October 13, 2013

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Coming up on Oct 20th: Our Coronation! Featuring the long awaited quest run by Riken Eclipse, you don't want to miss this day!

Today saw a grand total of 20 players show up in the autumn humidity to face the challenges of the day. Three new players came to our park to participate in the fun, brought by Sento. It was Sento's first day at the Valley of Smoke, but as a former citizen of Drifting Winds from the Dragonspine kingdom, he fell right back into the swing of things and quickly made himself at home in our small village.

 As we always try to do, we got our shade tent set up and settled in for the day, then began with our favorite style of game: the mutual annihilation class game. With so many players on the field this week, the game went a little more quickly than it usually does. Laughter echoed as we played our hearts out and welcomed our newest members.

 Finally getting his own bow, Adahay stormed the field this week with his single arrow. More will come, but the one he made is safe, legal, and flies true. Even with only a single arrow, he tore the field up during our games this weekend.

 After a water break, we decided on a Capture the Flag game. Thanks to actual flag poles, one with a red flag and one with black, we were able to have many laughs. The teams were divided, and one team focused more on defense while the other was more offense oriented. Although several great scores were had, including Gainmag's casually strolling behind enemy lines, grabbing the flag, and taking off, as well as Hunter's capture that was so epic, he casually walked back to his base to score the point.

 Another mutual annihilation game saw the tentative return of Prada to the field. Feeling well enough recovered from his ACL surgery to walk with confidence, he chose to play his usual harmless healer self and simply took a death whenever anyone got near him. But he was happy to return to the field after so long!

Today saw the first land-based attack in our participation as a test park in the soon-to-be kingdom hex game, All That Glisters. Zwik decided to attack an empty stretch of land and try to take it as his own. Unfortunately, the land was inhabited by a crazed group of goblins who weren't going to give it up without a fight. Upon realizing that he would be facing nine goblins with a shared life pool of 54, Zwik employed the mercenary services of Henry, Hagari, and Prada at his side for the battle. Henry, Hagari and Zwik held the line successfully against the goblin attackers, while Prada called out combat changes from behind them.

Following a water break and plans for next week's feast and coronation, four rounds of the minion game were played. People then decided they were tired, and went their separate ways to wait for next week's anticipated coronation activities!

October 06, 2013

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October 20th will be Coronation for Valley of Smoke! With a massive quest planned, everyone needs to show up! It's the perfect day to get a free meal and find out more about our game. You're invited!

A total of 13 players braved the strangely out of season heat on this October day. Several of our usual players went on vacation this week. We await their return eagerly!

Starting with our favorite type of game, the mutual annihilation, the two teams broke up evenly with intentions on slaughtering each other. But a twist was introduced to make things more challenging! Henry Greatwing became his own team. Armed with a pole arm, he stood in the center of the field, determined to kill anyone who crossed his path. Serving as a game item in this manner, Henry had infinite lives, but drained the other teams of theirs at an increased rate. 

 After the game and a water break, the teams took the field again together, their ranks unchanged. This time, another twist was added. Riken Eclipse took to the section of gravel covered grass as a neutral healer. Anyone who could reach her could be healed, from either team... if they could reach her! Henry Greatwing stood guard over Riken, determined to stop others from reaching the gravel for their heals. 

Once this game was over, the wind began picking up. This made life entertaining, not only from the viewpoint of the shade tent attempting to become a kite, but also for Riken as she set up a new maze game she had created. Once she was finished marking off the field with tape, teams of three were invited to challenge the maze for the prize of 100 gold pieces to be split between them. 

Henry Greatwing was picked on again in the role of a vicious goblin with plenty of armor. Armed first with two swords, his favorite way of fighting, and then later in the maze with a pole arm, Henry forced the teams of three to use teamwork in order to get past him and claim their gold. All of the players earned their 33 gold each, and, when challenged to bet their money on an all or nothing competition, turned the offer down. 

Several minion based games took place while Riken, Prada and Henry rested on the sidelines. Riken took her version 8 reeve's test for a second time while the three discussed the upcoming special event on October 20th.

 The day ended with another mutual annihilation game that featured Prada on one side of the field as a neutral healer, and Hagari Ironforge on the other as a neutral druid. Henry Greatwing ran back and forth, trying to prevent players from reaching both men at the same time. With the increased enchantments, the game lasted much longer than usual. Here is a brief video of the dual-neutral game fun!

 

As people began running out of steam, and the wind attempted to blow the shade tent away yet again, we packed up and called it a day. 

September 29, 2013

During this week, there was no report made by our trustworthy Prime Minister, Hagari. Without that official report, the website can be updated, however, it has now been beyond a week and Riken doesn't fully remember what happened on this day!

It did start out as a beautiful day, though. Not too warm, but not too cool either. Amid an astonishing amount of newcomers to the field, we set to work playing our first of three mutual annihilation class battles. It was a lot of fun, with large teams on both sides burning through life pools quickly.

One of the water breaks saw an Althing vote for various kingdom positions. Once business was finished, we returned to playing.

One of our new players, the assassin called Hunter, came up with a game called Flood. One player starts out as the rising flood water, and hunts all of the other players down. As each player succumbs to the rising waters, they join the flood's team and help hunt down others. Several rounds of this saw much roleplaying on the field, with laughter all around.

A few other games were played, including Fox and Minnows, before we packed it up and called it a day.

September 22, 2013

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On this first day of Fall, the citizens of the Valley of Smoke found themselves quite busy with a variety of activities.

As the day began on our field, an astonishing 8 new people ventured forth to join our ranks. As many of these players have not yet chosen their warrior names, it becomes difficult to identify them at the moment. Some of them had experience with fighting before, while others had none. Of course, the lack of experience matters not to us, we teach our newcomers how to fight and play just the same!

The day's point was to get our candidates for the upcoming reign qualified for their attempts at running for office. Three brave souls stepped forward to answer the call. 

 

 

Office                 Player

Sheriff                Riken Eclipse

Regent               Grainmag

Champion         Seran A'Imith

As such proceedings are often considered boring, however, they will be discussed at length at the end of this blog post.

 The clouds provided a decent amount of shade, and the cooperative weather kept everyone on their feet until late in the evening this week. The newest players were introduced to basic game skills and rules while the candidates and a few other volunteers took on the challenge of the crown qualifications tournament. 

Once all of the tournament stuff was out of the way, everyone joined in together a class battle game and had no small amount of fun in picking each other off. The new players needed a little encouragement at this point, but were soon in the spirit of the game and slaying their comrades with all the gusto of seasoned warriors.

After this, a points style game was introduced. Each team had a special dagger. They were tasked with using that special dagger in order to slay the captain of the other team. For 15 minutes, the game raged. The score was tied at 2-2 with a minute remaining, when one team pulled out a last second score to win.

<-- In a variation on a class annihilation game, players were split into two very uneven teams: on one side, our resident bard Zamorak Darkfighter, our fighter Henry Greatwing, and one of our barbarians Grainmag, formed a team by themselves. On the other end of the field: everyone else, including all 7 of our 8 new players. In a lesson on teamwork, the three man team won the battle with only three lives remaining.

The day ended with a few rounds of class battles with the minion game twist. As darkness began to overtake the lands, the brave warriors retired for the week, with plans to meet again next week. 

Below are the results for the crown qualifications for those running for office:

As each player is running unopposed, all they needed to do was qualify for their offices. This meant that the day was full of required activities to get them qualified. The day began with the crown tournament - an opportunity for players to pit their skills against each other and possibly win some awards for doing a good job. Three categories saw much challenging combat. Winners for each category are listed below.

Single Short Sword - Grainmag

Florentine - Seran A'Imith

Open - Grainmag

Overall Tournament Winner - Grainmag

Qualification also means an arts and sciences display from the candidates. At least, from the hopeful sheriff and regent. Scores and entries are as follows, on a scale of 0.0-5.0:

Riken 

Green Chemise = 4.0

Hand Woven Apron = 5.0

Neckline Installation Instructions = 5.0

Spoken Performance = 5.0

Grainmag 

Pencil Drawing = 3.0

Arrow Head = 3.0

<-- And, finally, the three candidates sat down to take the required reeves exams. Every holder of office must pass at least one version of these exams once a year, to prove that they understand the rules. 

The candidates have multiple chances to pass these exams before the election comes.

 

Sept 13-15, 2013

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Feast Of The Dead 2013

 
Every so often, the different groups of Amtgard get together for a weekend-long extravaganza of fighting, role-play, camping, and hanging out. Feast of the Dead is one such weekend.

Held every year in the fall in the Hagerstown, MD area, the Feast of the Dead (commonly called simply by FoD) is the chance for all of the Amtgard parks that make up the Kingdom of Crystal Groves to get together and play until we can't stand up to swing a sword any longer.

So, those who were well enough to travel did so. Riken, Grainmag, Hagari, Orpheus, Zamorak, Seran, Henry, and Tungdil (who is still part of our group despite being away at college), descended on the kingdom scene.

All told, 137 players showed up to a small campground in Maryland, where windy conditions kept the masses huddled together near their camp fires when they weren't playing. This year's theme was "The Brothers Grimm", focusing on fairy tales

Friday

A day of arrival saw players coming in at various times. The Valley of Smoke crew's arrival was stretched out, depending on when they could leave home. Riken and Grainmag arrived on scene around noon, and were quick to help out with what setting up they could.

Riken decided to operate a roleplay tavern during this event. She put out a roped off area and made 28 punched tin lanterns to provide some decoration.

Throughout Friday afternoon and evening, Valley of Smoke residents trickled in with others who came from the various Crystal Groves parks. There were even several visitors from outside of the kingdom to this event!

Friday around Sunset saw the first part of the three part quest: Little Red Riding Hood requiring help to get medicine to cure her grandmother. After the questers found all the medicine ingredients, they broke up until the following day.

Elven Court met and had no small amount of drama, as is customary for the elves. Night ditching was held on a side field, thanks to the lights on someone's Jeep. And the roleplay tavern had many visitors.

Saturday

Saturday started bright and early with chocolate chip pancakes! As people climbed out of their tents to face the sunlight, ditching and games began. The second part of the quest began at 10 AM sharp, with questors being sent out to locate the huntsman's axe, as well as several goblins and even a wererat standing in the way!

The Arts & Science competition, a Dragonmaster tournament (meaning the best of the best!) called for entries at 11 AM. Our group's Prada Forel placed 8th with his write up about playing Amtgard as a school club. Riken came in 9th with her hand-woven apron. Her write up about installing a neckline in a tunic came in 12th. Out of 19 entries, these are all impressive scores!

After a lunch of ramen noodles and chicken, many art classes were held. These included candle making and even Riken's weaving class! A silent auction raised $160 for the Amtgard Food Fight. Class games and roleplay rounded out the afternoon's activities.

The final part of the three part quest took place around 2 PM, with questors having to defeat many monsters deep in the forest in order to get the medicine to Grandma's house and save the day!

As the sun set, everyone began patiently waiting for feast. Unfortunately, thanks to a fire that went out, the feast was delayed by almost two hours! When everyone was finally able to eat, there was salad, potato salad, brautwurst, steak soup, and bread for all.

The Valley of Smoke won a cheesecake at the silent auction. After the group was finished with feast, and after court and awards were completed, Valley of Smoke retired to the roleplay tavern to split the cheesecake among themselves. And it was delicious.

The evening ended with Riken's roleplay tavern being the stage for the annual Bardic Gathering. Dozens of players crowded around to listen to those who were brave enough sing, recite poetry, and tell stories for the amusement of all. Here's just a taste of the bardic performance, sung by Shyft Sylentfall from Crystal Groves Duchy.

Sunday

Since we were permitted to stay on site longer than usual, the kingdom Arts & Science competition for crown qualifications, as well as the kingdom tournament, were held on Sunday afternoon. Many of the Valley of Smoke players had to leave early in the interest of making the five hour trek home before it got dark.

Next week, we'll be back at our own park, and it will be great to be home!

September 8, 2013

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A Royal Visit!

A grand total of 11 hit the field today, with two very special visitors, King Marcus and his consort, Katae. The day began with a two team class annihilation game with a twist; two ancient, sky-high walls situated in a T-shape in the middle of our field! How these towers appeared in our practice grounds, we aren't quite certain, but play around them we must!

The battle raged on with the barriers in place. In the interest of the game, all players pretended that these walls, marked by rope on the grass, existed, which led to much laughter as we ducked and dodged around their corners. The heat of the day drove everyone to their water jugs as soon as the battle was over, and then we geared up for another game that utilized our walls.

This game consisted of three teams competing to collect the most chips that were stored in the container in the middle of the field, equally spaced from each of the teams. The goal was to run to the bucket in the middle, grab a single chip, and make it back to your team's respective bucket alive so you could deposit said chip and then go pillage another from the center. The walls guarded the chips as best they could, but the three teams of three were ultimately victorious in robbing the center bucket of its 40 chips. Again, we all tried to beat the heat with plenty of water, laughs, and oo's and ahh's over King Marcus's hammer he brought.

As our mighty druid Hagari was called away on mundane matters, battle continued without him. We fought another class game in the heat, with the walls changing shape somewhat to add a fresh twist. We followed this up with a game of minion, wherein players killed others seemingly at random, only to turn the dead into zombie armies that followed them around the field. After this, the heat of the day won us over, and we retreated to our respective village

Thank you all for coming out and making this another fantastic day in the Valley of Smoke, and a special thank you to our visitors for coming down to fight with us. King Marcus presented Henry Greatwing with a long overdue gift of a new tunic. Prada was elevated to Lord for his service to the local group as well.

We also collected 79 cans for the Amtgard Food Fight, which puts us quite a bit closer to our 250 can goal! Again, thank you all for coming out and making it a great time!

September 01, 2013

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The bright Sunday afternoon welcomed 10 to our field, including a welcome addition to our ranks, Madison! Madison has not yet chosen an Amtgard name, but we welcome her to our field nonetheless!

Eight took the field when we began with a simple class annihilation game that pitted an enchantment-giving healer, a lightning bolt slinging wizard, an entangling druid, and a shield-wielding barbarian against a golden-voiced bard, a not so sneaky assassin, a sissy pants monk, and  another fledgling barbarian. The game was a blast as usual, and we all returned to the tent, got some water, and talked about the dreadful humidity of the day.

After that, Prada had a game for us to try. It was a "Kill the King" style of game that took place on the hill located towards the back of our field. Hagari stood as king and Calanon and Zwik as my bodyguards, took refuge at the top of the hill while a mob of angry, bloodthirsty, smelly villagers attempted to kill Hagari. Prada reeved this battle and served as the line judge for our castle wall that stunned anyone going uphill and over it for 10 seconds, as well as kept a timer of how long it took to kill the king.

After 5 minutes, the king was slain. Teams changed around, a new king was chosen, and a new team attempted to slay the new king. As the battle began, Hagari immediately set to turning Henry Greatwing into his Golem-tank, and the king was slain in 2 minutes, a good minute and a half of which was Hagari enchanting Henry in an excellent display of what an overgrown Druid's abilities can lead to.

After a water break, we played a few games of class minion which went surprisingly well with everyone in full class. In this style of game, when someone is killed, they become the zombie servants of their killers. Many laughs were had, and at the end of the battles, the zombified masses were left chanting "Zwik" and "Henry."

After that battle, we returned to get more water, and  this is when we were joined by a reporter from a local newspaper. He asked a few of us to explain what was going on, but it was Riken who stepped up and became our impromptu spokeswoman. The reporter took about 3 pages of notes on everything everyone told him, took some photos, including a nice group photo, and told us to be on the lookout for the story in the newspaper. Hopefully this will spread the word about us, generate some interest, and get more people on the field.

From there, we played yet another class annihilation for the reporter to take some pictures of us in action. The heat of the day began wearing on some, and we returned to the tent, got some water, and then a few of us decided to play an interesting class annihilation game that pitted myself as a level 5 enchant-heavy druid and chainmail clad warrior Zwik against 4 others. It was soon discovered that a warrior bogged down with druid enchants against no magic users with Dispel Magic was a nasty combo indeed.

After that, people started packing up stuff, suffering from the humidity of the day, and we all went home to rest, repair, and await the next Sunday in the Valley!