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Greetings from Genevieve, Thamesreach rapier marshal,
I'm writing to thank the many contributors who helped make the Thamesreach rapier revel one of the best yet.
Particular thanks to Master Alexandre, Dom Duarte
goncalves and Lord Nicholas, the out of town marshals, for their time and expertise to help make this year's spring rapier revel successful through authorisations and support.
These marshals spent much of their time authorising the fencers of Thamesreach.
Every time I thought we were done and we could fence I turned around and more hopefuls had turned up.
I counted 6 fencers with new authorisations:
milord Bennet: single, rigid parry
milord Stas: single, rigid parry, dagger
milady Jane: rigid parry (began fencing in September)
Lord Guy de Dinan
exmoor_cat: dagger
Lord Nicholas d'Estleche: cut and thrust single weapon and great weapon
HLady Lyonet de Covenham
nusbacher: cut and thrust single weapon and great weapon (and finished paperwork for single blade, dagger and rigid parry)
...so 2 people newly armed to the defense of Insulae Draconis, plus 4 people developing their skills and building towards becoming a deadly force to reckon with, for a total of 14 authorisations. Not bad for a single revel's work.
It was a real delight to pause sometimes and consider the scene of a dozen fencers almost all drawn from southern England (plus 3 guests from Pont Alarch Ooop North) engaging in the arts of defense.
In the afternoon, Master Alexandre spoke knowledgeably of the skills most needed for novices to master first, and we rounded out the afternoon with 45 mins of melee, starting with 5 a side.
The most entertaining bout was probably when Duarte was entered as a 'swing' melee member. Every time someone died on either side (at this event the 'stairs' team battled with the 'shed' team, referring to their res points in the courtyard), Duarte changed sides as called by Master Robert, who was assisting the marshals.
Duarte ably managed to follow directions: 'Duarte, you're a shed!... Duarte, you're a stair!...' correctly, *almost* all the time.
Those committed to the arts of peace were ambitious in their works this day: as part of the great work to ornament the shire, the artisans laid out and traced 10 of 12 drawings of the labours of the year onto silk for a substantial silk painting project - substantial as the drawings are easily 150cm square or more for hanging in the hall.
HE Oriane, Lady Margrete
m_nivalis, Lady Anilyne, milord Marx, milady Maude, and milord Patrick were people I saw working on this project though I may have missed someone.
We sat to feed about 20 people with splendid hot dishes (Byzantine lemon chicken, stewed lamb, lamb tagine) and cold (pork chacuterie, biltong and sausages, cheeses) 2 great compound salads, date lombards, with breads, nuts and fruit to round out the table.
We lingered over our meal and then some folks danced while Lady Contanza Albion
zmiya_san spoke of heraldic matters to those interested in registering their names and arms.
Our hall was beautifully dressed with the long-missed per pale az and ar hangings of old, returned to the hall with thanksgiving, plus our fine diapered cloths, and the still-growing Thamesreach bunting.
Again: many hands contributed to an excellent day, whether hanging the hall, preparing food, instructing and guiding, or in the cleaning and tidying at the end.
HE Oriane arrived with me at the start of the day to open the hall, and with me was the last to leave: my thanks to her for her commitment to making this event a success.
I look forward to seeing many fencers on the field in the coming months, particularly at Raglan ffaire.
Your servant,
Genevieve la flechiere
Thamesreach rapier marshal
Greetings from Genevieve, Thamesreach rapier marshal,
I'm writing to thank the many contributors who helped make the Thamesreach rapier revel one of the best yet.
Particular thanks to Master Alexandre, Dom Duarte
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
These marshals spent much of their time authorising the fencers of Thamesreach.
Every time I thought we were done and we could fence I turned around and more hopefuls had turned up.
I counted 6 fencers with new authorisations:
milord Bennet: single, rigid parry
milord Stas: single, rigid parry, dagger
milady Jane: rigid parry (began fencing in September)
Lord Guy de Dinan
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Lord Nicholas d'Estleche: cut and thrust single weapon and great weapon
HLady Lyonet de Covenham
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
...so 2 people newly armed to the defense of Insulae Draconis, plus 4 people developing their skills and building towards becoming a deadly force to reckon with, for a total of 14 authorisations. Not bad for a single revel's work.
It was a real delight to pause sometimes and consider the scene of a dozen fencers almost all drawn from southern England (plus 3 guests from Pont Alarch Ooop North) engaging in the arts of defense.
In the afternoon, Master Alexandre spoke knowledgeably of the skills most needed for novices to master first, and we rounded out the afternoon with 45 mins of melee, starting with 5 a side.
The most entertaining bout was probably when Duarte was entered as a 'swing' melee member. Every time someone died on either side (at this event the 'stairs' team battled with the 'shed' team, referring to their res points in the courtyard), Duarte changed sides as called by Master Robert, who was assisting the marshals.
Duarte ably managed to follow directions: 'Duarte, you're a shed!... Duarte, you're a stair!...' correctly, *almost* all the time.
Those committed to the arts of peace were ambitious in their works this day: as part of the great work to ornament the shire, the artisans laid out and traced 10 of 12 drawings of the labours of the year onto silk for a substantial silk painting project - substantial as the drawings are easily 150cm square or more for hanging in the hall.
HE Oriane, Lady Margrete
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
We sat to feed about 20 people with splendid hot dishes (Byzantine lemon chicken, stewed lamb, lamb tagine) and cold (pork chacuterie, biltong and sausages, cheeses) 2 great compound salads, date lombards, with breads, nuts and fruit to round out the table.
We lingered over our meal and then some folks danced while Lady Contanza Albion
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Our hall was beautifully dressed with the long-missed per pale az and ar hangings of old, returned to the hall with thanksgiving, plus our fine diapered cloths, and the still-growing Thamesreach bunting.
Again: many hands contributed to an excellent day, whether hanging the hall, preparing food, instructing and guiding, or in the cleaning and tidying at the end.
HE Oriane arrived with me at the start of the day to open the hall, and with me was the last to leave: my thanks to her for her commitment to making this event a success.
I look forward to seeing many fencers on the field in the coming months, particularly at Raglan ffaire.
Your servant,
Genevieve la flechiere
Thamesreach rapier marshal