The trade road south was clear and the first aspect of our journey from Castel Rouge was relatively easy. Sir Wulfgang and myself sought respite with Sir Tarrach and Lady Fionna in Korsvag. After a pleasant evening we were joined by Lord William and we three travelled onward to Border Downs there to meet with Lord Rhodri and Lady Sian. After a fine lunch we completed our journey to arrive at Lillies XI: The Thirty Years War.
Upon our arrival we heard of the disconcerning news of the previous night's thunder storms and the misfortune of Master Pavel and his family being struck by lightning through their tent. Northshield was encamped right beside the strike and I was most thankful that no other neighboring encampments nor good gentles were effected. It was with some pride we heard of Lord Tormod's quick response to the emergency in rendering immediate aid and Lady Akatarina's quick search of the sight to find Master Crag(Pavel's
doctor). In the end all three were alright. Indeed Master Paval after a day or two of convelesance remained to enjoy the rest of the War. Adding yet another story to Master Paval's legendary existance.
The site was pleasantly arrayed and Northshield's Encampment was fairly central in accessability to most of the activities: the list field was directly accross from the road, the archery field was just beyond that ... around the bend of the road, and the lake was behind the encampment. The merchants were a bit further away but all in all a most excellent site for the 50 or so Northshielders who attended.
After setting up our tents and giving some aid to our fellow campers in setting up we came to the fairly quick realization that we weren't in Northshield anymore ... weather wise. Really quite humid. I watched the evenings entertainment, the SCA equivalent of Monday Night Football. Sadly the Northshield Team had been eliminated. Later that evening I said hello to the lake ... "Hmmmm, the lake is good, become one with the lake." This mantra would be repeated many, many, many times throughout the week.
To elaborate on the general experiance of Lillies I'll say that though while hot and humid. There was always something to do:
The merchanting was very good, there was a good selection of items ranging from trim, jewelery, clothing, and swords. Indeed I found some amber prices that were most excellent. Though unfortunately for the merchants the hot weather meant lower sales than usual. I hope that they return next year.
The archery was alot of fun and quite varied. The team shoot was amazing, Lord Tormod, myself,Lady Sian, and Sir Wulfgang entered as Team Northshield and were mildly successful going 2 - 2 before being eliminated. Lord Tearlach advanced to the semi-finals before his team was eliminated. Throughout the week a Lillies Champion Shoot was held and Sir Wulfgang, Lord Rhodri, and HE Gwyneth all advanced to to the semi- finals. Hoobah! In the finals Sir Wulfgang was ended second to an excellent Lady Crossbower(who
was later recognized as a Huscarl). If you love archery try Lillies out. Just remember to keep yourself hydrated. By the way the Over 30's outgunned the Under 30's at archery.
The martial combat was exhausting but again quite abit of fun. Everyday there was a tournamment arranged for the midafternoon. One late evening tourney of great entertainment was the torchlight tourney. It was very intriguing and would be interesting to duplicate at one of our camping events. Every evening after 5pm (or 6pm when it was much cooler) the melees would commence for the War points. The Under 30's seemed to be out numbered and at times out experianced. After the first two days of lopsided "old Gu
ys" victories, they rallied for a sweep on the third day. The tables were once again turned around again on the fourth and fifth days for us "old Guys" who recovered enough to take part again. In the final battle on Friday, the under 30's lead by Lord Padruig marched together singing the "Gryphon and the Star". For HE Dafydd, HE Siegfried and myself it was a moment of great pride and intimidation that they worked so well as a unit together, breaking through lines. Later that evening at court HSH Kassandra p
resented Lord Padruig with a token thanking him for dedicating that days's battle to the Princess. He presented a scroll commemorating the deed to HSH in return. In all we had alot of fun, with Northshielder's carrying themselves with pride and skill on the field. Skold! By the way the "old Guys" won most of these war points as well, though I think we hurt alot more.
Lillies also provided classes throughout the week on a variety of different subjects. Topics ranged from Glass Bead Making to Viking Geography to Intro to Blackwork to Dance to Anglo-Saxon Poetry to an in persona description of the passing of the news of King Edward's death. Too much to attend everything. Attending classes also provided war points. Here too it seemed that us "old Guys" took the majority of points.
With the fall of Friday, the Over 30's were well on the way to victory. But more importantly, everyone (some 1400-2000 gentles on site) was having fun. I imagine that Pennsic was this way in it's early days. Not quite so big and more familiar. The evening socializing was great. Fun could be found within the camp or at nearby camps sponsoring large gatherings. It was nice to see Northshielders from almost every corner of the Principality(Castel Rouge, Mare Amthystinum, Korsvag, Svaty Sebesta, Border Downs, N
ordskogen, Silfren Mere, Jararvellir, Caer Anterth Mawr) gathered together as one family caring for each other and leading by example and overcoming adversity. Be it TE's Gile's and Elashava's cart problems or Lady Yondolara's heat exhaustion. At Their Court, Their Serene Highnesses Conn and Kassandra expressed Their great pride in our gathered people and recognized some honours(see next Northwatch for Court List). At the end They asked each citizen to come forward and accept a coin to remember this Lillies
. Their Highnesses pride is one that I think we can all share and carry on toward the comming Pennsic and on beyond that. Vivant!
There are a great many more tales to tell of this Lillies past. I would encourage more Northshielders to travel and visit our friends from Calontir. Perhaps they will return the pleasure of their company to our Warlords&Warriors Day or Armorgeddon Event. But until then travel safely.