So as of late I have taken to f-ing with my friend who do belegarth. You know the random Scream "AGNAR ARROW" while obviously at social events?:P So anyhow the other day I saw a friend walking across a cross walk. I know the guy well but to save his embarassment we will call him... "B" for now ;)

Anyhow I screamed "ARROW B DUCK" as he reached the halfway pointof the cross walk. He immediately squated down to the ground with a frantic look on his face, which immediatly turned into a red face as 10 or so passerbys and his girlfriend looked at him as though he was nuts. I thought this was the funniest thing ever till... half an hour later I saw him walking across the quad. I screamed once again this time "B ARROW BACK" He immediately jumped left knocking his girlfriend down onto the grass and again looked frantically forbut a half second before the red face came in. This time about maybe 100 students saw this so it was a fair bit more embarassing for him. So after about 5 minutes of him chasing me around the quad I dropped in beside his girlfriend who had not yet stopped laughing from the entire thing. He finally caught up to me, and after a few minutes of catching his breath and laughter he couldn't suppress no matter how hard he tried he forced me to never tell anyone this happened. Well. He never said I couldn't write it on a public blog now did he?

 

BTW "B" I expect a a good asswhipping on wednesdays practice ;)

[...]

 

The final training session was on the melee. Though we had several topics planned, I was only able to focus on field awareness as we had quite a few visitors last Sunday. To those that participated in the training especially our visitors, Sir Bo, Kayle, Trystan, and Bruder, I hope you found the training interesting and useful.

 

The first topic I talked about was tips for the battlefield:

 

-Always check behind you and warn other members of your team. Communicate!

-Strength in numbers. Try to engage single opponents with at least two or 3 people.

-Pull crippled fighters together.

-Avoid engaging the enemy's strengths. Engage at your maximum effective range. You have arrows. Use them. You have a javelin. Use it.

-Isolate and contain stragglers. Don't let them join up with other fighters.

-Don't give the enemy openings in your formations to exploit unless that's what you want them to do.

-Gimp and go. Focus on the fighters who aren't wounded first.

-Don't hesitate to engage targets of opportunity.

-Stop all missiles or else they may continue and hit someone else.

-Keep practicing. Your individual skill will contribute to your team's success.

-Head on a swivel. When you start, take note of what's around you. The hardest part of situational awareness is figuring out what's a priority and what's not. Eventually you'll start to pick up on that. The more you know about your opponents, the better the decision. Look at things like armor status, shield types, commanders, how they move once the battle starts.

-Knowing who's on your team. If there's a team name, take note of it. More importantly, know who's not on your team. It can get very confusing. If you can't keep track of everything, then focus on one person, maybe someone with very distinctive garb or armor who's on your side. Keep an eye out on that person and engage the people he or she is fighting.

-Staying with a buddy. There's always strength in numbers. Pick a partner and stay with the person. Don't let the person get so far away that you can't help him and he can't help you.

 

Then we went over our first drill for situational awareness. The human brain is very good at identifying changes so, rather than trying to take everything in all at once, you take "snapshots" of what's going on and identify the changes. This is the nerd in me but I used the analogy of an analog-to-digital converter. You're taking an analog signal and converting it into discrete values. I had the fighters line up in two parallel lines facing each other. Then I had one line turn around and close their eyes. I then shifted people around both in distance from the other line as well as positioning in relation to each other. I then had the line turn around and point out the changes. Then we switched it up.

 

Our last drill was what I like to call "freeze" battles. Essentially, you have the fighters engage in a melee and then when something tactically significant is about to happen, you call, "Freeze!" Everyone stops in place and then we go into a discussion about what's happening/about to happen as well as ways to get out of the situation.  We would then resume the battle until another situation developed. We did this type of battle three times and I think it was probably the most beneficial part of the training that day.

[...]

It seems to me that the best way to improve your skill is to visit other realms and practices as often as possible. I was at Numenor and Wolfpack this weekend and I felt i have really turned my fighting up agian. Fighting all the different people and different timing, weapon styles, weapon combos, really tunes your reactions in.  I had a great time at both practices and my 3 companions did the same. Thanksto the hosting realms and the heralds for keeping the games going.

[...]

Chapter 24
     Daegar descended the three thousand-eleven steps into the deepest recesses of Castle Favre as quickly as his old legs would carry him. He had years on his side, but those same years were beginning to slow him down. Inside the folds of his heavy robes, dangling from bits of rope and twine werethe broken pieces of Aminget and in his arms he bore the burden of carrying a small, bewildered girl.
     He had hoped that finding the last pieces of the armor would finally fulfill the oath he’d made to see to the beginning of its final destruction. But even he knew it would take a power far greater than he possessed to see Aminget utterly destroyed beyond any further use. Its creator and owner had destroyed it beyond wearing again as armor, but the pieces still existed and could still be used; if someone knew how to use them. There were those who wanted Aminget merely to possess it and those who wanted it to re-forge. Daegar was given the task of keeping the armor hidden from all who sought it; he’d been the only one told where the pieces were hidden. He’d known all of the stories of the power the armor possessed and the myths of its creation. What he hadn’t realized was how many others had been seeking the powers of Aminget.
     Many believed the armor didn’t exist. It was far too much of a child’s tale for most to believe unless you were in touch with the world of magic. Tales of Aminget had fallen from ear to ear from one generation to the next. The stories had been twisted and manipulated until they were so far from the truth they took on their own life. Wizards, the Rendlen, humans and many other creatures of magic had sought to gain the pieces so they could rebuild it, even though it was said to be an impossible task. Daegar was happy with the thought that the pieces could not be properly reassembled and used for its original purposes, no matter what they really were.
     Finally Daegar reached the bottom step and he paused for a few moments to catch his breath. He knew he would have to act quickly. The last who had possessed a piece of the armor would certainly be seeking him out again and he couldn’t risk any of the pieces being gone before he could securely hide them again. He knew the perfect way to hide Aminget. The spell had only been performed once before and it had taken him centuries to find the words tucked away in the dusty tomes of his own library. Once performed, it would be very unlikely anyone would know the spell to reverse it. If the counter-spell wasn’t cast correctly, the spell would most likely bring Aminget to destroy the caster.
     The hinges creaked in agony as Daegar pushed open the heavy wooden door to the lowest chamber. As they crossed the threshold the room began to illuminate with candlelight from the sconces that lined the walls and from those set within the ceiling chandeliers. He set the little girl down onto a large cushion to guard her against the cold, stone floor. “Stay there, my dear.” Handing her a few small blocks of wood to entertain herself, he patted her on her head and began to set about the room making preparations for his spell.
     On the floor next to the girl he laid out the pieces of Aminget, carefully arranging them in their appropriate places. “There now,” he said as he carefully puzzled the broken pieces into place and set the final piece, the broken chest plate, to hold it all together. Daegar stepped back and examined the pieces as a whole. He could see how finely crafted the armor once was before it had been broken; it even shimmered with a lustrous shine. It was now in twelve broken pieces on the floor of the chamber floor, but he could still imagine the glory it held in days past.
     Daegar then moved the little girl closer to the armor. Not wanting to take the chance of anything going wrong he waved his hand over the child’s eyes. “This won’t take long. Then you can go back home to your mum and papa.” He patted the girl on her head as she looked up at him with her big blue eyes. “Shh…” he whispered softly. The girl yawned and laid herself down across the large pillow. Her eyes closed and she slipped off to sleep. Daegar smiled as he moved to the podium. He pulled the quickly written parchment from a pocket of his robe and carefully smoothed its surface over the top of the podium. As he squinted to read his own scribble his breathing came a bit labored, his stress beginning to rise.
     “Upon oath made to legend past and by my desperate hour of need, I beckon the power of this world and of my ancestry, to make these words whole and forever true. Through time and timeless journey these enchanted pieces should be made whole within the body of an innocent soul. Let those who seek it never find it. Let those who know it see it no more.” Daegar took a deep breath before reciting the final words in Iomenos, the ancient language. “Ca fegig immont Aminget, Feemig pontwort Aminget, Lea ref ure sey sol ehi solontut a filch do, A ca high i om sturt.”
     As the last word drifted from his lips the ground beneath his feet began to tremble and the walls began to shake. Debris fell from the ceiling joists above his head and items spilled from their places on the walls, crashing to the floor. Shelves of books toppled over and the podium rocked as Daegar held tightly to it to keep his balance. His footing finally failed and he found himself on the floor. He scurried for the protection beneath a nearby table. He watched in anticipation and awe as the broken pieces of Aminget began to glow as they slowly rose from the floor. He watched as the bent and broken pieces fitted together, the metal knitting itself in self-repair showing only a sign of a scar as each piece was once again made whole.
     The pieces glowed brighter and brighter as the magic of the spell took a lasting hold on newly reformed Aminget. The light became too much for Daegar to bear and he shielded his eyes with the sleeves of his robes. Only when the room once again grew dim did he dare remove the shield from his eyes. He blinked trying to remove the bright colors that danced before his eyes.
Rubbing his eyes with his fists he tried to refocus. He shook his head and tried to rejoin the images of two that he was seeing of things. Looking across the room he saw the double image of the small girl, still fast asleep on the pillow, uninterrupted by the commotion caused by the spell.
     When the last of the falling debris finally settled, Daegar struggled to stand, reaching out for his cane to bring it sliding across the floor to his grasp. Slowly hobbling he crossed the room, still shaking his vision clear. When he reached the sleeping child he realized, to his great surprise, there actually were two girls asleep on the floor. There was the one he’d brought with him to hide Aminget within and another tiny girl, appearing to be around the same age, lying naked next to the first on the pillow. Gently he placed a hand on the chest of the little one he’d brought with him. She was breathing deeply and her heart was beating in correct rhythm for a child of her age. Daegar sighed in great relief; she was still alive and unharmed. He then began to look about the room, searching for any signs of the mended pieces of armor. Seeing no sign of Aminget he reached over to the other girl, gently sweeping away the pale curls from her face with his fingertips.
     The girl blinked her eyes open and she looked up at Daegar. He fell onto his bottom, stunned to see the eyes of the child. The pale blue was barely discernable from the white of her eyes. His heart began to race. She blinked her eyes and stared at him blankly. He examined her more closely as he pulled her small, naked form from the cold floor and wrapped her into the warm folds of his robe. She looked back into his face and he smiled down at her. When she placed a gentle hand onto his cheek he could feel her warm hand even through the thick growth of his beard.
     “Oh, my,” Daegar said once the reality of the situation had finally settled in. “What have I done?” He examined the tiny girl with more scrutiny. She seemed healthy, although her tiny frame made her seem fragile. Her weight was light in his arms as he moved her to stand up on her own. Her knees folded beneath her and he caught her before she fell to the floor. He gasped as he pulled her back into his robes. His eyes scanned the room and to the pile of books that were scattered about the floor. He shuffled through the books until he found the volume he was searching for.
     “I seem to have somehow created a new life,” he muttered to himself. “By all that is sacred, save my hide.” He flipped through the pages until he found a spell that would complete his mistake and at least make something right out of his mess. “You’ll be needing a soul, little one,” he said to the girl. “You’ve been placed, not born, so you may never find lasting peace without a soul.”
     She placed her hand on top of his and he smiled. Once again Daegar struggled to utter the words in Iomenos to call a soul for the child. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he saw the tiny light making a slow descent into the chamber. He held the girl out and held her up, making her ready for the soul to enter. The glow of the small light approached the child and touched her chest. Daegar waited in anticipation for the soul to enter and take its place within the child. Before he realized what was happening the light left the child and flew with great haste back from where he’d called it.
     Why will a soul not enter the innocent and soulless child? He thought to himself. Daegar sat stunned as sadness washed through him. “Without a soul, I’m not sure if you’ll remain hidden from magic’s view,” he said to the small girl. Have I damned this child? Her eyes drooped as she laid her head to rest on his shoulder. She nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder and found warmth in the folds of the robe as Daegar stood to gather up the other small girl from the floor.
     “I can’t carry you both,” he said as wakened the girl on the floor. After she rubbed the magically induced sleep from her eyes he took a hold of her small hand. Slowly they made the long and painful ascent to the ground-level floor of Castle Favre. Once there he quickly set a large pillow onto the floor and set the child from his arms on top of it then covered her with a cloth from a nearby table. Daegar pulled the other girl up into his arms, straightened his appearance trying not to look so panicked.
As instructed earlier, Daegar’s young apprentice, Stilgrin, was waiting for him just outside of the door.
     “Master, what happened?” he asked, his brown eyes wide with wonder and worry. “The entire castle shook to its very foundation. I worried the tower may have fallen in on you…”
     “It’s all right, Stilgrin,” Daegar said, tossling the boy’s mop of mousy brown hair, trying to reassure. Stilgrin still looked rather worried. “Everything is fine. Now, take this, go into the markets in Feriston and buy clothes for a child her age and size.” He took Stilgrin’s hand and emptied a few coins into it. Buy something for frigid weather and something for warm. When its light, take her back to her parents, but do not give them the clothes,” he instructed as he placed the girl into Stilgrin’s arms. Daegar was breathing rather heavily and felt his own knees beginning to grow a bit weak. “As we planned, tell them you found her wandering the streets of the market, nothing more. Then return to me here with the clothes.”
     Before Stilgrin could say anything else Daegar turned him around and quickly urged him towards the outer door at the front of the castle. “Make sure no one sees her,” he said as he closed the door behind a panicked Stilgrin.
     Daegar leaned against the door and tried to regain his senses. He heard the sound of something crashing in the room where he’d left the girl. As quickly as he could he moved to the door and opened it slowly, not wanting to move the heavy door into the child if she was standing behind it. He found her sitting on the floor holding a piece of fruit, examining it and attempting to take a bite from it.
     He took another piece of fruit from the floor, cut it into small pieces and placed them on a table. He set his cane aside so he could lift the tiny girl from the floor and sat with her wrapped in the folds of his robe. “Now then, let’s have another look at what I’ve done.” Daegar handed her a piece of the fruit. “I truly am sorry for this,” he said to her as she bit into the fruit. She swallowed the small bit of food and let out a small burp. Daegar couldn’t help himself. Tears began to roll from his cheeks and all the while his laughter rose from his chest. He rubbed at his aching knee then carefully held the girl up for closer inspection.
     Her pale skin was clear and flawless, save for her upper chest where he found the maker’s mark from Aminget. The two side-by-side intertwining circles were clearly left upon the child’s skin. It didn’t so much look like a scar, but it could be explained as such to anyone who inquired. Daegar once again found himself feeling a bit dumbfounded at his own creation. “I cannot believe that I created a child. I meant to hide the armor within the other child. I…” He shook his head in disbelief. Staring down at the mark Daegar suddenly felt a bit of terror rising up within him. He wondered how the spell had gone wrong. He wasn’t sure if Aminget could be retrieved from this new child and knew someone was bound to try.
     The magic of Aminget was just beginning to emanate from the small girl and he could feel it. Her strange appearance would surely draw attention. The more he looked at her the more he realized how different she actually looked.
     The closer he examined her hair he could just make out the traces of silver mingled with each strand of the pale tresses. Her eyes shone as she looked up at him. Daegar looked deeper into her eyes and he could see the tiniest of shining specks, the light dancing off of them caused her eyes to shimmer just a bit. The strength of the armor occurred to him.
     He took her fingers into his and squeezed, gently at first then with more force. The child winced only after Daegar felt her flesh squeezing tightly, the surface of her fingertips turning blue. For a child her age her bones should feel softer, but hers were rigid and unyielding. Remembering the visible sign where the two broken pieces of the chest plate were knitted back together he ran his fingertips over her ribcage. He could feel the scar on the bones hidden beneath her flesh. “Astounding,” he muttered as he breathed heavily.
     Daegar pulled the tiny girl to his chest, wrapped his arms around her and held onto her as if for dear life. “It is you,” he said softly as tears streamed from his eyes, spilling onto the top of the girl’s head. “Aminget isn’t hidden within. You are Aminget!”
He’d allowed himself to verbalize it so he would always remember it. It brought him to another horrifying realization. “By all that is magic, what would happen to you if someone found out and tried to get you back to your original form? I can’t let that happen. By my bumbling you’re a living person now. You haven’t a soul, but that’s nonetheless. You have a new beginning, Aminget,” Daegar said, turning the child’s head so he could look into her innocent eyes.
     He wiped away his tears with the ends of his sleeves. “You’re innocent, untouched, unscathed by war and death. This is a new chance for you.” He held her under her arms, lifting her out in front of him. “I’ll find a way to keep you hidden. I’ll find a way to keep you protected from those who might harm you,” he vowed. “I’ll see if I can find a way to keep you from…” Daegar stopped suddenly. He swallowed hard and rethought what he was about to say and decided it was better left unsaid.

If you would like to read the entire book go to: of pen & ink
The book "Sacrifices" can be found in the Fantasy Books section.

[...]

Chapter 25

Daegar retrieved one of Stilgrin’s shirts from the boy’s chamber, dressed the tiny girl then carried her back into the massive library tower. Setting her down on a cushion he made her comfortable as possible onthe floor. The shirt was far too large and it made a puddle on the floor around her, but at least she was covered and kept a bit warmer. Her small arms flailed beneath the fabric as she smiled up at Daegar. He chuckled as he ran his hand over her head before turning back to the ladder to begin searching through the ancient volumes of text.
After retrieving the volume he’d been searching for Daegar drew the girl into his lap as he sat down at the desk, placing the large volume in front of them. He wrapped his arm around the girl to keep her balanced as he spread open the yellowing pages of the tome. She placed her hand on top of Daegar’s other hand as he used his fingertips to quickly scan over the words, searching for the information he needed to complete his next task.
His fingers absently left the page to begin massaging the aches in his knees. Both were aching horribly from the earlier climb down and up the great spiral stairway. The little one looked at him and he caught her eye. She smiled at him and he smiled back as she took her hand away from the book and placed it onto the one that was massaging his knee.
Daegar went back to studying the text and after a few minutes the girl’s hand was back on top of his as it moved over the words.
“Yes, yes,” he muttered, adjusting the girl on his knee, “this is what we need. I’ll take you to another realm to keep you hidden until I can mask your presence here. It shouldn’t take long, but I won’t risk having you here long enough for someone, or some thing, to locate you.” He stood and marked the page with a loose piece of parchment. After pulling the child’s hands away from the book’s pages he slammed the tome closed. “We just need to wait for Stilgrin to return with your clothing and we’ll be off.
Gathering his cane into his grip Daegar slowly rose to his feet. He turned and sat the girl in his chair and turned to walk across the room. It only took him a few steps to realize his right knee wasn’t bothering him nearly as much as it had only a short time before.
He turned on his heel, glancing with a keen eye at the child. She was running her hands over the surface of the book and he noticed her tiny fingers were glowing. Slowly he approached her, again noticing his left knee was sore and his right was not. Aminget had the ability to absorb magic, he recalled a reference in one of his more aged collections about the armor. He looked upward to where he’d remembered hiding the book. Holding out his hand the tome left its place from the shelf six stories above his head. When it finally reached his hand he flipped the book open and found the entry.
Reference Aminget. Aminget was said to give its wearer protection from all magical attacks, seen or unseen, and was stored within the armor, therefore giving the wearer the ability to draw upon the energy of the magic and use it against the attacker. However, He (i.e.: he who cannot be stopped; he who’s name shall go unspoken; he of unbridled rage...
Daegar scanned through the many descriptions and found himself turning to the next page. See also: The Collector, He, Him, Creator of Aminget, War of Ilgania, War of Mestomeine, Battle of the Dominae, War of Bendstig, Slaughter at Sah’Amordae, Take at Dragon’s Keep, Slayer of Dragons… “Yes, yes, I see,” Daegar skipped through the next three pages of references before the text picked up where the first paragraph left off. He was the only one who was ever known to possess Aminget as He was its creator. Although He wielded a magical force far greater than any known magic, it is said that He created Aminget as protection from the other magical forces. By using the magical forces which were forged into the very metal of Aminget He was considered invulnerable to attacks both physical and magical. Aminget’s earliest reference has been traced back to the Year of Reckoning, but it is believed that the actual year of its creation will forever remain unknown.
“One hundred twenty-three thousand years,” Daegar whispered softly, in a state of disbelief. He checked on the child who was kneeling in the chair, but now flipping through the book he’d left on the desk. She wasn’t pulling at any of the pages, simply running her tiny fingers over the words, mocking his earlier reading. He shrugged it off. She’s happy, he thought to himself and turned his attention back to his research.
It was said that Aminget was destroyed by Him, each of the six pieces broken then separated. The magical art by which it had been created is still unknown to this day, never having been revealed so the pieces could never be re-forged and repaired.
The next few paragraphs of text were the Iomenos tongue and still too unfamiliar to Daegar. He cursed under his breath, feeling that whatever the text contained it was a greater importance in reference to Him. “I wonder,” Daegar said softly as he considered the consequences of his actions. After all, there wasn’t a single reference to Him that didn’t date back at least two thousand years. Daegar wasn’t sure that He still existed. He once considered the idea of Aminget and He were a truly a myth, fabricated over eons of war stories. He’d since come to realize just how real the armor really was since he’d been honored and taken into confidence. If the armor still existed then perhaps so did He. Daegar knew, however, it was a chance he couldn’t take. He’d read all of the references, listed on those three pages of the scourge that once plagued the realm. Confidant or not, he had a new task to perform.
Once two of the pieces resurfaced, many people began treasure hunting for the rest of the armor. The pieces slowly surfaced and circulated through at least twenty dozen or so owners before Daegar caught up to the last two owners, one possessing three and the other two in the possession of another. Thankfully neither of them possessed the two broken chest plate pieces at the same time.
Daegar had been employed in the task of making certain the pieces of Aminget were never to be found and used by anyone ever again. Swearing an oath to himself and to the Troika Sorcerous he was to make sure Aminget would never be found and reinstated for the purposes of war or pestilence. It had taken him almost three hundred years to locate the six pieces and keep them within his possession and he wasn’t about to fail his mission at this point.
Daegar returned the book to its hiding place within the thousands of texts of his library. Having heard the horse’s hoofbeats on the flagstones below he peered out a small window. It was as he suspected; Stilgrin came running back to the castle with a small package tucked under his arm.
Stilrgin entered the tower, breathless from his ride to the nearest city market almost twenty miles away. The boy brought the package straight away to his master and dropped to the floor to catch his breath. “The parents… were most grateful… master,” he managed as he panted. “Here… are you coins. They gave me more.” Daegar gave Stilgrin an odd look. “For finding her,” he explained. The coins dropped into Daegar’s hand and he returned them to the pouch hanging from his belt.
Noises from the desk drew Stilgrin and he glanced. He bolted upright and to his feet when he saw the small girl covered by one of his shirts, poised against the desk. Daegar took the package from Stilgrin’s grip and proceeded to pull the small pieces of clothing out. He removed the child from her position at the desk and set her on the floor near Stilgrin. “Would you dress her, please? I have some preparing to do.”
As usual Stilgrin didn’t question and did as he was told, pulling the child out of his shirt to dress her in the clothing he’d bought. He held her up to stand on her own and once again her knees buckled out from under her. “Master, can she not walk? She’s old enough.”
“She’s not learned as of yet, Stilgrin,” Daegar explained as he peered over the top of yet another parchment. “Today is the first day of her life so there are still many things she’ll need to learn. She has time to learn. We’ll just need to help her when she returns.”
“Are you going somewhere, Master?” Stilgrin held the girl in his lap and clapped her hands together. She let out a small giggle and he laughed. Daegar turned, happy to hear the child finally make a noise. Stilgrin nuzzled his nose against hers and held her up, again trying to see if she could stand on her own. Surprisingly her legs held her up, but only for a moment then she dropped back down into Stilgrin’s lap.
“Yes, she and I will be traveling for a day or so. I need to make things ready here before I let her stay.”
“Will she be living here with us, sir?”
“Yes, for a time, I suppose.”
“Will she be apprenticing, too, sir?” Stilgrin asked, apprehensively.
“Perhaps.” Daegar smiled at the boy. “You’re learning quickly. Perhaps I’ll let you work with her when she’s old enough.”
Stilgrin’s face broadened with a wide smile. “That would be splendid, Master! I sorely miss my brothers and sisters.” The boy was almost twelve years of age and of those twelve he’d spent six of them apprenticing to the wizard, Daegar. Again he clapped the girl’s hands together and they both giggled in delight.
Daegar approached the two and reached out to take the girl from Stilgrin’s lap. The boy held the small girl up to his master before getting back onto his feet. Daegar took the girl into his arms and tucked her a bit into his robe. “There now, little one, let’s see where I can tuck you away for a day or so.”
With that Stilgrin stepped back as his master uttered his spell in front of the only door into the library from the main floor of the castle tower. The wood of the door twisted and swirled until it turned into a black void of nothingness. “Keep things tight here until I return, Stilgrin.” He gave the boy a quick wink. “I hope not to be very long.”
“I will, Master.” Stilgrin watched on in awe as his master stepped through the opening and disappeared with the little girl. The opening closed behind them and the door returned to its normal state.
It seemed as though Stilgrin had just turned his back on the door when he heard the familiar sound of the portal reopening. Daegar stepped back through, but his arms were empty.
“Where is the girl, Master?” He looked around the old man to see if perhaps the girl was tucked into the robes where he couldn’t see her.
“I left her in good care. And she’s eclipsed,” he added. “I’ll return for her at morning’s light. I need you to do some things for me, Stilgrin. It’s a list of tasks outside of the castle walls. It’s a very big responsibility for someone of your level. I hope I can continue to trust you to do your very best?”
“Oh, yes sir!” Stilgrin’s eyes shone brightly. He was eager to please his master and he waited patiently for Daegar to write the list of his duties.
The old man quickly wrote out the list of duties and handed the small piece of parchment over to Stilgrin. “Do you understand it all?” Stilgrin read over the list carefully and nodded to his master. “Then set about in haste, but be diligent.” Stilgrin then left the library and Daegar began to prepare the castle for Aminget’s return.
First and foremost he had to find a way to hide Aminget from magic’s view. This meant that anyone who might still be searching for any part of Aminget would never see it within the girl, as part or as a whole, by any means of magic. He knew what some might do to retrieve the armor from the girl’s body even though he knew they’d never be able to undo the spell he’d cast to create her.
The text he needed was nearby and upon Stilgrin’s return from the castle grounds he would read from it with great care. As it could mean the girl’s life and even his own, he couldn’t risk another mistake. Guilt ran through him like a dagger in his heart. The mistake of creating a life, it was now his responsibility to ensure its protection.
Secondly he needed to ensure the castle couldn’t be invaded without his knowing. Then, though he’d never been successful in doing so for more than moments at a time, he needed to see the unseen. He could create a powder that could be cast within a room and when spoken with the right words, things unseen would appear, but to his dismay it was for less than a minute’s time. Daegar set about gathering the necessary ingredients to create a large pouch of the powder. He’d keep a bag of it on his person at all times and make sure Stilgrin was armed with the powder and spell as well.
When Stilgrin returned to the library the sun was beginning to set. He could see his master making his way through the uppermost level headed upward to the roof of the tower library, some fifteen stories above him. Stilgrin began the long climb up the narrow stairway that wound its way up the wall of the tower. He’d never had the nerve to climb out onto the roof alone, but he knew that’s where his master would want to be to finalize the massive eclipsing spell over Castle Favre.
Daegar was waiting for the sun to set so Stilgrin made himself comfortable on the floor, leaning against the parapet until it was time to begin. He woke with a start when he felt his master’s hand touch him lightly on his shoulder. Quickly he was on his feet as his master handed him the book of spells for him to hold. Daegar found the marker he’d left within the pages and began reading from the text. The eclipsing spell was long and tedious to read. Words that were spoken or pronounced incorrectly could cause the spell to fail or worse, backfire. Even though Daegar had performed the spell many times before, he would need to add specifics to this spell in order to keep Aminget well hidden.
It would mean that once she arrived she would never be able to leave the protection of the castle grounds. Eclipsing hid the subject from all eyes seeking magic or a particular individual and with Daegar’s additions it would also keep anyone who entered the castle from feeling any sort of magic emanating from Aminget. For all intents and purposes she would be and appear to be no more than an ordinary girl. When she was old enough Daegar would begin her apprenticeship and allow a bit more of her magic to show through the eclipse, but until then he would keep her magical powers hidden. The spell meant lying to the Troika Sorcerous, but in comparison they were a trifle of worry to him.
Daegar lifted his arms to the star-filled sky and read off the last few words of the spell. He would need to stand in that position until the eclipse formed an invisible dome over the four towers and castle grounds where Stilgrin had made the appropriate marks. The myriad of colors danced from his fingertips, rising up several feet above his hands and domed out over the top of the towers before slowly drifting to the ground below. By the time the eclipse reached the ground the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon.
Daegar waited until just the right moment before he allowed his arms to drop exhausted to his sides. He’d been standing in the same position all through the night and when the spell was complete he fell to the floor of the tower’s roof. Stilgrin had fallen to sleep several hours earlier and woke when he heard his master snoring next to his ear. Only when Stilgrin had returned from the castle below with a blanket to cover his master did Daegar awaken. His sudden movement startled the boy and the old man sat up and looked around in bewilderment. “Getting too old, I believe,” he muttered.
Stilgrin laughed. “Oh, Master, you’re always saying you’re too old. Four thousand isn’t so old for a wizard such as yourself.”
“Four thousand? Who said I was four thousand years old?” Daegar’s voice sounded harsh and Stilgrin drew away from him, but stepped forward and awaited his reprimand. Daegar’s face softened and he pulled the boy into his arms to hug him tightly. “Come now, m’boy. Do you really think I’m a day over three thousand ninety?” Stilgrin laughed. “See if you can help your old master down all of these stairs.” Stilgrin wrapped his arm around the old man’s body and tried his best to support him. “I’ve got to get back to the girl.”
They hobbled down the tower stairway all the way back down to the bottom floor. Again Daegar said his words in front of the door and it changed into the black void. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can. Have some food prepared for our return, won’t you?”
“Yes, sir.” Stilgrin smiled as he again watched as his old master slipped into the darkness of the void.

If you would like to read the entire book go to: of pen & ink
The book "Sacrifices" can be found in the Fantasy Books section.

[...]

Years ago I told myself that I am a terrible swordsman. 2 months ago I decided to do something about it. I asked good swordsmen for advicen and they told me to learn the basics. But where!? Where I ALWAYS learn the basics; from books! So I asked for the recommeneded literature, researched it online, and ordered from eBay. All simple. That is until eBay didn't properly update my shipping information and my precious books were sent 2000 miles away to my old barracks in Texas! After all this time I finally managed to get them sent back to me here in Des Moines and they arrived today.

So far I've only read bits and pieces of the large one (Im saving that for 2nd) and the smaller one I've read 2 chapters out of. Already I'm begining to understand the now obvious flaws of my style and why I'm as bad as I am. Later this month I intend to erect a pell in my backyard to practice on. My level of motivation is high right now but the amount of free time and the priority of my swordfighting is very low. Sacrafices must be made when life needs attention.

On a different note, I completed my 2nd week of work today and was given my very own Geek Squad badge. It's not a shiney police badge with an agent number on it, more of a gray ID card with a name and fingerprint spot. Hopefully I'll be getting my uniform so I can stop looking like some manager looking over the other agents shoulders and looking more like an employee who doesn't understand whats going on.

Well, thats about it for today. Not really anything important, and FAR from a warning of my new super awesome skill (since I dont have any). Eventually I'll get ahead, have less hours at work and more free time, and then I'll put some really interesting stuff up.

[...]

    The blade of the sword swung again, singing its high pitch as it swept through the air before hacking through flesh, muscle then bone. Through plate and chain the body was cleaved almost in two. The unshakable agonizing sound of death howled from the fallen mans throat as his dying breath left his lungs and gurgled into his throat. Blood sprayed from his mouth then oozed from thewound as the blade was drawn from his body. A forcible kick was required to remove the blade entirely, perhaps stuck in a bit in one of the rib bones. The once glinting metal was covered in blood from tip to pommel. The victims sword was then kicked aside in unnecessary reassurance that its owner wouldnt be using it again.
     A glance around the field displayed only the top layer of death. Bodies piled on top of bodies; some places hip deep. Where one body ended and another began was only ones guess. Limbs, heads, and various other body parts were strewn about as they were hacked off or pulled apart. Pyres that were built in haste had begun to light the darkening sky with ash as smoke drifted upward on the wind with the bodies being thrown upon them.
     The stench of death rose as the smoke billowed over the purple and red hues of twilight. The horrible sound of death was all around. Those who werent dead wished they were; their wishes would soon be granted. The victors, the few who were left alive and able to move, stepped from body to body, turning and searching for those who they recognized from their own side. They finished their enemies by running them through the heart or by beheading. It was apparent that it couldnt be left to chance that someone survive and carry word for reinforcements.
     There didn't seem to be much hope of survivors from either side. It had been one of the bloodiest battles and things didnt seem quite over yet. There were still some who struggled to hide amongst the dead or to drag themselves to some sort of haven. But there was nowhere to go. The field was large and overgrown, but offered no rocks or trees large enough to hide behind and it was too far to the river. The able-bodied men continued their search through the living and dying.
     The setting sun set cause for haste in sorting the bodies of the living from the dead. Those still alive were covered in blood making them almost undistinguishable from one another. The bodies of the dead or who would soon be dead were dragged to the burning pyres; a message left for those who might follow. Nothing was to be left for chance.
     Armor that once protected now seemed a hindrance serving only in slowing down the progress. One had to wonder if it was safe enough to throw down the sword to speed things along. The blade dropped to the ground and the bloodied and battle-worn hands were held up to observe. A blood-curdling scream came from deep within as the hands began to shake in horrified disbelief.

If you would like to read the entire book go to: of pen & ink
The book "Sacrifices" can be found in the Fantasy Books section.

[...]

My first blog being back in Iowa and off of active duty.  Well, I'm FINALLY back in Iowa, and I have no free time at all.  Worked a little on my chainmail, haven't touched any of my other armor though.  Gonna wait till I get a new suit done to sell one of my old ones.  Most of my time is going towards driving.  I live about 30 minutes south of DSM right now so I spendapprox.  2 hours every day driving.  I'm really glad I have a Prius since 60 mpg makes the driving easier on my walet.  Plus, its like I drive a big rolling computer.  That brings me to my next point.  I'm officially a Geek now, got hired on at Best Buy to the Geek Squad.  Wouldn't stay there due to pay except for the sweet sweet employee discount and auction site.  I'll write some more in a day or 2 between homework.  Until then, I'm back in DSM, IA.

[...]

hey members of belegarth got any ideas how a new cat can get started in this place maybe just some discutions and stuff like that. p.s. i live in ferndale washington state

Hail Belegarth friends!

As you can tell by my name, I am "the girlfriend"...I mean what other reason does a girl have to join this kind of group, LOL.

I am Conalls gf, he is in The Fianna. I have red hair that is put into dredlocks. And yes, before any of you ask, I do wash my hair.

I am practicing Sword & Board and Florentine mostly. I really like everyone I've met in this sport so far. Octfest'07 was my first event. Lots of fun, I hurt my ankle and drank every night. I camped with a small handful of The Fianna and Black Company. I haven't met very many of you in person just yet but I plan on going to more events...and hopefully I will get over my shyness enough to actually fight.

Wish me Luck,
Cid

[...]