Introducing Wynter Croix

Wynnie dear. Isn't she lovely?

Now at long last I shall introduce you to Wynter Croix. Wynnie is a dear friend of mine I met on the OYAN forum, and is an effervescent young lass who kindly agreed to write the legend post for me a couple weeks ago.

As well she joins Dana and I in our love for Scotland. Though there have been a few minor disputes on Campbell's vs. MacDonalds, but I attempt to keep those to a minimum.

Wynnie is working on several novels ranging over various genres, including a historical fiction one set in Scotland that she and I are writing together. She also contributed greatly to Celtic Day at the Summer Workshop in Kansas, and has a lovely voice. I'm going to see if there is a way for us to record ourselves singing The Last Rose of Summer together. But as she lives in Wisconson and I live in Florida, this might be interesting to figure out.



Campbell clan tartan.

So, yeah. That's about it for this intro. I was going to tack this onto the Rahab post, but as you can see, I didn't. This Christmas she's going to get a new medieval costume, and I will wheedle her into taking some pictures of herself in it to post on my blog. I also have a new outfit on order, and Percy has some exciting new weapons. Sometime next week -- after I get this dratted short story of mine edited -- I will take some pictures of Percy's things. I haven't been able to get a tutorial out of him yet. He's been doing a lot of experimenting with varous weapons, so he when he's been at the forge, he was never sure if the project he was working on would be of any use by the time he was done. I'll get on him about tutorials for some of the ones that did, 'cause they're pretty epic.

Alrighty, time for me to head to bed. I should attempt to get to sleep earlier tonight, even though I'm not the least tired. But we all know what happens when I stay up late. Odd blog posts...

Dia duit,
~Penny

For The Greatest Good -- Introduction

The World

A diverse land where knowing what to expect is a short lived comfort rather than a reality. A place where fact and fantasy blend, familiar and imaginary dance amidst the horizons, and dreams and hardships walk the same path.

Main Characters

Two leaders in The Order, a band of warriors whose unorthodox methods and steadfast support of ancient moral virtues has sidelined them to characters of hopeful legends.

Penny Kearney

Visionary. Founder of The Order and though not direct commander in every scenario or field, largely responsible for keeping the knights unified both to each other, and to the core beliefs that drive their mission.

Age: 20 yrs.

Weapon: Runebinder, a lightweight broadsword with a blue topaz fitted in the pommel.

Armor: Light compliment of leather armor (breastplate, pauldrons, vambraces, shin guards)

Dana MacDonald

Loyalist. Strong field commander and willing helper to those in need, with integrity of character and steadfast faithfulness to The Order and its quest.

Age: 19 yrs.

Weapon: PathSeeker, modified claymore with a sapphire fitted into the pommel.

Armor: Light chain mail and leather vambraces and shin guards.

The Chronicles

As this story takes place from the perspective of both the characters shown above, some of the sections of text will be written in first person by either Dana or Penny. At the beginning of each section, the specific author will be declared, and the chronicle will continue from there from the point of view of that author. Also, as this adventure is being written in partnership and without prior knowledge of coming events, you will be experiencing the story in more or less the same fashion as its authors. There may be, therefore, some errors in its recounting. Pray forgive these discrepancies.

The Schedule

As time to write is pressing and sporadic amidst many other tasks, there will be no patterned timetable for the release of each section of this ongoing story, but be assured that an attempt to produce at least one body of text each month will be made. Likely there will be more, depending on the length of the account, but I will make no promises so that none may be disappointed in the event that this proves not to be the case.

Dia duit,

~Penny

Introducing Percival Drake

I know I've already technically introduced Percy at the beginning of the PVC Pipe sword tutorial, but I really ought to do it properly. So here he is: Percival Drake, my younger brother by a couple years. As you know, he handles our Forge, making the medieval weaponry we use when we play. As well as that, he likes to fiddle around with duct tape, and has constructed several back sheathes for our swords. He's a bit more reserved, personality wise, which is why he often gets picked to play either the mysterious lone warrior or the villain in our games.

I love him to pieces. He's an awesome brother.

It was Percy's birthday the other day, and I bought him a tunic and belt as presents. Well, they arrived a week late, since I kept forgetting to actually place the order, but oh well. So I bought these items from YourDressmaker.com, the same place Dana got his kilt from. The tunic is a dark blue version of the Tall Lace-Up Shirt No.15.

"This shirt was developed in response to customer requests for a half-lace-up shirt with a longer hem. Like our similar tops, this design fits a wide variety of looks and epochs from pirate to peasant to renaissance poet. The 100% natural cotton is a favorite fabric with customers and provides an authentically rustic look with contemporary ease of care and comfort." [Taken from description of Tall Lace-Up Shirt No.15.]

The belt is the Medieval/Celtic belt No.1. It's real leather, and only cost $26. The tunic cost nearer forty dollars, but both of them are very much worth the money. I didn't get the tunic tailored to Percy's exact measurements -- that would have given away the surprise -- so I guessed and got him a medium. It fits him very well; quite a relief!

The hood he's wearing in the picture is one that I'd made him a while back for a Robin Hood Imagination Game we played a couple years ago. That back sheathe he made is constructed of duct tape, and his claymore is one of our numerous PVC pipe swords he made. As you can see the tunic falls to the lower thigh a little bit above the knees in length, and has a slit on either side that goes to about mid thigh to allow more ease of movement. I didn't manage to get a good shot of the lace up on the front because his back sheathe is in the way, but if you visit the link to this tunic, you'll be able to see it. It's made of lightweight, sturdy material that looks and feels like it will hold up very well even when we move back up to Illinois and play in the forest near our house.

In short, he's happy with it, I'm happy with it.... Percy had a very happy birthday. ^.^

Dia duit,
~Penny

Introducing Lynn MacDonald

Lynn in the dress she sewed.

Say hello to Lynn, beloved younger sister to Dana MacDonald. That is her in the picture, and that is also a dress she sewed. A far cry from my rather patchy attempts...

Lynn MacDonald is our seamstress. She just recently got a sewing machine, and has, from what Dana has told me, been sewing up a costume storm. I have numerous pictures of that purple dress, and of the various cloaks she's made, plus I'm told there are more outfits that haven't been photographed, even.

Lynn in the Red Riding Hood cloak
she sewed.

As you can see, she's quite talented. I think coupons and gift cards to fabric stores will make excellent birthday/Christmas presents, hm?
I spoke with Lynn and got the names of the patterns she used for the dress, and the cloaks.

For the dress she used Simplicity 4940 Misses Costume.
For the cloak she used Simplicity 9887 Unisex Costume Hooded Capes.

Lynn in the very first cloak she sewed.

Not too expensive, either. $9 bucks for the cape pattern, and $10 for the dress. Right now Lynn is working on numerous cloaks, and also a tunic that came with the cape pattern. I demanded pictures of the finished product, and expect to be satisfied promptly. Rather bossy, aren't I? Hm.

I'll have Lynn write out some sewing tips in a later post, for those who enjoy costuming.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Not The Most Heroic Entrance

Well, first post on my new blog, and it's certainly not the most heroic. I have sticks and leaves in my hair because, rather embarrasingly, I was downed by my opponent and stabbed by my own sword earlier today. A failed attempt on my end to wrest the weapon out of my enemy's hand that resulted in my being thwarted by a grappling move that landed me, as I've said, flat on my back on the forest floor.

Ah well. There's always next time.

At any rate, my name is Penny, or Lady Kearney, if you wish. I'm not particularly more interesting than any other person who blogs, in fact I'm really just odd more than anything else, but there may be some other odd people out there who share similar interests as I do.

It's difficult to say exactly what this blog is going to be about. As evidenced by the title, I love swords and dislike wearing shoes. My imagination is exspansive, and while most of it is occupied writing novels, it sometimes spills over into real life. That's the best way to explain it, really. This is the bucket that catches my spilt imagination.

For example, the sword in question that ran me through -- my sword -- is actually made out of PVC pipe and duct tape. I own a medieval dress I bought on sale at Armstreet, and I dabble out rather pathetically in makeshift costuming. All of these things find their way into my life, and often times, my friends and family and I will have all out invisible (or visible, depending on whether we've brought the armory) weapons battles, or short live action role playing games, which we call Imagination Games. All these things are what will be discussed on this blog. Tutorials for the awesome weapons we've discovered how to make, some easy (and some hard) costume patterns, discourses on some of the Imagination Games we've played and what we've found works rule wise, and more than likely some history, sword fighting techniques we learn (which are based off of European Martial Arts), and lots of pictures. More than likely some mention of things related to the novels I'm writing will seep in here, as well.

Like I said, odd. Hopefully some people will find it at the very least amusing. It sounds a little trite, when everything's all written out, but half the reason I enjoy playing out medieval games and battles is because of the valor and honor concepts that go with the genre of legend and myth. Heroes are heroes for a reason. That will most definitely seep in.

Dia duit,
~Penny