Lords and Ladies of the rapier community…. Hear the call to hunt! Sharpen your rapier wit, make keen your eye, prepare your gear! You have been CHALLENGED!

In hopes of inspiring each and every one of you.. From those who only authed yesterday all the way to those with a rapier peerage.. Your friendly Kingdom Huntsmen challenge you to boldly swagger forth in readiness to learn, improve and challenge!

From Æthelmearc War Practice 2016 to Æthelmearc War Practice 2017, all fencers are invited participate in the Wild Hunt by seeking out fencers of all skill levels at official events – to work with and to challenge for points (and prizes!)…

The Wild Hunt Rules: The purpose of this endeavor it multi-faceted. Firstly, it is a vehicle to encourage the participants of the Æthelmearc Rapier community to be more active within the kingdom by approaching and engaging with as many different fencers as possible at any given opportunity, to get them to step out of their comfort zone. Secondly, it is an attempt to encourage all ranks to travel and participate more within the kingdom. Finally, it is an attempt to track what events are being attended by all ranks, as well as the activity levels of each. During the course of the Hunt; Countess Elena, Master Diego, Dona Gabrielle, or Don Po are the marshals and final arbitrators. Any questions should be directed to them.

Duration: This is a one year long Tournament. The Wild Hunt shall be from Æthelmearc War Practice 2016 until the start of Æthelmearc War Practice 2017. The Hunt will only take place at published events in the Kingdom and is only open to members of the Æthelmearc population. Each person will be responsible for maintaining their own log book of who they face during the event and reporting it to the email address for tally throughout the season. Scoring will begin at the opening of the field at Æthelmearc War Practice 2016.

How to Join: To participate, an individual must actively announce their intent to the any of the 4 Marshals. The Hunters may then begin to report their kills and join the Facebook group “The Wild Hunt” to stay in touch with the various opportunities for bonus points and to see the leaderboards. Fighters that wish to participate may join at any time prior to the start of Æthelmearc War Practice 2016 and before Æthelmearc War Practice 2017.

How to Challenge:

• It must happen at events that have scheduled rapier activities.
• The Hunter must be armed for rapier combat, in the rapier activities area, ready to fence, during a time open for pick-ups.
• The Prey must be armed for rapier combat, in the rapier activities area, and ready to fence.
• Both participants in the challenge may be hunting at the time. The Prey need not be a reporting Hunter to be considered as an opponent.
• Duration or type of challenge shall be mutually agreed upon by the Hunter and Prey (i.e., coaching time, tourney style fights, 10 min, 3 passes, keep fighting until a kill is made, upper or lower limits of passes to be decided upon each challenge, etc)
• Tourney passes that are victories may be documented as Hunt wins. A hunter can record one kill per Prey per event for scoring.

Think of this as documenting your pick-ups. As part of the process, Hunters are encouraged to keep a journal and take the opportunity with each combatant to review what things they can learn, have been doing better, etc. This is also an opportunity for coaching if you want it. But if the coaching is the goal, make that clear at the opening of the challenge so the opponent is aware of how to look at the passes.

How the Scoring Works: Scoring will be based upon the highest rapier award held by both the hunter and the challenged.

• Authorized Rapier Fighters (no rapier awards or awards that do not carry an AoA):1 point
• Alce (for rapier combat) or other fencing award that carries an AoA: 2 pts
• White Scarf or any other GoA for rapier combat: 3 pts
• Master of Defense or Laurel (Rapier Combat): 4 pts

Scoring will be tabulated by totaling all points accumulated by an individual then dividing by the value of rank of hunter. (Thus an authorized fighter that defeats a MoD would receive (4 pts / 1 pt.) for a total of 4 points. A MoD that defeats a MoD would receive (4 pts / 4 pts) for a total of 1 point.)

If a WS or MOD is medically unable to fence, but is willing to observe a hunter while they fight non-challenge passes and offer coaching, points may be accrued that way as if the WS or MOD were challenged.

During the course of the Hunt, the arbitrators may issue conditional situations to an upcoming event that effect the scoring. (i.e. – challenge bouts must be fought with your weakest form, Passes should be done with the off hand, etc).

If during the course of the season, a hunter receives an award which moves them to higher point value, all subsequent event totals would be tabulated at the higher value and have no effect on previous results.

How to Report: At the conclusion of the bout(s), if a kill is achieved hunters are responsible to document the following information:

• Æthelmearc authorized opponents: Name, date of event, name of event
• Out of Kingdom opponents: Name, kingdom, rank, name of event, and date of event.

By Tuesday evening of the week following the event, all scores should be reported. The email to send scores to is: TheWildHunt1@yahoo.com

If scores are not sent in by Tuesday at 11:59 pm, they will not be counted for that event. Leaderboards will be posted periodically to show progress. Prior to Æthelmearc War Practice 2017, the final scores will be tabulated and the winners will be announced and prize(s) distributed at Æthelmearc War Practice 2017.

The Prize: The prize chest may grow as the year goes on. At this time the booty is: a fencing shirt, and parry cloak. Donations will be accepted if anyone would like to contribute. The Marshals will award the contents of the chest at Æthelmearc War Practice 2017.

There is also a Facebook Group for The Wild Hunt

Good luck! and Happy Hunting!