Rules for Fall Crown Tournament

Rules for the Crown Tournament of Kaydian and Cassandra, to be held in Our shire of Noiregarde on the 14th day of October, A.S. LII.

Because both Kaydian and Cassandra have fought both armored and rapier combat for many years, We wish to continue to promote "One Kingdom, One Army" during Our reign, and demonstrate Our support for both fighting communities. Many of Northshield's fighters 'crossover' and take to both fields, especially when Northshield marches to war. Thus, We wish to encourage more crossover participation from both the armored and rapier communities by showcasing both martial disciplines at Our Crown Tournament.

Per Corpora: "Only Chivalric (rattan) combat will be used for formal tournament lists for royal ranks." And those with a Patent of Arms "...will have made every effort to learn and practice those skills desirable at and worthy of a civilized court. To this end they should have some knowledge of a wide range of period forms, including but not limited to literature, dancing, music, heraldry, and chess, and they should have some familiarity with combat as practiced in the Society."

Therefore, We encourage all those who would compete for the Crown of Northshield to display their skills in dance, chess, rapier, and of course, armored combat. We encourage combatants from every group across our kingdom to send in their letters of intent by September 2nd, (see details below).

Those found acceptable to fight in this Crown Tournament will present their consorts in evening court at Our Coronation, on the 9th day of September, A.S. LII. Combatants, consorts, and the populace are encouraged to take part in the dance during evening court, and a chess exhibition after court, to display their courtly skills.

On the day of Our Crown Tournament, the morning will begin with a celebration of rapier prowess in the form of an open pool tourney. All authorized rapier fighters are invited to participate in the rapier pool tourney. We encourage all Crown combatants to participate as well. Rapier fighters who are not entering the Crown Tournament will fight according to the requirements in sections 1 and 2 below, must comply with rule 6.c. regarding appearance standards, and are exempt from the other requirements.

The Crown Tournament will be held in the afternoon, and will be seeded by random draw. The dance, chess, and rapier will have no influence on the seeding or weapon choices.

1. Rapier tourney format
a. Combatants will be randomly grouped into pools, pool size and number of pools to be determined on the day based on the number of entrants.
b. Pools will be fought in a challenge round-robin format. Combatants will fight a single fight with every other combatant in their pool, in any order they prefer.
c. Double-kills will not be re-fought, and will count as a loss for both combatants.

2. Rapier weapon limitations
a. Combatants may fight with any tourney weapon style they are authorized in prior to arriving (no authorizations will be run that day.)
b. Allowed styles are: single rapier; rapier and rigid parry; rapier and non-rigid parry; rapier and dagger; case of rapiers.
c. Combatants may match weapons with their opponent by mutual agreement, or not, as they choose.
d. Spare weapons must be kept by the side of the list, to make changes as expedient as possible.
e. No two-handed weapons (e.g.; longswords). No double-dagger. No batons over 36 inches. No shields larger than 18 inches in any dimension. No Cut and Thrust.

3. Crown Tourney Format
a. Bye or challenge-in fights will be used for odd sized brackets at the discretion of the crown.
b. Double-kills will be re-fought until the combatants reach a satisfactory conclusion.
c. Combatants must win 2 out of 3 fights to advance in the tree, except in the semi-finals.
d. In the semi-finals, each combatant with one loss will be paired with a combatant with no losses. The combatant with one loss must win 3 fights to advance. The combatant with no losses must win 2 fights to advance.
e. In the finals, any previous losses will be dismissed, and each combatant must win 2 out of 3 fights to be victorious.

4. Crown weapon limitations
a. Combatants may fight with any tourney weapon style they are authorized in prior to arriving (no authorizations will be run that day.)
b. Combatants may match weapons with their opponent by mutual agreement, or not, as they choose.
c. No weapons longer than 6 foot in length.
d. No shields larger than 18 inches in any dimension.

5. Per Northshield law and Corpora, all combatants and consorts must meet the following requirements:
a. Each must hold a valid membership on the day of the Royal Lists. Within ten business days after being declared victor in Crown Tourney, the Victor and Consort must present to the Kingdom Seneschal proof that their memberships are current through at least the end of the prospective reign.
b. Each combatant in a Royal List must be fighting for a prospective consort.
c. No one may take part in a Royal Lists, either as a competitor or as a prospective consort, who has any reason to believe that either member of that competing couple will be unable to fulfill the duties of royalty.
d. Each must have access to the Northwatch at their place of residence.
e. Each must have been a subject of Northshield for one year immediately before the Crown Tournament.
f. Each must be acceptable to the Presiding Royalty.
g. No one under 18 years old may fight or be fought for in a Crown Tournament.
h. No member of the Royalty may either fight or be fought for in a Crown Tournament
i. One member of the couple must also affirm that they can and will maintain the ability to legally cross the U.S./Canadian international border for the duration of their reign, should they be victorious to ensure that they are free to travel to all parts of the Kingdom.
j. Each combatant must hold a valid Northshield armored combat authorization card.

6. In addition, and as allowed by Northshield law and tradition, Their Highnesses have the following additional requirements:
a. All combatants and consorts must have an AoA or higher award.
b. Either the combatant or the consort must have held a reporting office for at least 6 months sometime prior to the tournament.
c. Modern equipment or clothing must be covered. Modern footwear must be plain brown or plain black with no visible insignia. This applies to both rapier and armored combatants.

7. Letters of Intent to Compete must be received by September 2nd, 2017.
a. Letters of Intent must be sent to Their Highnesses and the Kingdom Seneschal, and must include:
b. Full contact information for both combatant and consort, to include mundane name, mailing address, email address, and phone number.
c. Current membership numbers and expiration dates
d. Name and contact information of your Chamberlain for the day.
e. Their Highnesses must receive a clear electronic image of the heraldic arms you will be fighting under by October 7th.
f. Letters of Intent may be sent via email or postal mail. Addresses for Their Highnesses and the Kingdom Seneschal are inside the front cover of the Northwatch and on the kingdom website.
g. On the day of the tournament, combatants and consorts must show a valid membership card, proof of majority, and proof that at least one has the ability to cross the border. The combatant must show a valid Northshield authorization card.