[Ansteorra] Congratulations to Champions of the Rose!

[maaggie3 at attbi.com]

Greetings all!

I wanted to take the opportunity to express my
congratulations to two Ansteorran gentlemen who emerged
victorious at the Tournaments of the Rose held for
rapier and chivalric combatants at Gulf Wars this past
week.  The Tournaments of the Rose are sponsored by the
Kingdom of Ansteorra (rapier) and the Kingdom of
Meridies (chivalric).  In both cases, members of the
Order of the Rose from all the Kingdoms of the knowne
world are invited to sponsor two combatants into the
list:  one white scarf (or equivalent) and one unscarved
fighter into the rapier list, and one belted and one
unbelted fighter into the chivalric list.  In the
chivalric list, no gentle who has won a Crown or Coronet
list may enter.  As you can imagine, some of the finest
warriors in the knowne world are sponsored into both
tournaments.

This year's Rapier tourney attacted nearly 80
combatants, with about 30 Roses in attendance to watch
the bouts.  At the end of the tournament, against a
large field of excellent fighters, our own Don Robert
MacFarlane, representing Her Highness of the East,
Princess Roxane, emerged the victor and latest rapier
Champion of the Rose.   He defeated Connor, a gold scarf
from Atlantia (I'm sorry, but I can't remember his full
name) in the finals.  Lord Edward Mercer and Provost
Gunthar from Atlantia also distinguished themselves in
the list, advancing to the semi-finals.

The chivalric tourney was even more exciting, with the
last three fighters in the finals all hailing from
Ansteorra (actually, I think the last five fighters were
all Ansteorrans!).  Randall Krieger, Gustav Hastings and
Sir Gideon MacLeod fought "round-robin" in deepening
twilight to determine this year's chivalric Champion of
the Rose.  Sir Gideon, representing Countess Margaret
(me!) emerged as the victor, although all three fighters
deserve recognition for their prowess at arms.

Ansteorra should be proud of its honorable and excellent
fighters on both the rapier and chivalric fields!  Vivat
to you all!

Margaret

Countess Margaret ny Connor
Barony of the Steppes
Kingdom of Ansteorra