Spring Spears

While I was at Ealdormerian Coronation, Spring Fling was held in Lonely Tower. Because Their Majesties were interviewing baronial candidates for Mag Mor, they couldn’t come up to Coronation with me. I suggested that They hold the interviews in Ealdormere, and those candidates who showed up would have proved their commitment, but surprisingly, They didn’t agree with me.

Even so, I got to go to a “Spring” event, this one Spring Spears in Calanais Nuadh. This happens to be the group where Bhrngari, my ex-wife lives, which means I was excited to go and see her. She and I get along much better now that we are separated. She’s great in many ways, and now I get to see them without focusing on the little stuff that isn’t so great, which unfortunately I often did. She’s also a very good cook, and she got rave reviews about the food she prepared for the inn.

Anyway, I stayed over at Katrine and Eric’s the night before the event and Katrine and I daytripped the event. Eric wanted a weekend off because of a party. Like I’d do something like that. Huh. 😉

Calanais is a group known for archery and thrown weapons, with few fighters. In fact, Troy Halfallen, who hasn’t lived in Calanais for some time, drove 3 hours to run the fighting. I was exhausted from the trip to Ealdormere so I decided to help marshal. Stupid me forgot that marshaling is more exhausting than fighting. I ended up much more tired than I would have.

Nonetheless I had a great time. Troy and his wife ran the list and the heralding, and Master Waldryk (www.waldryk.com) and I handled the actual marshalling. The fighting was usually very fun to watch, with the one exception of one fighter. Also, an old gaming buddy of mine who recently started back into the SCA is really starting to fight well, and that was great to see. The bout between The Dongal and Donato was especially fun to watch. They were fighting with matched huge maces, and His Majesty suggested the victory be to five kills. This turned out to be one of the best bouts I’ve ever watched, and it was also extremely funny. They pounded the hell out of each other for our entertainment.

I must admit, though, I was very disappointed in the quality of insults and cursing. One of the tournaments was supposed to be where you had fun calling out an opponent, insulting and cursing and bragging about one’s own prowess. This had the potential for lots of fun and silliness. In the end, Waldryk and I were the only ones doing anything with that. We were very disappointed. Surely Calontiri can insult better than that :).

The highlight of the day was feast for me. Not so much the food, though the first two removes were tasty. The third one had three kinds of salmon. Uck. Anyway, Dongal and I got to talking about fighting and he started talking about what he tries to do when he fights. A lot of people don’t realize quite how much he thinks about what he does, but he’s a very smart fighter. I am looking forward to learning everything I can from him.

Overall, it was another fun day in my life in the SCA. I didn’t get to spend as much time with Bhrngari as I wanted, though she did bring me jerky (wooohooo), nor was her new boyfriend able to make it and I want to meet him. However, the day was a lot of fun. It’s a great thing that at every event is someone who I really like but don’t get to see very often, like Waldryk and Troy.

One thought on “Spring Spears”

  1. I suggested that They hold the interviews in Ealdormere, and those candidates who showed up would have proved their commitment, but surprisingly, They didn’t agree with me.

    I once thought the same way about this year’s Kingdom A&S Championships, which suckered me into thinking it was “fine” to have it in Peach Bottom PA, where the Queen’s Champ of A&S (outgoing, too) is from. Er, that’s 5 hours from where I live on the weekends. And it’s going to be on Memorial Day weekend, which means an additional 2-3 hours from NYC and NJ traffic. “We can make this work…” I thought.

    Then my boyfriend hit me over the head with a reality check:
    “We can’t afford that kind of a trip. Gas prices, and the travel alternatives are too expensive.”
    So it’s not just dedication…. If my wallet and his wallet say no, as much as I’d be willing to spend money I don’t have, without money flow to back up the pure will to be there – nothing can be done about it. :/

    Peach Bottom PA is near the very bottom of the East Kingdom.
    The very top is somewhere up there in Canada…
    …you can see the screwup already….

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