Ozymandias De Mandaloria

Duke Sir Ozymandias De Mandaloria of the Clan McTubbins of Stormwall, Wetlands.

”WetLANDS!”

"if I say something untrue, feel free to stop me."

"fuckin' Whitebelt..."

"its assholes like you that make me want to quit this game, but the reason I wont quit this game." -Oz

Biography

The player known as Ozymandias De Mandaloria started into his Amtgard career in October of 1999. He was introduced to the game by a man who would become a close friend, Reiko Ironwolf.(as they met with Oz’s then girlfriend being friends with Ironwolf’s fiancé). As soon as he started in the game he was hooked. In school Oz had played football and competed in power lifting and track. He also spent some time in the rodeo (jackpots locally mostly, and he wasn’t that good at it.) so after problems with his shoulder amtgard seemed a perfect fit. Oz had been a fan of the fantasy genre as well as Sci-fi and comics for years but couldn’t talk to it out of fear from his co-workers and friends for fear of ridicule and extrication.

Oz’s first day at amtgard, yes he saw a man fall on his head and have a seizure, but he also found a group of people who shared his fandoms and openly shared the geek culture. He started at Stormwall and the people he met there spurred him into the player he became. Famous and Infamous personas were there, Slyddur K. Rahbet, Chewie Lightguard, Elora Raven-Goldmoon, Vaargard Malorius, Lucas Wyndgarde, Little John, Tolan Black, and many more where thick in the ranks of Stormwall then. Oz found a knack for the game and after having his gums ripped open his first day of fighting settled on using a shield. Vaargard made his first toboggan shield and made the cover for him, with Oz adopting the White playboy bunny on a black field as his personal heraldry. Within a week on starting he was instructed on the use of a sewing machine, foam, and tape and began making his own garb and weapons.

After only a year in the game Oz was talked into running for local office of Duke of the park by his friend and future knight, Chewie Lightguard. Oz won and found something else he had a knack for. From that time to 2006 he was only not in a position at Stormwall for one reign. Oz did bump heads with the kingdom on a few ideologically different interpretations of the rules, but was good at the political game. In his first year, Oz was taken in as an initiate of the White Rose fighting company tho the company folded before his final vote was called for. Oz was later a founding member of the Corpus Munstrum fighting company with Nomad and Dez. Oz eventually left the company citing “creative differences” and went on to found his own fighting company the Pirates of Stormwall.

In 2006 Oz and his company started extensive travelling in and out of the kingdom. Spurred on by Pilfer and his frustration at the insular mindset that the kingdom and parks had developed, Oz set about to see more of it and eventually rule it. The same year Oz was approached by Sir Chewie Lightguard about becoming his squire. As it was the first offer Oz had ever gotten and from a respected knight and a good friend, he readily agreed. In 2007 Oz was elected King of The Wetlands and moved into the bigger picture of amtgard. Sitting on the Circle of Monarchs at clan that year Oz was responsible for helping vote in the award standardization.

As a monarch Oz stood out. Considering himself “a man of the people”, he refused to sit at the high table at feasts instead sitting with is company with everyone else. He also gave up his cabin at his midreign to the med tent. Oz also started a once a reign cooking competition that ran for several years. Also during his reign Oz with several others The WAC went to and assassinated other monarchs at their courts, from Celestial Kingdom and Emerald Hills and started inter-kingdom feuds and kicked off much inter-kingdom travel.

It was in this time as monarch Oz first ran afoul of the Circle of Knights. Before this Oz had little to no interaction with the COK and simply thought it “above his pay grade” but being monarch he was on the knight’s list and in on the meetings. He saw the pettiness and bickering there and it angered him, so he told the kingdom at large what the knights had said and put on display the Star Chamber and some of its secrets. He was reprimanded but it didn’t stop him from railing against the “whitebelts” and eventually lead to the pinecone throwning lunatic people enjoyed listening to the rants of.

The pinecone…. It came about while at an event sitting with three knights, one, a Sir Gavin spoke up, “I really like this anti-whitebelt persona thing you have going.” Oz explained it wasn’t a persona thing and he really did have a problem with how the knight selections in the kingdom were being held. And Sir Gavin simply responded, “you should step it up then”. Being surrounded by pinetrees Oz took to pelting any knight with a pinecone and calling them “fuckin whitebelts”. The practice was shortly taken up by others who saw the problems in the CoK.

After his stint as Monarch Oz took a reign off then became Kingdom Regent. In his position he started a reign long mobile collegiums, taking teachers to which ever park wanted them. He also did an endurance A&S competition wherein gear was made and judged at coronation and then judged again at endreign rewarded well made goods. At the end of his Regent run Oz again ran for Monarch but was disqualified as the judges were given and judged the wrong written entry for his quals. He was disqualified and any argument were quickly shut down.

In 2009 Oz joined the Peerage as a Crown Knight. At his knighting he was pelted with pinecones and in lieu of a traditional buffet line he was jumped in, being punched, kicked and choked. He suffered a broken tooth, loose teeth, bruised ribs and bloody nose. But the people kingdom approved of his knighting.

In 2010 Oz went on hiatus to complete the police academy and began working at the Sheriff’s department in Galveston. The new job kept him away from the parks as he was working on the weekends. Oz kept busy still crafting, running the Pirate Christmas gathering and mentoring newer players like Jus’ Joe. In 2013 Oz returned full time to amtgard, following a knights meeting decision to not knight a person who had played since the early nineties. After Oz was knighted a string of guildmasters of knights who also saw the inequalities in the circle had stepped up and helped make the field more even. But somehow this person kept getting passed over despite his qualifications. So Oz, also missing the combat and people, returned to the game to try and make sure the CoK saw this person as deserving.

Oz returned with a large group of the Pirates of Stormwall who had all stepped back from the game due to life. And they returned as if they never left, stepping in where ever they were needed. Starting in 2014 Oz started mentoring and assisting more Pirates that were attempting to run and hold offices.

Oz also started picking up new Squires and Pages to help teach them and help them grow as amtgarders. His first squires having retired to mundane lives in school or raising families He looked to the influx of younger players and quickly took Lord Sweetchunk Mctubbins and Sarai De Mandaloria as squires. These two show promise and have quickly learned and applied what he has taught them and have pages of their own to assist them.

Oz also started holding office again. Running for and becoming the Guildmaster of Reeves in 2015 under Pope Obanion. Afterward he began a bid to run for monarch again. Oz stepped aside for another candidate who had not held the spot and he thought the candidate would be a good monarch. Soon after the candidate dropped himself from the race. This disappointed Oz so he thought to try again. Oz has planned for years to bring a multiple monarchy to the wetlands and will soon attempt it.

When Oz returned from his self imposed exile, while at a bardic/wine tasting, he sat sharing a fine bottle of Boones farm wine with Sir Kane and Sir Crom Ironwolf. They lamented the lack of free booze, food and shenanigans at midnight after court. So the three conspired to bring food, booze and shenanigans to the next event post court. Life reared it head and both Crom and Kane could not attend the next event, Oz took it upon himself and brought the food and booze anyway. Midnight Munchies was born. Since then the Pirates of Stormwall have cooked and served food and booze free of cost to the populous every Saturday of the event. Midnight Munchies has grown from a Oz and Pirates affair to include the entire kingdom, it is now done with 100% donations from the people.

Also when he came back he saw that no one heckled at court anymore. This was a long standing tradition within the kingdom and he was loathe to see it disappear. So Oz heckled from his seat. Soon enough people made sure to sit close to hear what he had to say. Then in 2015 Arathmus of Blood Wyrm Haven brought a PA set up and a microphone to play music during feast. Oz was offered the mic during court. Becoming an unofficial herald for the kingdom he got laughs and groans. Soon enough he started filling in the dead air of court with advertisements he wrote satirically making fun of players and current situations and did reading from his own book , the Gospel According to Oz, for the opening and closing prayers for the Pope Obanion.

Oz also returned to the combat weilding a pole he had inherited from a friend, and fellow pirate,Helios. now Oz has become infamous for its use and will gladly instruct those in need of it.

For his service to the kingdom Oz was recently granted his Master Rose.

Oz continues to play at Stormwall and running with the Pirates of Stormwall has taken up travelling the kingdom again. What the future will bring for the rotund Admiral only time will tell.