Written by: Lani "Gwen" Jones
Greetings my friends, and, currently unknownst to me, adventurers of the Realms,
I am here to entice you into journeying to the lands of Shadowdragon this upcoming weekend for Tournaments of Blackwood XI. First of all, the Roman numerals are doing a lot of heavy lifting here for me: this is the eleventh opportunity Blackwood has had to perfect this event, and I know that this EH team is relentless in their desire, ability, and follow-through in reflecting on and improving their events. It is with utmost confidence that I trust this experienced EH team to deliver an epic and enjoyable long weekend for you: regardless of your preferred play style, skills, or experience. It is clear that the team has prioritized providing fun and engaging content for EVERY adventurer in the Realms by including a simply dazzling array of “thinky,” “fighty,” and camaraderie challenges. The mechanics for scoring points highlights this--your points earned are totaled throughout the weekend and three winners will be awarded based on this cumulative scoring mechanic: “Slayer”, “Archmage” & “Skald”.
Although my “Why I Want to Go” quill is a little dustier than usual, I hope that new readers will still appreciate my tried and true top three reasons bullet-list format. I cannot say enough that it would be impossible for me to expound on the myriad reasons I think you should venture out to the field this weekend. I highly encourage you to check out the thoughtful and well-planned event description on realmsnet.net for more specific details.
Fun
While this may come to a surprise to many of you, I love events that don’t focus solely on food. For me, it’s all about the fun. As I was thinking about the reasons the Realms should turn out this weekend, it felt appropriate to mention that I was recently treated to a questing experience that demonstrated that Blackwood cares about making sure you, as an individual, walk away from any of their hosted content and experience saying, “Wow! That was great!” This weekend is no different, and I am the most excited to witness “Zombie Kisses” and hear the rules to “Nay, Poxy Knave!”
Players should know and appreciate that tournament rules will allow some availability to swap up your character path/spells to accommodate your desires to participate in various tournaments over the weekend. Please be sure to check the Event Description for a more thorough understanding of these details.
Lastly, just because Blackwood Tournaments doesn’t focus solely on the food, doesn’t mean they aren’t going to treat you right. The Blackwood kitchen staff is excellent and will be providing light snacks throughout the day, as well as a full meal for Saturday dinner break that is sure to satiate and delight.
Competition
“The Fated Arena” says it pretty well, but please, allow me to expound. This Saturday night experience is not one you want to miss out on. I promise you, tales of individual valor, strategy, and strength will be told about this night around campfires for many years to come. However, you may have already tired yourself out during the day, as the weekend will feature a large variety of individual and small group tourneys. King Saegan is someone that I look up to for his fierce competitive nature balanced by his commitment to ensuring fights are fair, so I know there will be some really great opportunities for those of you out there itching to get out and put your skills to the test.
If swords aren’t your thing, there will be various other competitive amusements available for you, including the coveted points offered in the Stacked Deck Tournament Friday evening.
Camaraderie
To be completely honest, I think this event is going to have it all going on. It really reminds me of my first events that really hooked me into this community--it’s going to have a little bit of something for everyone. And so, for the final point of why I think you should put yourself out there this weekend and show up on the field rocking and ready to go for Black Tournaments XI, I’ll leave you with this: this is the kind of weekend where new memories are going to be made, old ones will be shared and cherished, and you are going to have a great time if you choose to be a part of it. After all, Realms wouldn’t be Realms without the shared magic that we all bring to it. As my dad would say, “Have fun, be safe, and watch out for animals!”
With love,
Lord Sir Gwen
PS. Please be respectful of the mission to “carry in/carry out” for garbage--it really does go a long way in helping event staff maintain relationships with event sites. Also, bring plenty of water/ hydrating beverages as well as a few extra snacks/dinner options for the weekend. The EH’s always doing their best to provide everything to everyone, but it really is important when planning for a long weekend to make sure that YOU are taking the responsibility of taking care of YOU. And as always, don’t forget to pack extra socks!