By Commander Ryu Goldscale
As an avid reader of Conspiracy Monthy, I must mention how intrigued I was for what this event had in store for the participants. Sadly, the most “risqué” thing about this event was the new safety requirements for pikes enforced this year. This Queen of Hearts continued to be a spectacular competitive event rated E for everyone, and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way! Despite this only being my second time attending, I would describe QoH XXX as the best QoH I have ever been to, and the most fun I have had in a while. I quite liked many of the changes that were made this year, including adding “non com” components to some of the combat tournaments, the ace tournaments, and the addition of Siege weapons in the Art of War tournament. All around, I was thoroughly impressed by the Event Organizers, Marshals, my fellow teammates, and the participants on the opposite team. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year! Now, onto the play by play.
The two teams this year were Team Cressida and Team Sindri. Both teams came armed with an impressive collection of true supporters and Aces. Team Cressida boasted the talents of Shader as General, Evie as Seneshal, and Me as Provost. In addition, we employed the skills of Jasper as our Warrior Ace, Styx as our Mage Ace, Kalashai as our Ace of all Trades, and Bogen as our RAT Ace (rogue assassin thief). Team Sindri, likewise, had an equally formidable lineup of true supporters. Highlord Temorse as General, Kwido as Seneshal, and Graham as Provost. It was obvious Queen Sindri came to win, as they brought Killian as Warrior Ace, Kaelkatar as Mage Ace, Grindin as Ace of all Trades, and someone so mysterious and secretive they were never uncovered as RAT Ace. With such a lineup, the title of Queen of Hearts was quite literally anyone’s to claim.
As always, the event kicked off with all of the major war maneuvers; Kill the Queen, field battle, the incredibly lengthy and excessive Art of War bracket, and of course, Hadrian’s Wall. While Team Cressida fought incredibly well and showed incredible tenacity during the bridge battle, the experience and tactics of Team Sindri overcame us, and once again proved why Highlord Temorse is often asked to be a General each year. I however, will never forget the shock on Lord Aeston’s face, when we proved just how portable a Ballista can be and put it in the tower of our castle.
At various points during the war maneuvers, combatants were pulled aside for the individual and pair tournments such as, closed fighter, open fighter, mixed pair, Duncan's challenge, knight and squire, and newbie. For a full list of the individual tournaments and their winners, I will direct you to this View Article. I do want to say, that the level of skill and sportsmanship on display among all combatants was off the charts. For all the newer players that participated in this year’s Queen of Hearts, I am so incredibly impressed by you and I am so excited to see where you go from here. I know you are going to move on to do amazing things. You all embodied the phrase “do honor to yourself and the Realms” and I would fight beside you anytime.
After the classic war manuvers, we moved into what I like to call “non com war maneuvers”. Technically, they don’t require combat, but they certainly required a level of athleticism and projectiles that I wouldn’t want to participate in as a true noncombatant as per the omnibus. Regardless, this encapsulates tournaments like Rock Assault, a magic missile bonanza that went on for far too much time and included far too many rocks. Despite the many missiles to the face, we all escaped mostly unscathed, and maturely let Aeston know ways he could improve the tournament. I’m kidding, we all immediately turned on him and helped him collect the scattered missiles by lobbing them in his general direction.
There were many more tournaments, both combat and non combat, that ran Saturday. So many that I wasn’t able to keep track of them. I will once again direct you to the full list of Tournaments and Victors that was posted on the View recently. If you participated in these tournaments that I didn’t mention, you kicked ass, regardless of if you won. I am so happy that you came and gave 110%.
Saturday ended with the Weapon Showcases, a series of one on ones and squad battles that showcased individual combos. I had luckily found a Tambourine in my box of things, and took advantage of the situation to cheer louder than the other team and boost our spirits. While every participant in the showcase was incredible, I want to give a particular shout out to the sword and shield three man squad participants. That was a battle that will go down in the history books.
Night fell with the promise of the crafting presentations and a party. Both teams participated in the opening ceremony to light the bonfire, and despite how it looked, the rest of site was kept fire free. A few people were invited to share some words about Queen of Hearts and the order of the Magi surprised us by inducting Merrix into their ranks. I was further surprised by the Knights of the Lunar Aegis when they called me up to promote me from an Initiate to an Elite, the second step on my journey towards becoming a Knight of the Lunar Aegis. The evening ended with the presentation of all the crafting competitions. As always, we crafters went all out and put our best foot forward. All of the projects were stunning and true works of Art. I am sure the judges had a tough time determining the winners of each category.
Sunday rolled around with the 5 man and 10 man battles. For an extra boost of morale, team Cressida dressed to impress in Hawaiian and Tropical shirts, a tradition I hope will continue in the future. At this point, the scoreboards was looking pretty tight, I truly believe this was the closest competition I’ve seen at Queen of Hearts. Even though we were all exhausted from the day before, Luke John apparently didn’t get that memo and completely swept the five man bear pit. Where did he get that energy from???
There were a few more tournaments on Sunday, but let’s be honest, you’re all just here to read about Queens War. For the sake of my audience (and because I can’t remember which tournaments were on which days) I’ll skip ahead. Queens War, as always, is the highlight of the event, at least for me. A series of limited 1v1s that always impress and dazzle. This year was no exception. Everyone brought their A game, even those that normally don’t fight. Some notable moments I remember include an amazing Javelin catch by Rosetta, some matrix level projectile dodging from Voutia, and a fierce attempt by Makhta to defeat a 6’6 with double daggers! As always, though, Queens War had to end and despite an incredible showing by Griffin, Team Sindri took the victory.
After was the awards ceremony. This year, the awards were custom, laser etched wooden swords with the name of the tournament on them, and similar mason jars filled with nicknacks and candy. I completely agree with Shader that these awards were “not mid”. I would even go so far as to call them “peak”. Omri also presented some custom awards, hand drawn and completely free of bias. I was delighted by these awards personally. At the end, of course, a Queen of Hearts had to be crowned. The competition was close, but Team Sindri cinched the win! Many accolades to Queen Sindri! May you have a long and prosperous reign (until the next Queen is crowned).
This year really renewed my interest in Queen of Hearts. Previously, I felt I could take it or leave it, but this year made me feel as if I would be missing out by not attending. For my first time being a True Supporter, I had so much fun and really got to see in real time how much I’ve improved. I want to shout out the amazing photographers, YPNN, Orion, Margaret, Rowan, Toah, and Cyrus. There was truly not a moment of this event that wasn’t photographed and every picture is just stunning. Thank you all so much for your dedication to documenting everyone’s best moments. To the staff and marshals, THANK YOU! I cannot say thank you enough! To my friends and Teammates on Team Cressida, you all rock. You brought my dreams of what a Queen of Hearts team could be to life and I will forever be thankful to you all. To the opposing members of Team Sindri, congratulations on the win and thank you for bringing your all. Despite the gap in the team size and experience, you all were willing to roll with the punches and did everything you could to help keep the teams as balanced as possible. Thank you to those who switched teams halfway through, and especially thank you for not pulling any punches. I hope Queen of Hearts XXX will be remembered for a long time, I know I certainly will, and no matter what the future of Queen of Hearts holds, I will see you all on the battlefield!
All Hail Queen Sindri!
Cmd Ryu
PS: Their RAT was Kwido. It was very obvious.
[Tambourine of Victory!]
