Event Review - Outlands Glory 2007 - by Zubeydah

This page contains an event review by Zubeydah. This represents solely her opinion and views/thoughts at the time of writing, and do NOT reflect upon her Barony, her Region, her mentors and friends, or anyone else.

Note: This was written well over a year after the actual event (my bad) and is missing a LOT. It’s really more of a summary, then a review.

The Kingdom of the Outlands holds an annual event called “Glory” and the event theme is that individuals compete on one of the several Paths of Glory, which in and of itself, is very cool. There are tournaments and competitions packed into a very busy event that spans several days. For me, Glory was All About Nate.
Nate (Nathaniel MacPhereson) is my brother (mundanely), and news had come to me that he was going to be squired to His Excellency, Sir Haroun al-Mabsoot ibn Uthman al-Dhi'b al-Abyadh ibn Ubaydallah banu Rhi Asfar, (Master of the Pelican, Baron of the Court of The Outlands, Iron Hart, Defender of the Stag's Blood, Companion of the Order of the Stag's Heart, Companion of the Order of the Argent Hart, Companion of the Order of the Dragon's Claw, Companion of the Order of the Dragon's Blood, Companion of the Order of the Scales of Dragonsspine, Companion of the Order of the Gentle Dragon, Companion of the Order of the Queen's Grace, Guardian of the Golden Flame, Companion of the Order of the Venerable Guard, and Walker of the Way. . . and all around amazingly cool dude.) There was no way in heck I was going to miss this special day for him.

Nate had asked that I make up some dessert items for his household party, and for another party his House had been asked to sponsor. So in the days up to the event, I was a whirling dervish of chocolately goodness, making up 3 types of fudge (Dark Chocolate Kahlua, Dark Chocolate Chambord Walnut, and Milk Chocolate Hazelnut ) and five batches of truffles (Dark Chocolate diSaronno, Milk Chocolate Kahlua and Dark and Milk chocolate Peanut butter) and a batch or two of my very naughty coffee / Kahlua brownies.

I was also carrying good wishes from a number of folks for Sir Haroun; transplants in Ansteorra from the Kingdom of the Outlands.

When I got to the airport, I talked to the agents at the gate about my carry on luggage – The cooler full of chocolates was very heavy and didn’t fit in the overhead bin. I was very worried about checking it, but the flight attendants volunteered to remove their luggage from their reserved spot, so I could transport the chocolate in the main cabin. (Though there were a number of jokes about some being missing by the time we got to Denver…)

I rented a car at the airport and made my uneventful way to my parents home in Greeley. I got there early enough that I had a bit of time with my folks, and got to go shopping with my mom in Fort Collins. The bead store we went to happened to be staffed by an SCA member, who heard me talking to my mom about the event. She knew Nate, and asked me to pass along her good wishes.

I stayed at my parents home overnight, and the morning of the event my sister, Dominique, picked me up. Armed with breakfast from McDonalds, we hit the road, bright and early. It was a typical Colorado day, with bright azure skies. The site was about two hours from Greeley, and we had fun text messaging Nate once we got closer. At one point, we were heading up a hilly bit of road, flanked on both sides by hills, when we spotted a stag. (The stag being the symbol of the Kingdom of the Outlands) It seemed like a wonderful portent for the day.

We arrived around 8:30ish, and folks were still crawling out of their tents. Dominique began yanking out coolers of this and that, and we started making breakfast for everyone. There was a veritable feast once we were done, and everyone was fully sated – over the course of the event, they went through a full twelve pounds of bacon! (I must admit that my ability to cook eggs in the wild outdoors on a portable grill is .. er.. lacking. The eggs I was tasked to manage didn’t turn out the best.) One particularly amusing moment came when a friend of Nate’s, named Elendil, solemnly declared that pancakes were his favorite thing in the whole world. When Dominique handed him a plate stacked high with blueberry pancakes topped with whipped cream, his eyes were nearly as big as the serving tray. He proclaimed her to be the best lady in the whole wide world.

There were events going on throughout the day, and I got to see a few tournaments here and there. It was wonderful to actually get to see my brother fight for the first time. Unfortunately the pairings put him up against some stout competition, and in one case, it was with a weapon he had never used. He did not win the bouts I got to witness.

Nate and Mordrake were both members of the Queen’s Guard, so that took up some of their time. I got to snap some photos of the goings on (which can be found on my online photo album). The Queen, Her Majesty Madigan, seemed rather nice and approachable. I like the formality that surrounds the Crown in the Outlands: Each Guard and member of her entourage bear her symbol, and everyone was in matching tunics.

After the first set of tournaments, everyone headed back to the camp for lunch. Dominique and I joked that we were ‘sandwich ninjas’ as we bustled with deft grace around each other, building hearty lunches for all the hungry fighters. It’s amazing how much turkey, ham and roast beef can be decimated by people who have just come off the battle field.

While at camp, I got the opportunity to meet Sixtus Goeth from the Armour Archive. We didn’t have much time to chat, but it was nice to put a name to a face.

When it came time for the squiring, we all gathered around over by one of the tournament fields. Sir Haroun and his Lady, Dovita, spoke about what it meant to them for Nate to enter into their service. Dominique and I were nearby, beaming with pride. Nathaniel gave his oath, and then in a unique tradition, he was tackled to the ground and all of his squire brothers piled on top. The first two on the pile, however, knelt over him, creating a barrier so that he didn’t take the *full* weight of all the others – representational of the support that they as a family would give him. (Mordrake was one of the two)

One thing I did enjoy throughout the day was grilling… er.. chatting… with Sevilla, who Mordrake had made it clear he cared dearly for, and was thinking very seriously about asking her to marry him. There was no way this woman was going to get to take away our Mordrake without getting grilled by the Hansen Women: She had to pass muster! So Dominique and I took every opportunity to talk with Sevilla, and get to know her. Sevilla is a very strong personality, as well as creative and decisive. It was clear that she cared for Mordrake, and that they were well suited in many ways.

If you’ve visited my website and seen the beading page in the projects section, it’s overflowing with photos of amber I’ve made for Nate to give away. One cool thing that happened was that I got to take photos of some of the folks who have received that work, when they were wearing their amber. This included Gwydion, Bert, and Mordrake. I didn’t get to snap one of Dominique or HRM Madigan, though – there simply wasn’t time or opportunity.

At late afternoon/evening court, I sat with some other members of the household, as Nate was on duty. Dominique was back at camp, and we tried to correspond via text message, as there were rumors going about that it would be good for all members of the household to be present. We weren’t sure who would be recognized, but she didn’t want to miss anything important. Unfortunately, my cell signal was very bad, so we tried using runners (the site is BIG)… but messages got garbled.

As it turned out, the news was that Mordrake (formally known as Oliver Mordrake) would receive a Kingdom service award, elevating him to the rank of Honorable Lord. Sadly, Dominique (who is Mordake’s ex-wife, and still a very good friend) was not able to witness it. I crept close to snap some photos, and heard Queen Madigan teasing Mordrake that he had better get himself a device and name registered, to which he was able to answer that he had gotten it word it had passed through Society only just that morning! I beamed with pride at that point, as I’d been helping him with the artwork for a while.
Also honored at court was Gwydion’s lady, who received her AOA. I got to snap a photo of the scroll, which was just lovely. It was interesting to see the cultural differences between the Outlands and Ansteorra. Here, we shout “Vivat!” – with one shout for an AOA level award, two for a Grand level award, and three for a Peerage or Nobility. In the Outlands, everyone gets three Huzzahs. As well, if someone isn’t present in court in Ansteorra, we read it into law but it is kept a secret until it’s presented in person, in a court. In the Outlands, it’s given to a friend or group representative, who will then give it to the absent person.

After court, we gathered at the campsite. Cynethryth, who is Nate’s room mate and very close friend, had missed the earlier squiring. To give her the opportunity to see it, Sir Haroun and his Lady very kindly went through the oath again. This time, Nathaniel spoke the “Sacred Words” of the house – “There is but one Goddess, and Her name is Dovita”… the ‘squire pile’ was much smaller this time: Just Haroun and Dovita’s grand daughter, Corinne, who is Nate’s “Older Squire Sister” (Haroun asked her what she wanted for her birthday, and she’d answered she wanted a red belt. Corinne is all of 9 or so.)

Dinner was another busy affair, made thoroughly amazing by Dominique’s skill and careful preparation of some stunningly yummy food – it involved slow braised brisket, some of my cheese goo (which was really good on the brisket), handmade scalloped potatoes (the richest and most decadent I’ve ever had), seared asparagus, cheesecakes, and cherry clafouti. Afterwards, we sat around the campsite and listed to the guys drum. I danced a smidge, but the altitude made it very hard for me to breathe, much less dance, so I mostly sat and listed and watched others.

The household Darbuka was holding a revel, and a fine rain began to fall as that celebration began to get underway. Unfortunately, we discovered that the batches of fudge, which had been transferred into coolers, had gotten somewhat damp, and wouldn’t hold its shape when cut. It was dubbed “Spoon Fudge” and we set it out with a large container of spoons so that folks could dip in and enjoy, as the flavor was not affected. While we were adding to their huge feast with our offerings, Corrine, Dovita’s granddaughter, got a bit too close to some of the serving items, and burned herself on a Sterno can, despite having been told to be careful.

The evening progressed, and sadly, soon it was time for me to head back to Greeley. Dominique and her lord decided to follow suit, and we caravanned out. The roads were very rough, so while I had volunteered to drive one car back, it was decided that Dominique would go ahead and drive.

We all crashed at my parents home (making my mother overjoyed the next morning to see not just one but two of her kids that day), arriving very late evening/early morning.

I really enjoyed the theme of the event, and all the goings on… though like most things I go to in the Outlands, it really all boiled down to some precious time with family.

Vivat to Nate on his squiring, and to Honorable Lord Mordrake (which we immediately shortened to HoLoMo(fo) …) on his recognition by the crown!