Euro Anni 2011 Review
By: Loraella Melodie
This was my first official Tower event; I’d never been able to make it to one before. After a long journey I arrived rather nervous for what the weekend held and excited to finally put avatars to faces. We were greeted with welcome packs, including a rather handy name badge with our avatars, which helped a lot! After picking beds, settling in and eating dinner the evening kicked into full swing. The beer tent was full of amazing homebrew wines, ciders and beers brewed by the talented Rhianna Sedai, Jayson Gaidin, Maran Sedai, Lain and Sonea Sedai. It was frankly the star attraction of the weekend. As was the bonfire; the men plus a few ladies were sent out to the woods with the axe to bring enough firewood to last the year. As soon as the sun set, with just the bonfire and beer tent for light we gathered in a huge circle and made toasts for the fun to come.
The main event that evening was one everyone had been looking forward to; Euro Idol. Hosted by the lovely Rhianna Sedai, we all sang a daft range of songs, eventually leading to the crowning of Belgareth as the winner for his uncanny ability to sing like Johnny Cash. Oh and Naeris Gaidin must be congratulated for his murder of a song award and for entertaining us all with a pink inflatable guitar.
Saturday dawned a new day and there were many activities to participate in as well as further opportunity to meet and get to know new people. There was the nail salon which the guys took the greatest advantage of, even if it was for camouflage theme nail designs. For a bit of light entertainment Pip Gaidin created the Baby Picture quiz, which was a lot harder than anyone thought it would be. But everyone had a laugh trying to decide if the baby was first of all a boy or a girl.
Three of us were given the enviable task to create a dummy. Using a shirt, jeans and newspaper Kerna Sedai, Janos Gaidin and I created Bob. With a balloon for a head, he turned out to be a great target for our catapult plus water balloon game. With the exception of Enya Sedai, we weren’t so great at it, to the extent that Lucas Gaidin pulled up a chair and kept Bob company. Unlucky for him our aim strangely got much better. There was also the sword fighting which saw Aes Sedai battle their Gaidin and the Amyrlin vs the Amyrlin-elect.
That evening started with a gorgeous roast turkey dinner, and we all got into our costumes ready for the evenings ceremonies and the ‘Mystery Event’ that was scheduled. As we stood in the courtyard, having been given envelopes with instructions, eagerly waiting what came next, Jayson Gaidin and Lain armed with swords, march us all to the garden where a court had been assembled by the renewed bonfire with a throne centre stage. To our surprise and delight the ‘Mystery Event’ turned out to be a Seachan Invasion! Surely we could handle a small thing like that? The Empress (may she live forever) aka Morwynna Sedai strolled in with her Speaker, two Seekers and our poor Amyrlin, chained, having been caught! We all had our role to play, but what was the situation? Enter the return of Bob, the target we had built earlier in the day, only some cruel person had murdered him and the Empress (may she live forever) was rather displeased and wanted the culprit to be brought to justice. Cue a lot of accusing each other, some hesitation, a Trolloc Doctor (Pip Gaidin) a fight between a 2 Greens and you have organised mayhem. With a ridiculous amount of laughter and half a bottle of Rum. Oh yes, forgot to mention if you dared look at the Empress in the eye, back chat or generally displease her or forgot to say ‘may she live forever’ there was a forfeit. A shot of rum. The speaker, Sonea Sedai accrued the most offenses, and most of the rum. Finally the perpetrator was discovered, Jayson Gaidin, a secret member of the Band of the Red Hand! As he bravely gave his life to the cause, the rest of the band (hidden in plain sight) took revenge and rescued the Amyrlin! All was right with the world. Except for poor Bob who ended up on the pyre.
After an amazing turn of events, we gathered again this time inside the barn and watched as two new Soldiers were raised; Lain and Belgareth and two new Aes Sedai were raised to the shawl; Loreniel and Chiyuki! There were also 3 Amyrlin Awards given out; Naeris and Kerna were awarded the Servant of All Award and Melana was named Member of the Y ear!The fundraiser raffle followed where some amazing prizes were won, with Alessandra Sedai winning the most, including a limited edition signed print of an ebook cover art.
As the night progressed, more homebrew was consumed, the WooHoo Society welcomed new members,( look at people’s signatures for their unique names) and lots of dancing, singing and yet more of Pip’s quizzes went on till the early hours.
Sunday was a bit subdued, knowing that after breakfast and clean up the weekend would be at a close. This meant saying goodbye to both old and new friends. I have to say I was nervous when I arrived on the Friday, but now I honestly can’t wait till the next time, it was fantastic, simply one of the best trips I’ve ever been on!
