A Quiet Time

From the pen of Brother Rufus of Freehaven.

For the most part, it has been a quiet time for the Shrouded Isles. We have heard of fighting between the Maakan and Me'owtzlan in the jungle of Tloth, but we have seen no sign of either the Undying or the Faedwyr. I suspect that may change someday, but for now we are enjoying the respite. I have returned to Freehaven where the Wardens are busy building up our settlement. We are building a new Heron Hall as well as a new fleet. We have abandoned the original Heron Hall, although we restored the chapel, which a small contingent of priests maintain. We have rebuilt and man Wyvernwatch Tower as well as Castle Kessog. For now, there is peace in the realm.

OOC Notes

• It has been a while since my last post. We're still playing but we haven't been advancing any lore. This is primarily because the Kingdom of Neverwinter is doing a Game of Thrones theme so I have run a few GoT scenarios. I didn't bother writing lore for them.
• We tried out Amtpocalypse a couple of months ago. Ember Shoals's current monarch is not particularly fond of post-apocalypse so we haven't tried again. I must admit that I'm OK with that. While it was an enjoyable change of pace, the presence of firearms greatly changes the dynamic. I'm more of a sword guy so I prefer the more melee-heavy dynamic of the medieval setting.
• A couple of Sundays ago I ran an archery booth at my church's Family Fun Day carnival. It was well received. I hope this will open the door to a LARP group at my church.

Wardens of the Wasteland

In a fit of madness, mankind ended the world.

But not all perished in the hell that mankind unleashed. Some animals and people unluckily survived. Over the years, their descendants tried to eke out a living in the vast wasteland. In this brutal landscape only the fittest survived. You became predator, or you became the prey.

However, some of us refused to degenerate to such levels. We banded together, tried to help each other, and began to form settlements scattered throughout the land. This attracted the attention of human predators - gangs of robbers and murderers who had no qualms about taking from others. They attacked travelers between the settlements and raided the weakest villages. We realized that we needed a band of warriors who would defend the settlements and protect the people.

And thus the Wardens of the Wasteland were born.

OOC Notes

• Soon our park will begin experiments with an Amtgard variant called Amtpocalypse. It is Amtgard in a post-apocalyptic setting, adding nerf guns to the weapons mix. I'm already thinking about lore for this new setting.

The Jungle of Tloth

Lying in the far south of Ember Shoals is the jungle of Tloth, a steamy expanse of dense foliage and strange creatures.

Tloth is the home of two sentient species, who have been battling for control of the jungle for generations. Then, mysteriously, both races seemed to disappear from Tloth.

Me'owtzlan

Most well known of the two sentient races are the Me'owtzlan, or cat-people.

Maakan

The Maakan are the bitter rivals of the Me'owtzlan. They are snake-like beings with arms like a human.

The Battle of the Zcrat Xeen Pozt
The Me'owtzlan reappeared when the Benevolent Antiquities Lodge (BAL) began excavating Me'owtzlan sacred sites, including the obelisk known as the Zcrat Xeen Pozt. Since then, they have been rebuilding their civilization.

The Maakan, however, remained in the shadows. Until one day . . .

The Me'owtzlan priests were at the Zcrat Xeen Pozt, preparing for the Midsummer celebrations. Suddenly, out of the jungle slithered a band of Maakan. They attacked the priests and put them to the sword. The survivors fled into the jungle, calling for help. A squad of Me'owtzlan warriors rushed to their aid.

One of the priests pleaded, "Do not let them defile the sacred Pozt!"

The warriors advanced into the clearing and engaged the Maakan. Alas, they were no match for the Maakan's poison. Soon they retreated from the site. The Maakan leader slithered up the Pozt. As it coiled its body around the obelisk, it lifted its head and jeered at the retreating Me'owtzlan.

"The jungle isss oursss, kittensss!"

Just Die Already

Apparently the Undying have not been completely defeated. Today we were victims of a zombie attack.

The Iron Hearts have been touring the island of Ember Shoals, searching for any signs of our enemies. So far things had been peaceful. However, we arrived at one town and were helping inter some of those who had recently been killed in the fighting. Suddenly our party was beset by a wave of Undying. They rushed the cemetery and quickly overwhelmed some of the townsfolk. The Iron Hearts then formed a defensive perimeter and pushed back the marauding undead.

Nevertheless, their numbers took its toll. More and more of the defenders fell to the zombies. I myself was wounded but was quickly healed. And it was fortunate that I was wearing armor - on more than one occasion it protected me from harm.

The situation was growing dire when I used the Broken Cross of St Kessog to call upon the power of the Lord. Our ranks rallied and we exterminated the remaining Undying. Our priests then blessed the corpses and we quickly buried them.

But now we must be wary of the return of the Undying.

OOC Notes

• Today we played a scenario of Zombie, which I have described as an Undying attack.
• In today's game, the zombies started with 4 players and the humans had 5. If you were killed by a zombie you became a zombie. However, if a human was wounded, he could be killed by a teammate and sent back to spawn. I describe this as being healed. It happened to me once during the battle.
• The zombies had infinite lives until the humans lost 2 players. Then the zombies could be destroyed for good.
• Today, the zombies whittled us down until only Ferrum and I were left. He then killed the last zombie (Artemis) but was killed simultaneously. He then turned on me but I managed to kill him, leaving me the last one standing.
• Armor helped immensely. I took a few hits but I was able to shrug them off due to armor.

Garb for Florida's Summers

When last I wrote about garb, my focus was on typical medieval European styles (the tunic and hosen look). I continue to wear the same style throughout the summer because I need the sun protection (thank you skin cancer). However, some people find such coverage to be a little stifling. There is, however, a way to look period and stay cool - look to the ancient world!

Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian styles all provide comfortable options. Probably the easiest is a Greek chiton. It is simply two squares of cloth pinned or sewn together. That's it (although you may want to wear shorts underneath for modesty's sake).

A chiton

For a little more effort, you could make a tunica, which is essentially the LARP standard T-tunic. However, you can wear it by itself and you would look Roman!

More information about Greek and Roman garb can be found at this site.

Another option is to wear a kilt. The kilt is not just Scottish - warriors in other cultures wore what amounts to a kilt. Here is an example:

Egyptian warrior - from the movie The Ten Commandments

Or you could go the loincloth route.

All perfectly period forms of garb that will help you stay cool in the Florida sun. Just remember the sun screen!

Paladin Kit Wish List - Armor

I am fairly content with my ranger kit  but lately I find I really prefer melee-focused classes. In particular, I want to go back to a paladin look. In this post, I'll be jotting down some ideas.

The key to the paladin look is heavy armor. However, I don't actually want to wear anything heavy so I am looking at plastic armor.

Helmet
I love this Stormforge helmet from Wyrmwick. Painted in bright silver with gold highlights, it would look very paladin-y. My main concern is that the back may extend a bit too far down, preventing a full range of motion for my head.

A more practical option may be a spangenhelm. Wyrmwick has one as does Norton.

The spangenhelm leaves a lot of my neck uncovered. Not a big deal but I am worried about sun protection. I'm thinking of getting a sun mask, like this one from Coolibar. It looks like a medieval arming coif but is thinner and is made for sun protection (SPF 50). I would prefer it in black though.

Arms and Legs
Wyrmwick and Norton both offer full sets of armor but their prices are a bit stiff. Alchemy Armoury has some nice basic plastic armor for SCA use.

Yes, it's black but I suspect I could paint it. I'd like to get the full legs and full arms.

Torso
I've been toying with the idea of a coat of plates. I'm thinking it may be lighter and cooler than my chainmail (which I need to wear with a gambeson). Alchemy has a COP kit. The main issue with a coat of plates is that it typically only extends to the waistline.

I could extend coverage with a chainmail skirt. Found some on ebay.

If I go this route, I would want to cover up the chain. I could convert the coat of plates into an armored surcoat, which will extend down to about my knees.

The Winter King

As I recounted last time, the Iron Heart Accord had managed to hold off the attack of the Undying. Just when the Undying regrouped for another attack, they were beset by the Winter King!

Our joy at seeing the Undying routed was short lived, for the minions of the Winter King continued to rush forward, straight at us. They overwhelmed our defenses and rushed into the fort. At one point, I faced off against the Winter King himself. With an icy breath, he froze my shield then shattered it with a blow from his ax. He followed with a powerful blow that knocked aside my parry and sliced through my mail. Stunned and bleeding, I fell to the ground. My men pulled me from the fight. We retreated through the castle and made it out of a postern door.

The Winter King and his minions relentlessly pursued us. The we heard a horn blow from the west. Turning, an army crested a nearby ridge. Through the haze of blowing snow and ice, one of my men could see the army's flags.

"It is King Beast and Baronetas Xhorja!"

Reinforcements had come at last!

With a cheer, the royal army charged into the enemy. Xhorja led a ferocious band of orcs into the fray. He was also imbued by the orcish shamans with the power of nature. When the Winter King froze his forces, Xhorja called upon the powers of nature to free them from their icy bonds.

Cleaving and stabbing ferociously, Beast and Xhorja cut their way through the ice minions to the Winter King himself. Because of the swirling snow, I could not see who struck the blow, but one of the leaders pierced the Winter King's icy armor. He let out a howl of rage and pain. The ice minions raced to his aid and surrounded Beast and Xhorja. They found themselves in a desperate fight, surrounded by the enemy. But their sturdy blades decimated the minions. Soon, none were standing.

But what of the Winter King? He had withdrawn from the fight and now was standing upon a faraway hill overlooking the battlefield. "I shall be back!" he exclaimed, then retreated out of sight.

Once he left, the storm ceased, the snow melted, and birds began to sing. The sun warmed us; it felt like a glorious spring day.

In the aftermath of the battle, we searched far and wide across Ember Shoals. We could find no sign of the Winter King or his minions, of the Undying, or even of the Faedwyr. Could this mean peace for Ember Shoals, or are our enemies merely slumbering?


OOC Notes

• The part about me facing the Winter King is fanciful and included for narrative purposes only. I actually served as an ice minion. Beast and Xhorja played the role of the army opposing the Winter King while Artemis and I were minions. Rage was the Winter King.
• We used Amtgard militia rules. The scenario was mutual annihilation.
• The Winter King had a few abilities - 2 iceballs, Icy Touch of Death (wounds kill), armor and shield breaking. Xhorja had a Release.