The Lowlands
Central, FL
Homepage: http://www.gorewood.com
Forum: http://z10.invisionfree.com/Gorewoord/index.php?act=idx
Realm Members: 40+
Average Practice Attendance: 10
Realm Officers:
- Picnic - Realm Officer
- Atticus - Realm Officer
- Nibenon - Realm Officer
- Trisseus - Realm Officer
- Shub - Realm Advisor
Units:
Honorary Members:
Lowlands, Year One
The Lowlands Realm was originally founded by TeeDge, on December 31, 2005. Recruiting was hard for the isolated unit as there was much interest, however few people ever came out. On February 23, 2006 TeeDge and the "Chef" attended Winter War, learning the fundamentals of Belegarth from Sir Freyson of the Southern Marches. From Winter War the members of the realm began to stockpile weapons in preparation for their next event, Beltaine XII. Gorewood did not have a large field presence; however, the unit did benefit from several one on one lessons and abundant advice from Izareth and the Horde. Despite all the knowledge gained, the small unit fell into a slump and lost all members due to a combination of inconsistency and key members leaving the locality.
On August 28, 2006, TeeDge decided to rebuild. He contacted an old friend from high school, Maude. They set the date for their first practice and began recruiting. The attendance grew in large increments every week and would eventually average at eighteen.
November 12, 2006 was a huge turning point in the realm's history. The realm would be surprised when a noob known as "Tank" wiped out the whole field. Afterwards, donning Wolfguard colors, he introduced himself as IKE of Wolfpack. IKE would assist the realm in running its first local event against a Dagorhir group the very next weekend.
With advice from Ike, TeeDge realized it was time to focus on the realm instead of his individual unit. The Lowlands was no longer a word that accompanied various unit names on the sign-in sheets, but a full fledged realm.
The Lowlands Realm at the end of its first year was forty-eight members strong.
Lowlands, Year Two
On February 27th 2007, Maude was replaced as leader by Sqeege. Sqeege had hopes of bringing the realm out of the slump; he led a warparty to Winter War 07. What followed these events is currently unclear; however, the realm soon fell to lack of maintenance through recruiting fresh members. There were several attempts to resurrect the realm through a number of inconsistent practices with little to no follow up.
Lowlands, Year Three
As of February 18th, 2008, TeeDge returned to the realm; it was his goal to revive the realm by wiping the slate clean and starting over again. The practice location was moved; the organizational structure was simplified; the rules and policies were changed.
At the end of their third year, the realm’s structure was simplified and practice attendance picked back up.
Lowlands, Year Four
In late 2008, the Lowlands structure & foundation was set in place & things were moving forward. TeeDge stepped down from leadership. Currently, the only active chapter of the Lowlands is Valrim (Deland belegarth), with a consistent number of 15-20 attending weekly practices. Lowlands Sanford and UCF remain defunct; however, several members from both defunct chapters as well as independent fighters scattered throughout the state still attend Valrim practices.
In early 2009, Lowlands Realm hosted a meeting with every Amtgard and Dagorhir chapter in the state to discuss communication and unity between all Florida organizations. As a result of this meeting Orin of Osyria (Dagorhir) founded the Florida Foam Fighters Association. Several Lowlands members volunteer for the FFA, these members include: Nibenon, To’Gur, Sir Shub, and TeeDge.
If you wish to learn more about the FFA, you can visit their site here: http://www.floridafoamfighters.com
- A new generation of members are fielded for the first time on September 17, 2006. (Pre Lowlands)
- The Lowlands Realm at Animosity I, IKE of Wolfpack and Griffith join the realm for the event. (November 19, 2006)
- The Lowlands Realm at Animosity II, Hosted by Valrim
