Summer Slaughter Review (Imperial Atlantis)
August 18, 2009
"I have been going to Ragnarok for 8 years and there are always people there who are of the mind " I don't know you, so I don't care". Not in Florida. You guys have a great group of people down there and events like rag will be lucky to have you guys there. The fighting was great the food was good and the people were the best." - Mace, Chief of Eleytheria, Aratari (Dagorhir)
Animosity has been dethroned as the best joint Dagorhir-Belegarth event in Florida. Summer Slaughter broke Florida's record at 53 waivers and a number of supporting personnel.
I arrived on Friday, in the late afternoon, expecting to meet a minimal handful of fighters. However, as I pulled into the parking lot, I could hear weapons impacting shields and see a field filled with anxious combatants already garbed and fighting. The event's attendees were nearly all present a full day before the event officially started. This impressive display of enthusiasm set the tone for the entire event.
I spent the majority of the evening getting to know fighters from across Florida and mingling with fellow veterans. The night closed with a meeting of Florida realm leaders, event staff, and two visiting Dagorhirrim from Aratari (Mace and Norris); this meeting brought into detail Florida's foam-combat future and typical event logistics.
Saturday morning began with the usual pickup battles and a well-planned archery class taught by Norris of Aratari, who covered nearly every aspect of archery from arrow maintenance to the application of Dagorhir's archery rules.
Following the archery class, the field battles commenced.
The large battles started with a series of regular single-death battles until a typical Florida downpour fell on the event. Following the short 'typhoon,' commander battles commenced. These battles yielded unlimited respawns to all but each army's commander. Upon a commander's death, his army could no longer respawn. Unit battles and unit commander battles concluded the field combat. House Scipio, led by Tiberius of Rome, and the barbarians of the Dead Marshes dominated the battlefield before a second break in combat due to another short, but heavy, downpour.
Though an inconvenience, the rain was welcome. Most of the field was starting to become sunburned and dehydrated as Florida's heat and humidity took its toll. This second, and final, rainstorm of the day yielded a nice overcast to cool the attendees for the following events.
The tournaments brought much excitement to the evening and allowed fighters to relax after an afternoon of field battles in the heat. The tournament results are featured below:
Sword and Board
Sir Shub-Felty of Rausumea
The Four Horsemen
Team: Brownies for Downies
The Atlantean Ring
Jorg of the Dead Marshes and Marathon of Valrim (Tie)
Before feast, a scenario battle was held; the scenario was known as the Battle of Osciliath. This scenario provided fighters a fortress flanked by two bridges. The two competing teams would fight for control of these three points over the course of a ten minute time limit. The battle was so successful, the fighters opted for a second round even though feast was announced, a true rarity in foam-combat.
Feast was a successful choice of quasi-period foods, all of which could have been utilized as finger foods, though most fighters stuck to their utensils. Feast brought the event's only logistical problem. Though Orin had officially reserved the public feast area, the park officials apparently had a miscommunication with their administration and evicted the fighters from the feast area, though no one else needed nor wanted to occupy the pavilion. Luckily, feast was all but finished at this point.
As the sun went down, a meeting was called by Sir Shub-Felty announcing the formation of Florida's Order of the Golden Panther. This order serves as a joint Dagorhir-Belegarth war council within Florida and provides a standardized transition to knighthood monitored by the state's knights and realm leaders. Meeting attendees were privileged to see the first Floridian fighters squired. Atticus and Nibenon, both original members of Gorewood and now veterans of Valrim, kneeled and took their oath. Atticus of Valrim is now squiring to Sir Shub-Felty of Rausumea; Nibenon of Valrim is squiring to Valrim, a chapter of the Lowlands Realm.
Summer Slaughter yielded one final surprise for the fighters; Orin of Osyria hosted a night battle where three teams fought for control of five belligerent goblins, all of which had a habit of wandering off at every opportune moment, leaving their hunters as they attempted to cut down their enemies or simply because the hunters were not paying attention to their quarry. The sounds of this final battle were accompanied by the fireworks from Universal Studios nearby, ending the night with a storybook conclusion fit for any foam-combatant.
Having brought together members from Dagorhir, Belegarth, NERO, and the Sakura Moon Empire, Summer Slaughter has secured the FFA's (Florida Foam-fighters Association) future in the foam-combat community. I personally thank Orin of Osyria for hosting this great event; I also commend Mace and Norris of Aratari for making a 36 hour round-trip to Florida to attend our event.
www.ImperialAtlantis.com
Animosity has been dethroned as the best joint Dagorhir-Belegarth event in Florida. Summer Slaughter broke Florida's record at 53 waivers and a number of supporting personnel.
I arrived on Friday, in the late afternoon, expecting to meet a minimal handful of fighters. However, as I pulled into the parking lot, I could hear weapons impacting shields and see a field filled with anxious combatants already garbed and fighting. The event's attendees were nearly all present a full day before the event officially started. This impressive display of enthusiasm set the tone for the entire event.
I spent the majority of the evening getting to know fighters from across Florida and mingling with fellow veterans. The night closed with a meeting of Florida realm leaders, event staff, and two visiting Dagorhirrim from Aratari (Mace and Norris); this meeting brought into detail Florida's foam-combat future and typical event logistics.
Saturday morning began with the usual pickup battles and a well-planned archery class taught by Norris of Aratari, who covered nearly every aspect of archery from arrow maintenance to the application of Dagorhir's archery rules.
Following the archery class, the field battles commenced.
The large battles started with a series of regular single-death battles until a typical Florida downpour fell on the event. Following the short 'typhoon,' commander battles commenced. These battles yielded unlimited respawns to all but each army's commander. Upon a commander's death, his army could no longer respawn. Unit battles and unit commander battles concluded the field combat. House Scipio, led by Tiberius of Rome, and the barbarians of the Dead Marshes dominated the battlefield before a second break in combat due to another short, but heavy, downpour.
Though an inconvenience, the rain was welcome. Most of the field was starting to become sunburned and dehydrated as Florida's heat and humidity took its toll. This second, and final, rainstorm of the day yielded a nice overcast to cool the attendees for the following events.
The tournaments brought much excitement to the evening and allowed fighters to relax after an afternoon of field battles in the heat. The tournament results are featured below:
Sword and Board
Sir Shub-Felty of Rausumea
The Four Horsemen
Team: Brownies for Downies
The Atlantean Ring
Jorg of the Dead Marshes and Marathon of Valrim (Tie)
Before feast, a scenario battle was held; the scenario was known as the Battle of Osciliath. This scenario provided fighters a fortress flanked by two bridges. The two competing teams would fight for control of these three points over the course of a ten minute time limit. The battle was so successful, the fighters opted for a second round even though feast was announced, a true rarity in foam-combat.
Feast was a successful choice of quasi-period foods, all of which could have been utilized as finger foods, though most fighters stuck to their utensils. Feast brought the event's only logistical problem. Though Orin had officially reserved the public feast area, the park officials apparently had a miscommunication with their administration and evicted the fighters from the feast area, though no one else needed nor wanted to occupy the pavilion. Luckily, feast was all but finished at this point.
As the sun went down, a meeting was called by Sir Shub-Felty announcing the formation of Florida's Order of the Golden Panther. This order serves as a joint Dagorhir-Belegarth war council within Florida and provides a standardized transition to knighthood monitored by the state's knights and realm leaders. Meeting attendees were privileged to see the first Floridian fighters squired. Atticus and Nibenon, both original members of Gorewood and now veterans of Valrim, kneeled and took their oath. Atticus of Valrim is now squiring to Sir Shub-Felty of Rausumea; Nibenon of Valrim is squiring to Valrim, a chapter of the Lowlands Realm.
Summer Slaughter yielded one final surprise for the fighters; Orin of Osyria hosted a night battle where three teams fought for control of five belligerent goblins, all of which had a habit of wandering off at every opportune moment, leaving their hunters as they attempted to cut down their enemies or simply because the hunters were not paying attention to their quarry. The sounds of this final battle were accompanied by the fireworks from Universal Studios nearby, ending the night with a storybook conclusion fit for any foam-combatant.
Having brought together members from Dagorhir, Belegarth, NERO, and the Sakura Moon Empire, Summer Slaughter has secured the FFA's (Florida Foam-fighters Association) future in the foam-combat community. I personally thank Orin of Osyria for hosting this great event; I also commend Mace and Norris of Aratari for making a 36 hour round-trip to Florida to attend our event.
www.ImperialAtlantis.com