Rhiassa Presents: Queen of Hearts XXV

August 11 - August 12, 2018

Site was Swift River Sportsman's Club - Belchertown, MA.

Event Holders were Jennifer DeNardis-Rosa, Jason T Rosa.

Event Description

Full event information at www.rhiassa.com under the Queen of Hearts pages.

Major changes for this year summarized:

True supporters no longer include the Champion and Mage. They are four individuals, 
without specified names or jobs, that are responsible for all of the aspects of managing 
a successful team. There is a single honorific for best group of True Supporters.

Team caps are reduced to 25 with 5 additional newbies and up to three non-coms.

There are now three total decks of cards for 1st place winners (gold cards), 2nd place 
winners (red cards), and 3rd place winners (black cards). Your team will earn points for 
all 2nd place and 3rd place winners for tournaments.

The Champions and Mages competitions no longer exist in their original form. Instead, 
there is a competition called Aces which requires up to four individuals from each team 
to compete in rigorous challenges that involve fighting, magic, physical ability, mental 
ability, and other skills. There are four different competitions contained within this 
competition, one for each suit of the Ace cards.

The 10s Cards are no longer 5-man competitions. Instead, appropriately enough, they 
are ten-person-squad versions of other war maneuvers. This ten person squad must 
include all of the Aces your team has entered in the Aces competition.

One Path, Two Path, and Three Path competitions have been added in. These will be 
fighting tournaments for spell casters that have combat-viable builds.

Individual weapon-style tournaments have been reduced to Single Short, Florentine 
(mixed), Sword and Shield, and Hand-and-a-Half. Additionally there is a three-person 
squad version of each of these four weapon styles. The same person cannot be in a 
weapon styles individual tournament and also in the three-person squad for that 
weapon style.

The Banner/Heraldry competition now only judges garb for the Queen and the Team 
banner.

The Bard competition has been renamed the Performance competition and now has a 
theme to adhere to like most other noncoms.

The Jesters Tournament was added back in after a long absence. This is a Realms 
adaptation of the classic Whose Line is it Anyway game show.

Queens War has slightly modified rules to accommodate working 2nd and 3rd place 
cards into the standing lines.

Event Wrap-up

Hello everyone,

I apologize for posting this so late. Throughout the day today I went over how to say 'thank you' probably hundreds of different times and just could not find a way to articulate it that was adequate, or worthy, or commensurate to what took place this past weekend. I finally decided that I was unequal to the task and that I would just express myself as best as I could despite it.

For an event to hit twenty-five years of history, in and of itself, is worthy of pause. We need to recognize the fact that, before even we celebrate a single event that can make it to that milestone, first we had to create a community that could stand the test of time. Many tests of time. So first, I want to thank those who came before us. Those who laid the foundation of this game and this community as pioneers, those who saw it though its infancy and defined the type of place it would become. Those who gave us the history that we all share together. Queen of Hearts exists because of you.

And then the event series itself. Basically born alongside Rhiassa itself, the brainchild of Steve and Amy Johnson and supported by their first generation of members. It was a bold idea, a tournament that celebrated everything that made the Realms great. It grew bigger and bolder each year. A castle was built. Later the responsibility was handed off to Seth and the new generations of Rhiassans he gathered to his side. The event continued to evolve and grow and never lost its vitality in all that time. To the Rhiassans that came before us and the countless hours they sacrificed to make this tradition endure. Queen of Hearts exists because of you.

To those who wear red and black today. Who believe in the mission that is Rhiassa and dedicate their time and energy to making our efforts successful. Who invest themselves in the planning and prop making, who show up to labor for hours a day before the first player will ever step on to a war maneuver field, who stay up late each night to make sure every chore is done correctly and who will pack and scrub and haul and do every other task without complaint until finally we have finished our task for the weekend. Queen of Hearts exists because of you.

To the members of our community who answered our calls for help. Who trust us enough to take a part of themselves and put it in our hands for a day or for the weekend so that ultimately we can succeed together. Who are willing to help set up, sweating by our side. Who are willing to join the marshaling staff and invest in the goals of the weekend with us. To the many, many, who stay for hours after the last horn blows in order to help us put the event site away, efforts born of their desire to make sure we're safe and taken care of. Queen of Hearts exists because of you.

And finally, foremost, to our three amazing teams this year and all of those who supported bringing them to fruition. Those who love this community enough to understand the importance of celebrating it together. Those who came to the fields to fight with honor and respect for their fellow combatants. Those who invested incredible passion into the crafting competitions to put the best part of themselves forward. Those who took risks to show parts of themselves they may have hidden before now. Those who lifted up others on their shoulders to give them a chance to shine. Those who believe in what we are trying to do together as a game and as a community and as an event. Queen of Hearts exists... Queen of Hearts will exist for many years to come... because of you.

I've said it so many times now that I feel guilty repeating myself, but I do so regardless. Queen of Hearts is something that can only exist here. Its something that can only exist because of all of you. And each year you rise to the challenge of creating it out of nothing other than your desire to come together, love one another, to do your best for one another. It is a special thing and it belongs to all of us.

I said it last year, but I'l say it again now. This was the best Queen of Hearts that I have ever been a part of. I made no secret of the fact that we were going to make changes, try new things, not be tied down by ideas that no longer fit our ideals. I know not everything was perfect and we still have miles to go. But, as a community, your trust and your willingness to change with us has been our greatest inspiration. I promise that we will never stop trying to make Queen of Hearts better and worthy of everything that you've invested in it.

We're already planning for next year. We hope you are all too.

See you at Queen of Hearts XXVI.

And thank you. Truly.

– Jason, Jennifer, and Leilani

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