by Justin McCraw // theburr.com

Armaments in hand, and silent indignation on their faces, two warriors charge from opposite sides of a hill, their clash of foam swords dissipating quietly over the battlefield.

There are no future monarchs to rescue and no territorial disputes to reconcile. This is Rotharin, a live-action battle gaming — medieval-guised, hand-to-hand combat with foam weaponry — group at Kent State.

“Not everybody likes your traditional sports,” Rotharin president Christopher Wunderle, aka Z’kell Taldor, said. “This is a sport, regardless of what some people would like to say… This brings just a different kind of sport to the Kent campus that more people can enjoy.”

Rotharin is an offshoot of Dagorhir, with Dagorhir being the oldest organized live-action combat simulation and role-playing sport and game based on J.R.R. Tolkein’s “The Lord of the Rings,” the Dagorhir Web site stated. Its members are diverse, Wunderle said, with players from Kent’s football team planning to practice in the offseason, as well as a local fraternity’s pledge class recently attending practices. The group also has members who provide support, such as seamstresses and armorers.

“It’s a lot more fun than it might look,” Rotharin seamstress Kathryn Newill, aka Karazephryn, said. “It doesn’t really matter who you are; anyone can do this.”

Dagorhir organizes various tournaments throughout the year, culminating in the nation-wide Ragnarok event. Ragnarok, a week-long summer tournament, took place in Cambridge, Ohio, earlier this year and featured medieval vendors, staged battles and fantasy revelry. The next Ragnarok is June 13-20, 2010, in Slippery Rock, Pa., according to SCAtoday.net, a site dedicated to medieval role-playing news.

“The only way you can really experience an event is going to said event,” Rotharin senior member Clayton Schulte, aka Kiwi, said. “The best way to get experience in Dagorhir is to just show up to stuff.”

Schulte said membership in Rotharin is loose with only attending practices required. Wunderle said people should not be “complete assholes” and should show up with good attitudes.

“As long as you can get along with people and you’re willing to at least try different stuff,” Wunderle said, “that’s the only requirement.”

Every third Sunday, Wunderle leads his troop in full regalia around campus as advertising.

“I saw a bunch of people dressed up marching down the street chanting ‘hi ho’ and was kind of mesmerized, kind of speechless” freshman Matthew Petricola said after seeing the Rotharin group. “I just didn’t know what it was. I’d never seen it before.”

Around 21 Rotharians turned out for the meeting Sunday, Nov. 15, although only around 10 participated in the march.

Members attend practice dressed with or without garb and review various combat techniques. Weapons are handcrafted from foam, wood and duct tape by either group members or medieval reenactment vendors and include spears and one- and two-handed swords.

To demonstrate, Kiwi entered the Florentine position, a sword in each hand, as Dan MacGregor, aka Skathi, advanced with his two-handed weapon. A flurry of blows later, and Skathi was down. Picking himself back up, Skathi delivered several overhead blows before mortally wounding Kiwi under his arm.

“If Dagorhir is the sport, we are the team,” Wunderle said. “I try to get people to stare at us as much as possible. The more people who stare at (us), the more people that hear about it.”

Wunderle said those interested should contact him during scheduled practices — 2 p.m. Sundays behind the Student Center near the Eastern lawn — or visit www.dagorhir.com for more information.