“Raise your weapons … lay on!”

Hurried footsteps through the wet grass in front of Parks Library are muted under the colliding of foam swords and shields. The deafening roars of those battling on the field increase as they crash into one another. Dimly lit by three lights, the battlefield is dark with scattering images of black figures engulfing the area while goblins, monsters, humans, trolls, elves, ogres and a plethora of other races fight for coveted glory and everlasting victory in their realm.

Fighters drop tas their legs get cut off by a sword or they get a javelin to the chest. Those who are wounded cry out advice while those still in the game continue toward success.

“Your sacrifice was not in vein, sir!” shouts a yeti as another saves him from death.

It’s quiet now, though, and the roar has become a whisper with the dead circling the final victor. The battle is finally won, and one man stands alone. His name is Xipher.

Xipher, or Matt Stephenson, founded the Tir Asleen Medieval Combat Society at Iowa State in 2001. Stephenson, senior in animal ecology, became interested in medieval combat fighting in 1999 when he was 16.

While at his Cedar Falls high school, he saw a new kid from Ohio fighting with a foam sword and thought, “I have to do that.”

Until being introduced to this new world of fighting, Stephenson and his closest friends would fight with sticks in their backyards. It was not until he learned more about it that Stephenson decided to pursue the sport more.

He is busy with school, works 25 hours per week as a CyRide dispatcher and is married.

Members of the society joke that Stephenson’s “race” within the sport is half elf, half yeti because of his weight gain and facial hair.

He laughed it off and said he really doesn’t wear the ears anymore so it’s only half true. Among the weapon choices there is a sword, club, sphere, flail with hinge, cleave, javelin, punch or teardrop shield. Stephenson chooses to fight with the sword and teardrop shield. He picks them up and prepares to walk on to the battlefield with his full costume on — a long cloak with a fluorescent green belt.

“Coming here is pretty much the only time I get to see my friends,” Stephenson said. “I love this sport — and it is a sport, because it’s full speed, full contact, gets my heart rate going and it’s fun. I have to use certain tactics and strategies I’ve learned for the game, too.”

With around 20 registered members in the society, Tir Asleen has about 30 to 40 people who fight this semester. They don’t require membership and any person who wants to participate is allowed to join. Ames is one of the few cities in the state that has a place for people to participate in medieval combat fighting. Other cities include the Quad Cities, Grinnell, Des Moines and Cedar Falls,

In order to be a registered member, fighters are required to obtain a minimal level of outfit and a battle name. The names vary depending on the character’s “race.” The characters can come from history, obscure gods or goddesses; there’s even a tradition in the realm of having a name from letters off of license plates.

Back on the battlefield, Anna Wood, senior in early childhood education and known as Ashera during battle, watches her boyfriend of two years, Justin Kemp, or Darvax, junior in horticulture, fight. Wood and her boyfriend met through Tir Asleen about three years ago. Wood is in her second semester at Iowa State and also has a degree in art history from Drake University.

“I started coming up to Iowa State and practicing with some friends,” Wood said. “It was always so much fun and I even met my boyfriend doing it.”

Fighting as a goblin, Wood has already had two concussions. Although shielded from the cold winds with blankets and a winter hat on the sidelines of the battlefield, she still yells out rules and orders for the fighters to follow. Her boyfriend is battling as a lizard man.

“There have been a lot of relationships that have formed within our society. I’ve heard of married couples fighting together here,” Wood said. “And I know a lot of people meet their boyfriends or girlfriends fighting. There’s really no conflict of race within the realms here. I like Justin for who he is, and I really don’t judge him for being a lizard man. I very rarely call him by his battle name, either.”

With broken fingers and noses, the fighters in the society know the game can get violent. Serious injuries are rare, and the sport is overall fairly safe.

Right before Wood began to explain something, a participant kneeled on the ground holding his eye from a sword-induced wound.

“People are very concerned about winning,” Wood said. “They have all of this adrenaline and lose their temper if they feel rules aren’t being followed and all kinds of things like that. Anything can happen and everyone wants to win — no one wants to lose. I think it’s really important for people to keep coming back to fight, though. If people don’t show up to fight, then there’d be no group to fight with. Plus, it’s really fun. These people are your friends, and it feels good to be able to be with them in a hobby that is like any other hobby.”

Walking past the group of fighters, students on their way to the library laughed and mocked the fighters while others stare in awe or possibly confusion.

“Where’s your king?” yelled a student.

“How are you moving without your legs being cut off?” followed another.

With the release of the 2008 film, “Role Models,” the society definitely felt the extra attention from students who saw the film which featured scenes of Live Action Role Playing.

“Some of us were definitely a little embarrassed when that movie came out,” said Galya, or Aleson Teichroew, senior in dietetics. “First of all, we don’t have a king. They think we do what they do in the movie. We don’t do the hopping around when one of our legs gets cut off either. Actually, it’s too dangerous. It’s more of a contact sport than your typical LARP, hence the name. People think we do magic and spells, too, and we just don’t. We’re mostly like the comic book and science-fiction readers and some play the card game, ‘Magic the Gathering.’ People have this perception of who we are, but we’re not really like the people in that movie.”

After discovering the sport three years ago from a friend, Teichroew was afraid to fight. She started to play the game, despite feeling worried it might be too complicated. She fell in love with the sport and soon learned as much as she could about it.

“Some people are very, very serious and treat it like a martial art. Then there are people like me who do it because it’s fun,” Teichroew said.

Dressed in her medieval garb, Teichroew looks like a character out of a book. With her long, blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, a long black skirt and pieces of cloth with her character’s symbol of a skull with a sword placed awkwardly around her body, she is prepared to fight. As a goblin, Teichroew covers her arms with black-and-white striped sleeves because the arms are where a goblin’s reproductive organs are located, therefore it’s indecent to show her elbows.

“I sewed my own top,” Teichroew said. “My mom gave me a sewing machine as a Christmas gift just so I could make my own garb. That’s all I really wanted. Every monster has ways of distinguishing themselves. Humans don’t really do that. For special events, I usually paint myself green since I’m a goblin. A lot of lore goes into deciding what your character is going to wear. It’s all like a big fantasy and everything’s very Tolkien-esque. Our race is our own and we can twist that however we want.”

After a chaotic battle, many of the fighters will often catch a movie at the dollar theater. With all their garb on and sometimes their makeup, elf ears, goblin organs, weapons and all, they trudge into the movie theater just like anyone else.

“For me, it’s more of a social thing,” Teichroew said. “I’ve made so many friends over the past three years from different events all over the country and right here at Iowa State. I want to win, but I’m not really in it to win it. I just keep coming back because of all of these people whom I really care for.”