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Eric Edmundsson In Lochac

PART I

A warm sun was shining through a few scattered clouds, welcoming our party to the fair lands of Lochac. After a long journey, we a rived in Rowany, to be met by a small delegation. Due to a delay in our arrival, we were forced to make alternate arrangements for our travel on to the Shire of Innilgard, and so we spent a few pleasant hours enjoying the company of Her Excellency and three other residents in one of the local parks. The warm sun and open space was much appreciated after the close quarters of our transport.

But all too soon, it was time once again to set off on our travels. This portion of the journey would be short compared to that portion which we had already completed. So it was on to Innilgard, where we were met by a large delegation. Introductions were made all around, and since I am unable to recall the names of all those present, I will not attempt to list them. After the introductions had been made, we collected our baggage, and hired transport for use around Innilgard, and on the journey back to Rowany. By this time we were all suffering the ravages of our journey, and our hosts guided us to our lodgings where we quickly fell to sleep in order to be well rested for the tourney on the morrow.

The morning came all too quickly, and it was time to rise and prepare for the day’s events. We were guided to the tourney site, which was a lovely small park. Sir William the Lucky and Mistress Hilary of Serendip spent some of the intervening time in inspecting their armor, and preparing it for the combat to come. Mistress Käthe Willig von Mainz was discussing costuming and the arts and sciences with a small group of people. I, in the meantime, was helping the good folk of Innilgard set up their pavilion.

Before the tourney began, the populace was well fed by one Brother John, who provided roast, lamb, as well as an assortment of breads, and vegetables. It should be noted that Brother John is also a brewer of ales and cordials. Mistress Käthe and I spent some time in tasting his produce. Of particular note was his caraway port, it being an excellent mix of flavors. Our party, as well as the populace, enjoyed his lemon beer and ginger beer. Since I am a somewhat biased judge when it comes to matters alcoholic, you may ask Mistress Käthe for her opinion on these potations.

And so it came to pass that the time for the tourney was upon us. The weather was warm and sunny; with few clouds in the sky. For those with sensitive skin, there were several large gum trees, that being the name used by the natives to describe those trees which we call eucalyptus. The fighter’s of Innilgard and Sir William and Mistress Hilary began to armor in anticipation of the event to come. Sir William helped the local marshal, one Donen von Ach, conduct an armor inspection. We were impressed with the quality of the armor, finding none of it to be unsafe, and with only a few suggestions for modification. Then it was time for the fighting to take place.

The fighting was good, especially considering that none of these people had been training for more than a few months, and that Lochac had started from scratch only a few years ago. The training of Sir William and Mistress Hilary was to be of immense help in the days to come, but more of that later. To sum up the tourney, it was run as a round robin, best two out of three. This was partly due to the scarcity of fighters. A single elimination tourney would have been over in short order. We later found this to be a standard practice in the rest of the Crown Principality. Alas, when it was allover, Sir William was the victor in the lists, with Mistress Hilary taking second place. Thus was set a pattern which held through the rest of our journey.

We visitors from the far lands were then told where arrangements had been made for us to stay during the festival. I was staying in the pavilion of Reinhardt of Fenring, along with a former resident of Rowany, now living in Innilgard, and another member of the local populace. Other people were still arriving, so there was still unloading to be done, and even more setting up to get on with. Fortunately the most difficult pavilions were set up by this time. The good folk of Innilgard were kind enough to prepare a large pot of stew, and offer it to anyone in the camp who was hungry. It was quite good. After dinner, there were the usual activities, especially conversation, and on the part of us visitors, the making of new friends. And so, another day came to an end.

On the next morning, we arose, and more people arrived. The weather for the entire festival was generally overcast with occasional rain. Having said, this, I'll make no more mention of the weather unless it has some bearing on events.

For opening court in the morning, many announcements were made, including several by Mistress Hilary involving Kingdom business, and the granting of Awards of Arms to several people in the Barony. Her Excellency made a presentation to all those visitors present. This was a small pin, with two leaves and berries of the rowan bush. This was to signify to all present that we were visitors, and to please excuse us if we were not aware of any local customs. I thought that this was a wonderful gesture, and helped to show where the hearts of the populace were.

At the festival, there was much fighting, as well as fighter training by Sir William and Mistress Hilary. The combats included a sword and weapon list, an open list, the Little Rock 'War, and a number of melees and challenges. The most interesting melee was one in which the fighters stood in a circle, unarmed and facing outward. At the marshal’s command, they all ran to their weapons, which were in a circle around them, and then began fighting. As this was something I had never seen before, I found it to be enjoyable to watch.

After the tourney, the armor was packed and the pavilion taken down and the group retired to Cacklebury Hall, this being the residence of several members of the group. There was no organized revel, but there was much discussion of the SCA, and other subjects of interest. Mistress Käthe had a few of her costume books to show around, and the rest of us had other books, as well as pictures from events here. After a long day, we returned to our lodgings to sleep.

The next two days were spent in seeing the local area, with the help of some local guides, costuming, and the holding of combat practices. This was in addition to more discussion on costuming, armoring, and diverse subjects. We were also preparing to begin the long journey back to Rowany for their festival. For the people of Innilgard, there was food to prepare, costumes to finish, armor to be repaired, and a pavilion to complete. We all gave what assistance we could.

Finally the day to leave for Rowany came. We packed ourselves, and helped the Innilgarders to load their vehicle and then were on our way. The journey was long, and not much of interest happened. The only excitement came when one of the creatures, known to the locals as "roos", leaped in front of our caravan. This caused some sweating of palms and gnashing of teeth. But we all arrived safely and in plenty of time for the Rowany festival.

Upon arriving at the site, we found Her Excellency [Baroness Rowan] and a few others already there and beginning to layout the site. As the site had been used before, this was not a great difficulty. And then began the laborious but necessary job of setting up camp. We pitched in to help as best we could, aiding in checking the field for obstacles and in the raising of pavilions. As some of the pavilions were borrowed, there was a dearth of knowledge as to how they should be raised. This lack of knowledge caused some sweating of palms, as well as other parts of people's anatomies, along with some gnashing of teeth. In the end, all the pavilions were successfully raised.

The Little Rock War was the largest assemblage of fighters ever in Lochac, there being twelve fully armored fighters present. Generals were chosen and they chose teams to fight in the battles, there being a total of three fought. In the Little Rock War, the battle was over a box of rocks, with one large rock arid a number of little ones. So the Two teams of six fighters and three box bearers lined up for battle at equal distances from the box, in the woods. The team whose box bearers carted the box back to their starting line would be declared the winners. The battles were fought, with much glory and chivalrous combat between the opposing sides. The third battle was fought as a resurrection combat, where the dead or injured had to make their way to where Her Excellency Was seated, and touch her staff. Each person could be resurrected twice. I can state that; from the spectators' viewpoint, the Little Rock War was great fun, and have it on reliable report that the fighters enjoyed it also.

For the non-fighters, there were other activities available. These included a quest, an Easter egg hunt, and several contests. The quest was run at night, with groups of five questers, one of whom was to be an armored fighter. We were looking for the seneschal's key. The quest was quite enjoyable while it lasted, but was called off early due to a rainstorm. It had been hoped that the quest could be continued on the following night, but this was not to be.

The Easter egg hunt was held, appropriately enough, on Easter. The entry fee was either three dyed eggs, or one coin of the realm. The eggs were hidden in a small hollow, and then egg hunters were allowed in. A few eggs were placed, in the open, so as to whet our appetites but most were cleverly hidden, and a definite challenge to discover. The winning hunter found eight eggs, and the prize was a highly decorated egg.

In order to raise money for the Principality, a fighter auction was held. As the bidding went on, the price paid I for a fighter became progressively higher, with the last fighter going for the highest price. This fighter was purchased by a consortium, of which, I was a member, for one hundred twenty five coins of the realm. In actuality he was not the last fighter up for auction, as one other fighter finally arose from his pavilion about the time it was finished, and so became the last one sold. In any case, there were five prizes, a prize going to the owner, or owners in the case of our consortium of each of the top five fighters, excluding Sir William and Mistress Hilary. I am happy to say that our fighter was one of the winners, and we got the prize which we had sought. Our prize was a bottle of ale mead, which we all shared. I can state that it was quite good.

Alas, the Rowany Festival drew to a close. William the Lucky was the winner in both the sword-and-shield and open lists, with Mistress Hilary second in both. There was then the breaking of camp to contend with. This meant taking down pavilions, loading transport, and finally journeying home. With the help of native guides, we were able to make it to our lodgings for the next few days.

While in Rowany, Lucky and Hilary held fighting practice. Mistress Hilary also taught some armoring, in particular the making of clamshell gauntlets. There was so much interest in these gauntlets that a first pair was already in production by the time we left. Mistress Käthe helped several people draft patterns for new costumes. I made myself useful by helping in the construction of a small forge. We also tried to see as much of their fair city as possible during our stay. But it seemed all too soon that the time came when we were to leave Rowany. This meant loading our belongings back into transport and heading off to Aneala Scir.

Our arrival in Aneala Scir was once [again met by a delegation representing the local populace. Once we had claimed our baggage and arranged transport, we were spirited off to the home of one of the locals. There, more of the Populace had gathered to welcome us. Our time was occupied with pleasant conversation well into the night. As we and our hosts were becoming tired, guides were provided to take us to our respective lodgings.

The next day was spent in seeing some of their fair city, and more of the local opulace. There were also preparations underway for the following day's tournament and feast. I was caught unprepared, as I did not find out until the day before that there was to be a masque in the evening. Fortunately, Käthe was able to design and help make a mask for me

The morning of the tournament dawned on a populace still making last minute preparations. All the world over, the Society seems to attract the same type of people. We made our way to the site, and there was the arming to be done, and the armor inspection, as well as setting up the eric. One side of the eric was a line of bushes and the site was shielded by trees and bushes on three sides. As it was a warm sunny day, the shade was at times appreciated; The tournament was won by Sir William, with Mistress Hilary taking second. The level of fighting was good, but not as good, in general, as that in Rowany. There were, however, a couple of good fighters. After the tournament we retired to the home of one of the locals until it was time to go to the feast hall.

The meal was very good, and there were many interesting masks. There was entertainment between courses, which included a duet, a reading of poetry, and some business conducted by Mistress Hilary. In addition to some general Society business, she had three Awards of Arms to present to local members from His Majesty. The meal was also accompanied by pleasant conversation and good drink. A pleasant evening.

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