Back Again

Ok, so keeping this blog up to date took a turn for the worst. But I beg your patience, I have an excuse. Sure I know April 1st was my last post, however I claim clemency from the wrath of my readers, for over a month now I have been off for medical reasons.

I have gout. I know, the irony is not lost upon my, a medieval re-enactor succumbing to the Rich Man's Disease. Go ahead mock away, but I'll have you know I am in good company, Henry VIII, Nostradamus, Isaac Newton, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Karl Marx, the T-Rex known as "Sue", and many more, were all sufferers of gout.

Gout is a joint inflammation disease in the arthritis family. It is a build up of uric acid crystals in a given joint. No one is quite sure why some people get gout and others don't, but suffice it to say if you don't have it thank your lucky stars. To say it is painful is an understatement.

Now enough with this whining, and on with the blog:

I finally got back to fighting last wednesday, off hand and with my right hand behind be since my right arm is still weak from the separated AC joint, but I fought. It was glorious. Managed a kill or two, but I suspect my victims took the kill out of mercy and not out of the hits actually having enough weight behind them to count in normal circumstances, but it was fun.

Did some more defense work with Lilley. Had planned to go to Lady Mary so she could fight in the Tourney there, but unfortunately a snag with the insurance company meant that I didn't get my short term disability check yet and couldn't afford it. No worries though, FOOL is having a Boffer Tourney, and there are lots more events coming up.

Haven't gotten any new signatures on my marshal training forms, but as I said FOOL is approaching, and hopefully I can get at least one ASAP.

Much updating to be done

Ok, so this blog is terribly out of date again. I am a terrible blogger, but oh well, what can I say.

NEWS

Household changes:
Not talking SCA households (well got an update there, but just wait) Maragrete mka Faye has moved in with Lilley and I on a permanent basis. This makes my daughter and I quite pleased. Maragarete is also a registered member of the SCA, due to her position as Baronial Arts and Sciences minister for Rising Waters, as such we have decided to get a family membership making Lilley and I members as well.

Heraldry:
I have worked on some heraldry for myself, Faye, and Lilley, but Lilley is holding out, not sure what she wants. Faye likes hers, and once I get permission to post hers I'll post it here as well, but mine is shown here on the left. Blazoned I believe it would be Or a chief Azure, Azure Wyvern, an or wolf between two or bees in chief.

Such is the heraldry of Cú Allaidh Mac Cummascaig of Trinovantia Nova. It is not registered yet, but oh well, it soon shall be.

Household News Redux:
Ok this time I am talking SCA household. The good ship Crimson Star has asked that I join their crew, as such I am to begin my career in piracy. This is not such a stretch for my persona, as the Irish have a long tradition of piracy by the sea. Most current members are later period, but oh well they will have to take this early period Celt if they wish me a crew member. Search as I may I cannot find a website for the Crimson Star, as such I think that I will make the offer to the Captain of the ship that I shall make a site for them and host it myself.

Fighting News:
I got a chance to make it down to Rising Waters for a fight practice. It was quite the practice. So many knights, so many bruises, so many tips and tricks emparted. It was a wonderful practice in which I got to work on my blocking skills considerably, wich is a skill that seemed to be lacking of late.

What a practice

Wow, multiple knights and nearly 20 fighters at yesterday's practice, including a first time female fighter who I got a chance to fight.

Sir Vanian was quite helpful in teaching me a thing or two at the beginning of practice before many had finished armoring up, and Sir Kasmir also took me aside to give me a little one on one training. It was quite a knight's night.

Melee practice was a blast, though I died harshly several times. I have a healthy fear of spears now, not that I didn't respect them before, but after a jab to an unarmored part of my stomach and a shot that almost took off my head, I am certain I will watch for spears in future melees.

I discussed what I would like for a helm with Rocriptus, and he has been wanting to try to make one like I want anyways so I am really hoping I can afford to at least give him a partial payment in order to start work on a helm.

Kellan and I chatted about two stick stratagies and he gave me some helpful pointers on a stance I might find more effective, next practice I will have to try it out.

A Weekend in the Middle Ages

Wassail all, I have had a weekend full of SCA activities. On Saturday I made my way to the Barony of Rising Waters to partake in Lady Mary. Although I did not compete, or fight at all both my daughter and I had a memorable time. I cannot thank Yvette enough for the wonderful event. On Sunday I made it out to my Shire's archery practice ant got a chance to shoot some arrows off, again a memorable time, and I will be returning.

Lady Mary

Although we could not stay for feast this time, it was quite interesting to watch the fighting, and see the wares for sale. Naturally I could not leave the event without making a purchase or two. My daughter picked out a wonderful little music box and has not put it down for more than a moment since she bought it. Myself I got a new belt and a belt knife.

My new belt knife is what the vendor called a gentleman's bowie knife. Not quite period, but still an impressive knife. The balance is nice, it has a beautiful cherrywood handle, the sheath is nice. It doesn't look overly decorative, which is good, because it is meant to be a functional knife for me and not just look pretty.

Heavy fighting

Alas I did not partake in any fighting at all. I felt the tournament was too prestigious for me to compete in. However all fighters are expected to have a consort for who's honour they fight for. Kellen (aka Rob) did not have a consort that day, I am sure he would have fought for his wife's honour in absentee or perhaps for the honour of the court, however he requested the honour of fighting for Lilley's honour. I granted him permission and Lilley got presented to the court. She is ever so proud of the necklace and carnation the court gave to each consort, and she was pleased as punch to have her own personal champion at the event.

Dancing

My daughter was quite excited about Lady Mary because she recalled Yvette telling her at Winter War that there would be plenty of dancing at Lady Mary. Sure enough the dancing did not disappoint her. Once again my thanks go out to the lovely Yvette, and the wondrous Brandi (not sure of her SCA name), the two of them took Lilley in hand and helped her dance and see what she wished to see, while giving me a chance to watch some fighting bouts. Brandi even offered to be my partner when I joined them in the dance room.

Despite the fact I have three left feet Brandi was a patient instructor correcting me when I goofed up without making me feel like a fool. I do look forward to more instruction in this fine art. While heavy fighting is my main area of focus I can see dancing being something I actually look forward to at events as well.

Silent Auction

There was a silent auction at Lady Mary. Quite a few interesting items up for bid, one in particular was an offer to make garb for children. Lilley desperately needs new garb, and so I put in a bid, I was the only bidder so I bid fairly low, but not obscenely low, and lo and behold I won the item. So now I get to have some garb made for Lilley at a nice cut rate price. I am sure Lilley will be excited once she can wear her new garb. I do have to arrange a time to go to the seamstress and get Lilley measured up and pick out the style. In addition to this a friend of a friend who sewed me my first tunic contacted me with an offer to do some more garb for my daughter and I, so perhaps we will be filling out our SCA wardrobes.

I am glad that the friend contacted me about additional garb, I don't like my black tunic (no fault of the seamstress, my own fault for not knowing what I was doing when I bought the material) the material is not really period, the colour is not right, basically it just doesn't fit my persona well. What I would like is a Leine, trews, a proper brat, and a Inar to really fit the part of early irish celt. I don't know if the seamstress would be willing to do all that for me, but we shall see.

I am not quite sure what period to hit for Lilley, I would imagine she would prefer a more later period, going for fancier dress cloths as it would make her more like a princess. We shall see.

Feast

Alas I missed feast this time around, much to Lilley's dismay. Lilley already has quite the reputation as an up and comming bard due to her singing at Winter War and Masquerade, and she was so looking forward to singing some. Next event I should ensure that we get to feast and that I have some lyric sheets printed off for her so she knows the words even better yet. I will have to ask Yvette for some of the better known songs so I can download the lyrics and get Lilley working on the songs.

Archery

On Sunday I got a chance to go out to Louisa's farm for some archery practice. I shot archery once in scout camp when I was quite young, I didn't do terrible, but I certainly didn't do good, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect this time. I surprised myself by doing half decent. Raithe informed me I was pulling about 32 lbs or so, but I'll just have to take his word on that. After a few rounds with a 30lbs bow I got to try out Raithe's monster 75 lbs longbow. When I say monster, I mean monster, the thing is fantastic to shoot, the arrows whistle out of the bow and hit the target with quite a satisfying thump. The first few shots with the longbow were way off as my arm wobbled under the strain of pulling the string back, but once I got a little steadier the arrows flew truer, but I had to adjust my aim considerably because there was almost no drop to the arrows and most of my shots went sailing over the targets.

Lady Mary

The Baronry of Rising Waters is hosting Lady Mary tomorrow. I think I will grab my daughter and head down there to check out the festivities. Rising Waters is the area I was born in, and the area I would have joined the SCA in if I had heard of it earlier. So in a way it will be like returning home. I already know some of the folk from Rising Waters, including Yvette who has been kind enough to allow Lilley to sing with her at a number of events, and some of my fellow Trinovantians will be there as well including Raithe and Steve, not really sure who else will be there.

Lady Mary is said to be quite the prestigious event, as such I think I will bow out of tournament fighting, but if they are doing secondary authorizations I think I will attempt to get my two stick and thrusting authorizations to add to my card, and it never hurts to get a little extra fighting in there even if I am not outright competing.

Apparently there is a fair amount of dancing at Lady Mary, so I am sure Lilley will be ecstatic to get a chance to learn some new dances. Although we won't be staying for feast so probably won't get a chance for her to work on her Bardic Arts.

I hadn't really planned on going to Lady Mary as I am not happy with my garb, and have not gotten Lilley new garb either and I had been waffeling on the matter for quite some time. The lovely lady Yvette however informed me that I was required to attend with my daughter. This was when I went to Rocriptus' to repair my armour a few weeks back, she happened to be there as well. Apparently she is autocrating the event, and I do so hate to let down a lady, especially a lovely one.

My task for tonight is to repair my swords thrusting tips so that they are a little larger than they currently are as I think there might be a risk of some wood hitting if I thrust at the wrong angle. I also have to make sure my garb is in order. That and make sure Lilley is prepared for the day as well.

If you are going, see you there, if not, why not?

A Week of Experimentation

Apparently this week is about trying new things.

Although I did try two stick once with Thorld (I think that's Tyler's society name), I didn't fare well and I was using loaner swords. Last week, thanks to Roscriptus, I managed to get my own swords completed and battle ready. Casting off my loaned shield I ran into the fray with a sword in both hands, and thrusting tips on both. Two stick is a unique experience, I move more, I strike more, and blocking requires quicker and more movement. Snag assisted me adjusting my calibration with my left hand (ok my calibration on my right needs work too, but my left is terrible), and I think I made some improvements, but I have to hit harder. I convinced Raithe that he needed to try two stick as well, and promptly learned that a fencers speed is a very good thing for two stick as he killed me with a maddening flurry of hits. I did get some pretty nice kills, some by accident, some intentional. I do have to send out a big thank you to Thorld for lunging into my sword tip like that, I guess its payback for all the times I dove onto his sword.

In addition to getting my swords battle ready Roscriptus also assisted me in improving my knee armour, although they still needs some tweeks to fasten them on my legs better, they are at least legal now. I also had some repairs on my leg armour done. Roscriptus you do good work, thanks.

In addition to trying out two stick, I made it out to Rapier practice as well and tried some fencing. Raithe spent considerable time showing me the ins and outs of rapier, and showing me the massive differences between rapier and fencing, taking out my tows a few times reminded me that below the knee is a valid shot in rapier. I enjoyed rapier and I am sure I will be making more appearences, that being said Heavy Fighting is my main focus for now, I will try doing every other week Rapier practice though, and go from there.

The next thing I want to try is archery. I can't see combat archery as the thing for me (who wants to stand on the sidelines shooting arrows when you can be in the middle of it all slaying foes with a sword), but I do think target practice could be fun.

Winter War XI

News reached my ears of a battle brewing in my own shire. I could not ignore the call to battle. My daughter and I made the trip to the battle grounds and she sat on the sidelines while I prepared.

To prove my worth I stood before a marshal and passed the rites of authorization. Authorized and prepared I let it be known that I was available to any captain looking to hire a mercenary. My quest to find work did not last long and a commander from Ramshaven hired me on. We fought many a foe and I believe I earned my pay, though in the end my armour failed me and my knee cop fell to my ankle. I battled against my sword brothers from Shire of Trinovantia Nova as well, and learned how swift their forces can strike.

A market had sprung up around the battle field and I took my daughter to buy her some pretty baubles, her decked out in her prettiest dress and I wearing a battle damaged tunic, we made quite the mismatched pair. Lilley found herself a couple of necklaces she loved, I bought both of them, how is it daughters wrap their fathers around their fingers so?

When it came time for feasting after the battles Their Majesties King Etain au Navaland Queen Valfreya Greenspeare held court before bread was broken. Many foreigners sent greetings from their far flung and backwards lands, I admit I paid little attention to the goings on in court until a man whom I was aquainted with, and would call a friend, Dailin Caulder was called before the court. He was honoured for his accomplishements for the shire and kingdom and was granted an award of arms making him Lord Dailin Caulder. Wasail Lord Dailin of Trinovantia Nova, you make us proud. The most regal event of the court was the raising of Her Excellency TSivia bas Tamara v’Amberview to the Order of the Pelican. her fame had reached even my ears thus it was impressive to see the splendor of such an event.

Baroness Margaret of the E'rain prepared the feast and it was beyond reproach. I do not know if I have words to explain the sheer volume and flavour of the food that was layed before us. I doubt even the greatest of poets could begin to touch on the wonder that was the feast. I have eaten food prepared by the Baroness before, at the Masquarade Ball not all that long ago, and though I knew the food would be superb, nothing could prepare my taste buds nor stomach for the assault that was made upon them. The poached pairs made an appearance as well and I could eat those until my stomach burst and still want more.

The bards voices were not heard as much as they were at Masqurade, but they were heard and Lilley added her angelic six year old voice to the throng, even so far as to sing alone for the king and queen. Though she was to shy to request the audience of Their Majesties herself I made the introduction and asked for Their indulgence. King Etain demonstrated his kindness by gracing my daughter with the language of the aristocrats responding in french to her french song. I admit I knew little of what he said, but my daughter was overjoyed at the attention of royalty. King Etain also gave her a gift, which she will treasure always. Lilley will be a bard of note in Ealdormere before my name is known amongst the warriors, of this I am certain.

First Practice of 2009

Practice went well, and I learned lots.

My thoughts about the centre boss being the shield for me were confirmed again as I shunned the heater entirely and focused on the centre boss. Got some good exchanges in and the guys really worked with me to start whipping me into shape for Winter War where I hope to get authorized so I can fight at events.

I need to work more on defensive manouvers though, I got spanked a couple of times, and while it hurt I will survive to fight another day, and I learned that with one handed weapons that's not a kill shot like I thought it was.

I earned a nasty welt on my hip, stands out pretty good. By far the biggest one I've gotten yet. I am honestly not to sure who gave me this one, it might have been Snag, but I can't recall for sure.

My off side shot has improved alot, but I need to work harder. Snag helped me lots before one bout, and I think I am starting to get it down pat, just not fast enough with it.

We did some melee, and wow was that fun. At one point I got speared by Rob (what the heck is his SCA name again) in such a way I only saw the spear retract away from my face, not the actual hit, but I felt it. I have to admire that guy's speed. We did a few bouts of three on three, but after one which left me winded they did a few three on one's and such which was interesting to watch, and looked like fun.

I really need to work on my breathing. I tend to hold my breath when blocking and taking a shot, and since you are doing that most of the time in a fight it is real easy to get winded that way. Oh well just another in a long line of things that are uber important to remember.

A Lesson Learned

Last nights fights went well, though there were so few of us. We did not fight in our regular location as there were preparations for a Yule party that I think would be disrupted by the combat of heavy fighters, so we went next door and discovered the room was probably twice the size, though the tile considerably slipperier. There were only four of us suited up and prepared for battle.

Since there were so few players I was taught many a lesson that night, and some I will not easily forget.

Lesson 1) The cup is all important, all praise the cup, I may found a religion based on the protective powers of the cup. Without the cup last night Lilley would have definitely been my only child, although perhaps my singing voice might have improved with the new ability to hit higher notes.

Lesson 2) I am not a heater shield person, time to build my own center boss. Center boss is the "Boss".

Lesson 3) Cover my ass for a blow to my seat makes a painful ride home.

Lesson 4) Vary my blows, I am way too predictable (some who know my alter ego Jeff might not be shocked by this revelation).

Practice Dec 3rd

I attended fight practice again and fought hard. Sir Kasimir attended the training as well, it is his tradition to show up to Trinovantia Nova's Heaving Fighting practice once a month. I had much to learn from Sir Kasimir and Vanion who both took much time to teach me much.

Adelle and I sparred once and she managed to do a nice wrap to my back which I still feel this morning. She felt bad for her blow, but I assured her that it was a fair and well placed shot. The bruise should heal by next practice.

I was impressed to see Raithe take down Kasimir in a single blow. I hope someday to be skilled enough to do the same.

I did win a few bouts, though for the most part I know they were given to me to demonstrate how to take advantage of openings and to keep my moral up.

This is my first attempt at using the leg armour graciously loaned to me. It felt good to toss the hockey pants aside and have the mobility that the new armour gave me. Though the spanking I got form Kasimir definately made me pine for the protection of the hockey pants, luckily there is no welt on my rear to stand testiment to the pain.

I'd like to thank Damon for his assistance in teaching me how to peen a rivit and helping me get straps and stomach protection on the kidney belt. It was definately a learing experience.

So What is Heavy Fighting

So yesterday I described (very) briefly what the SCA is, now you might wonder what Heavy Fighting is. Amongst the SCAdians Heavy Fighters are commonly referred to as "Stick Jocks" This is meant to be a slur, but personally I think its a great title. Heavy fighters are the armoured fighters of the SCA, we dress up in armour and bash each other with sticks. I'll lay out what happens and how we are armed as I understand it now.

Weapons:
The weapons of the SCA Heavy Fighter are length of Rattan of 1-1.5" diameter. For those of you who don't know what rattan is, it is solid bamboo, very hard chunk of wood. With the rattan you can make pretty much any weapon that was used in the middle ages except hinged or chained weapons such as nunchucks and ball and chains. Some common SCA weaponry:

Slashing Sword
This is your standard starter weapon for Stick Jocks. A simple length of tapped rattan with a hilt of some sort. Basket hilts are the most common because with a basket hilt it is legal to wear half gauntlets enstead of full gauntlets and are thus less restricting to hand movment.

Thrusting Sword
This is your basic sword with a thrusting tip added. A thrusting tip is a piece of close-cell foam tapped to the tip of the sword so you can include thrusts to your maneuvers. You are not allowed to train with a thrusting tip until you have authorized with Shield and hand weapon first.

Great Sword
A great sword is just a two handed beast of a sword. Think of the Scottish Claymores.

Mace
A mace is a basic bludgeoning weapon, usually with an large head, sometimes with points added for added effectiveness. I don't believe anyone in Trinovantia Nova uses a mace right now, but as I understand it it is a somewhat common weapon.

Spear
In the SCA a spear is similar to a great sword except it can be two handed or one handed depending on length and generally only has a thrusting tip, though you can add slashing blades to it as well. Since my personna is an irishman from around 700BC I would like to start using a shorter one handed spear with a shield to be accurate to my personna.

Pole Axe
A particularly useful weapon when fighting melee with a shield wall, the pole axe is a two handed axe with a really long handle. Useful for reaching over shield walls both friendly and enemy to strike down foes.

Armour:
In the SCA there are certain armour requirements, beyond that it is up to you to do as you feel comfortable. The rules of armour are:

• Helms:
• Helms must be 16 Gage steel at a minimum
• Face guards on the helm cannot have more than a one inch gap
• When the front of the helm is pushed it cannot come in contact with your nose
• Must have a chin strap
• Must be padded with 1/2 inch closed-cell foam
  
• Gorget (neck protection)
• A cup (guys you really really really want to make sure on this one)
• Kidneys must be protected
• Hands must be protected
• Elbows
• Knees

Beyond that anything is optional, however I would recommend some chest protection and shoulder protection. On a first time out go with as much coverage as you can (and still move) and scale down from there for comfort as you improve if you find parts that are unnecessary.

Shields:
I didn't include this in armour because really a shield is optional, although in starting out you must authorize (I'll explain that later) with shield and hand weapon before you can train in any other weapons. Your shield in tournament must be no larger then you can reach with both hands when the opposing edge is touching your chest. In melee your shield can be as large as you can carry thus enabling Roman style shield walls in combat recreation. You can go with heater (standard shield shape), or center boss (round shield with a metal bowl in the centre), or any other shield configuration that would work.