ES - Elfsea Defender Chivalric Tourney

[Estella Flather]

Greetings from Mistress Stella-
	I have fought in Lyonesse, I have fought at Ravensfort Defender. I don't
think we need to try to replicate these events. If you want to try
something different like this, Spring Faire is the time. We try to have
different and original types of tournies for variation at Spring Faire. 
	Elfsea Defender should not be decided by a popularity contest. Our
Defender should be the best fighter at the tourney. Banners and pretty
clothes will not defend our Barony.
	On a personal note. I cannot fight a round at the barrier because I can't
fight without a shield. So the proposed scenario would keep me from
fighting in the tourney.
	If you do want to try what you have proposed, having those defeated in the
first round unable to fight further would mean many of the fighters
wouldn't get to fight very much.
	The part of Elfsea Defender that I particularly enjoyed was the reverse OP
challenge in the first round. I would not like to lose that aspect of
Defender.
	A ladies pavillion which awards its own favors can be done for any type of
tourney. Other groups, notably the ladies of Lindenwood, already do this.
	Keep this idea for Spring Faire and don't mess up the traditional tourney
just to have something different.
	In service,
	Baroness Stella Silvana
----------
> From: baron at elfsea.ansteorra.org
> To: elfsea at ansteorra.org
> Subject: ES - Elfsea Defender Chivalric Tourney
> Date: Wednesday, June 14, 2000 11:28 AM
> 
> Galen here...
> 
> I've been talking for some time about what I want to do 
> for the chivalric tourney at Elfsea Defender.  I want to 
> toss out the ideas I'm presently working with, and get 
> the barony's feedback on them, especially the fighters' 
> opinions.
> 
> In period, a tourney would last more than a few hours, or 
> even more than a full day.  They would last up to a week, 
> with different scenarios being tried on different days.
> 
> In Ansteorra, there have been very few efforts to re-
> create a tourney of the high middle ages (say 12-14th 
> century), and none that I am aware of that were part of a 
> baronial championship event that included other 
> competitions.  Most familiar to Elfsea fighters is 
> probably the Tournee de Lyonesse, held for several years 
> by Bjornsborg, which in turn was a descendent of the 
> earlier Tournament of Lions.  The Lions tournies 
> simulated different tournament days by seperating the 
> tourney into rounds.  All combat was assumed to be fought 
> _a plaisance_, that is, with blunted weapons.  To be 
> killed or wounded by SCA standards meant to be 
> incapacitated for the remainder of the "day", so you had 
> to wait until the next round to fight.  (However, there 
> was a round fought "a outrance" with sharpened weapons, 
> to settle affairs of honor; wounds taken in this round 
> were retained throughout the tourney.)  Fighters hired 
> heralds and made great shows of their performance on the 
> field.  A herald might even provide a "play-by-play" 
> account of his patron's fight, highlighting his patron's 
> best moves and chivalry, of course.  And the day started 
> with a march of precedence of the fighters, to present 
> them to the Baron of Bjornsborg, Sir Jan.
> 
> Within the context of Elfsea Defender, there simply isn't 
> time in the schedule to do as much as we'd like, but we 
> can do a smaller version of it, to give us all a taste.
> 
> I'm thinking of starting with a march of precedence of 
> the fighters and their consorts, in which the fighter may 
> provide his own herald to announce him, if he wishes.  
> The Baroness will preside over a ladies pavillion, who 
> will bestow largess on the fighters that catch their eye. 
> 
> Challenge Round 
> Then the field would be open for challenges.  For 45 
> minutes, fighters could accept or give challenges and 
> fight them out on the field.  Wounds would be retained 
> throughout the round, slain fighters would be out until 
> the next round.  Multiple fights would be fought at the 
> same time.
> 
> Limited Blows Challenge Round
> The second round would be also be 45 minutes, and run the 
> same way except you have a limited number of blows:  3 
> blows with each of the traditional "weapons of chivalry" 
> sword, mace (or axe, depending on your persona), spear, 
> or dagger.  Challenge as many fighters as you can, but 
> you can't throw more than 12 shots total during the 
> round.  Perhaps you'd challenge a fighter to all four 
> weapons, or choose a different opponent for each weapon.  
> This sort of limited-blows combat was commonly done in 
> period tournies.  If you haven't done it, you'll find it 
> to be a very challenging sort of combat.  As before, 
> wounds are retained through the round, and killing shots 
> take you out of the round.
> 
> Defenders at the Barrier
> In the third round the former Defenders of Eflsea would 
> defend the barrier against any and all comers, for 45 
> minutes.  Challenge them alone or en mass.  Wounds will 
> be retained through the round.
> 
> Grand Melee
> Finally, the ladies pavillion will choose a Lord 
> Challenger, and then the Baron will choose a Lord Tenant 
> and his team.  They will lead the sides of a grand melee.
> 
> After this, the Baron will consult with the prior 
> Defenders of Elfsea to choose which participant is most 
> worthy to become the new Defender of Elfsea.
> 
> How's it sound?  Do you love it?  Do you hate it?  Do you 
> want to tweak it a little?  A lot?  This _is_ the time 
> for negative commentary.  (Positive, too.)
> 
> Please be gentle!
> 
> - Galen Elfsea
> 
>
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