It wasn't a good weekend for Pirate and Ren Fairs, which is sad because it really deserved better.

Ahoy crew, Commodore Norrington reporting in from the Cutthroats of Corona event. In concert with my gallant comrades Lts.Willoughby and Ash (you may remember the two Navy chaps from PyrateCon) we made sure that the vile and dissolute creatures and scurvy rogues were expelled from the landlocked port of Corona and law and order was restored... Sorta.



Unfortunately fate and farenheit were working against the good folk of Corona that weekend - it was one of the hottest in California and everything went to pot when someone's overheated engine set the dry mountain brush alight just when the event was starting on Saturday morning. Not that many people showed up but the honest merchant traders (or so they said they were) put on a brave face even as we checked their papers for legitimacy and attempted to recruit for King George's navy.



As we waited for fortunes to turn we were accosted by a group of smelly, discheveled rogues, apparently the town militia in this rat hole, who graciously offered to escort us to their fort.



(Their 'Fort')



One even gave Lt.Ash an interesting pair of silver (so he said) bracelets as a welcome gift.



The natives were apparently of some strange Franco-Germanic extraction and we were hard pressed to understand what they were saying. Naturally being officers and gentlemen of His Britannick Majesty's Navy we had nothing to fear - was not our King also Elector of Hanover, ruler of Brunswick, friend and ally of Hesse and Prussia? At length one of the native women took me, none too gently by the arm, amidst shouts and cheers from the rabble, and led me away to their inn 'The Black Roach' for some refreshments served by a bevy of voluptuous young ladies.



Naturally, being Commodore Norrington the Chaste, I was steadfast in my devotion to the holy grail of law and order and did not once deviate from the path of righteousness... but then this gorgeous redhead offered me some oranges and I thought to myself 'a little peril is good' and 'I can take this lot on singlehanded' and -



{in the interests of National Security, His Majesty's Royal Stationary Office has expunged the following portion - Commodore Norrington's narrative continues}



ANYWAYS, suffice to say we found none but honest traders, valiantly struggling and cheerful beyond belief to put on a bold front in the face of adversity, at the Cutthroats of Corona weekend.

Your Most Obedt.Servant,
J.Norrington,
Commodore RN, acting Admiral EITC

(Photos Courtesy of Cankankerous Jan)