Arts & Sciences
Competitions for every hand and every age, displays for the bold and the shy alike, and a green where the work of the realm goes on in the open. The Anarchy did not stop the making.
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Test Your Craft
Competitions
A slate of competitions drawn straight from the world of the war: castles raised in the chaos, coins minted by ambitious barons, comforts made against the gloom, and a tribute to the color white in all its meanings. Enter the one that fits your years at the craft or the patron who calls to you.
Youth · Ages 12 & Under
Build Your Castle
Rogue castles are popping up all over the land! Barons taking advantage of waning government control have decided to go on a building spree. Join them! Build a castle to your liking using building blocks of any kind. Legos, Lincoln logs, anything you like. Builds should be created on site.
Teen · Ages 12 to 17
Brother Cadfael Scavenger Hunt & Competition
Throughout the week, solve riddles to acquire clues and materials. Collect the materials to create a final item, left up to your interpretation of a final clue. Include your reasoning for that interpretation with your entry.
Clues and materials will be available throughout the week, so you do not need to arrive early to take part. Entries are presented the morning of Friday or Saturday to allow the most participants.
Unfamiliar with the inspiration, the show Cadfael? Watch free episodes here.
Novice · Fewer than 2 years at the craft
Small Comforts
The world of The Anarchy is full of death, doom, and gloom. Create a comfort item in the medium of your choice. Whether it is the joy of making the item or the joy it brings you once finished, make something that would make you happy when surrounded by upheaval and turmoil.
Intermediate · 2+ years, without an A&S Grant of Arms
Currency & Coinage
As the rule of law broke down across the land and the seat of government grew unstable, the minting of the realm’s currency became decentralized. Barons and other powerful magnates began making their own money, striking localized and highly stylized coins. Create your own currency or coinage in the medium of your choosing.
Sponsored by the Order of the Pearl
The “White”
A pearl’s soft white luster seems to glow, reminding admirers and wearers of the opulence they represent.
The White Ship represented the bright future nearly within grasp, a time of hope, and those who took its ultimately final voyage spent their last few hours reveling and indulging.
Empress Matilda wrapped herself in a white cloak as she fled the siege at Oxford Castle. Blending into the swirling snow, she fled on foot across the frozen Thames. Wrapped in staunch determination, steeling her heart and her body against the frigid onslaught, she continued her fight against the increasingly insurmountable odds.
The eyes of the dead are white, milked over and desolate, empty. Soon there will be nothing left but the cruel glare of white bone where life once lay.
No matter what the color white reminds you of, share an item representing that association.
Mountain Laurel
Under Siege
During times of war, supplies run low. During a long siege, they go scarce. In any medium new to you, create an item using materials that would have been substituted during a cut in supply lines. Second rate, lower quality, substitute the regular substitutions. For once, use the bad linen on purpose.
Royal Progress · Requested by TRH Prince Ragnarr and Princess Jân
Dirty Dozen Largesse Derby
Entrants provide twelve items to be donated for use as largesse by Their Royal Majesties. Theme to be confirmed with Their Royal Highnesses.
- Winners are chosen by Populace Choice.
- The 1st place winner may choose one item from one of the entered collections.
- The 2nd place winner may choose one item from one of the other remaining entries.
- A winner may select an item from any single entry only once.
- This pattern continues until every participant has chosen an item from the remaining entries.
Show Your Work
Displays
Not every piece needs a prize, and not every artisan wants the panel. These are the ways to share your work, ranged from the gentlest welcome to a full sponsored showing.
For the Artisan Who Hesitates
Queen’s Prize Tournament
If you have ever wondered whether your art was good enough. If you have ever thought your skills were not ready yet. If you have ever made something and then hid it away. If you have ever been afraid of being judged too harshly. The Queen’s Prize Tournament is for you.
A non-competitive novice arts display sponsored by the Kingdom of Atlantia and Her Royal Highness, Princess Jân. It is designed to help artisans who want to expand their art and research in a low-stress, friendly environment.
Who May Enter
Anyone holding an AoA-level A&S award (Coral Branch) or below.
Sponsorship
Entrants must be sponsored by a Companion of the Order of the Pearl or a member of the Order of the Laurel. Entrant and sponsor register as a team; no entry without a sponsor.
Preregistration
Required, so the best-qualified judges can be found. No more than two entrants per sponsor.
The Gifts
Each sponsor brings a small gift for an entrant who impressed them, someone other than the one they sponsor. Everyone goes home with a gift.
Judging
Three Pearls or Laurels in a round-table format, in 45-minute blocks. No scores are assigned unless requested, and then for the entrant’s use only.
Recognition
Sponsors present their gifts at day’s end. Judge’s Choice and Queen’s Choice are both awarded at Evening Court on Saturday.
Capacity
Capped at 30 people, so every entrant has time with the judges. Both sponsors and entrants must be present to take part.
Open to All
Open Static Display
Unassociated with any competition and open to anyone who would like to display their art or science work.
Take Part Without the Panel
Competition Adjacent
Every competition welcomes entrants who want to participate but would rather not be included in the judging.
Bring the Art to the War
Sponsor a Display
Would you like to sponsor a display somewhere else on site? A painted shield or crested helm beside the battlefield. A spread of twelfth-century meat dishes, to share of course, inside a household’s encampment. The possibilities are wide.
For information and scheduling, reach out to Lady Tóth Éva Franciska.
Work in the Open
The Crafter’s Green
A patch of ground given over to making. The Green is where the work of the realm happens out loud, in the open air, for anyone passing to stop and watch. It is not a class and not a competition. It is a smith’s hammer ringing, a dye pot steaming, a loom clacking under the trees while the war goes on around it. Bring the projects that are too messy, too loud, or too unruly for a tent or a table indoors. Set up a forge, a casting station, a dye line, and leave it standing so you need not haul it back and forth all week. Come as a household, come as a guild, or come alone and find good company already at work.
A Few of the Crafts Welcome on the Green
- Metalworking
- Leatherworking
- Needlecrafts
- Clothiers
- Cooking
- Fiber & Dye
- Brewing
- Weaving
- Forestry
- Agriculture
The list is far from complete. To claim a spot or ask a question, reach out to Lady Tóth Éva Franciska.
Questions Before the Event?
Reach the A&S Office
Questions about a category, an unusual entry, judging logistics, or anything else: write to the A&S office and we will get back to you.
Email the A&S Office