by Jason (Aeston) Rosa
First and foremost, I had a fantastic time at Feast of Creathorne. Beyond the food, beyond the activities (both of which I’ll expound upon shortly), what makes an event successful is how much the staff of that event believes in it. That they believe it has purpose. Andy and his crew have never lacked that quality, they know that the contributions they make to the community are valuable and necessary and that people come together, drawn to their events by that purpose. And it is purpose that I would like to talk to you all about, before I say much else.
It’s a secret to no one that the community has borne a couple of rough days lately. Some of you with longer perspectives akin to my own might agree it’s not the roughest patch we’ve ever seen but it’s certainly been enough to move the needle. In the midst of days like those, especially in a season where we don’t see each other much, it’s easy to get lost in despair and fear and anger. It’s easy to trick ourselves into believing that the bad outweighs the good. That foul intentions are more prolific than benign ones. That there’s too much hate.
Purpose, therefore, was a very important part of this event. This year people came to Feast of Creathore for all the reasons they are used to, the delicious and plentiful food, time to hang out and quest and socialize and play. But added to those normal intentions, it was clear to me that people also came to the event this weekend with the purpose of trying to heal. We needed to see one another. We needed to break bread with one another. We needed to engage with one another. And in doing these things we needed to reaffirm our faith in one another as well.
That’s a tall order, and it’s an incredibly heavy burden to put on the back of an event and a staff. At least one might assume so. But so much does the staff of Feast of Creathorne believe in their purpose that you could never get them to admit they felt that weight. So while this was a very long preamble, I’ve made it in order for me to say this sincerely. Thank you, Andy, and thank you to the entire staff for working hard to provide the atmosphere that our community needed this weekend. It was an incredible service to provide in a less-than-ideal set of circumstances. I know it was immensely beneficial to me and I feel confident that many, many others feel that way as well.
As for the specifics of the event, they were each presented with the attention to detail one would expect from a veteran staff. The food was amazing as usual. Certainly a unique aspect of this feast is the game that is served, and anyone with experience cooking it would tell you that game can be very difficult to cook well. Nonetheless, every dish I had at the feast was incredibly well seasoned. Both the venison and rabbit stews were delicious, the bear meat pies were savory, and I was fortunate enough to be able to try some of the venison heart which was expertly prepared. The game is reason enough to have come out to Creathorne this year but, of course, everything else was delicious as well.
My principle activity at the event was to chase a toddler around the room. As tiring as it was, it provided me a great perspective to see what everyone else was doing. The Order of the List tournaments boasted very clean fighting and some individuals stepping up to compete for the first time. The gambling tables were never empty and the Stacked Deck tournament was as intense as one would expect. Parties continuously went out questing and came back telling thrilling tales of madness and otherworldly villains. The merchants corner boasted impressive wares and I wanted to specifically note the Mercenary Market for their new items, pendants and buttons, extremely well made, boasting national heraldry. Of course I ordered an ample number of them.
All in all, Feast of Creathrorne 2018 was fun, it was engaging, it was worthwhile, and of course, it rose to the level of the purpose it needed to fulfill. It continues to be an event with high standards and I know I will continue to find my way to Andy's hall year after year to continue to patronize it. My sincere thanks to the entire staff for everything that they contributed that made this Saturday successful.
We all needed it.