What you missed
Grimloch Presents:
Tournaments of the Void 7
by Michael "Vuel" Durocher
The Event Holder Team that has been running Tourney's of the
Void has spent the last several years building a concept for what one-day
tournament event should be. The usage of public parks can often deter from an
event in some opinions, but it allows for the Eventholder's to have a minimal cost
for content that they provided. It's a worthwhile trade off as long as the
Event can provide, and Tourneys of the Void always provides a good time.
The Event itself
provides participants with a full day of tournaments, both combat and several
puzzle quests, a unique bear pit that pushed different concepts of fighting
styles, as well as a scavenger hunt and plenty of food.
For the non-combat
focused individuals, there were Sudoku puzzles. Void Glyph deciphering, which
detailed more history of the enigmatic Void and its role within the Realms
Cosmology. A massive scavenger hunt that took up most of the surrounding
woods. I believe there were some other non-combat related options going around. But I'm a fighter and my focus is on murdering people, so I didn't really pay
attention, so my apologies if I missed something.
The tourneys were a
standard fair, most of which counting OotL. There were a few new fights introduced that were more fun than expected. There didn't seem to be any
clear cut fighter dominating all the points, although Drike of Invictus did
take a good share of points to further help him lock his place as a fighter to
not be trifled with.
For the unique tournaments, there was "The Hydra" which
relied on three individuals learning how to move together as they are literally
bound by the weapons to their hands. And
of course I have to mention the tourney of "EPIC SWING!" which
prompted lots of laughs and some killer photo opportunities (And maybe a Chocobo themed video coming in the near future.).
The multitude of Bear Pits (Aptly named Void Pits here)
provided a different set of rules every time it was opened. One was the ever favorite Illegal Weapons Combination, another was kill shots only, and competitors even
found themselves turned into Kobolds for one of the pits. These pits seemed to
change their mechanics as certain criteria was met. Either a competitor had to
run through seven wins in a row or the pit lasted as long as the current individual tournament running lasted. At the end of the day, Sir Tao was the
overall winner of these Void Pits.
Its important to note that all of the tournaments, Non-com
puzzles, Scavenger Hunt, and even Void Pits
awarded Tickets, which could be entered into one of three possible auctions
going on. The auctions offered a plethora of different prizes, including gold
towards the Bronze Forge, pouches, weapons, Blackout card decks (Which are
really cool) and even something magical and sharp.
I would be remiss to write a What You Missed and not mention
the food. A unique theme of Tourneys of the Void, besides the overall point
system which the Void tracks, is the fact that the Staff Provides a different
kind of food every year. Besides the
standard fair of drinks and salty snacks the EH's really go all out for the
food they provide for a one day. A few years ago it was a custom barbecue,
followed by a Pizza Bar one year and in another year there was a build your own burrito bar. This
year the staff set up a build your own BLT luncheon, which if you enjoy Bacon
(You know who you are.), they more than adequately provided. Well worth the cost
of the event in my humble opinion.
The day capped off
with the Void Championship Tourney. A gauntlet style fight where
everyone who placed, and earned Void points throughout the day. Had to face off
against everyone else in a roundabout combat, where each competitor fights
everyone else once, and the person with the highest kill record wins it. Then is named Champion of the Void. This year it was Drike taking first, killing all
the other combatants and cementing himself as Champion of the Void for this
year.
So after all is said and done, what did you miss?
You missed a damn good time. The Staff for this series put their hearts on
their sleeves and really made a solid effort. Providing content, food and an
enjoyable experience, for anyone who is willing to attend. Even those who aren't
combat focused, it's an event I highly recommend people attend because it
sets the proverbial bar for what a one day tournament event should look like.