WENATCHEE – The grassy mead was rife with battles. The grunts of struggle pierced the air. The whiff of strategy was thick.
The firewalls raged at the northern and southern borders of the plain. The river, stocked with a pit of hungry, snapping piranhas, lay deceitfully calm. A cadre of weapons – swords, shields, hatchets, flails, war hammers, javelins, clubs, boulders, poison – sat patiently and awaited their turn in the epic frays of Hermit’s Hold.
On the field, Xiphius the Barbarian and Gladius the Roman Warrior fought mercilessly with each other.
Lucretius the magical Druid threw spell balls and shouted incantations at Dark Knight, the mind-controlling Bard.
Lunar Fox, the Assassin with the infamous Touch of Death, scoured the busy flatland seeking victims. The Scouts – Imp, Wolf Baby and Scorpio – shot arrows across the field.
Later, the Spitting Snake, the Wizard, and Peehs and Jyoo, two fighters from the Sacred Wind shire, joined the melee. Soon, all fought to their deaths in the valley of shade trees.
Then, they got back up to take a smoke break, get a drink of Gatorade or eat a pecan roll. The next battle would be starting soon.
These eclectic characters belong to Amtgard, an international organization that keeps the tradition of medieval combat alive in fabled worlds. Their battlefield is Wenatchee’s Washington Park, and skirmishes happen three times a week with the largest crowd on Sundays.
The personas within the fictional shire of Hermit’s Hold – the name of Wenatchee’s local Amtgard chapter – are individually created from the medieval, ancient and fantasy genres and each has its own story.
Think of the people who play out the battle scenes as actors following a thematic script. Except here, the only lines to remember are the complex rules of the game, magical spells and honor, in the fighting and the fallen.
Amtgard is all about imagination. But local members say Amtgard is also about socialization.
“It’s an intercultural experience,” said 26-year-old Travis Hughes, or Xiphius, sheriff of Hermit’s Hold. “We get to know different lands, different kingdoms and see different fighting styles. It’s addictive, and it’s lot of fun.”
After all, Amtgard – one of the most popular international live action role playing (LARP) games – is set in a make-believe world of wizards, monsters, centaurs, paladins and necromancers with supernatural abilities and powers.
The Kingdom of the Burning Lands started Amtgard in 1983 in El Paso, Texas. There are myriad Web sites, rule books and play books dedicated to the organization.
After more than two decades, there are Amtgard kingdoms and shires around the world.
Christopher “Cricket” Roundy started Hermit’s Hold in Wenatchee four years ago, said his mother, Patricia. A member of the Washington National Guard, Roundy is now in Iraq.
“But he loved that game,” she said. “He even proposed to his fiance in his costume in the park.”
It’s understandable why teens Garret Boggs, Zach DeFina, Ethan Drakes and Sam Neese are attracted to Amtgard; they’re not that far removed from the white-hot market of high fantasy fiction. But what gives with adults? Are these grown men and women who refuse to grow up and live in the real world? Or are they adults who’ve never lost touch with their inner child and are unafraid to let them come out in fantasy play?
“It’s better than going to the gym, and it’s a great stress reliever,” said 25-year-old C.J. Stevens, a college student who plays Lucretius, a powerful Druid, with the power to heal and harm.
Hermit’s Hold has found its battlefield in Washington Park. It becomes a small hamlet of medieval, ancient and fantasy worlds rolled into one – in the middle of a real-life, bustling metropolis of cars, playground equipment, family get-togethers and home improvement projects.
If you want to be good at Amtgard’s nuances, battle games and characters, it will require more than just showing up on Sundays ready for combat.
The battle games require players to not only use strategy during attacks, but the power of recall for all the rules, spells, chants, powers and abilities different characters have.
“It’s not just about hack and slash,” said 12-year-old Drakes, a student at Orchard Middle School. “It’s about being aware of your surroundings.”
But it’s not mandatory that Amtgard members be a part of a fighting class, said Hughes. Other Amtgard activities include making armor, weapons and clothing.
Many Amtgard members like 25-year-old Mike Alexandrou, a part of Ellensburg’s Shire of Sacred Wind, make their own weapons. Alexandrou’s persona is Peehs.
“If it’s not about my family, school or Amtgard, I’m not that interested in it,” he said.
From capes and colored sashes to peasant-style tunics, several Hermit’s Hold members have had their garb specially made to match their personas.
It took Charly Hunter, who works at Wal-Mart, three months to make his chain mail, a 25-pound piece of armor for his character, Gladius.
The most commonly recommended materials for weapons and shields in Amtgard are bamboo, graphite golf clubs or PVC tubing. They must be covered and heavily padded so as not to cause injury or pain to competitors.
“For us, it’s just like ‘Lord of the Rings,’ except all our equipment is padded and safe,” Hughes said.
Hermit’s Hold has staged exhibitions at the Cashmere Public Library and performed at birthday parties.
Hunter said he brings his sons, 12-year-old Kirk and 10-year-old Kody, to Amtgard battle games because they teach the boys sportsmanship and responsibility.
“It’s good family fun,” he said. “It lets me get my exercise. This lets them get their pent-up energies out, teaches them self-control and honesty above all else.”
During battle breaks, several members of Hermit’s Hold changed their fighting class, which means they moved from being a Barbarian to the poisonous Spitting Snake or from a Druid to a Barbarian.
Others ate lunches they brought with them or those their parents dropped off. Some got bottled water, Gatorade, fruit bars or pastry snacks from a large cooler.
But minutes later, it was time to get ready to go back out to the battlefield.
“I know it sounds corny,” said Hughes, “but we’re all like one big family here.”
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