2006-10-23 - 1:12 a.m.
This was a good fight.
War of the Wings Friday October 20th �22nd
I picked up Dunstan around 12:30 on Friday, I brought the computer over so I could show him the new Weird Al �White and Nerdy� video, which he concurred is ridiculously funny, and was the source of much amusement throughout the weekend. The day was beautiful, just gorgeous, cool, clear blue skies, the weekend was promising to be very nice. Loaded up the truck, tying the section of Roz�s fence to the roof so we had space to spare.
We finished packing and I realized that I had left my guitar and bodhran at home, but it was no big deal as we were going to drive by on the way out.
Got to my place, grabbed the instruments, printed off a map to yon site, and talked about carving for a minute. We got on the road again and Dunstan remembered something he forgot at his place, but his place is only ten minutes away, and since the best part of this weekend is hanging out with my best friend, it made no difference at all.
Traffic was fine until we got to southpoint where it stopped. At 2:30 in the afternoon, it had to be a wreck ahead. I knew that I should have taken 147 to 85 but it was too late. We had stop and go traffic until after New Hope Chapel Rd, it probably took 30 minutes or so to get out there, and of course it was a fender bender on the side of the road. We discussed my one-way screen idea and decided that it was better than the �accident head restraint system� that Dunny had envisioned. (Some sort of clamp that would prevent folks from looking towards the scene of the accident which, while novel and highly amusing, is not nearly as simple as a screen that could be put up by the first responders. )
Anyway the traffic cleared immediately after the �wreck� and we were on our way to Roz�s to drop off the fence sample. Said hi to Andreas and then went to Wal-mart to provision for the weekend. The Wal-Mart parking lot provided a perfect example of the ridiculously bad planning that mars so many new stores. It is like a maze that has many entrances, but few exits, and only one that allows you to turn left, the rest being blocked by a curb that serves no purpose on earth besides driving me crazy, and forcing you to pull a U-Turn in the middle of highway to get back to 85. Nice.
A quick stop at Sheetz for gas and drinks and we were off. I say quick, meaning that I stood in line with 20 people only to have not one, but two additional registers open the second I got to mine. I couldn�t have scripted it better. Despite what Dunstan says, people really do do these things just to annoy me.
Off to the War. Not much traffic on 85 even when we got round Greensboro, but unfortunately our map had the road name instead of the exit or Hwy number so we passed our turn. We are pretty sure that we actually passed it at the exact moment that Dunstan asked if we had passed it and we decided we hadn�t. We didn�t get far, a quick map check told that we were not supposed to cross 177, so we looped around and missed the turn again because we were looking for something that wasn�t there. All this happened for a reason though, as the road we turned around on (again) had food, and our exit did not. Burger King, where we not only got dinner, but directions to the road we were looking for.
Caloric value of a Double Whopper with Cheese, 990
They actually make a quadruple Whopper with cheese and bacon, which weighs in at around 1400 calories, and I�m certain reminds everyone of the quadruple bypass surgery that will follow in short order if you were to actually eat one of those.
The site was only ten minutes or so from the restaurant, though I nearly took out a stop sign on the way. It was in the middle of a divided intersection, and I simply didn�t see it. I don�t know if it was behind the door pillar, or if I was looking at the oncoming truck, or if my vision is getting steadily worse, but if Dunstan had not calmly (hey man, what are you doing?) called my attention to the fact I would have brought it home as a souvenir.
Pulled up to troll and realized that the shorts we were both wearing were optimistic in light of the evening chill. I think we got to the site from a different direction the last time we went there, but is the same place that I�ve been too for several events though this was the first time we got to fight in the castle.
Set up camp, which for Dunstan meant a tent and such while I parked the truck and unrolled my sleeping bag in the back end having left my camping gear up in MD. Several people expressed concern that I was sleeping so �rough� (If only they knew how comfortable I was, and how convenient it was to drive my �tent� away while they were putting up wet canvas Sunday morning) As far as cool weather events go I�m very happy to sleep in the Tahoe. Once I figure out a way to place bug screens in the windows it will work in the summer as well, especially for one or two day events. It�s plenty comfy with a sleeping mat, you have handy lights, it�s nice and quite inside, there�s a stereo, if it gets truly frigid you could even turn on the heater, though I was fine this weekend at 40 or so. Anyway for a week I still want a pavilion, but for a night or two I�m sleeping in the truck from now on.
Got changed, helped set up a bit and went over for the torchlight tourney that was scheduled to start at 9:00 or so. As the night got cooler I was happy to put my armor on just for the warmth. Talked with Sir Godfried and Sir Axel for a bit, two of my favorite knights. There is something very different about knights of that generation, (the same as my knight Ternon,) I have never been able to put my finger on it, but I know that I try to model their behavior.
The Tourney had pretty good turn out at 15 fighters, with 6 knights in the mix. Unfortunately we only had tiki torches for light, and they just aren�t enough. We had big propane powered lights for the torchlight at sapphire joust, and most of the ones I�ve fought in had at least coffee cans filled with oil and set alight. They put out much more light, but are probably pretty dangerous if you were to knock one over.
They set us up in two round robin lists, fighting was pretty rough as nobody could see anything. I noticed the biggest problem was that you couldn�t see the little pre-shot movements that give you a millisecond or so to react. No one could see feints either. One of the guys I fought a flat black helmet; it was like trying to hit a black hole. : )
I came in third in my list behind Sirs Dagonet and Ragnar, Dagonet went on to win the tourney which always makes you feel better.
Even in the cold I managed to work up a sweat so I went back to the truck to change into something dry and then went to find Dunstan who was in the other list so it was like we never saw each other. We headed for the first fire pit that looked promising, which was conveniently about 10 yards from Dunstan�s tent, and not as fortunately, several hundred yards from where I had parked the truck. (I moved the truck closer the next evening)
Friday night bardic was a blast, it was a very good bardic with lots of variety. It started on the funny side, which always makes it hard to pull it back around to the more serious SCA side, but eventually we calmed down a bit and had some very nice stuff. I think we stumbled away around 3:40 and we had started almost directly after the tourney, maybe 10:30 or so.
Dunstan is cursed with a rooster-like instinct to rise with the sun, I on the other hand have no such aliment and slept till 10:30 only barely getting up in time for a hasty breakfast and almost missed the opening ceremonies. Well almost missed the time they were supposed to start, this is the SCA after all, and if I�m on time they will always start late, and vice versa.
There was still at least an hour until they actually kicked off the fort battle. I�ve decided that we could do so much more each day if we actually started things on time. Believe it or not, if we started doing it, people would start showing up when they were supposed to instead of the standard 30 min �SCA time� delay that always morphs into an hour.
The fort battles were fun.. Windmasters was highly outnumbered, and if we had been forced to fight with our �actual� forces the whole day would have been a disaster. Fortunately though, Sacred stone was kind enough to lend us many fighters to fill out our ranks. There are sometimes when it actually does matter who �wins� but for the most part SCA heavy fighters just want to fight, and even sides makes for more fun for both sides. It is actually not much fun to be on the winning side of a rout. Why our Barony can only field 20 or so fighters is a subject for another day.
The fort battle was timed to see who could take it the fastest, and we took it pretty quick, but they took it even quicker. We were doing all right, until the door behind me fell and I turned around to see what seemed like their entire force rushing through the door. If I had been paying more attention to the overall situation instead of having fun killing people at the front gate I might have been able to reinforce that door and who knows what would have happened. Either way it is a lesson I�ll try to remember in the future, if you�re in a castle with multiple doors, keep checking the doors behind you. Another lesson is to look left and right when you run into an occupied castle. There was a polearmsman right behind the door as I ran in and he clocked me. Technically he didn�t have good engagement with me, but I say the fault was mine for not looking as I rushed in. I�m sure it made his day though and he won�t forget the day he got to play wack-a-mole on the guys running in the door.
The woods battle followed, though there was quite a delay between the two while the rapier fighters finished their battle. With better co-ordination we could have run a couple more fort battles with time to spare. Why? because it�s fun, that�s why.
Overall the woods battle was the most fun of the day. Pretty simple, (as it should always be) three flags in the center, and rez points at the far ends of a roughly rectangular field. The point was to capture and hold the �flags�, (trees marked with tape) At random intervals the marshals would call hold and whoever had possession of the flags got a point for each flag. I�ve never liked the �Random� time thing, I would rather have set times, or even a marshal with two stop watches, that could time how long each side held the flag. It wouldn�t be that hard, and it would be better than the roll the dice method of random times.
With Random times it all comes down to chance. I led an advance up to the tree and pushed back their defenders just in time to have the hold called and we won that point, but a minute earlier they would have won the point, it just seems kind of, well��random�
When it comes down to it remember that fighters just want to fight. We like to fight in the woods, and in the fort, and in the open field, but in the end it really doesn�t matter as long as you say, you guys, go kill those guys. That is really all you need for a good fun fight, two sides, and a place to fight. We could have done without the flags and just had one long rez battle and I doubt that anyone would have had any less fun. Or, my favorite, one flag in the middle that has to be brought to one of the ends for a point. No rez, just once the flag hits the point you stop and do it again. You can run a dozen of these in an hour and it is much more chaotic and fun than a held position battle. Memorable moments from the wood battle were meeting Duke Olaf in the initial charge and having a quick but strenuous polearm battle between two trees, that left several small branches trapped in my axe and we probably knocked down a sapling or two before our lines caught up to us and we separated. Good fight.
I also got shot with arrows. A lot. I was fighting spear and pole, and with the limited front I was just a good target. I really do try to take fair arrow hits, but believe it or not, even with the little armor I wear I often don�t feel them unless I see them coming, or they hit something sensitive. Especially in the press, and even more so in the woods with branches and such whacking into your helmet and armor. One time I had engaged Marc with spear and he said, �That arrow hit your leg� I said thanks and went to resurrect. I completely had no idea, and it makes me worry that the archers will think that I�m blowing off shots. I�m not, as much as I don�t like getting shot I�m not going to cheat, so if I don�t take it, it�s cause I didn�t feel/hear it. Rachel tried to shoot me too, and just barley missed me, the bolt actually skipped across the front of my grill left to right. I felt the wind from the shaft, which I don�t think I�ve noticed before.
Now for the Champions battle, which took forever to set up. (I know it sounds like I�m complaining a lot here, but in fact the whole day was lots of fun, I�m just making notes for the future if I ever have to run this stuff, and for anyone else who bothers to read this and wants to know what fighters really want out of a day of fighting.)
There were five heavies and five lights for each side, and they alternated light heavy light heavy. Geoffrey asked me to fight as the knight from the barony, so I got to fight last, RHIP ; ) I fought Sir Brian in what I though was a very exciting fight, and many people told me that it was a very fun fight to watch, which is exactly what a champions battle should be. Note to all champion fighters, while it is always fun to win, fighting an over-cautious champions fight is counter to the spirit of the moment. It is supposed to be a flashy, fun to watch fight. (I lost by the way, but it was anything but boring)
The field battle happened in pretty quick succession in comparison, unfortunately we got routed all three times. I never heard a count on the numbers, but I think we lost a good number after the woods, and even having most of sacred stone come over and us fighting against everyone else only slowed down the slaughter. They were all fun fights, but in the open field numbers really count. We could and should have run several more open field melees. There were plenty of fighters still on the field who wanted more, and this kingdom needs melee practice.
It didn�t happen, but I was happy that many people stayed out to do pickups, though not as many unbelts as should have stayed till the end. Felix was the last one on the field, and has always impressed me as a very good fighter, and most importantly is showing that he is serious about it by staying till the end. That stuff makes an impression folks. I fought a number of styles, I wanted to focus on my sword and shield which I need much work on, but many folks had asked me if I would do great weapons with them and that is my first love and also my responsibility so I mainly fought pole and bastard sword.
Dragged myself off the field after several good passes with Tash, Val and Felix and went to the truck to change and tried to make it back for court. Talked with Dagonet at the back for most of the time, also gathered my stuff from the many piles I tend to leave all over the field. (gotta get one of those squires) I really wanted to go sit down but I had forgotten my chair and for some reason it is really hard for me to sit on the ground. You would think I have enough rear cushion, but I can seldom get comfortable. I finally gave up and sat down just in time to stand back up as they ended court.
Back to the truck for dinner. I have this little propane stove set up, the whole thing fits into a one quart container that you can use to cook and boil water in. It is perfect for one person, and I use it for tea in the morning and hot food in the evening. My whole SCA Career I�ve done without anything hot, just cold out of the can, but having tea every morning at gulf war (we had electricity and I brought my electric kettle) has spoiled me for life. The tea is great, and since I can, it is nice to heat up the food too. I had ravioli, which was very good and would have been perfect if I hadn�t been invited to eat with the King and queen just a few minutes after I finished.
They had a great spread, and it didn�t take much arm-twisting to get me to eat some kabobs. I like Ragnar and Annake very much. I�ve been impressed with Ragnar since I met him at Sapphire my first year here, he has always been exceptionally good to me, and I hope to get to know him better. I�m afraid that I don�t know Annake as well, but she has also always struck me as a very worthy queen and someone that I would like to know better.
The dinner conversation was good, and the meal was wrapped up with cookies, the consumption of which required no arm-twisting at all.
On to the Bardic! Dunstan and I grabbed our gear and headed over to the fire pit that we had played at the night before, only to find that it was going to be the drumming circle and dancing pit. Which is fine, we both like to play drums, but neither of us had a drum to play, and we wanted to sing anyway. Drumming and bardic both have their place in the SCA, but they seldom can coexist in the same circle.
We followed Durvala to another pit that she had heard of but they had no fire, and as cold as it was getting, we needed fire. I had a good feeling about another pit nearby, which turned out to be the Black Diamond camp, and we sidled up and asked if we could share their fire. They welcomed us, but I don�t know if they knew what they were getting into. : )
It was a great bardic, one of the best I�ve been to in a while, and the baroness of Black diamond kept a steady stream of homemade cordials running around the fire, all of them good, and many of them very very good. We had lots of requests, and though both of us tried to pass the torch around several times we ended up singing most of the time. Believe it or not, neither one of us wants have a whole bardic to themselves, we are plenty happy to sit back and let someone else entertain us, but at the same time, we want to keep things going. Once you build to a certain level of interest, you have got to keep the momentum going or the circle will die quickly. I�ve seen it happen many times. A bardic will get a good head of steam, and then there will be a ten-minute pause, the folks that have gathered on the outside of the circle will wander off to find out if someone else is singing somewhere else.
All that said, I always worry that someone will feel like we (I) came in and just hogged the whole show. Really, if you all want to do something just do it, or tell us to hush for a minute and then do it. We always try and leave space, but a lot of folks are too shy to jump in and go for it. I missed Willy-T, he must have been off hogging a bardic of his own. : )
The bardic tapered off around 1:30, and we stayed till 2:00 or so and just BSed a bit. I actually didn�t drink much the whole night. I was trying to take it easy on my voice and I�ve found that a lot of alcohol doesn�t help. That and I�m sure I sound better when I�m fairly sober. (The opposite could be true, I don�t know)
Not having drunk much I really noticed the bardic high that I get when things are going really well. When everyone is laughing and telling stories, or there are some really great songs and sing-a-longs, I get a truly wonderful feeling, it is really close to bliss. Saying that it was a �good time� just doesn�t cut it. It is so much more than that. It is like tapping into a stronger flow of life for a while; everything is more electric, more real. It�s like a rush, and it only happens when things are at their peak. I enjoy the whole process, the beginning when everyone is getting warmed up, the best part, when it does happen, is always about halfway through, and then there is always a slow decline to the end. It�s all circular man�
Some bardics never get of the ground, or they start strong and then quickly fall away. But the best always follow that arc.
So back to my evening, by the time we wandered away from the bardic I was almost completely sober, and was feeling a bit melancholy as I always do after the bardic is over, especially when I�m at an event without Jill. When she is there it is not so bad, but heading back to the cold truck, alone, after such a good time just was not very appealing. I had just got to the truck when my phone rang. I knew it had to be Jill since it was like 2:30. It was perfect, talking to her for the first time in a week made everything better, and I went to sleep after a very good day.
It was raining when I woke up. There was no rain in the forecast so almost everyone was completely surprised, especially as it was still clear at three. I was very happy that all I had to do was roll up my sleeping bag and drive over to Dunstan. The rain tapered off and we finished packing, walked around to look for anything we forgot. I gave some CD�s to the black diamond folks in thanks for their hospitality; we grabbed some cookies from the Windmasters tent and took off. Stopped at MCd�s for breakfast and took it easy ion the way home. It was a very good weekend, and for my part, going with Dunstan is what really made the difference. The last few events that I have gone to alone have been pretty lonely affairs, and while I�m sure I would have had fun alone, having him there made it a weekend to remember.
So this is what I�m going to try and do after every event. I�ve let so many slip away with only scant notes to remind me of what happened, and I thought I�d give this a try. If you actually read all this way, and are not related to me� wow, bad TV night I guess. For more consistent readers of this journal, you�ll only see these after big events.
-Justus
