by Benjamin "Pilpus" Lacasse
Fighter Pilpus, Newly named Steward of Eroewan reporting on the happenings at the 26th Tournaments of Creathorne:
ToC, per usual, was a fun filled gathering with invigorating tournaments, wonderful music, drunken happiness and 3 Nights of excellent quests! It was truly an amazing way to kick off the summer, and I thank all of the organizers and staff for giving us the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labor!
Friday began the same way every day began, with an hour and a half long speech from Sir Sean about what not to do in Creathorne. The basics: Don’t fuck with the Moose, Leave your pets at home, puke on the other side of the stone walls, and if you are very pregnant, warn him now so he can be prepared for number 7! Everybody prepped their camps, and got their lumber and liquor for their fires later in the night, and we capped off the Night by killing some avian beasts, collecting their bloodsteel and deciphering some scrolls in search of our guide Tak’s imprisoned people. When the tired adventurers made their way back to their camps they raised their mugs and drank until the sky turned blue, as I’m sure everyone had waited to do since the end of ToC last year!
In the late morning on Saturday, once everyone had roused, we made our way down to the main field for all of the Limited Tournaments. The sun shone with a light breeze for most of the day until right around dinner break where a drizzle began to spot. Once dinner break was called I rushed to the Bardic Tournaments, then to the beginning of the Blackwood High Mage Competition (solely to spectate as events earlier that day had rendered me incapable of competing) and once the sun had fallen, we ventured through another portal to do some repairs on a large, odd contraption that had a strange proclivity for exploding and making beeping noises. I then returned to the Blackwood fire pit to spectate the ending of the High Mage competition, and by the time it concluded it was time to get some rest for the War Tournaments the next morning.
Sunday, the fields were alive with the sounds of clanging swords, banging shields and cheering warriors in the hot sun (with the occasional slap of a bug being swatted)! Invictus won this year's War Tournament, everybody fought valiantly in the unlimited tournaments and then dinner break and the awards ceremony took place. After that Blackwood Court was held, and at its conclusion we followed Tak into the fold for the final time, breaking into the prison to break out his people. “WA-TA!” echoed throughout the complex until eventually when we discovered there were robotic projectile contraptions to toy with. The “WA-TA!”s were quickly replaced with “pew-pew”s. We rammed the cell doors down, blew off the locks, slaughtered the wardens and when we finally reached Tak’s people, we were hailed as liberators! The “Dirt Refugees” as they were dubbed by Meeble of Invictus hailed Toah of Acteon as their king, and we returned to the fire pits to celebrate our glorious victory.
When the sun rose the next morning, we packed our carriages and made our way back to our homes, but we’ll carry the happiness and spirit we felt at these tournaments for the rest of the year! Happy ToC everybody, see you next year!