War Practice

We arrived at Cooper’s Lake Friday at noon. Troll went smoothly and we were signed into the event. We weren’t there for very long before we started bumping into people we knew. That’s what I love about the SCA; I know mostly everyone in our beloved kingdom. Black Priory was kind enough to let Kings Crossing set up our tents in their camp.

I worked guard duty for the first time in my SCA career. I had just finished my soft kit for this explicit purpose. I reported for duty fully decked out in gambeson, chainmail hauberk, padded arming hood, nasal spagenhelm with a bearded hand axe and spear. It was fun hanging out in royal with their Majesties and retainers. The King and Queen then decided to go browse the vendor area. That was fun “guarding” them as people watched. It felt good to help create some medieval ambiance and I will be sure to do it again at some point.

After guard duty I had a bit of time to sit down and relax before the Gauge Meet and Beat. The Meet and Beat is a heavy weapons fighting event where the Order of the Gauge take to the field and fight anyone that wants to get better. After they fight you several rounds, you get the opportunity to talk with them and reflect on how the fights went. Much to my chagrin, it was the worst fighting of my SCA career. My household had been sick earlier that week and I was only about 70% recovered. I was not satisfied with my performance to say the least. I may have won 5 out of 50 rounds total.

Tired and defeated, I headed back to camp. My group, Kings Crossing, was having a cookout for our college, Silva Vulcani. My wife and I provided the food and grill. At this point, I was mildly dehydrated as my thoughts were muddled. It was a nice little cookout with burgers and hotdogs. I was happy just socializing with everyone.

We left the site much later than anticipated and arrived back home well after we should have. Our baby didn’t take the change of schedule well and was determined to have her nightly ritual of crawling around our bed prior to passing out from sheer exhaustion. Baby finally gave in and Mr. Sandman soon caressed us all.

Saturday we awoke and took it easy in the morning. We had breakfast and then hitched up the horses and wagon to head back to the site. We arrived back on location about 11AM. I wasn’t feeling very well once more. Due to my sinuses I had pressure in my ears and behind my right eye. Today was going to be a slow day.

After we got back to camp and settled in, we decided to hit Merchant’s Row. There were a lot of really nice merchants set up. The first shop we stopped at was called “The Dead Things”. A clever name by all means as they were selling furs. Katie selected a nice fox fur for her winter garb.

The remainder of the day was spent socializing with friends and relaxing under a sun shade. I brought a bottle of Monkey Shoulder Scotch and sipped several “tumblers” of that throughout the day. Our group spoke of many things during that time from Kingdom Come Deliverance to GOT and many medieval related topics. I was very disappointed that I could not take part in the melees. That is one of my fundamental flaws; my mind says yes, but my body says NO!

I received many compliments about my garb, which I have been working hard to improve. I am covered in period examples of viking era clothing from head to toe now. I was concerned about the Skjoldehamn hood I made. Everyone seemed to like it though. I went this entire event in period shoes including on the battlefield. The next challenge is having enough clothing for PENNSIC.

To summarize; the event was fun and a much needed break from mundane life. I always love running into friends at events even if I don’t have long to speak to all of them.