Avacal Book of Fencing (Rapier) Combat (May 2024) can be found at the bottom of this page
Please thank the sponsors and organizers of each of the activities. They play a major role in making this game so enjoyable to play.
Friday, June 27, 2025
Roving Rapier (Friday 16:00- Sunday 11:00)
hosted by Castra
location: no set location
For those who have not had the pleasure before, it’s three days of all-you-can-eat blade.
Greetings my fellow rapier fighters, roving rapier is back again.
Start: Friday afternoon, come and find me (Castra). I will be about the site or at the erics. You will need your weapons, armour, and your fight card. I will give you your five ” life” tokens and the game begins .
Ends : Sunday by 11:00. I need all your tokens returned and your numbers recorded. This is open to all authorized rapier fighters. There will be prizes for most tokens collected, and an accolade prize or two
TRPs 1. The whole site is included in the game area, but please be considerate of others and don’t “hatch” spots for more than 2 or three fights, especially on merchants’ rows
2. you must have at least two marshals/seconds in public areas to ensure spectator saftey.
3. Everyone starts with 5 life tokens. If you lose all your marbles, you can come beg a boon of me, or haul in a ” bounty”. There will be wanted posters put up at random on site for this purpose.
4. You can only fight with the weapons you are authorized in. There will be tokens woth one point and others worth five points. If you are feeling confident or cocky, you can trade some ones for fives to have less to carry on your person
You can return your tokens to me, or to our lovely bank, Galeana’s Closet on Merchants’ Row.
Scholars’ Tournament (Friday, 19:00; inspections 18:30)
Rapier fighting: Hosted & sponsored by House Fines Lames (pronounced fin lam ); location: at the Erics
Are you someone who was first authorized in fencing sometime after May 1, 2022? Then this tournament is aimed at you! Other fencers are welcome to join in and test the mettle!
Kick off Quad War by fighting other newer rapier fighters in a casual round robin (everyone fights everyone else at least once).
Bring your favourite weapon style that you are authorized in. Double deaths are re-fought once; a second double death is a loss for both.
Fighters are grouped into the following categories: Scholars (first authorized after May 1, 2022; Masters of Defense & current Champions/Defenders; Free Scholars (everyone else).
All wins and losses are counted, but fighters will have their numbers compared only to other fighters in their category. Ties in categories to be resolved in a best of three passes, played to first touch. If we run out of light before things are done, Scholars get fist dibs on the field, because this tournament is initially for them, afterall!
PRIZES! for the winning scholar, & most courteous.
Have questions? Please contact Magnifico Bjar the Blue
Saturday, June 28
Roving Rapier (continues)
hosted by Castra
see session description under Friday, and go find the Roving Rapier fun!
location: no set location
Rapier War Combat (Saturday, 15:00-17:00ish; inspection 14:30)
Organized and hosted by Duke Ellias Silver. location: starting at Cavalier Village
Act I: Open Field Battle (warm up battle)
Everyone starts as a single combatant and is allowed to fight anyone on the field. After the fight the
losing person(s) join the victor and together they find another group to fight against. This continues until there
are only 2 groups left. Once the last 2 groups fight the scenario is over. This is meant as a warm up. Only single handed weapons and shields allowed. No two hand weapons, spears, RBGs, or siege.
Rest is taken and armour and weapons are rechecked.
Fighters are divided into their 4 Houses (Armies) Montengarde, Borealis, Myrgan Wood & Kingsland.
Houses are paired up with each other to fight through various battles throughout the War. Teams change after
each scenario.
No points are awarded for this battle.
Act II: Slight at the Tavern: Resurrections Battle
House I & II vs House III & IV
Houses are assigned a tavern and start in their tavern with weapons ready. Inside their home tavern, they
are safe and cannot be engaged. The tavern also serves as their resurrection point. Once outside their tavern
they may fight; unused building(s) may be fought in. All fighters must carry a filled wine glass with them.
(Glasses will be plastic, provided and filled with water) If killed. they must dump out the contents of their glass
and return to the tavern to refill their glass thus they are “resurrected” and may reenter the battle.
If at any time during the battle they spill the contents of their wine glass. they are considered “dead” and must return to their tavern/resurrection point, to refill their glass. Each Tavern is given a barrel of “wine” to refill their fighter’s
glasses. Once all resurrections are used up, the barrel is empty, the Houses then fight with what fighters they
have left until one group is defeated. Only single hand held weapons allowed. No RBGs allowed. No shields
allowed. No Siege weapons.
One Point is awarded to each of the victorious Houses.
Act III: March to the Manor: Forest Battle
House 2&3 vs 1&4
Houses start with weapons ready. Two paths, approximately 2m wide are marked out on the battlefield.
Fighters may move and fight along this path as they wish. On either side of the path is “dense forest”. This area
can only be traversed on your knees and any fighting in this area can only be done with bladed weapons under
2’ (daggers only, no pistols). Entering and exiting the “dense forest” can only be done in the designated areas.
Longer weapons and shields may be carried through this area but may not be used until the person is clear of
the “dense forest” and is able to stand.
Royalty, Masters of Defense, and any other Peers or Champions they might consent to add are considered to be on horseback and may NOT enter the “forested” area and must remain on the path at all times. RBG’s can ONLY be used on the path. They cannot be shot into or out of the “forested” area but may be carried through. Fighting continues until one group’s fighters are slain. All weapons styles are allowed except siege weapons. One shot per RBG.
One point is awarded to each of the victorious Houses.
Act IV: Battle at the Bridge: River Battle
House 1 & 3 vs 2&4
Houses start with weapons ready. A “river” is marked out on the battlefield between the opposing sides
at the halfway point approximately 8m wide. Crossing the river is a “bridge” approximately 3m wide. This is
considered a covered bridge meaning you cannot be shot from the side while on the bridge. Fighters may move
and fight on the bridge but if they step off, they are considered washed away and “dead”.
Also on the battlefield, downstream of the bridge is a Ford where fighters who are considered to be on horseback. Royalty, Masters of Defense and any other Peers or Champions they might consent to add, may cross the river. This Ford is only 1m wide and anyone crossing must move along it single file. Stepping off the Ford means you are washed away in the river and are dead. You may be shot while on the Ford. Fighting continues until one group’s fighters are
slain. All weapons styles are allowed. One shot per RBG.
One point is awarded to each of the victorious Houses.
Act V: Carnage at the Castle: Castle Battle
House with the most points vs ALL other houses
Houses start with weapons ready. A “Castle” is marked out on the battlefield (or structure is chosen)
and a front gate is designated. The House with the most points must defend the gate against the other three
Houses. The defending house may, if they choose, send fighters “over the wall” (out the side gates) to engage
the other fighters; however once out, they may only return through the front gate. Fighting continues until one
group’s fighters are slain. All weapons styles are allowed. Unlimited shots for RBGs. Siege weapons are allowed,
unlimited shots.
One point is awarded to each of the victorious Houses.
Once all the scenarios have been completed points are added up. In the event of a tie each of the
deadlocked Houses will choose a Champion to do battle in single combat. The winner will gain victory for that
House. The House with the most points will be declared the victor.
Act VI: Cutthroat Island: Island Battle
Open Battle: no sides
Each Master of Defense is given an island approximately 10m across where they will hoist their standard
and start the battle. They are allowed to take any fighter who is fealty to them, Provosts/students with them. All
other fighters start on the sidelines. Once battle starts, fighters can choose any island and challenge the M.o.D.
to single combat. If they win, they are given a coin and may then go to another island and challenge another
M.o.D. If they lose, they must now join the Master of Defense’s Island. The only way for them to get off the
island is to defeat another fighter (other than the M.o.D.) who is on the island. Once they do this, they are free to
travel to another island and challenge the Master of Defense there. Double kills are considered a double loss
and both fighters must stay on the island and challenge a different fighter. You may not fight the same fighter
twice in a row; this applies to challenging a Master of Defense as well.
If a fighter wins 10 coins, they may BUY their own island and others may come and challenge them (they
will be given coins to hand out). If a Master of Defense has one of their own Provosts/Students on their island,
they may allow/order one of them to fight in their stead when they are challenged. This does NOT apply to any
fighter who bought their own island.
Fighting continues for 30 minutes and fighters are encouraged to take water breaks on the sidelines if
needed. At the end of the fighting, The M.o.D. with the most fighters on their island will be given a prize.
Sunday, June 29
Roving Rapier (continues)
hosted by Castra; location varies
see session description under Friday, and go find the Roving Rapier fun!
location: no set location
Delaroche Rapier Buy-a-life Tournament (Sunday, 12:00-14:00)
Hosted and sponsored by House Delaroche. location: At the erics
House Delaroche will once again host our buy-a-life tourneys as a fundraiser for quad site improvements.
How does it work? There will be a tourney for each of armoured combat, fencing, and archery. In each tourney you can buy lives for $2 each. You lose a life each time you are defeated but you’re not out until you have no lives left. And even then, you can buy more lives to stay in.
Even better, your friends can buy lives for you. Be an anonymous benefactor and discreetly buy lives for someone. Have fun with it. We’ll accept cash or e-transfers. These tourneys will be run Sunday afternoon one after another so you can take part in as many as you like and are authorized for.
There will be prizes. Anyone can win! Bragging rights go to the last competitor standing. A draw will determine who gets the prize.
Monday, June 30
Biomechanics for Everyone (Rapier) (13:00 – 14:00)
hosted by Rozi; location: at the Erics
Number of students: Any
What to bring: You will still learn something if you don’t bring anything but yourself, but fencers are encouraged to bring their kit. Intended audience: This class is for fencers of any level, and should be especially helpful to anyone who has some physical limitation, or is/might teach anyone with a physical limitation.
Description: A class for students and teachers! Successful fencers in the SCA have a much wider range of body types and physical traits than those in modern fencing. The different styles available to us helps this be the case. Bring your questions, curiosity, and your bodies and join a discussion on how to find each person’s strengths and work with them in the context of SCA fencing. Discussion will touch on training techniques to drill the essentials across a wide range of starting points, and how to improve past a plateau or recover your skill after healing from an injury.
Inspiration Tournaments (consecutively, one for Heavy fighters followed by one for Rapier fighters) (14:00 – 17:00)
hosted by Mu’allima A’isha Rayhana al-Karim; location: at the Erics
Most tournaments focus on the fighters. In these tournaments, the focus is on the inspiration.
This will be a double-elimination tournaments, first a Heavy followed by a Rapier tournament at the Erics. Each Inspiration brings 2 “prizes” per Tourney they are entering (in other words, if your Consort is fighting in both Heavy and Rapier, you need 4 “prizes” to enter.) Prizes can be anything at any value. They can be as simple as a bracelet, pretty necklace, hand fan, fabric pouch, etc.
Fight matches will be announced focused on the Inspiration: “Lady Asa’s Consort is fighting Lord Eric’s Consort”
The Inspiration of the losing Consort gives one of their prizes they brought to the Inspiration of the winning Consort when the fight is over. When your Consort is defeated 2 times, and you have given away the items you entered into the Tournament with, then you are out of the Tourney. BUT, you get to keep all the Prizes you received from the fights your Consort won. The only thing you give away are the 2 original things you enter into the Tourney with.
This was one of the first Tourneys I ever saw when I first entered the SCA, and I loved it, because it honored and shone a spotlight on the Inspirations. Plus, well, who doesn’t like getting ransoms, I mean, prizes. Lol. If you have any question, please feel free to ask me!
Cavalier Street Brawl (19:00)
hosted by Skald the Peacemaker; location starts at the Erics/Town Square
It’s a warm summer’s evening in the Town, after a weekend of war, the Baron has decreed that there shall be no fighting on the site! Yet there are those whose misdeeds cannot go unanswered! So come to the Erics and meet your fellow fencers for a quiet “Passeggiata” to talk of the day and socialize with the Baron, who is enamoured by a peaceful evening.
Though he has decreed peace, silent murder can still occur. Can you eliminate your rivals while his back is turned? The Baron may run the town, but as the sun goes down the streets and the castle belong to the fencers. And a Brawl is brewing in the settling darkness…
(Welcome to the grand rapier melee, fight for prizes! Awards for Best Death, Challenge, and Most swagger. Bring your best street weapons and fight but only while the Baron isn’t looking. Can you evade detection for the night and hide the evidence of your foul deeds?) come and find out!
Cost zero, but you must be an authorized rapier fighter
Tuesday, July 1
Rapier Scholar’s Tournament (runs concurrently with Heavy Scholar’s Tournament) (10:00 – 12:00)
hosted by Dolce Machiavelli; location at the Erics
The western shires hungers for the steel of our rapier fighters! Those fighters who aim to dextly execute the perfect gentle roasted goodness, Golden roasted in the fires of the Erik’s. NO, THATS NOT A MARSHMALLOW on the end of that blade: it’s a rapier tip. New rapier fighters of the Knowne world, would you like S’more combat? Come fight in our tournament with the perfect blend of combat surrounded by the Graham cracker motivation of Secret prizes and opportunities to learn from some some so experienced fighters. Anyone with three years of less actual fighting experience (collared or not) are invited to join in the fun times. For further clarity or for questions, please contact Dolce.
Well, Most of us have 2 Hands… (Rapier); (11:30 start; 90 min)
What to bring: You will still learn something if you don’t bring anything but yourself, but fencers are encouraged to bring their kit to try out the tips and tricks.
Intended audience: This class is aimed at new to newer fencers, or fencers who are newer to a weapon form.
Description: What to do with your non-sword hand. You can use it to parry, or you can put something in it to help you defend and/or attack. That’s what this class will cover – the basics of how to use your off hand with and without things in it. The class will focus on techniques best suited with a rapier in the main hand. We will cover standard bucklers and daggers, but students are encouraged to bring their own unique off-hand objects to include in the discussion.
No cost; No max. taught by Magister Rozi Galea, guest from EaldormereRapier Provost Tournament (14:00 – 16:00)
hosted & sponsored by Master Robert of Clan Gunn; location: At the Erics
On Tuesday, July 1st, I, Master Robert of Clan Gunn, will be sponsoring a Provost Tournament. Armour inspection will be at a14:00. The tournament will start at 14:30 and consist of two 30-minute halves with a 10 minute break in the middle. Both winners and losers report the final outcome of your encounter with your opponent (eg. outcome of single bout or overall outcome of best 2 of 3, etc.) So only one report per encounter.
You are strongly encouraged to find a sponsor before the tournament, however, the sponsor does not need to be present at the tournament. If you cannot find one before hand, there will be a couple of Masters of Defense present at the tournament for you to sponsor to. I look forward to seeing as many people out as possible!
Guard Trials (20:00 onwards)
hosted by Odin’s Bastards
Interested in some fun competition? Come to the Guard Trials on the Erics, and prepare to compete in teams of 3. There will be three competitions: in the first two, all the teams will compete. The first challenge will be a 3-stage obstacle course that all the members will work together to complete. The winning team goes to the finals. The second challenge will remain a secret and all teams will be told at the same time. The final competition is best-of-7 (one on one) challenges between the two teams that made the finals. Come have fun by participating or cheering on these competitors!
Wednesday, July 2
Heavy and Fencing Double Breasted Round Robin Tourneys (10:00 onwards until completion)
hosted by HE Refr Bjarnarson; location at the Castle
Prepare for an endurance challenge! You get to fight everybody twice, once defending the eric (you fight everyone in a row), and once challenging the eric.
Grand prize for heavy is a custom gorget made by Duke Sir Elias. Grand prize for Rapier TBA.
Cost: Bring a prize, take a prize tourney
Senior Marshall(s): HL Donnan Sionnach and Duke Sir Elias Silver
Falloppia! Too bad he wasn’t included in the Princess Bride: Fencing (13:00) 1 hr
hosted by Rozi; location A&S III
number of students: Any; intended audience: all
What to bring: You will still learn something if you don’t bring anything but yourself, but fencers are encouraged to bring their kit so they can hit each other.
Description: With the first full translation of the slim 1584 treatise on fencing by Alfonso Fallopia in hand, let’s go over his guards (3 for sword alone, one for cape, and 3 for sword and dagger) and discuss how he fits into the overall European fencing masters’ teachings.
Thursday, July 3
TBD
Friday, July 4
Rose Tournament -Rapier (13:00 -15:00)
hosted by HRM Astrid; location: at the Erics
Each Rose may sponsor an unbelted rapier combatant. NOTE: ALL sitting Consorts and ALL prior Principality consorts may also sponsor fighters in the List. Each Rose must present their participants to the list.
1. The number of erics opened will depend on the number of fighters that register. 2. The format of the tournament will be round robin in each eric. 3. The finals will be single elimination as well as one fighter choosen from each eric selected by the Roses based on the courtesy and chivalrous comportment on the field.
Saturday, July 5
Myrganwood Fencing Championship (10:00 – 12:00)
hosted by Skald the Peacemaker: location at the Erics
A year hath come and gone, and as I rest under the elm tree and gaze into the blood-red sunset, I reflect on all the lessons learned and wealth gained over the year. As Alexander of Macedon lamented that there are no more victories to be won, I find myself restless and seeking to rest and speak to the younger folks of what I have learned. Therefore, gather ye fighters on Saturday, July 5th, to test yourself to be worthy of the cloak and baldric of the Champion of Myrgan Wood. The tournament will be round robin. Combatants must use at least 2 different weapon styles in the tournament. (I.e. single sword, sword and dagger, spear, double daggers, etc)
Finals to be best 3/5 . ( there will be a prize and championship final) Combatants must have inspiration(s). Residents of Myrgan Wood and Blood of the Wood may vye, all authorized fighters may enter to test the mettle of those vying, and compete for prizes!!!
Stump the Teacher: Rapier (open hours; 13:00 – 15:00)
hosted by Rozi; location A&S II
Number of students: One at a time in 15 minute slots. Two or more people can come together but time is best if they book more than one slot. Bring your fencing kit
Intended audience: This is for anyone who wants to improve their rapier fencing and is best for fencers who have reached a plateau and want to break through. Description: Individualized coaching to focus on where you might be stuck. Let’s figure out where you’re at, what you’re doing, and what one or three things you can focus on to make the next leap. Experienced fencers are encouraged to attend.