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EPISODE 1: IDLE TEARS

“Equinox 13 should never have been built…”

Resting quietly on a hill in Liverpool is an old observatory. Seemingly abandoned, most locals whisper that the observatory is cursed and has gone unlived in for years. Only one of those things is true.  

The Equinox Institute knows the observatory well. After all, they own it. 

Equinox Bidston” or “Equinox 13” has had many classifications over the years. Originally a military base and penitentiary for paranatural entities, the observatory suffered several major containment breaches over the first two decades of its operation – more than any other Equinox site in recorded history. Concerned by the increasing number of casualties and poor performance, the site was converted into a research centre by the 1970s. Three decades of irrelevant research followed, culminating in a lab experiment in the early 2000s which saw a field agent unnecessarily killed. More recently it has been classified as an archive, albeit one with a reputation for poor management and several significant data breaches. With such poor fortune befalling the site, it is perhaps unsurprising that Equinox 13 has gained a reputation for being classified as “cursed”.

Now with budgets tightening, the Equinox Institute has finally made the decision to condemn the site. Over the last few months it has arranged for the observatory’s conversion into a residential arts venue and has made contact with various Equinox cells to arrange for the transfer of personnel and paranatural phenomena still remaining at the observatory to alternative sites. It’s not pleasant work, but in order to keep the country and its people safe from the paranatural threats, some difficult decisions have to be made.

It’s March 2025 and the old observatory rests quietly on the hill awaiting its end. Is Equinox 13 really cursed? For the Equinox Cells called to the site to arrange for its closure, that remains to be seen… 

OOC Booking Information:

Reality Checkpoint LRP in association with Unfinished Tome LARP presents ‘The Equinox Institute – Episode 1: Idle Tears

“The Equinox Institute” – a modern horror LRP system about those who operate in the shadows to safeguard humanity from paranormal phenomenon and those malignant forces seeking to expose these secrets for their own agenda…

Players take on the role of members of The Equinox Institute, a fictitious secret organisation founded by Queen Elizabeth I and tasked with protecting the United Kingdom from occult, eldritch and extraterrestrial threats (known together as the “paranatural”). Quietly backed by the British government, its members consist of agents, analysts, researchers, physicians and occultists all of whom work tirelessly to ensure these anomalies are identified, studied and, where necessary – contained or destroyed. In “Episode 1: Idle Tears” attendees to take on the role of members of The Equinox Institute who have been called to Equinox 13 to assist in its closure and to discover if the rumours around the curse of Equinox 13 hold any real truth. The rest remains to be seen…

Location:
Bidston Observatory Artistic Research Centre (“BOARC”)
Wilding Way,
Prenton,
CH43 7RA

Further information with regards to the Venue and Accessibility can be found here.

Date:
Friday 28th March 2025 to Sunday 30th March 2025.

Further information with regards to the timings of this event can be found here.

Accommodation:
There is indoor accommodation at the event and all attendees will be given access to a bed as part of ticket purchase. For more information on bedrooms at the event, please see the Venue and Accessibility section of this website.

Food:
This is a self-catered event and the ticket does not include food or beverages for attendees.

There are two kitchens at the site which attendees are welcome to use for cooking and preparing their own food during the event. More information on this can be seen in the Venue and Accessibility section of this website.

We have structured our event so as to allow attendees ample time to order or prepare their own food without missing out on plot during the course of the event. For more information on this, please see the Event Timetable and Act Structure section of our website.

Ticket Places and Prices:
Tickets for this event are strictly limited. There are currently 20 spaces at this event and 19 tickets available for purchase. These are divided at the following categories:

  • Standard Tickets (10) – £200
  • Accessibility Tickets (5) – £100
  • Sponsor Tickets (4) – £250 starting bid

Standard and Accessibility Tickets are allocated via Lottery while Sponsor Tickets are allocated via Silent Bidding process. More information on this can be found in the Ticket Information section of our website.

Booking Process:
You can submit an Expression of Interest Form to attend our event by completing the form found here..

A summary of the timeline for the Booking Process of this event can be found here.

Content and Themes:

Core Themes for the purpose of this event (in addition to those set out in our Content and Themes Policy) are: 

  • Claustrophobia 
  • Drowning 
  • Freezing to Death 
  • Heatstroke 
  • Isolation 
  • Natural Disasters/Severe Weather – for the avoidance of doubt, this topic will not be about an end of the world scenario or event. It is not something characters will directly experience but may receive information about. 
  • Thirst (Dehydration) 
  • Self-Harm 
  • Suicide 

Restricted Themes:

All of the current Restricted Themes apply where set out in our “Content and Themes” page and where they have not been updated to “Core Themes” 

  • Discrimination (Age) – historic and/or on-going discrimination relating to age is a pertinent part of a Game Team written character’s backstory. 
  • Discrimination (Gender and Sex)– historic and/or on-going discrimination relating to Gender/Sex is a pertinent part of a Game Team written character’s backstory.

As mentioned on our Content and Themes page, our list of Restricted and Banned Themes is not exhaustive and is based on the Game Team’s own experience and best judgement. It is always subject to change. If you are looking to attend this event and are concerned about any of the topics listed, please email us at  EquinoxInstituteLRP@gmail.com for further information and we will see what we can do to make our game more comfortable for you. 

Additional Queries
For further details or queries about the event please contact us via email at EquinoxInstituteLrp@gmail.com .

We otherwise forward to hopefully seeing you at Equinox 13 very soon!