WJT - The celebration Banquet

[Gis]

The Winterhaven Jousting Tournament is at an end, the champion is crowned and the people are celebrating in town. In the castle the royal servants are arranging many exotic food specialties on the side tables for the royal celebration banquet.



The chairs and table are put in place to receive the guests.



Special beer from Argenland was already poored into cans, to fill the cups with later on



As the door opens, the Crystal Guard enters the room taking up strategic positions in the room.



Then the following people stream into the room, Sir Merriadoc, Crown Prince Tobias and Sir Cygnet. They have volunteered to complement the Crystal Guard tonight to ensure that nothing happens during the banquet.



Before the official guests of the evening enter the room the Royal Herald comes scurrying in, quickly taking his place, ready to announce the guests of the evening.

[Gis]

Then the first guests arrive, all knights and representatives of their country. The herald announces:

From Sweetwater, Sir Sigismund
From Salish, Sir Bartholomew
Our own, Sir Alarch
Sir Baldthar, Champion of Justice



From Ithaca, Sir Jerry
From Argenland, Sir Enök del Edén, Sir Enök is accompanied tonight by Princess Silvy.



Kings Leopold and Queen Violet of Belathre



King  Aun Kerac of Rutileo



Here we see Sir Enök holding out the chair for princess Silvy.



Baron Arnold of Fallcrest



The ambassador from the eastern lands far away, Ali Baba!

[Gis]

Finishing the Jousting Tournament in fourth place: Sir Adler from Saxony



Finishing third, Aziz bin Tarek



Ending the tournament in second place, from Piestany, Lord Vladimir



And then the winner of the first WInterhaven Jousting Tournament, from Belathre, Sir Seamus Flynn



And of course last but not least, your hosts of this evening, the King and Queen of Winterhaven: King Darnald and Queen Roselinde.



When everyone has found their place the servants get busy filling the glasses and putting out food on the table.



The atmosphere is nice and people are talking openly.



Baron Arnold sits next to Sir Adler and King Aun, seems to be enjoying himself and a rare smile is seen on his face.



People are slowly digging in and their plates are constantly refreshed ensuring that the various tastes will not blend unless the person specifically wants it.

[Gis]

When people have had two rounds to eat King Darnald rises and speaks.

My dear guests, I want to thank you all for attending this banquet tonight but also your presence during this great event has helped to make it a success.

I want to once again congratulate the highest ranking knights in the tournament who are seated near me and of course many heartfelt congratulations to you Sir Seamus for winning the tournament. I have heard you will be taking the oath of Crystal Guard as well as an honorable member, which will tie you closer to Winterhaven.

A loud applause follows while the names of the various jousters are called.



I would like to pass the word to my good friend and brother in law, King Leopold of Belathre.

King Leopold stands:

Firstly, I would like to thank you King Darnald for hosting this great event!

Secondly, I would also like to congratulate the knights sitting here at the table for their accomplishments during this fantastic event.



Finally I would like to, not only congratulate, Sir Seamus Flynn on becoming the champion and bringing honor to Belathre, but also extend to him the title of Duke. The area of my kingdom formerly known as Heesanjain, will be your duchy to rule as you see fit. This area in the Southwestern part of Belathre is bordering on much unclaimed lands, so there is a possibility for you to grow your Duchy!



A propose a toast to Lord Seamus Flynn, Duke of Heesanjain.

---

And know we have a special treat for you tonight.

The door swings open again and Sir Fergus McAngus, Vanidel and the Lady Suldy walk in.



Vanidel and Sir Fergus have collaborated to bring to you tonight the wonderful ballad: The Winterhaven Joust. They will be accompanied on harp by the lady Suldy

[Gis]

The Winterhaven Joust

When knights went to the Nentir Vale
A mission they all had
Some were sane and others mad
But all were sure they wouldn't fail

In line they came, their horses clad
In caparisons of every hue
From kingdoms old and kingdoms new
The desire to win was all they had

New and old their banners flew
Proudly from left to right
O t'was a beautiful sight
The pride of many kingdoms grew

The guests sat on his left and right
As King Darnald rose to say
"Let the games begin"..."Hurray"
The crowd roared with delight

Every person had been looking forward to this day
The first jousters entered the field
Many a lance hit a shield
Even Crown Prince Tobias joined the fray

Repeatedly the crowd all squealed
With joy at what they'd seen
From thirty two down to sixteen
The knights began to yield

Hard the action was but never mean
Flowers flew through the air
These eight battles all were fair
But off the field the guards needed to intervene

Again the knights tried hard to do their share
For some of them their tries were all in vain
As four victorious went to fight again
The other four could only feel despair

Very quick matches left some in pain
Aziz was rapdily found on his back
Sir Adler couldn't deal with the second attack
For the other two there was still a lot to gain

Each knight is ready they both have the knack
Of hitting the other; they both want to win
Lord Vladimir tries but Sir Seamus Flynn
Shows he is the ace in the pack

Now the tournament is over let us go to the Inn
So we can make merry and sing
While the nobles dine with the king
We'll toast our noble champion - the great Lord Seamus Flynn

[Gis]

A round of applause follows the ballad.

People continue to eat and enjoy the delicacies from around the world. Slowly but surely everybody is satisfied with their dinners



As the first people mention that they should be leaving. Sir Bartholomew asks permission to speak and stands.



King Darnald, I want to thank you for your hospitality and also want to congratulate the knights on their achievements this past few days.

I have communicated with the King of Salish and he would like me to officially announce that the next Jousting Tournament will take place in Salish in six months time. I want to extend the welcome of my King to you all and I will hope to see you again there.

A cheer goes through the room at this news and people stay for another round of drinks, discussing what happened the last few days as well as excitedly talking about the next tournament.

But then the evening winds down and people start to leave. They all find their bed and most of them will leave Winterhaven in the morning. Looking forward to the next joust in Salish!

[Gis]

With that I declare the Winterhaven Jousting Tournament officially OVER!

First of all I want to thank you all for your encouraging words and compliments but mainly for your participation that has made this event possible.

There are a couple of people that I need to thank individually:

I will start things of with my Wife and Kids who helped with some set ups and have been very supportive throughout this whole ordeal.

Tim (Tiermann) – for starters for trading with me so I could have a couple of more options in the joust, also for quickly latching on to the idea and helping me out in my start up threads. For taking it one step further and starting the league and already scheduling the second tournament. Finally for his awesome overviews during the events that really helped people to have a clue what was going on.

Arnaud (Cowabounga) – for sending me a lot of stuff including Sir Jaknoi and his squire and basically all custom heraldry seen during the tournament. For the discussions we had about how things should look which I really enjoyed. And the great photo story about Sir Christopher.

Martin Milner – for also supporting the idea from the start and trading some knights with me to further complete my collection. Your short photo story was great and was a great trend setter for the other participants

MamaDragon (Ronastoo) – for our chats on IRC which really helped shape your champion into the simple klicky he is…JustFred! Also a big thanks for trading with me 

Elaine (skypurr) – for trading with me the old black/red/white caparison and of course the great photo story about Sir Fergus. Also our collaboration on “The Winterhaven Joust” was a fun experience for me.

Ali Baba – for coming to help out with the set up and leaving his Avatar and champion in my care.

Gaston (Tonguello) – for supporting this with his epic “Garden of Heroes” and being a willful victim to my Dungeon Master tricks and the TWO invited you got for the banquet.

WarriorOfToys – for your support from the first moment and great photo story about King Aun and Lord Etir.

Sir Wolf (Wolf Knight) – for your never wavering encouragements and the great photo story about Sir Baldthar.

el jefe – for your great interlude about Sir Cecil’s doubt.

Giorginetto – for your ever present excitement and support, but most of all your patience which I have been testing with only posting this now!!

So that’s it for now. There will be many more short stories about Winterhaven in the coming months, but the setup in our Playmoden is gone and will now make way for our Zoo set up!

Again thank you all very much!

-----PS-----

Here is a song from the great band Bolt Thrower, that I would like to link specifically for you Giorginetto!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5YE_pWBOl8

For those of you not into Death Metal here are the first lines of the song:

Bolt Thrower – This Time it’s War

Intimidation
you can't take much more,
No compromise
this time its war.
Take none alive
their battle cry roars,
Nowhere to hide
this time its war.

[bonniebeth]

Awesome, Gis!!! This has been an absolutely epic event! 

Now on to the zoo! 

[el jefe]

One word- EPIC!
Thanks Gis for an awesome tourny. A smashing success I would say.  I'll bet in a way it was nice to put away the whole set up and move on to something different at least for a little while. 
Little do the banquet attendees know that the real party was at the tavern with all the scrub knights getting completely faced on ale and wine.   

Thank you again Gis for all your hard work and everyone who participated.  Can't wait for the next tourny. 

[tonguello]

AMAZING Gis!!!! ALL  amazing!!!! What an experience!!!! I hope this is the first of many other international colaborations!!!!
Thank you, thank you , thank you!!!