May all who read these Presents know that during the term of Ormþing to be held during August next at Bourn in the county of Flintheath, the Oxford Roll will be held once again. This tournament between the shires and baronies of Insulae Draconis will again pit their armoured wærods against each other, vying to win the field. There will be many warriors who have never witnessed or fought this tournament before. A brief outline of the rules follow. There is precedent for the participation of royalty according to where they maintain their primary residence within their domains.
Rules of Entry
Residents of Insulae Draconis may only fight for the shire or barony in which they reside. They may not sell their services.
Non-residents of Insulae Draconis may be hired as mercenaries by such who can afford their price.
Wærods may ally upon the field, but a shire or barony may not cede, claim or share points to, from or with another as part of the said alliance.
The Rounds
There shall, as always, be three rounds.
The first shall be for control of a shield placed upon the ground for 20 minutes. The shield may not be moved as part of combat. There shall be three holds, two at predetermined times known only to the time-keeper and the last at 20 minutes. The shire whose member or mercenary is closest shall win a point. If more than one shall have a foot upon the shield, or shall be judged to be equidistant, then those individuals shall fight for the point. If there is a tie at the end of the round, the final point shall have precedence, and the wærod with the most, or the precedent, point shall carry one point forward.
The second shall be the last Monarch standing. Each shire or barony shall appoint one member as Monarch. A mercenary may not be Monarch. Each wærod will identify, for all to know, their monarch prior to start of combat. All wærods will take the field until but one monarch remains alive. If a monarch is killed, the entire wærod must retire from the field. The last monarch wins a point. If the last standing monarchs are killed simultaneously so that none remain, the round shall be fought again with all wærods participating.
The third is last shire or barony standing. The round shall be fought until members and mercenaries of but one wærod remain alive on the field. Mercenaries may remain on the field for their wærod, even if all native members have been killed. The last wærod remaining, even if but one warrior, wins the point. If the final combat leaves no wærod with a living member, then the round shall be fought again with all wærods participating.
The wærod with the most points shall win the Oxford Roll. If there is a tie, the last point shall have precedence, and the winners of the final round shall win the tournament.
Useful Information
The last winner of this tournament was West Dragonshire.
The largest wærod upon the field has never yet won (at least in those I have witnessed), if we forget that last year every wærod numbered but one warrior.
Brute force alone has been poor strategy in the past.
Baron Nicholas de Estleche, Lord Warden of the Broads