I was scrolling through old Fanfest photos this morning and came across this odd photo. At first I couldn't remember why I had taken this picture. And then I remembered walking past this now closed down bar earlier this year at Fanfest and taking the photo for a very specific reason. You see, years ago at another Fanfest, my Wife and I had a run-in with a small gang of local criminals here during the Pub Crawl.
You might not think of Iceland when you think of criminal activity. And generally speaking, you'd be right. Iceland is not typically a place where you need to worry about crime. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Mostly it takes the form of petty crime like pickpockets, theft, and other small acts. But Iceland does sometimes have murders, rapes, and more organized forms of criminal activity. It happens. And back during this specific time they were having issues with some of those more organized versions. If I remember correctly this was in the immediate aftermath of the economic collapse in Iceland and the trouble with the banks. Lots of construction in Iceland at the time was halted and the country was in the midst of some serious economic issues. And we all know what that means.
We became aware of a small group of non-Eve people following us and our small group at one of the previous bars we had stopped at. And we noticed when they followed us to this location. When we sat down they sat down next to us. In the spirit of the moment they tried to engage us in conversation and I remember obliging. We'd had much to drink obviously. And while we had our suspicions we had no reason to believe they were up to no good.
That's when one of the Russian players approached me. He confirmed my suspicions. Him and his friends also felt that these guys were criminals and up to no good. So he offered to help. I remember laughing out loud at his suggestion and agreed to his plan. We returned to the small group with fresh drinks and I told my Wife what was going on. And then we watched as these Russian Eve players put on a very good show of being more than nerds. And nothing in this world is quite as intimidating as several Russians leaning into their heavy accents and suggesting that you leave the Americans alone.
It worked like a charm. Those guys left with a purpose.
We all had a good laugh and shared drinks. I wish I could remember their names, but details have been lost to time. This incident happened more than a decade ago.
And that is why, when we passed that location recently, I took that photo. To help remember our Russian friends and how they, potentially, saved us that night.