Tulsa
The Troubled History of Amtgard in Tulsa
Amtgard has always been a bit challenged in Tulsa, perhaps because Tulsa is the birthplace of another popular fantasy LARP fighting group, MELEE. To make matters worse, several of the earliest Amtgard members in Tulsa were also former MELEE members, and the leadership of MELEE apparently interpreted (possibly with very good reason) the establishment of Amtgard in Tulsa as a deliberate attempt to turn personal disagreements over MELEE's internal affairs into a larger fight between MELEE and Amtgard.
Information today is sketchy and hard to come by, but according to current MELEE members, the first Amtgard group in Tulsa, Lazarus Grove, was founded in 1999 or 2000. The individual who founded this group might or might not have had a MELEE connection himself, but by all accounts the group soon attracted several former MELEE members. According to several Amtgard members who visited Lazarus Grove, this park did not strictly adhere to the Amtgard rules of play; At least one online account says that the founder of Lazarus Grove claimed to "own" Amtgard and have the right to rule Lazarus Grove perpetually, without election, and that he frequently changed the rules at will. Several current MELEE members have also complained that Lazarus Grove's web site frequently launched vicious attacks against MELEE and against its individual members-- which is certainly plausible considering the site's later rants against Amtgard itself (see the entry on Lazarus Grove)-- and that MELEE discussion boards were often disrupted by individuals associated with this park.
Storm Peak was apparently a splinter group which broke away from Lazarus Grove sometime between 2000 and 2002. According to current MELEE members, it was mostly made up of former MELEE players who were disillusioned with the style of leadership at Lazarus Groves. Without any exposure to the "right" way to run Amtgard, members of this group supposedly practiced a hybrid of Amtgard and Melee rules, and also seems to have fueded intermittently with both Lazarus Grove and MELEE.
Both groups had completely folded by 2004. Current members of MELEE have said that it used both its numbers and its influence within the Tulsa fantasy and science fiction to crush what was left of Storm Peak, and Lazarus Grove's web site seems to indicate that it turned on Amtgard, forming its own short-lived LARP before disappearing from the Tulsa scene.
A Rebirth
The Freehold of Five Banners was formed in Tulsa in November 2007 by Maccalus Caerwent Ex and Jayden. Five Banners is treading softly, since Amtgard still has an unbelievably bad reputation in Tulsa, and because we don't want to revive the fued between MELEE and Amtgard.
