I know a lot of Hill residents don’t contemplate travelling to the backabeyond but there are occasions you might want to consider packing up and heading to the hinterland-

Ever wonder what life was like long ago in far away places?

Experience it yourself with the Empire of Medieval Pursuits.

A group of dedicated artisans, sword makers, knife makers, re-enactors, come together to educate, share and delight the crowds that flock to these events in order to go back in time for a grand adventure. 
Be sure to attend when the “ring of fire” brings a group of warriors together to battle it out in full regalia while encircled by fire. Yikes!!

Sunday, when I arrived out in the shire of Bothell, in Washington State, ( also known as the Arch Duchy of Astaroth, centered in Bothell ) a fair number of warriors were crawling out of their tents shaking off the previous evenings festivities. 
In mere seconds they were practicing their archery, sword handling, dressing in armor, and drinking their coffees from horns-

Ira, a warrior and merchant, works in the Vulcan Knife store in Ballard as a apprentice/student to the owner.  
Interesting and talanted guy, as you’ll see. ( I want a pair of those gloves!! )

At the end of the video Ira turns me over to Arch Duke, Lord Khan Ironfist, of the Arch Duchy of Astaroth, who is a gracious man and the organizer of this weekends frivolity. 
After the shoot we went over to his car to look at an outrageous collection of weapons. 
The Rattan weapons they talk about are in themselves lethal. 
The Lord Khan told me getting hit by a Rattan sword when wearing armor hurts more than when hit by an actual metal weapon. 
These are some tough boys!!  
Oh, some of the wenches look like they could slay interlopers, or a dragon or two, without a blink. 
One fair damsel was doing that two-sword thing that Conan the Barbarian loved to pull on his opposition. 
I was unable to track her down after hanging with the Lord Khan.
I’ll presume she went to see her chiropractor to get her arms re-connected to her shoulders!!

I did meet Tierany, who is a fire-eater…Not sure I know what that means but will check out Ignition to watch a performance.

When the Lord Khan, aka The Pillar of Ardesca isn’t kicking arse on the field of honor he tosses jerks out of a local watering hole, a righteous thing to do even in modern times-

Should you venture to Bellingham, Washington, next month, 6-10th June, many will be gathering to battle it out—The magic word Ragnaroc will guide you there.

In September, in the Shire of Duvall, warriors will use full size catapults (some fancy French word) to hurl pumpkins at, well, someone.

Check out the Arch Ducy of Astaroth or www.empiremp.org to get the scoop on the next bloodletting-

Great event with a lot of really fun cool people! 
Go, have a good time!

And some say Seattle is a boring town!!!