Tournament at Baron’s Howe II (Sep 2 – 5, 2005)

By THLaird Colyne Stewart

In the wake of the storm in Gleann Abhann, the price of feed and hay had risen sharply. As such, Þorfinna and I contacted a local knight and his squire who were planning to attend the Tournament at Baron’s Howe in the northern Canton of Flaming Sky. And so Baron Sir Siegfried Brandbeorn and Lord Eirik Andersen arrived with their wagon early on Friday and we loaded our gear in with theirs and headed on our way.

We took our time and arrived at the Ravenhill farm an hour after gate opened. We went out to the bowl to scout for a place to camp and discovered that there were many prime locations still open around the lip of the bowl. However, we decided to set up our tent away from the bowl this year, camping with Lord Percival deLaroque, Lady Christiana McNamara and various folk from Monadh and Eoforwic. Since space was an issue with four people packing in one wagon we had only brought one two-room tent. Eirik slept in one half, while Þorfinna and I slept on the other. As usual, Siegfried slept in the Ravenhill Manor.

After we had settled in we went to the town of Bonfield for dinner, eating at a local establishment that over charged us and under fed us. They also put this disgusting spiced pickle spread on my meat, though I had asked them expressly not to.

When we returned to the farm we went to the Petrea Thule encampment where we were welcomed warmly and introduced to a drink that Lord Augustyn of Ely called ‘ass-gohol’. It was very strong and tasted like smoke. I learned that Augustyn, another Brandbeorn squire, planned to feed the ass-gohol to my squire-brother Lord Tiberius of Warwickshire. Apparently ass-gohol has the same affect on Tiberius that sugar does.

Lord Janos, who had wandered out of camp, came back and told us to come look at the sky. A few went out at first, then everyone from camp came out to regard the heavens and see why they call this land Flaming Sky. For the sky was aflame with flickering green lights that flowed across the horizon and left us all in awe of nature’s majesty.

Later, leaving Thule’s small village among the trees, we walked over to the Calontir Embassy. As we approached Thane Hereward the Fardweller called us in. I was then reunited with the evil bartender from the Calontir party at Pennsic (whose name, I learned, is the Honorable Lord Jack Banyard). As well I was introduced to Sir Kirk fitz David and Lady Cara. Lord Raudr Ottarson, whom I had met at a previous Bonfield event was also there. They told me that Jack had just read my short history of Pennsic XXXIV, and was then told that Sir Vitas had left a remark regarding me on a spontaneous illumination of myself from that same Pennsic in Lord Eirik’s ethereal collection. Apparently Vitas had said that I looked like “a gallant and preaux¹ squire.” (I was to take much ribbing over this comment during the course of the weekend.) Þorfinna eventually wandered to bed and I stayed at the Calontir tent for a while longer, talking about the Unbelt tournament at Pennsic. Eventually I got up, making my way towards our tent when I heard a familiar voice. Making my way over to it I found Cadogan from Thule, who had I had fought beside at Pennsic, setting up his tent in the dark. I lent him a hand for a few moments and then finally found my bed.

The next morning we both overslept. In fact, we had just gotten up when Eirik called to us and told us that the fighters were just entering the woods for the woods battle. So we sunk back into bed until Eirik, who went into the woods to take pictures, returned and reported that the fort battle would begin in half an hour. So all three of us began to armour up just as the skies opened up. At first it was a sprinkling, so we ignored it and continued to armour. Then it became harder, and we paused and moved our armour bags back into the tent. Then it became a deluge and we despondently hid in our tent, half-armoured until it finally let up for a few moments. We took that opportunity to run over to Thule, where we spent the majority of the rest of the day huddled with them under their awnings and canopies, trying to stay dry. From our vantage point we watched the hardy equestrian riders tromp into the bowl to ride, and soaked archers returning from the range. Eventually, around dinner time, the rain finally stopped. Since Thule was having guests for dinner we slipped away and Eirik, Þorfinna and I laid out a table of cheese, bread, pickles, olives and other such fare beside our tent and tucked in.

That night Baroness Eleanor Cadfan, Her Excellency Skrael, held a baronial court within the mead hall. Not being a member of the barony I did not attend the court, however I do know that Mistress Ragni Dzintari of Amberhall presented Her Excellency with a live unfettered cock. After the court a blazing bonfire was lit and people stood and sat around it telling tales and singing songs. We attended briefly but spent the majority of the early evening with the Vest Yorvik, Monadh, and Eoforwic camp spending time with some delightful people and drinking some very smooth Scotch.

Later, feeling cold, Þorfinna and I got up to walk around and traversed the bowl to Lord Kenric Manning’s pavilion. There we found him talking with Eirik and we spent the rest of our night there.

The next morning I awoke with a cold and with swollen wrists due to the cold and damp. Despondent, for I knew I would not be able to fight that day because of this, I lay in bed for a few more hours. Finally I arose and went down to the bowl to find the first Royal Tournament under way. It was won by Siegfried, while the second Unbelted Tournament was won by Lord Raudr. Since I was watching, and not fighting, I got a lot of “gallant and preaux” cat calls. Ah well. I may not have been able to fight, but my good cousin Richard Stewart got into action.² It was especially fun to watch him team up with Eirik’s cousin Travis Andersen.

After the Royal Tournaments the fighters partook in challenges at the barrier and in a grand melee. The Captains were Sir Nigel MacFarlane and Lord Raudr, and when they finally paused to breath, the Captains each chose one fighter from the opposing side who had inspired and impressed them that day. Ruadr chose THL Wilfred of Sweflingham, and Nigel chose THL Phelan Gann.

There then followed two run-throughs of Mordain’s Rings. The marshals stood in a circle upon the field while around the circle are three rings; all fighters stood in the first ring. If you lost a fight you had to move into the next ring until you were out all together. You can also be pushed out of a ring. Treachery was the name of the game in the ring as alliances sprang up and were broken continuously. The prize: three beers for the holder of the first ring, two beers for holding the second and one for the third. There were two runnings of the rings, the first of which was won by Siegfried by clearing the rings. In the second, Tiberius was in the middle ring, Sir Nigel was in the second and Sir Siegfried was in the third. Sir Nigel tried to persuade Tiberius—who had just fought Nigel to put him in the second ring in the first place—to come out and fight him. Tiberius, saying he was not a selfish man and that he was happy with his three beers, stayed put. So Nigel went out to the third ring and was knocked out Siegfried.

After the fighting my companions and I packed up our wagon, watching Baron Phaidrig McNeill and Mistress Etaoin O'Fearghail run an atl atl battle. Once our gear was stored, we ambled for home. 

(Though I did not see it, I know that many good gentles shoot at the archery range, coursed their hounds and fenced. Even at a small event there are too many things occurring for one person to chronicle it all!)

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1. Thanking, Hereward found a definition for me, as I had no idea what it meant. “Preux: Prowess, courage and success. To be considered ‘preudomme’, a man of prowess, was considered to be one of the highest compliments possible for a medieval knight. ‘Soix Preux!’ was frequently the admonition given to new knights as they were to go out and earn renown in the wake of their new knighthood.”
2. HE Richard Larmer’s helm broke during the fighting, and he had to borrow my helm to continue. As well, Lord Travis Greywolf misplaced his helm, and had to borrow Eirik’s.

Tournament at Baron's Howe (Sep 3 – 6, 2004)

By THLaird Colyne Stewart

From William Scrymgeour's private journals, a servant in the employ of Laird Colyne Stewart and Lady Thorfinna gra'feldr:

My lord and lady had informed me that they would be attending the Tournament at Baron's Howe, in the Canton of Flaming Sky far to the north of their demesne. As per usual it was up to me to organize the household for the trip. We were to travel with the Van der Eychs, and so I contacted their chamberlain--a M. Chocolat--and we discussed departure times and routes, finally settling on Friday morning before 8 am.
In the early morning the wagons of the two houses began to rumble up the king's highways, stopping occassionally when one of the lords or ladies wished to stop to peruse a shop. Like a good servant I bit my tongue as these stops pushed us farther and farther behind schedule.

When we arrived, I set up milord and lady's pavilion at the top of the rise where wagons first drive up to the lip of the bowl, and just to the right of a cairn of stones. The Canton of Petrea Thule had been accomodating enough to let milord and lady squat on their earth.  M. Chocolat set up the Van der Eych's pavilion--colloquely called the Squire Lounge--next door right by the cairn. The lord and lady Van der Eych then treated us all to a meal in the local town. That night my lord and lady had a quiet night and retired early as it began to rain. A storm had been approaching for hours, and at times it looked like a war in heaven, with great explosions of light coming from behind the clouds.

The next morning milord informed me that although he usually found nights at Bonfield cold, this year the Van der Eychs had given them a Viking slat bed. With it keeping himself and his lady off the ground, and a great gray plaid duvet cover, they had both been toasty warm. I smiled and pretended I was pleased for them. I, of course, had slept on the earth with a sparse blanket for cover.

Milord and lady then worked at the gate for a couple of hours. As they were preapring to go and armf or the days tournaments, milady Thorfinna fell and twisted her ankle and scraped up her knee. Wounded, she was not able to participate inthe tournaments all weekend long. Milord Colyne almost did not fight either. He felt in a around-about way guilty for her injury, but she urged him to go and fight. In the end he did so.
The first tournament was a team battle in the wounds, where fighters attempt to capture and ransom each other off. I was still trying to balance the household's books from debts incurrede at this tournament fromt he year before, but milord ensured me he would do better this year. Milord ended up on Sir Mordain's team, along with Sir Cennedi, Iohannis, Grimroth, Berend and Rouad from Calontir. And indeed milord did do better this year. In fact I do have to admit that his team did well, even managing to capture all of Sir Finnvarr's team at once.
After the tournament the fighters moved to the local fort. The king-at-arms had all members of the populace of Skraeling Althing (and those who recently lived in Skrael, such as Sir Cennedi) inside defending, and everyone else attacking. The fighters seemed to enjoy the exercise, and milord once  managed to almost knock the gate down by himself (though this was unobserved by pretty much everyone except Iohannis, who was inside and was the one who kept it to 'almost' opening).

Whent he fighting was done, many of the weary combatants retired to the Squire Lounge. Later, milord and lady were invited to the De Taahe manor for a meal cooked by lord and lady Van der Eych themselves. Milord Colyne said it was "yummy." I ate with the other servants, so what do I know. Then they all went back out to the Lounge where they sat and dranka way the night.

On Sunday milord fought in Mordain's Rings. He ended up in an alliance with his squire-brother Lord Tiberius of Warwickshire, THL Dafydd ap Sion and Lord Dak. They did well, and so teamed up again in the second round. During this round milord was scolded by a fighter for not engaging him before striking. Milord thought they were, the kngiht thought they weren't. This got milord's back up, so he did not fight inthe pas d'armes. After the pas he and the knight talked and seemed to settle the matter. Later, Lord Eirik Andersen's ethereal illuminations proved that the knight had been correct, and milord was wrong. A missive was sent and all was well between them.

Milord and lady then went into town with Lord Eirik and ate fare they found to be sub-pare.When the returned, they went to the Thule fire and drank very sweet polish mead with Tiberius, until Mistress Ragni Dzintara of Amberhall called Thorfinna down to a central bonfire to sing. They speant the rest of the night at this fire sitting with several members of House de Taahe, Raoud and a fighter named Mog (who had authorized that weekend against milord Colyne).

I arose Monday morning to find that milord and lady's pavilion had been blown onto a weird angle by high winds. We woke milord and milady and then took the tent down. The Squire Lounge and several other tents followed, and then our wagons began to lumber for home.

I was regaled all the way home by milord's war stories, which I pretended not to have heard a million times before.

Ransomed for a Song (Bonfield Battle XI, Aug 31, 2003)

By THLaird Colyne Stewart

I thought I had been so clever. An event had been declared in the town of Bonfield, within the Canton of Flaming Sky. It was held on the last long weekend of the summer, and to ensure we arrived at a reasonable hour, I arranged with my employer to leave my workplace at 3 pm. It usually takes forty minutes at that time of day to drive our wagon from work to home. At home we were to quickly load our gear, swing around and collect Lord Eirik Andersen and then head straight off. I expected to arrive at Ravenhill Farm between 8 and 9 pm. Things of course did not work out that way. A lot of other people thought they were as clever as me and the press of wagons upon the King’s Road was so great that it was 5 pm before we reached our domicile, and it was approaching 6 pm before we were finally heading north.

The drive was uneventful and we arrived at the farm at 10 pm in the pitch darkness. We paid our entry taxes at the gate to His Grace, Duke Sir Finnvarr, and his retainer Lord Berend van der Eych. We then unloaded our gear into the manor house whilst Eirik went out to secure a spot to pitch his tent. There were nine of us from the Canton of Ardchreag sleeping in one room and we piled our gear on top of theirs. By the time we had walked back outside Eirik had returned so we hopped up on the wagon and drove him out to the bowl.

We unloaded Eirik’s gear at a camp headed by Lord Percival deLaroque and Lady Christina MacNamara (which was apparently dubbed Ard Yorvik) and helped him pitch his tent. We then returned to the gate and sat for a time with the gatekeepers before retiring.

Saturday was cool and overcast with a slight breeze—perfect fighting weather. (Though it threatened rain for a time none materialized.) Lord Wat of Sarum had pitched a shade on the lip of the bowl between Lord Rhys ap Bledri and House Fenrir and it became a hotbed of socializing, plotting and stinky armour bits. It was cluttered with chairs, shields, armour bags, various children, tokens, tabards, weapons and empty bottles of a local beverage called cola. Milady Thorfinna and I armoured up, complete with spiffy new tabards that drew compliments from many. With the other fighters we trudged to the Gates of the Heroes, which leads into the woods. There Lord Robert the Blue became authorized in polearm.

We trudged into the woods until we met a large clearing, and there we were split into teams. There were seven knights in attendance, so each was made the head of a team, and each was allowed to pick three teammates from the other fighters so assembled. Both Thorfinna and I were on a team with Berend, headed by Sir Finnvarr. Each team then took a water bottle and hiked deeper into the woods. We placed our water bottle, thus marking our safe zone/resurrection zone.

The purpose of the tournament we were about to take part in was to catch and ransom other fighters. To do so you had to strike them two good blows. The first blow would unhorse them (so they could not run away) while the second unarmed them. You then took them back to your rez point where they would be ransomed. After being ransomed they had to go back to their rez point before they could fight again. It was possible to be rescued by teammates or to be stolen by other teams.

This scenario ran for around an hour and a half. Some of the most memorable moments I saw included:

My team at full strength coming across Lord Raudr Ottarsson of Calontir alone. Ruadr retreated to his nearby rez zone so we could not touch him. However, he offered us single combat. We agreed to this and Berend faced Ruadr, finally emerging victorious over the valiant Calontiri.

My entire team being captured at once! All four of us were caught and ransomed. This happened on the field north of the woods, and we saw six teams lining up to face each other after being ransomed. We quickly ran to our rez point and then returned to try to grab and stragglers. The seven-pronged battle was fierce, and many feats of arms were performed. Captives were quickly taken and then let free as lone fighters (with their captive in tow) would find three other fighters bearing down on them. In this encounter both Thorfinna and I were captured by Sir Menken, but as he could only take one of us back he let my lady go to save her the long walk. Sir Menken is a very chivalrous man, and I thank him for his thoughtfulness for indeed the walk was long and treacherous!

Watching as the Prince attempted to capture His Majesty in an effort to ransom him for the kingdom!

In all I was ransomed five times, to: Sir Siegfried Brandbeorn, Sir Aaron Worgensson, Sir Menken Brechen, Lord Rhodri ap Rhydderch and Lord Tiberius Justus Brittanicus. To date only two have named their ransom (Menken has asked for a poem, while Aaron has asked for instruction at dice.)

There then followed a half-hour cool down period, followed by battles at the fort. I left my sword and shield under Wat’s shade and took my new nine-foot spear with me to the fort. It was decided that His Majesty would defend the fort while His Highness would attack it. The King then chose his forces and barricaded the fort. The fort was placed on top of a short hill, with an entry way dug through the centre of it. A beam was placed across the entryway to act as a door. Fighting could occur over the door, but not under it. For anyone to move through the entryway, the beam had to be removed. Fighters could freely climb over the walls however. Each side had one combat archer: Sir Roak of Ealdormere for the defenders, and Baron Padraig McNeill for the attackers. However, unknown to the defenders, Roak was an enemy agent. When the call to lay-on was called, we rushed the walls and Roak nonchalantly leaned over and opened the gate. He then turned and began to fire on his ‘allies’. The attackers ended up winning the encounter.

In the second battle the sides stayed the same, but two jugs of water were placed outside the gates. The attackers had two resurrections, while the defenders had only one. However, if they could capture one of the water jugs they would have two. The attackers again won the day, primarily through the work of the polearms and spears.

His Majesty then asked to have the battle run one more time, for he had concocted a new strategy to neutralize the spears and poles. I sat this battle out so am not sure exactly what the strategy was. I can report however that the battle was much longer than the first two and in the end the King’s forces were victorious.

I then trudged back to the shade while some fighters began fighting pick-up. Thorfinna and Lady Mahault van der Eych had sandwiches waiting which I and other fighters eagerly split up and devoured. Lady Naja Kesali provided us with cold water. Once all the fighters had returned, cooled down and put on garb, a number of us went to a local eatery to dine. When we returned Thorfinna and I went to the Ard Yorvik camp and sat about their fire for a time. Though several folk tried to get a bardic circle going it did not catch on that night. I spent the night there while Thorfinna wandered and visited the other camps.

The next day was bright and sunny, warm but not hot, with a cooling breeze blowing through the site. I eagerly armoured up early, as there was much fighting to be looked forward to that day. My joints which occasionally plague me were not acting up, though my right arm was slightly numb from a pole-axe blow from the day before. The first tourney of the day was to face Lord Justinian Clarus at the barrier in honour of his fiftieth year upon this earth. Well and valiantly did this worthy battle against all comers until his goal was met (including battling with boffer swords against His Excellency, Sir Menken). I was proud to take part in such a display of chivalrous fighting.

Following this there were challenges at the barrier. Sir Finnvarr and His Highness each captained a side and asked for teammates to battle with them using six-foot spears. I ended up fighting three such scenarios and though I was quickly dispatched in the first round, by the third I was somewhat improved and actually managed to land the occasional blow. I cannot remember all those who also fought at the barrier but they included Rhodri, Tiberius, and Roak.

A Royal Tournament was then held; it was to be my second. In the first round I was paired against Sir Siegfried Brandbeorn, newest knight of Ealdormere. I steeled myself and we exchanged blows, the good knight quickly legging me. Somehow though, as he came for my head I managed to land a good blow on his side and the victory was mine. I went to line A where I was then paired with an An Tiri fighter named (I believe) Hoskuld. This good gentle quickly slew me and I went over to line B. There I won one bout, and was then paired with Lord Eoin O’ Beirne at his challenge (so we could finish a bout we had started earlier that day but not finished). Eoin defeated me and knocked me out of the tournament. In the end, Sir Aaron Worgensson carried the day.

Next was a grand melee, where the fighters were split into two teams. The one team was anchored by those who had been fighting for over ten years, and also contained those who had been fighting under two. As I had by then been fighting for just over two years, I was on the second team, which was called ‘Beauty’. (I don’t remember our opponents’ team name, but I conjecture it was ‘Age’.) This was an unlimited resurrection battle. I fought it for a while but eventually stopped as I do not really see the point of that type of scenario. It basically consisted of people simply throwing themselves into combat, being slain, and throwing themselves in again. There does not seem to be any gain or reason to it (except to fight). If it was limited rez, or better yet no rez, the teams would actually have to use caution and tactics. It could be run several times which would allow for a great amount of fighting that actually taught the participants skills, instead of simply being a meat-grinder.

After the melee came Mordain’s Rings, which I had been waiting for two years to try. The marshals stood in a circle upon the field while around the circle are three rings; all fighters stood in the first ring. If you lost a fight you had to move into the next ring until you were out all together. You can also be pushed out of a ring. Treachery was the name of the game in the ring as alliances sprang up and were broken continuously. I had two good moments in the rings. The first time we ran it I ended up beside Berend. I told him we should team up and go around to the right to come up behind some others who were already fighting. He didn’t quite trust me and wanted me to lead, but I had him go first. We encountered a lord from An Tir called Gand and I pulled back and watched as Berend and Gand fought. Berend was legged but ended up winning. I then stepped to Berend’s side, said “Good job” and clocked him with my sword as he looked up at me. My second moment of fox-like guile came when I first ended up in the second ring where Siegfried and Gand came at me. I tried to talk Gand out of teaming up with Siegfried. So instead Siegfried invited me to join them. I agreed, and Siegfried stood with his back to the line and began telling me strategies we should follow and I listened, nodding, and then knocked him into the third ring. He complimented me on being so sneaky, but said I would be oh so dead when I reached the third ring. Gand quickly sent me there and Siegfried knocked me out of the game. Afterwards he congratulated me on being so sneaky.

THL Richard Larmer, leader of the Company of the White Heart, then handed out some awards. Wat most cited as the most chivalrous fighter of the day, while Hoskuld was the best overall fighter of the day. Lord Kenric Manning was given an award for having the best presentation upon the field.

I then did a bit of pick-up with one of Has’ Marines (whose name I have unfortunately forgotten). I then climbed up to the shade and collapsed in a chair where I was feed bread and salted corn, water, cola and iced tea. His Highness came to sit with us, bearing a plate of fruit, cheese and crackers and I quipped that we should rebel and seize his food. He then passed his plate about and ended up being given some of our food in return. We all then realized just how smart our Prince was, as he had placated the people by giving them a little when he could have lost all, and in the process received some of our own food in return! He will be a wise king, should he rise to the throne.

From our vantage point we watched the construction and use of a pit saw by the Petrea Thule encampment.

That evening Berend and Mahault prepared food in the manor for House De Taahe, consisting of sauerkraut, potatoes and seventy-five bratwurst sausages. As many of the household had left for home by then there was more than enough food, even with the legendary appetites of Finnvarr and Wat to contend with. I made the observation that all nine of the people sleeping in my room had eaten voluminous amounts of sauerkraut and bratwurst. At least we would be ensured of a warm room that night!

We once again stopped first at the Ard Yorvik encampment, where several ends of boules (bocce) were played. Plans to hold some inter-canton competitions were discussed. After dark, I left Thorfinna there as I went to visit with Petrea Thule. I talked for a long time with Nick the Senior about writing and archery, and then with Tiberius about fighting. When I finally wandered back to Ard Yorvik I found a very silly bardic circle under way and spent many hours there.

The next day we arouse early, helped those camping with Ard Yorvik pack and returned to our keep at half past four in the afternoon.

Quest for the Holy Pail (Humour Us!, April 6, 2002)

By THLaird Colyne Stewart

A small group of pilgrims gathered on the edge of Greenhithe the first Friday of April. Thorfinna and I drove our wagon to the keep of Eirik Andersen, where we were soon joined by three of the four van der Eychs. Together we prepared to set out and brave the long and breezy journey to the northern reaches of our northern lands. For we went to the Ravenhill Farm in the depths of the Shire of Flaming Sky, the home of Finvarr De Taahe and Ragni of Amberhall, the mother and step-father of our own Duchess Eanor. The weather at times seemed to be against us, as some of the humours attacked us. The air was cold, and blew with much ferocity. The rain, hail and snow pelted our wagons, and the earth twisted under our wheels. The only element to be missed was fire, and indeed, we could have used some heat that day.

Ironically, the father north we drew, the better the weather became, and soon the only snow we saw had been on the ground for weeks already. The sun soon set completely, and we pulled into the Ravenhill property in pitch blackness. There we found many other pilgrims, including Viscount Sir Ed the Red and Viscountess Rylyn, Sir Mordain, His Majesty Aaron, Sheik Valizan and upwards of twenty others. With Eanor, Gunther and Eloise the Ardchreag contingent numbered nine, and we had our own room at the farm. We stayed up late into the night talking, drinking and making merry, all the while the dogs leapt about us, the children laughed and the cats watched all with haughty eyes.

All awoke early the next morning, and a pleasant few hours before the event were spent in conversation. We then loaded our wagons and wound our way to the event site, which was housed in the depths of a roomy church. I had brought my armour, so immediately set about putting it on. I was excited, for I had not fought at an event before, except to authorize, and I had new knees and a new arm to try out. I was disappointed to find that the arm hindered my movement a bit, but Thorfinna and Gun made a few adjustments that made it work much better. I fought with Sir ed as we waited for the event to start, and he said I had improved since he had authorized me at War College, being much more aggressive. (Words which made me rather happy). However, my legs were a disappointment, as they were too long and did not sit right. Two of the straps also snapped on them, so I did not take part in the tourney that day. However, I did take part in the Quest for the Holy Grail.

Along with Thorfinna acting as my Bard, Berend as my Squire and Mahault as my Horse, we set out. We were competing against teams led by Sir Mordain, Sir Ed, Sir Menken, His Majesty Aaron and Robert the Blue. First, I had to fight youth and battle young Graham, son of Richard Larmer, and the youngest fighter present. He is a skilled opponent and in our contest of counted blows he emerged victorious. I then proceeded onto the stage where I fought the venerable and skilled Duke Sir Finvarr who portrayed the Dark Knight of the Soul. Against this most excellent fighter I managed to hold my own, and he considered himself satisfied with our combat when I hit him a ringing blow to the head. I was awarded a taper and then my company walked into the serpent’s lair. There I found a terrible serpent (played by Gun, who wielded a bastard sword), which I awoke by slamming my sword against my shield. He sprung to his feet and began to circle me, his tongue (sword) flickering about me as he told me that I had to strike his heart before I could move on. Not having a thrusting tip, I felt a twinge of despair, for it would be difficult to strike a telling blow to an opponent’s chest without one. Still, I met the beast without fear and after only half a minute or so I dropped the beast to the floor. I then awarded me with one of its claws.

Our company was then questioned by Valizan, who asked us questions of protocol and history. I made good answers all, though not all exactly to his satisfaction. Still, he let us through the portal he guarded. We then found ourselves in Duchess Eanor’s party room, where we had food and drink and were encouraged to flirt and dance. Once all six teams had arrived and danced (which is tiring work in full armour), Tim the Not-So-Enchanting sorcerer arrived and we had to beg Eanor’s permission to leave and follow him to the final part of the quest. As Robert got down on one knee and began a very courteous appeal, Sir Menken began to hop up and down and plead, “Your Grave, can I go?” The others followed Menken’s example and a laughing Duchess granted us permission to leave, saying she was sure that we Chreaggers would do her proud.

Tim took us to the lair of a vorpal rabbit, the guardian of the Holy Pail. We then learned that the rabbit, a citizen of Skraeling Althing, had not been able to attend the event, and instead had sent a Ram from the south wearing a Hare Piece. We six warriors were told to arm ourselves with only a sword and gather in front of the lair, which was surrounded by bits and pieces of bloody armour. When we were all ready the beast lunged from its cave and danced through the air, trying to evade our blades. Some of us were bit by the thing and were forced to go back to the resurrection point, where our bards sung us back to life. I am not sure who actually hit the killing blow that scattered the Ram-not-Rabbit’s guts all over the floor, but it was Robert the Blue that pulled the Pail from its body.

It was then I discovered my second broken strap and I stripped myself of my armour as it was actually causing me discomfort (I have a tear in my shin to remember the event by). The tourney then commenced, pitching belted fighters against unbelted. Anyone one present could challenge either Sir Ed, Sir Finvarr, Sir Menken or Sir Mordain to duel, to a count of ten blows. Berend was enlisted to count the blows for the side of the Chivalry. Much could be learned just from watching these skilled fighters battle, but the lure of cards eventually stole me away as a game of the Great Dalmuti sprang up.

We later hung about in the party room, some of us sleeping, some of us talking, some of us shopping. Feast was then called and were treated to one of the best feasts I have ever had (its only competition being the Galbraith’s feast after Aaron and Rustique’s Crown). This was well explained when I discovered that the feastocrats were Finvarr and Ragni; Ragni being a Laurel in cooking! We had four full removes, featuring lamb, ham, beef, soups, vegetables, breads and many other fine foods. Each remove was tied into one of the four humours and its corresponding elements in some way. The dessert for the last remove (fire) was sorbet, covered with meringue, sitting on an almond crust that had me drooling for more.

Many of the bards from the Quest sung songs celebrating the feats of their fighters during the meal. Martin Bildner serenaded the room, and a local gentle played melodious tunes upon a flute.

Court was held a half hour later, the seats being arranged in a fashion resembling parliament. This led to many cries of “Here, here!” and the thumping of chairs and stomping on the floor whenever something happened. Court was short, but not quite short enough. When Robert the Blue was awarded his glass goblet for retrieving the Holy Pail of Auntie Auk, he snuck in his company who sang a long song of his exploits between their laughter and gaffes, while he tried to hum along by saying, “Frum. Frum. Frum.” Much hilarity ensued, especially when a small one from the back of the room screamed at us that that “was enough!”

We left the hall not long after, heading back to the farm for another night of conversation (though I went to bed long before most of the others). Likewise, Thorfinna and I slept latest, and only Eirik stood between us and a wallorin’¹. We awoke to a breakfast primarily prepared by Berend and ate our full of eggs, toast, hash browns and bacon.

Snow was in the forecast so we set out before noon and arrived home at four in the afternoon. If this is any indicator of what northern events are like, I think I shall be traveling there more in the future!

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1. To wake someone up, rudely and unexpectedly, usually after they've been up rather late the night before.