Taught a lesson the old fashioned way...

Guten Tag!

On the weekend I fought in my first tournament for a fair while, the Queen's Guard Tree of Chivalry in Abertridwr. Even though I didn't feel quite ready to get back on the horse so to speak, I felt like I had to honour Lord Benedick's courage in standing against all comers in his position as a member of the Queen's Guard.

And in case you're wondering how I did? I got walloped. Good and proper! I think I scored a single telling blow in the entire tournament and I'm not sure how I pulled that off. Probably a thrust when I was out of ideas and just flailed away!

But it was good to get out there again and not break something for once. It's been a long time since I've fought Lord Benadick and he showed me exactly why he's considered one of the finest non-chivalry fighters in WA. My stomach still hurts from an awesome shot he nailed me with that seemingly passed completely through my shield. And then I fought his Master, Sir Halfdeane. That was even more embarrassing. I couldn't touch him!

But I'm not letting my failure keep me down. In fact I'm seething at the moment so with any luck I can turn frustration into inspiration and tackle College Challenge head on. Who knows, one day I might even get a kill on someone.

Bechtold (the rusty)

A device for all occasions

Guten Tag!

Today I'm walking on air because my SCA name and device have been approved by the College of Heralds. My goodness that was an arduous process. It's such an arcane procedure shrouded in mystery. You find yourself watching the submission process updates wondering just what happens in the den of heralds during those passing months. For example, what the heck does "pre-proofreading" mean? And why does it take a month? I have this vision of a herald starting at my device for a month just to psych themselves up to proofread the single line description. Now I realise that the heralds have lots of submissions to go through but from the perspective of the person waiting for the decision, it's an agony akin to having teeth pulled, very slowly, one millimetre at a time.

But who cares? I have a device. I can even call it my arms since I've received my AoA. And to cap it off, at the Bal d'Aneala I was inducted into the Order of the Demi-sun for my service to the Barony of Aneala. So all in all a good SCA week for me! When the SCA is good it's great my friends. When it's bad... well, just read some of my other rants.

But anyway, yay for devices. Look out for my device to soon be plastered on everything I can get my hands on. At least it will be once I find a way to paint roses well. Why did a craft challenged person like me pick roses? Maybe I need to get some commissioned. Cinara, where art thou?

Oooh, and Cinara got her very awesome name approved as well and is moving ever closer to having her device approved. Parrots and ermine, boy does she have expensive tastes :)

Until next time,

Bechtold (the uncharacteristically enthusiastic).

P.S. here's my device, in all its computer generated glory. I'll paint it up one day, promise!