Event Summary

Date: December 13 , 2014
Site opens at: 12:00 AM on December 13th 2014
Site closes at: 12:00 AM

Event site:
Lake Washington United Methodist Church
7525 132nd Ave NE Kirkland, WA 98033

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Blades and Bards

Hosted by the Canton of Port de l’Eau, Blades and Bards is a
yule feast which promises food, song, and combat. The event shall
occur on Saturday, December 13th, at the Lake Washington United
Methodist Church (7525 132nd Ave NE, Kirkland, WA 98033).

In addition to a hearty feast (and good company!), there shall
be a rapier tournament and a bardic competition. Details for each
can be found below.

The Baron and Baroness of Madrone, Sir Stefan and Lady Emmelina,
have been invited to select their bardic champion from the
competitors at this event. The Canton of Port de l’Eau shall also
declare one stalwart swordsman to be The Gecko’s Blade, the rapier
defender for the Canton.

Our Facebook link is: https://www.facebook.com/events/966451426714779

Event Schedule

• 9:00AM –  Site Opens
• 9:30AM – Lists Open and Armor Inspection for Rapier
  Tournament
• 10:00AM – Rapier Tournament Begins
• 12:00PM – Break for Lunch
• 12:30PM – Lists Open for Bardic Tournament
• 1:00PM – Bardic Tournament Begins
• 5:00PM – Court Begins
• 6:00PM – Yule Feast
• 9:00PM – Site Closes

Feast Information

The feast theme is shall be 16th century Venetian. The menu is
as follows:

• Ambrosino (chicken in fruit sauce)
• Green Vegetable Torta (Vegetarian Entree)
• Cheese and egg tart
• Green Salad
• Bread
• Almonds in spiced honey
• Mascarpone

Any questions about the meal may be directed to sarrathebrave@gmail.com.

The feast will be followed by a dessert potluck.  Please
join us to celebrate the holiday season and our wonderful
community.

Tournament Formats

Blades:

Objective – To earn as many honor tokens
as possible before running out of lives or time. The victor will be
the competitor who has the most honor tokens once time has run out,
or only one competitor has lives remaining.

Format – All competitors will be given an
equal number of lives to begin the tournament. Competitors will
then challenge each other to individual fights, setting terms as
they see fit. As a fight concludes, the victor will recieve one
honor token, and the loser must forfeit a life. Once a competitor
has lost all of their lives, they may no longer compete.

Competitors are encouraged to introduce themselves and announce the
terms of their combat to the crowd prior to engagement (in the same
fashion we see for the Challenges of the Garters and the Pas
d’Armes tournament format).

Additional lives may be awarded by the gallery or Their
Excellencies for acts of chivalry or good conduct. However, honor
may not be awarded in this fashion – all honor must be earned by
putting one’s life at risk in combat.

Time and number of lives will be determined as we have a better
idea of how many competitors there will be.

Bards:

Objective – To earn as many points as possible
before the end of the competition. Points will be awarded by your
peers, Their Excellencies, and other esteemed judges.

Format – In an effort to promote versatility,
the competition has been arranged into 4 rounds with each with
highlighting a different set of skills. Competitors may skip any
rounds they dislike, but can only earn points in rounds in which
they compete.

1st Round – Musical – The focus is on production of rhythm or
melody. Examples of this category would include vocal or
instrumental performance.

2nd Round – Textual – The focus is on mastery of language.
Examples of this category would include storytelling and
plays/skits.

3rd Round – Physical – The focus is on displays of physical
prowess. Examples of this category would include dance, pantomime,
tumbling, juggling, magic and puppet shows. Baron Stefan and Baroness Emmelina
have stated that they would personally would accept story-telling
with movement and gesture to satisfy the requirements of this
round.

4th Round – Performer’s Choice – The performer is free to
showcase their best work.

An Important Note on the Rounds – There will be no hard and fast
rule which labels an given act as “textual” versus “musical” or
“physical”. Anyone may
submit any act in any category, but the expectation is that the act
will be judged according to the criteria of the round. For
example, all songs with lyrics can be argued to have a textual
component and therefore submitted in the “textual” round, but the
performance will be judged on its textual merits rather than its
musical merits.

Judging – A judging will occur after each
round. Each competitor will be given a bead or token, and will use
this to vote for the person they believe to have won the round by
placing the token into a corresponding cup marked with the proposed
victor’s name. Competitors will be allowed to vote for themselves,
if they feel they outperformed all others. The Baron, Baroness, and
other esteemed judges will also be given a number of tokens with
which they can use to vote throughout the day.

Their Excellencies have also been invited to select their next
baronial bardic champion from the contestants competing in this
tournament. The selection of the new champion is entirely based
upon the descretion of Their Excellencies, and is independent of
the scoring which defines the tournament victor.

Notes and expectations on regarding judging criteria
– The first and highest criteria for judging is a sense of
enjoyment or awe; you should only vote for performances which you
would like to see again in your own camp or in court. Next, entries
which adhere to the spirit of the heat outrank those which do not.
Finally, period entries should outrank non-period entries (but a
poor madrigal does not inherently outrank a good filk!). 

Contact Information

For all inquiries, please contact Lady Muirghein of Bristol.

Email Address: kirsten.hervey@gmail.com

Fees and Site Information

Site Fees:

• $10 Member
• *Free* for Children under 18
• +$5 for Non-member Surchage
• +$7 for Feast Ticket

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