Shadus
Contents
Lord Shadus al'Shattersong, of Falcon Tor
Biography (and Short Novel)
Sir Shadus was anointed a Knight of the Kingdom of the Crimson Dawn by Sir Dagmar of the first Dagorhirans in our parent game Dagorhir.
Shadus is a founder of many groups in Amtgard, Dagorhir and Belegarth; Barad-dur, Warrensburg MO; Warriors of the Dawn, Independence MO, Three Fold Lands, Las Vegas NV, and the re-founder of Falcon Tor the Columbia MO [Amtgard] shire. He has also from time to time assisted in the creation of more than a few other chapters primarily by recruiting marketing and training new leaders and members, pushing them to build groups in their areas and providing gear and supplies necessary or helpful in those tasks.
Shadus has served as the Monarch for the Warriors of the Dawn then later for Barad-dur from roughly from 2000-05. He has also served for a few terms as the Prime Minister and as the Regent from 2005-06. From 2005 - early 2007 he has served on the realm's council as the Chair. Previously, he also sat on the RWC (Ragnarok War Council) for Dagorhir (its ruling body, if it has one) 4 times.
Shadus was the founder of the Foam Smith's, Field Marshal's, Reeve's, and Armorer's Guilds for [Barad-dur] and has served as the Master of the Foam Smith's, Field Marshal's and Armorer's Guild until as late as early 2007. He was recently the hidden hand behind the creation of the Guild of the Clothe, of which he quickly placed in the care of Dreanna, because he generally pokes more holes in himself than the cloth when trying to sew.
Founder of the fighting company Mor Uruk
And founder of two events; Unit Wars, Battle Week
The story
In the beginning there was woman. And she selected a man, and he became her bitch. What? Yes, then said squire bitch learned from woman the ways of war and politics and marketing.
But before all that there was D&D! And a Gump, later to become a Sir Gump, but it’s only important to know that in D&D in the 80’s there was a Gump and a Shadus. Now this Gump fellow was seduced by the dark side of the boffer. Where he became the “oh so lovable and huggable” evil one of the Kingdom of the Crimson Dawn! Many months he attempted to lure Shadus into the Kingdom and get him addicted to the foaminess so he could pimp the poor boy out. But no, Shadus saw the evil glint in his eye and knew better.
So it was and came about one day that the Gump devised a plan to trick the Shadus into entering the Kingdom. He would use food. So with the promise of food the Shadus willingly got into the Gump’s hundred and twenty miniature horse draw cart called an Escort. And they traveled to the promised feast. Upon arrival Shadus knew something was a foot. Not afoot, he is not so clever as that, but a foot. This place did not look like any dining halls or taverns he had ever been to, in fact it looked very much like a battlefield with dead people, and hippies and fat sock covered sticks.
“Damn you Gump, now I must hit you till you die!”
And Shadus hit the Gump. And hit the Gump. But lo Shadus did die first, fore he was not yet trained in the ways of the boffer. So began the tale of Shadus. As he toiled for years to become squire bitch then for more years to become Sir Bitchy Shadus, thwarter of squires dreams with endless work and duties and training.
This is the serious part that you should skip:
Shadus is well known for being very hard on his squires in his desire to only produce the most qualified knights. In his 8+ years as a knight he has had 3 squires and many pages. None of which have made it to knighthood (yet) due to the challenging standards he has set. Only one of which is currently active (Squire [Zan], a squire of 6+ years now). Shadus was very grateful to train under one of the oldest (his ass is grass if she reads the "old" comment) boffer fighters in the sport, Sir Dagmar of Dagorhir (1970's era, before there were any other chapters or organizations). Starting in Dagorhir as Shadus did, the transition to [Amtgard] has been an interesting one with some awkwardness but much enthusiasm. As a Knight in Dagorhir the requirements were set not by a council or national order, but by the Knight you trained under. And under Sir Dagmar the training was extensive and not limited to any one area. As the founder and administrator of KCD, she taught that a knight was a leader first and foremost, and without the ability to lead and to teach, the title meant next to nothing. The training included weapons smithing, armor smithing, costuming, heralding (Dag version of the Reeve), Kingdom/chapter leadership and politics, battlefield leadership and tactics, individual fighting skill with all major weapon combinations, recruiting and marketing, and a great deal of service to the realm and to the sport. So, as you can see, Shadus doesn't really fit nicely into just one of the Amtgard categories for knighthood. While Shadus has been for many years a realm administrator and very successful recruiter, he is a tactician at heart. He loves nothing more than to teach battlefield tactics and then have his own strategies used against him to his defeat.
Regardless, everyone at Amtgard has been friendly and wonderful to him and thus far has recognized the title and grandfathered him in, but probably just so they can watch the sword knights pown him in tourneys.
His first major [Amtgard] influence was [Harkael], a champion of Tal Dagore, who helped whip Shadus back into shape and pull him out of a burnout slump that he had been in at the time. Harkael was also instrumental in the reviving of the shire of Barad dur.
What has gradually pulled Shadus farther and farther into the world of Amtgard are the people and the underlying philosophies and tenets within the organization itself. Philosophies that all of the major boffer groups had in common at one time and tenets they all followed; starting with the big 3 in order: Safety, Playability and Realism. Whereas safety is supposed to be the primary concern, realism is being placed before it within rules governing the other major groups. Shadus is of the belief that this is a knee jerk reaction to a rash of sluffing that hit Dagorhir a few years back, when calling shots as “light” became a popular way to avoid taking a perfectly well placed, if somewhat less forceful shot. Solution? They made weapons weigh more (for realism was the other argument), so that they could be felt well. The problem of course being that the heavier the weapon, the more force it hits with and the more potential for injury. It's funny how age makes safety seem more and more of a concern and being able to walk the day after an event becomes important.
Another problem Shadus had with Dagorhir in particular was its policies and its closed minded and complete lack of willingness to deal with Amtgard, Belegarth or any other fighters or groups. Shadus found this out the hard way when he began hosting events and inviting everyone, not just Dag groups to them. And after making friends with so many Amtgard fighters he introduced Amtgard into his chapter and began hosting both types of battles in an effort to bring everyone together. “There are far too few of us to be dividing us up over minor differences. I’d much rather have more friends than less. Its simple math; more is better, especially when dealing with something of such a limited quantity as foam slingers in this town.”
Shadus fought long and hard to open the minds of others, but stubborn obstinacy won out in the end and Shadus pulled his chapter and the others he was a signing founder in out of Dagorhir. Shadus still continues to try and build bridges between boffer groups, but just not with certain Dagorhir leadership any longer.
Besides, Shadus has been hooked by these crazy Amtgard people with their helpfulness, humor, their super fast, super light weapons and skill with said weapons, and their open minded approach to most things.
Shadus has moved to Columbia MO and has revived [Falcon Tor | Falcon Tor]. If you are in the area and interested, let him know.
Shadus, husband to Dreanna, aka Thong man, aka naked guy in hill battle, aka “can you move your tent away from camp, the noises coming from your tent are… disturbing.”
Affiliated Groups
Previous member of ECW (Extreme Crimson Warriors), Dragon, Army of Mordor
Current member of Mor Uruk
Belted Family (though not Amtgardian)
Sir Dagmar
Squire Zan
Notable Accomplishments
Creator, producer, videographer, editor and director for a regional cable TV show based on his current (at the time) local chapter Barad-dur, which resulted in massive increase in community awareness for our game/sport and a 4000% increase in chapter turnouts.
Tolkien Wars I - Single sword tourney winner
Last man standing - Ragnarok, Dagor Dagorath in 1999, 2005
King of Sin Night (twice, married now and not in the running anymore)
Master Foamsmith
Expert Armorer
Master Herald
Master Marshal
Apprentice Reeve (and a pretty bad one so far)
Worst Garb Ragnarok XXV
Veteran Tourney (any weapon) winner (numerous times, when the really good fighters don't show up!)
Many many recruiting awards
And stuff...
Positions
Monarch of Barad-dur - 2000 - 2005 (one long ass term)
PM and then Regent of [Barad-dur] 2005 - 2006
Barad-dur Council Chair 2006 - May 2007
Champion of Barad-dur - Spring 07 Term
Monarch of Falcon Tor June 2007 – September 2007
