Blade
Medieval Hotel and Tavern
August 2012 Edition
Missive from the Crown
Greetings unto the EmpireFirstly congratulations to Stahldrach for a great Demo! I was told by my Squire that a great time was had by all. Then there is the
awarding of Knight Combatant unto William Black, a long time coming and richly deserved. Also there is the confirmation of Marq
unto Stahldrache. I can honestly say that you give me hope for the future of the Empire. I would say to all within the Empire that
if anyone has any issues they can message me on the Galandor forum or give me a call.
Slainte
HRM Khledar
Calendar of Events
Solaris
August 29th —Wednesday Night Tourney
Dear PopulaceLet be known that there be held the traditional tourney in Solaris. If you have any questions please contact HRM Kheldar for more information.
Stahldrache
August 1st—Lafayette Cub Scout Demo
On August 1st the ECS will travel from Lord Sir Adon’s haus at 6:45am to put on a series of classes and
demo for the Lafayette Cub Scouts. Please contact Sir William Black for more information.
August 11th - Dragon’s Den Tourney
AnnouncementSo as the summer and heat continues the populace finds itself retreating into the taverns for cold refreshment and cooler atmosphere. Here again the tavern of the Dragon's Den is holding its games and will be
announcing a winner. There will be games of physical and mental ability where each winner will win a token to buy themselves back into the tourneys to follow. There will be all combat forms best two of three
single elimination. There will also be held an arts tourney. Site fee will be $4 and the festivities will begin at
10am on August 11th 2012. If you have any questions please contact Lord Sir Adon von Hesser.
August 17th - Phresh Demo
AnnouncementThe continuation of the Phresh Cafe demos will be on August 17th starting at 8pm. Please RSVP so I may
know who I can count on being there.
August 31 thru September 2nd - Kingdom Champion’s Tourney
Announcement:
On Memorial weekend this year August 31st through September 2nd there will be a tourney held to decide the Champions for the
kingdom of Galandor. This will be a camping event and will be held at the house of Mona Vickery at 10328 W. 100 N Kokomo, IN
46901 with event starting at Friday the 31st at noon and going till 4pm on Sunday the 2nd. Site fee will be $8 and sign in will open at
noon on the 31st and close 10AM on the 1st. There will be champions chosen for arts, padded, shinai, rapier, steel, archery, and
thrown weapons. There also will be a pot luck feast on Saturday night. The tourney formats will be best two of three double elimination. If there are any questions please contact the autocrat Lord Sir Adon von Hesser.
News from around the Kingdom
Letter from Seraphem
Hello All,
Thank you for a good month. It has been a warm one. Gillian has volunteered to bring cold drinks out to practice but is requesting donations to help with the cost. For those of you that have already donated thank you and for those who would like to
help out please see her at practice and tourney. The skype event and BBQ went well this month. I got to see several of you I
have not seen in a bit. It has been decided to hold a collegium in August. HRM Kheldar will be hosting the event at my
keep. please see him for further information. More information about time, date, and cite fee will follow shortly. As we go into
August please let me and HRM Kheldar know if you would like to host any events or have any ideas.
Seraphem
Day of Change Fundraiser and DemoThe Day of Change Demo was a huge success. The ECS made a strong showing for this event and was given much praise by
the event coordinators to its success. The event in its first year was able to raise over ten thousand dollars for local non profit groups
including Habitat for Humanity and programs of the United Way. Many thanks to all those who helped make this event memorable
and a special thanks to Celeste il Ferro Rosa who travel from the far lands of Solaris and matched her dance skills against our own
Morrighan O’Faolain.
Marion Boy Scout DemoThe territory of Stahldrache sent three emissaries to the lands of Marion Indiana to attend and support the local Cub Scout event
there. Much like the local event recently Lord Sir Adon, Sir William Black, and Naraan Buutaar taught sword classes throughout the
day to each scout group and put on a live steel demo. There was a positive response and many that day requested our information for
further demos and interest in what we do.
Revenge of the Dead TourneyThe territory of Stahldrache had its Revenge of the Dead tourney on the 28th day of July in the year 2012. The territory was
graced with the presence of William Black's family from Cincinnati including his sister Angela and her boyfriend Josh who are thinking about starting an ECS group there. The day started off with a normal Shinai tournament was a double elimination with several
members of Naraan Buutaar's group competing against the newcomers from Cincinnati. In the end the final came down to the two
visitors from Cincinnati, with Josh emerging victorious.
The next order of business was the Steel tourney. Sir William Black was knighted on the field, borrowing Lord Sir Adon's spurs
since his were tragically stolen by bandits in the land of Texas. The belt was placed around him by Lord Sir Christoph and the spurs
by Lord Sir Christoph and Sir Ulric. The final blow was given by Lord Sir Adon, from Sir William's longbow in the form of an arrow to
the face from point blank range. Sir William was also presented with a cross to wear into battle as a favor from his lady Aviana.
Then it was straight to business in the steel tournament. 6 fighters took the field in the modified king's grace format where a
killing shot meant facing the zombie of the opponent that you killed along with your new opponent. Zombies had to make zombie
noises, could only wield single sword, could not run, and could only attack the opponent that killed them. Lord Sir Christoph killed
his opponent Victor Blitzschlag and Sir William Black killed his opponent Squire Teunis. Naraan Buutaar managed to successfully
take the arms of dame Ana von Hesser advancing to the next round. In the showdown between Lord Sir Christoph and Sir William
Black, the zombie of Squire Teunis was quickly eliminated, while Victor’s zombie took the arm of Lord Sir Christoph before being
taken down. Despite many valiant attempts William was unable to take Lord Sir Christoph's other arm and lost his other arm in the
process. Naraan ended up killing the dreaded bye (Sq. Teunis) thereby setting up the final. In the final if one of the finalists killed
the other finalist he would have to face the zombie of that finalist an arming would result in victory for the person doing the taking
of the arms. Naraan went for a quick kill which got rid of Victor's zombie for Lord Sir Christoph. Then Lord Sir Christoph with the
help of the bye zombie killed Naraan setting up a final with both of their zombie selves. At this point only kill shots mattered as
zombies don't care about arm shots. In a close battle Lord Sir Christoph emerged victorious with the knightly list.
The day then shifted to the padded event. There ended up being three padded fighters who took the field. Padded again was a
regular round robin tourney. Santo Este's brother Wilfgar ended up emerging victorious. The final event of the day was the rapier
tourney in the vengeful dead format. Much fun was had when our jester Victor Blitzschlag accidently killed himself fighting Helena
Tulloch. His zombie was then forced to revive in every future battle to wander restlessly around the battlefield until he was killed
or the fight ended. The field of 7 participants quickly narrowed to 2. Naraan Buutaar hungry for his first knightly list reached the
final with one zombie from a bye fight hungry for his blood. Sir William Black under pressure to defend his first list successfully
armed all of his opponents to that point. Using the distraction of the zombie to full effect Sir William took Naraan's first arm. An
act of chivalry by Sir William then made it a game of caution and calculated strikes. With several near misses on both fighters Sir
William won the day by taking Naraan's last arm.
An Arts tourney was also held at the event with Aiofe Keane taking the list with a wonderful bardic performed at the feast. The
feast after the event was held at the Haus of Song Jain Feng and Elysse von Wald. There was much rejoicing at the investiture of
Stahldrache as a Marq and the crowning of Halyna Tulloch as Marquessa of the territory. Let it be known to all of Galandor the
people of Stahldrache continue to prosper and grow. I thank all those who participated and helped with the event.
In Service,
Sir William Black
Who was Malinali (also known as Malintzin, Malinalli, Dona Marina, or La Malinche) and why was she important in the
Spanish Conquest of Mexico?
By Baron Sir Paul de Marseilles
Malinali was a slave who helped bring about the downfall of one of the mightiest Empires that existed in the new world.
She was born sometime before 1500 in the village of Painalla at the north end of the Yucatan peninsula in present day Honduras.
By 1200, the great Mayan Empire had broken up into a dozen tribes and city-states throughout the Yucatan Peninsula, modern day
Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Aztec empire dominated central Mexico,
stretched to the Pacific Ocean to the West and the Gulf of Mexico to the East and as far south as present day El Salvador. It was
the largest Empire of Pre-Hispanic time. In 1502, Moctezuma II (also known as Montezuma) became Emperor of the Aztec and
ruled from Tenochtitlan, their capitol city. The Aztecs had a warrior society which practiced human sacrifices and had virtually enslaved other tribes and cultures including the Maya and the Zapotecs.
Malinali’s father was an Aztec Lord (or “Tlatoani”) who died when she was young. Her position in her society allowed her
to have an education and contributed to what the Conquistadors would later call a “noble bearing”. Her mother was minor nobility and later remarried and had a son with her new husband. Her own mother sold Malinali into slavery in order to ensure that her
young son could take over the family estates. Her mother then told the family that Malinali had died. Malinali would pass from
owner to owner and eventually become the possession of a nobleman who lived in what is now the Mexican state of Tabasco. Her
mother’s actions would have profound repercussions upon the Aztec empire.
Malinali had several important attributes. She had a unique gift for languages and spoke Nahtuatl, the language of Moctezuma and the Aztecs, the Maya language, and several other Indian dialects. By all accounts, she learned Spanish in a matter of
weeks. She had an understanding of the power politics and cultures within the Aztec Empire. This knowledge was extremely important since there were a number of conquered tribes throughout Mexico who had no love of the Aztecs. It was this hatred that
Cortes used to help develop a strategy that the Spanish utilized in their conquest of Mexico.
In 1519, Hernando Cortes and a group of approximately 530 Spanish Conquistadors arrived in Mexico and landed near
what is now Vera Cruz. Despite the multiple efforts of Diego Velasquez, the Governor of Cuba, to recall Cortes from his expedition,
Cortes continued his advance into the Aztec Empire. He either killed or, through bribery, incorporated the men sent by Velasquez
into his army.
After several battles, Cortes and his small army won a significant victory in the battle of Centla in Tabasco. The defeated
Tabascan noblemen gave twenty women to Cortes as a gift. One of these women was Malinali. According to the Spaniards, she
was in her late teens or early twenties at the time. She was subsequently baptized by the Spanish and given a new name, Marina.
She became Cortes’ mistress, chief translator, and strategist. She would later be known among the Spanish as Dona (or “Lady”)
Marina. Many historians do not consider her responsible for the success of the Spanish Conquest. However, she provided critical
information in identifying tribes who could serve as allies or those who had to be defeated in battle.
She was able to guide Cortes in understanding the psychology of the people he encountered thus aiding in the building the myth
that he was either Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec’s god, or had been sent by Quetzalcoatl. According to Aztec mythology, Quetzalcoatl
was the inventor of medicine, agriculture, and astronomy who had left their lands by sea and vowed to someday return to the Empire. This ruse was aided by the Spaniard’s technology which included cannon, harquebuses, armor and Calvary. None of this
technology had ever been seen by the Aztecs. Moctezuma was never certain whether the Spaniards were gods or mere men who
could be slain at will. As a result, he did not mobilize the military might of the Empire until it was too late. Through trickery, bribery and intimidation, Cortes was able to move deeper into the heart of the Aztec empire. Cortes’ advancement was aided by Malinali who conducted his negotiations, prevented his defeats, and never showed fear in the face of their mutual enemies. Cortes
himself would write “After God, we owe this conquest of New Spain to Doña Marina.” As noted by Bernal Diaz del Castillo, one of
Cortes’ Conquistadors,
“Let us leave this and say how Dona Marina who, although a native woman, possessed such manly valor that, although
she had heard every day how the Indians were going to kill us and eat our flesh with chili, and had seen us surrounded in the later
battles, and knew that all of us were wounded and sick, yet never allowed us to see any sign of fear in her.”
Malinali was instrumental in developing the alliance between the Spanish and the Tlaxcalans, one of the most important
of Cortes’ allies in his conquest of the Aztec Empire. After the fall of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec’s capitol and the site of the future
Mexico City in 1521, she settled in Coyoacán, a small town eight miles south of Tenochtitlan. From 1521-1524, Cortes ruled Mexico
as a Governor and Captain General. He initiated the rebuilding of Tenochtitlan into Mexico City and spent the next seven years of
his life alternatively establishing peace and conquering the tribes of southern Mexico. Malinali accompanied Cortes on expeditions
to crush rebellions in Honduras in 1524-1526.
Malinali’s life after the fall of the Aztec Empire is surrounded by myth and legends. Cortes was married to Catalina Suarez
before his conquest of Aztec empire. Despite popular myth, historians acknowledge that Cortes enjoyed multiple mistresses during
his time in Mexico including Isabel, a daughter of Moctezuma, Francisca, the sister of an Indian chieftain, and a woman named Inez.
In addition, he had two Spanish mistresses, Leonor Pizarro and Antonia Hermosillo, both of whom vanished shortly after Catalina’s
arrival in Mexico.
Malinali and Cortes had a son who they named Don Martin Cortez in 1522. It was during this time period that Catalina
was brought from Cuba to be reunited with her husband. Shortly after Catalina’s arrival, Malinali became a companion to Juan Jaramillo, a Spanish nobleman. They eventually were married in the town of Ostotipec in the province of Nogales and had a daughter.
Cortes attended the wedding and ultimately gave Malinali estates at Jilotepec as well as land which had once been owned by
Moctezuma, the last Emperor of the Aztecs. Catalina would later die under mysterious circumstances leading many to believe that
Cortes had murdered her or had arranged to have her killed.
Martin, Malinali’s son, eventually became a Knight of the Order of Santiago and fought for Spain in Algeria and Germany
before dying in Spain’s campaigns against the Moors.
King Charles I, the Spanish King, was eager to curb Cortes’ lust for power. He established a royal Court in Mexico and place
Antonio de Mendoza as its first Viceroy. Cortes and his followers were given encomiedas, or grants of ownership and control over
lands, labor and produce. The Spanish began to mine for gold and silver and soon a river of precious metal flowed across the Atlantic into Spanish coffers thus helping secure Spain’s position as a world power. Cortes would continue to alternate between conquering new territories for Spain and battling intrigue among his countrymen. He eventually died on December 2, 1547.
According to historian Hugh Thomas, Malinali died in Spain in 1551. After the Mexican revolution in the 1820s, legend
made her into La Malinche, the traitor, or La Llorona (the “weeper”), a ghostly figure with wind-blown hair and a torn dress who
forever wanders the night grieving for the lost children of the people that she betrayed.
Depending upon the viewpoint of the historian, Malinali is regarded as a victim, the ultimate betrayer of her own people,
the mother of modern Mexico, or even the first Mexican Feminist. What cannot be denied is that she was instrumental in the conquest of the Aztec Empire.
Sources: Jerome R. Adams, Latin American Heroes, Liberators and Patriots from 1500 to the Present (Ballantine Books, 1991);
Himilce Novas, Everything You Need to Know about Latino History (Penguin Books, 1994); Alan Riding, Distant Neighbors: A Portrait
of the Mexicans (Vintage Books, 1989); Ramon Eduardo Ruiz, Triumphs and Tragedy, A History of the Mexican People (W.W. Norton
& Company, 1992); Hugh Thomas, Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes and the Fall of Old Mexico (Simon & Schuster, 1993).
Meet Your Fellow Galandorians
The Story of Kheldar
I was born somewhere in Ireland in the middle of a slight drizzle-the fact that it wasn't a downpour was looked upon as a great
omen. However; as my parents were indebted to the local lord I was sent to his manor as soon as I could walk to repay the
debt. It was there that I was taught to read and write in a variety of languages, I also learned to fight as a result of minor disagreements over assorted games of chance. Overheard more than once a passable individual with a marked propensity for
blades.
Upon coming to Solaris I attempted to hire myself out as a mercenary-that didn't go to well-no one could afford me. Eventually I
joined the house DrachTala, after some strife within the house there was a new house formed, House Peregrine. During these
time I was granted the title of Ministry Knight, Combat Knight, Lord of the Court and one of the two Court hecklers .
Please send me your story for the next issue.
*I appreciate all those who have contributed to the Blade!*
Hierarchy of Galandor
CROWN OF GALANDOR – HRM Kheldar - [email protected]
Marquisette of Solaris – HE Seraphem [email protected]
-Semag Hall – Lady Dame Lorelei von Bremerhaven
- Peregrine – Baron Sir Gerrit Kendal
Marq of Stahldrache - HE Halyna Tulloch
-House of the Dragon’s Blade – Lord Sir Christoph Vuhselin
Royal Officers of Galandor
Kingdom Herald – Amadeus O’Dea – [email protected]
Minister of Arts and Sciences – Lady Dame Lorelei von Bremerhaven – [email protected]
Minister of Combat – Lord Sir Adon von Hesser – [email protected]
Minister of Rolls – Lord Sir Adon von Hesser – [email protected]
Sovereign of Arms – Sir Ulric Stumere – [email protected]
Royal Exchequer – Celeste il Ferro Rosa – [email protected]
Royal Hospitler open – [email protected]
Royal Chronicler – Dame Ana von Hesser – [email protected]
Kingdom Web Minister – Sir Ulric Sturmere and Viscount Sir Gerrit Kendall – [email protected]
Kingdom Secretary open—[email protected]
Kingdom Regalia – HRM Kheldar
ECS Websites
Imperial Website: www.ecs-imperial.org
Kingdom of Galandor: www.ecs-galandor.org
Kingdom of Vega: www.ecs-vega.com