Monday, March 28, 2011

The Mud has not yet thawed...

And yet we still had a tourney. There was a blanket of snow on the fighting field, so they opted for the covered picnic area, which the Van Winkles would probably call a "hay barn". I don't know how many people were in the lists. I was number 68, but registration was open for at least an hour after I signed up.

Because of my elbow I have gone to a heater shield. I'm using the standard East Kingdom size of 24" by 36". That is two inches shorter than my kite but with corners. I miss the kite, because I thought it was a great looking shield and a fun way to fight, but I can't hold it up anymore. Too much torque on my elbow.

First round I drew Duke Gregor. I'm not sure how that happened, as I am the only knight who had to fight another knight first round, but I need to thank whoever set it up, because fighting Gregor is always a lot of fun. Yes he won, yes, I made him work, yes, I landed a thrust and an edge on him, neither of which were good because he's so good at slipping blows. But it was an awesome fight.

Second round I fought a guy from Rusted Woodlands whom I don't know but who had by far the nicest kit I've seen in years. It was an Italian harness,m early fifteenth century, including the mail shirt, with a gorgeous surcoat and center-grip heater. I knocked the plume off his helmet. He fought really well, took my leg, and almost killed me with a thrust before I got him with a nice edge shot, a sitting down slot like William of Houghton would have thrown. Old School.

Third fight I had a really long tough fight against Cedric of Amorica. I had seen his earlier fight when he beat Sir Balin, so I had some warning of how tough it was going to be and where to guard. He uses a short pole arm and has a tough defense. I never managed to get his leg and I chased him out of the list at least three times. Eventually i launched a body thrust on the outside and he took my arm but i killed him before he did.

My third fight was against a heater fighter whose first name was Eric, and I don't recall a thing about it save that I won.

My fifth fight was against Ivan from Seprentius. We had a nice long bout and I killed him. I took his arm and then killed him with a thrust.

My sixth fight was against Woolfhir of Stonemarch, whom I always seem to fight in all of these tourneys. He was not as aggressive as I am used to his being. He was ranging me and playing mind games, and the fight did not last long before I killed him with a body thrust.

My seventh fight was against Master Wulfgar of the Wood, who was having an awesome day. It was a long fun fight in which he took my leg and then killed me. I landed edge on him once or twice without any power, and a downward thrust that hit him on the forehead, which I had to tell him not to take. It was a fun fight.

Afterward I fought some pickups. Damon von Drakenklau killed me twice to my once on him. I fought Christian of Serpentius and killed him several times. Then my helmet broke and I had to quit. Cet fixed it yesterday.

That was my Mudthaw. it was fun, I went deep into the list fighting with a shield I'd had no practice with and which was trapped weirdly for me. I'm happy with where i ma right now considering the injuries I've had and the little practice I got over the winter.

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