Winds Whip Shadows, Winds Take Lodge Cup!

Stop the presses, hold your pointy hats, and give a rousing cheer, for the Lodge Cup has returned to the proud hands of the Society of the Four Winds! Yes indeed, after many long years the Cup is once more aloft upon the breezes, carried home by apprentices who would not be denied.

What a term it’s been! From the very outset the tally board was a tightrope act, the Winds and the Shadows trading places like boxers in the ring, neither willing to give an inch. The Shadows Lodge, the ambitious Assembly of the Silent Shadows, made themselves known in fine style, charging into the Berserker Tourney with grit and gusto! The Winds met them blow for blow, and in the final match the Sylphs soared to victory, three games to two in a best-of-five bout. It was a contest for the ages, with both sides leaving everything on the field. Yet though the Winds carried the day, the Shadows had amassed enough points across the whole of the tourney to claim the title of tournament champions. A curious twist indeed, and proof that in wizardry as in life, one bout rarely tells the whole tale!

But the Lodge Cup too is no mere plaything of single contests. It is the grand measure of Grey School life entire: the merits earned in service, the credits secured in study, the countless hours spent in both endeavor and enterprise. And here, in the long game, the Winds proved unstoppable. Apprentices Jack, Menerva, Sindri, and a score of their fellows bent their backs to the task in those final weeks, piling up credits and ensuring that every last point was counted. Their late surge was the very picture of determination, and when the ink was dry, the Winds had breezed past their rivals by the narrowest of margins.

Throughout the Discord, the cry of Prefect James Perkins now rings true: “Winds Lodge, Best Lodge!” Long had he drilled it into his apprentices, and this term it became their rallying banner. Once a cheeky slogan, even a self-mocking badge of “Airheads” worn by the Winds in years gone by, it was Perkins’ steady refrain that carried the lodge through the storm. And now, for the first time since 2016, the motto has proven itself a triumphant proclamation!

Hurrahs and hurrays abound for the plucky Winds Lodge, whose apprentices have shown that the “Airheads” can climb as high as the jet stream itself. Whether they will keep their grip when the next term begins is a mystery yet to be told. For now, let the champagne flow, and join in the chorus:

“Winds Lodge, Best Lodge!”