Lady Naja
Kesali
I was invited,
one day, to come spend some time with my friends from Greenhithe. The
Hounourable Lady Aurelia Gabraina and her Lord husband Graem de Liste de Cherbourg had invited
many friends to their home in the country for a relaxing day of friendly
competition. I had offered to entertain the children that day and was honoured
to make the acquaintance of but three. So I found myself wandering the grounds
with not much to do.
I spent some
time within the food pavilion speaking with the hard-working Lady Wulfwyn of
Greenhithe and Aurelia's lady mother (forgive me, I know not your name) and I
watched Lord Aldred at work, maintaining the pig which was roasting on a spit
for the grand supper planned while he prepared the rest of the meal. I wandered
over to a thrown weapons range where a Lord gentle was testing his newly bought
throwing axes. (It seemed that a goodly merchant or two had also dropped by,
having seen the gathering.)
I wandered further and
found the fighters of the gathering competing with one another and just up from
the list field a pair of fencers were battling with grace and style. I wondered
at the variety of contests that took place that day and was directed to the
archery range, just beyond a pavilion full of the works and studies of many
talented artisans and scholars. I stopped to admire the many works displayed,
which included a hand-stitched Viking dress, a hand-carved wooden chess set of
remarkable detail, a helm of some beauty, and some very impressive chain mail.
It was there I learned of the day's theme.
It was all
based on a sharing of skills and talents within a team. The teams consisted of
fighters, fencers, archers, artisans, and those with all manner of skills. Each
team consisted of five members, each competing in a single category (categories
consisting of Arts, Sciences, and any three of the following: Heavy Combat,
Fencing, Archery, and Thrown Weapons. The competitors would be awarded points
for their accomplishments and the team with the most points would win some
rather lovely prizes crafted by the fine people of Greenhithe. The prizes
(which numbered five, to be distributed within the winning team) were: a hand
embroidered circular cloak (made by Aurelia and Wyn), hand made ceramic feast
gear (Aurelia's own work), a rimmed drinking horn (a joint effort between Lord
Graem, Lord Serion d’Ivri and Lady Corrina Rensealer, a hand made wooden chest
(skilled Graem's efforts) and a tooled leather pouch (Aldred's work and
contribution). The participating teams were named "The Royale Citie of
Eoforwic", "Petrea Thule 1", "Petrea Thule 2", and
"The Team Without a Name".
The day was,
by most standards, a leisurely one and the guests all had a great time. It was
a casual day as there were no visiting royalty, and, while we missed their
presence, we had fun in our own, more homely way. Supper was announced—the pig
we had all admired on the spit was ready with much more besides. The meal was a
great success! During our meal the winning team of the day's competition was
announced and they went off to split their booty.
A short
bardic circle followed the meal, mostly lead by Lord Justinian Clarus. Duke Sir
Roak shared a tale of a great Rozakii bonfire that took place at Pennsic one
year. I had the honour of singing with young Miss Elizabeth and she also danced
for us.the night ended earlier than some gatherings might, it was only because
these were country folk after all, with work awaiting the early morning. All in
all, my day in the country was an enjoyable, and educational day. I do believe
that if I'm fortunate enough to be invited again, I shall be delighted to
accept!
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