A Gathering of Weird Little Freaks
Alt Text: Illustrated poster for the tabletop gaming convention Between Two Cons, held at Norse Hall in Portland, Oregon, June 26–27, 2026. Two enormous moss-covered stone heads with red gem eyes flank the title, while a small skeleton lies on a rune-carved altar above a flaming brazier and stone steps.
What can I say? This was, hands down, the best con experience of my short con going career. Even our flights and airport experiences were pleasurable.
I haven't been to Portland in nearly thirty years, Megan has never been. Her first words about Portland, as we were in our Lyft headed to the Jupiter Hotel (shout out to that campy, kitschy lil place! More on that later), were "Oh my god, it smells like fresh and Christmas!!"
Thursday Night
The Jupiter. What a funky, cool little hotel, once a travel lodge/motel. Its sister property, Jupiter NEXT, is located across the street and we had to check-in there as they were renovating the lobby and other places at Jupiter. We saw Hey Love in person instead of just online pics and had already chosen to grab dinner and cocktails there once we settled in our small, but cozy room.
Hey Love provided some outstanding fish tacos (we both got 'em!) and simply fantastic cocktails (we only had 1 each, we were beat). We went to bed shortly after as we knew what a long day Friday would be.
Friday
We began our day with coffee and breakfast at Grendel's (the Works bagel, both of our favorite breakfast item). We met up with a TON of Cairnies and it became the de facto meet up space for a bunch of us staying close by. This first grouping of Weird Little Freaks included Maxim, Demi, Bad Quail, Red Mongoose, Tony Vasinda and more that, unfortunately, I can't remember due to me not getting around to write this sooner. CURSES!
Under Portland’s gray sky we queued outside Norse Hall, meeting more people every few minutes.
Walked in, grabbed my badge from Mr. Kerr himself, well, technically Megan grabbed it for me as she was quicker to get in the line whilst I gabbed and began to move about the vendor hall as they were setting up. Wanted to see where the Cairn booth would be since I had to work it later that day. Yochai Gal was somehow everywhere at once, juggling last-minute convention details while still making time to greet everyone who wandered by. He gave me my Cairn Press shirt and then I grabbed my swag from the third member of this trifecta, Skullboi.
My good friend and sometimes collaborator on various projects, Zac Goins was working the Pirate Borg booth, as he is usually wont to do. We got to catch up and hang for a bit, which is always awesome. Zac even gifted me the free RPG Day goodies a bit early. Huzzah!!
Got to meet Bryan from Arcane Sword Press. I had hoped to hit Arcane Con last year, but a personal emergency came up. Planning on attending this year if everything works out.
Dropped by Plus One's booth and saw they had the physical copy of my newest mega dungeon attraction, Ave Nox. I love running this with my weird sci-fantasy setting for Cairn. It was a must buy the moment I saw it.
Hung out in the front part of Norse Hall for a good long time, talking with various conventioneers. Left to get some lunch before I had to start my first ever booth job.
I ducked back to Hey Love for lunch before my booth shift. The ceviche was exactly what I needed before spending the afternoon talking Cairn with strangers who somehow already felt like friends. Megan went on a walking tour as I enjoyed my lunch and then gathered what I needed to run my game after my booth time.
I make for a handsome booth dude.
I had so much fun, talking to people about Cairn and recommending my favorite adventures (which was extremely easy to do when the creatives are the likes of Brad Kerr, Amanda P, Joseph R. Lewis, Martin Orchard, Yochai Gal and so many more!). Even sold two box sets!
Also got to meet more Cairn Pressers: Hilander, Matt Kelly and Derek B!
While I worked the booth, Meg represented us for the special episode. She couldn't keep from laughing while regaling me with what I had missed. Upon listening to the episode recently, I can't blame her! Great stuff all around.
It was time for me to run my first game of the con. I ran Games Omnivorous' Undying Sands using both my weird, sci-fantasy, dying earth setting, Under a Pale Sun and Cairn 2e.
My wonderful players were James (Brakk), Dave (Mira-of-the-Third-Brine), Xander (Calyx), Mitchell (Architect of the Revered Procuration and Removal) and Dibson (Ashkarr).
We literally only explored TWO hexes as the 2nd tile pulled from the bag was a dungeon, the Strange Pyramid. No spoilers here, but they did finish the dungeon right before our allotted time was over. There was laughter, thrills and some slight gonzo shenanigans. They kept their character sheets that I had made for this event. Only complaint is I could've shortened the prologue and will do so from now on.
The After Party
Oh man. What a great venue for Friday's after party! Black Water, a vegan pub grub and bar that had a drag revue happening at the same time was an inspired choice! Just look at these astounding vegan wings!!
My big regret is I didn't go into Dark Future. I was afraid they'd have a copy of Fiend Folio and I would've bought it, haha. Still had a blast drinking sazeracs and hanging with all these amazing Weird Little Freaks. Stayed up way too late, but hey, that's what Grendel's is for.
Saturday
Grendel's again and they were prepared for the convention take over. While enjoying the fellowship, coffee and breakfast, Demi mentioned they wanted to run Frontier Scum at the pick up table. I asked if they still had a spot and responded yes. I then remembered that I had credit with Grendel's copier, so I offered to print the character sheets. Unfortunately, they weren't printer friendly but they were better than nothing. That game was fun, wild and both the table and Demi were amazing. Got to play with Loot the Body himself, Levi Nunez. I was fangirling as Loot the Body is literally one of my favorite bands, and Levi helped with one of my newest fave TTRPGs, Skate Wizards (which I thought about running at the pick up tables, but would've missed this opportunity).
Time again after Frontier Scum for me to go chow down some lunch before running my second game, Weird Little Freaks.
Nong's was so delicious and just about life changing! Chicken fat rice, that chicken, the sauce, the soup! All came together to power me up and get ready for Weird Little Freaks. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, con crud was beginning to rear its ugly head. Thinking I was just getting con voice, I grabbed another coffee from Grendel's and walked to the Norse Hall, ready to be the best GM I could be.
Holy crap, what a fun time! I had run this once before with my usual group of players, so I was semi-prepared. However, this table just got it. They brought their A-game and fully understood AND embraced the vibe! Huge shoutout to the players, James (Tenpiece), Sandra (Clewd), James 2 (Waverly), Martin (Trilby), Molly (Yirmeor) and Nathan (Thursday). They made it so easy for me to cut up and cut loose, just go for it and dump all the fun this adventure has to offer right there in front of them. Poor Martin had to bow out early, due to jet lag, but he informed me early and he still got to be transformed into a Drukk before exiting. That's a good trade in my book!
I made my way back upstairs as I told Yochai I'd work the booth while he recorded the Between 2 Cairns episode live. He informed he made a decision to go ahead and shut down early to break down and pack up quicker. I volunteered Megan to help as well, as her organization skills are off the charts. We got everything put away and packed and could all now go to the live recording.
What can I say? This was my 2nd live recording for the podcast (the first was the previous GaryCon event) and it did not disappoint. I laughed, I cried, I applauded a lot. The one thing I couldn't do was yell or talk very much as con crud was coursing through my veins. I still overly enjoyed the event and look forward to the next one (probably GaryCon again).
And with that, the first Between 2 Cons was officially over. I was saddened that it was, but lifted when I thought of all the friends I got to meet in person, and all the friends I made. I was thrilled about visiting Portland again and felt so welcomed there, so much so it's now on the list of possible places we may move to. I walked to dinner at Normandie in bittersweet silence. The meal was good and I paused only to reminisce from my time so far.
Sunday
I was miserable, but finally had the energy to grab some coffee with the Weird Little Freaks one last time. We ate, caffeinated and spent a wonderful fellowship with our time at the con. As folks left to go back to their respective homes or stops, I went back to Jupiter to sleep a bit before I felt like getting some lunch. I wanted spicy soup, so ramen was the stop. It was good, could've been spicier but felt good on my throat and in my belly. I was also craving ice cream, but just wasn't up to walking anywhere far.
Hung out with Bryan and Eon for a bit in the lobby of Jupiter NEXT, having some coffee before they went on to Dark Future. Saw that Tony was at Hey Love and we decided to join, enjoying their Happy Hour carajillos (maybe a bit much). Lo and behold, their special menu was desserts! I got the strawberry-rhubarb cake and was thoroughly happy! Not ice cream, but close enough for me!
Once Tony left to get ready to fly back, I went to the room, and rested the day out, reading my purchases, the ones I had promised I wasn't going to buy haha.
BEHOLD! STONETOP!!
And that was my Between 2 Cons experience. I'm sure I left out some things. Again, my favorite con experience I've had so far and am already planning for next year's.
Keep on being Weird Little Freaks and I'll see you at the next one!
~Richard
Special Shoutouts to the following:
Maxim for their retrospective as well.
Megan for this incredible video of the con.
Yochai, Brad and Skullboi for putting this wonderful event together and in such a small span of time too! Truly amazing!
Both of my game tables, you peeps rocked!
Demi for running Frontier Scum.
All my fellow Cairn Pressers!