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Sir Alberich
Sir Kalvik '91
Sir Kegg '91
Sir Killian '91
Sir Grishnak '92
Sir Jacques '92
SparrowHawk '92(stripped of knighthood)
Sir Spikes '92
Sir Treethump '93
Sir Kyrian '93
Sir Zaknafien '94
Sir Drizz't '94
Sir Racter '95
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I'd started swordfighting in the SCA, way back in the late seventies, managed to get knighted then concussed at Pensic.
Gave it up. Transferred to another navy base in Florida and got involved in the SCA again, but this time they used golf tubes and foam, huzzah! Of course, when the sword 'flailed'
(bent too much to use) they would split another golf tube and shove it up the old tube and voila! The sword, she is as good as new! Pretty soon you ended up with a SOLID tube of plastic that hurt like hell. Eventually, someone in the group came up with the pvc and pipe foam format and everyone switched to that. That's what I fought with until 1990.
I had a house in champaign that was all gamers for room mates. Fridays and Saturdays the house would be full of gamers and usually 2-3 different games going on at the same time. When a lot of begging and groveling I finally got some of them to swordfight. This is when Kegg and Spikes started. Eventually we would do the swordfighting and then go in and game when it got dark or the people running the game was ready.
I was at an out of town CITW meeting one saturday, and when I got back a friend from work (The Hell that was Frasca) who swordfought dragged me over to the Lincoln Square Mall where Chuck was holding demos and try-outs for Goedendag. Their weapons and mine were nearly the same, except my swords has crosspieces and I had a morning-star
and throwing daggers. Once the dust settled I was the WeaponMaster and 3rd in command.
Sometime that summer Spikes, I and a couple of others were inducted in to the Order of the Black Raven as Squires. To this day I still don't know what it was..... Yay, now I'm a Squire.
This is where Treethump, Killian, and Kalvik appeared.
A little later, we made contact with the Danville group, and discovered Dagorhir. Chuck would not join up with the Dagorhir as he had plans for his own National Organization. I was really unwilling to switch the weapons to the Dagorhir style, since that's what I hade been fighting with since 1979.
Sir Geoffrey in Middle Earth showed us how to make chainmail and how to make the Dagorhir swords. The Chainmail was fine, but eventually Kegg showed up at my apartment with tape and camping pad. One of the first attempts was a longsword that we put three layers on and then completely covered it duct tape. Since this sword was
already built, and we added the new pad on top, it was extremely heavy. It was two heavy and gathered dust until I was running my group and Thorin found it.
Thorin, then 16yrs, was the only one who liked to used it, heavy as it was and used it to chew through the particle board shields. Which was why I stopped using particle board.
Originally the shields were padded around the edges and their face was painted. Middle Earth was very unhappy about the shields but I managed to get them passed for the
first Autumn War. Since we didn't bash at the time it was easy to get them to pass.
Chuck, the Realm Leader of Goedendag would disappear for weeks at a time, and I would end up running the practice and the group while he was gone. Some minor changes in rules or custom would change, he would come back and be completely bent out shape. I was just as pig-headed as he was and it would take some time before we could comprimise or I would be over-ruled. Then he would disappear again.
The group was volunteered by Chuck to run a Haunted House in the basement of the Lincoln Square Mall, and we found out about it about 4-6 days before it was to open! There was some discussions there about that. It managed to get put together, and I still think it was a miracle.
Then he did it again, volunteering us to put on demos and host a feast and madrigal at the Mall, and telling us a couple of weeks before. Then he took off again. I was in charge of the fighting demos and I went round and round with the Mall management and until I actually got there, thought everything was under control. When I got there and tried to set up it went completely to hell. I spent all morning and a good chunk of the afternoon trying to straighten it out, so when Chuck showed up and started screaming at me I'd had enough. I quit, did it loudly, and left.
All the friends I'd brought into the group followed me out after the feast, free food is hard to turn down, I guess.
No one had any interest in going back to Goedendag after Christmas and no one wanted to one the group. Eventually I decided to do it. Since I'd been in charge of Goedendag when Chuck was away I had the membership list. I started calling people to see where they were going to go. When I got to Kegg he the first thing out of his mouth, "It's not going to have Valdemar in the name, is it?" I said of course it is and we'll be french! I'm surprised Delaware didn't hear the groan he let go. "I'll be English. "Fine, you can be the token English Knight in Charge of the Archers." And thus Sir Alberich's Company of the Dagorhir Valdemar was formed.
Our first practice was the first saturday of march, 1991. We fought at Leal Park in Urbana, on University Avenue, across the street from Midas. We fought there for a few weeks, while Kegg and I were scouting out other areas. As I remember, there was about 12-15 people present, kind of cloudy, not very warm. I also found out that running into the metal rods that stabilize trees is immensely painful. I had a large bruise on my chest for weeks.
Eventually we settled on Illini Meadows as the permanent home for the group. Parking, easy to find, fairly close to campus. Members that lived at PAR/FAR thought it was a really good location. Plus the added bonus of fighting inside the bowl on the east side of the property during the cold times. The bowl was surounded on three sides by elevated ground and trees. Nicely sheltered.
Valdemar grew to about 30 people the first year, and we took about 20 people to Autumn War in Danville that year. Four members of Goedendag showed up as well, really. I have pictures.
We shut down after Thanksgiving that year and waited for the new year.
Thirty people showed up for the first day that year. Grishnakh the Jackal, Jacques Deathblade, and SparrowHawk were knighted. It quickly became appearent that SparrowHawk was a mistake and I removed his Knighthood.
Alberich's Company started growing very quickly. When I envisioned the basis of the group, I hadn't considered more than fifty active members. Free time quickly became a thing of the past.
Since I hadn't made Knighthood contingent on service to the group, the Knights did not feel that they needed to help with the increasing off-field work load.
The group was much larger than our closet neighbor in Illinois, Middle Earth. Whenever we fought them, they were almost always outnumbered two or three to one. This continued even when we went to their field. The organization of the Company was geared to the open field battle and maintaining a formation while fighting other groups. This was kept up for the entire period that I ran Valdemar.
Early that year I knight Spikes on the field. Sir Spikes is the only knight that did no service for his spurs, I had decided it was safer for me with him as a knight.
In 1993 Sir Alberich's Company was easily topping 50-60 people on the field. I was building 20-30 swords a week, as well as shields and tunics. Treethump, and Kyrian were knighted this year. I have video of the Autumn War which was where Sir Treethump made his public debut.
1994 was the year that we starting hitting 80 people on the field. I start feeling bad anytime Middle Earth shows up, so outnumbered were they. Zaknafien was my Master of the Guard, and Drizzt was the Master of the Axe. It was impossible to find anyone who was willing to show up consistently for the Masters of Sword and Bow. This was also the year that we had some problem with Middle Earth, I remember them boycotting the Autumn War that year since it was here. I can't remember why, but I'm sure it was my fault. Remember. I'm pig-headed. :)
This was the year that we went to Ragnarok for the first time. This was Rag IX. About 15 of us went to West Virginia to try this Aratari group out. There were about 4-6 of the Middle Earth went as well. Got there thursday morning, and found out I have no talent for pitching tents.
A few people came by and said "Let's go fight". Four or five of us went out and started fighting, more people starting showing up, pretty soon there's 40-50 people in the fighting. Then the Heralds show up, then more people. It was so cool.
Early in the fighting, one of got hit in the head. The perp (I love Law&Order:) immediately dropped his weapons and started doing pushups. We ask what the hell is he doing? Head hits require pushups he says. Really? we said. I'd also noticed the very thick padded shields that a lot of people were showing up with.
I knighted Sir Zaknafien and Sir Drizz't then, and clearly remember being called on a hit by him by witnesses which put me on my knee. Up to that time I was winning the fight. But once on my knee what little mobility I had was gone, and he got me. Sigh. At least the rest of the knights pounded him good.
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If anyone has any comments, or doesn't remember it the same way, feel free to email me about it. I'll be changing this as I go, since as I've been writing this I remember more stuff as I go.
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