Author: JP Dean

Presented by Lady Fontayne Pen-ship – $10 Session Materials Fee 

One cannot be too careful in these perilous times. Guard your identity with this handmade bracelet in the famous code used ’round the world. Your assignment, should you choose to accept: construct a bracelet with a code-word to be revealed in class. You will receive code-chart, beads and thread packaged in a clever cover.

Maximum students: 10

$10 material fee will be collected at the session by the presenters.

Lady Fontayne Pen-ship, Steamstress, has attended Steampunk events in Argentina, Canada, England, Italy, Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin and has conducted workshops at Teslacon for several years and Chicago Steampunk Expo in 2019. When she’s not steampunking, you may find her running 5 k races on airport runways or skywalking (vertical world circuit climbing tall buildings) around the world.

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Chicago Goth DJ legend Scary Lady Sarah returns to the Exposition this May for our annual Goblin King’s Masquerade Ball (Saturday, May 31st, 2025).

Scary Lady Sarah passionately enjoys & promotes good, new, dark alternative music. Since 1988 she has been a nightclub DJ, also booking bands and producing club events. Her main event is NOCTURNA, an 18+ dark alternative dance night held once every 6 – 8 weeks in Chicago at the venerated establishment Metro, and is the longest running goth event in North America.

Some other club events/parties which SLS regularly runs include: SHIMMER, monthly shoegaze/dreampop night; LA PETITE MORT, bi-monthly 21st century goth/postpunk night; BACK TO THE GRAVE, annual all goth/deathrock night; and NOCTRONICA, annual all ebm/industrial night, all held in Chicago.

She has many other guest DJ spots at other clubs & festivals around town and the world, plus, she DJs the coolest alternative weddings. She also plays guitar & sings in the band THE BELLWETHER SYNDICATE (as Sarah Rose Faith.)

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• Games Master: Father Henry Astur (AKA Kody Raslawski)
• Gaming System: Cthulhu by Gaslight
• Players: 3-6
• Duration: 3 hours
• Sign Up at the main Registration Desk in the Atrium Lobby

At the request of a dear friend, investigators will look into the strange happenings at a newly purchased home. Why did the previous family run off? What is the history of this ill-favored home? Find out in “The Haunting.”

Dice, writing implements, and character sheets will be provided.

Cthulhu by Gaslight is the Victorian incarnation of the classic Call of Cthulhu RPG. Gaslightprovides variations to capture Victorian history and societal norms, but is essentially the same rule system as the original 1920’s Cthulhu RPG. If you are not already familiar with these rules but would like to get better acquainted, click on the cover below to access the free starter kit for the latest edition of Call of Cthulhu.

Kody Raslawski has been running games as a Keeper of Arcane Knowledge in Call of Cthulhu for nine years and is a member of Chaosium’s official Cult of Chaos. He greatly enjoys creating a fun and engaging horror setting to bring the sessions to life.

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Presented by Gregory Laffrenzen

This panel will explore the economics of the industrial revolution, with a focus on how it can be incorporated into the steampunk genre. We will delve into 19th century consumerism, class, trade, and advertising, and discuss their impact on the economy of the time. Well-known steampunk tropes will be examined for their potential fantastical impact on fictional economies based on real-world analogs. How steampunk creators can incorporate economic concepts into costumes, props, and stories will wrap us up. This panel is a mix of real-life history and the fantastic.

Gregory Laffrenzen hates silence and isn’t tolerated by most people, so listens to an incomprehensible amount of podcasts, some of which are about finance and economics. That, plus a love of research and reading mean this panel is chock full of information, some of which is based in the real world, some is fantastical but grounded in logic.

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• Games Master: Father Henry Astur (AKA Kody Raslawski)
• Gaming System: Cthulhu by Gaslight
• Players: 4-6
• Duration: 3 hours
• Sign Up at the main Registration Desk in the Atrium Lobby

A group of investigators are called to a deathbed confession by their dear friend. They are told about a horrible deed that they must reverse, or else face unimaginable consequences. Delve into Eldritch terrors in this classic Call of Cthulhu scenario adapted for Cthulhu by Gaslight.

Dice, writing implements, and character sheets will be provided.

If you are not familiar with the rules of the Call of Cthulhu role playing game but would like to learn them before the Exposition, click on the image below for a free downloadable PDF of the Quick Start Rules.

Kody Raslawski has been running games as a Keeper of Arcane Knowledge in Call of Cthulhu for nine years and is a member of Chaosium’s official Cult of Chaos. He greatly enjoys creating a fun and engaging horror setting to bring the sessions to life.

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HOSTED BY: Mari Rice, Chicago Green Theater Alliance, & Creative Chicago Refuse Exchange.

LOCATION: Slate Hall

Not sure what to wear to a steampunk convention? Tired of items in your wardrobe? Are there items that longer fit items in your wardrobe thanks to the pandemic? Then bring them to share with your fellow steampunk community in our annual FREE clothing & accessories exchange!

Feel free to bring head wear, clothing, shoes, jewelry & accessories. Size of items will range from child to adult.

Costumes remaining after the convention will be donated to the Chicago Green Theater Alliance or to the Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange (CCRX).

We will have the following items available:

• Clothing racks
• Table(s)
• Hangers (leave hangers if you take items)
• Changing tent (this is if you want to quickly try things on. You may also go try things on in the restroom and bring back what doesn’t work)

What we request of you:

• Items are washed and clean
• Items should be ready to wear off the rack
• Items are new or gently used
• Do NOT just dump off, we will turn things away
• Ready for being displayed
• Do NOT give us tangled jewelry, a bag of crumpled clothes, etc.
• Please let us know if your items come from a smoking household and/or a home with animals

REMEMBER, this is for your fellow steampunkers to have a positive experience by having something to wear at the convention. Let’s be considerate and thoughtful of others about what you bring for the exchange.

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