First Contact: Moors In Hispania

The rapier schedule will be full of fighting (in some unusual formats)
with plenty opportunity for shtick (so it will be fun to watch).

The list opens at 10:00 am for warm ups, inspections, and authorizations.

The tournament will begin at 11, with a lunch break around noon.

The tournament will have 5 stages and will last all day,
so come ready to fight . . . a lot.

Stage 1: Forced Conversion
The first stage will represent the time when the Moors and Jews in Hispania were forced to convert to Christianity or die. Fighters will be asked to choose a religion, then the Christians will challenge the Moors (or the Moors can practice their religion openly, taunting a Christian to challenge). There will be an hour for open challenges, with the winner of each bout earning one point.

Stage 2: Spanish Inquisition
The second stage will represent the Spanish Inquisition, whether you expected it or not. The Inquisitor (either myself or a special guest – any volunteers?) will randomly accuse a fighter of heresy. That fighter may then choose to stand trial (fight the Inquisitor) or accuse someone else (and fight them). If the accused accuses someone else, the loser of that challenge must stand trial. Anyone who is convicted (loses to theInquisitor) will be sent to jail to await execution (and will get to rest for the remainder of this stage). Fighters will be awarded points based on how long they avoided conviction.

Stage 3: Cellmate duel
In the third stage, an argument between cellmates will lead to a fight using pointed sticks they took from the inside of the door. Guards will replace dead prisoners with living ones. Any prisoner who kills three cellmates will be deemed too dangerous and will be killed by the guards. This will be a bearpit using single rapiers, thrust only (so no cuts), in a very small list. One point per win, maximum three in a row.

Stage 4: Escape!
The fourth stage will be an opportunity for the prisoners to escape the jail. When a guard comes to remove the newest corpse, the prisoner attacks him with the pointed stick. If the prisoner wins this fight, s/he will steal the guard's weapons and sneak out of the jail to the getaway carriage. On the way to the carriage, s/he will encounter several guards and must fight them. This will be a fox-and-hounds style fight, where dead guards are immediately replaced. Each guard has only one life. Escapees will earn one point per guard killed and a bonus for killing all the guards and escaping, if they do.

Stage 5: La Alhambra
Having escaped the prison, fighters will join their allies at the last Moorish stronghold, La Alhambra. The historical fortress resisted defeat for 200 years, hopefully ours will fall a little sooner. Fighters will be split into two armies. One will defend the fort with limited resurrections while the other attacks with unlimited res. When the last defender dies, we will switch sides and repeat. The army that captures the fortress in the shortest time will earn several points each.

There will be prizes for each stage, and a fabulous, spifftastic prize for the highest score.


Rapier Marshal: Lorenzo di Calabria lorenzosca@gmail.com