Family in the kingdom

PALMER — A long long time ago in the Barony of Ravenstone in the Kingdom of Northreach, an epic battle was waged.

That long time ago was June 23, and the Barony of Ravenstone calls the Matanuska River Park soccer fields their home. Amtguard of Alaska is a popular and remarkably sophisticated organization holding battles and learning the arts and sciences of medieval times. It’s all part of the live action role-playing phenomenon.

“I know every Sunday no matter how bad my week was at work, I can come out here with a foam covered golf club handle and beat the crap out of somebody,” said Sean Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick plays as a bard, a musical character. Fitzpatrick is equipped with a bluetooth speaker and plays classic rock jams like Lynyrd Skynyrd during the battle. Fitzpatrick’s character’s name is “Apprentice Drasek Riven the Meme,” after functioning as a living meme.

“I’ve been doing D and D since I was 9 years old and I figured this was a good way for my fat, pasty self to get out of the house and enjoy myself and it just kind of does the thing. It keeps me active during the winters,” Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick functions as the clan deejay for the Barony of Ravenstone, the portion of the kingdom in the Mat-Su Valley. The state of Alaska itself is split up into five separate regions within the kingdom. Logan Thornton serves as the Monarch of the Barony of Ravenstone, or the region’s president. Each of the five regions has five elected officials. Thornton also serves on the Kingdom of Northreach board as one of the five regional executive officials. State wide elections are held once a year and local elections are held once every six months. The Kingdom of Northreach, or the Live Action Role Players in the State of Alaska are also known as Amtguard LLC. The Barony of Ravenstone maintains records each week, allowing men and women as young as 14 to participate with parent permission. Thornton enjoys the politics of Amtguard, which not everyone does, but says that it is instrumental for many teenagers in introducing to them how organizations work. Amtguard has existed in the United States for over 25 years, and in Alaska since 2000.

“One of the things that I really do love about Amtguard, we have a number of younger players like Kayla’s been playing since she was 15 or whatever. It provides a really great opportunity for them for growth because the way we run is very transparent. We actually stream our meetings for the board, it’s called the council of crown which is regionals, so it really gives them an eye on how organizations work and I think that’s one of the things I really love about it is it shows them something they don’t necessarily see elsewhere,” Thornton said.

While each character’s identity, traits, strengths weaknesses and ultimately their wardrobe is up to them, the Barony maintains loaner gear for those interested in trying out Amtguard. While many players share and swap swords and spears, some are more particular. Thornton said that ownership of a character’s weapons can also be a learning tool.

“As a martial arts instructor who works with kids and teaches self defense to young girls and women, to me learning to say no is an incredibly important life skill and so while this is all fun, I think that the fact that it teaches you life skills is just a wonderful thing,” Thornton said.

The group meets every Sunday afternoon on the soccer field next to the Sherrod Ballfields, and also on Wednesdays. The Amtguard group for the Mat-Su Valley can be found on Facebook, where much of the communication goes on at the Kingdom of Northreach or the Barony of Ravenstone. Different regions will travel to Anchorage or the Kenai Peninsula to compete against their local clan. Thornton describes it as more of a sport than activity, with each character bringing their own style to the playing field. There is no cost to participate in either the battle portions or the arts and sciences portions of Amtguard, but they do collect fees in the winter to pay for the Borough Gym where they hold their battles.

“The spirit of generosity from everybody here is great one of the things that I think is wonderful,” Thornton said.

Thornton and the Barony of Ravenstone hosted their first Dungeon Con in February, and plan to host one every year. The Dungeon Con featured a dungeon for Dungeons and Dragons, Amtguard, gaming competitions and consoles and much more. The largest gathering of Amtguard in the state is coming up in July at the Alaska State Fairgrounds. Many who have taken a liking to Amtguard have brought their entire families. Stephanie Cabiness got into the arts and crafts with her husband, sewing the tunics for her family members as they all joined the Barony of Ravenstone.

“Drake made a comment about oh, next thing you know she’ll be shooting you, and I’m like oh, I can shoot people?” said Cabiness. “I celebrated my birthday with them because Iwas like hey, I like these people. We’re going to have a party.”