So a week ago Saturday was Crown Tourney. Most of you have heard the results, but let me say: that was a bloody exciting day. It was the deepest Crown list I have ever seen, with a bunch of heavyweight contenders trying quite seriously to win. It's a credit to everyone that they kept it clean despite the intense competition.
We started off the day by herding cats, as usual -- since Brigantia couldn't be there due to illness,
msmemory got to actually herald the procession for once. Things started with exceptional efficiency, largely because of His Majesty, who had some pretty sensible ideas about the order of events, and who didn't dawdle in giving us the green light. Things still started a *little* late -- but given that I'd looked at the schedule that morning and decided it wasn't plausible, it was impressively close.Like I said, the tourney was deep, with a remarkable array of royal peers and chivalry. Not everyone seemed to be serious about trying to take it (I was quietly amused at Brian fighting various esoteric weapons forms and *still* tending to win: he's scary-good), but it was clear that a bunch of the entrants were focused and determined. I honestly thought it was a preposterously uphill fight, but as the day went on, I started to realize that Edward was making his way up the tree quite steadily and confidently.
I got to herald Edward and Marguerite into the finals, and it was probably the scariest thing I've ever done in the SCA. I mean, I've heralded Royal Courts before, but there was something just plain higher-stakes about this: a sense that I mustn't screw up, lest I jinx the way Edward was shaping reality around him. (Worse, I was facing D. Sebastian, a far more flamboyant performer than I, who was heralding for Duke Lucan.) But I didn't trip over my feet, nor screw up *too* badly on the lines I'd quickly composed in my head, and I clearly didn't jinx things.
The rest of the day was a bit of a blur (moreso as it began to sink in that our plans for the next year had suddenly altered a *lot*), but there were a number of other notable points, especially the food. The dayboard, organized by
lady_cassia and elmer42, was one of the best I've seen, and certainly the best at a Crown Tourney -- hot, period, flavorful and (not least) right there at the field where the people were. Dinner, run by tpau and ladysprite, was just plain great -- I liked all of the dishes and loved a bunch of them. (I still need to get recipes for several dishes, especially the chickpea stuff: there aren't enough vegetarian dishes that I like *that* much.) And ladysprite's subtlety -- an oak tree full of edible acorns (Her Majesty's badge) of many different sorts -- completely stole the show: it was pretty, extremely appropriate to the day, utterly tasty and wonderfully period. (The quail's-egg acorns were quite the scientific adventure, and I think her period predecessors would have greatly approved.)So overall, it was a fine day. The weather wasn't quite ideal, but for a fall Crown it was really pretty good (a bit drizzly, but unusually warm). It was a day of seeing my friends do great things, and there's surely little better than that...
