2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

For all of the Talk that doesn't fit elsewhere.

Moderators: caedmon, Greg

User avatar
Taurinor
Amrod Rhandir
Posts: 614
Joined: Sun Apr 28, 2013 9:06 pm
Location: Virginia
Contact:

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Taurinor »

I've mostly finished my costrel. I need to carve a stopple for it, but it was complete enough to use on the recent overnighter I posted about:

Image

I actually did a decent job documenting how I made it, photo-wise, so once I get the stopple carved I should be able to write something up. Hopefully the overnighter didn't damage the lining - there was a little ice in it in the morning, but it was a thin, sort of slushy ice. I haven't checked it for leaks yet, though.

I also got some 18th century-style eyeglass frames from Jas Townsend and had my local optician put lenses in them. They are now the single most expensive item I have in my kit, and one of the items least justifiable using the text. Oh well, vision is important! I've started collecting references for my kit write-up in one document, and hopefully the weather will allow for pictures at some point in the near future.

Speaking of the weather, I was doing quite well with my "shoot once a week goal" until March because nice weather and my free time were lining up nicely, but lately that hasn't worked out. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to get back to it soon!
- Ned Houndswood, Breelander
Richmond Fantasy-Inspired Hiking and Camping (on WordPress and Facebook)
User avatar
Kortoso
Haeropada
Posts: 822
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:37 pm
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Contact:

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Kortoso »

Well, it looks like my group will have a booth at a local convention. So now I need to finish a couple of projects:
1. Repair the leather costrel that I tore apart a while back.
2. Get a buckle for my new sword belt and fnish that up in less than a month.
There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.
User avatar
Greg
Urush bithî 'nKi ya-nam bawâb
Posts: 4496
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:50 pm
Location: Eriador; Central Indiana

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Greg »

Looks like a cool event! Real swords allowed...I'll be darned.
Now the sword shall come from under the cloak.
User avatar
Kortoso
Haeropada
Posts: 822
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:37 pm
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Contact:

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Kortoso »

Greg wrote:Looks like a cool event! Real swords allowed...I'll be darned.
We will also be at Silicon Valley Comic-Con 2017.
There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.
User avatar
Elleth
êphal ki-*raznahê
Posts: 2932
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 5:26 am
Location: in the Angle; New England

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Elleth »

Finished one. :)
Elleth wrote: * do one little drawing or piece of tengwar calligraphy on a scrap of vellum in period materials as an “in character” memento piece.
Iron gall ink on vellum, done with nib pens.
merf-calligrapghy-minas-tirith.jpg
merf-calligrapghy-minas-tirith.jpg (111.61 KiB) Viewed 13416 times
Do you remember father? When you made sail to the White Tower, and we begged you to bring us?
Mother didn't want us to come - the long roads, the sea, a year from home. But we begged so - and you relented.

You didn't think we heard you when you whispered to her we must come.
You wanted us to know the splendor of the White Tower - before it stood no more.

I remember the look in your eyes when you first laid eyes on the Tree.
A dead thing, but loved still. They said a White Tree would bloom there again. You wanted to believe.
For an instant, I think.. you did.

The air was so clear there. We could see so very far.

I wish you here here father. I wish you could see him now.
This man. Elessar.

There may yet be a dawn.
I wish you were here to see it.


I miss you.
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
User avatar
Harper
Haeropada
Posts: 793
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2015 7:11 pm

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Harper »

Fine work Elleth--as usual.
User avatar
Greg
Urush bithî 'nKi ya-nam bawâb
Posts: 4496
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:50 pm
Location: Eriador; Central Indiana

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Greg »

Beautiful.

Both parts.
Now the sword shall come from under the cloak.
User avatar
Elleth
êphal ki-*raznahê
Posts: 2932
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 5:26 am
Location: in the Angle; New England

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Elleth »

Fall is winding up, the year is winding down, time for a checkin!
Part 1 (most important): By the first day of fall, be able to make it to the top of the giant [hill] behind our farm without stopping for breath.

Part 2: By the first day of fall, be able to get 8 / 10 arrows in an 18” circle from 15 paces.
Forget waiting on perfect period kit - just practice with the darn bow more.
After a hideously hard summer, I was afraid I'd lost most of the progress I made this spring on my fitness. Thankfully I'd backslid less than I feared: I can still make it up our monster hill in one go. Once over the summit, there's an overgrown logging road with stumps peeking out through the leaf cover all around the road. Since I'm successfully making shots at 18" or less diameter stumps from 12-15 paces regularly, I'm going to say I met my admittedly modest goal. On a brief after-lunch excursion today I managed to snake an arrow between two saplings 6" apart or so to hit my target beyond, and I'm still all proud of that one. :)

As an aside - it's interesting how much varied distance, uneven terrain, and especially intervening brush liven up the archery game. zounds!
Contortions to get just the right angle to hit a target surrounded by branch and leaf and earth make for all kinds of fun. :mrgreen:
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
User avatar
Kortoso
Haeropada
Posts: 822
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:37 pm
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Contact:

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Kortoso »

Elleth, I know how you feel. My knee crapped out on me recently and I missed a great campout with our sister group.
Then I slacked off on my general fitness, never a good thing.
But I'm going with my lieutenant to explore a cave in our mountains.
Then my blood-brother, whom I haven't see for years, is coming down the following weekend, and I am challenged to paddle a boat up-river, to examine an ancient wreck.
Gotta get back into shape! Being challenged for events like this, has the advantage of forcing one to become focused.
There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.
User avatar
Elleth
êphal ki-*raznahê
Posts: 2932
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 5:26 am
Location: in the Angle; New England

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Elleth »

Time to report in on 2017!
Kit goal
By trekking season this fall, have at LEAST trousers, tunic, cloak, belt, and boots.
My stretch goal is a completed quiver, proper bow and arrows, waterskin, sidearm blade and completed Greg-style bedroll/snapsack setup with carry strap, blanket, and ground cloth.
Trousers - done, but the dye washed out and they're a dirty grey again.
Tunic - done, but botched the blue dye and haven't had time to try again.
So both are too light and stand out crazily in the woods. :/
Cloak is done, still using my old v1 belt, and I've commercial armstreet boots I don't really like but they serve well enough.

On the other hand, "stretch goal" went great - I'm very happy with my quiver, arrows, and longknife and my tarp came out quite well. My waterskin is still waiting on my fella to turn a new oaken spout and plug, but at least is servicable as it is.

Overall I'd say clothes B-, extended kit A, averaging to an A-.
Done!

Fitness/WMA goal
Part 1 (most important): By the first day of fall, be able to make it to the top of the giant behind our farm without stopping for breath.
Nailed this by the first day of spring.. BUT had a miserable middle of the year followed by two months of on-again off-again illness. I'm not back to where I started, but I've not progressed as far as I'd like. Let's say passed but barely.
Part 2: By the first day of fall, be able to get 8 / 10 arrows in an 18” circle from 15 paces.
Forget waiting on perfect period kit - just practice with the darn bow more.
Made it! Woo!
Part 3: … some metric for handling a largish blade with rudimentary competence. I really don’t know how to judge this, and would welcome some advice. Some kind of cutting test?
Not even scratched this one. I've been reading Mr. Edelson's cutting book since Christmas though, and it's fascinating.

* cook one family meal on the hearth inside
* cook one family meal “camp style” outside
Didn't get these done as well as I'd like. Lets say fail.
* do one little drawing or piece of tengwar calligraphy on a scrap of vellum in period materials as an “in character” memento piece.
Pass!
* listen to that audiobook reading of the silmarillion all the way through
Didn't make it through the Sil, but did listen to LOTR and the Hobbit both, so I'll call it a pass.
* make the walking trip to our neighbor’s pond he’s told us about but I’ve never seen. This will take a bit of orienteering from satellite pictures, but it should be a fairly easy day trip.
Fail, and the one I'm most upset over having missed. 2017 was grand in lots of ways, but it just sucked for being able to get out into the woods. :shock:

So... middling year, all told. Not a disaster, but I really did fall short.
One thing to do - pick up and try again. :)
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
User avatar
Taurinor
Amrod Rhandir
Posts: 614
Joined: Sun Apr 28, 2013 9:06 pm
Location: Virginia
Contact:

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Taurinor »

Taurinor wrote:1) Kit write-up (from last year)
Started it, but not done yet :/
Taurinor wrote:Remake the costrel
Did that!
Taurinor wrote:maybe get some 18th century-style eyeglasses (not necessarily justified by the text, but I like the look better than my medieval frames and need some glasses)
Did that, too!
Taurinor wrote:2) Dispersed camping trip (from last year) - I want to go out into the woods and pick a site to set up camp, as opposed to having a specific campground I'm hiking to. The March overnighter is at a local WMA, so that should check this one off.
The March overnighter did indeed check that one off. I nearly froze, but I did it.
Taurinor wrote:3) Archery - I want to try to get out and shoot at least once a week. Might be a little iffy this winter, but Virginia doesn't usually stay super cold. Not really going to try to hit a certain target by a certain date; I just want to put more arrows down range.
Nope, didn't manage this one. Started out well enough in the spring, but then it got very hot and muggy and buggy, and then my bow failed, so just all around a poor showing :/

Overall, I had a lot of good momentum going in the beginning of the year, and then the Virginia summer sort of brought it to a grinding halt. Ah well, try, try again!
- Ned Houndswood, Breelander
Richmond Fantasy-Inspired Hiking and Camping (on WordPress and Facebook)
User avatar
Udwin
Vendor
Posts: 794
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 11:00 pm
Location: central Kain-tuc-kee
Contact:

Re: 2017 New Skill / Ranger Goal Challenge!

Post by Udwin »

Not too shabby, 2017!

Kit needs:
1- Finally forge either a spearhead or socketed axehead.
Iron copy of bronze spearhead (the Impossible Shape!) completed just in time for july trek.

2- Anduin valley map. If it doesn't wind up in my pack, it would always look nice on the wall!
Completed!

3- Honey container (my holy grail). I have a plan, and a market fair in a few weeks that should have the materials. Then it's all in the execution.
Incomplete. I picked up two large horns at said market fair, started brainstorming plans with dad, but haven't had the time to get the oil a-boiling to do the actual making. 2018 will be the year, I promise!

*Bonus points: made a linen bronze age tunic for summer adventuring to replace a wool one (incredible comfort at the expense of a slight bit of book-accuracy), AND a more respectable cattail hat!

Skill stuff:
4- Use some of the plant parts I've gathered over the year. Practice making tinctures, decoctions, &c.
No medicinal makings, but I did accidentally discover that gouty oak galls make a tea that tastes surprisingly like how I remember Lapsang tea!

5- Grow some Yarrow. I have the seeds, I just need the growing season!
Wound up spreading lots of yarrow around, not from seeds but from some wild clumps I dug up and transplanted. Also got proficient in identifying it on-the-fly in the wild.

6- Outdoor fitness.
Got plenty of trail-running in during the spring as planned...excellent way to engage my brain to solve persona issues.
As for firewooding, I only got a few days in before the giant oak top I was working on decided to stop cooperating.


7- Sleep/camp outdoors in a period fashion at least once a month.
Big fail. Even including the two nights of the July trek in Wisconsin, I only got maybe 16 nights outdoors all year, but only 4 of those were with period materials.

'Inner persona' stuff:
8- develop both a persona-specific speaking style and a few basic stories to tell 'in-character'.
I did manage to work up a swedish-ish 'accent' for Beorning purposes; when it comes to devising in-character stories, however, I have hit a roadblock. Perhaps next year!
Personae: Aistan son of Ansteig, common Beorning of Wilderland; Tungo Brandybuck, Eastfarthing Bounder, 3018 TA; a native Man of the Greyflood, c.850 SA
Post Reply