Champs continues - a new Archery Champion is named!

On July 22nd 2018, at the Archery Muster held in the Canton of Beau Fleuve, Her Excellency and I held our tournament to determine a new Archery Champion. The hopeful archers gathered, firing many arrows and consuming large amounts of pot luck, but in the end a choice was made.Lord Abdullah al-Rashid was named  the new Hael archery Champion! Anyone who has seen Lord Abdul with a bow will attest to the fact the Hael is well represented. Many thanks to our parting champion Lady Simonetta di Alfassi

Among the top shooters we had Lady Thalia  and Brian Wypij, both shot well, however Brian's work schedule does not allow him a trip to Blackstone and Lady Thalia has graciously accepted a position as our thrown weapons champion. We thank them both for their service.

Groups in Focus - Hael Hounds!

In addition to interviewing people in the Hael, Her Excellency and I wanted to interview groups, units, and households that dwell in or play with the Hael. Some of these groups are directly attached to the Barony and others just have members that live in the Hael. This time around we are taking a look at the Baronial archery unit the "Hael Hounds".

Does the group have a device or heraldry?

We have an unofficial badge that we use: 

Who is the head/leader of your group?

Yes, Cynwulf Rendell is the leader and Eleanore Godwin is the “Den Mother” of the Hounds

When was the group started?

The modern incarnation of the group started when Cynwulf Rendell took over as Captain of the Archers of the Hael in 2014.

Is the group still active?

Hael Yes!  And damn proud of it!

Approximately how many members are in your group?

Twenty four members and growing!

What type of group is it (fighting household, A&S, mixed)?

Archery/Service

Is the group primarily in the Rhydderich Hael?

Yes; the modern incarnation requires members to reside in the Hael.

Please provide a brief history of your group.

It was actually formed by THL Thomas of the Bearwoods and THL Belgrande the Bladegatherer  decades ago.  My understanding is the earlier incarnation was a humorous, loose-knit group of archers. Now, we take being a “Hael Hound” seriously. We serve the Barony proudly, and honorably on the archery field, and our Kingdom when called. You ask what a “Hael Hound” is. A “Hael Hound” is part Dog of War; part Sea Dog of the Barbary Coast, part Cerebus,the three headed Dog of Hell, and part King Charles Spaniel with gentleness and loyalty. That is what it is to be a “Hael Hound'!

Is your group accepting new members?

Yes! The more the merrier!  It's not too hard to become a “Hael Hound”. Be a member of the Barony, attend practice regularly to sharpen your skills, and shoot for the Barony in a tournament or two.

Who should interested people contact?

Cynwulf Rendell/Ralph Spencer, Captain of Archers: archerymarshall@wnysca.org or Eleanore Godwin/Wanda Spencer: wcsteachhistory@yahoo.com

On point! The Hael Welcomes a new Archery Champion.

Our new Champion Lady Simonetta di Alfassi

What an exciting week for the Champions of the Hael! Only a day after the new fencing champion was determined (Lord Wolfgang Starcke), the archers of the Hael gathered to decide the next archery champion. The tournament was held at the Double T archery club alongside the normal Baronial archery practice. There was a total of seven archers shooting, with five of the seven competing for the champion spot.

The final duel!

The tournament included two parts. First, each person was required to complete a single Royal Round before moving onto the main part of the tourney. The score of the Royal Round was not important and was solely meant to encourage people to submit Royal Rounds for the year.  The main part of the tournament involved shooting two rounds of six arrows at a standard archery target at a distance of 20 yards. The goal was to score as closest to 41 points without going over. The score for each ring was modified with the center (yellow) set as 15 points, working out to the outer ring (white) set as 1 point.

At the end of the first round of shooting Lord Abdullah al-Rashid was in the lead with a total of 40 points. The second round began with no less enthusiasm even though a score of 40-41 was required to challenge or beat Abdullah. Arrows flew, the scores were counted, and in an exciting upset Lady Simonetta di Alfassi came away with a high score of exactly 41 points! Bewildered but happy, Lady Simonetta di Alfassi was offered and accepted the position of Baronial Archery Champion!



Thank you to our outgoing Champion Lady Siobhan Readnait for her service and for running such a fun tournament and to all the archers who joined us for the tourney.

The scores and tokens for the shooters (provided by  Lady Siobhan Readnait)

Scarlet Guard Inn 2017- Post event aftermath!

THL Cynwulf Rendell

Greetings to the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael from your Captain of Archers, Cynwulf Rendell. The Barony should be proud of the Hael Hounds and their excellent efforts at the Scarlet Guard Inn Archery Festival! The Hael had sixteen Hael Hounds, two future Hounds and five Friends of the Hounds at this event!

On Friday evening, Lady Feya started out being the top female shooter using a modern era bow, in the Flight Shoot achieving 165 yards distance.  Hael Yeah! In the Scarlet Guard Challenge, representing the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael, was Lady Thalia and Lord Chebe of the Canton of Beau Fleuve, proudly shooting. As with everything else in life, another archer prevailed. We all should be proud of the effort put forth!

The Scarlet Guard Challengers

In the Kingdom of Aethelmearc Archery Championship ,the Hael Hounds had three participating in the finals, Lady Siobhan,  Lady Thalia, and Lord Theodoric. Two Friends of the Hael Hounds also made the finals, Baron Edward and Lord Snorri. When all the shooting was said and done, another archer prevailed. These archers should be applauded!

Kingdom Champion Shoot!

In court, the Hounds showed their skills and efforts by being called for recognition. Lady Feya was called for her Flight Shoot achievement. THL Milheim was called for his great shot, shooting a two inch bird target at 29 yards on his first shot wit his crossbow. (Note, no actual living bird was damaged during this shoot). Lord Mikus was called up for his great shot, placing an arrow exactly between the eyes of a dragon target, (Note, no actual living dragon was damaged during this shoot). One of the Friends of the Hounds, Lord Martin Lewis was called up as a winner of his range. One the great highlights of court was watching an AOA being awarded to Thalia and Chebe for at least one part of their efforts in Hael Archery. Vivant to Lady Thalia and Lord Chebe!

It should be noted that  Hael Hounds Lady Siobhan, Lady Simmonetta, Lord Chebe and the Friends of the Hael Hounds, Baron Edward, Baroness Anastasie,and Lord Snorri fulfilled their duties as Queen's Guards. In addition to duties, Lady Siobhan, Lady Simmonetta , Lord Robert L'Etourdi and I (Cynwulf Rendell), worked bow inspection for the event. These three individuals made great strides on becoming archery marshals.  

         

After court, it was time to eat and celebrate the day. Our illustrious Baron Magnus, with help, went on a pizza run while the Friends of the Hounds, Baron Edward and Baroness Anastasie BBQ'ed  fourteen lbs of ribs to feed the hounds and cooked additional items too numerous to remember! Thank you and a great Howl to these two!

Lady Simmonetta, Baroness Miriel, Lady Feya and Lord Snorri led the group in relaxing and funny songs. Also, some good stories and some bad jokes were told! Scarlet Guard Inn hit the mark and all went home happy and proud.    

Links to additional Hornwood photos: 

Lord Mikus Photos

Baron Magnus photos

Hael Hounds and Friends at Hornwood!

And of course....Goats! (Inside joke)

That is a Hael of a lot of Bacon!

THL Cynwulf Rendell

On December 2 our noble archer Captain THL Cynwulf Rendell called all archers to practice to compete for glory, to compete for honor, but most importantly to compete for Bacon! Eleven archers let fly at a series of pig and bacon themed targets with one goal in mind…win the coveted almighty bacon…did I mention there was bacon? I had a great deal of fun at the tourney and snapped a few photos to share with everyone who was not able to attend.

Rendell reported the results of the tourney: “Good archery practice and Bacon Tourney! With 11 archers practicing and competing in the tourney. Magnus (de Lyons) was first and won double smoke bacon, Theodoric (of York) was second and won discount store bacon, and in third place was Caleb (Reynolds) who won bologna for fried bologna”.

An honorable mention must be given to THL Eleanore Godwin who not only assists in the general organization of practice, but took a bath in bacon grease cooking the tasty snacks for the tournament that night (but that was some good bacon).

This tourney was a fine example of the hard work and imagination that Rendell puts into the Hael archery program. Under his watchful eye the archery program has grown to fantastic numbers and continues to flourish. He is a credit to both the Barony and the Kingdom. If you have not had a chance to come out to archery practice please consider joining us.

Now if you will excuse me I have some bacon to eat…hmmmm tastes like victory!

Don't hit that Bacon!

Hit the goat...negative points!

Out of the pan and into the fire!

Just when you thought there wasn't any more bacon!

Our Brave Team!

Our Baronial Champs So Far!

Last month on May 28th our barony held Palfreys and Polearms which was when His excellency and I named some of our baronial Champions and Award winners, a few of these chosen will represent our barony at the 7 Pearls Competitions coming up August 16th, 2016 in St. Swithin's Bog in Summerhill PA. 

Our Fencing Champion

Minamoto Roku-i Sakurako

Our Thrown Weapons Champion

THL Eleanore Godwin 

Our Arts & Sciences Champion

Lord Wolfgang Starcke

Our First Equestrian Champion

Lord Rhiannon Elandris of Glyndrvdwy

Our Chivalry Champion and Most Improved Fighter of the Year

Lord Tadhg Mag Uidhir

Our Baronial Keystone Holder

Lord Rhys Penbras ap Daffyd

Our Iron Man Champion

Fionnbhar (the horse)

Then because there are were many members of the Barony who could not be present at the event but had declared for Champion positions, we decided that the Titles of Baronial Champions of Heavy Weapons, Bardic and Archery would be announced at a later date.

At Hornwood Scarlet Guard Inn on June 11th, 2016 we had the chance to name our Archery Champion.

Our Archery Champion

Lady Siobhan Readnait 

There will be more info to come on Our Heavy and Bardic Champions, keep your eyes open!!

Another steps forward to declare...plus a bunny!

My apologies if we are skipping the order that these are coming in. Her Excellency and I are rapidly trying to catch up with the overwhelming number of responses to our call for possible Baronial Champions! Here is another...please hear the words of Simonetta di Alfassi and....her bunny!

Another Champion hopeful vying for all but two Champion positions!

A man of many talents Lord Wolfgang Starcke throws his hat into the ring!

"Greetings from Lord Wolfgang Starcke, once and future Iron Man of the Rhydderich Hael. Disturbing word has reached me of a great shortage of contenders for various champion positions in our fine barony. To help remedy this, I offer my services to your Excellencies as rattan champion, rapier champion, thrown weapons champion, archery champion and Arts & Sciences champion. I would add equestrian champion, but the horses are all plotting against me. I consider my absence from the bardic competition a service to the entire Kingdom, not just the barony.  

With all that said, I will happily serve in whatever capacity you desire."

Now we need that bardic hopeful.....?

Seven Pearls Championships

This year the Kingdom's Seven Pearls Championships will be happening all at one event!! This weekend long event will be held August 19-21, 2016 in the wonderful Barony of Saint Swithin's Bog.

All the assorted Barony's of the Kingdom will be bringing their champions to this event to compete to see who will hold the title of Kingdom Baronial Champion in their field. Heavy, Rapier, Thrown, Archery, A&S, and Bardic. (and maybe more..)

So if you are looking to become our Baronial Champion this year, you need to save this date because you will be required to attend and represent our Barony.

So stay tuned for more information, His Excellency and I will be posting more about the Baronial Championship as it draws closer, and we can't wait!

Link to Kingdom Calendar Event Page

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Another hopeful champion has raised his hand and entered the ring! Please congratulate THL Cynwulf Rendell who has put forth his name to compete for the position of Hael archery champion.


The Scroll (shown below) was created by THL Eleanore Godwin...who I believe also, as the scroll says and Cynwulf remarked..."threatened my personal well being if I did not request permission to compete"...

Good luck Rendell!

Remember its not too late to declare! Her Excellency and I have already received more and will post them shortly.

Another Champion hopeful steps up!

At Ice Dragon another Champion hopeful declared her intent to compete for a spot as a Hael Champion. Lady Siobhan Readnait submitted the following scroll declaring she would like to become our archery Champion. Please wish her luck when you see her! 
Magnus and Miriel

We have other hopefuls to announce and will do so in the coming days (we plan to take each in turn). 

It is not too late to declare! There are open spots that we need to fill. Don't be afraid you are too new or not skilled enough. For Her Excellency and I champs is not about winning or losing, it is about representing the Barony with honor and pride. 

Click here to read previous posts about this years Champs!

Thank you again!