Welcome to the second day of my Furnal Equinox 2023 summary, told through submissions! Over the next week, I'll be doing my usual post-convention summary by sharing a photo a day from my time away, while recounting the events of the day on which the photo was taken, exactly two weeks ago:

Waking up rather early, I hurried down to the convention space to participate in a department heads meeting, to pick up on any important updates and share what I'd be doing over the course of the weekend in my capacity as staff. This was followed by a leisurely breakfast with staff, and then a quick trip back up to the room to listen to Ursus play on his bear guitar (photographed superbly by the ursine himself here - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/19089513/ ).

Following this most enjoyable musical interlude, we headed down to the opening ceremony, hosted by the very capable and entertaining con chair Avalanche Cascade. Kudos to AV for pulling off an excellent opening ceremony - if you know anyone who worked AV for this or any other convention, go and show them some love, would you? Ceremony concluded, Ursus went to enjoy a panel for first-time con-goers while I did my staffing rounds. I then took a short break for lunch in the hotel restaurant, where I enjoyed quite a tasty Japanese rice bowl before heading for the Dealers' Den.

The Den this year was massive, with so many talented artists and creators offering their wares for very reasonable prices. Well, they were very reasonable for me - gotta love that exchange rate. ;-p Though for me, visiting the Den has become less about browsing the stalls and more about catching up with good friends - my previous post mentioned, in no particular order, Heather Bruton, Sandy Schreiber, Catmonkshiro, and MothMonarch, and today I also stopped by to visit  WolfPsalm ,  thelivingshadow ,  anyare ,  nicnak044 (who had a really awesome badge for me!),  crazdude ,  spiderdragon , and  cheetahpaws (who was also one of the Guests of Honour). I spent much of the afternoon here, either catching up on my own or introducing Ursus to various artists, and helping the Nightingales with a couple of things in addition to my usual rounds. I also caught up with  fulminar ,  matthiasrat ,  danraccoon , and  seadog_driftwood, who I was glad to see again after a year had passed.

Getting later into the evening, Ursus informed me of an invitation from Soot and Kindle for dinner at a restaurant called Stormcrow Manor, which is a place I had often heard about at this con - only good things, assuredly - but had yet to get myself to. So, after the Den had closed and after another enjoyable musical interlude, down to the lobby we went to share an Uber for the drive up to the restaurant. This place is, in a nutshell, one of the coolest restaurants I've ever been to. It's clear that the owners had put so much thought into it to make it a fun place to eat out, while at the same time not relying on the atmosphere to make it a good restaurant. After starting with a shared pitcher of beer as other friends arrived, I ordered what they called the "Dungeon Burger", a burger for which I got a D&D character sheet (which I MASSIVELY regret not keeping) and I had to roll a 20-sided dice for my ingredients. I named my burger "The die are kind to me today", as I entirely naturally ended up with a beef burger with tomato, avocado, and vegan aioli on a brioche bun with a side of fries. This was then followed up by a pickle shot (I still don't know why) and then a serving... nay, a BRICK of bread pudding. Seriously, you could've built a house out of those puddings. To my shame, I couldn't finish it, but every bite of it and the preceding entrée was gorgeous.

After Uber-ing back to the hotel, it was time for another first for me... my first panel! You see, with a theme like 'Tales from the Tavern', it seemed entirely natural to me that I should come with a tail or two of my own. And coming from a place like Wales, with stories dated from the age of Romans and Celts, I certainly had a story or two to share. To a conference room that was about 2/3 full, at 9:30 at nice, I regaled the tale of Lleu Llaw Gyffes, from the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogion, an anthology of Welsh literature compiled in the 11th/12th century. For me, however, this wasn't simply about telling a fun mythological story where a woman gets made out of flowers or a king needs to rest his feet in a virgin's lap else he'll die. My hope for this panel was to instill in my audience a sense of culture, a sense of whence they came, in the hope that they might be inspired to look into stories and tales from their own ancestry, all of which came from the same place - people sitting round a fire many thousands of years ago, and quiestioning the world around them. It also struck me that in a world that seems increasingly divided, it might help for us to listen and share a little more, so that those around us don't seem quite so foreign.

With the panel over, some good conversations had afterwards, and my throat almost done from a combination of the atmosphere and a lack of water, I soon headed back to the room for a long, peaceful sleep.

Hope you enjoy!