[Artemisia] Estrella Wrap-up

[Jeanine]

Posted on behalf Sir Etienne 
> Etienne’s Estrella Wrap-up
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>                 Greetings!
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> We (my Lady and I) wanted to share our experiences from this year’s (2016) Estrella War. If you are looking for the short version of this, here you are: GO TO ESTRELLA next year! We met new Artemisians and saw old friends. We shopped, fought, volunteered, learned, taught, consulted heralds, and socialized. We think you’ll enjoy it too!
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> A quick history so you have some perspective here. Upon entering the SCA, I attended the first 7 Estrella Wars straight. After that, I took a break for a few years and have been returning as often as I could since. It has been anywhere from a 15 to 20 hour drive each way for me. There are certainly travel options that minimize the drain a long road trip can have and we are happy to share our thoughts, if you wish.
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> If you have not been there in a while, let me say that you are missing out. If you have never gone, you need to go. It is one of the 3 largest wars in the SCA. (Roughly 3300 people attended in 2016)  The Atenveldt folks have learned what makes a great war and put in a TON of effort to set it up.
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> Pre-registration: Do it. It makes check-in (troll) SO much faster! In fact, this year they had drive-thru troll! We never got out of the vehicle and it only took a couple of minutes. Do yourself a favor, pre-reg. -save time and money.
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> Camp: Don’t know anyone? There is typically an Artemisian Kingdom or Baronial camp there that you can join. We like to camp with friends from out of Kingdom that we do not get to see often. Either way, you will likely meet new folks. The camping areas are really nice. Although the site can get dusty, they have water trucks that go around to water the roads and keep it manageable. Given the size of the event, be prepared to walk a LOT, no matter where you are camped.
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> We highly recommend taking the time to walk the site (volunteer for the Watch while you are at it!) and see all of the camps. There are some incredible camps set up!
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> Food: There are a variety of food vendors onsite that do a great job. It can get pricey if you are eating every meal that way so we suggest joining a camp kitchen. (The Brotherhood is stellar at this! Great food and hospitality!) For a single price and a couple of times helping cook or clean, you can eat quite well. You also get to know some folks that way. Check with your camp coordinator and ask around. Don’t bother hauling food down, there are a number of shopping locations close to site. Same with alcohol. Unless you are bringing something special you made, the selection there far surpasses what we normally have available.
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> Classes: There are tons! Every day. They have them all listed out there for you to check out.
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> Marshall Activities: Frankly, if you cannot find enough to be completely exhausted, you’re not doing it right. Tournaments galore. Scenarios galore. Shoots, challenges, melees galore. Get the idea? They really have put a tremendous amount of effort into making sure there is something, scratch that, MANY things for a person to do. The water/food bearers on the heavy field are awesome, by the way!
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> Note: It can get dusty/pollen-heavy out on the open field/forest so take your meds if you have allergies.
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> *A special note to the Rapier folks, especially the new MOD’s. Their Majesties had to choose a champion from ANOTHER KINGDOM to represent them at an informal game they held against the other kingdoms, no Rapier folks were in attendance at that game.  Just saying…
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> Shopping: We are, at times, hard pressed here in Artemisia to find a selection of goods for our medieval needs and wants. Estrella is a great place to find some of those harder to locate items. How about the equivalent of a couple city blocks of medieval wares just a short walk from your camp? The only event we have seen with a larger selection of merchants is Pennsic and that’s double the travel time. The joke at Estrella is that there is even a war point given for ‘shopping’! We often go there with a list of specific items we want to acquire and are very rarely disappointed.
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> Courts: Most of the local areas and principle Kingdoms hold some type of court during the week. It is interesting to see how different groups run their courts. We attended grand court (for only the 2nd time in our history of that war) and got to see some really impressive things! Some folks really know how to set up a peerage elevation!
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> We also noted that one of the Baronies posted large, well designed and decorated tapestries up in their Baronial pavilion describing some of the primary awards and why they are given. We thought that was a great idea!
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> Volunteering: It is a huge event and takes a ton of work to setup and pull off. Additionally, you can earn funds for your Kingdom or local group by donating your time. They offer a bunch of raffle prizes (over 150 at last count this year) for you as well. If you have the time, take a couple hours and volunteer. Have some patience, it is tough to organize the volume of folks involved.
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> Nightlife: As you might guess, there is plenty of nightlife to be had. All sorts of shenanigans if you are so inclined. We find folks to be welcoming and hospitable but common courtesy rules. Enter only if invited and be a considerate guest and you’ll have a great time. Bring your ear plugs if you are not into falling asleep to drums.
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> Go have fun at Estrella War, folks. It’s there. It’s up to you to enjoy it!
> 
> Etienne and Morgan
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> **~**~**~** 
> The only thing frozen that interests me is a margarita
> ~Maxine 
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