Clyde's Travel Log - Dreamstone 2023

Dreamstone 2023
Barony of Bryn Madoc
Camp Daniel Morgan
Hard Labor Creek State Park
Rutledge, GA
23 April 2023

In the afternoon of the 22nd day of April, Anno Societatis LVII, I hopped on my mount and turned it's nose southward. The journey took me off the Cumbrian Plateau, through the gap at Vulpine Reach and into the fertile lands of the Barony of Bryn Madoc for the event, Dreamstone. Late in the evening, I found lodging at a nearby waystation before completing my journey early the next morn. There was  rain shower as the dawn broke, but the showers dissipated shortly after breakfast. 

The trip from the waystation to the camp was short and I found setup well underway with many attendees in the effort of claiming space for day shades near the eric. The field was shared with rapier and armored combatants. Attendance was high with many notable and infamous personages. Once again, my focus was on armored combat and that is where I spent my day.

I received many complements on my new shield, which 100% of should be directed to my wife Ellen. Again, she dresses me well and I am grateful for her efforts.

The armored combat day started with a bridesmaid tourney for combatants that have never won a tournament. Having won a tournament of the same type many years ago, I did not participate. I think there were 6 participants. The format was round robin. The contest was won by Vilhjalmr Skogr.

The next contest, after some delay, was the Dreamstone tournament. The late start was due to waiting for the completion of the rapier captain's tournament. The armored and rapier Dreamstone tournaments ran concurrently. The format was a standard double elimination. In the first round, I drew Duke John of Ean Airgead (the Mad Celt). He is a formidable opponent and it was the first time that I can recall having ever shared the field with him (as an opponent). I do not remember a lot of detail of the fight, such as is my failing, but I do remember a nice clean hit to the top of my helmet. For a man that is at least a foot shorter than me, it was a excellent shot and happily accepted on my part. My next round was against a gentlemen that I think was called 'Roman'. The fight was not my best and I lost the round. The Dreamstone (armored) tournament was won by Duke Timothy of Long Bennington.

I made mistakes in the second round fight. The first was pausing my fight and making assumptions about shots I thought I landed. The pause left my defenses down. The fight should not stop until there is firm acknowledgment or a hold is called. If I had question, I should have called hold. That is on me. My second mistake was failing to change my strategy. I allowed the fight to be reset after some uncertainty and proceeded to carry the same fight to my opponent in the second pass. Failing to adapt, I fell into the trap of my own making and took a good blow losing the second pass. I was out of the tournament. The fault is my own. Lesson learned.

My next tournament was a great weapons tournament. Mostly a novelty for me. I haven't used my glaive in many years. It showed. It was single elimination and I was out in 1. The tournament was won by Thorhall Wulfstanson.

The last tournament of the day was in the format of the Diamond Tournament from Gulf Wars. I was paired with a rapier fighter, Giovanni (if I recall correctly). Together we had to win both our fights to advance. If one wins and the other loses, a second pass occurs where the first hit, on either field, advances the pair. In this round, we drew the Ducal pair of Duke Wulfstan (armored) and Duchess Thorkatla (Rapier). I gave Duke Wulfstan a good effort, but he won the first pass. Giovanni carried me to a sudden death round where I once again lost to His Grace. The tournament was single elimination, so that was the end of our run. Earl Lochlainn Glen Nodha and William were the tournament champions.

In my passes with Duke Wulfstan, I discovered a blind spot with my new helmet. In my second pass with His Grace, he landed a blow to the lower portion of my faceplate. The blow did not register, but I felt my aventail move. I had to ask for clarification as to what he hit because the aventail movement was not demonstrative of a telling blow. Left me slightly confused resulting a late thrust to His Grace well after his blow struck (which he, rightfully, assumed was good). So far, that was the only problem I have had with blow calling in my new helmet. I can live with it.

For pickups, I managed to only get in a couple of people. I had several good passes with Earl Lochlainn. I also squared with Baron Richard na Teanga Mhin, but only one pass. I owe him many more, but we keep missing each other for pickups. That was it.

My review of my fighting day was that I started out flat and came on later in the day. I did not get as much fighting in as I wanted. I will work on that in future events. I think I need to make sure I get some warmup fighting in before tournaments. Around 5 low-impact passes to loosen up should do for a pre tournament warmup. I did that at Iris Faire and it seemed to be 'just right'. I missed out on several quality pickups (it was a target rich environment). That’s on me not making time in an event schedule that had downtime built in.

I attended the Bryn Madoc court at the end of the day. The affair was loaded with whimsy and good humor. Many gentles were recognized to the joy of those in attendance. 

After court, I repacked my gear and mounted my steed for the journey northward in the dusk of the day. The trip was uneventful. The only excitement was when I stopped for a respite and had to fight a rabid marmot (Buccee's) on the side of the highway. I found my home where I left it in good order and greeted by our hounds as I arrived. It was a splendid trip and day in the sunshine with the people of Bryn Madoc. I look forward to visits in the future.

Well met friends. Safe journey to thee!

Baron Eoin Mac Cana called 'Clyde'
Squire to Earl Benen MacTire
Warden of the Northern Plateau
Shire of Easaraigh
Kingdom of Meridies

Clyde's Travel Log - Iris Faire 2023

Iris Faire 2023
Barony of Glaedenfeld
Montgomery Bell State Park
Burns, TN
15 Apr 2023

Early on the 15th day of April, Anno Societatis LVII, Marek Arturson made the trek down from the Cumbrian lands of our shire home to visit the Barony of Glaedenfeld for their annual Iris Faire event. The Faire is becoming and traditional welcoming of spring in the lowlands to our west, and was true to form with an nice, warm spring day and excellent weather.

Marek was returning to 'home' of the SCA adventure after some idle time away from the hobby and I was happy to have his companionship for the journey. He and I have travelled together many times of the years. You cannot ask for a better travelling partner.

As has been my want of the recent times, I spent my day in armor, on the field in the armored combat activities hosted during the event. The Iris Faire tournament (for armored combat) had 29 combatants in attendance this year. It was a large list that drew representatives from the Kingdoms of the Middle and Gleann Abhann. The competition was top class and the best of challenges for all who participated.

The list started as a double-elimination, best two out of three, for the first two rounds before list administrators changed the bouts to single passes due to how long the list was pushing into the afternoon. The final was a standard best 2 our ot three with a clean slate for both finalists.

I had a lot of fun. I made it through 4 rounds before my day on the field concluded. My losses were to Earl Lochlainn and Viscount Valeric. Both men are the best of opponents and an absolute blast to cross swords with. Earl Randver defeated Sir Haldr for tournament champion. My sincere congratulations and thanks to everyone that participated throughout the well fought and well called list.

I was reminded later in the list that 'fun' is really the key to this game. The joy you carry on the field is infectious. I was happy that my fun made the day better for those I shared the day with and that just made it better for me (yay, more joy). The lesson here is something that I attribute to wisdom shared by Sir Mandin a while back that really stuck with me.  The first bit was 'Don't be a D$ck.' Hard to forget. Easy to comply with. The next bit was, 'When you fight, smile. Enjoy the experience.' Yes, I am parapharsing some of that. Not the first part, but I am sure on the second bit. The reward I get from that wisdom has been an embracing of the armored combat, laughing when I am in kit, and sometimes spreading that happiness to others in kit who might be having a bad or off day. It is simple. It is easy. And totally worth the effort.

While I make fun a priority, that does not imply that I like losing. I just don’t give a loss much weight in the grand scheme of things. Winning is not about victory as much as it is success. A win is demonstrative and proof of concept that I am improving and that all that 'stuff' that mentors and peers freely offer to me as advice along with my own individual efforts at improving is actually making some impact in my progression. It means that the game is starting to click for me. A win means that my goals of offering every opponent a challenge when I engage is being achieved.  I don’t need to beat you to win in my mind. I win if I fight, I have fun, and I made the engagement fun for my opponent in the process. 

That’s just me and how I approach things right now. Its evolved a lot over time. I am extremely content with this philosophy and how it shows in my interactions on the field of combat.

I revealed some major kit updates at Iris Faire. The first was my new helmet at it's first tournament. Still have a couple of adjustments to make, but it is really nice to fight in. I am loving it. 

The second reveal was a new heraldic device I have submitted that was painted on a new shield for me (with some awesome artistic flair) by my wife, Ellen. Had some people doing a double-take wondering who I was. The shield art was getting a ton of good commentary. My wife also sewed up my new fighting tunic. She dressed me up really well. It all felt really good to wear and represent (myself and her) in. It is a really good makeover.

Photo Credit Kim Garnett

My original heraldry is from the early ninety's. Submitted shortly after I started getting serious with the hobby. It has served me well. I will keep it. I have also submitted the new heraldry to the College of Heralds along with a joint badge for Ellen and I. The updates are welcome in my mind. I was a little nervous at first with new arms. But, the more I thought about it, I think I am OK. While a device is a form of identification, it is OK to have more than one ID. So, I am sold on it and will embrace have a second heraldic device to identify who I am.

I did not perform much in the way of service at the event. I have some SCAdian guilt, but I know it is OK. I did some marshalling after I was eliminated from the list to help out the MIC, Sir Valdryk. I also did some minor pack-mule work helping Baron Erickr carry thrones for court. Small services matter in the big scheme. I can live with that.

It was a long day in the sun, and the early spring day took its toll on Marek and I. So, we decided to depart the event before the evening feast and revelry in order to get back to our hearth in the Shire while we still had the energy for the trip. While my exposure to the event was limited to the armored combat field and part of court that afteroon, I truly did enjoy my day and the company of those I shared it with.

Well met friends. Safe journey to thee!

Baron Eoin Mac Cana called 'Clyde'
Squire to Earl Benen MacTire
Warden of the Northern Plateau
Shire of Easaraigh
Kingdom of Meridies
SCA Inc.