Wouldn’t you like to have a permanent medieval-style village to enable you to fully express your LARP or other fantasy persona to its fullest? We know the answer is “YES” so let’s get started.

Imagine you, and a few friends, have just arrived at the portal into a magical world. You leave behind anything that is overtly post sixteenth century and enter dressed in your finest adventurers’ clothing with your campaign bag of trail rations and other items necessary for your journey. After walking a short way you start to smell smoke. Your eyes scan the woods around you looking for signs of fire, but see nothing, so you continue on your way. Moments later, you round a bend in the track and see the source of the smoke. There, a short way off, is a small village with tendrils of sweet wood-smoke gently trailing from the rooves of some of the buildings.

You decide to investigate this tranquil little hamlet further and walk down the track leading straight towards it. As you approach you start to notice details about the buildings you see, the first of which appears to be an inn. A wooden sign hangs outside with a rough painting of a foaming mug of ale upon it. “Not a bad place to get some information,” you all think, so in you go to find a pleasant-looking bar. There are a couple of patrons enjoying a meal in one corner and a small group enjoying a drink and a song or two at a large circular table in the centre of the room. A sturdy counter stretches along the wall to the rear of the bar. A quick look at your companions is all you need to decide the bartender would be a likely source for the information you need.

“Well met, my friends!” declares the bartender as you approach. “First time in Balinoria? If you’re looking to stay a while there are a couple of options I can take you through?”

You glance at the others and get an encouraging nod from everyone “Why not?” you say.

“Okay.” begins the bartender, “There are three options for short stay accommodation in Balinoria, the cheapest is basically free and has stunning views of the night sky or, as I like to call it, ‘sleeping rough’. There are trees hereabout who like nothing more than having a cheapskate freebooter curl up at thier base, wrapped in a cloak snoring like a hog!

“The second option, my personal favourite, is to spend your stay here at my wonderful inn, ‘The Foaming Mug’ where you will enjoy the camaraderie of sharing the common quarters above the stables around the back. You get your own cot and footlocker for a very reasonable nightly fee.

“The third option, a popular one with you adventuring types, is to rent one of the empty properties in the village with your own cooking facilities and separate rooms for boys and girls!”

Your first choice appears to be an easy one but you are sure that during your stay they will get harder - and - more rewarding.

Not a bad start to any adventure we’d say but of course no village would seem believable without a fair number of NPCs - all ready to interact with you, or leave you alone as you see fit. Is there an adventure to be had? Surely. Are there villainous characters out to lighten your purse and/or treasure chest? Of course. Will there be plenty of excuses to loosen your sword in its sheath or test your skill with the bow? Well, what kind of adventure would it be without such?

The time spent in Balinoria will be a rich and deep immersion in a fantasy world that you and your companions will never tire of. There will also be the inevitable opportunities to buy new equipment; get instruction in the dark arts of archery and dare we say it, axe throwing; learn a new skill from one of the many artisans inhabiting Balinoria such as the blacksmith, the basket weaver, the apothecary, the fletcher or the alewife!

No matter the day you have you will always receive a warm welcome at The Foaming Cup where good ale and good food are always on hand along with the usual cast of barfly NPCs to ply for information for that quest or skill learning experience for all those tomorrows.

All we need now is your help in making this world of adventure a reality for your fantasies! Check out our Perks to see how your donation could not only help us realise this fantastical reality but also get you something wonderful in return. The more you donate, the more your get in Perks so if you are looking for a free hour’s archery coaching or a lifetime of fantastical adventuring it is up to you and your budget.

A quick word on just who we are and why we care so much about this project. The 'we' is History Blooms, a company that has been teaching the world how to shoot traditional archery for four years now both at our own ranges, currently situated on the edge of Bures on the Essex/Suffolk border, and at many historic events throughout the country from Speke Hall in Liverpool to the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth. We are passionate about the medieval world, and the 14th century in particular, and have gathered to us a band of like-minded individuals to help portray the lives and work of the common man under the strict guidance of our Lord, Lionel de Bradenham of Langenhoe. So why a LARP facility you ask? As much as our interests lie in the medieval period most of us have been drawn to this via our reading and film interests and like you find the freedom of the fantasy world very appealing. Our leader in the this project is Mark Bloom, co-founder of History Blooms, and now also Managing Director of Toxic Archery, and his favourite book of all time is the wonderful Magician by Raymon E Feist. Mark has read this book at least once a year since it was published and even took a copy with him on military deployments and, later, scientific expeditions around the world. The rest of the team are similar in their addictions to quasi-medieval literature.

Thank you in advance and we hope to see and share our vision with you all soon.