

In As Night Falls: The Crimson Ball, participants take on the role of a vampire from one of the dynasties in vampire society. These are chosen when buying a ticket and are divided as follows:

• Bathory - alluring and decadent.
• de Morieve - authoritarian and autocratic.
• Lilith - individualistic and rebellious.
• Orlock - savage and primal.
• Tepes - intellectual and cold.

If you are struggling to choose with which dynasty to choose, we have created a fun personality quiz here to help you decide. There are also mood boards for each of the dynasties to spark ideas for costumes.

Each participant at The Crimson Ball will have an individual personal character goal to achieve, as well as the goal for the faction that they are a part of and the overarching goal of restoring the monarch of their dynasties.

Instead of the coins and notes of humans, vampires rely on gold doubloons as their currency, which can help to achieve each of the character and faction goals. Every vampire will also have a blood crystal to denote their dynasty and a small portion of blood - their sacrament - that they can use in the LARP.

Event details

The event will open at 6.00pm, with an introduction at 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start. Upon arrival, each participant will be given their character pack. The LARP will conclude at 11.00pm, after which we will announce the winner of the costume competition and hold the raffle.

Peter Gatehouse, our event photographer for the night, will be capturing everyone in their finest garb throughout the LARP (please inform us if you do not wish your photograph to be taken).

A complimentary buffet will be provided and a bar will be open throughout the evening serving a variety of drinks. Please let us know if you have any dietary requirements by choosing an appropriate menu under the products section (vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free/nut-free/lactose-free), or by contacting us directly.

There will be space set aside to act as our 'green room', where participants can relax out of character.

Once a ticket has been purchased, participants will be invited to join our Discord server, where we will be sharing further information about the game in the lead up to the event.

Please be aware that this is a game of personal horror with an emphasis on roleplay. Therefore, there may be moments of intense emotion and references to blood and/or body-horror.

Travel and accomodation

The nearest carpark to The Wardwick is the Parksafe Systems carpark on Bold Lane (11 disabled parking spaces), which is just five minutes walk away. The B9 bus stop is just outside The Wardwick. Derby Bus Station is a ten minute walk away and Derby train station is a thirty minute walk (or five minute taxi ride). East Midlands Airport is also fifteen miles away, which has a regular bus service to and from Derby.

For those wishing to stay overnight, there are a limited number of rooms available with discounted rates at the nearby Leonardo Hotels: Derby for anyone attending our event. The access statement for Leonardo Hotels: Derby can be found here.

We endeavour for our events to be as inclusive as possible and have ensured that The Wardwick is fully accessible, with a wheelchair ramp at the side and accessible facilities (Accessibility at Derby Museums).

Who are Mythic Echoes?

Mythic Echoes is a collaboration between Eunice Morecroft-Low and Peter Ray Allison, who met through a shared interest in collaborative storytelling. Eunice has provided D&D events for Wizards of the Coast, as part of the release of Honour Among Thieves, whilst Peter has extensively written about gaming, including The Fall and Rise of Role-Playing Games for Deviant Leisure. Both have run roleplaying games for various events. Their last event, Vampire Games Day II, was a celebration of vampire-themed roleplaying games in The Wardwick.

The social media pages for Mythic Echoes and As Night Falls: The Crimson Ball can be found here.

Presented as part of ‘Dracula Returns to Derby: 101 Years and Counting’.