The call was sent out this past spring to all the Queens and/or their Heirs to send their best to Pennsic, and several answered. In the end, this third year of the game gathered three teams of agents and spies to compete in a fun game of subterfuge and clandestine activities ranging from code-breaking to tagging one another throughout Pennsic. We had and East Kingdom/Acre “Royal” team, an East Kingdom “Rogue” team (made up almost entirely of House Serpentius members, and an Æthelmearc/Known World team, which had the Outlands represented as well.

The Game opened with a Plot: Gifts intended for the newest Royals of the Known Realm, that of Avacal, were stolen by nefarious characters and hidden away in order to sow the seeds of distrust within the new alliance. The Queens sent their best agents to uncover clues and find the presents—two cups—all while waylaying and knocking out each other’s agents. A single clue was discovered on the courier: a scroll of music. The game was afoot.

All three teams arrived at their next destination—the Sunday Arts and Sciences display—but only one determined that the scroll was a cypher; when solved it led the agents to their next test: their spy must keep safe on their person a delicate package (a hollowed-out decorated egg) to be delivered to a go-between at Bartertown. All three teams performed admirably at this task, showing the kingdom spies could be trusted to keep even the most fragile of prizes.

The third test was that of sneakiness; throughout Pennsic there were pictographs left in secret places, each leading to the next destination until the agents found themselves at the SCA-50 Challenge where they could test their pickpocketing skills on a specific target (a pickpocketing dummy set up in the hall). This game had some hiccoughs, unfortunately, with one or more clues having been discovered and removed by the public (geocachers call this “muggling”). Still, two teams were able to find a poem, a second cypher, which would ultimately uncover where the two cups were hidden.

At the Bluefeather Ball, one team approached the judges holding the prizes: House Serpentius, as the East Kingdom Rogue Team. The nefarious foes had hidden one cup in each of the entryways of the East and Æthelmearc Royal Encampments!

How dastardly.

These cups will be presented to the rulers of Avacal in the names of the collective Guilds of Assassins, with credit given to the East Kingdom Rogue agents for finding and retrieving them.

At Midnight Madness there was a festive game of “Kill the man with the ball” using a basket as the marker to end Pennsic 45. The East Kingdom Royal Team proved themselves by holding onto the basket the longest, although Aethelmearc showed they had great skills with several kills throughout the merchant area.

Thanks to all involved, the Kingdoms who love playing with us, and feel free to join in next year.

Lady Maggie Rue
THLord Weasel
for the Royally Chartered Assassins Guilds of Æthelmearc and the East,
and the Known World Assassins Guild