Once upon a time, a boy and a girl met. He was dedicated to his destiny. She was pledged to another. She was deeply moved by his affections, but it was not meant to be. She wed with her betrothed, and he took to his path. Their names were Lady Nyria and Visatr.

Once upon a time, another boy and girl met. They fell deeply in love. Her parents forbade them to marry, but they wed in secret. She was disowned. One night, the boy disappeared. For years the girl searched for him, losing their infant daughter to sickness during her quest. She despaired, believing she would never find love until the day he reappeared and swept her into his embrace. Their names were Leiya and Cite.

Once upon a now, another boy and girl met. They had begun playing games together. Over time they became friends. One day, the boy asked a favor of loyalty outside the games of the girl, which she did happily. And although a great distance separated them, they grew closer and closer each day. Soon they stopped playing games and chose instead to spend their time talking about many and varied things. They found they had many things in common and shared many passions.

Soon they were each invited to visit mutual friend from the game for a week. They were thrilled, for although they had played together, talked together, shared together, and traded pictures, they had never met face to face. Their names are Kris and Travis.

Joy and apprehension swirled in her mind as she rode with her friend to the station to meet him. Would he be as he was when they spoke? Would she like him? Would he like her? Would they still be as well matched together as they had been before? Would the enchantment and magic they had felt endure? Deep in her heart she already knew...

Hope and anticipation filled his thoughts as the bus carried him closer to her. He knew she loved him and he loved her. He knew what they wanted together, now only to make that happen. They had created a magic together... a magic that would last as long as they stood together.

They pulled into the parking lot and she got out of the car, sighting him immediately. He took a step toward her and opened his arms. Any hesitation she might have had vanished as she stepped into his embrace.

Nyria and Leiya are characters created by Kris for role playing on the internet, just as Visatr and Cite were created by Travis. These fictional characters brought the real people together in the most unique and intense way. Kris and Travis fell in love without ever seeing each other in person. When they did meet, that love was reaffirmed and solidified. And that is the greatest story of them all.

After deciding to move to Northern Virginia, Travis and Kris began to transform other of their fantasies to reality. They live together with her two children, Mullaney and Ian. Do they still play characters online? Oh, yes. Between them they have over two score of characters. Some have never met, some are friends, some lovers, and some mortal enemies. But as Travis tells Kris: The Internet is just a fantasy world. It is what you do to turn that Fantasy to Reality counts.

On April 10, 1999, two years after meeting in person for the first time, Travis and Kristyn entwined their souls in a Renaissance ceremony held in the Ft. Lauderdale area. This is a milestone in life, but merely a step along the path they have chosen to take. Some would say it is the culmination of a story that began in a long ago chat room, but Travis and Kristyn consider it a beginning, a new chapter.

Our latest project is QUEST, a Live Action Fantasy Role Play organization based in Northern Virginia.

I must admit I have never participated in any role playing game on the internet, so I would be glad if you could explain me how it works.

It is rather like acting in a play, except there is no set plot, and no set lines. You make it up as you go along. You create a fictional character/personality. Then you enter the chat room as that person. You indicate actions as well as carrying on conversation, and the story unfolds.

Please also tell me how relationships develop during such games?

Generally, you find people of similar attitudes and mindsets, and you begin to speak Out Of Character (OOC) and from there, it grows like in any social situation.

Could you tell me more details about how you got to know each other?

We both  had gone to a chat room called Dragon Hold. Kris' character was called Nyria and Travis' character was Visatr. We chatted a bit and found we had some common interests and realized we were in Dragon Hold for a reason. We started chatting on other chat programs (besides chat rooms) like ICQ and Powwow.  We found that we had more in common in real life than our characters did, and we found we totally enjoyed each other's company.

We were "lucky" in that we had quite a bit of time we could dedicate to these online meetings. (Kris had been in a rather serious car accident and was recuperating at home, and Travis' store had just closed so he was temporarily unemployed.) That made the getting-to-know-you stage quite quick indeed.

Is it common that the participants of the game meet?

I think it is fairly common for them to meet in other chat programs and become friends. I also think that many of them do eventually meet In Real Life (IRL), but also many of the people in the role playing rooms are teens and young adults, which I think for a variety of reasons is a barrier to meeting in person. A year or so after we got together, we became friends with a bunch from another chat room. It was not a role playing chat room, though. They organized an "online reunion" of sorts and about 30 of us got together and met face to face. That was quite enjoyable. The people you meet online tend to be good people when you meet them in person.

Have your real characters anything in common with those virtually created?

Yes. Generally people make up characters very similar to themselves, or what they would like to be at least. They might also make up a character to embody a specific trait they want to portray. Of course, the character may be quite a bit different from them. They might want to be something totally different from what they really are. In our case, we created characters with personalities quite similar to ourselves. Their 'lives' unfurled quite a bit different from ours. They didn't end up together. I personally thank my lucky stars every day for Travis.
 

Tell me a few words about QUEST, your own role play organization and the people who are involved.

QUEST was Kris' idea. We both love Renaissance Faires and medieval re-enactment. Our medieval garb rivals our everyday wardrobes in size. When the Ren Faire nearest us closed, we decided we wanted another outlet for our 'medieval ways'.  Kris read an article in Renaissance Magazine about Live Action Role Play. We discussed it and planned how we wanted it to come about.  Some friends joined us and we have monthly "gathers" where we meet in character and play. It is rather like the the online thing, but it is live. You dress the part. You 'are' the part. Some of the 'gathers' are a one day thing, and twice a year we go camping for a weekend.

Travis is Transvartius, a half elven traveler and weaver of destinies. Kris is Nyria once more, an elven priestess who has moved past her warrior days of Dragon Hold and finally found the love of her life, as Kris has.

Some of the others involved in QUEST include people we have worked with and people we have met through the course of our every day lives. They all enjoy role playing and medieval re-enactment. They range from security personnel to government employees, to computer techs and graphic artists. We have a great time during our 'gathers'. It is a great venue for friends with common love for that era to express ourselves. Heck, everyone needs a little fantasy in their lives, right?