What You Missed: Blackwood Tournaments XIII [Court Edition]

Transcribed

First matter of business, Laika made Violet his page.

Fern was made a full member of Eagle's Rook after a period of petitioning, and given a personal heraldry belt favor of Adara's.

Captain Sayeh called up the Knights of Blackwood [present: Trent, Nos, Torolf, Matthias, Tao, Saegan, Elizah, Matiya, Bones], and spoke of her work in the East. She spoke of the assistance of Sir Dagger, who helped grow their numbers in East Blackwood. He helped translate german and english documents. And that he wanted to share, though he could not be there in person, how honored he is to be a knight amongst the folks of Blackwood.

The Knights of Blackwood's business continued with these squirings:

• Tao squired Tempest.
• Nos squired Cronin.

Saegan squired Luke John but as a personal squire.

Saegan called up Cheri/ Taya and put a petitioner tabard on her, welcoming her as a potential future member of Blackwood.

As court herald Elizah called up Irri of Blackwood. Irri shared she was handed a scale for "getting shit done", and wished to now hand it off to someone who also embodied that. She called up Bones and handed off the Blackwood North Star.

Tao was called up, and spoke of receiving a similar scale, this one for combat, the Mark of the Harvester. He called up Hedda and Elizah, and gave one to each due to their performances in Pressure Point.

Tao also gave Saegan a scale for running his quest.

Saegan called up Sayeh and explained the scale of "Voice of Night", about the historical relevance of Blackwood. He noted he noticed Sayeh was sharing the history of Blackwood to people the night before, which he appreciates, and her duties in East Blackwood.

Final word goes to Saegan: "Thanks for joining us, enduring the heat. Enjoy the food."

Then we ate.

Editor's note on the scales: "Blackwood has four tokens that are represented by scales, The Blackwood North Star; represents general excellence in leadership, The Mark of the Harvester; represents excellent in combat, The Voice of Night; represents furthering Blackwood's cultural and historical presence, and The Tree of Eroewan; representing cultural furtherment of Backwood. 

They're meant to be passed on from member to member. "

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Realmsle #35

 

                       

This custom Wordle-adjacent-puzzle features a 5-letter word that is particularly relevant to the Realms.

If the embedded page isn't working below you can click this link to get to the puzzle.

Like regular Wordle you can copy your result's (but only if you follow the link), so paste them or a screenshot onto social media to let us know how you did. But no spoilers!

Why I Want To Go - Makhta's Lucid Nightmare ...and the Dream Shards Pt. 2

 IC (Aiden Penclaw)

The sound of the anvil had begun to make Aiden's ears ring. It had been one year since he hid the dream forge and escaped being fae touched again. A bead of sweat ran down his cheek as he could feel it calling again. Word had traveled of Makhta's plight between all corners of the realm. Things were getting worse and even the fires of the forge showed Aiden visions of a terrible possibility at hand. If action wasn't taken soon the friend he had made the last two years would burn in a gristly death saved for those of vampiric blood. Weapons of silver and every magic trick and trap packed, he looked back at his forbidden traps in the corner. Various supplies that once deterred fae were being left behind to make room for what comes ahead. With a long breath Aiden mounts his horse for the trip from Tarngire within Invictus. Making his way back towards the forge to meet up with Omri, Ryu, and several more to find what can be done to prevent fate. He whispers under his breath- "If not for our friends then why else-" Aiden begins his trip.

OOC (Arthur Granger)

Do you enjoy questing events? Looking for an event that could lead to changes that affect your character for years to come? Maybe you're a newbie looking to learn more about the travelers and groups of the realm you run into along the path. Come along and join this weekend in a plot that heavily features a friend we all know at this point and be a part of seeing this story's progression. Maybe a few curveballs might be thrown our way as those new to adventuring will learn. Dreams can turn into nightmares in a world where logic might not be the only answer. All in all a fun weekend and I look forward to it!

Why I Want To Go - Makhta's Lucid Nightmare ...and the Dream Shards Pt. 1

by: Sky "Raindrop" Rubenstein

IC:

Friends, Heroes of the Realms, Comrades in Arms,

One of our own is in danger. I don’t know about you, but I grew up hearing tales of Makhta’s heroism and prowess. And my experience is that she lives up to her reputation. I have been honored and delighted to get to know her these past few years, and fight at her side. Now, she is in danger. Cursed by vampirism that has been getting worse and worse, I have watched her struggle with her own darkness, and to find her path. Now her life, fate, and heart lie in our hands. To save her or lose her forever. I am proud I get to fight for my friend. My warlord. I will not let her lose herself to the Darkness forever. Please, I encourage those who are able to join us in this fight. Help us keep our friend safe, and find peace with herself, and harmony.

Dame Magus Raindrop Storm

Knight Protector of Faerie

Magus of the Realms

OOC:

I had the pleasure to play with Randy at Intercon this past year, and he is an incredible storyteller. I have heard some of what he has planned for mechanics this year, and I think that this event is going to be a phenomenal one with some innovative storytelling techniques. Beth Tozier is an incredible storyteller and friend as well, and I always enjoy getting to play with her, both player-to-player and player-to-npc. And then you bring Sean V into the mix, one of the minds that brought us Bedlam, and an amazing storyteller and NPC, one of the best out there, and someone who always plays an excellent villain. Then adding in Kelly Bonci, one of my good friends and a delightful person who has always played incredible characters, and done a great job bringing characters to life, and Kathy Fey’s experience, storytelling, and roleplaying acumen, this is shaping up to be an incredible event. They’ve really worked hard to weave in character stories, as well as personal plots and storylines, and I am so thrilled to see what this brings.

Come prepared to roll with the punches, improv, and play hard. I think this is going to be a good one.

Sky Rubenstein

What You Missed - Blackwood Tournaments XIII

by: Tucker "Temorse" Noyes

I’ve been to many Blackwood Tournaments, but this year was a special one.  This year followed the previous years' format, and I was just as much of a fan this year as last year.  The weekend saw a great deal to enjoy: fierce competition, new and innovative tournaments, ridiculous games, delicious food, and very hot weather.  It was a joy to see a broad swath of the community gather and celebrate each others' victories throughout the weekend.

Friday night saw the return of the Fated Arena, although this was my first experience with it.  Around twenty intrepid adventurers, from seasoned veterans to greenhorns seeking to make a name for themselves were dispersed around the area in the dark of night, all seeking to survive the arena’s hazards and their fellow adventurers for as long as possible with a limited number of lives.  A variety of strategies were implemented, from scaling buildings to hiding caches of equipment, from fighting monsters to starting a new career as a weapons merchant.  Eventually there could be only one, with Killian being the only one to survive to the very end, with only a single life remaining.

On Saturday we began with a more traditional set of tournaments with a mix of increasingly interesting ones as the day went on. The field of the competitors was quite a diverse one.  Maybe I’m just getting older, but I felt challenged in every single fight throughout the day, both for the more silly ones and for the more competitive ones.  Watching the fights was almost as much fun as competing in them.  The fish slappery tournament stood out as one of the more fun ones to watch, and I am always partial to a bog-standard sword and shield tournament, despite being eliminated in round one.  We were graced with some delicious and refreshing snacks from the kitchen during this time, which was a welcome boon in the heat of the day.

There were also some things happening throughout the day that I missed.  Some purple dragon folks showed up to cause some trouble.  Makhta engaged in some vampire antics.  The Nemesis Wraiths showed up for some more fighting for those who hadn’t gotten enough yet.  There were also some dungeon-like tournaments: the rogues dungeon, alchemist dungeon, and a scavenger hunt challenge from what I heard.  While I didn’t participate in those, I heard many, many good things.

Following a long hot day of fighting was a short court, dinner, games, and general revelry.  I unexpectedly missed court, but from what I learned various individuals were honored with Blackwood Scales, a warrior from Blackwood East was knighted, squires were taken, and nations were joined.  Shortly after this, a delicious meal was served and a night of games and revelry began.  The revelry started with the premier of the Blackwood Drag Show.  The performers were enthusiastic and entertaining, and the show was a  success.  There was gambling to be had, as well as the social deduction of Dark Deeds and the improved stylings of the Bard Bellows games to enjoy.  There was also a special edition of Nay Poxy Knave, where I graciously allowed the joint forces of the Realms to defeat me, allowing some group catharsis after the devastation that occurred at Pressure Point.  The merriment lasted well into the wee hours of the morning for those who were up for it.

Sunday saw the tournaments continue and wrap up.  The Goblin Hoards tournament was as unexpected as it was enjoyable.  The Epic Swings tournament was its own…unique form of entertainment with an eclectic set of styles from its participants.  Perhaps, as some would argue, the climax of the event was the hot dog eating contest.  Never before have I seen a feasting tournament involve so much cleverness, treachery, and intestinal fortitude as we watched Jasper absolutely devour a quintet of franks.  In the end he both literally and figuratively stood, be-glizziled, head and shoulders above his competition, finishing in less than half the time of his competitors.

At the end of the day the points were totaled and we all gathered to hear the results.  While I’m sure a full list of winners may be published, the three main honorifics were Slayer, Skald, and Archmage.  In the end, Shandar took the title of Slayer, Killian took the title of Archmage and Grindin took the title of Skald. Congratulations to those two, and all those others who showered themselves in glory throughout the weekend.

In full, I look forward to the tournaments next year.  It is always a great pleasure to enjoy the rigorous competition and strengthen the social bonds with my fellow Realmsonian.

Temorse

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Why I Want To Go - Exotic Items, Creatures, and Wares 6

By: Emily "Kara" Murphy

Hello People of the Realms,

It has been some years since I’ve visited Stonewood…on a weekend that is. Although I’ve fallen out of the habit since I moved south, I used to visit quite regularly on the weekdays, when the land was less likely to be ravaged by some powerful evil person or evil army or evil lich, or occasionally all three at once. Although all nations in the area see what can only be described as a weekend spike in monster sightings, Stonewood took the cake for how quickly I would feel the need to leave before dusk on a Friday. Why am I breaking this years long streak you ask? Well…if your Baroness jumped off a bridge, would you?

Baroness Phee has decided that we should help our Stonewood friends by venturing into their lands to enter a Horadric Vault and obtain a key to Pandemonium. Stonewood, infamous for their anti-fae protections, shall receive the aid of the nation that is at least 3/5ths Fae or Fae adjacent in retrieving something I definitely know about and definitely did not space out when it was explained to me by Tony. I suppose I asked for new issues when I moved, but this is not quite what I meant. Granted, as much as I don’t doubt Phee’s intention to help, I’m still not convinced this isn't just a ploy to see James Swift.

I won’t lie and say I am being forced to go, however. There are people I hold dear in Stonewood that I want to help and protect. I won’t shy away from any challenge if it means preventing those I care about from being in danger, or in more danger that is strictly necessary for what we all do. And with what Deckard Cain is promising we’ll face, the challenge will be worth it in the end, to save lives of civilians and to help our friends and allies. I hope to see familiar faces there, working towards those goals. And hopefully, one of those faces can tell me what a key to Pandemonium is, because I won’t lie (again), I do not know what that is, and I am a little concerned with the name. May the Warrior of Summer aid us all in our quest.

Yours in Faith,

High Priestess Magus Jarl Sir Kara

Overheard at Pressure Point 4

Without context or attribution, here are some quotes heard at Pressure Point 4 this past weekend:

"We're going ham wild"

"Just unhinge your jaw like a snake"

"What's the fantasy equivalent of a barn? Isn't that just a barn?"

"Thank you to the chorus of men for educating me about esophagus size."

"Do the Irish know about this?"

"Why does he have a bag of concrete?"

"We're just talking about two birds!"

"I really could use a carrot about now."

"You were too kind to us, our team doesn't do well with praise!"

"Where does the mouth anus go?"

"It's like vanilla pudding but more ocean-y"

"Why is everything out here sticky?"

"They turned it into a sexual thing and it really made them focus."

"Everything here is thick and dry."

"I will kick a marshal."

"It really puts the jerk in jerky."

"Can't keep a good rock down."

"If you hand me a cucumber I'll turn it into a pickle."

"That doesn't exist."

"Rage through it!"

"We might have to hard jerk it."

"Are you also done raw dogging it?"

"What are your pronouns, I want to murder you."

"I will tackle you on concrete."

"I'll give you the kinky ones, Jack."

"Those tubes are too medium."

"If this is a fight to see who is more stubborn they'll both die."

What You Missed - Pressure Point 4

Organized by: Kyle Yazinka 

By: Nataliya "Shader" Kostenko

My hands still kinda hurt writing this because this past weekend was Pressure Point! It was so much fun to trauma-bond with the squad, and I highly recommend future iterations of this event to anyone and everyone looking to really ignite their Realms spark and get hype about pushing themselves alongside the rest of the community. 

Here’s a summary of what went down from my perspective. First, there was the captain’s competition. We got to eat some really dry “food”--except the blessed irish-jamaican-vanilla-AI-generated-or-whatever-the-fuck sea moss drink. That was 10/10, refreshing. We also jumped around in bags clearly made for children, solved metal puzzles, threw heavy stuff, and memorized colored pieces of paper. Luckily I excel at eating weird shit, naming primary colors, and jumping around as a toddler would, so I prevailed and got the honor of being captain alongside Jack and Hedda.

For my intrepid team–Forbidden Blueberry–I selected Temorse, Ryu, Kara, Companion, Ham, and Saegan Jr., the rock. This was Ham’s first time adventuring in the Realms: the absolute maniac. We were also assigned Mommy Saegen, who went above and beyond as a Team Mom in every capacity! Each of my team members proved invaluable to our squad and pushed themselves to their limits with all their contributions. For a highlight reel, we lugged heavy stuff around and identified ancient pictures of Realmsies past (I still can’t believe that was Trent), crawled through webs rapidly (some of us were dropped, but that’s okay, I forgive), made beautiful matching blueberry belt favors, lost spectacularly at tug of war (but defended Saegan Jr.!), scored some goals, cooked some riceballs, built a giant tower, made our way blindly through a maze, wept over cursed sudoku at 4AM, put on an avant-garde performance, scavenged, climbed, pushed up, sat up, squatted, and everything in between. 

Ryu was our dominating assassin, the fastest fire-starter in the West, and our overall MVP; Kara was our excellent mage and healer, Saegan Jr.’s most caring babysitter, and the most spirited player with the most uplifting attitude; Temorse was the brains and wisdom of our operation who dominated the trivia portion so thoroughly that even the event photos look like he’s a professor delivering a lecture on Realms geography to the rest of our team; Companion was our master engineer and crafter, who’s so good she can build a perfect sword blindfolded and raise a paper tower (angled) to the heavens; and Ham, it turns out, is an absolute fitness beast who did basically half our team’s exercises by himself. 

My personal favorite part was the fight-a-ton at the end! Nothing I love more than limited Realms fighting for hours and hours. Though it did eventually become unlimited, interspersed with sprints and squats, burdened with unnecessarily heavy weapons and shields, and narrated by bad-cop-drill-sergeant Killian and good-cop-Mommy Saegan, it remained fun the whole time! Everybody gave it their all and I don’t think the marshals were expecting all of us to fight on as long as we did. All three teams were locked all the way in.

I want to thank the Red SyRenZ and Swallow Twice for being such excellent competition. Now I’m going to lay around until I recover the ability to move again. 

Hi. I'm Jack of Redwall and I am very very tired.

Pressure point 4, it's a thing I did and I'm going to tell you about it. Not all of it, God I don't have the energy for that.

The event starts.

I'm a pirate, there was an opportunity to be captain. You can see where this is going.

The worst part about being picked for a captain? I don't get the opportunity to have the other captains on my team. I knew this before, but seeing Shader and Hedda compete and lead their teams over the course of this monster event, there is nothing to describe the way I feel other than just immense respect for these two. 

The best part about being captain? getting to work with other crazy talented individuals, rely on their strengths and expertise, and to push myself for their sake.

The exhaustion makes it hard to remember but I believe there were games and fighting. Putting balls in holes, manhandling teammates through a net, and a nice leisurely team stroll across a field. And back.

Then there was cooking. We stunned ourselves with how good it was. Or we were just starving. 

There was some trivia , I really didn't understand most of it. My weakness. However I did pick a team that did. Everyone got a chance to shine, and everyone got a chance to sit in confusion and throw random guesses at the wall and hope something stuck. Fun was had, jokes were made, a good time all around.

And then the sun went down.

Looking at the stars at night is wonderful. However the literal hundreds of reps of exercise does dampen the magic of the moment. You ever do a burpee after midnight and get a little aftertaste of century egg, vegemite, and “cheese?" There is no equivalent. Singularly unique experience. But so is the energy and camaraderie of doing it together. This was nothing like a daytime sporting event. It was brutal, raw, and emotional. Being there to cheer on each other, even the other teams. This was something we all overcame together. We surpassed what we thought were our limits, for each other. No other event I have gone to can compare to that moment at 3 am. Period.

And then the sun came up

And the music started

Like a fight practice that never ended, with no rest. Just fighting. Again the teams fell away and we all were just surviving and overcoming. It was fun. It was practice. 

Until the music stopped.

Pressure point is about endurance. And man was it a blast to do. But by the gods was it better to stop. And to watch everyone who continued after can only be described as inspirational. I saw the top of the mountain and thought “that's where I want to be someday".

Gonna be honest, I like winning. I like the points, the competition, the feeling of overcoming something. But by the end of the event, you felt it. Points be damned. We showed up and we beat this event. And I am so proud of Luke John, of Jericho, of Elizah, of Grazen, of FaiBy, of Theodore Red-eye Rockenstein the 5th.

For you guys, I'd do it all again.

Jack of Redwall

Captain of the Red SyRenZ

Pressure point did not disappoint. I called for arms in the field with me and many of you answered. I was able to toil and become captain. We took the extra food provided to fuel us, even though it was not delicious food. I took the century eggs, natto, and exoskeletons to fuel my fight. I can’t even begin to cover everything that happened. I will try and give you a perspective. Every person that was there gave their all. We fought challenges of body and mind. We had to physically lift each other through mazes, carry bags of sand while testing our knowledge of the realms, and do a fitness challenge of hundreds of workouts. As a captain I witnessed so much, I worked to take on whatever my team couldn’t and did my best to lead them whenever possible. I noticed the teams working to win for themselves but still cheer on others. A few highlights for you; when Shader and LukeJohn were locked in combat for 40 minutes straight with no break to a stalemate, when we all fought our fitness challenge and our team down a person was cheered on and supported by every team till we completed it, when we were locked in trivia and the Forbidden Blueberries Team were a wealth of knowledge, when Grarr fought till he was medically pulled and the Red SyRenZ had Elizah join our team so we were not two people short and could continue the fight. 

The event came to a close where everyone fought till they physically couldn’t anymore, even the battles had to be made more difficult to put us all down, ending the long stalemate I mentioned. Being told our teams only had a two point difference between the placings shows how hard everyone fought. I am thankful to my whole team and our efforts. These memories will live on and I am glad to have been able to lead people as we made them.

-Whan-Hedda con Atlantis 

Captain of team Swallow Twice or Pressure Point 4

Conspiracy Monthly

  By Kieran/Kyra Barry

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Rumors around the Realms July 1026

 

Rumors around the Realms July 1026

Blackavar

"A nebulous dream strikes those with Heroes' Souls. If your character has the Dream spell, you may let a marshal know, and obtain extra details from your more clearly-viewed dream.

Nebulous: Two shadows descend a a staircase past a familiar door. The living shadows part in black and green before them as they arrive at a hard wall.

""Now... the storm...

Green floods over the gray of the dank cave in a flash. 

""Damn it!"" a woman's voice echoes ""What am I missing??""

A glow of the same unnatural green ends the dream."

Throughout the Realms

Those that live near soft spots to the Fae Wildes have reported hearing distant howling through the night. Some people have expressed hearing the howling right outside their doors, yet found no pawprints in the soft ground. There are yet others that whisper of a hunter on horseback silently making his way through the night, head never turning to look any way but forward. A pack of hounds of various sizes follow him, as well as hunters on foot with wild eyes. Places that see him whisper rumors that the more brash or foolhardy among them that would poke at things unknown go missing in the night.

General Realms

Eastern ports report an uptick in foreigners seeking safety. Those who speak common can be heard at bars, talking about atrocities 

Rhiassa

In the deepest hours of the night some have whispered worries about a strange purple glow that seems to flicker through the sky. Those who have witnessed it claim to have been frozen in place, too overcome with terror to move until the glow subsided. 

Blackavar

"Though the gate is near

You have not faced your fear.

You think appearing means you’ve won?

The job is not yet done"

Arken

A pair of purple half dragons wearing gold, black, and purple heraldry are going town to town in Arken. They’re asking if anyone has seen anyone like them. 

Why I Want To Go - Tournaments of Blackwood XIII

by: Nixon "Jasper" Showalter

Hello friends, foes, and otherwise,

The lands of Heminshire call to me, as I am sure they are calling to many of you as well. There are good times to be had and I can now only wait eagerly for the weekend! I saw many of you around this time last year, though at the time I was working as a bartender keeping you all hydrated and keeping spirits high, with some side work on the Western Flank (I still occasionally get dreams of Orion chasing me down through the woods with dramatic music in the background, how strange). However, getting to see first hand all of the incredible times there were to be had, I knew this year I wanted to try my hand as a competitor. 

Starting off the weekend with the Fated Arena is incredibly exciting. I have only heard stories, but I can say without a doubt I am eager to experience it for myself. There is nothing like entering a competition knowing your objective is not only to win, but to survive. And for all of you wealthy benefactors out there, it seems there will be some use for all of that coin you have accumulated. If anyone wants their heraldry on display, send me a pigeon and we can work something out.

Saturday is going to be a blast, a day full of tournaments for you all to put your best skills on display. Hopefully those of you who suffered, excelled, and survived this past weekend will be recovered to put on a show like no other! This past year Blackwood hosted some of the most unique and whimsical tournaments I have seen on the field, so I know without a doubt there will be fun times to be had. Not only are we competing for placements in each tournament, but winners will also be earning points towards the champion titles of Slayer, Archmage, and Skald. These are not only impressive titles, but also come awarded with their respective relics as well. 

As night approaches, the festivities do not end! Drinks will be available to keep the night young, with challenges to Beat the Bartender to keep your bar time exciting. Sir Tao will be hosting a stack deck tournament for those of you who seek to rise in the gambling ranks, and last but certainly not least, Ser Elizah will be opening the Drag Inn for adventurers to compete in some incredibly fun games. The return of Dark Deed and Stoneface are extremely exciting to hear, but for the return of my personal favorite Nay, Poxy, Nave, I cannot wait! Ending the night, the Drag Inn will be hosting their first ever Drag Show, which is so exciting and I look forward to seeing all of the incredible performances for the night!

On Sunday, breakfast will be served (and I am sure it will taste incredible after the night's festivities and with the talents of Irri and Cronin at the stove) and tournaments will continue! To end the day, awards will be presented, titles will be appointed, and we will all have great stories to share.

I cannot wait to see you all there, and I hope you are all excited for a great weekend full of fun times, exciting tournaments, delicious drinks, impressive performances, and all of the amazing things Blackwood has to offer!

Until the sun touches the sea,

Jasper Havarti Sherwood

Pressure Point 4 - Tournament Results

Pressure Point 4 has concluded with many amazing moments, memories of perseverance and triumph, and stories that will be told over and over again for decades. Congratulations to all competitors who survived the gauntlet and emerged on the other side having a full realization of their own strength and potential.

We'd like to share tournament results for the event with the community.

First, an introduction to our teams:

The Red Team: The Red SyRenZ
Team Captain: Jack, Team Mom(s): Syruss and Priest Z (and sometimes Tao)

The Green Team: Swallow Twice
Team Captain: Hedda, Team Mom: Daekara

The Blue Team: Forbidden Blueberry
Team Captain: Shader, Team Mom: Saegan

Now onto the tournament results. Points throughout the day were awarded for first, second, and third place, with the additional rule that the third place team had to finish the challenge to receive those points.

Stretcher Sand Bag Carry: Forbidden Blueberry

Spider Web Struggle: Forbidden Blueberry

Tank Tred Time Trial: Swallow Twice

Marble Maze Mania: Swallow Twice

Belt Favor Fever: Swallow Twice

Squat Scramble Fight: The Red SyRenZ

Tug of War: The Red SyRenZ

Multi-ball Madness: The Red SyRenZ

Start a Fire: Forbidden Blueberry

Campfire Cooking: The Red SyRenZ

Leave No Trace: 3-way tie, The Red SyRenZ/Swallow Twice/Forbidden Blueberry

Mapquest: Forbidden Blueberry

Number's Game: Forbidden Blueberry

Wealth of Knowledge: Forbidden Blueberry

Whozzat: Forbidden Blueberry

Paper Towers: Swallow Twice

Blind Maze: Forbidden Blueberry

Freesia's Fitness Challenge: The Red SyRenZ

At the end of the "day" on Saturday there was only a 12-point difference between first and last place, with each team having been in the lead at least once.

Aeston's Perpetual Purgatory of Punishing Puzzlers: Swallow Twice

Daredevil: Forbidden Blueberry

Skit Redux: The Red SyRenZ

Assassins: Forbidden Blueberry

Scavengers: 2-way tie, The Red SyRenZ/Swallow Twice

Balls and Cones: Swallow Twice

Floor is Lava: Swallow Twice

Slip and Slide: The Red SyRenZ

Maze Battle: The Red SyRenZ

Party Like It's 1999: The Red SyRenZ

Strength of Arms: The Red SyRenZ

Team Rock's Rockatude: Forbidden Blueberry

Overnight and through the morning, going into the final event (the Fight-a-thon), the lead had changed place several more times. Before this last event there was only a 2-point difference between the first and last place team. The marshaling staff was on the edge of their seats knowing how close it was going to be.

Fight-a-thon: Forbidden Blueberry

At the conclusion of the event, during the award ceremony, the marshals gave out some superlative awards. Team captains were already recognized in their position of leadership so the other members of the teams were looked to for each of these honorifics.

Grittiest Player:

The Red SyRenZ: Luke John

Swallow Twice: Grarr

Forbidden Blueberry: Hamilton "Ham" Burgundy

Team Spirit:

The Red SyRenZ: Jericho

Swallow Twice: Aris

Forbidden Blueberry: Kara

Most Valuable Player:

The Red SyRenZ: Elizah

Swallow Twice: Jasper

Forbidden Blueberry: Ryu

And the winning team for Pressure Point 4 was...

The Blue Team: Forbidden Blueberry