By Nathan Foreman
foremanna@grinnell.edu
Visitors to Dag House will be greeted with swords. Foam swords, at least, and a sign that reads “remove shoes until spring”. Dag House, returning this year to the corner of Park St. and 6th Ave after a one-year hiatus, is a Project House based around the live-action combat game Dagorhir.
The décor in the house coordinates well with the swords; although magic isn’t technically part of Dagorhir, “Magic the Gathering” cards lay scattered throughout. “Half of us play ‘Magic,’ half of us play ‘Settlers of Catan’ [a board game].” said House Coordinator Eric Tjossem ’1d. A few minutes later, Svea Drentlaw ’13, a Dag guest, took a seat at the kitchen table, and immediately asked if anyone would play “Magic” with her while three other Dag House residents attempted to assemble a gigantic board of “Settlers of Catan”.
“It doesn’t need to be in a hexagon shape!” Mariya Shapiro ’11 complained. Traditionally, Settlers of Catan boards are set up hexagonally.
“Crispy Hexagons!” Taylor Smith ’14 burst out. Crispy Hexagons are the cereal staple of Dag House; they’re like a grocery store brand generic version of “Crispix”.
Not to be outdone by Smith’s spontaneity, Drentlaw, a music major, erupted into the George Gershwin song “Summertime” as others continued to assemble the board.
The Dag House living room represents similar loving disorganization. Both front corners are layered with Dag equipment while Soae swords are piled in a small laundry bin.
“Those swords aren’t battle-ready yet.” Tjossem said, as he pointed to the swords in the bin. “They still need to have covers sewn for them.”
For a sword to be eligible for combat in Daghorhir, it has to be deemed soft enough that it would not hurt anyone and a cloth cover must be sewn on. Sword-preparation is a community responsibility. “Usually someone just picks some up and starts working on it,” Tjossee said. “We haven’t done that in a long time. We need to get organized about that.”
The living room coffee table is home to a collection of “Sci-Fi Classics” that included such gems as “The Mesa of Lost Women,” “Piranha Piranha,” and “Evil Brain From Outer Space.” For Smith, the experience of watching these films is one of his favorite parts of living in Dag House. The table also boasts a faded-golden horn sound exits the horn through a dragon’s mouth. Its golden fangs hang down extended beyond the rest of the horn’s body.
“That is the dragon horn,” Smith explained. “It summons dragons. It’s our backup defense against a zombie attack.” Two pieces of paper titled “Zombie Attack Strategy” hang on the wall between the kitchen and the living rool.
“We need to have a meeting about our zombie defense strategy for this year,” Tjossem said.
Dag House is fully equipped, weapon-wise, for a zombie attack.. “The board itself is just full of things the RLC gave us, but the thumbtacks are battle axes,” Tjossee said, before removing a. crowbar from the clutter beneath thedcentrally-located board.
“We also use this to fight zombies,” he said as he proudly displayed it.
When they’re not involved in some sort of battle, Dag House likes to eat. “We have Stir Fridays,” Cory Brooke-deBock ’13 said. Stir Fridays are the meal after Friday 4 p.mM sessions of Dahorhir. “Well, sometimes we don’t make Stir Fry, we make other things,” Tjossem explained.
Like Sword Fry?
