On Nov. 15, Wesleyan’s Quest Live Action Role Players, or Questies, allegedly assaulted a group of traveling bards. The three accused students are Jackie Anderson ’05, Alan Witt ’06, and Jamie Macia ’07.
The traveling singers, known as the New England Ragtag Renaissance Troupe, are recovering after a brief stay at the Middlesex County Hospital for foam sword wounds.
This is the most recent in a slew of complaints the Middletown area has made against the Questies.
This past summer, one Quest mock war resulted in the displacement of several trashcans, several noise complaints, and a complaint of mock drunkenness.
The Questies deny causing any harm, stating that the principal rule of Quest is to have fun. However, they do not deny the most recent assault charges.
“We seriously thought they were part of the game,” said Witt, a Quest member. “I mean they were dressed in [Renaissance] garb and everything, we all just figured they were a group of evil bards. I mean the last game we played had a group of purists trying to poison our fake beer. Not only that, but you get new players all the time, its hard to tell sometimes who is playing, and who isn’t.”
Witnesses described the Saturday afternoon attack as chaotic. They said the band of Questies gave no warning before one of the females, later identified as Anderson, initiated the battle by shooting a series of boffer arrows at two lutists in the troupe. The Questies then charged at the remaining members of the troupe, scoring several direct hits to the arms and legs of all troupe members.
“I was quite proud of my skills,” said Macia. “Two weeks ago I could barely maneuver a sword, let alone score a good hit with it.”
Anderson took credit for the boffer arrows that struck the two lutists in the back.
“Everyone knows that the best place to shoot [boffer arrows at] someone in Quest is in the back,” Anderson said. “[The Renaissance troupe] looked like experienced players, which is weird because most experienced players don’t turn and run from archers.”
It was when the troupe started running from the Questies, Anderson said, that she began to think the troupe members may not have been Quest participants.
After the battle, the Questies declared themselves victorious but were initially confused at why the troupe members remained on the ground.
“They were all curled up on the ground in fetal position,” said Macia. “We prodded them with our boffer swords, and one of them started crying. We thought we were picking on a bunch of ‘newbies’ at the time, and it sucks when you see a ‘newbie’ cry…that’s when you know you probably should have declared you were attacking.”
Upon seeing them cry, the Questies helped the troupe to their feet and apologized.
“[The Questies] were very kind to us… When one of the other lutists complained of back pains, they handed over one of their cellular phones, and waited with us until the ambulance came. When they found out we were a group of traveling performers, they apologized profusely,” said lutist Mckennit, adding that the troupe does not intend to press charges.
In their defense, the Questies claimed that the alleged attack was a misunderstanding.
“We seriously thought they were ready to fight,” said Anderson. “After all they didn’t have their right fist on top of their heads. I suppose that should have been a clue, but hey, if you don’t have your fist on your head, you’re in the game.”
Middletown police have told the group that it needed to be more careful who it hits with facsimile swords and arrows.
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