Order of the Argent Bear

Team Ransom Tourney for Baronial Guard (Eskalya)

Aug 97, Barony of Eskalya

Sponsored by:

Barony of Eskalya

Organized by:

Lord Alfonso d'Strada

Description:

A combination of a William the Marshal style ransom tourney and the traditional Eskalyan Baronial guard tourney. Three person teams were formed. The team with the most coins at the end, subject to the approval of their Excellencies, would become the Guard.

How it Went:

There were three teams as well as Prince Nicholas who took to the field as his own team. Every one fought well and safely for quite a while and lots of fun seemed to be had on the field.

The winning team was led by Lord Bartram Sinclair. The other members were Lord Paul and Lord Gregoire as well as a banner bearer who's name I haven't gotten yet.

This team actually won few ransoms outright or solo. But then again, it fought few fights solo.  More typically, rather than take the ransom on the first team they captured, they would offer that team their freedom in return for help defeating a third team - the proceeds to be split evenly. As far as I can tell, sometimes they skipped the initial combat and just suggested the partnership. As a result, they got very few full ransoms but many, many half ransoms. While this was not an expected method of operation, I can't help but think that this combination of combat and commercialism captured the feel of a 12th century ransom tournament extremely well.

The administration of the ransom and coins was a goodly bit of work with a fair bit of confusion. Lady Cassandra led the effort. She did a very good job and insists that she had a lot of fun. The gist of her comments, if I can relate them well, is that record keeping for a double elimination tournament feels much more like rote work, while with this event she felt much more involved in making the tournament happen.

Lessons Learned:

Overall, this went just fine. There were some moments of confusion, but we would expect it to go smoother as everyone gains more experience with ransom tournaments.

Take me back HOME

Comments or questions should be mailed to truffa@alaska.net , please include the words 'Argent Bear' in the subject line.