Device

Last Chance 2011: Barony of Dragon's Laire

A Barony in the Kingdom of An Tir which is
a Part of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA, Inc)

Last Chance 2011 has Come and Gone!

It was a great event, all agree! Here are some recollections, thank yous, and reviews...

The following emails have been edited and reformatted for the web.

From the Coronets

For Her Excellency and I , Last Chance has a special place in our hearts. Namely as it marks the end of the first full year of events with ourselves wearing the Coronets and representing Their Majesties in the Barony of Dragon’s Laire. We both consider ourselves incredibly lucky to live in such a glorious place, and even more privileged in representing this Barony to the Kingdom. It is indeed the Mightiest and Most Brilliant Jewel in the Crown of An Tir. Of that we have no doubt whatsoever.

First of all, we want to thank Lady Ceara for her efforts as Autocrat of Last Chance. Being pregnant, as well as providing support to her lord still healing from recent surgery, and she still managed to provide leadership and guidance, as well as always maintaining a gentle cheerfulness. Good work, Lady Ceara.

I know that Lady Ceara was supported in several ways by Lady Adelheidi as well. A Lady of many talents! It’s always great to turn around and find her helping and doing at every turn. :-)

Many thanks to Lady Jess, who managed gate for the event. The Gate Coordinator is often a thankless job, with a lot of tedious work. Thank you for your efforts Lady Jess Dunn.

Of course, Lady Adena provided quite a bit of support around the event, as well as providing Gold Key support. She and her staff leant their help whenever and wherever needed, and they were appreciated.

Friday afternoon was somewhat frenetic for Her Excellency and myself. So we were grateful for those who helped set up the Baronial Pavilion besides the Erics. Thank you Master Cedric and Dame Brighid. I believe that Dame Gwenllyn, Lord Dylan and THL Madrun helped as well. But Friday afternoon was a blur to me. :-) I do remember Lady Adena and her crew coming over to help set up the Day Shade for the Arts and Sciences area though.

The Archery area was well staffed in set-up with THL Arion, THL Alaricus, and THL Kassandra all involved in the set up of the range. I believe that THL Brian of Cardiff also helped.

Saturday was busy with the Championships! Many, many thanks to Master Cedric for providing his central leadership role as Baronial Marshall. He ensured that the Heavy and Rapier Championships were up and operational. He ensured that marshalls were available and that lists were ready to support. Then he went and ran the Thrown Weapons Championship. Thank you Master Cedric!!!

Thanks also to all who stepped up to support the Heavy and Rapier Championship staffs. THL Oliver and THL Madrun (COURTIER CANDIDATE :-)) acted as marshalls upon the Heavy Fields of Chivalry all day long. Many Thanks!!! Also thank you to THL Althaia for helping the Championships as well with her marshallate support. She also provides cheerful support. Makes me wish that we could adopt her as a Barony. :-)

Many thanks to all who stepped in to help with Voice Heraldry as well. M’Lord Caedmon (SARGENTRY CANDIDATE) provided excellent voice heraldry support. :-) Others did as well, including THL Jahnkin (SARGENTRY CANDIDATE) and others whose names I did not capture. If someone could add to this I’d greatly appreciate it.

Sir Fiach provided style and leadership to the Heavy Championship just as Don Talon did the Rapier Championship. I enjoyed their leadership and Courtly Graces immensely. I also greatly enjoyed the introductions on the field performed by the Heavy and Rapier combatants. It added even more classiness to the proceedings.

Over the course of the day, I was continuously impressed by the camaraderie of the Myrmidons. They dressed as a unit and continuously supported each other as a unit. Thank you for showing what a household fighting unit can do when motivated. And, of course, Idominious of the Myrmidons won the Heavy Prize Tournament.

The Championships for Heavy and Rapier were both epic. It was good to see THL Richard Dragun win the Championship for Armored Combat as well as THL Caius Foxcotte. Thank you both for your chivalrous combat on the field, as well as great fights to watch.

Three people walked away from the Rapier Prize Tournament sharing the prize. I know that Don Talon was one of them, but I cannot remember whom the others were. Hopefully someone will tell that tale more fully????

The Archery Championship came down to THL Alaricus and THL Loric in the finals. The finals themselves being a speed round from three different distances. Both archers are masters of their craft and it was a tension filled wait until the very end. Congratulations to His Lordship Alaricus! :-)

The Thrown Weapons Championship was fun to watch. At the start of the day it was looking doubtful that there would even be a Championship. But THL Nidda convinced THL Jenae and M’Lady Erin to enter the Championship, and it made it official. Even though others entered later, I want to commend these three Ladies for stepping into the role of Hero. Her Excellency and I were both extremely pleased and proud to see this. Later on Dame Brighid and Lady Magdalena also entered and Team V-J-J ruled the day! Even if they did not win the Championship Title, they certainly won our hearts! :-)

But the victory went to a brilliant Thrown Weapons artist, Rodrek Eirikson. Who, among other things, is a very nice guy. :-)

Later in the afternoon, the Youth Combat Championship was held under the shade of the large tree on site. I believe we had five combatants and was very well fought. Congratulations to M’Lady Caitlyn of House Llyra Tor for the exceptional display of skill. She is going to be quite the force when she comes of legal age for Heavy Combat!!! :-)

Many Thanks to Lord Myrick for bringing Youth Combat back to the Barony and ensuring its success. This is another source of great pride to Her Excellency and myself and due mostly to the efforts of M’Lord Myrick! Huzzah!!!

While the Youth Championship was happening, Her Excellency and I were hurriedly signing scrolls and charters for awards. The scroll work done by THL Renart and Dame Tam is just absolutely amazing! Absolutely beautiful! I was so impressed that I had a difficult time in putting my own name to the scrolls. Many thanks also to THL Renart for letting us borrow a calligraphy pen for signing the scrolls. Very much appreciated!

Court itself was amazing. Thank you all for attending. I’m really glad we decided to move it into the shade. It was comfortable and Her Excellency and I made it throw the entire agenda in about an hour and twenty minutes. Thank you all who helped provide support. THL Caius was amazing as Court Herald, with Tsuruko Sensei and THL Madrun providing verbal support as needed. Dame Gwenllyn provided her considerable support behind the Baronial Chairs as well. Thank you for all of your support!

Here is the list of awards handed out at Court, I believe. If I overlooked any, please remind me:

One other note-worthy addition to Court was the introduction of the Textile Guild of Dragon’s Laire, as introduced by the Guildminister, THL Madrun. We see a bright future for this group. :-)

As Court ended we were privilidged to witness Sir Martin le Harpur, former Champion of Dragon’s Laire, as he accepted THL Jahnkin de Leeuw as a Foster Squire. Sir Martin is an incredibly noble Knight and will help Jahnkin immensely. He has also agreed to provide his considerable talent to some upcoming Fight Practices. Keep your eye open for them, they will be worth the effort to attend.

After Court, we held a potluck feast. And as usual in Dragon’s Laire, no one went away hungry and the food was delicious! Thank you to all who took part and contributed. Thank you all for insisting that Her Excellency and I go first. As the Baron and Baroness we would want to see the Populace have the first opportunity to the food, but we were extremely honored and humbled that you all insisted we go first. Thank you. :-)

After the Feast, it was time for the fire and Bardic. Thank you very much to THL Mateusz for being the official fire-starter. It was appreciated. We all spent some time in conversation. But Her Excellency and I had had a long day in the hot weather and kept falling asleep. For which we both deeply apologize. Thank you to all though that provided the companionship and good cheer around the fire for as long as we were there.

On Sunday we started the day with the Tournament to select the Captain of the Baroness’ Guard. We were extremely gratified to have THL Conchobar, THL Morgan, THL Caius, and THL Ronan compete for the position. In an extremely well-fought tournament, THL Ronan won the day and has taken his position as Captain of the Baroness’ Guard. Thank you very much to all for your gallant gestures of Chivalry, as well as the entertainment. Part of the competition involved the shooting of rubber band guns. All the women attending had the opportunity to take shots and had a great deal of fun.

Many thanks to THL Althaia for providing marshallate and Lady Ceara for attending to the Lists.

There were many hands helping in the breakdown of site. I especially am grateful to Dame Brighid, Master Cedric, Dame Gwen, Tsuruko Sensei and THL Madrun for helping breakdown the Baronial and surroundings.

Many thanks also to THL Brian of Cardiff, THL Alaricus Simmonds, and Lady Ceara’s Lord Husband (whose name I just cannot for the life remember at this second! Argh!) for helping bring the Baronial ‘stuff’ to the storage unit.

I’m sure there are things I have overlooked. Wondrous moments of chivalry and honour on the fields of valour as well as about the site itself. I encourage all of you to tell your stories and let us know of the happenings of the event. This is how Her Excellency and I continuously learn of the Brilliance that is Dragon’s Laire and the people who live within the Borders.

Vivat! Dragon’s Laire! The Most Honourable Barony of the Kingdom of An Tir! Home to the Most Valiant, Creative and Honourable People in the Knowne Worlde!

You make us proud!

Arontius and Laurellen. Baron and Baroness of Dragon’s Laire.

Sent to the Dragon's Laire Email List on 09/11/2011

Addenda from the Coronets

I was reminded that the winners of the Rapier Tournament itself were Don Talon, Ambrose and Christopher of Madrone.

Her Excellency and I were really quite busy with the Marshallate Championships and could not seem to find even a few minutes to tour the Arts and Sciences area. I know that THL Gabrielle, THL Renart and Dame Tamm manned the Scribal tent. And that THL Pernell was located in the Arts and Sciences Pavilion for a large portion of the day, along with THL Rycheza. But neither Her Excellency nor myself heard much of what happened over there. What happened? :-)

Arontius.
Baron, Dragon’s Laire.

Sent to the Dragon's Laire Email List on 09/13/2011

...AND... :-)

Lady Ceara's husband is Titus of the Mymadons (I apologize for not remembering that on my own).

Lady Magdalena recieved a Snapdragon during Court. She was on another errand when we first called her name and I’d forgotten that she came back a while later and we were able to recognize her with the Snapdragon. :-)

Don Talon received his Dragon’s Flame for being the outgoing Rapier Champion.

THL Alaricus Simmonds received his Dragon’s Flame for being the outgoing Archery Champion (although he was inducted right back in :-)).

Sir Fiach received his Dragon’s Flame for being the outgoing Heavy Combat Champion.

All three received beautiful scrolls drawn and painted by Dame Tam and THL Renart.

Arontius.

Sent to the Dragon's Laire Email List on 09/13/2011

THL Pernell Kamber writes:

I was impressed with the prize for the Rapier Prize Tourney. Don Talon graciously offered the prize of a custom fitted rapier shirt, and when three people tied he gallantly said he would make a custom fitted shirt for all three!

Sent to the Dragon's Laire Email List on 09/12/2011

THL Pernell Kamber gives a report on the A&S Area at the Event:

We got our A&S groove on! In my dayshade Lady Jane embroidered, THL Kassandra made lace, Lady Helen did blackwork, I'm learning to card weave, Dame Ellen taught whipcord, and Ben played his guitar (in public for the first time ever) to entertain us as we created "great works of art" and ate the delicious spread that Lady Jane brought. I didn't get around much since the cardweaving had me tied to a pole so reports about THL Rycheza and Dame Tam's areas will have to come from them.

Sent to the Dragon's Laire Email List on 09/14/2011

THL Rycheza responds:

Between the heat and the worry of fire danger, we decided not to cook at the Culinary Pavilion. So had a social and nosh area.

Sent to the Dragon's Laire Email List on 09/14/2011

Dame Tamlyn informs us:

Scribes Guild cooked a batch of Oak Gall Ink up and prepared and cut quills for writing with and then people tried their hand at writing with them.

Sent to the Dragon's Laire Email List on 09/14/2011

From the Last Chance Gate Mistress:

I'd like to take a minute to recognize those who volunteered their time to work at gate this past weekend.  They helped to make check in at gate quick and easy and often explained the site layout to help direct attendees to where they needed to go.

   

Thank you for your time and hard work.  Many hands make light work and you helped lighten my load. 

I'd also like to give Lady Brenna a special thank you for providing doughnuts for the gate volunteers on Saturday morning.

~Lady Jess of the Roving Irishmen, Last Chance Gate Mistress 

Sent to the Dragon's Laire Email List on 09/12/2011

Date: September 9-11, 2011
Silver Spurs Saddle Club,
Bremerton

Last Chance 2011 Autocrat

Lady Kiara (MKA Sierrena Jordan)
Email: purpledragon0279@yahoo.com