ES - Re: [IR] Gulf Wars

[Paul Mitchell]

Galen here!

(A posting to both the Ironrose and Elfsea mailing lists.)

It was indeed a fine war!

But three days of shouting field commands ("Dress that line! Close that 
gap!") with a bit of bardic in the evenings shredded my voice, and I'm
still recovering.

Ansteorra and Trimaris split the combat war points evenly, which
from my perspective was a huge improvement over last year, in
which Ansteorra lost every battle.

Our opponents were courteous, valiant and skillful, and were clearly
determined that "winning" would be defined as having more fun than
us; a contest I highly recommend, but a victory I'm not prepared to
concede.  (I did notice one difference:  Slain Ansteorrans often
congratulated their opponents, shouting "well struck!" or somesuch.
Killed Trimarians frequently bounded to their feat yelling "good
game!"  I wonder what this might indicated about approaches to SCA
combat?)

The war was a tie, as it has been the last four years running.  I
was very proud of my unit, Ansteorra's Central Region, which did
its job in _every_ battle, despite a core of highly inexperienced
fighters (a problem we propose to solve by the simple expedient
that, our core fighters having enjoyed this war so much, we'll simply
have them come out to the next one).  The unit's commanders,
Sir Mahadi (Regional Warlord) and Mistress Stella, its lieutenants,
Baron Llywelyn and Lord Airaklee, and myself (the shouting sergeant)
did a good job, which improved with each battle, though I say it
myself.  Duke Inman was good enough to take time to tell our
Baroness and Mistress Stella that we'd done very well in the battles.
It was a great time.

The Ironrose gathering in the Elfsea Camp, didn't go as well as I'd
hoped.  Our camp turned out to be out in the boonies, so few made
it out; it was a great pleasure to meet those who attended.  Master
Cadfan ap Morgan, who scripted much of William Blackfox's "Vixen's
Keep" stories was good enough to put in an appearance.  Then, the
resurrection battle turned out to be out in the boonies next to 
the Elfsea camp, so few if any Ironrose people went all the way 
back to the castle to meet in armor.

I did have the privelege of meeting and sparring with both Sir
Kytte and Viscountess Sir Elizabeth Mortimer.  They were exellent
fighters and as charming and pleasant as anyone could ask.

It was a point of personal pride to me that all nine of the
Ansteorrans knighted since last year's war were present and
in armor this year.  Ansteorra dedicated this war to the memory
of Sir Ricardo di Pisa, who died very early Thursday morning,
in Austin, of heart troubles.  I was told of his death on my way 
to the field a few hours later, and resolved to commemorate a
valiant and dedicated knight by fighting as well as I could
manage; a fitting memorial, I thought, to a man whose motto
was "Try Harder".

I was also priveleged to meet the Kings and Queens of 
Trimaris, AEthelmarc, Meridies, and at Atlantia, as well
as a _crowd_ of nice folks.  And I ordered my dream helm
from Cold Steel Armory; it'll be here in June!

It was a great war.  Next year, y'all come.

- Galen of Bristol
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