The first question to be asked of us is usually why? Why do you dress so wierd and hang out with all these people who think they're kings and barons and vikings? Why would you want to put on that heavy stuff and run around shooting arrows at each other?
Why not?
I work at a computer store. I deal with high tech stuff all day, five days a week. When the work is all done, it's an incredible joy for me to be able to put all that aside, all the phone calls and bad BIOS settings and video drivers, and do something completely non-technical. Something like make a pair of boots, or arrange a feast for my household, or work on some armour. That's why.
And there are a lot of people who feel the same way I do. A few of us have gotten ourselves together, and we became/joined the Household of the Silver Talons. We're a fighting household, which means that during the summers we like to go traveling to places like Clinton, BC and Camrose, AB for the wars. We're not just in this for the funny clothes and accents, we like the fighting and killing too.
But unlike a lot of folks, we're not up close and personal killers. Nope, we like to work from farther away. We're light fighters for the most part. That means our armour is lighter because we're not supposed to be hit by the heavy fighters, and we're armed with missile weapons. Bows, slings, throwing axes and the like. We do have a few heavies to help us out, but we encourage those who join us to become lights.
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This is a pic of my household's emblem, slightly modified. It is a fine raven designed by my friends Dexter and Bethany. The original is a black raven outlined in silver on a dark blue background. But frankly, I like mine just fine. I hope you like it too, because if not I'll kill you like a dog.Click here for the
pic.
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Well, this last year certainly won't be remembered as our finest, for a number of reasons. Some of them ours, some of them the Society's. But still, I had a good year SCA wise I think.
It started with Winter War, which is our warm up for the coming season. It's right close to here, so it was easy to get to, and I had a tremendous time at it despite the fact that I am now convinced that the weapon I was using is not the weapon for me. For the last year and a half, I have been using a rock chucker. That is, a device designed like an atl-atl to fling tennis balls at high velocity. It's terribly powerful, and can throw a ball in a remarkably straight line but in my hands apparently is terribly innacurate. I made one kill that I know of over the day's fighting. Maybe two. But I'm not sure of the second.
It was about at that point that I started considering more actively the idea that Falconer and I had of getting or building some crossbows. Unfortunately, it appears that the government of our nation is getting less crossbow friendly, so we've back-burnered that idea for the most part. However, back to the point, Winter War went well enough with the few of us who made it there. Unfortunately that seems to be the theme of this year...
The next big event was Quad War. A little farther away than Winter, but larger too, and the first big outdoor war of the year. Also home of the lovely Quad War castle. That in and of its self is a good reason to go fight in this one. However, our showing at Quad was really kind of dissapointing to me. I love going out with a big bunch of folks to share the experience of a good war. It's an incredibly social event, and really is a case of the more the merrier. But only Breggon, Iolar and myself were able to make it out to the Quad. It seemed like a lot less fun because of the lack of my friends and family around me. However, Quad seems to have become the war to watch, as its population growth has hit the critical point where merchants and such are attracted to the crowds. We're probably going to make it our war to focus on as a household for reasons which I am about to explore.
Clinton War. The great grandpappy of 'em all. The big war for us western Canadian folks. This is the one that everyone goes to. But we didn't this year. The months leading up to Clinton are usually a blur of activity, but this year we didn't seem to get into it. I can understand why, since most of the household had other more serious concerns at the time, like babies and jobs. Dexter and I decided about two days before the war that we were going anyways, and so packed up and headed out in a very spur-of-the-moment way.
Neither of us fought at Clinton, but that is not really a bad thing. Truth be told, unless I'm part of a big unit like the Talons can be, I don't really enjoy the fight. So we stuck to the sidelines, watched and most importantly did all the OTHER stuff that Clinton has to offer. The other times I've been there it's always been a blur of getting ready to fight, recovering from fighting and sleeping the pain away. But this year was certainly an eye opener to me.
I got to really shop around, and see what people are offering. I got to try out a lot of good vendors of food. I helped Tawi man his shop for a while. I got to see from Coryn and Dirk, Dexter's parents, what it's like to be on the other side of the shop. Coryn is a vendor of some of the finest garb I know of, and it was really a treat to get to watch her do her stuff. I don't think I have the patience to run a shop while there's all that other stuff going on, but it was good to help when I could.
It also inspired me to get my act together and put together some leather goods for Coryn to sell. I've made a few pairs of boots in the last year or two, and think I could make a lot more for folks at the wars. For most it seems that period ends at the ankles, but why should that be? I want to see if I can get people more into period boots and shoes if I can. And I'd like to make some money while I'm at it if I can. Nothing wrong with that, is there?
Finally, there was the Yule Feast. This is also a big favorite with our household, since it's in our home town and it's an easy event to get to. This year Coryn, who has run a number of feasts in the recent past, was the feastocrat. The head honcho of food. And I was on her staff. I love working the feasts really. It means I can cook up a storm, chat with some friends while doing so, and snitch little bits here and there. I got a full sampling of the feast without having to wait for removes or sit through the court. This one really finished the year on a high note for me, as it has the last two years as well. And thumbs up to Coryn, Breggon and The Terror Of The North for letting me work with them. I appreciate it guys.
So while this year was marred by a dearth of people of the household actually doing house stuff, it was still a positive one for me. We came up with some good plans for the next few years which should help get folks back in to the swing, and I have some ideas for myself personally that I'm going to explore next year. I also hope to next year put up more detailed event reports after each one rather than waiting till the end of the year and letting my fuzzy memory get me by. Time will tell.
What we wear to keep ourselves safe and warm
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