Silverwolf 2011

Friday

Once the morning is done, I begin packing the car and remeber 99% of the stuff we want to take, which really is a pretty decent percentage.

We have borrowed a wedge tent from friends and have managed to fit everything inside the Versa.  The drive up is uneventful.  I spent most of it finishing the tribute gift for the Queen as well as hand sewing most of the edges on the del for the knighting ceremony.

When we arrive on site there are a few people hanging around already including the King and Queen and some good friends.  So we chill out and chat for awhile before setting up camp.  I needed to run into town, but due to conversations that occured this never happened.

It didn't take us long to decide to set up quickly as the weather was not looking awesome.  Although it was not raining when we got there we had passed through a shower close to site, and the storm clouds looked to be closing.  Soon though the clouds pushed back and the sky was blue above us, for a time, infact for most of the vigil.

Once set up we returned to the tarps set up for the party and with good friends and conversation I began to have a few more beverages.  A drink called "Stargazer", a fruity concotion in which you, usually, can not tase the alcohol.  It IS to be noted that the first batch that Fenrik brought, you COULD taste the alcohol. 

As the sun went down HM stood and proclaimed the vigil had begun and the party commenced.  Really for me it kept right on going.  I know my hat had at least as much fun as I did, going from head to head, leaving me out in the cold.  Traitourous hat.

Truth be told after that things get a little blurry and I only remeber a very few bits and pieces.

Fortunately I remeber important details about the party.  I remeber the effor that people put in.  I remember that a good portion of people wore dels in honor of the occasion.  I remember the Huscalres of Borealis setting up a massive shelter and serving hot pots all evening.  I remeber the thing that will mark this day for me in a lot of ways as strongly as the buffet did, how much people supported me, how much love was shown towards me.  A truly humbling exprience.

Another moment occured of some note to me and in a whirlwind of activity.  I had been discussing with Donnan about him being a man at arms, I had discussed it with Albrecht when I was still a squire.  And then suddenly the moment was upon us.  Albrecht brought forth his sword, which I managed to NOT kill anyone with, someone produced a black belt.  Donnan knelt and sword an oath to me his hands on the blade, I swore one back and done.  Man at Arms.  Maybe not the glorious ceremony he might have wanted as I had NOTHING prepared.  I was thinking of doing it as Dragonslayer, but it's done now.

Saturday

Saturday morning brought INTENSE tiredness, but no real hangover.  Perhaps I was still intoxicated when I got up.  We decided to go for breakfast.  The knight, squire brother and foster brother for lack of a better term.  A close group of friends.  We got a call right after ordering that the morning court was going to start soon and where were we?  It was an important court, two very dear friends were stepping down as the Baron and Baroness.  We ate quickly and got back to the hall intime.

By this time I was still very tired and only half looking forward to fighting, not sure if it would do well by me or kill me.  And no lies there was times I just absolutely needed to take off my helmet for a breather.  Did I mention the vigil was an epic party?

We fought a round robin with two erics.  I lost three of my fights. 
First loss:  Daniel. I took his arm.  I gave up my shield, but NAH, I gave up my right arm too.  Left is something I have been working on.  But I still am not great.
Second loss: Sir Gunther.  Double kill in the first engagement and he managed to get me in the second round after what was a pretty intense and hard fought match for both of us.
Third loss: Squire brother.  Erik Shaverson.  Jerk.

Tourney done with I set forth to have a shower, but I needed to wait for my lady to get her shower squared away cause I forgot a towel.  (99% of the stuff was packed).  So I waited around in my tired state.  The shower was awesome.  I changed and got ready for feast.

The feast was pretty good, till we got to the salad.  This dosen't mean the salad was bad, I actually suspect it was quite tasty, but it just didn't agree with me.  Partially being tired, partially nerves.

That being done I got my gifts ready in the change room.  I changed again into my new del.  I discussed with Donnan about retrieving my gifts when the ceremony was close to starting.  Sadly for him I was still tired, and insanely nervous so the directions were spoken softly while he followed.  Fortunately he wasn't one to just nod and pretend he understood.  We got it good to go though.

Court started.  I awaited my turn.  It slowly came.  Then I was called forward.  I approached with Myfanwy.  Donnan trailed behind with gifts.

I spoke the words I had carefully prepared for their Majesties.  Words of tribute.

Great King,
Radiant Queen,
Majesties of An Tir.
Ten moons ago I witnessed a great tournament where the heros of this land strode like giants and engaged in chivalric combat so that one might be King by his own hand.
On this day, one inspiration shone brightest and carried one mans skill and strength to victory.
It is clear you are the undoubted King and Queen of An Tir.
I have seen you defend your populace, I have seen you raise those worthy and I have heard the words you have spoken to me.
As is the way of my people I bring you gifts of tribute.

And I brought forth the sword for the King and the hat and beads for the Queen.

The knights are called forward.  The ceremony commences.  It is largely the An Tir ceremony. 
The King notes I am in fealty to another.  I stand and remove my squire's belt and give it back to Albrecht.  We speak words.  We share a toast to our continued bond, now as brothers.  I bring forth one last gift, a set of linen tunics.  With this done I return to the King.

HM demands I swear my oath by my own sword.  I tell him I do not have one.  Albrecht rises and tells of a sword from my homeland and they bring forth a saber.  It is drawn, HM comments on the steel, on it being sharp.  I lay my hands upon the sword and swear my oath.  At the end of the oath it is added, and if I break this oath let me become like this arrow, broken and appart.  For this I draw an arrow from my quiver and break it in two and toss the pieces aside. 

The accolade is given by the Sword of State. 

I stand.  HM Skeggi looks at me and tells me this will be the last blow I recieve unanswered, and it will remind me of he who made me knight.  I look him in the eye.  His hands on my shoulders.  Then he strikes.  The impact catches me and moves me back.  My head spins back.  There is darkness.  I didn't stumble, I don't recal being out of sorts.  I step back, but I do not falter.  I recover and look HM in the eye.  In the videos I look pissed off.  I hug him. 

Now.  It is important to remeber other things occured.  I do not recall the exact order, but they are important.

The chain of fealty was brought forward.  The gold chain of knighthood.  It was made by Brother Selwine for me.
The spurs were given to me by Albrecht.
The belt, purchased by Shaver, Fenrik and myself for Albrecht, but now adorned with reproductions from a belt in the Hermitage museum, assembled by Vik.

All these things are important, and as I mentioned earlier, I am humbled.

The arrows in the ceremony were created by Balinor.  He created 12 arrows. 11 with target points and one with a metal mongolian style arrowhead.  All 12 are very cool arrows created with imitation eagles feathers and self nocks.

The additions to the ceremony come from three places
Tribute:  Gift of the sable coat from Temujin to Ong Khan to solidify his relationship with him and bind him to a strong ally
Toast: A toast is described in "Genghis Khan" by Jack Weatherford, where 4 generals toast.  I don't recall the exact details
Arrow:  My initial searches on oaths and knighthood brought me across an article among oaths among the Mongols.  There was a practice it seems of swearing oaths by cutting an animal in two and moving the two halves away, symbolizing how they would be if t he oath was broken.  The article goes on to say, arrows were used instead sometimes for less important oaths.  Although this was not a less important oath, cutting an animal in half....well the arrow just worked better.

After the ceremony I got ready for knights council, which was a little stressful, I was afraid of being late and it was impossible to walk from oneside of the hall to the other quickly.  Everyone wanted to say congrats, which was VERY cool.  I was just tired and didn't want to be late. 

HE Sir Toryn provided the beer one last time.

After the meeting I drank a little more, hung out with some people.  The same people I have hung out with before incidentally.  There are a few of us that seem to stay up later than the others, ie all night.  They are not my knight and family, but they are friends and provide some good conversation.  A good bunch to drink with.

Sunday

We managed to pack-up when it wasn't raining.  I went to curia.  Missed saying good bye to a few people.  As we are about to pull off site, Vik and Inga show up and ask if we want to go for breakfast.  Albrecht and Shaver pull up as well.  Off we go.  Breakfast was good.  Good friends and excellent conversation.

Special Thanks
Some have been mentioned before.
Albrecht - my Knight.  Thanks for helping me walk the path and providing feedback
Shaverson - For being my brother pushing me to want to show you up at all times.
Fenrick - For being another brother.
All three of you: For the vigil and everything that went into it.
Cina - For the wonderful scroll done with period materials, as well as the wool batting!  Awesome.
Anabel - For helping make the boys presentable and sewing tunics for me.
Selwine - For the cool chain.
Sadb - For being who you are, for the awesome gift of wool.
Tatianna - For being an amazing friend and for the cool Mongol dude (now on my shelves of Mongolness)
Aroc - For being you, for coming all that way, it meant a lot to have you there.
Huscarles - All of you together for being a great bunch and helping out with the vigil and bringing your hot pots.
Inga - For advice and feedback and putting up with a tonne of questions, for getting me resources when I needed them.
Vik - For being there.  You were not my Knight.  Your influence was still felt.  Our two families are close.  I count you among my close friends.  Thanks for everything.
Toryn - I know you hate me.
Evja - For being awesome. Your generosity towards me has been amazing.  I am happy you will be Princess.
Myfanwy - In general for putting up with me, and driving my busy and then tired ass to and from the event.

I am SURE I am forgetting people.

I felt the entire principality behind me.  Thank you.

Gifts of Tribute.

Thursday night, June 16, 2011.  June 18th is the ceremony.

I have long planned to create gifts of tribute for their Majesties as the opening to my ceremonies.  They are largely finished.  A sword for the King, a felted and couched hat for the Queen.  I had some issues with the sword but they are largely resolved apart from a rattle from the two piece pommel.

I complete most of the hat, some hand sewing left but it can wait till tomorrow in the car.  I decide if I insert some copper shims I can tighten up the pommel and eliminate the rattle.  It is aprox 3am.  I insert the shims only to cause the brazed pomel to break and become loser.  3:30am. 

Not good.  I go to sleep.  I have a breakfast with good friends in the morning.  at 7:30am I am back in the shop cleaning the pomel as best I can so I can solder the whole thing down before we go.  This goes off ok.  When we get back from breakfast I clean it up as best I can and give it a quick polish.  not great, but overall it will suffice for what I am doing.  I will need the sword back to finish it up after, but it will be a passable gift for the time being.

Practice, June 9, 2011 and Training Journals

When I left work yesterday I looked up and saw a beautiful day.  A good day to hold practice outside, always a pleasure to fight in the grass instead of inside on floors.

Drills:
The drills largely comprised of staying engaged and using your shield to neautralize your opponents shield.

Offense:
In addition to that I was working on a two shot combo, onside head -> onside leg.  I had a decent amount of luck with it.  Needs lots of polish and some mechanical work, mainly re loading my hip between, which may help in recovery.  Right now I am throwin the head and letting the sword teardrop 1/2 way and then firing the leg. 

Defense:
I was also working at keeping my shield in front of me or at least in a defensive position, so often it floats out, gets pivoted out, gets forgot about.

Range:
It was mentioned that I was holding range better that I was holding a guy in a deadzone where I could strike and he could not.  That is a good thing, but maybe a bit further out than I want.  This positioning where I throw and get no response most certainly plays into my defensive issues.  ie I am not threatened, my shield becomes a secondary consideration.

Journals:
For awhile my methodology, and will be again, was to write all this up in a journal.  Make notes and comments, write ideas down I had at practice.  I would then read this again right before practice.  This was in an attempt to create continuity and an unbroken learning between practices.

Final Prep begins

It is now Wednesday, June 8.  I have 9 days left to work on projects before the knighting ceremony.  Most of these are evenings.  One weekend remains.  One day to buy final supplies.

I started construction on what I will be wearing last night.  It will be close, but I should be able to get it done with lining.  I will need to get more silk still, but a basic solid color will be fine.  Perhaps a gold, or something equally as oppulent.

I have a few gifts I am working on for the ceremony.  These will have the tightest schedule for completion , but they are beginning to come together as well.

Avacal June Coronet 2011

Coronet was a decent event.  I made the comment that I actually like important events hosted by more isolated groups.  Only the people who really care show up.  Not to say everyone who dosen't come dosen't care, lots of people wouldn't have made this event even if it was close.

Hosted by Cold Keep I heard we had about 65 adults on site and the heavy list was aprox 17.  There was a fair number of exprienced, a fair number of mid level guys and a healthy dose of new people.

The really sad part was only one knight showed up that could compete.  The Prince was there, so we had 2 knights on site, but only Toryn in the lists.

Once the procession was complete the chivalry side was evened up with the challenge side and challenges were issued.

My tournament went something like this:

Round 1: Karim- Win
Round 2: Kirk - Loss
Round 3: Leif - Win
Round 4: Markus - Win
Round 5: By
Round 6: Toryn (At this point there was 4 of us left, myself, Toryn, Kirk and Uriel) - Loss

After my fight with Kirk I managed to get dirt in my eye and didn't get it out till after the Coronet lists were concluded.  Sucked and had me a little worried, but I am not sure it really affected my fighting.

Other differences: Way lighter sword.  Fought with a Baldur basket hilt, not as cool looking in the photos, but hopefully easier on my arm.

The other fighting event of significance was the Squires tourney.  This was my last Squires tourney.  I wanted to show well.  When they announced the numbers in court, I was tied with Kirk for most wins, but I had more fights than him, so I was awarded the prize.

Other than that the event was a pretty good time.  Good friends, good drinks, pretty short court.

June 2, 2011

Survived Crown, didn't do as well as I would have liked, infact I yet again failed to get by #2.  Squires the next day was ok, little different format, I went maybe 50/50, slow start and then a decent finish.  I fought Squires with my small round shield, so with that consideration I guess it was ok.

Leg armor didn't work as well as I would have liked, so I have modified them again.  They were just attached to kneepads and worked ok if I wasn't moving excessivly.  However they slid around a lot if I did, or went to my knees.  I have pointed them to the cuisse as well, so they don't slide. I have used them once at practice and they seemed to work out pretty good.  They LOOK a lot better under my fight clothes as well.  That is always a good thing.

Gorget was better after the modifications, but I was still having issues with it flipping up.  Had one of the knights I know looking at it and we determined how to fix it, which I did back at camp.  It is much better now, no longer flipping up.

Parties were ok, I had a fun trip out there.

This is the weekend before Coronet.  We are travelling out to Cold Keep tomorrow.  Seems like many fighters are not going, so it should be an interesting list.  I am pretty prepared for it.  Mostly packed, armor repaired still from crown.  New baskethilts arrived in the nick of time so I can attach them to the new sword. 

Seems a lot of people would like to see me win.  I have had an immense amount of feedback on it.  Still not 100% sure I want it right now.  It would be cool, but I also have a lot going on.  SCA wise, most of it will be done though.  So we go.  We fight and bring our best.  We see what happens.

After this weekend there is 2 weeks left until my knighting.  Gah.  So not ready yet!

Ogedei