ndq

-Mystcommunity quote: "Um... depends on what you're asking. Everyone will be called by their screen names, as if it was their real name. If the screen name affects how they act, it will change things (like, for some reason, I like Riven more now then before I took the name Gehn, lord of ages). Avatars... I don't know."-

I don't remember my dream from last night, although I did have a couple interesting dreams throughout the week. To sum them up in snatches: a giant, unpredictable crayfish becomes part of my party, I check dollar-store items for... some quality... by marking them, a very old cat is curled up underneath the table, and I travel by bus to some sort of mission control room, getting into my pajamas since I don't have a jumpsuit. Oh, and apparently water works just fine if you drink about 3/4 of a bottle right before conking out.

So, I went to my first SCA fencing practice this week. It was every bit as fun as I expected, and more. The main instruction comes from a bear of a man named Tristan (modern day name unknown), who acts and talks pretty much exactly how you would expect a warrior-trainer from a fantasy novel to be (outside of a few little housekeeping comments like legal waivers that are more century-specific). It is so, so funny. The society requires that new fighters (like me) fight experienced ones for at least the first 6 months, so that we can gain discipline and not learn any bad habits. And also, not kill our opponent by using too much force with not enough knowledge.

You see, the great thing about SCA fencing is that the weapons are real -- what I mean by that is, they're tipped to a point that will run you through, even with armor. Now, the tip is bent back and taped, but if the weapon comes untaped or breaks, you MUST call a hold to fighting. Holds are also called whenever a random group of embarrassed-looking people happens to wander through the fighting. I have to wonder what they're thinking as they file quickly through this crowd of medievally-garbed fighters who are temporarily all holding their swords down and still.

Yes, we get to fence at every practice. The old hands kindly fight at about a tenth of their full potential to give me time to learn the moves properly -- basically the thrust, the advance, the retreat, and 4 parries suited to different attacks. I am so uncoordinated during drills, but I think I do a little better when all that matters is a reflex based on the drills -- I'm kind of short compared to most of the other people (except for one or two woman fighters), so I do have an advantage when it comes to fast attacks and changes of direction. Probably my angle of attack is different too.

Reality check. I'm kind of interested in how long it will take me to dream about fencing.