Death And Taxes 2009 - Review -
by: Sir Byrin Blackcross (edited by admin)

 

The fighting was both spirited and clean with no complaints or hassles. There was roughly 25 fighters overall with a good mix of field and woods battles. Also some exceptional shooting was delivered by both Sir Brahm and Sir Rowan. It was a good event to help knock off the rust.

 

King Angus accepted Mom Lightman's Challenge for Crown. They will work out the details of how, when and where for crown war at later date.

 

For this event it was all good clean damp fun. The new area of Blackbird was, in my opinion, a far superior site to the old area we used. Nice job.

Despite the cold, Marklanders started rolling in on Friday evening. By nightfall, Harth had released clues for the first 3 treasure hunts, and late into the night we could see the dim light from far-off flashlights, searching for booty in the woods. I believe that none of the chests were found until some point on Saturday.

Saturday morning, figthers started trickling in at the usual time, and we started the day off with a Lost Boys vs. the World battle. After teams were split a second time, we had a few field battles and a couple rounds of Unholy Relic scenarios. The next set of battles took place in the woods. We set up 2 small forts that had 2 entrances, and placed a corridor between them. Woods fighting included a capture-the-flag scenario and a timed control point battle. The afternoon finished off with a series of field and bridge battles up on the main battlefield, and then pickup fights for the remaining Marklanders. While the fighters were out on the field, the second treasure hunt was taking place, and was uncovered by members of HVD.

Just before dinner, the third treasure hunt began. The spaghetti dinner was very tasty and went well. Our volunteers did a great job of converting the pavillion into a feast hall, preparing salads, and buttering garlic bread. Desert was an assortment of chocolate medallions and bread pudding, prepared by our very own pastry chef, Jill. After dinner, we were all entertained by the performers for the bardic competition. Matteo's (Toolbox) winning poem about Markland in the winter was very moving, and he was awarded the prize of a fine box, a bottle of Private Stock, and a new copy of the Markland songbook. Joel from OCC performed a humorous piece titled "Damn, that's cold!", Gina offered up a new song about the infamous CNLD, and Megan (forgive my memory if that's the wrong name) from HVD wrote a cute song asking "Will you be my blanket?". Harth indicated that he would like to see the winners' creations added to the songbook, as they were all very good!

As the evening drew on, the fires leapt up and the usual Marklandic rowdiness could be heard all over site. Flashlights were seen once again, wandering about in the distance. The final treasure hunt ended up being a competition between Gina/Catalina/Aiden vs. the OCC Crew, which didn't end until well after dark that night, Gina's group victorious.

It was pretty amazing how many Marklanders made it out this early in the camping season, and the crew was suprised to see so much support for our first war. Thanks again to everyone who made it out to Cold War 2009!

The Winter Althyng minutes are up Click Here to see them.

Click Here to see the final updated and twice approved set of Frat Rules.

 

by Lothar

 

Let’s face it.  If you ever bought a sword that was not custom made for you, it probably came with a crappy scabbard (crappard).  It is usually some ugly fake black leather or wood grained plastic with aluminum fittings.  Not to worry.  You can toss that piece of crap away once you make your own authentic wooden scabbard.  Just follow this guide.

 

First you will need some materials:

• a sword (duh)
• 3 planks of ¼ inch thick wood (they should be at least one inch wider and one inch longer than your sword blade)
• wood glue
• a saw
• sandpaper
• block planer
• clamps
• a pen or pencil
• leather (for scabbard wrapping and belt)
• leather lace or sinew
• razor or exacto knife
• leather punches or awl
• chape and top mount (optional)
• buckle (optional)

Read more •

Please take notice that the start time of this years Winter Althyng starts at 3:30PM instead of its normal start time of 12noon. The Feast of Plenty will start immediately following the Winter Althyng.

Date: Saturday, 1/24/2009

Location: 3rd & Walnut Club Lansdale PA, 19446

Time: 3:30 - 7:00

Immediately followed by the Feast of Plenty