masterfrederick

Well, the party went well, with LOTS of food and games. The Queen for a Day held contests to determine who would be her Champion, and I decided to enter. The contests sounded fun, so why not?

The first contest was Knife Throwing. When I heard this, I won't lie to you, I suddenly felt like a cheater. You see, I used to throw knives heavily back in my teens. I'd go out for sometimes six hours a day in my backyard and just let steel fly. I've slowly chipped gaping holes in many a target board, and more than nearly hollowed out a few tree-trunk targets. Then I realized it had been nearly fifteen years since I threw that constantly, and that these weren't my knives. Okay, I figured it might just be fair, then. No problem... I took the three blades in hand, felt for the balance point, and it all came back to me. I let the first one fly, and it sank into the target. Then the second, then the third... For three rounds this went on, each round scoring high. I took this without a fight. Not for lack of trying to GET a fight for my win, mind you. I actually felt bad enough for having such an unfair advantage that I began giving knife-throwing form and technique lessons to my opponents. I think they might have thought at first that I was pulling their legs, but after a while of seeing most throw better using my advice, they realized it was all on the up and up. For this contest I won a lighter/pocketknife set. Really pretty, with an eagle motif.

Next up was the "Joust" a la American Gladiators (Pugil on a balance beam). Again, I took this one. Too much time learning to use a staff made me pretty much unbeatable by the people I fought. For this one I won a shortsword.

Next up was Heraldry, where I took third place. For this contest each participant had to decorate a shield, a coat of arms to represent you as Queen's champion, if you win. The Queen chooses the one she likes best. Since I was picked as third, I still got to pick from the prizes. Well, as I went to look at what was on the shelf, I noted that the second place winner was having trouble deciding which of two prizes she wanted. I couldn't resist, so I grabbed the one from her right hand and said, "I claim THIS as my prize..." and placed it back in her hand, saying to her, "And now pick something for yourself." I tell you, that felt GOOD.

The fourth contest was Riddles, at which I do not so good... I didn't place, but it was kinda cool to hear the answers. Riddles rock. They had some really good ones. They were all at least one hundred years old, classics. Some of them I remembered from MENSA quizzes. I had heard all of them in one form or another, but couldn't recall all the answers. Ah, well, can't win them all!

The fifth was Best Costume (costume? COSTUME? I have no idea what you are talking about... Costume INDEED. I wore the black leather pants, crimson ruffle-cuffed shirt, my coat, eyepatch, talons, and as an added bonus, my floggers on one hip, and Lorelai's shackles (for costume purposes only) on the other. As an added touch, when it came time to parade past the Queen, I bowed deeply, scraping my talons against one another to create that WONDERFUL "SCHLINGGG!!!" sound, and as I stood up, opened my coat wide to show the other accessories. I looked good, but to be honest I had no clue I was going to win that one... Dimitri Dragonhealer was there, and I always envied his coat-- SHARP. Also there was a woman (don't know if she normally identifies as male or female, so I'm using the default setting here) dressed as a Friar, beard and all. Definitely had me on Originality. But in the end I won, and for my costume I got a cute blue dragon's head pendant.

With the contests over, having won three and placed in a fourth out of five, I won the title of Queen's champion. I was given a beautiful stylized machete (it's a machete- shaped blade, but I think the designer was going for a falchion) called the "Demon Broad Sword." I've played with one before, and I like the way they handle. Pretty sure it'll find its way out to the stage next year for a daytime show.

And now on to the fire... Our Hostess' parents were there, and it was nice to meet them! Really pleasant folks. She had told them about the firedancing I do, and they were looking forward to it. For the first time in 6 years, I performed in all black rather than te trademark cardinal red pants. I went out and gave a short disclaimer speech and performed. I did a staff, baton, sword single and double whip set, along with firebreathing, fleshing and fire eating. The Hostess' parents were thrilled to get to see it! Only a couple snags the whole night, one of which was a twisted knee. Turns out leather pants take more out of my mobility than I am okay with.

After the fireshows were done with, I had a drink and eventually went to bed. In the middle of the night it started raining, and my heater went out early, leaving me cold. I was in one sleeping bag, sleeping on top of another, so it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't all that great either. After waking up and packing up the interior of the tent, I decided to give the tent to our Hostess and the Queen for their generosity in inviting me. Turned out they really needed a new tent anyway. We're getting a new one before the start of next Tourney Season, so it's no big deal. But after all that, I get home and realize I left my LANTERN there... LOL!!!

All in all it was a wonderful night, with a few snags... But then again, if every party went perfect, what would there be to talk about?


Oh, and BTW, I got the pictures from the Portland Pirate Festival. Here you go, the best of them:





That is all...