Hello Altavia!

This month started off with Potrero War down in Calafia. It was wonderful to get to camp with a bunch of the populace members in our baronial encampment. A big thank you to Petrusha for being our Camp Master and helping to find us a new spot to try out for this year. I think everyone had a great time at War trying out a bit of everything. We had people on both melee Fields, the archery range, lots of bardic circles and performances, and of course, volunteering throughout the war. It was great to see people finding joy in helping out in so many different ways throughout the event in addition to enjoying taking part in many of the activities offered.

For my part, I took the war to run the long archery range, and give as many people as possible the chance to shoot Royal rounds. I had archers shoot a total of 131 royal rounds. Everyone shot at least two, and a bunch of people shot a lot more than that. With all of this we had 8 archers gain new ranks; 3 new Bowman in Open handbow, 4 new Yeoman in Open Handbow, and one new Bowmaster in Period Crossbow, as well as a bunch of people who shot their first ever royal rounds.

The next weekend after we came back we jumped right into St. Jude’s fundraiser tournament in Angels. This is always a fun, energetic event with a great cause. Our Barony ran a photo booth stand, and a bunch of the other baronies and groups ran other booths including an RBG shooting gallery, a plate breaking booth, bowling for Peers and many others. The event was a great success, raising over $15,000 for St Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Crescent Artisan happened for the second time ever this past weekend and was a day full of really interesting unique classes as well as some gorgeous art displays. I think having both the judged competition art displays and the classes for the rest of the populace to engage with was a great idea and a fun way for people to interact with the Arts at different levels.

We wrapped up the month with Archery practice on Sunday with 17 archers and we ran seven of them through an IKAC, getting Altavia on the board for the year with some scores. I’m always happy to see our archers doing some of the inter-kingdom competitions as well as having fun practicing and honing their skills.

Looking forward to the next month, which will wrap up with Coronation. If anyone would like to donate largesse to the incoming King and Queen, please reach out to me. I know that they will be thrilled to receive anything that people would like to make or donate and that they are especially focusing on youth activities and youth participation for the next Reign, so largesse with that in mind would be especially wonderful.

In Service to the Dream,
Baroness Amabel Radleigh

Hello Altavia!
This was another busy, full month of events.

We started off with Anniversaries in two of the further reaches of our kingdom, Starkhafn and Nordwache.

Starkhafn Anniversary was worth the trip, out into the desert. We got to celebrate Paul’s elevation to the Order of the Mark, exchange rocks with cousins, sample the many culinary entries in the competition, and watch lots and lots of fighting.

Nordwache Anniversary was another trip away from home, to the upper reaches of our Kingdom this time. In addition to the Rapier and Armored tournaments we typically see at an anniversary, we also got to participate in handbow and crossbow tournaments. The 2-day format allowed for revelry at night which was wonderful, even with the rain and the battling of the elements. The site and the people made it well worth the trip, and I look forward to heading back up there for Fire and Ice later in the year

Our own Anniversary, of course holds a special place in my heart. I can’t thank everyone enough for all of the work that they put in to make this event run smoothly. A special thanks to Petrusha and Giacchino for being the event stewards and coordinating everyone else and coming up with such fun activities for the day. The classes were a great success and I heard lots of positive reviews on them as well as the buy nothing market.
We had a great turnout for the Arts competition and I loved hearing about the processes and learnings that many of the artists spoke on for their displays.

I am excited for each of our new champions, who all put forward their best and emerged as the champions in their fields.

The new champions are:
Armored: Giovanni del Pace
Rapier: Eoghan Ui Confri
C&T: Diago de las Casas
Youth combat: Seamus of Gyldenholt
Arts & Sciences: Cassandre Lostenau

We’re looking forward to the next month, and all the events coming up, including Potrero War, St. Jude’s Fundraiser Tournament and Crescent Artisan.

In Service to the Dream,
Baroness Amabel Radleigh

Hello Altavia!

As always, it has been a busy month full of fantastic events and a lot to be proud of.
At Collegium, we had a wonderful range of classes, and it was especially great to see so many Altavians teaching. I had the opportunity to teach my first class outside of our regular Arts and Sciences, where students learned to tool, shape, finish edges, and sew leather valet trays. Everyone walked away with beautiful finished pieces, which was incredibly rewarding to see.

Merlin taught a class on arrow making, and his students completed the first dozen arrows that would later be used as prizes for the Caid Archery Open. Sadhbh led a Caid Choir rehearsal, and Tezar taught a class on running lists for tournaments. Vivian took that class in preparation for stepping into that role at Caid Open later in the month, which is wonderful to see.

The following weekend at Academia Draconis continued that momentum of learning and teaching. Ceallach taught his class on adding cuts to rapier, building on what he has been sharing at fighter practice. Merlin once again taught archery, continuing to make arrows for the Caid Archery Open prizes. Thanks to that effort, we not only had prizes for the Open and Period divisions, but also more archers across the Kingdom gaining the skills to make and maintain their own equipment.

Academia Draconis was, of course, highlighted by the incredible hospitality of Their Excellencies Ram and Kungund. Their pizza night, combined with torchlight tournaments, feasting, and revelry, made for a truly memorable evening.

Ronan added to the magic with a night spear throw, featuring a beautifully illuminated bat target that fit perfectly with the theme. It was a delight to take part in.

Their hospitality also extended to hosting the 100th Tournament of Virtues on Friday night. The torchlight tournament was a wonderful way to celebrate this milestone and to transition the tournament into a special event to be held at Great Western War going forward.
The next weekend, the Caid Archery Open at Woodley Park was a huge success. We saw strong participation, many archers improving their averages, new ranks being earned, and several people shooting their first Royal Rounds.

Congratulations to Geral for winning the Open Division, Brennos for winning the Period Division, and Achillious for winning Crossbow. A very big thank you to Merlin and Petrusha for putting together such a successful event. It was especially meaningful to see the winners presented with arrows made by students in Merlin’s classes over the previous weeks.
Crown Tournament was a thrill to watch. The combatants brought their very best, with impressive displays of skill, communication, and chivalry. In the end, it came down to Duke Adam and Sir Liam, with Liam prevailing with a clean and beautiful final blow after a hard-fought best two out of three.

We are very excited to see Liam and Fara step forward as Prince and Princess, and soon King and Queen. As former Baron and Baroness of Angels and as part of our extended Altavian family, it is a joy to see them take on this role. I encourage everyone to support and celebrate them in the months ahead.

Following Crown, Privy Council brought a few important updates for the Kingdom and the Barony:
There are now two new Kingdom forms available online. The Post Event Report has been updated to a Google form, and there is also a new online waiver submission system that will handle non-member, equestrian, and minor waivers while meeting document retention requirements. Please take advantage of these as we move away from manual processes.
Bids are now open for Kingdom events in the third and fourth quarters of 2027. We should review the options and decide if Altavia would like to submit a bid. The deadline to respond is May 12.
We also need to sign up for a Baronial shift at Great Western War. Gate is always a strong option, and we can also look at marshalling or constable shifts. We should reach out to Philippe as soon as possible so we have the best chance of getting a shift that works for us.
Kingdom Social Media is looking to highlight Baronial officers. I will be submitting some recommendations, but if you would like to share what you are working on or give word fame to someone else, please let me know and I will pass it along.

Looking ahead, we have our own Baronial Anniversary coming up, and I am very much looking forward to it. Giaccino and Petrusha are stewarding, and I know they have a wonderful day planned full of fighting, arts, classes, and learning.

Please remember to send in award recommendations to both Kingdom and the Barony. We want to make sure that people are recognized for all the work and accomplishments they have been contributing, and we can only do that if we hear from you in advance.

Yours in Service,
Baroness Amabel Radleigh

Hello Altavia!

We started off the month solidly into event season with not one but two wars!

I made my way up North to Rapier War which happened at the same time as Phoenix war.
Rapier War had lots of rapier fighting, to the delight of all the rapier fighters. There were lots of melees, tournaments (both during the day and by torchlight) and pickups throughout the weekend, and fighting was wonderful.
We also got to compete in her Majesty’s thrown weapons Championship to find her Champion. Tiberius Tiburtius Triberius was victorious and became her Magesty’s thrown weapons champion.

The next weekend Lyondemere Arts and Archery was a full day of shooting, with lots of different novelty shoots, with Altavia well represented, with Merlin becoming the archery champion and Ceallach as the crossbow champion.

A big thank you to Jobanna, who ran and hosted our Our Arts and sciences night and lead everyone through making scented candles.

Dun Or Anniversary was a full day with as much fighting as you could wish with multiple bear pits for each discipline. Our very own Ceallach won in rapier, becoming the rapier champion for Dun Or alongside Duke Sven (Armored), Diago (cut and thrust), and Alienor (arts and sciences).

The next day the Barony of the Angels hosted their annual archery event, Robin Hood, which was a full day of shooting, ending with Merlin becoming the Period Handbow champion, Ceallach winning highest score in crossbow and Brig winning highest overall score.

I’m looking forward to the next month including Collegium, Academia Draconis, CAID Archery Open and Crown tournament.

I’m service to the dream,
Baroness Amabel