John Lavalie: Created page with "{{article | publication = The Sun (Biloxi, MS) | file = 1984-03-12 Sun (Biloxi, MS).jpg | px = 450 | height = | width = | date = 1984-03-12 | author = Tom Charlier | pages =..."

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Created page with "{{article | publication = The Sun (Biloxi, MS) | file = 1984-03-12 Sun (Biloxi, MS).jpg | px = 450 | height = | width = | date = 1984-03-12 | author = Tom Charlier | pages =..."

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{{article
| publication = The Sun (Biloxi, MS)
| file = 1984-03-12 Sun (Biloxi, MS).jpg
| px = 450
| height =
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| date = 1984-03-12
| author = Tom Charlier
| pages = A7
| language = English
| type =
| description =
| categories = conventions
| moreTitles =
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| text =
"You are presently in the Kingdom of Nerideas," said the young man who called himself Dulinn.

He was dressed as a twelfth-century Englishman — elaborately so — and to make things a little more disorienting, he was standing in what heretofore was the second-floor lobby of the Royal D'Iberville Hotel in Biloxi.

Dulinn, a devotee of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and about 1,400 other aficionados of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Gaming, transformed the hotel into a showcase for the unusual, spectacular and, in some instances, unbelievable. The occassion was the seventh annual CoastCon, which concluded a four-day stint at the hotel Sunday.

"This is the place where all the weird people meet — all the fun people, shall we say," Dulinn said.

Witness Robert Neagie, of New Orleans, whose "business card" identifies him as a professional killer, double agent, soldier-of-fortune and a few other trades that qualify him as a fighter of wars, revolutionary-for-hire, orgy-organizer and football game-fixer. He said the people who attended the event — and they came from all over the Southeast, and even as far away as Philadelphia — all found different things to interest them.

For instance, in one room on the fourth floor there was a non-stop showing of videotapes of Dr. Who, the popular British sci-fi television series. In another room a s-f club from Baton Rouge was showing films of such genre staples as Star Wars, while the National Aviation and Space Administration was showing films of its own in another room

And there was an area for dealers in comic books, shirts, buttons, art and film copies — the "Hucksters Room," as it was known. One comic book dealer, Eric White of Metairie, La., whose collection included old Captain America and Spiderman selections, said current favorites among buffs include the X-Men, New Mutants and Marvel Universe series.

Meanwhile, there was true drama on the ninth floor. On tables that provided upwards of 60 square feet of playing space, miniature figures representing opposing armies portrayed re-enactments of battles straight from the pages of history. These giant war games, conducted on boards that included detailed topography and miniature buildings, pitted the luck and skills of groups of players using 20-sided dice.

Sunday afternoon, a five-hour battle raged on one of the boards between the English-backed Egyptians, who were equipped with camel-mounted Gatling Guns, and the Dervishes of the Sudan. In the actual battles in the Sudan in 1875, the Dervishes were victorious, and, as it was becoming increasingly evident, they were in the process of repeating history Sunday.

The convention was truly multi-faceted, but the highlight of the event for many was the costume contest and party Saturday night, which provided the many Robin Hood, Star Trek and sorcery-genre buffs a chance to parade around in their outlandish garb. It was all in the name of fantasy, and as those in attendance at CoastCon can attest, the opportunity for such goings-on are indeed scare.

Caption: Larry Brom leads game of "The Sword and the Flame" during gathering on Coast
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Anachronisms descend on Coast for fun, games - Revision history

John Lavalie: Created page with "{{article | publication = The Sun (Biloxi, MS) | file = 1984-03-12 Sun (Biloxi, MS).jpg | px = 450 | height = | width = | date = 1984-03-12 | author = Tom Charlier | pages =..."