Gwen and I had a lovely time at Robin Hood Tourney on Sunday. It an archery- and thrown weapons-focused event hosted by the Barony of the Angels, and because I was named the baronial bardic champion at Angels/Altavia Yule last December (despite living in Isles), I kind of needed to be there. At opening court, I presented a poem on the day’s theme (“The Myth of Robin Hood”) and then spent a good chunk of the day learning songs from the other bards there.

I also started the process of authorizing as a Thrown Weapons Range Marshal, as that program is growing pretty rapidly in Caid and could use more official practices in certain parts of the kingdom (like mine). We actually have a reasonable space to hold practices, and I’ve enjoyed  what bits of throwing I’ve been able to do, so I’ve meaning to deep my involvement with the form. When I ran into the Deputy Kingdom Marshal for Thrown Weapons at Barons’ Feast a few weeks back, I realized I had no good reason not to start down the path.

The throw itself was a lot of fun (though more difficult than the designer expected), and to my surprise, I was the high scorer after the preliminary round. Five of us advanced to a progressive final. I thought the knife-throwing component would eliminate me, but I survived. After the axes phase, there were two of us left: Lord Sigbiorn Sigmundarson and myself. We proved equally matched at spears (read: neither of us could hit the target), so eventually we were asked to pick our favorite form, agree on a distance, and see which one of us could outscore the other with three throws. We agreed on fifteen feet, Sigbiorn chose knives, and I chose axes. I stuck two out of three, which was good enough for the win. It was a lot of fun; I could feel a few of the things I’ve been working on slide into place.

It wasn’t until closing court, when I was presented with the regalia, that I realized that the competition was the Angels Baronial Thrown Weapons Championship. Lady Arianna Foxford, one of the stewards of the day, called me “the most dangerous bard in the barony.”

When I was named Seraph Bard, I took on the project of writing a poem for each day I held the office. What I need to in the coming year is to make sure that I finish authorizing as a range marshal so that I can run the competition for my successor at next year’s Robin Hood Tourney.