Belegarth

Gaston de Vieuxchamps wrote:This was Ragnaroc VII. There is always a ring of fire but this was the first time we had a flaming sword.

The event is based on Norse mythology and there are tournaments during the week to determine who gets to play the roles of the various gods and monsters: Thor, Odin, Midgard Serpent, Fenris, Loki, etc.. Then Saturday there are the various battles, The bridge is Heimdal vs Loki, the field is Thor vs Midgard serpent, the woods is Fenris vs Odin, the "fort" (really a hill) is Tyr vs Grimnir. Being a god doesn't do anything for you except during your specific battle when you are expected to use weapons specific to the god and you are immortal. Only your fated nemesis can kill you and visa versa. Once one of the gods is dead, the other becomes mortal. This always leads to some very interesting strategies, especially when you consider EMP rules are basically the same as SCA except no acting out wounds, everything is three telling blows, hands and lower legs are legal targets, and grappling is allowed, along with punching and kicking.

After all the melees folks rest up for the Ring of Fire which is the finale. The story is Surtr is trying to enter our world though his gate of fire and we must distract him with his love of war and fire until the flames burn down thus delaying Ragnaroc for another year. We must all work together to keep the fighting going without pause and keep it as brutal and spectacular as would enrapture a god until the fire burns down to nothing at which point we win. It is also a tournament of sorts and the winner is next year's Surtr (In this case Micheal won last year). The openning fight is always Surtr vs his nemesis (I forget who). This year he got a Sword of fire for that fight and then others could volunteer to face the sword of fire then the fighting continues with two fighters always in--the winner of a bout can stay and the next fighter (or whoever is ready fastest) jumps in. Sometimes a sort of line forms but other times the fighters just jump in as the mood strikes them. No scores are kept. At the end the winner is determined by crowd applause just like a wet t-shirt contest (or so I'm told :oops: ) The winner tends to be the one with the most spectacular fights. Duke Davin won the year before, actually I think he's wom more than one, being a gorrila with a glaive helps. This year we forced Aveloc to win. He MC's the ring and so hates to be Surtr and kept saying Titus and I both had more applause than him at the end but we didn't let him get away with it.

BTW, I have a lot of slow motion video of Ragnaroc including a little bit of the Ring of Fire. The "Flaming Sword of Fire" looks especially good at 300 frames per second. It will probably take me a few weeks to put together clips and I'm also producing a Ragnaroc DVD eventually.

Duc Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Physic wrote:Yep, that's me getting punched in the face.

Physic wrote:You should all save up and go next year. It is the ultimate event.