Land of Salvania

  The fourth and last shield was in place on the monument. A dozen scarred knights and dames silently raised their swords in salute. There were no profound speeches or weeping ladies in fine attire to pay homage to The Four. No nobles came forth to declare the bravery of The Four. No bard sang a song for them. The Four had held the line of retreat against a hundred gargs, falling back in good order while the townies had fled across the White River Crossing. When The Four had reached the bridge, they had stopped and held off the slavering creatures for two days and nights. None still living knew the full tale. One of The Four had been gravely wounded by a poisoned arrow, and he had scrawled a quick account for posterity. "Beware the green-tipped arrow of the foul savages," he had written. "For when the honorless creatures failed to best us with their numbers in a clean fight, they turned to cowardly poison. Mayhap they are not shrewd enough to make decent poison, ...

My LARP shield did great at the recent Alliance Atlanta January Event.  Here are a couple of photos. This is the final version.  I added weathered "metal" bands, rivets, and more battle damage. She took a beating during the two-day event, but she held up well in the cold and rain. You can see some of the blue foam starting to re-appear where most of the hits landed.  /// Copyright

This DIY will focus more on the final art steps, and less on the savage construction steps. Each step has been faithfully copied from the ancient Elvenari scrolls at the White River scriptorium by Bard Galen in the fifth year of King Nordram.   Step 1: Slam thy boogie boards onto the rack under the shade of watching trees. Tis ok to be rough. Verily, they like it that way. (We have a “Buy Nothing” group in my area that you can use to offer free items you have and ask for free items you need. I got these from that group. Cost = zero!) Step 2: Flay the skin right off to reveal the harsh truth underneath. Slice deeply into the white, tender flesh and force thy straps all the way in. Test thy adhesive (see green circles) to assure thy alabaster beauty will feel no pain. (The brown leather strap is for my hand, and the black nylon strap is for my forearm. This view shows the outside of the shield. The black tape is reinforcing the area where the straps meet the cuts. The straps ar...

  This was a stupid idea, Henri thought. He wondered if the other more experienced troll hunters were playing a prank on "the new laddie," leaving him out here while they swilled beer back in town. "You block this trail," one had said. "The troll will spot you long before you spot him, and he'll slip to the left since the river is on the right. See?" Yes, Henri saw. He saw he had been played for a fool. "We will be spread out over here," he had pointed left. "And one of us will drop him." He gave it another hour, and he stomped off. This was a stupid idea. /// Copyright