Queen's and King's Archery Championship May 28, 2017

Royals and friends watch Finals Round 2: Thyra vs Mikjall.
spectators during the final rounds

On Sunday at Panteria in Panthervale, over 50 archers trekked to the far reaches of the campground, braving treacherous footing and a bumper-crop of ticks. After a bit of warm-up shooting, the competitors were addressed by Their Majesties, Ioannes and Honig. The winner of the competition would become Her Majesty's Champion, and the King would choose his own Champion. The outgoing Queen's Champion, Master Peter the Red, told all present that the theme of the shoot was "The Princess Bride", and he hoped everyone would enjoy the planned shoots. The King's Champion, Master Godric of Hamtun, reminded the archers of the duties and responsibilities of the new Champions, and that anyone who felt they could not fulfill them could decline to participate in the finals.

The competition began with 3 longer-distance shoots by all the participants — first, at the "Brute Squad" at about 100 yards, then at the door to the "Pit of Despair" somewhat closer, and finally a bit closer still at the "Four Fastest Ships".

L: Rolland attempts the "Shrieking Eels"; longer shoots can be seen at left.
R: The "6 Fingered Man", Count Rugin and his guards.
the shrieking eels, with the longer distance shoots in the background   6-fingered count rugin and guards
After a break for lunch, the competition resumed with groups of 6 to 8 archers working their way through a 10 station roving range. At the "Shrieking Eels", archers had to hit progressively smaller eels without hitting Buttercup, struggling among the waves. For the "Cliffs of Insanity", the object was to cut the climbing ropes. A "Sword Fight" between the Dread Pirate Roberts (Westley) and Inigo Montoya was presented as a friend/foe shoot, with negative points for hitting Westley. The "Giant Boulders" were challenging targets which swung towards each other. In the "Battle of Wits", archers had to hit as many different doses of iocaine poison as possible. The "Rodents of Unusual Size" (R.O.U.S.) made an appearance, of course, as moving targets, sometimes obscured by stumps and flames. In "Mawwiage", the object was to shoot the clergyman's headpiece. In the most complicated setup, the "Six Fingered Man", Count Rugin, was protected by 4 guards, who could be shot as long as they were upright, then archers could try to hit Rugin as he ran away. Lastly, "You Mean This Key?" was an opportunity to shoot combat archery equipment at very obliging live armored fighters. After the competitors completed the roving course, scores were collected and sorted, and the top archers were asked if they wished to continue into the final round.

The following top scorers declined to participate in the finals:

L: Mikjall prepares to shoot the round 1 hanging targets; round 2 & 3 targets can be seen at left.
R: The 4th (final) round target.
3 of the final shoots shown   4th final shoot
The final 16 competitors were seeded into head-to-head pairings, with the winners advancing to the next bracket. There were 4 different shoots as the finalists progressed through the brackets — hanging targets, then knock-down ground targets, then knock-down targets on a rack, and finally a vertical pole held targets which would swing around when hit, with the object being to put them all on the opponent's side. Most pairings were nail-bitingly tight, but the eventual winner was Lord Kusunoki Yoshimoto. In Court that evening, Master Peter retired with Queen Honig's thanks, and Yoshi was invested as Queen's Champion. Then, King Ioannes said that he had narrowed his choice to 3 archers, sought advice, and selected the finalist who impressed him with 6 hits in 6 shots — Lady Siobhan inghean Cormaic. After Master Godric was thanked for his service, Siobhan was invested as the King's Champion.

 
 Top 16 Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Finals  
1
 Nathaniel Wyatt ( ) Wyatt Wyatt Yoshi Winner
16
 Finan (41) Ygraine Thyra Wyatt 2nd
2
 Kusunoki Yoshimoto (90) Yoshi Yoshi    
15
 Kira Asahi (55) Siobhan Ryan    
3
 Ryan McWhyte (85) Ryan      
14
 Elizabeth Hawkwood (57) Cathain      
4
 Mikjall Bogmadr (76) Mikjall      
13
 Cosimo de Venezia (62) Thyra      
5
 Thyra Eiriksdottir (70)        
12
 Nest verch Tangwistel (64)        
6
 Julienne Ridley (69)        
11
 Cathain (65)        
7
 Siobhan inghean Cormaic (69)        
10
 Rolland Ian Macpherson (66)        
8
 Sojourner (69)        
9
 Ygraine of Kellswood (68)        



At Saturday Court, Master Kobayashi is made a Companion of the Sagittarius.
at saturday court, master kobayashi is made a companion of the sagittarius

Finals Round 1: Yoshi vs Kira; Nest vs Thyra.
yoshi vs kira   nest vs thyra

Finals Round 1: Julienne vs Cathain; Siobhan vs Rolland.
julienne vs cathain   siobhan vs rolland

Finals Round 2: Cathain vs Ryan; Thyra vs Mikjall.
cathain vs ryan   thyra vs mikjall

Finals Round 3: Wyatt vs Thyra.
wyatt vs thyra

Court: Peter retires; Yoshi is new Queen's Champ; Godric retires; Siobhan is new King's Champ.
peter retires as queen's champ   yoshi is new queen's champ   godric retires as king's champ   siobhan is new king's champ

All photos by Baroness Ygraine of Kellswood.
(Click on thumbnails to see larger versions.)