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<DIV><FONT size=2>Galen of Bristol here!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>(Hey! Is this the first post to the Ansteorra-Archery
list?)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>One of the things I'm going to really like about being Baron
of Elfsea</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>is that I'll be able to do -- on a regular basis -- something
I've only </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>gotten to do once: host a formal archery
tourney.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I think back to the Robin Hood stories, and the tournament
held</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>by the Sheriff of Nottingham as a ruse to lure Robin Hood
right</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>into his castle, and how Robin came in disguise and won
the</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>prize. No film version of Robin Hood is complete without
the </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Archery</FONT><FONT size=2> Tourney sequence. Even
Disney's appalling animated</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>version of Robin does a pretty good job on this
part.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Once, long ago, back in Bryn Gwlad, my household held
a</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>weekend-long archery competition. The archers were
presented</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>in a march of precedence. We held a royal round, a
novice</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>shoot, and a combat archery team competition with live
armored</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>targets. The audience was fully as big for this event as
it would</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>have been for a similar sized chivalric tourney, the event
itself</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>drew more participants than the previous Baronial
Champion</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Tourney.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I had gotten the idea to do this when I noticed, at that
prior</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Bryn Gwlad baronial championship tourney, the number
of</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>archers who were out shooting in a light rain was greater
than</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>the number of chivalric and duello combatants combined.
I</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>thought, "these people deserve their own event". So we
held</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>one. Eventually, I hope Elfsea will hold a primarily
archery</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>event. In the meantime, on a smaller scale, I'm looking
forward</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>to doing what I posted to the Ansteorra list:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>"The tournament to choose the next Archery Defender of Elfsea
(in </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>September) will be as high-persona, with as much pageantry, as
I </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>can arrange. Never mind getting a noble to sponsor you,
archers </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>will need to hire heralds. There'll be prizes for style
as well as the </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>title that goes to the victor, be sure to look good, and
consider how </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>your persona would conduct himself in such a tourney.
There'll be </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>a prize for the best herald. The Baron & Baroness
(and hopefully<BR>the King & Queen) will be sitting in their thrones behind
the shooting </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>line watching, cheering and wagering. Hopefully, many
more spectators </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>will join us. This will be the first thing Saturday
morning at the event,<BR>_right_ after morning court, while the fighters are
just getting started </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>with armor inspection. If the archers come out and make
this a </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>success, it'll be a new tradition in Elfsea."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Now, I'm thinking of doing this as a simple Royal Round, due
to time</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>constraints. I still have to preside over rapier and
chivalric lists</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>that day, plus all the other things that will be get inserted
into the</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>schedule, some of which will surely demand my attention.
But I'm</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>counting on this to start off the event with a bang, as it
were, and I'm</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>hoping to come up with attractive enough prizes that all the
best</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>archers in Ansteorra will want to come and compete, which will
in</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>turn make the Archery Defender of Elfsea the title in the
kingdom which</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>is most prized among the archers, simply because of who you'll
have</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>had to beat to get there.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I plan to include having my herald announce the scores
of</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>each round, so that the spectators can have a better
idea</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>of what's happening. Perhaps some version of a
scoreboard</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>could provide a visual display of the progress of the
competition.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Some things I hope to avoid:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>- Inadequate pavillion space by the archery field, making it a
trial</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>for spectators to stay and watch.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>- Hiding the archery field someplace that's hard to
find.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>OK, guys, what am I leaving out? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Do crossbows have an</FONT><FONT size=2> unfair
advantage? I don't think they do if</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I throw in a timed round.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Will enough archers come to participate? Is this
attractive to</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>archers? Or am I just imposing my tournament-mindset
into</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>an activity that doesn't accodate it well?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>What do you think?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>- Galen of Bristol</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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