From Ur to Aseb – A&S entry for Novice Tourney
A few months back, I put out a call to the unbelted fighters to make an A&S entry for EK Novice Day, so long as they qualified. My intent is to help fight the perception that heavy list fighters are just stick jocks who don’t have much interest in recreating history off the field, and just wanna hit stuff. To put my money where my mouth is, I decided to step well out of my own comfort zone and submit something myself.
I had to decide what I could possibly do for A&S, and decided it had to be period gaming related since that’s really my only foray into the A&S world. I started learning about ancient board games a few years back, and have been slowly amassing a bunch of books, scholarly articles, and game equipment. I’ve taught 3 classes on it so far at local events, and run a few gaming tables at events as well. Since I procrastinated and got pressed for time, I chose an area I’d already done a bunch of research on. The Royal Game of Ur. This game is connected to another game, Aseb, which is found in Egypt. I did my project on the link between the two, that it likely migrated due to trade, and how the game evolved when it transitioned between cultures over the course of 1000 years. Below is my display, and below that my research project. After my research project is my document on how I made the materials on display. If the embeds don’t work, links will be at the bottom. I’m quite proud to say that my entry won Laurel’s choice at Novice Day! Enjoy!
Open letter to the SCA corporate officers and board of directors
Below is the letter I sent to the chairperson for the board of directors, society earl marshal, society president, and society seneschal. I post it here for all to read, with hopes that it will inspire others to write their own letters and make their feelings known. Please remember to keep things as civil, professional, and respectful as possible. In retrospect, I probably should have added that I’ve held multiple positions within the seneschalate of the East, and am acutely aware of what it means to know, understand, and follow the written rules of the SCA, and that no interpretations can contradict those rules. If any do, the old rules must be officially removed in favor of the new ones.
All,
I am writing concerning a number of topics. As was recently posted online, apparently there is a sentiment that not enough people write in regarding issues with decisions and actions of SCA society level officers, so this is an attempt to aid your perspective.
First, we’ll go into two topics at once. The recent sanction of Wistric regarding an issue at Gulf Wars is something that absolutely does not sit well with literally any scadian I’ve spoken with, of which there are many. From the information made publicly available, including the communications from the society level to Wistric, it appears that he followed the posted rules for that event and the chain of command. He was well within his rights per Corpora and the rules of Gulf Wars to do what he did. The burden then fell upon Baldar to appeal the decision to the War Marshal, which was not done to my knowledge, and to make matters worse he also continually tried to circumvent the RMiC decision and take the field anyway. Had someone like myself, a non-peer and non-royal-peer, done something like that, it would then be ME who was sanctioned and the RMiC would be backed by society. The optics here are exceedingly bad, especially considering Wistric appears to have followed the rules by every shred of available evidence, including the testimony of multiple people involved. To my knowledge, none of these people were contacted during the investigation.
Following the sanction, the reasoning behind it was made clear that supposedly Wistric did not follow the chain of command, which we know to be false. He also made the right call on the field, as a fighter presented improper paperwork and had not been recorded by his kingdom (paperwork not signed by 2 marshals, and was for a re-auth despite it being an initial auth). His KEM attempted to vouch for him, who is not part of the chain of command as well, and the rules in kingdom and corpora specifically stated at the time that the paperwork must be correct prior. The KEM also should have appealed to the War Marshal rather than the SEM, as per the chain of command. Again, to my knowledge, and that of others, neither the KEM nor Baldar have been sanctioned for their gross misconduct. Recently, it was announced by the BoD that the actual reason for the sanction is a violation of community standards, which in and of itself is both vague and problematic. I am aware that someone recently detailed at length why the “failure to follow the chain of command” reason was false, so this appears to be the BoD moving the goalposts in order to save face, which is also incredibly poor optics. This gives the public the perspective that something shady happened which allowed this sanction, and now corporate officers are scrambling and throwing every reason/excuse they can at the wall to see what sticks. To further complicate matters, there was a post on Facebook recently by an individual from corporate which was vastly dismissive, inappropriate, tone deaf, insensitive, crass, and grossly unprofessional. It has been spread all around scadian social media, and the general sentiment seen is that of deep disapproval accompanied with the knowledge that this individual will likely not face repercussions for it due to my last point.
There currently appear to exist multiple conflicts of interest amongst the corporate officers, and to the best of my knowledge corpora does not have rules preventing this. Having this be not just an eventuality, but even just a possibility, is deeply problematic. We have people in positions where they get paid by those of us who have memberships, and these people can pretty much do what they want because the only person(s) that can remove them are those with personal relationships to them. This conflict of interest has potential to cause major issues, and has already eroded trust in our organization that can be seen across multiple kingdoms.
Overall, these recent statements and actions by the society officers and BoD have sown distrust in MANY scadians across the known world. There is now a growing number who are strongly considering just canceling their memberships, not renewing their memberships, and/or walking away from the SCA completely. There also exists an aire of discomfort among the marshalate due to both what happened to Wistric for appearing to follow the rules, and due to the rules interpretation issued by the society seneschal last summer which basically stated that a Kingdom Earl Marshal can violate kingdom law and/or corpora if they so chose. This creates a dangerous environment for combatants and marshals alike, and also creates an environment where being buddies with the KEM is a free pass to pretty much do whatever. In this picture that is being painted, being a well known peer or royal peer means you are not an equal to others as far as what rules are applied. To my knowledge of peerage, peers should be the example, the ones to follow, those who know and follow the rules, and who encourage others to do the same. They should be judged MORE harshly when they break the rules, in my opinion, since they cannot claim ignorance whatsoever at their level. I’m unsure why the corporate officers are choosing to create and further this image of a “members only club”, where they basically can be stacked with a close knit group and make whatever decisions they want, regardless of rules and without oversight. I would ask that you all consider the implications of your actions and apparent attitudes towards our society, and choose to work to make this negative image go away in favor of one people can trust. I do believe that this would likely involve some current officers and board members to be replaced with those representing a more diverse mix such that proper discourse can occur for the betterment of our society.
—
YIS
Lord Fearghus mac Cailin
A collection of collection hobbies
When I was a kid, I dreamed about having “stuff”. For a kid in the 80’s, having stuff was a huge sign of social cred, and something we all wanted. The latest toys, the coolest gadgets, that GT Performer bike where you could spin the handlebars and never get your brake lines tangled, the robot that could say random shit to you and bring drinks from one room to another, etc. Two particular types of stuff were my main jam back then: video games and board games. I remember getting an NES and feeling just awe that this marvel of technology was actually in my house, completely unaware of what it must have taken my parents to be able to afford it (we didn’t have much money growing up). We also did have a few board games in the house, and while I loved playing them, there were seldom times where we’d actually get to do so. My friends and I would more often play outside or play video games. I remember some kids actually had real arcade games in their homes, which was the peak of cool. I could never imagine such extravagance.
Fast forward to around 2010. A friend of mine reposted a for sale ad from a buddy of his for pro audio gear, and at the time I was very active in bands so I hit this guy up and went to buy some stuff. When I get to his house, I see that he has a basement full of pinball machines! We chatted a bunch, he let me play some games, and we really hit it off. Over time, we became friends. His name is Ed, and he taught me all about these machines, and eventually convinced me to buy one of my own and fix it up. Long story short (too late), I ended up deep in the hobby with multiple pinball and video arcade machines. I loved having these in my house, and would spend time playing through many classics that I never had the money to play through during the arcade days of the 80’s and 90’s. At present, I have roughly 10 video arcade machines and 3 pinball machines. I stopped buying and selling about 7 or 8 years ago due to being priced out of the hobby, as people started charging high prices for games and newcomers to the hobby started paying them.
Rewind a bit to the early 2000’s, a website popped up called Tanga which would run deals on mystery boxes of board games. My older brother had started collecting games, and though he lived in another state we’d play when we saw one another. He got me into collecting, though I’d only really get games I had an interest in playing. Over the years, I’ve amassed a respectable collection of games, and still collect to this day. My collection is somewhere around 300, though I haven’t done a full count in some time. I must admit, I only buy games I have an intention of playing, regardless of whether it’s the hot game this year or whatnot. Most of my purchases are based on either recommendation or because I’ve played the game already and enjoyed it.
You may be asking yourself “OK, so? What’s your point?”. Relax, I’m getting there. We all know I’m long winded, so saddle up and take a ride.
I have a room in my home called “The Arcade”, that only houses my collection, and it just sits there collecting dust. I have two large shelving units packed with board games doing much the same. Both suffer from the same ailment: a lack of players. As I eventually found out, once I was deep in my arcade hobby, the best part of going to the arcade as a kid wasn’t the games themselves as much as the experience of playing games with others. It was an experience to go to an arcade and play head to head in Mortal Kombat, or take turns trying for high scores in Galaga, or even playing a co-op like Mario Brothers. It was a social thing as much as it was a gaming thing, and it made it truly wonderful. A friend of mine who also collects would have monthly tournaments at his home, and these captured some of that magic. I wanted that magic too, but for whatever reason I could never make it happen.
The same goes for board games. I can run a bunch of them solo, but the real fun is enjoying them with others. My wife will indulge me and play a game every so often, but it’s not really her thing. My kids would much rather sit at their PCs and play video games with their friends, and I can’t blame them either. It’s much the same problem I had as a kid, so one would think I’d have learned the lesson by now, but I’m a stubborn fucker and don’t apparently learn all that well sometimes.
NOW you may be saying “Oh, I get it, it’s a ‘woe is me, I have no friends’ post.”. Well, not exactly. It’s nobody’s fault here, and I’m not gonna bitch that driving way out to my house and putting up with me for a few hours on a weeknight to play a board game or two isn’t high up on peoples’ priority list. That’s not to say that nobody I know plays, but almost every one of them either lives to far away to get together for a game night, or is too busy and we can’t match up schedules.
Anyway, my point here isn’t really bitching about not playing games, that time has passed. My question is this: When is the point where people make the call to abandon a hobby that clearly isn’t panning out for them? When is it time to say “ya know what, why keep spending money on games I might never play? Why not just sell it all off and be done with it?”. I’m feeling it more and more lately, and while I love having arcade games in my house, and I do fire one up to play every few months, I don’t know that it justifies holding onto them and taking up space in the house. Same with board games. Many of them sit in my home office where I can gaze at them longingly and read their rulebooks, knowing many of them will likely never hit the table again. Am I really THAT type of collector now? Am I the guy who just wants it to have it, to stare at the shelves and feel like it somehow makes me more complete? Do I keep them just so people can think I’m cool cuz I have cool stuff, like how I was as a kid in the 80’s? Have I truly not evolved past that point?
The truth is, I don’t really know. I suppose those are all plausible, and it’s certainly possible that I’ve just been lying to myself and others all these years. I wonder if all of this just points to a deeper existential problem that I’m avoiding dealing with. It’s hard to say, really. Will I hold onto these things and hope things change, while they rot in a room in my house, or will I pass them to those who might enjoy them the way I never could? In the end, I’m not sure what I’ll do, I just wish the answer was more forthcoming.
Queen’s Guard gifts – Portable Ancient Board Games
Leading up to the coronation for the upcoming royals, I was thinking of my fellow members of the Queen’s Guard and how awesome they have been during the reign. I wanted to give my guards who served above and beyond for multiple events a little token of my appreciation. In that vein, I made them each a travel version of a period board game. I had only ever made one period game before, which was Tablut, a version of Hnefatafl recorded by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1732. I created it on a thick piece of leather using leather carving tools. For the guard games, I researched period games to match the game to their persona so they have something they would have likely played at that time. The pieces I painted in the colors of each person’s heraldry, and I included 2 dice, 6 sided, made of simulated bone.
I chose 5 different games to create: Nine Men’s Morris, Tablut, Ludus Latrunculorum, Ard Ri, and Brandubh. I based the style off of something I saw at a vendor, who had game boards that closed up into bags for travel. I ordered two full sides of leather (1-2oz) for this, guessing I should have enough for maybe a few extra boards. I also ordered leather dye in black, red, yellow, and blue to use for painting the game boards on the leather. I could have done it with just a sharpie, but I wanted it to be as “organic” as possible, for lack of a better word. I bought period looking dice of simulated bone (some people don’t like having actual bone, and I didn’t want to make a poll about it), as well as round wooden tokens, 1″ in diameter, to be used as game pieces. The dice would mainly be to determine the starting player. Lastly, I got some leather lacing to use for closing the bags.
My first step was making a template to cut the circles out of the leather. For this I used hardboard. I needed to know how big to make the circles to accommodate the game boards, and this was driven by the size of the game pieces I bought. For the Morris boards, I needed them to be able to be close but not crowded and overlapping, and for the others I needed them to fit inside the squares. This meant I was going to need two different size circles, one for Morris, Ard Ri, and Brandubh, and 1 for Ludus and Tablut. This is because Ard Ri and Brandubh both use 7×7 boards that would just fit on the smaller circles for Morris, and Ludus and Tablut are 8×8 and 9×9 respectively. I didn’t have enough leather to make all larger circles. So, after measurements I now had two different size circles to cut out. Since I don’t own a drawing compass, I got a piece of string with a loop at either end that was the length of the circle’s radius. I put a nail on one end, a pencil on the other, and made my circles that way. I cut them out with a jigsaw and then cleaned them up on a belt sander. Now I was ready to cut circles. For this I used a shop knife with a new blade so it’d go through on the first go.
Now that the boards were cut out, I had to separate them and mark them for the game boards. To do this, I first had to print out boards of the exact size I needed. Tablut/Ludus required two pieces of paper taped together. I punched or cut holes at the line intersections of each, and laid them on the leather to ensure sizing. I then measured the distance from the outside of each flat side of the board to the edge of the circle to be sure it was centered as much as possible. As I had to improvise a compass, my circles weren’t perfect, but they were close enough. For the Ludus board, instead of a separate piece of paper, I just marked out the 8×8 within the Tablut board. From there, I used a dry erase marker to dot the leather through the holes.
Next up, I had to connect the dots. For this, I tried using pencil at first, but all it did was scuff the leather and not apply lines. Instead, I used a black pen and a ruler. I made VERY light lines on the leather, just something to follow. Once that was done, I was ready for the real lines using black leather dye and a paintbrush. I used a longer bristled round tip with a nice point for the lines. In the image below, it’s the one on the right.
I’m not much of an artist, so painting was never really a thing for me. I took some spare leather and testing things out. I decided to not use a ruler when painting the lines because the ruler would get some dye on it that could blotch the next area I laid it down. Instead, I just did it freehand. I was slow and used a light touch. Even with all that, I wasn’t super happy with how the lines came out because they were lumpy. This is due to my lack of skill, shaky hands, and how leather dye takes to leather. Leather dye is very watery, and unfinished leather is very absorbent, so it would take a lot of skill for clean lines. After all was said and done, I ended up with all circles having their board linework done, and prepped for the next stage.
I started testing the color on my test piece. While it didn’t look great when applying, especially the yellow, it turned out good after it dried. With the test piece looking good, I started doing the boards. The only boards that got color were Tablut, Brandubh, and Ard Ri, as they have standard starting positions for pieces. Morris and Ludus are both games where placing pieces on the board is part of the game, and will change every time people play. The total count for the boards was 8 Morris, 2 Ludus, 1 Ard Ri, 1 Brandubh, and 6 Tablut. This meant that 8 boards were getting color. What I did not realize at first was that the thickness of the leather differed slightly depending on where it was cut from and how it was made. As such, even though I was careful with laying down the color dye, some did bleed through. This was only really the blue, so perhaps that dye acts differently. Because I didn’t have much extra, I wasn’t able to remake the larger boards that had bleed. I did ruin one of the smaller ones, and had to use a spare for that. I used a different brush for each color, so there would be no color variation. Only one of the boards had bad bleed, the others had small spots or none at all. I tried to figure out a way to cover it up on the outside using various methods. Dye, paint, markers, etc. None made it much better, so I just chalked it up to a learning experience and hoped the recipients wouldn’t mind too much.
Now that the board painting was pretty much done (I had to put X marks in the corners of two games, Ard Ri and Brandubh, which happened at the end), it was time to paint some game pieces. For this, I totally cheated and used spraypaint. I had way too many pieces (over 400 in total) to paint them all by hand. I prepped a small paint shop in a barrel in my garage and got to work. I soon realized I needed a bit more, so I cut up a large box for a second area. I sprayed both sides of the pieces. Going into this, I had a count of how many of each color I’d need, based on the heraldry of everyone. Once all the pieces were sprayed and dried, I set aside those that needed some hand painting to finish. The Ludus pieces needed an X on one side, which signifies when a piece is in custody. For the Hnefatafl games, the king needed to be identified, so I painted a crown of sorts on both sides. These were all freehand, though if I were to make these more often I think I’d want to create a stamp for this so it looked nicer.
Now, for the last construction phase of the project, I had to punch the holes for the lacing and lace them up. For this, I took a piece of string and laid it on each size circle about 1/4 inch inside the outer rim. I then cut it, measured it, and calculated the interval I’d need to be spaced well enough and result in an equal number of holes to the ends both face out. I then marked one piece and punched the holes. This was laced up, and I determined they were too far, so I put holes equidistant between each set of existing holes. This worked better. Once that was done, I used the first run as a template, and punched the holes of the rest using that. Once the holes were punched, I ran lacing through and knotted the ends.
With the boards complete, and the pieces painted, I arranged them all to be sure my count was right and prepped them for rulesheets. I had researched the rules prior, but never wrote them up before. I wrote up rules for each game using small fonts, printed them, cut them out, and folded them up. The games were now all done, and just had to be closed up and delivered. Total time spent on this project was somewhere just over 30 hours. Overall, I’m glad how they turned out, and proud of the work. Next time I’ll use leather that isn’t finished on one side, as the finished leather is quite stiff and lacks the flexibility to fold up easily. On the other hand, it lays flat very well so it works nicely as the game board. Another thing I’d like to do for future ones is to dye the squares the color of the pieces that go there. I didn’t think of this at first, and the leather dye took too long for delivery to order more. If I gave myself more lead time, I could’ve done it, but I only had 2 weeks to do this project. Below are finished versions of each game. Thanks for reading!
Crown Tournament – Fall 2021
Over the summer, there was a “Spring” crown tournament that I entered, however due to a scheduling problem I had to withdraw. This was probably for the best, as I heard is was ungodly hot. Fall crown, however, is totally my jam. I put in my letter of intent, and started training. At Coldwood, in early October, I took a nasty shot to the front of my shin from a polearm in melee. It sucked, but the pain subsided a few days later and it was just a lump. Then, a week or two later at Hawthorne, I took another shot there, this time just to the side. This hurt a little more, but after a day or so it was the same as the first. A few days later, at Shire wars, I took a third shot to the same area, and this time it was different. The pain was brutal, and though I fought through it the day of and did some melee, once I geared down it reminded me that this wasn’t a good idea. After that, the pain was bad. If I sat still, or had it elevated, it would be mostly ok and just have a faint uncomfortable throb. When I stood up, however, the rush of blood made it pretty painful, and I wasn’t able to bear weight on it right away. Not good. This took over a week to start going away, so I had decided to not attend practices until crown (if I could fight crown at all). I also decided to change up my leg armor and add greaves. This would require me taking my current legs apart. I ordered new leg armor, and I also sent my shield out to have it painted for crown. I got my leg armor in the week before crown, put on new cops, and sent pics to a few marshals for approval. Bad news: they failed inspection due to the cops not going back far enough. I reached out to Trentus, and he graciously offered to lend me his leg armor, as did Sir Tanaka. My shield was ready and delivered to the tournament, so that was fine, though I was a bit concerned that it would feel different (it didn’t, thankfully).
Day of crown, I got on site and did the guard thing for setup and handling the royals. After that, I went to get geared up. I started the day in a bad headspace. I didn’t sleep the night before, and almost had a panic attack the morning of. I’ve suffered with these for years, so this was old hat at this point. I went in to do the work, but my confidence and comfort levels were virtually non-existent. I started out with some warm up fights with Talan, but just didn’t feel right. I felt my foot step onto the quicksand, and it began doing it’s deadly work. My first fight was a challenge up fight. I chose Elglin of House Eagle, a good friend that I rarely get to fight. I couldn’t settle in, and after a brief exchange I was handed my first loss. After the first round, pairings were random. My second pairing was with Padraig, another fighter I know and am friends with. We fought for awhile, and I started to settle a little bit. This time I was able to pull off the win and move forward. I was desperately trying to move my headspace in the right direction, but kept feeling that inexorable pull downward. My third pairing was with Angus McKinnon, whom I’ve never fought before. I pushed and pushed, but in the end came up wanting and was eliminated from the tournament.
I wasn’t happy with my performance. I had set tiered goals for the day, and failed to meet them. I didn’t fight my fight. My headspace was all wrong, and my skill suffered because of this. It wasn’t my armor to blame. It wasn’t my previous injury. It wasn’t my panic disorder, and it sure as hell wasn’t my shield. I didn’t get myself together, and thus I had a bad day. After being eliminated, I went off and sat by myself to mull things over. I saw people doing pick ups. I looked at my gear, considering whether or not to fully gear down. I was in a pretty bad space. I looked out at the combatants still fighting, at those doing pickups after being eliminated, and made my choice. I grabbed my shit and went to pick some fights. I fought Volmar for a few passes, and then started working with a companion of the Silver Tyger, Kit’s man-at-arms, who was trying out polearm. We worked on some skills, and ran a few drills over and over to get him more comfortable. Master Tiernan came over to help out as well, which was great. Then I was able to do some passes with Caccia, after which I was pretty much done for the day as my shield basket lost a bolt. I thanked everyone for the great passes, and went to gear down.
The rest of the day was spent watching the semis and finals, where folks I really like battled it out for the right to lead our kingdom at war. In the end, Sir Ryouko’jin of the Iron-Skies was crowned the victor and became heir of the East, alongside his awesome lady Indrakshi Aravinda. My fellow household member Cassian Arminious came in second and became the Admiral of Armies. There was much pomp and circumstance, which followed into court where awesome people were recognized for their hard work and dedication to the society. I’m not gonna do a straight up court report, suffice to say that good things happened to good people.
For me, I was in rough shape. I was hurting a bit physically, exhausted, and emotionally drained. The following day, after I got home, I started really diving into what was wrong with my headspace going into the tournament. I discussed this with the Lish, and as always she had some great insight. There were many factors at play. I had a lot of other responsibilities at the event that were not fighting related. This was the first tournament I fought since getting my OTC. I had not been to a practice in about 3 weeks due to my shin issue. Also, I felt like I had to do as well as I did at Harpers to prove that wasn’t a fluke. I felt like there was an expectation now that as an OTC I should do better than 3 and out. Another expectation I felt was that people with game whom I respect felt I should be able to go a fair distance in the lists. With those in mind, I feel like I failed myself, as well as in the eyes of others. I don’t do well under pressure when it comes to fighting. I grew up in a very competitive household, and ended up being highly competitive as a kid. Problem was, I never had the skills to compete at a high level, so it was just a gauntlet of disappointment and frustration as I came up short again and again. Over the years, I stopped being competitive to save myself the aggravation and pain. This factors in here as well, and adds to my headspace problems. I also have major impostor syndrome, which goes against the belief others have in my abilities. All of this is a solid recipe for quicksand, and adding in the other day-specific stressors did not help matters. In the end, I just couldn’t make it happen, and that just fed my impostor syndrome a hearty meal which allowed it to beat up on the faith my fellows have in me. Normally I just fight for the love of it, but that’s where things can be dicey for tournaments. I’m “on the path”, so if I say I’m just fighting for the love of it and don’t do well, then I appear not serious. If I push and fuck up, then it’s because I suck. Both not great options, especially for someone that other fighters may look up to.
Today, I start my headspace training. I ordered a few books on mushin, and will be working with some of the companions of the Chivalry on skills to improve my focus and headspace during tournaments. I will get past this plateau, I will push ever forward, and I will someday achieve my goals. I understand that this will take time, and that’s ok. I will continue to push myself, and to push those around me. I plan on taking this journey with others who have similar issues, so we can grow together. If you’re reading this, and you’re a newer fighter, a fighter who looks up to me, or both, then know that you’re not alone in your struggles. We all face tough times on this adventure, even those already in the Order of Chivalry. We can be open and honest about these things. They aren’t shameful, and they aren’t stigmas. Accept that it’s a challenge, reach out to those who can help, and we can all move forward together. There is no point on this path where you shouldn’t glance back and offer a helping hand to someone else struggling. I most certainly did not get where I am by myself. People from the Order of Chivalry down to those with no fighting awards whatsoever have helped me along in my path. We can move forward more easily together, and I’m comforted to not be alone in this struggle. Thank you all who’ve helped me thus far, and all who have promised to help me going forward.
And now, some pics to show the class and seriousness of the Lish and I on line waiting to process in:
On the subject of humor
So, I’ve had a bit of an introspective morning, and was thinking about humor. As I’m vastly self-important, I figured I’d share my thoughts, so buckle up while I state the obvious.
As a kid, I always tried to make people laugh. I spent years and years attempting to hone my skills so I could get a smile out of almost anyone I met. My reasoning? Well, as you might’ve guessed, I was bullied a LOT when I was younger, and while I did sometimes indulge in that behavior as well during my teens, I found that humor was the best out. People tend to leave those who make them laugh alone, at least in the moment. It’s almost impossible to genuinely laugh and be actively angry or hostile at the same time. So it was my defense mechanism. It helped me avoid violence towards myself, helped break the ice in awkward situations, and occasionally got me a friendship or two.
It was later in my teens, in HS, that I realized I could use that for others. If someone was getting picked on or bullied, I would often step in and crack jokes and steer the entire conversation elsewhere. Most often, I’d just present a better target, and then deflect away until things settled down. It also came in use with friends/loved ones who were depressed. I recall an instance with a very close friend who was furious and devastated. We were hanging out, and I was determined to get a smile on his face so we could pull up from the nose dive. In the end, I took a banana peel out of his garbage, stuck it to the wall, then went to lean on the wall. My hand landed on the peel, I “slipped”, crashed into the wall, and then the floor. Rolling laughter. Once cracked, the ice began to chip away while we talked and joked, the spell on him broken.
Fast forward a bit, I was reading one of the books by the Dalai Lama where he mentions that he knows the meaning of life. As an atheist, I found this statement intriguing so I read on. He said (I’m paraphrasing) that the meaning of life is joyfulness and happiness, and to be useful. This statement spoke to me, and it is something I really truly believe. I apologize if I come off preachy, I do try to not talk religious/spiritual beliefs with most people. I don’t believe in an afterlife, only the here and now. I think we die, our energy disperses, and that’s it, the one we were no longer in existence as any sort of consciousness. As such, with only one go around, I find quality of life to be of the utmost importance. No silver city to live in forever and look forward to. Because of this, my entire personality shifted. I was more focused on the little joys in life, and on bringing smiles to as many people as possible. Sure, I fail at it a fair amount of the time, but I think I succeed slightly more often.
I’m the sort of person whom tends to live in my memories and in the past. I think about past events quite often…well, the ones I can still remember, that is. (Thanks Paxil!) Anyways, having the perspective to look to the past and see genuine smiles and laughter, both on my face and other peoples’ faces, is a wonderful thing. I feel like this is a purpose for me in life. I’m of the generation where we were all told we have “so much potential”, and we never feel like we live up to it. I’d been told early on that I have “gifts”, such as intelligence (that one’s debatable), sense of humor, musical talent, etc, and that if I don’t use them all to the fullest that I’m somehow failing at life, which is total horseshit and something I refuse to tell my own kids. Nobody is keeping score except those jealous that the things they want to come easy to them, come easily to others instead. Still, those wounds were deep on me as a child, and I’ve always felt I needed to bring something great to the world to be worth a damn, like I owed the universe something for being born as I am. (By the way, before you say it, yes I absolutely known how arrogant, self important, egotistical, etc this sounds, but I can’t think of a better way to say it.) So, my supposed “gift” to the world has been humor. I strive to make the time others spend with me enjoyable. Sure, this is partly because it fills an acceptance need and helps combat my impostor syndrome, and blah blah blah, but whatever. Putting good out there is always a good thing, even if you do it for a somewhat selfish reason.
The last bit for me is this: Don’t take yourself too seriously. I used to shy away from trying or enjoying certain things because it wasn’t cool, or wasn’t manly, or wasn’t popular. Later on, I realized that this is pure foolishness. I’m not about to miss out on a wonderful life experience for such crappy reasons. So take the risks, step out of your comfort zone, revel in your love for Nickelback or whatever. Don’t have “guilty pleasures”, just have pleasures. Do things that bring you joy, that bring a smile to your face, and encourage others to do the same.
So that’s it. I think people should work to put that good out in the world. Make someone laugh. Do someone a favor. Help someone in need. Donate to a charity. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Buy or make a gift for someone else for no other reason than to brighten their day. Sure, some could argue that such moments are fleeting, but in my opinion, having a lot of them creates a fleet of its own. A fleet of ships made of laughter, smiles, hugs, fondness, and thoughtfulness that can keep people more grounded and safe as they traverse these murky waters of existence. Let’s get out there and throw a shitload of weight on those scales.
Back from the plague
It’s been a hot minute since my last post. Quite a bit has happened since then, so clench up Legolas, this is gonna be a long one. Not long after my last update, the pandemic hit and we had over a year of not having practices or events. During this time, due to the craziness and my mental state, I didn’t so much as look at my armor. Anytime I did, it made me sad, so it sat on the rack in my garage until about April of 2021. That was when I decided to brush it off and start back up with pell work. I knew I could return to practice in May, so I figured I’d do the 100 days Pell Challenge again. This time, the pell challenge really did make a huge difference for me, and I could feel my mechanics becoming more natural. When I finally did return to practice, it was pretty rough. My sword and shield game lost a big step, and my polearm game had all but disappeared. I knew I had a ton of work ahead of me, but I was determined to gain that ground back, and then some.
In the midst of the pandemic, the East lost a titan and a paragon of virtue and chivalry. Earl Sir Horic was killed in a car accident on his way to donate clothing to the needy. To me, Horic represented the kind of man I hope to someday be in the society. Horic was the first knight in the society to take time out and attend a practice with me, and he helped me grow and learn. He worked with me many times over the years, and his humility, joy, honor, and love for this game was utterly infectious. In other times, when not fighting, we’d talk about geek culture, wargaming, and just general life stuff. He was one of those people I’d ALWAYS seek out at an event or practice. He would have been ‘the choice’. I’ll explain.
As many of you know, I’ve decided to not take a squire’s belt. I’ve discussed my reasoning before with a few folks, but never really publicly. At this point, I think it’s time I went into it. To me, my path is primarily about being worthy. Some people approach the path to peerage in the SCA like the game that it is. You check these boxes, be this person in the SCA, do these things, and eventually you will likely be recognized (gross oversimplification for those not in the know). This is an absolutely fine and acceptable way to go about it, for sure. For me, my goal is to be those things in real life, so mine is more a path towards self-betterment than pushing for an award in a game I play. I want to truly embody these things, and have the skill on the field worthy of a knight as well. So far, not all that different from a squire. I’ve known from the get go that I’d be fighting the clock, and my lack of athleticism, because I started late in the game. Part of my reticence to take a belt is that I saw myself as somewhat outside the game, walking my own path, and I coupled that with the previous mentioned roadblocks to come to a conclusion that I would be wasting a knight’s time being their student. That time could be spent training someone who has a chance of getting to that level, and I’d feel selfish to deny someone that. Don’t get me wrong, I was always dedicated to the path, but I guess you could say it didn’t have that official feel to it. I truly felt, and sometimes still feel, as though I’ll never hit that level. If I were to be recognized, I’d want it not only to be because I am worthy, but to hopefully feel worthy as well. I’d also not want my actions, speech, or deeds to reflect poorly on someone else because I made a mistake. The fact that I also have horrible impostor syndrome should thus come as no surprise. The last part of it is the really personal bit, and only came to light recently when I was told by a few people that I should strongly consider taking a belt so those who are higher in the food chain know I’m serious about the path. Taking a belt shows instantly that someone is dedicated to the path, that they understand fealty, and that they aren’t just weekend warriors. There also needs to be a path for feedback, someone others can go to in case there’s a problem. So I thought much more seriously about it, and I realized that the person that immediately came to mind was Horic, and were he still alive I’d have asked him for that belt. It felt so right, that even though I was considering it, I can’t do it right now, so instead I remain as I am, and that’s totally ok with me. Sure, I know it’d be awesome to be more easily seen as someone serious about their path to those who don’t know me, but I have to do what I’m comfortable with right now, and keep focusing on improving myself and those around me. If I get to that level someday, I’ll have accomplished what I’d set out to, and can then focus even more on helping others get there. Of course, some of this also changed last weekend, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
One last bit about squiring. My issues with it are purely the result of my personality and some mental issues I’ve struggled with for my entire life. I’d never look askance at someone for being in fealty to a knight and loving every minute of it. That relationship plays a very important role for the majority of fighters in the SCA, and my perspective is most certainly an outlier.
Anyhow, at this point, the Consuls of the East announced a crown tournament to determine their successors. I entered, but had to withdraw due to a scheduling issue. While I was seriously bummed about having to bail on crown, it was probably for the best. This crown started out with feeder tournaments, and then there was a sweet 16 crown tourney a week or two later. I was then overjoyed to see that a member of my household, and friend, Ioannes, had won crown and would be the next crown of the East, along with my dear friend Honig. Honig brought me into the SCA, and has helped guide me and encourage me throughout my journey. After the results of crown came down, she called and asked me to be her Captain of the Queen’s Guard. I was both honored and humbled to be chosen for such an honor, and set about researching the position and assembling a guard.
Next up came a bit of a curveball. I had thought coronation would be in October, so I’d have some time before needing to be ready with the guard. Instead, it happened a month or so later, so I had to step things up. During all this, I was still going to practices, and had started attending the Ostgardr practice as well. Some of the fighters there are newer than me, so I started going more often to help train them as well, which also helped me since it forced me to think more about what I was doing. They’re a good group of dedicated fighters that will do very well in this game. Anyways, back to guard stuff. Coronation went off pretty well, with one hiccup. During court, I missed 2 names of guard members on my list, even though they were RIGHT FRIGGIN THERE! I was pretty embarrassed, and still feel awful about it, despite them being really cool with it. I must say, I wasn’t previously aware just how much work was involved in such a position. From the outside looking in, it really doesn’t seem like much, but there really is a TON most people don’t see.
Now we get to this past weekend, which was Harper’s. This event hosted King and Queen’s Thrown Champs and Rattan Champs. It would be 2 days of acting as Captain of the Queen’s Guard, two days of tournaments, and assorted shenanigans along the way. My initial plan was to hopefully practice some thrown weapons on Saturday morning before the tournament, and then head up to the field to do the 5 man melee tournament. Then, on Sunday, I planned to bring my best for the rattan champs tournament and, above all, do everything I could to honor the memory of someone who held a special place in my heart.
So, Saturday morning, after guard stuff (won’t bore you with those details), I had a little bit to go throw some stuff. While up there, I figured I’d try and qualify for the K&Q Thrown Weapons Championship. I did my rounds, felt I did ‘meh’, and went off to the melee field. I got in armor, did passes with a knight and an unbelt, and got ready to sign my team in. That is when a runner showed up to tell me I made the sweet 16 in the thrown tourney. I decided to give it a go, asked my team to grab a replacement for me, and headed down to the TW field. I was still wearing most of my fighting undergarments, but Trentus was wonderful enough to lend me a tunica so I didn’t look like a total mundy schlub. My first round was against Baroness Alanna of Skye, and after some truly awesome throwing she claimed her victory and advanced. I was super happy to see her make it to the top 8, along with others from my guard who were competing. In the end, another of the guards, Safiya al-naghira was awarded King’s Champion and left my guard for this honored position. For me, this was only the second throw tournament I’ve ever entered, so I’m happy to have done as well as I did.
Sunday was a day charged with emotion. For those unaware, the K&Q rattan champs tourney is now the Earl Sir Horic Memorial Tournament, in honor of the man who meant so much to the East and its people. He made a lasting impression on me, so this day held a lot of weight. In the morning, before fully gearing up, I had the honor of speaking privately to his wife, and we told stories of Horic. I told her what he meant to me personally, and she spoke of his love for the fighters of the East, how he looked at them like his own children. Later, her majesty spoke of him and the air was charged with strong emotions. I’ll admit, I was VERY glad we didn’t fight immediately after that, cuz I needed to center myself and not sob in the lists.
Now, onto the fighting. I warmed up fighting with a gentle I did not know, who moved into the kingdom from Aethelmarc. He was awesome, though I don’t recall his name. I then warmed up some more against Duchess Caoilfhionn. First fights were chosen by those lower on the OP, so I picked Volmar. He’s a friend and a great dude, and I’d never gotten to fight him before. We fought and doubled our first pass, and finished a ferocious second pass. I advanced with a win into the next round. Round two, I fought someone I’d never met before. He fought greatsword, but I can’t honestly recall the name (I suck at names). After a flurry of blows I walked away with my second win. This was literally the first time in my fighting career that this ever happened. In tournaments, I’m usually 3 and out, and my goal going into that day was to fight with all my heart and not go 2 and out (double elimination tourney, so 2 losses and you’re out of the lists). I was having a good day. My round 3 draw was Count Alberic, and after some intense battling full of smiles and camaraderie we left the list. 3 straight wins, and for the first time in my fighting career I made the sweet 16 in a tournament. My next draw was Turi, whom I’d never met before. He was a titan on that field, and he handed me my first loss. I did what I could, we fought a good fight, but just could not pull it out. Last up was Pandarus, whom I’d met but never fought. I can’t recall the last time I fought a polearm fighter with such a ferocious inside game, and after trading many blows he eliminated me from the tournament. While I didn’t get to the end (part of me hoped I would/could), I’m happy with how I did. I fought my heart out and did my best, and were Horic there I’d like to believe he’d have been ready to tell me I did ok when I walked off that field. To make matters better, I got to see two men I hold in high regard battle it out for King’s champion, Sir Arne and Sir Ryu. In the end, Sir Arne found victory. I’d also like to mention that quite a few members of the Guard also fought incredibly in this tournament, with Gowain making it to the final 4!
Fighting-wise, this was probably one of the best days, if not THE best day, I’ve ever had in armor. I was able to leave my overthinking and hesitation behind and just focus on Horic’s voice in my head saying “come on, Fearghus!” like he would when we’d fight. He always pushed me during our fights, as if he could see the potential in me screaming to get out. I did my best to let it out on that field, and it paid off with a great day of fights, conversation, laughs, and smiles. I held him strongly in my heart that day, and will continue to do so. During my conversation with Countess Lea, I asked if I could wear one of Horic’s pawprints inside my armor. She graciously agreed, and now I will have a physical symbol to remind me of him every time I suit up.
Now it’s time for court. Court opened with the Roses choosing their inspirations for the day. I was overjoyed to witness Countess Natavia call up my incredible wife Catriona for being an inspiration and stepping in to do list heraldry when they were short someone and needed help. Then, for the first time that day, I was shocked, honored, and humbled to be called up by Countess Fortune and given her inspiration token. I must apologize, though I do recall her saying wonderful things to me, I honestly can’t remember from the headrush and surge of emotion. When done, I went back to guard. I then got to witness some truly wonderful things. My friend and member of my household, Sir Arne, was made King’s champion, and took his oath with Horic’s knighting sword. My friend and member of the guard, Gowain, being given Horic’s rattan sword to fight with and pass along as a part of Horic’s legacy due to his incredible showing and comportment. My friend and also a member of the guard, Dimitrios, was made Queen’s champion for his prowess, his joy, and his love for this community and what we do.
Then we get to the part that got me the most. His majesty called in the OTC, and Sir Culann. Sir Culann asked for someone to be added to the order. He then dropped to his knees and begged his majesty for this. Honig stood, and turned to me with eyes full of tears and reached out for me. I was shocked at how quickly the tears came, and I had difficulty looking up at anyone. I can only liken it to watching a wave come at you. Sir Culann said “a member of your family” to their majesties, and as a member of their household I was like “I wonder if that could be me”. But when she turned to me, despite it crossing my mind a few seconds before, it was like being hit with a tidal wave of emotions I didn’t even realize were awaiting release. I said something rather unfortunate, which hopefully nobody heard. I knelt before the royals, before those I consider friends, and surrounded by compatriots and others I call friends, while I was inducted into the Order of the Tyger’s Combatant. Honig knelt in front of me, and I choked out “this ain’t right”. I did not feel deserving of this, I thought at best I was at least a year out from being OTC level. She calmly replied “but it IS right”, and that the order spoke loudly for me. ME. I’m thankful for masks, as I’m a bit of an ugly crier, and I walked off simply overcome by emotion. I was later informed by those in the order that around 10 of them approached his majesty on the field and asked for this, one of them being Sir Culann. Ioannes, knowing me well, said he’d be hesitant to do so lest it appear like nepotism. He knew I might see it that way and feel I didn’t truly earn it. Sir Culann said he would beg it in court if need be, so they called for a meeting a polling. I honestly did not think I was worthy of this, but I can’t in good honor and conscience deny the word of this order, especially when made so strongly. Many of those who were there and voted were members of the chivalry, or close to it. Humbled and honored do not begin to cover how I feel, and this tells me that it’s time to double down again and push my limits harder to do this order proud, and to do those who wanted me inducted justice by making certain I represent the order well.
So that brings us to today. I was shown that others DO see me, and have done so for some time. I was so wrapped up in my own head with doubt and insecurity that I couldn’t see what I looked like from the outside. I’m still flabbergasted about the whole thing, and I’m determined to not allow it to change who I am or what I do. I went to practice this week as normal and worked with another fighter, and plan to attend Barleycorn this weekend as a marshal. Time to buckle down and work harder than ever to step forward inch by inch until I hit the level I want to be at. If you’re reading this, and you’re a fighter on their path, go hit that pell every day. Push your limits (safely), and don’t let the brain weasels run the show. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you just let go.
Winter 2019-2020
I’m a slacker, I know. I haven’t really taken the time out to write posts, and that sucks, because just like groceries, info is better when it’s fresh. That being said, a lot has happened in the past few months, but rather than go into deep detail, I’ll just give the hightlights.
Following Fall Crown, I was able to take part in a training weekend with Duke Sean. I traveled up to Massachusetts with Antonio and spent the weekend at Trent’s place. The training was VERY different from what I’ve attended before. The focus wasn’t on developing specific combinations or forcing openings, but rather to be observant and exploit things when they reveal themselves. We did lecture at first to explain the concepts, then put our gear on and did some fights. When we fought, others looked on and picked apart where we went wrong based on the methodology taught in the lecture. It really was pretty great. That night we went over how to break down videos to see what happens and where people go wrong, and the next day we did footwork and pick ups. Overall a great weekend. I realized a lot of my problems with power generation are based on my lack of proper recovery, so I’ve been working on that since.
Post fight hug during 100 Minutes, mostly to prevent sub drop…
Following the Duke Sean class was 100 Minutes War. I ran a little late getting my gear on, and just missed the commander’s tournament. Eventually, I found out which side I was on and jumped in. This event was a blast for me. Had some great action packed moments, did some things I was really proud of, and also did some truly stupid and hilarious stuff as well. Our team won the day, and it was a really close battle, which was great. After the melee, I did pick ups with polearm for awhile. I was able to work with some of the more seasoned pole people and got some great tips. I’m hoping to be much better with it by the time Pennsic comes around. I really enjoy being able to switch, either between field battles, or when rez’ing during woods. I also plan to practice pole at the next melee practice in March, so I can better understand how it should be used in melee.
After 100 Minutes, life happened. Between then and Birka, I was only in armor twice. Once was a local practice in someone’s house (we fought in the living room, it was amazingly hilarious!), the other was Nutley. The Nutley practice was Birka prep, so we did a bear pit all night. With all the rust of the holidays on me, it was a pretty punishing practice, and I fought like shit. Still, practice is practice. I’ve had times before where I’ve had a few weeks off and somehow came back better, but wasn’t one of them. I was just hoping I could get my shit straight at Birka.
Birka was pretty rough. I did have some decent kills, and a few short streaks, but couldn’t manage much more than maybe 3 or 4 in a row. This year we also had less fighters, around 120, so once the first hour was over the line got really short. It stayed that way until the end. I had two main goals going in, and a secret goal I hoped for. My mains were that I wanted to stay in until the end, and that I score higher than the previous year. I did both of those. My secret goal, which I didn’t vocalize to anyone until after the event, was that I’d break into the mid 20’s. That didn’t happen, by quite a bit. I finished at 34. My Birka results are as follows:
2018: 61st out of 152 with 46pts
2019: 38th out of 137 with 72pts
2020: 34th out of 124 with 87pts
While this initially looks like I did better this year, I actually didn’t. If you calculate the numbers based on what place I’d be out of 100 fighters, I’d have been 40th in 2018, and 27th in both 2019 and 2020. I stagnated. That realization hurt. I thought I had gotten better, and while going through the pits people gave me encouragement saying I looked good out there. But the proof is in the pudding, and the numbers don’t lie. Sure, I could make excuses and cite other factors, but in the end I placed where I did. Sucky realization, but that just means I need to push through this wall if I wanna get better at this shit.
After Birka were three great practices. First, I went to an outdoor practice in Ostgardr. I did passes with a knight from another kingdom (can’t remember his name…I know, you’re shocked!), Ozurr, Brom, Gawain, and others. It was a blast, and I got some really awesome tips from those I fought. The next weekend I hit the PAL melee practice, and Aedult Swim the week after that. Melee practice was a TON of fun, and brought me out of my post-Birka funk. It reminded me that even if I never become a great singles fighter, I can still get it done on the field by doing my job in melee. The unbelted champion team this year is gonna be based on how good a soldier people are, instead of just the top 30 killers. The focus is on working together, and being great when fighting in a unit. As such, these practices and the upcoming events are focusing on training soldiers. I love this idea, because that’s what I really need to learn. Being honest, I wouldn’t say I’m there yet, as far as the team goes, but I think with hard work I could get there in a couple of years. A lot of it really comes down to understanding the tactics, positions, and responsibilities, and being able to execute. That’ll all come with experience, and this melee season I plan on getting out there as much as possible. The past two years I was injured during the spring, which kept me sidelined. Now I’m finally ready to get out there and learn. Anyways, that was what I focused on at the melee practice. I felt some things click, and hope I can keep that momentum going. As for swim, that was a wonderful gauntlet of beatings. I fought a bunch of really great dudes, many who gave me some solid advice. I also sought out a bunch of lefties, since I don’t fight them often. I got to spend the day around people I care about, bullshit with loads of folks, and generally just have fun.
So that brings us to now. I took a week off after swim so my body would stop being sore. Next week I head back to practice so I can start focusing on my most glaring problems. I also need to do some armor repairs, make a new sword, make a great sword, and make a fighting tunic. When melee season really gets going, I don’t wanna still be fighting in this gambeson because of the heat issues. I plan to make modifications to my hidden armor, and a lightweight tunic with some light padding and armor points so I can be more comfortable. I also need to cross train and get my cardio up. I’m my own worst enemy with that shit, mainly because I despise working out. It’s just boring as hell. Also, running on a treadmill or outside is difficult for me because of my torn meniscus. Still, it’s gotta be done, and if I ever want to get to the level of prowess I’d like to be at, then I need to do this. No time like the present, because after all, the clock just keeps on ticking…
Fall Crown Tournament 2019
I’ll freely admit, I was pretty nervous going into crown. I wanted to fight well, and avoid embarrassing myself on the list field at all costs. I made a new sword with a thrusting tip, and re-taped my existing sword with a tip. My armor was all set and in good order, and I was ready to go. My first impression of the site was “wow is it pretty….and freaking COLD!”. It was about 30 degrees when we arrived on site. I signed in and schlepped my gear to the list field. I got armored up and walked around to say hi to people I knew, which helped me warm up a little.
Crown had 31 combatants. We processed in, shared some lovely words with her majesty, and got ourselves sorted into pools. There were four round robin pools, 3 with 8 fighters, and one with 7 fighters. My pool had 8, and they were myself, Lord Konall, THL Kit, Centurion Tiberius Nautius, Master Tommaso, Master Avaldr, Sir Ryu, and Jarl Ivan. Prior to crown, I had decided to change how I approach the fights in tournaments. Usually, I like hanging back and seeing how people fight a bit before starting an attack. This time, I pledged to be more aggressive and not let anyone fight their own fight if I could help it.
My first bout was against Sir Ryu, and it was by far my worst. Lost to a basic thrust in under 5 seconds. After the fight, he explained to me how my guard allowed that to happen, so I tried to adjust for the rest of my fights. I wish I had done some quick warm up fights to get my head in the game beforehand. Second was against Lord Konall. I got legged early on, but was able to leg him and get in a head shot. Next up was Jarl Ivan. I’ve fought him a few times before, and almost all ended in a one shot. This time, I actually hung on a bit and made it more of a fight. I got legged and got hit with a wrap to the head.
My next fight was against Tiberius. I kinda fucked this fight up, and I’ll explain why. First, my goal in this one was not to fall victim to his brutal 2 shot combo, which I accomplished. I was able to leg him, however when I did so he hit my sword arm. Without thinking, I dropped to my knees, and as he was able to kill me with a thrust I called a hold. I had to explain that my brain shorted out and I took the arm as a leg. We talked it out, and he let me stand back up and keep my sword arm, thus leaving my shield arm dead. After a quick series of shots, he got me with a wrap to the back of the head and neck. THL Kit de Coldwood was next. Here I was able to leg her, and finish up with a shot to the head. My next bout was against Master Avaldr. This one was rough, and my footwork was definitely my downfall. I got legged, again, and fell for a low fake into a head shot. On to Master Tommaso. We traded blows for a bit, until we both scored head shots for a double kill. We re-fought it. This time, I was able to get a leg shot in, and then a short wrap to the body under the shield for the win. This was my last bout.
As you have probably guessed, I did not make the sweet 16. I went 3 and 4 in my pool, which I’m happy about. I felt good about my performance the day of, and stayed around for finals and court. I was happy to see my friend Tiberius make the final 4, and he was absolutely inspiring to watch all day! He ended up being awarded the shield of chivalry in court, which was a well deserved honor, in my opinion. After the event, I watched the videos from the fighting. I noticed quite a few things wrong, things I actually thought I was no longer doing. It’s pretty rough coming off the high thinking you were awesome, only to rip it to shreds the next day. Still, it just shows what I already know. I need a lot more work. I plan on focusing on pell work again, and perhaps I’ll do the 100 day challenge again after my vacation in a few weeks. I can see a bit of a difference between my mechanics during the baronial championship and crown, and I’m not sure why it happens. Maybe I just need to give more time at practices to sword and shield, instead of letting it slip so I can learn new forms. Either way, it really was a fun day, and I had a blast fighting, joking, and laughing at the event. The East got new heirs, Duke Tindal and his consort, and I got more experience. Wins all around.
VIDEOS FROM CROWN:
PHOTOS:
Ours is a special love…
EAST!!!
Fighting Master Avaldr
Got me a smooch!!!
Learning from Sir Ryu
Fighting Master Tommaso
Her Majesty requested a selfie!
Fighting Centurion Tiberius
Fighting Lord Konall
Fighting Jarl Ivan
Fighting THL Kit
My beautiful consort and I
Group selfie!!!
The final 4
Our list tree. Mine is bottom right
Arrows, Axes, and Ales 2019: Baronial Championships (Archery, Thrown, Brewing)
About a month or so prior to last year’s AAA event, I went to a friend’s house to learn how to throw knives and axes. It was a great time, and I learned a lot. I practiced a bunch over the next few months, and competed in last year’s thrown weapons championship. After a few weeks, I ended up destroying my target board, and never got around to making a new one. Since then, I’ve thrown at 4 events total. Ducal Challenge 2018, AAA 2018, Novice day 2019, and Pennsic 2019. Going into the baronial championship this year at AAA, I wasn’t really expecting a whole lot.
I started out practicing knives and axes earlier in the day. After MANY rounds, I was finally able to get them to stick more often than not, though my aim left something to be desired. Spear, which I had the most trouble learning, is what I did best at. After a bit of practice, I walked around with the Lish and the kids and just chatted with people. I even got the wee beast to give throwing axes a try. While she wasn’t able to throw them hard enough, she tried her hardest and did well. When the time came for the tourney, I signed up and gave it a go.
The tournament was run as follows. There were 16 competitors. Everyone had three throws for each weapon: knives, axes, and spears. There were playing cards stuck to the targets. The weapon had to tear or pierce the card to gain a point. The top two throwers went on to a final round against “woody”, a wooden target dummy that looked like the dude from the board game Operation. I started throwing knives. One didn’t stick, one stuck but missed the cards, and one stuck and tore a card for a point. Second was spear. I stuck all three spears, and two of them pierced cards, giving me 3 points total. Finally, I threw axes. While I did get two to stick, they were nowhere near the cards. Of the 16 competitors, only two people were able to score, Hrothgar and I. We advanced to the finals. For woody, there were target circles on him. Cutting the edge of the large targets got you 1 point, and sticking inside it got you 3 points. Cutting the edge of the small targets got you 3 points, and sticking inside it got you 5. I aimed for the big targets and stuck one inside and one on the line, for a total of 4 points. Then, Hrothgar went, but was unable to score. Amazed, I walked away with the win and became the new baronial thrown weapons champion!
Later on, I decided to try getting my axes to stick on the dummy. First ax thrown went right in the crotch, which elicited a pained “ooooo” from those watching. It was kinda hilarious. The wee beast then gave his head a few chops, just to let him know what she’s capable of. Then, in court, I was brought up and given the regalia as well as a prize of a bearded throwing ax! I also got a super awesome scroll made by Fiona the Volatile, whose stuff I’ve been drooling over for awhile now! Eanraig was made our archery champion, and Akos was made the brewing champion! Overall, a fantastic day!
Wee Beast ready for carnage!
Learning how to throw from our marshals!
So much love!
This throw was the bullseye!
I didn’t even cheat!
Ready to give woody the business
Straight up murder
She was serious about messing him up!
Right in the mummy/daddy button…
Champ with his minion!
My gear and regalia. The ax on the right was the prize!
My dope scroll, complete with murder bunnies!!!
Unwanted Criticisms 