27 March 2017 - Barony of Carolingia (original) (raw)

11:04 am
[dreda]

I write this evening with a full and grateful heart. When I proposed this event last year, I had no conception of how many people would take it up in all its multifarious enthusiasms, and it brings me enormous joy that it spoke to so very many people.

It is a truth that no event happens without many willing hands; this sort of "group project" event needs more hands than most, and I would like to take the time to make sure that they are known. Any omission is my error alone, and I beg you to help me rectify it by alerting me. (And please tag people that I have not!)

- Lady Eadgyth aet Staeningum made Gate seamless, smooth, and madly efficient in an unorthodox setting. She and her staff (Lady Aaradyn Ghyoot, Pomestnik Andreiko Eferiev, Aelia Fortunata, and Baroness Arlyana van Wyck are to be praised.

- Lord Orlando dei Medici whipped up a delicious, varied, and ample dayboard in what seemed like mere moments, with great equanimity and calm. He and his kitcheners (Baroness Aurelia Rufinia, Lady Morwenna O'Hurlihie, Baroness Alanna of Skye, and Elian of the Fellswood) were exemplary and speedy, and magicked the kitchen into tidy order even more quickly than they provided luncheon. They too are to be praised.

- Maître Lucien de Pontivy and Mesterno Sofia 'Zsof' Tyzes graciously got up absurdly early to come to the site with me and set up, lifting countless heavy tables, rearranging furniture, and putting my sketchy notes into actuality. Morwenna O'Hurlihie showed up even before her her appointed time and leapt in with good cheer to move everything that needed moving. And I am certain that as the bustle grew, there were even more people just putting things where they needed to go, because my only memory is of a whirl of effective activity.

- Many many hands made light work of cleanup; much of that even happened during court, so that when I came back downstairs almost the entire vestry hall was already reset. I know that Zsof, Master Peregrine the Illuminator, Lord Drake Oranwood, and Baroness Katarzyna Gwodz (Varju) were prime movers in the cleanup, that Baroness Marieta Charay and Duchess Thyra Eiriksdotter whisked away big bags of trash, and many other people just Made It Go. We were the last people offsite, and we pulled out of the parking lot half and hour before our hard stop, well clear of the next group.

- Of course, a Laurels' Prize Tourney cannot go forward with challenges. I am deeply grateful to everyone who offered a challenge and brought their knowledge, ingenuity, and joy in their art to share:

Mistress Eleanor Catlyng, Mistress Rhonwen glyn Conwy, Mistress Eva Woderose, Mistress Cassandra Grey, Mistress Elysabeth Underhill, Mistress Agatha Wanderer, Maîtresse Nicolette Bonhomme, Mistress Angharad verch Rees, Mistress Alesone Grey, Mistress Caryl de Trecesson, Mistress Morgaine ferch Cadwr, Mistress Johanna Dudley, Master Magnus hvalmagi, Mistress Brunissende Dragonette, Mistress Ygraine of Kellswood, Mistress Morwenna Westerne, Master Aleksandr Ruslanovich Kievchanin, Master Angus Pembridge, Master Lucien de Pontivy, Master Peregrine the Illuminator, Mistress Lakshmi Amman of Sri Ranganatha Temple, Mistress Anne of Framlingham, Mistress Catrin o'r Rhyd For, Master Christian Lansinger von Jaueregk, Master Anton of Winteroak

- Likewise, I am completely delighted by everyone who answered a challenge. These were not small things to do, nor simple questions to answer, and you dove in with enthusiasm and joy and brought all the wonderful things you discovered and learned and made to share, and did so open-heartedly. I salute you, and if I can assist in any further way in making more connections happen for you, please do not hesitate to contact me.

- I would like to also particularly thank Countess Kayleigh Drake, who brought this event format to Carolingia from Ansteorra over a decade ago. I enjoyed that event tremendously as an entrant, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to bring it to life once more.

- And finally, my rock of support, my font of ideas, my light in the darkness, the one who just leaps in and solves what needs to be solved, and the one who makes it possible for all of this crazy imagining to come to fruition - Maître Lucien de Pontivy.

Thank you all - I am a lucky event steward. May your event aftermath be as brain-full and delightedly exhausted as my own.

- Mistress Aildreda de Tamwurthe

(1 comment | Leave a comment)