The Gathering of the Clans
by Egil Njalsson
(September 1992)(Note: the following was written in an attempt to explain
the concept of Amtgard to an education class at NMSU.)Greetings from Egil Njalsson, also known as Egil the Priest, fourth son of Njal the Lawspeaker of the Westfjords of Iceland; Regent of the Barony of Dragonspine in the Kingdom of the Burning Lands; Head of the College of Arts and Sciences; and Guildmaster of Druids. I send this missive in the hands of my son, Bjarni Egilsson, Master of the Hunt, also called the Happy Woodsman.
I have been asked to recount the events of the first weekend in August of this year, at the encampment of Sleepy Grass outside the village of Cloudcroft. Such events were quite taxing on me at my advanced age, and my memory may have failed me on one or two points, but you will understand the majority of that which took place.
Friday morning I and my son packed my fire chariot with all the provisions we would need for the journey, and as it turned out we brought much more than we would need, especially in the way of food and clothing. Yet it is better to have too much than too little, as the skalds say.
Arriving at Sleepy Grass, we located the encampment of the delegation from Dragonspine, and carried our equipment into their midst. We set up our shelter in true viking fashion: a wattle- and-daub structure, rectangular with a peaked roof. The structure had originally been fashioned by an acquaintance of mine who inhabits my body when I am not in the realm of Amtgard, and he had been unable to locate sufficient quantities of the required authentic materials -- branches for the walls and thatching for the roof. Thus, we had to be content with the unnatural materials he had found: a framework of what he calls "PVC pipe" overlain with cloth.
The remainder of the afternoon and evening was filled with socializing, cooking a steak dinner for ourselves, and helping new arrivals to settle into the encampment. I rested in the security of our structure while Bjarni made the rounds of the other encampments, meeting people from eight of the regions known as "states," including the kingdoms of Iron Mountains (Denver), Emerald Hills (Dallas), and others which I cannot recall.
The next morning we arose as the camp began to stir, and Bjarni cooked our morning meal consisting of fruit, bread, and (of course) sausages -- the only meat Bjarni will cook, and his favorite food of all.
I prepared myself for the morning meeting of the inter-kingdom court, and gathered together my escort, to which I am entitled as Regent of Dragonspine, and which I hand-selected shortly after rising to that position: Quicksilver, F'lar, Blackthorn, and Andazar. Quicksilver, my defender, is a powerful druid, and Guildmistress of the Scouts (the class to which my son belongs). She was the Guildmistress of the Druids before I replaced her in that capacity. F'lar is the Captain of my Guard, and is himself a powerful druid as well as the Guildmaster of Warriors and the Master Herald. Blackthorn is the Guildmaster of Wizards, and Andazar is the court scribe and a very capable warrior.
Quicksilver cast a powerful enchantment on me to protect against attacks, and the other spellcasters in my guard cast enchantments on each other so that they might better protect me. This was done as a precaution against assassination attempts, for such deeds have been attempted before, at meetings of the Court and at coronations, though none have attempted to assassinate me, for I have no sworn enemies. (I heard later that an assassination was carried out at a wedding later in the day -- it can happen.)
Surrounded by my guard, and bearing my dragon staff, I joined the others in attendance at Court.
At the Court, the populace was officially welcomed to this Gathering of the Clans, and we discovered that this was the largest Gathering in the nine years of Amtgard's existence -- over one hundred fifty fire chariots were stationed along the roads, bearing an estimated four hundred citizens. We were instructed as to the upcoming war which was to take place that afternoon, pitting the kingdoms of the west against the kingdoms of the east. Various titles were handed out, and one citizen who felt he had failed his king offered himself up for public beheading, which took place immediately. The populace was dismissed, and the Circle of Steel, composed of the twenty-five or so knights from all the kingdoms, gathered to discuss the future of knighthood which was in jeopardy due to an event of the previous evening, about which I do not feel comfortable talking, if you will forgive me.
I retired to my shelter, and Bjarni prepared for battle, donning his leather armor and checking his bow, arrows, and swords.
Clouds gathered in the sky, and thunder began to rumble as the armies gathered in a grassy valley, 1.5 miles long and 0.5 miles wide, flanked on one side by a forested hill. Bjarni joined the army of the west, composed of the Kingdoms of the Burning Lands and Iron Mountains and the Barony of Dragonspine, and possibly other baronies and duchies. Rain began to fall, and a lone Burning Lands bagpiper played a Scottish battle tune as the armies surged forward.
The fighting went on for hours, and I shall not attempt to give you every detail; but I shall relate some of the events which affected my son.
At first, half of the western army moved into the forest while half swept through the valley. My son stayed behind the front lines, shooting wizards and warriors with remarkable accuracy, killing several, before his bow was destroyed by a magic spell. Retrieving a new bow from the army base, he joined a warrior in trying to rout an eastern healer who was moving through the forest. His arrows missed, so he drew his swords and charged, only to be stunned by the healer, and killed when the western warrior withdrew.
In battles such as these, my son has the ability to die four times (an average amount) before being permanently removed from battle, so after a sufficient time in the land of the dead, his life force returned to him. Unfortunately, a wizard who had followed him out of the land of the dead turned out to be an easterner, and killed Bjarni from behind before my son could return to the battle.
As he waited in the land of the dead, powerful magic was taking place on the field: a powerful western wizard had successfully cast a "doomsday" spell, and all enemies within his line of sight died. Ten minutes later, as Bjarni guarded Blackthorn, who was casting a "doomsday" of his own, the eastern army completed the same spell, and Bjarni died along with Blackthorn and the group surrounding him. In the land of the dead, Blackthorn and another wizard agreed to magically protect each other while attempting the spell again. Only the most powerful wizards can cast this spell, but with so many kingdoms present, there were several such wizards. Bjarni, upon regaining his life force, slipped into the woods, moving with a group of westerners to attempt to flank the eastern army. One of their wizards, flanked by a powerful guard, was attempting "doomsday" again, but was too well protected for our group to charge her. Many of our group hid behind trees to avoid the effects of the spell, which kills only those in the line of sight; but Bjarni, hiding in the trees, shot several arrows into their midst, killing a couple of her guards and even hitting the wizard herself in the neck (though such a shot does not kill in the lands of Amtgard). The field judges, sensing the way "doomsdays" were affecting the flow of battle, ruled that the spell could no longer be used, and sent both armies back to their bases to regroup.
Bjarni again joined the forces sweeping through the plain, and tried to eliminate wizards until a berserk eastern barbarian rushed him, wounding his arm and chasing him through the muddy field. Bjarni eluded the persistent barbarian, and ran for his life. Spotting one of the western captains, Bjarni ran to him for protection. Unfortunately the brave knight did not recognize my son, and nearly cut him in two before Bjarni's shouts caused him to check his swing. The knight dealt with the berserker as Bjarni ran to find a healer.
Whole again, Bjarni returned to battle, only to have his bow broken by a charging enemy. Retrieving another bow, Bjarni joined the western army who now had the enemy pressed back into their land of the dead. Bjarni shot into their midst, but kept hitting dead bodies which did not take it very well; so he stopped and drew his swords.
The field judges moved the battle lines back into the center of the field, but the westerners soon pushed the enemy back again, and the judges ended the battle, calling it (in the interest of keeping tempers cool and pride unscathed) a draw, claiming that the battle had stagnated. In spite of the ruling, the western army clearly felt that they had won an impressive, though costly, victory.
You will forgive me, but my aging body is tired and must rest. Perhaps later I will be able to recount the events which took place later, though nothing happened in the way of further battles. The remainder of the events were mostly social, and served to tighten the bonds linking the kingdoms of Amtgard.
With this I end my epistle to you. It is my fervent hope that you are well, and that you find life to be that which you desire. Until we meet again, I have the honor to remain,
Your Regent,
Egil NjalssonReturn to Egil's home page
