Thoughts of the Lady in the Tower

2004-06-20 - 10:28 a.m.

Stierbach's Baronial Birthday

There was some confusion about the time we were to meet Amalia and Jonathas (they had to drive by a grocery store about 10 minutes from my parents' house, so we met them there rather than anyone go out of the way) which resulted in us waiting for 45 minutes. I got all anxious and upset (what if they forgot us?). Turned out one of them thought they were leaving their house at 8 and the other at 8:30, plus allow some late time... yeah. No biggie, but I started the day with a huge nervous bundle in my stomach.

Drive up took about 2 hours, no problems there. Checked in, got dressed, set-up the pavilion on the side of the field. Jonathas and Bozhanna went to play with the siege engines, while Amalia, Richard and I hung out on the side of the field.

Richard provided an out of area marshal for an authorization of a new lady fighter. She must have been local, because a LOT of people turned out to watch and cheer her on. Not sure how the crowd affected her, but if it had been me, having a dozen people out there yelling friendly advice would have made things worse. I'm glad I authorized in a little corner of the field at Gulf Wars during the Lady of the Rose tournament. No one was watching ME besides Richard.

They did a Bedford points tourney, which were my favorite styles of tourney back when I used to fight. You get a random round, then you are matched with people who are about the same level of skill as you. Generally.

But this tourney progressed really slowly, and had sections where the guys were standing around (in the sun) chatting. Richard kept shaking his head. Um, they are standing in the sun; why not take a break in the shade and fight in the sun. But then, there are the weather differences that we aren't used to yet.

The weather was fabulous! At one point, Amalia wrapped her decorative (light-weight) cloak around her to keep the breeze off. She was cold! In JUNE! Amazing! People keep telling me, oh, don't celebrate too much, it will get warm later in the year. They just don't understand that in South Carolina it's BEEN WARM for MONTHS NOW. Mom was right, I'm going to love summers here!

Watch this space, around November I'm going to start complaining about the weather, I'm sure. ;-)

Without much to do, it was a really relaxing day; the type of day that I needed with all the stress of the new house and other stuff.

Richard did take some time to talk to the lady fighter and show her some moves that are easy for lady fighters to use (due to different body mechanics from guys). He said the best part of his day was watching her eyes light up as she tried them and saw how she could get more power out of them than from what she had been doing. Those moments are always neat, and I'm thrilled for him.

Court was LONG and dull, since I didn't know anyone. There was a long ceremony where they turned over the office of herald. Since the new herald is a Landed herald, there's a cermony that someone found (some time ago) from England (I think?). They called up all of the heralds to the presence, so I got a close view (not that it was necessary, but an interesting touch, to be surrounded by your peers).

Evan, the first herald of the barony, held an empty glass, and made a little speech. He handed the glass to the current (stepping down) herald who made a speech and filled it with water. She then told him that he could drink, but only once. If he drank it all, it would be refilled and he wouldn't be allowed to drink again. The remainder would be poured over his head. He took a single sip, and got drenched.

The second thing of note during court, involved Earl Mika. They just stepped down from being the B&B a few months ago. He won the archery prize for the day, and was told to choose his prize from a set sitting on the stage. He took some time to do it, during which someone from the back of the hall shouted out "He's plotting to take over the barony!"

Ugh. A turnover of power is not an easy thing, and one thing that's vital (if the past B&B were thought highly of, at least) is that the past B&B support the new B&B. So instead of turning around and denying it based on the fact that he's had it, he's tired and burned out (as most B&Bs are by the time they pass it along), he very loudly and clearly stated "The Barony is in Excellent Hands." He denied the shout by SUPPORTING the current B&B. VERY classy. I only hope that someday I can have that much class that quickly.

Feast was passable. I've left a lot of feasts recently unsatisfied, and I think I figured it out. I want a hot meat dish. If ALL of the meats are served cold, I'll just pick at them. At this feast there was cold chicken with cherry sauce and room temperature sausage. The cold chicken was good, but not 'satisfying' in the way that I seem to want, and I DON'T like sausage (it's one of the herbs they put in it, but I can't remember which one; I don't like the sausage taste).

After feast we stood around chatting for a bit. The weather was so nice it seemed a shame to pile into the car to come home. Eventually we did. The ride was pretty uneventful. We did bests and worsts in the car (everyone picks one of each). I was suprised that Richard's worst was the cheesecake (he said it tasted like soap). It did have some sort of non-expected cheesecake flavor, but no one else thought it was SOAP! Amalia and I even had seconds. And thirds (though by that time the sugar was getting to me).