23 years ago. I was there.
I was there on the fields, when the strength of man clashed. I was there in the tavern, when it had no walls. I was there, when the Port-a-Johns, were handmade from wood over a hole in the ground.
23 years ago, I was at the first Tournaments of Creathorne. Somehow I'm still here.
I was playing Alcar in those days, Keith was Dirk, and Amy was Talia. We'd hit some events together, had some fun, and my friends wanted to hit "a weekend event" with me. I took some time between events, scrobbled up my old Boy Scout gear, and we hit the road. Grafton NH, was a dot on the map. We planned to take the highway north, pay a toll, and then head West until we saw a sign that said "here be dragons". No really, that was the plan. Columbus himself was shaking his head at us.
Maybe $75 in cash, as we were college students, a borrowed cooler, with not enough food in it. Let alone water. My Eureka Timberline 4 man A Frame tent (green of course) and what I hoped was enough blankets. You see, I'd been a Boy Scout, I knew what that region of NH brought for cold at night. As for my partners in adventure, I had no clue what they knew about cold spring nights.
The thing is... this is where my memory fails me. Not due to age, or the abuse, but due to repetition. Over the years, there were countless adventures at Little Creathorne Farm. There was the Aspis Fae War (which had no Fae), the Quest into Hell (where Lars screwed the pooch), and a few more ToC's than I care to count. Drow were fought, Myth Dranor was a bunch of jerks, and Death Knights were dueled at the Crossroads.
After all these years, memory gets weird. Which year was it that Dol Kugen was there with the Chocolate Oatmeal Stout he'd brewed? When did I do flaming shots with Eldritch? What year did the Cadre arrive? I forget which year that the Brewers Coins were all the rage, but I know that I turned 21 on site, but it wasn't at a ToC. But it was the same night that King James of Coventry appeared to knight Meerkat on the field in the middle of a pitched battle.
...But that's the thing.
That's Creathorne.
It's not just a site, its not just a Tournament event. It's a cultural phenomena. The site itself is as much a part of our community as the people, as the spell system is, as our stories are.
That's Why I Want to Go. Because of what the idea has become, what it has evolved into. What it is.
23 years of stories, adventures, and shared memories. Thanks Andy.
I'll see you on the field.
Details You Should Know
It's NH, it gets cold at night. Bring gear and clothes for this.
It's NH, the sun and wind will dehydrate you during the day. Drink WATER
Tournaments during the day, Questing at night, other stuff as time goes.
Socks!
No Showers, unless you bring one
Toilet paper, in a ziptop bag. Just in case.
The land has different magics, be warned about Scalping
Got a horse?