The Fifth Ducal North War in the Kingdom of An Tir’s Shire of Coill Mhor was one for the annals of time; blood was shed, lives were lost, kingdoms were defeated. The Duke Iuean the Awful of the Wolfpack continued his campaign against Duke Owain of the Einars for control of the keep but both forces managed to fight to a standstill.
“We had a lot of people happy with the site and aside from the mosquitos – maybe it was the mosquitos who won the war – it was a great event,” said Andie Giddings, who also goes by the name Asta Eriksdottir in Coill Mhor. “It was the biggest turnout for our event, we had a lot of people there.”
Giddings estimated that roughly 200 people came to the event, at least 50 more than usual.
The participants came from all over B.C. and some even crossed the border from Washington for a chance to wack people.
The Fifth Ducal North War is the only sanctioned event by the Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA) in 100 Mile House and northern B.C., where people from across the province meet for an annual battle and other events, such as jousting (which was cancelled this year) and a bard showdown.
With its central location, the South Cariboo makes for an ideal location.
“People don’t have to go super far to come up. It’s only five hours from the coast and four or five from the north so it’s pretty good for everyone to come central and get together,” said Giddings.
The jousting tournament was cancelled after a horse belonging to the person bringing all the horses was injured down at the coast.
At the bardic slam, people from one of the dukedoms write funny call-out songs against their rivals and the subject of the song gets to sing a rebuttal. Giddings, who’s character belongs to the Einar family, said it was a pretty good time but that it wasn’t as big as it was in previous years.
The Peer Road Show, an award ceremony of sorts also happened on June 23 after the battle.
“Peers get together and show some of their projects, so we had some laurels who were showing their garb or some of the things they made, some of their clothing or projects,” said Giddings. “It’s an award giving for prowess in a certain field.”
The SCA is a non-profit society aiming to teach people in certain fields, such as bookbinding, sword fighting, sewing, embroidery, calligraphy and a lot more.
On June 24, the event ended with a Newbie Bearpit fight, where members who have been with the organization for under two years fight each for prizes. Each winner gets to pick their loot from a picnic bench, which is loaded with prizes donated from the chapter and other groups.
The Ducal War takes place on the same weekend every year and the chapter will also host a combat archery battle at the end of September.
