Monday, April 12, 2004

If the Glaive Hits...

Aha, wordplay upon wordplay. For the last two days I've been at Arundel Castle, fighting ^_^ The first day started off rather badly- any day where you have to get up at 6am doesn't exactly fill you with enthusiasm, but get up then I did. I spent ages trying to remember how to put my hose on- I know it was only a week or so ago that I actually did it, but I had to change the laces first. Then I had to cut a hole for my belt, which is the stiffest leather I've ever seen >.> The poor hole-punch never knew what hit it. It's odd that the earlier I get up, the more I want breakfast first-thing. I got up this morning at 7, and I didn't want anything till about 10. I woke up at 6 on Sunday and I was absolutely starving. Same suppers at the same time the nights before, too... strange stuff. Anyway, Mum drove me and all my stuff (minus bow and arrows, because I forgot them) to the castle at 8am, where I then had to spend about 2 hours standing about on guard duty to let reenactors in and keep the public out. Honestly, there are very big signs that say "Grounds open at 11." It makes sense then, that you won't be allowed in at 9:30. People didn't like that too much, though. Not my fault, unfortunately, heh. It's not like I work there or anything. And even if I did you can be bloody sure I wouldn't stand about in a massive doorway all day. Anyway, once camp was set up we spent the first half of the day doing... not much, Watching the archery demonstrations and stuff. Justin let me have a go with his bow, too (he was my Knight for the two-day event ^_^ And he rocks). There are several things you need to know about using a Mediaeval-style bow with modern arrows: -Firstly, the arrow rests on your hand, so when the flights run over your fingers you will get cut. Wear gloves. -Secondly, the bow string will chafe the hell out of your fingers, as I found when I saw blood coming from my index and middle fingers of my right hand yesterday morning- wear gloves, moreso. Or use a 'tab', which is a little square of leather with two finger holes and a gap in it to protect you from blisters/cuts. -Thirdly, Mediaeval doublets are not made for archery. The bowstring will catch and it will twang your arm and chest like hell. Wear a bracer. So, having learnt those lessons I was much better prepared to shoot at the targets today. I even had a bow. The targets were cuddly toys strapped to hay bales, or a car bonnet. There was little left of the cuddly toys by the end of the event, and the car door wasn't looking too happy either. But don't despair for either of the furry creatures- they were evil ones who were in league with some evil dictator. And they looked crap anyway. Badass with a Glaive! Yesterday the battles didn't go so well. Even though I was with Justin, I never won any of the men-at-arms melees. The first one it was me against the entire Hartley Household (three men-at-arms in full plate armour, swords and shields, and me with my poxy arming jacket, helmet and glaive). I was thoroughly trounced, squashed and beaten. But it was an honourable defeat, heh. Unfortunately during the last melee in which everyone, knights and all went into the fray, I got a hefty stab in the chest by one of the opposing knights, which seriously knocked the wind out of me. I can still feel it, actually. It's coming up a nice dark purple and hurts to touch. but meh, it's all in good fun. I was more wary about it today though. Colin and Dorinda let me borrow their padded tabbard to wear over my arming jacket to give me even more protection (and make me feel even hotter and look more like The Michelin Man...). Today was incredible. Everyone was allowed up an hour later, since the tents were already up, the sun was out and there was a nice cool breeze. We strode up to the tournament arena in full pomp and ceremony. There was a bigger crowd greeting us today, which is always quite nice, heh. We started off with the usual introductions of the knights and a few one-on-ones with polearm, two-handed sword and single weapons. We had two polearms break in one day yesterday; needless to say I was quite worried about the fate of my glaive. Luckily, it held out alright ^___^ Then came the first of four men-at-arms tournaments. The Hartley Household were down in numbers, so there were only two of them today. I was still on my own, but most others were too. Maltravers had two men with bills, Turners had one Scottish axe/spearman and one swordy bloke, Brewers had one swordsman and Tester had a spear/swordsman. I started off with my glaive, but after falling in the first melee I thought I'd try using a sword and buckler. Thst didn't work and the fight itself was far too short, so Derren decided we should do it again. This time I reached for my glaive and went for it. We'd decided jointly to try and finish off the Hartley Household first, so once we'd teamed up and seen them off we turned on each other, one-by-one beginning to fall under various weapon blows. God knows how, but I ended up being on my own against two other swordsmen, both of which I managed to defeat quite efficiently by running away and coming back at them- since I'm quicker and more nimble, I could escape their blows quickly and come back when they were tired out ^____^ That left me (and my Sweeney Household) winner of the men-at-arms battle. I was very pleased, hehe. I didn't think I'd be able to do it again... ...the next time round, I was taken out fairly quickly, but Derren was also displeased with who actually did win (someone rather wimpish, though what Lord Maltravers described as 'a miracle'- it's a bit of an in-joke really. You have to know the guy and the group to get the funny side), so we started again. The Hartley Household asked me to join up with them, because they were rather miffed at having been picked on all the time, so for a while I stood next to them... ...but my knight had worked out a plan- as soon as they turned their backs, have them! And I did just that. They split off to try and catch an axeman over to the right, and I flipped the glaive round and brought the short blade down onto one of them, earning me one 'kill' (we don't actually kill, although a few bruises get traded across the field), and I dispatched several others in quick, heavy polearm fighting. It came down to me and the man from the Brewer Household. Lord Maltravers (a.k.a Paul) took us into the centre of the arena. The Brewer fighter charged at me rather fast- I had to hold my glaive across my body in defense, then kneed him in the stomach and hurled him to the ground, then bringing the spear-end down next to his face as a finishing move. I've never been more pleased with my fighting before, hehe. That's the third men-at-arms thing I've won at Arundel and it gives me a buzz all throughout the day. Everyone was saying how well I was fighting, which was nice. I don't like blowing my own trumpet too much. I'm a modest person, heh- believe it or not I never really know what to say when I'm given praise. I do have a lot of bruises to show for it though- it don't come easy. Aside from the hit on my chest, I have a nasty scrape on my knee which actually drew blood. Not much, mind, but still enough to warrant closer inspection once I got home. Plus, I have a bruise on my right arm, right thigh (some cheeky bugger decided to give me a thwack round the arse), left wrist and the back of my neck is very stiff. Couple that with having to walk around all day in the Evil Boots Of Pain and you have a rather painful Solo, heh. I won't be moving much tomorrow. But I love it, really. One thing I do really need is leg and arnm armour, though. More than anything else that's what I need. I don't want another incapacitating injury like the one at training before Christmas. That was not fun. Luckily I don't think anyone had anything too major today, save for the broken weapons. But they're really only a financial injury rather than a physical one. I'd much rather pay for a new glaive than suffer the inconvenience of not being able to perform in a play. Dad's taking me up to a trade fair in May, I can't wait to get to that ^_^ If anyone's ever in Arundel next time we're on, come and see. I'm sure it'll entertain, hehe.

Comments (4)