About Steamy Ink Publishing

Steamy Ink Publishing is the premier source of news and information for the Freelands. Operating two distinct publications, we are dedicated to truth, transparency, and the occasional well-placed rumor.

Our Publications

Player’s Guide & OOC FAQ

Disclaimer: Steamy Ink Publishing is a project run by me (Shauna), written from the perspective of my PC Poppy. Publications are not official game material.

The “Truth” in Journalism

• Actual Events: Many stories are based on real in-game observations: public arguments, fashion choices, or suspicious meetings.
• Creative License: Some events and ‘eyewitness accounts’ in Steamy Ink Press are notably exaggerated. I often embellish stories or add background drama to make the world feel lived-in and give people more to react to. While everything is based in some truth, it’s much more fun to blow things completely out of proportion.
• Plot Hooks: The Plot Team occasionally uses the paper to share official info, so keep an eye out for “blessed” hooks!
• Bias: The paper has its own voice. Think of it as another character; it aims to be entertaining and “sell copies,” not to be a 100% accurate historical record.

How to Use This Information

• If you see your PC: It’s an invitation to RP! You can confront Poppy, write a letter, start a counter-rumor, or ignore it entirely.
• Information Accuracy: Special Investigative is designed to be a trustworthy resource for players. Unlike Steamy Ink, Special Investigative does not contain exaggerated or “fake” news. Information may be incorrect based on what characters knew at the time, but it is never intentionally fabricated by the editor.
• OOC Comfort: If a story—made up or otherwise—causes real-world distress, please contact me on the Discord (@Shauna/Poppy), find me at game, or reach out to a Marshal. Out of character discomfort should be discussed out of character- if you approach me in character and don’t indicate that this is an out of character issue, I will treat it like an in-character discussion.

Behind the Press: About the Creator

Hi there! I'm Shauna, a player in the Kingdoms of Novitas LARP. In 2022, I attended my first event with a very specific plan: try it once for the sake of my husband and friends, confirm that I hated it, and go back to my normal life.

I haven’t missed an event since.

By day, I spend my hours teaching doctors how to navigate the rigid, structured world of medical software. By night (and one weekend a month), I am the editor-in-chief of a fictional media empire. Steamy Ink Publishing is my creative escape where I get to trade the role of “Epic Trainer” for that of a nosey, snarky, and delightfully biased gossip columnist.

Why the News?

I initally became interested in LARP from listening to my husband tell me stories about what the characters got up to when he came home from game. While I appreciate a good world-ending plot hook as much as the next adventurer, I’ve always been more interested in the player characters. Poppy is the result of me wanting to know the stories behind them—what they do when they aren’t saving the world, who they’re meeting at the tavern, and all the other tiny dramas that make a fantasy world feel like a community.

There is a unique magic in capturing the chaos of a live game session and turning it into a permanent record. I take immense pride in transforming those moments into a physical archive that players can hold in their hands and look back on for years to come.

Wiki Wizard

Because I like to keep myself busy, I also manage the Kingdoms of Novitas Wiki. As the third owner of the wiki and lead editor for our rulebook and information hub, I spend a lot of my “free” time ensuring our rules are as organized as Poppy’s press room. It turns out that ten years of teaching people how to use software is the perfect training for wrangling two decades’ worth of fantasy lore into a single, cohesive database for nerds!