JENSON Lancaster was crowned king for the day and medieval warriors staged a mock battle to honour his fifth birthday in Morriset on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
More than 100 people gathered at Auston Oval for the celebration led by Battlecry: Fields of Ashnoor, a local live action role play group.
Jenson's interest in all things medieval started with his grandparents, Claude Hugwell and Mailea Goddard, of Wyee Point, and parents James and Tearna - all dedicated members of the Field of Ashnoor group.
"It was one of the grandest five-year-old's birthday parties ever held here, I reckon," Ms Goddard said.
"They made Jenson king for the day, and when they carried out his throne he was grinning from ear to ear."
Birthday presents were a highlight of the day for Jenson.
"It took him until 8 o'clock that night to finish opening them," she said.
"The whole day was just overwhelming. He loved it."
Ms Goddard helped to prepare a medieval-style feast for the occasion, with foul and root vegetables the key ingredients.
"We had 155 kilograms of chicken, 18 litres of gravy, 40 kilos of potatoes, 20 kilos of yams and carrots, and greens, too," she said.
The only thing that strayed from the theme of the day was the large Thomas the Engine birthday cake.
Fields of Ashnoor committee president Wayne Dingle said the group meets for live action battle games at Auston Oval on Sunday afternoons.
Ropes and coloured discs are used to mark out structures such as castles and moats, as well as landscape features such as forests.
Opposing teams battle with foam rubber swords, modified archery equipment, and even a cannon.
The object of a typical game is to capture a flag.
"It's a bit like a computer game, but it's live," Mr Dingle said.
Battles aren't choreographed, but head shots are forbidden, and etiquette dictates that combatants don't strike with full power.
The scoring is essentially based on an honour system.
Combatants self-impose the loss of points each time they are struck and wounded, until they are reduced to zero points and "lose a life".
"We've very big on culture, safety is our No.1 priority, we value sportsmanship, and we're not overly competitive," Mr Dingle said.
Members range in age from 16 to 70.
"We bring together a real cross section of the community. I'm a data architect, and we have members who are social workers, some are in hospitality, some are unemployed, there's a carpenter - in fact, we have a lot of tradies."
There are 320 people in the the Fields of Ashnoor Facebook group.
Find Battlecry: Fields of Ashnoor on Facebook or visit fieldsofashnoor.com.au.
