AER: IKV Melota 2007 Batleth Tournament and Games

800*600
AER: IKV Melota 2007 Batleth Tournament and Games

This event celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the IKV Melota.

It was also Tournament number 14 in which the IKV Melota has participated.


Way back in the spring of 2000 we had what we called Mudfest 2000. That Tournament, it lightly sprinkled during the day turning the Ring into mud. That was the only Tournament where it actually rained (sprinkled, really) upon the combat. Otherwise, we have had a couple of Tournaments that it rained only during the Ceremonies, but well after the combat itself. 2007 was the first Tournament where it rained as if two bovinids met at a flat rock. Yes, the kermitoids were happy, but it made it damned hard to film and function when everydamnthing was wet to the bone. We all were running around quite soaked. There was not "dry" about it. Feet were wet. Bodies were wet. "Drying off" was merely finding a less wet item to soak up your current water load. At some point you give up trying to stay dry. Friday night was rather warm and even warmer in the tent. It started raining at 0700 Saturday. Just two hours before game time; it rained off and on, lightly and moderately until about an hour after the Tournament. Afterwards, a light fog for the rest of the night was the weather for the evening.
We originally had a rain delay expecting the rain to pass. Eventually, we realized that we had to do this in the rain in order to get it done. Thus it was done. This constituted one of our worst, of not the worst Tournament delay ever.


The Bynars were back! Amoreth and Avalona returned as the Bynars along with a Bynar banner. Thank you, ladies for doing this thankless task once again. The twin voices keeping score are always a hoot.

Thank you, other guests that participated. Nivek of the IKV Bayou Serpent attended his first Tournament. He did not fight due to a waiver from Sick Bay, but the fire was in his heart to do so. Sir Gavvin attended and fought his first Tournament. Amoreth fought her first Tournament after attending a few. We would thank Ripar as a guest, except that the IKV Melota no longer considers him a guest. Ripar has attended so many IKV Melota events that he cannot considered a guest.

We thank you, Ripar, for attending once again as one of our Brothers, and as an Honorary Member of the IKV Melota.

The combat was excellent! We had guests and first time combatants. Sir Gavvin from Amtgard managed to arrive in spite of the rain. Sir Gavvin is a heavily experienced Warrior in the Amtgard realm, and thus is not a true "newbie". However, for us, we count him as a first time combatant in our Ring. Amoreth, who has attended many Tournaments, fought for the first time holding her own very well. T'Kai, of the House Kmok, who also is a regular attendee at Tournament entered the Ring for the first time. After a bit of a slow start, he learned to be aggressive and did quite well as the day progressed.
There was some seriously aggressive combat. Quite a few bouts went past the 3 point line in order to force a win.
(Even I managed to survive first round combat to make second level in all three events which was a first for me.)

Oh, and as usual, a guest took the Mekleth. It seems to be a bit of a tradition, though it is not intended, for a transient guest to take the Mekleth. Sir Gavvin took Mekleth to fulfill the Prophecy of the Force. Oh, sorry, wrong universe. He still took a nice trophy home for putting up with the rain.

The non-combatant games were real interesting events. I normally video them as an observer. This time, I was a participant. What a difference! It is so much more challenging to participate than being an armchair observer with a camcorder.

Having the Gizminator and Amoreth, our team took first place and Amoreth opened the treasure chest. Gizmo and I took a couple of cards, Home Depot and Starbucks. Amoreth took the bulk of the treasure chest by mutual consent, and then spread the love a bit with others. Amoreth disclaimed the grand prize in favor of Ripar. Ripar has another interesting item to take back to the IKV Bayou Serpent. Ask him about it.

The Ceremonies were very different. Due to the rain delay, we were running late. Due to the rain, the Park itself needed some of our real estate and further delayed our Ceremonies until right about Sound Curfew. Therefore, the Ceremonies shall be somewhat subdued as we could not be loud. Therefore, these were the first Ceremonies since 2002 without a Death Howl. These were the first Ceremonies since Fall 2002 without The Prayer. Even "qa'pla" was spoken in lower case. When the video comes out, the insectoids and kermitoids shall almost overwhelm the speakers on the stage.
The flip side is that we had a different and more combustable layout. It sure looked nice. This was our Tenth Anniversary for the existance of the IKV Melota. Ten #6 torches. Ten small torches. Homage made to ten years of service to the Empire.

A really bright spot of a non-combustable sort were the promotions. K'tokQ was given vestai over the tai honoriffic. Liz was granted 2nd Lt., Tai for her uniform. Gizmet was tapped to Lt. Commander by Ripar (standing in for the Quad Commander) by order of Fleet level for her efforts as the other part of the team that builds/creates the non-combatant games and that helps to organize these intership/interstate events.

It hurt not to Howl and follow through with our usual traditions. However, we were under curfew and had to bow to external rules.
There are many for which to Howl. We will hold these Howls for a future date.

Ferengi Pinata, drawn and quarted to the delight of all. Not the usual swinging/clubbing arrangement due to the Park encroachment.
Door Prizes, nobody goes home without something. As they hawk, "Everyone's a winner!".
Tribble hunt, in the dark with radioactive (glow in the dark) leashes. You found a WHAT in your tribble!

Thanks to the Food Crew who managed to put on a mass feed in the rain after the Tournament. Thanks everybody who contributed.

Sunday morning saw the usual tear down and packing. We managed to clear out on time with only a few TO&E errors to correct.

The only real awkwardness was technical. One crewmember had a disabled vehicle and would be attempting vehicle recovery the Monday after the Tournament weekend.

What a weekend! Eventually, there shall be videos. However, I must catch up 2006 first.

Strength and Honor

Salek the Soggy
Ship's Brewer
An Approved Brewmaster of the Empire
www.janissaries.net


For the 4th straight year I traveled the 3 hour plus drive to the IKV Melota's fall bat'leth tournament joined by Lt Ni'Vek who was making his first voyage. Ni'vek had recent back surgery and didn't compete in the fighting but did participate in the non-combat games.The tournament was once again held at Purtis Creek State Park.After getting some bad star charts from a now dead ferengi and getting turned around a bit, we arrived about 9:30pm Friday night.We met with everyone,set up camp,talked for a bit and went to sleep since I had been awake for about 28 hours.

Saturday morning saw rain and lots of it. Fighting normally begins at 9am but was pushed back an hour and a half to try to let the rain pass but it didn't. The rain was almost constant, ranging from drizzle to downpours but we fought anyway.

Bat'leth was first up. Just as last year this was taken by Qel'ogh-wI,CO of the IKV Melota.I myself made it to 3rd place.

Mekleth was next and was taken by Gavin,a mundane I believe, but well trained in another club he is in with weapons. This is my worst event and I was knocked out in the first round.

D'k tahg was up next and this has always been my best event. I came in second to Kartoq in sudden death and had to earn that spot! Lt Cmdr K'Mok, XO of the Melota, gave me a real challenge. Matches are supposed to go to 3 points but we were both at 5 and a half before I finally got a shot in and didn't get hit myself. The same thing was repeated with Kartoq, going to 5 points I think but I never got the opening I needed. Kartoq earned every bit of it. Qapla!

Due to our late start it was now getting dark very fast and we had to start the non-combat games. My team did manage to come in second place even though we couldn't see a thing. The game was a course that had you doing a variety of things such as doing a jigsaw puzzle, spear throwing, untieing knots and a few other things. The ferengi pinata and tribble hunt were easier in the dark since the tribbles had glow necklaces on and were filled with treats ranging from candy to alcohol instead of more baby tribbles.

The ceremonies started late due to a mix up on the park's part with the pavilion. This year was the 10th anniversary of the Melota and the ceremony was much more elaborate which is saying a lot since their ceremonies are second to none. Ten torches were lit by the warriors in the ceremony and I was honored to be in on it since I don't belong to the ship. Awards were given for the combat and for overall points which were as follows:

1st place points: (Tournament Dahar) Lt Cmdr Kartoq
2nd place points: Cmdr Ri'Par
3rd place points: Lt Cmdr Qel'ogh-wI

I was given the honor of promoting Qel'ogh-wI's parmachi l'ogh-wI to Lt Cmdr on the order of Admiral Qob and passed to me by the QC K'Allen since he was unable to attend. Event pins and anniversary pins were handed out along with a "friend of the Melota" pin being given to me for always being there. The "Order Of Kamin" award was passed out by Dragen to Qel'ogh-wI, an award that honors the memory Lord Kamin who passed a few years ago and is given to one warrior who shows the honor of a warrior. This was voted on by all officers present and I hear it was a close one. We then all got out of the uniforms and enjoyed our bloodwine til early in the morning before sleeping, repacking and saying our goodbyes. Ni'Vek promises to return and I will always be there to fight, drink, and fellowship with the entire Melota crew. Job well done once again! Qapla!

Commander Ri'Par sutai-bortaS IKV Bayou Serpent commander and ship's brewer


The Tournament of Noah's Ark, aka "The Great Flood of 2007"

The weekend of October 5-7, 207 was the time of the Melota's annual Batleth tournament, an extra special event as this is also the ship's 10th anniversary as a ship and a club. I put in for a glorious 4 day weekend over 2 months ago to be sure I got plenty of time to kick butt, get butt kicked, party and relax away from the mundane world.
I loaded up my truck (AKA the "Battlestar Galactica" due to the extra long bed), and pulled out of my home sector at 1137 hours, hit 175 in the Terran town known as Dallas, and hit ludicrous speed to get to Purtis Creek State Park in Eustace Texas (population 798 BTW). Seeing as how I, Dragen, was the first to arrive I took my same spot as last year, set up shelter, stowed my gear, showed my mom and Buster my Targ around (my mom was taking 4 day weekend in a nearby town to relax and get away from some RL stress with my grandmother's situation). When she left, I finished stowing and sorting my gear, helped our resident Gismologist, Dr. Gizmo, unload and stow some his gear, then relaxed and socialized as others began to trickle in. 2130 rolled around and here came Ri'Par and Nivek from the IKV Bayou Serpent to also de-stress ad compete in the glorious battles to come.
And then it hit...Noah's Ark showed up. It rained; off and on at first. Then the big one hit that brought out the animals 2 by 2. We headed under the pavilion adjacent to our staging area, and held the first non-com game of the day, Sci-Fi trivia. Ri'Par nailed our trivial backsides (editor's note: Kmok won) on that game, and thanks to Qel'ogh-wI and ogh wI for the Battlestar Galactica questions (It is also one of my all time favorite series as you might be able to tell). About 1130 hours we decide "The heck with it" and start the actual reason for our being there, MORTAL COMBAT! (Hey, what do you expect: We're Klingons!). First off, as usual, was Batleth. Can't remember what order we all went in, but one of the highlights of my day was seeing T'Kai, som of K'mok, compete in his very first tournament. Even though he got a bit of a slow start, he aquitted himself VERY well; even beating his father in Mekleth (Or ws it Daq?)! Qapla T'Kai! Unfortunately, I ONCE AGAIN faced the dreaded Batleth...Barney! I hate purple dinosaurs. Although he did sking me this year, I was able to make Ri'Par work a LITTLE bit harder than last year for it. It was still a most glorious battle. The overall Batleth winner was, if memory serves me correctly, was Qel'ogh-wI.
Then there was mekleth. It was truly a joy and pleasure to watch Sir Gavin, an import from Amptgard and a good friend of Qlu's, compete in mekleth. From his many years of Amptgard training he handles a sword really fast, and that skill transferred over well to mekleth. Sir Gavin took the mekleth trophy.
Now it was time for Daq combat. First up was Dragen (me) and Amereth (SP?, aka Casey), the first member of our cadet corps. She acquitted herself very well, and I was only able to beat her by a half point (I actually made it to the 2nd round in something for the first time ever!). One by one the competitors were whittled down, and I asked for the privilege o facing Qel'ogh-wI as his ringer (We needed a "ringer" to flesh out the first round of Daq on the grid). That man is scary fast, and I was able to actually score 1 point on him (Hey, considering who it was I will take whatever I can get). Ultimately Kartoq took home the Daq trophy, as well as Dahar Master for the tournament (Overall points winner).
Then we got to play 20 questions and wtf! with the local constabulary at the park. They moved their movie night into the pavilion next to us due to the weather, so we had to postpone our ceremonies till 2237 hours. Being the 10th anniversary of the Melota, it was a much more elaborate setup than normal. ogh wI and sQweezinart for the very well designed set, and to the Captain for being our MC and facilitator. Lest I forget, I was honored to once again be the Arbiter of the Order of Ka'Min award, which by majority vote went to Qel'ogh-wI (I abstained from voting to avoid any possible claims of partiality or anything else unless there was a tie (Which there almost was)). Then there was the Tribble hunt, my very favorite part of the non-com games. I was fortunate enough to find one of 3 diamonds in the tribbles, which got for m my choice of a Dragon's Claw lamp or a nice big piece of Quarts with the 10th anniversary logo painted on it: Beliee it or not, I took the quartz instead of the claw. The after events partying was pretty subdued this year compared to past years, mainly because we were all very tired because of the rain and later than usual start. Well, except for Kartoq and his sheep and Ri-Par and his spiked ball. I will leave you with that thought. Bye y'all: Y'all come back now, ya hear?
1st Lieutenant Dragen, vestai-BoS'ra
Weapons Guild Master of CTF Quartermaster Corps
Moderator CDQ Weaponsguild
Ships Armourer IKV Melota


Submitted by Brg, Elizabeth Weber aka T'paun

The weekend of October 5-7, 2007 was the time of the IKV Melota's Batleth tournament, and it was my understanding this was also the ship's 10th anniversary as a ship and a club.

I took Friday off, to load up my little PT Cruiser (AKA the Tardis for the ability to seemingly hold twice it's volume in items) I pulled out of my Apartment complex approximately at 10:30 am, stopped at the local Tom thumb to pick up any last minute items I may have forgotten, ie, sodas, ice, and food. I stopped by the local fast food burger joint to grab lunch, wolfed it down and hit 183 from Irving. I shifted into Hyper-hampster mode to get through traffic as quickly as I could.

Apon arivial, I saw that Gizmo, George and Dragon had all beat me there, so i went to set up shelter, stowed my gear, and went around to start visiting. Later I took a swim with the kids down at the lake to cool down. Slowly people started trickling in, Ri'Par and Nivek from the IKV Bayou Serpent, then Kat n Paul, and K'mok and his son T'Kai, and sometime early saturday morning Kartok with a busted radiator. (I leave him to tell that tale!)

The morning came with some light mist, just before I started breakfast, it quit long enough for me to get my fire lit, food fixed, then it came down. First a light mist, then a little heaver splurt (not a mist but not a full on rain) then the rain, lots of it, it wasnt cold just annoying.

The group headed under the pavilion adjacent to the staging area, and it was decided to hold the first non-com game of the day, Sci-Fi trivia. Ri'Par cleared the table on that game. (editor's note: Kmok won) Just shortly before we broke up, Gavin & Family showed up to compete.

Around 11:30 am they decided to start the tournament! First off, was Batleth, plenty to watch there, but hard to judge who hits who. (I'm not sure who won this)

Then there was mekleth. I watched Sir Gavin, an import from Amptgard and if I recall correctly a good friend of Qlu's, compete in mekleth. Sir Gavin took home the mekleth trophy.

Then it was time for Daq combat. First up was Dragen and Amereth,

Ultimately Kartoq took home the Daq trophy, as well as Dahar Master for the tournament (Overall points winner).

As we were setting up to start dinner, the local constabulary at the park moved their movie night into th pavilion next to us due to the weather, so we had to postpon The ceremonies till after the Great race, which ended approximately around 10:30pm.

The great race once again was a insanely funny fun event, (note to self, don't start it without a good flashlight if it ends up close to sundown again) Yes, you read correctly, we started just shortly after the sun got down (6:30pm? later?)
First was the "BOARD WALK" where 3 members had to walk on boards with rope in unison, a very TEAM oriented thing. Then we "DRESSED THE DOLLY" and I was the Dolly :P,
then we were off to "PICK THE FERINGIES BRAINS" were you stuck your hand into the Feringi's ear to find various objects. Then it was "PUZZLE TIME" put the puzzle together, then we were off to "UNRAVEL THE ROPE." A tiring, slightly frustraiting but interesting thing to be doing in the dark with "Mr. toads wild ride" going on in the nearby pavillion.

Then we had to "KILL THE BLOOD WORM!" by any means nesacary. Chuck a spear or deadly frizby in a field in the dark, spot light that target, and hope you have a good tosser in the group.

The last obstacle was "TWISTING WATER BRIGADE" where you scoop a cup of water from a bucket at one end of a rope maze and move it thru the winding twine to the other end of the maze to fill the bottle to a point. Your last task was pull the ring from your winning bottle, hehe a mentos and diet soda trick, your victory champagne!!

Being the 10th anniversary of the IKV Melota, it was a much more elaborate setup than normal. ogh wI and sQweezinart should be congratulated for the very well designed set, and to Captain Gizmo for being our MC and facilitator. Dragen was honored once again to be the Arbiter of the Order o Ka'Min award, which by majority vote went to Qel'ogh-wI. I was given an honorary rank (editor's note: real rank, 2nd Lt., Tai) aboard their ship (need to ask what it was again!) If we are lucky, I might get a copy of the filming of the ceremony!

Then there was the Tribble hunt, my very favorite part of the non-com games. I only came home with a small bottle of George's blood wine and a very large bottle celebrating the ship's 10th anniversary and a VERY LOUD hawaiian shirt.

The after events partying was pretty subdued this year compared to past years, mainly due to the rain and later than usual start.

The next morning dawned bright and clear, with a small breaze, I quickly begin packing my uberly wet gear into my car (I swear I dont think any one item is dry). and said my good bys to all the good people. I had a most excelent time, even with the rain.

Thusly ends my report
2nd Lt T'Paun, Tai


Fall Tournament - 2007

K'Mok and T'Kai departed the Northern Outpost in the wee hours of Saturday morning. For three hours we watched the darkness pass by and arrived just after sunrise. We added our banner to the display just as the rain let go. Such a wonderful element to add to the competition this year. The day oscillated between tropical style down-pours and oppressive, muggy heat. Being Klingon, we persevered.

T'Kai was given special permission to compete this year (being 1 1/2 years too young to officially enter). He has trained for years but training is NOT the same as competing. His first matches were tough for him but he loosened up as the day progressed.

K'Mok was given the honor of facing Qel'ohgwI with the Bat'leth. We fought to the point of exhaustion. After much heavy breathing and sweating Qel'ohgwI was victorious.

The Mek'leth duels gave Fate a chance to show her sense of humor. When the lots were drawn to pair the warriors, K'Mok was matched against T'Kai. K'Mok got cocky or perhaps he was exhausted from fighting the Captain (or maybe he has trained his son VERY well). In the end T'Kai was victorious over his father by 1/2 point. He advanced a couple of more rounds before being defeated by Khartoq.

The D'k Tahg duels showed us that Fate was not tired of that joke and K'Mok and T'Kai were again paired for the combat. T'Kai did not fare quite as well this time. K'Mok sliced him up like a Thanksgiving turkey. After advancing a couple times K'Mok was finally defeated by Ri'Par of the I.K.V. Bayou Serpent. Ri'Par fights VERY well and the combat was continued until he gained an advantage in the points, winning the match 6 to 5 1/2.

Qapla' - I find no dishonor in being defeated by a superior warrior.

Sore, tired and facing a very long drive, we skipped the non-combat events and left early. Both of us had a great time and are looking forward to next year.

- Lt. Cmdr. K'Mok
1st Officer of the I.K.V. Melota
Lord of the House of K'Mok


                 


AER's Page
Downloads Page
Home