Insulae Draconis Protectors 2005

Marc’s short report with a massive long blow-by-blow account of his authorisation

It was great seeing everyone again, especially the soon to be disappearing LeifR, Mia, & Lucia, who have always been so helpful and generally cool. Thanks again for the boots, mead and bits of garb, if there’s any I don’t use, I’ll hold it as loner gear. Hee, and thanks for letting me buy that sword, I have two now *big grin*

A very successful event in all aspects bar the first night being very, very cold. Wellbeing was considered in every event and I have never witnessed such a safe bardic fire before (it was surrounded by a lot of concrete and was suitably put out). There were no problems at all.

The only remotely unsafe aspect of the weekend was the slight damage I took while authorising for heavy fighting but that was the fault of my lack of experience. Before that, there was worry that I would not be able to even take the authorisation due to a wobbly helm (which I need to add padding too… again) and bare spots at each side of my lower ribs. Thank you very much to Torrkil Mor who lent me some torso protection and to the guy (?) who loaned me the cactus-looking head protection to go under my helm. This all took time so the fighting tourney started leaving me to wait until after.
After freezing my butt off in the rain, watching the tourney, doing a few sword combos to warm up and then some rounds against Mel/Helena, I finally got to attempt the authorisation for the first time.
My judges were Torrkil and (?) along with the fully armoured (?)… names please? ^^;
After a final armour check my first test was if I could ‘die’ safely, as in curl up on ground with shield over self.
The next section had my acting opponent purely on the defensive so I could show them how I move and attack. The guy blocked most of them but I got a few shots through with enough strength as well as some good combos. This was then followed by him defending while ‘legless’, on his knees as he would after a blow to a leg. I knew the rule that you’re not allowed to go around behind them to attack, but forgot you could at least move to one side as long as one leg was still in front of the target. Due to this I rarely got a hit in at all but still did it safely enough.
Now came the funky but achy bit. I still have the stamina of a small kitten so by now my muscles were already burning. It was my turn to be on the defensive now, calling out ‘good’, as he did before me, for every on-target direct hit to my armor. In the past I rarely last very long against a full onslaught of hits, but at this point I was doing impressively well with my shield, blocking most of the high and low attacks. This was when I started to notice that every time I deflected his attack, the knuckles on my left hand would be smacked against the inside of my shield. Even with a glove on I realised or the first time I needed some padding in there, but still I continued determined to go on and so started to also use my sword to deflect some of the blows. I bet it looked well good cross-defending with my shield and sword (it did get commented on afterwards), but with every extra hit against my knuckles I found I had to block with the sword out of necessity.
Along with the strain on my left arm it got to the point where I could no longer hold the shield up which made the attacker stop and ask in curiosity what was wrong… I think he’s used to fighting guys that have more stamina, heh. Anyway, it continued for a bit longer before it was my turn to defend on my knees. By now my knuckles had gone beyond pain and had kind of numbed with the cold and continual bashing, either that or my mind was trying to block it out. To finish it all off we had a few bouts of normal battle, which went fairly well although I didn’t get any ‘killing blows’ in due to my fatigue, I so have to exercise more or something... he says stuck on a computer nearly 24-7.
Torrkil was about to wrap it up but honored my request for one last round. When I know it’s the last round I always use all the last of my energy and so after a deep breath (and a bit of charka-molding) I went all ‘limit break’ and dived straight in when he was ready. I cross-blocked his counters and continued pressing him until I noticed an opening and got his upper leg.
I paused as he fell to his knees and when he was ready I began my advance… sadly I think I was warn out because I more stumbled forward than anything and his sword glanced across my helm. I wasn’t 100% sure it was a ‘good’ hit but took it anyway despite the two judges not even noticing it. I was thrashed anyway, hee.
I wandered off to Mel and some others while they discussed the verdict, all a bit nerve-racking but I decided to check myself out to take my mind off it. Taking my left glove off I had the biggest purple lump/bruise across my knuckles, it also wasn’t until then that I noticed my shield was damaged and cracked in several places. Guess I’ll need to fix and reposition that next too, did explain the hand though, but yes, will need to pad the inside.
Many thanks to those concerned and to the great Chirurgeons Gonz and Antonio. Super ultra hyper thanks with cookies and massages to Caitilin for missing court and the feast with me to drag my butt to the hospital. Also thanks to those who saved us food when we got back ^_^
The hand still aches (nearly a week later) and has gone through many colour changes but basically it’s believed nothing’s broken.

Opps, nearly forgot to tell you the result, I’m an authorised SCA heavy fighter now, yay!


Dante’s April (fools) 2005 Coracle report
The Coracle is our shire’s most worthy monthly newsletter. This April report was published in conjunction with Caitilin’s.

With nothing to report yet again, I decided to relax and take a snooze at my desk. The dreams of becoming known throughout the land as the greatest contradiction in the history of the shire (being constable and pirate) were suddenly dissipated as a sound awoke me from my mid-day slumber. Looking to the windowed door I spotted a shadow quickly vanish as a piece of paper was slipped under the door.
In the haste to catch this person, my legs didn’t quite realise they were awake after their comfortable rest upon the desk and they promptly helped me find that coin I dropped on the floor yesterday.
Getting up and dusting myself off, I dashed over and opened the door. Looking left and right, I saw no one, they had cunningly escaped. I bent down and picked up the piece of paper.
As I unfolded it, I couldn’t believe the contents...
It was a tip-off concerning a plot the murder helpless root vegetables, but my only solid clue was the event name; ‘Protectors’.
I tried to read the signature at the bottom, but it was smudged and covered in some sort of sauce. Flicking my index finger across it and taking it to my tongue I surmised; “Tastes like... chickpea.”
My investigation would have to be continued at Protectors, it would be a matter of time once there, I can only hope I solve the mystery before it is too late, lest the vegetables are diced into bits like... diced vegetables... yes...

Dante’s “this is your fault Caitilin” event report for the May 2005 Coracle

After receiving the anonyms letter (detailed in last month’s Coracle, which notified me of a dastardly plot to murder poor helpless root vegetables at Protectors), I armed myself and set off to the event.
Upon arriving I discovered that I was too late… those poor veggies… diced. Served to the masses, it wasn't their fault, they did not know. So sad!
My investigation began to find the culprit and started (strangely enough) in one of the bunkrooms with Finagan. He was explaining that he was sleeping in a room full of girls and the only other male in there was the Viceroy himself according to the labeled bunks. Fearing the Viceroy’s safety I put a neat line through Brain's name and title, replacing it with 'Dante – pirate' and a smiley face to ward off any attackers that may strike in the night. Despite this offer to sacrifice myself and to sleep surrounded by beautiful women, the Viceroy risked the night in the room and I wound up sleeping on the roof. >_<
Morning came with the fields alive with horses, swords and arrows. It was a great event and everyone was happy despite the evil mastermind who lurked within their number.
Coming from my rounds of the battlefields I saw a shadow sneak into the kitchen. Was this the evil veg-killing fiend?
Quickly following through the rear door I was suddenly ambushed and attacked with frying pans. My quick reactions blocked the first attack at the expense of badly bruising my left hand knuckles but I did not clearly see the attacker as a large pot pan was placed upon my head.
Dooooonnnngggggg! @_@
As I stumbled around the kitchen in the dark, the strange smell within the pan began to overwhelm me and I became faint, it must have been some sort of poisonous toxin... either that or cabbage… I don’t like cabbage.
I’m embarrassed to say, but I was kidnapped and detained for the duration of the court and the feast. Left unconscious and alone in a jail cell, I finally came too and removed the pot pan. I easily escaped with my lock-picking skills, but I returned to the event much too late.
The villain escaped again…
Without any evidence, my investigation will have to continue. Erm… can you lift fingerprints with duct tape?

Lost & Found;

As constable, this would be my job, holding the lost & found for ya. It’s a good job I’m a nice pirate/constable isn’t it? Click on the picture to enlarge and get in touch with me as soon as possible if something one of the items belongs to you. We’ll get it back to you somehow be it a shire-style pass the parcel or some other method.
From left to right;
*Somebody’s sanity: Could be anyone’s… could be mine.
*Walesby Forest campsite glass: Brought on the day, has a label on it saying ‘Bernie’… odd feeling that it may indeed belong to someone called Bernie.
*Horse head handle mug: Reported to belong to Katerina.
*Blue cloth: The blue cloth on top of my bed covers. Hand-sown border.

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