Hawkwood Baronial Birthday XX

I absolutely love my home event! We have such an excellent group of people working together to make all the pieces move harmoniously. This year I had the honor of developing and running the Arts & Sciences (A&S) Tournaments, the Bardic Tournament, and the after-hours Bawdy Bardic Circle (which was deliciously scandalous!).

I live and breathe themes, so when I found out the theme of our event this year was "The Great Unicorn Hunt" I ran with it. In addition to the Largesse Derby run by the indomitable Baroness Theresa of Caid, we had three tournaments:

• "So Fluffy I Could Die" encouraged entrants to provide fluffy or death-themed works of art to be judged by the populace. The prize for this was a unicorn backpack I found at the Universal Studios store - the unicorn of course being the very same one referred to by the quote from "Despicable Me"! It very rightfully went to a young girl who entered the spectacular hobby horse named "Loveacorn" with her mother. To my great joy, I saw her carrying it around everywhere she went after court.

• "Show Me the Sparkle" requested participants to dazzle judges from the Order of the Pearl and Order of the Laurel with shiny and gem-colored projects. We had quite a few amazing entries for this tournament, and a handful of points separated the winner from other worthy works of art. A beautifully embroidered unicorn pouch was the prize for this tournament. It was donated by the very talented Lady Heather Hrafnsdottir, who prompted an impromptu gathering of the Pearls with the exquisite nature of her work. Surprising no one, she was inducted into the Order of the Pearl at evening court!

• "Craft-A-Corn" was a fun all-ages opportunity for art! Members of the populace were able to decorate a unicorn horn (a white party hat) with supplied paints, markers, gemstones, paper, etc. in preparation for careful examination by Their Royal Majesties and Their Excellencies of Hawkwood. Two winners were selected and received 1) a unicorn tapestry and 2) a unicorn statue for their magical efforts.

The Bardic Competition also followed theme with performances about "Mythical Creatures of Lore and Legend". I had five entries ranging from the beauty of selkies and mermaids to the sad yet fanciful telling of the extinction of the unicorn. The Queen was in attendance and she hand-picked the winner of this event, a newcomer who submitted an original sonnet. A basket of bardic goods was gifted to the winner at court and contained necessities such as a research book, a unicorn-themed journal, and a coffee mug.

Aside from the A&S and Bardic tournaments, I was also able to get some more practice as a Minister of the List (MoL) by running the Swiss 5 Baronial Rapier Champion Tourney held by the dashing Lord Aleksándr Tomašović (I might be a little biased on that since he's my husband!). While my required internships for MoL are completed, I am still awaiting official warranting and enjoyed the practice and seeing the fighting! It also perfectly aligned with seeing my Lord's elevation to the rank of Free Scholar in the Academie d'Espee and Her Majesty tying a yellow scarf around his arm as a symbol of his new rank. I am so incredibly proud of all of his hard work, and am so very excited to continue to see him progress.

My opportunities to share my love of all things bardic were plentiful at the event. I was able to put on my Rose Bard hat before morning court and perform "The Hammer Song" by His Excellency Maelgwyn Dda of Ansteorra. Following my bardic tournament, we opened up the proverbial stage to any who wished to share a piece and I performed the very on-theme "The Unicorn Song" by Moonwulf. During feast, I performed in the role of Baronial Bardic Champion and shared Lady Alura the Twinn's "Far Mountains" which she penned in Anno Societatis XIII to commemorate the very first event in Hawkwood's territories. I also sang a filk of Rhiannon Giddens's "Calling Me Home" which I penned prior to last year's Baronial Birthday in preparation of assuming the mantle of bardic champion.

Mountains blue brush the sky

Ancient trees grow near as high

My heart quakes at the very sight

Hawkwood's calling me home

It's calling me home

Birds of prey guard this land

I hear their cries from where I stand

They say, "Build your home with heart and hand"

Hawkwood's calling me home

It's calling me home

Rivers wind where e'er they may

Listen well to what they say

"It may take time, but you'll find your way"

Hawkwood's calling me home

It's calling me home

Friends near, and some quite far

But 'neath the same bright distant stars

The wind whispers, sings through the dark

Hawkwood's calling me home

It's calling me home

Mountains blue brush the sky

Ancient trees grow near as high

My heart quakes at the very sight

Hawkwood's calling me home

It's calling me home

Hawkwood's calling me home

It's calling me home

The Bawdy Bardic Circle featured a spur-of-the-moment "Secret (Not-so-secret) Bawdy Bardic Haiku Challenge" and Baroness Azza al Shirazi won the prize, a puzzle mug from Claybaby Pottery, for an interesting tale about a walking stick. I performed an original bawdy work, "(I'm a) Baronial Bardic Champion", but will refrain from posting the lyrics here for obvious reasons. Catch me in real life though and I will sing it for you! Until then, happy barding!