Crown Tournament

[Vicki Marsh]

Greetings, fellow Ansteorrans from Zara Zina.

If you were not one of the fortunate to attend Crown Tournament, you missed
out on some of the absolute best Chivalric fighting I have ever witnessed in
almost 20 years.

The day was cool and blustry, but pleasant enough.  There were 30 fighters
in the list - 15 pairings in the first round with no byes.  The fighting was
good and clean - no injuries to speak of - and many incidents of chivalrous
and honorable fighting.  Quite a few fighters yielded when asked to do so
after they had lost their legs (Some of us thought it might be due to the
high number of stickers and burrs on the ground. They were *bad*).

The semi-final saw four Knights meet each other - Sir Burke and Sir Mahadi,
and Earl Kein and Sir Barn.  Mahadi and Kein were victorious and went to the
final round.  

Mahadi took the first fight quickly.  Then Earl Kein slowed the pace and
took the second fight.  The final fight took almost 30 minutes, with each
fighter circling warily, slowly gauging each other's mettle.  They would
square off, then break without a shot, then do it again.  Kein kept waiting
for Mahadi, trying to force him into meeting him close to the list field
ropes.  As Mahadi is known for his lightning fly-byes, this was a good
defense.  Twice, Mahadi just barely missed Earl Kein's visor with his sword,
Kein ducking backwards just in the nick of time.

Finally, they closed again, and Mahadi landed a tip shot to Earl Kein's
face.  Kein dropped his shield and sword, staggered forward, and fell at
Mahadi's feet.  Mahadi sunk to his knees with the emotion of the moment. It
was an incredible fight - technically, mentally, and emotionally.

Vivat to all fighters in this tournament.  It was wonderful to watch.

Oh yeah, there also was a fun court, a great feast (with a virtual food
fight), and much drumming and revelry afterwards.

Baroness Zara Zina of Elfsea

(doum-doum tek-a-tek....still shimmying all the way home)