DM Notes: Lakeshore 20

The finale of Lakeshore is here! Well--the first half of it. The beginning of the end, if you will.

Here are some juicy notes and fun facts about the session!

As far as historical content, I was obviously greatly inspired by the World's Fairs and Exhibitions of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Fairs are obviously great, and the dedication to displaying advances in engineering, technology and design gives it such a unique flavour compared to, say, a carnival. Some events I used for inspiration include:

-The 1889 Paris World's Fair, of course, featured the unveiling of the Eiffel Tower (the tower was slated to be torn down, but was kept standing when decided it would have great value as a radio transmission tower...)

-The 1967 Expo in Montreal was one of the most popular fairs of the 20th century. Interestingly, the FLQ (a Quebec separatist militia) threatened to disrupt the Expo, and Charles De Gaulle delivered his infamous "vive le Quebec libre" address during a visit to Montreal to attend the Expo.

-Lastly, of course, Toronto has an annual Exhibition everyone on the show has been to at least once. I have fond, if confused, memories of marvelling at exquisite sculptures crafted entirely of butter. I wish we had included a butter sculpture in the episode, but I think the gang had more pressing matters to attend to.

Speaking of which: the biggest event of the episode is Nox finally breaking free of his service to Laxes! Though Laxes didn't get a ton of screentime in the campaign, I tried to give glimpses that fleshed him out, especially as things in Lakeshore got more and more chaotic. 

While he's certainly not a nice demon, I was glad to show that he was willing to help Nox, even if for his own long-term gain. With Rex dead, grand demons are no longer bid to follow his instruction--good for Nox, good for enemies of Rex, but possibly bad for everyone else in Lakeshore.

Lastly, I wasn't sure if the gang was going to have a reasonable shot of stopping the mayor in time for her broadcast. This was a super long record, and we cut out a lot of talking through scenes and options, so it may seem like time passes quickly. But in the end, especially with needing to find Rex, messing around at the fair and making all of their preparations, getting to the top of the tower at the stroke of 12 was too juicy to resist. The only thing left to see is how it all ends!