life, the universe, and donna

So I spent the weekend hanging around with a bunch of dirty pirates. The kind with wenches, not downloaded software. I’m a happy wench.

I’d been hemming & hawing over going for two weeks now, thinking maybe I’d go… then deciding I didn’t really want to drive 5 hours just to spend one day… then being tempted by the illustrious Raven’s gorgeous breasts… actually, I think it was the breasts that did it.

I am very, very glad she convinced me. Thanks, Raven!

So where I wound up was in the middle of freaking nowhere, aka the village of Clinton, BC. Or more to the point, a large field just north of the main village with 1000 of my closest campers. Although… that is SO not camping. I was sleeping in a queen size bed a foot off the ground. Sure, I was in a tent, but it was a tent I could stand up and walk around in, even WITH the queen sized bed in there.

We camp in style, baby.

Anyway, the point of this event is to be a rather large SCA event, including a war, a wonderful set of merchants, and a great deal of people dressed medievally. Nick’s a fighter, both rapier & heavy fighting, and I’ve been to a few smaller events with him… but nothing like this.

Nick, Raven and a vast variety of other pirates (no, not everybody is a pirate, but the cool people are, so I’ll hang out with them) had been there since Wednesday. I arrived Friday night around 10:30pm — this, it turns out, was pretty handy: All I had to do was drop my bag in the tent, put on my fancy frock, and join the festivities. Raven gave me a tour of the tavern, the biffys (ugh), the fighting field, and right next door to our encampment, another group of scurvy pirates who put on such evening entertainment as drumming, fires, belly dancers, and a lot of drinking.

Quite frankly, I’m not entirely sure I can describe it in words.

Eventually, sleep called, and we retreated to our “this isn’t camping” camping. I slept amazingly well (thanks to the earplugs — camping with 1000 revellers isn’t a quiet concept.) We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning… and promptly went back to sleep.

Ok, ok, eventually we got up, and because who wants to rough it? Nick & I headed into town for breakfast. I love diners. Why aren’t there more diners? I want to go to a diner.

When we returned, Nick suited up to go fight in the morning war with the other heavy fighters. (Two types of fighting — heavy, which requires a great deal of armor to avoid getting thoroughly smacked with large sticks masquerading as bigass swords, and rapier, which is kind of like fencing, but with a rapier instead. Less armor, more poking. Nick does both.)

I got to be in charge of the camera.

Woo! Turns out, Nick’s an awesome photographer, and to go along with it, has some absolutely gorgeous camera equipment. I parked myself along the edge of the warfield with the camera and a telephoto lens and shot to my little hearts content. I am SO borrowing this camera more often. Holy crap. I’ve only uploaded a few of my favorites — either pictures that have me in them, or that I took (or both!) … and more are coming back with Nick tomorrow, since these are the only ones I got off the camera before I left.

Anyway. I love watching Nick fight. It’s a hoot. Total chaos from my perspective, but tons of fun nonetheless. It’s a bit tricky trying to pick Nick out of the crowd… on the upside, I can usually find Richard, who may actually be a giant… and then I can usually find Nick nearby. Excellent.

I deserted the field a bit early to go find my Raven so she could take me shopping — we wound up with the outfit you see above. CLEAVAGE!

This was purchased from “Cleavage by Isabelle“. For those not in the know, I’m fairly rectangular… and therefore have, uh, fewer assets than most. You know, in the chest area. However, as Isabelle said, “It’s Cleavage by Isabelle, not flat chests by Isabelle” and she was able to strap me into a lovely new corset. Sure enough, Donna got cleavage. WooHAW! I raced back to my tent for my credit card, and the rest was history.

Amusingly, I managed to sunburn the top of my breasts. Funny, when you put them on display like a pair of small delicious apples… they turn red.

Come the afternoon, it was time for the heavy fighters to retire, and the rapier fighters to emerge. Since Nick does both, this meant a quick change and back to the field.

I really, really like watching him fight, y’know? I actually feel a little bad — I had fully intended on leaving early to help Raven in the kitchen, but … well, the saving grace is that I never actually USED anything from the kitchen, so while I would have loved to help my favorite galley wench, at least I wasn’t taking advantage of her hard work. Also, I really like watching Nick fight. heh.

And hey, any chance to play with that camera. Rawr. Sort of amusing, actually — a few people started to recognize me… not for me, but for the giant camera bag I was lugging around. “It’s period!” I’d claim. “I’m a soul stealer! Say cheese.”

Today was the tavern fight. Another rapier battle, this time in a recreated tavern on the site. Tricky to take pictures of without getting stabbed, but once again… fun to watch. Are you sensing a theme here? I’m so very proud of Nick — he’s darn good at what he does.

As Raven put it, “It’s not camping, it’s interactive theatre.” And it really is. Drink, fight, fuck indeed. I think I like this SCA stuff. Totally worth driving 5 hours there and … well, 4 hours back since I drive too fast. My lips & tits are sunburned, I’m dirty, tired, and after buying that new corset & the outfit that went with it, totally broke… but I had a fantastic time and am very, very glad that Raven convinced me to come. Huzzah.