Renaissance Festival War Stories August 23/24, 2025

Continued from weekend 1...

Mothers!

Being in the renaissance festival community, many of us are lucky to have several mentor figures around. Many wonderful people who we can go to as Maternal and Paternal figures as well as friends and other guides and help. Jarl Aesa is one woman who has been an incredible mentor to me in the last few years in terms of how to lead and protect a group. This is her final season at the festival before retiring. She Will be missed, but her retirement and weekend rest is well earned.

Renaissance Mother Nature is a patron and a friend. As a deer-selkie character, the characterization she takes on for herself allows me to play with her greatly. As Mother Nature and a creature of the forest, a natural story takes place between us, and it is an absolute joy. She brings new patrons in the gates annually and is a wonderful person to see each year.

Finally, there is Mother Christmas. She, Father Christmas, and I have a delightful report. While most people go right to Father Christmas, I go right to her. Saturday, she did something no one had done for me in the time I had portrayed Tinka---She cosplayed as me.

I saw her right at the end of the day and she said, "I'm you!" She pulled the mask down and it took everything in me to keep the tears back.

The "Smiths"

Each weekend we put up our Ilud Literati riddle challenge of the weekend: first to solve it gets two tickets for a future weekend, no clues no hints. It's intentionally difficult and often times obscure in its clues and answer. The one we put up opening weekend carried over to weekend two. It was finally solved. By an unusual circumstance, I saw a person carrying a shield with the riddle answer on it. I flagged them over, told them I admired it, and suggested they check out the riddle. The person with the rest of their family checked out the riddle and solved it moments later.

I got a chance to talk with the family further. This was their first time to our festival, and had frequented others. We mentioned a couple of people the others may have known, but no names were familiar to one another. They mentioned their interest in a cabriolet ride, but were unsure if the family of four could all get on one. I assure them that our cabbies are strong and train for it and could make it work for them.

The parent without the shield noticed one of my pins: my four-leafed clover pin, it turned out the other parent was an avid finder of four-leafed clovers and gave me one of theirs. I gifted the family back with my own.

The next time I saw the Smiting Smith family, they were all riding in a cabriolet together.

Odd Parents

This is our team's third season offering sidequests and over the weekend it was the first time it ever occurred to me to suggest people get a fairy god mother/parent in the Fairywing forest. I sent two families with babies to do so, and I got to hear about the magic of it afterwards.

As a deer-selk, I don't consider myself a fairy, but a fauna godmother, and the ones I tend to offer looking after are adults who need a friend and the ones about to be (or newly) married. I had the chance to become a fauna godmother to a young couple dressed as pirates; newly married and treating the season of the renaissance festival as a honeymoon. I gave them my four-leafed clovers and gave them well-wished gifts of endurance.

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We head into the three-day Labor Day weekend #3. See you there!