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For years, students on the 40 have been exposed to the bi-weekly rituals of the Belegarth Medieval Combat Society, which meets on the Koenig lawn every Thursday and Saturday to act out elaborate fantasies. This live-action role playing, or “LARPing,” generally consists of students dressing up in costumes and smacking their swords together and has long been looked down upon by the otherwise tolerant WashU community. However, to start off the new semester club president Marvin “Asmodeus The Violator” Rosenberg has set about to change his club’s public persona.
“Belegarth is about reliving the thrill hand-to-hand melee combat. It’s about harkening back to when warfare was about chivalry and honor, not hiding in trenches or calling down airstrikes,” Rosenberg told a group of touring Freshmen, dressed in what looked suspiciously like a French maid costume. “I don’t know where the misconception about the mass orgies even came from!”
To back up this surprising claim, the Society’s Facebook page makes no mention of debauched sexual acts, advertising the group as place to “come blow off some steam and have fun in the open air! Open to all but more girls prefered.”
New Koenig residents still seem confused however. Mitch McMarcus, a freshman living on Koenig 4 reports that he grew suspicious of the club after an incident where he stopped to watch the club after coming back from class. According to McMarcus, “after I looked for a couple of minutes, one of the members dressed as an anthropomorphic dog asked me if I could be his ‘daddy’ and told me ‘I can provide the protection if you can bring the weapon.’ That was the point when I ran off.”
However, not everyone has the same opinion about the society. Some students, like freshman Meghan Smith, have fully embraced the club despite the misconceptions that seem to surround it. “I’m just glad there’s a place here at WashU where I can dress up like a school teacher, break out my whip, and just cut loose. It’s a great way to release stress after a long day of classes, you know?”
The Society has announced that it will continue meeting at normal times, despite the several allegations of inappropriate behavior at meetings. However, Rosenberg has stated that there will be fewer free condoms brought to every fight to help reign in the public’s misinterpretation of the club.
