Hornsounder - Edition 2 Volume 11

[Taymist]

 

 

Editor's Note

Taymist (Lieutenant General - Infantry)

 

Welcome to the Hornsounder edition for December 2006. Lanette, the editor, sends her apologies but real life has caught up with her somewhat in recent months. We wish her well and hope she'll be back in the driving seat soon. Meanwhile, sit back, grab a brew and enjoy the articles we have here for your reading pleasure.

[Taymist]

 

page 2.

 

 

Quotes Project..

 

Hello banders…

 

We have written this article to make sure once again that all banders know of our lovely quotes project. Angyl and I were planning to start choosing the quotes that will be filling up those nasty, empty blocks at the Band's Official web site when we stumbled upon a problem.

 

We do not have enough Quotes yet!!!

 

So here is our message to all Banders, perhaps as a good virtue for this upcoming year.

 

Post your favourite quotes!!

 

We really need more. Also, for the new RLOs in this wonderful new term, we would like to point out the possibility of giving your recruits the task of submitting a Quote!

As you all know those who have their quotes up on the site will receive points!!

 

We need lots of them and there is no restriction as to how many you post. In fact the more you post, the more chance you have that your Quote will be used!

 

So don’t be afraid to go post your quotes.

 

Angyl and I would really like to thank the people who have already submitted a quote and tell them to please post many more!!!

 

I hope you will all have a very good year and many more good years here at the Band and, of course, on DM.

 

Greetings

Angyl and Amavia

[Taymist]

 

Page 3.

 

 

Infantry Row - December

(By Taymist – Lieutenant General)

 

Welcome everyone to the Infantry news desk for the December round up of 2006 and the last one of this year.

 

The month started off with promotions for Kellan Kiri to Sergeant, for Kristine and Mystica to Under Lieutenant and for Taymist to Lieutenant. Promotions were then added to mid month when Taymist and Apollo joined Footy at the rank of Senior Lieutenant. We eagerly await Kellan’s naming of his weapon in the near future and details will be posted in the Library when this is completed.

 

A new project was undertaken this month as a complete collection of Infantry JotS was added to the Library for posterity. Do take a look, they make some entertaining reading.

 

Another highlight for December was the return of a few members. Pyro has rejoined his regiment after a long absence, Ashandarei returned for the holidays and Apollo came back from his tour. Good to have you all back guys. On the other hand, the Infantry lost Spacey to the vagaries of real life, we hope he’ll return some time and Northie recently went back to the Archers where we wish her good luck in her new home.

 

Fun and games continued this month with the acquiring of a kangaroo in Myst’s Lair, an edible underwear modelling session in the Kafe courtesy of Kellan which proved popular with the female customers and a surprise arrow shower thanks to an experiment by Staffy at the Archers. There was a startling conclusion to the month with the amazing transformation of Shadowhelm (Cavalry) at the Kafe. He appears to be back to his normal affable, if slightly devious, self and is currently serving out a spotfine for brew spillage at the Kafe. Do stop by for a drink and a meal.

 

The Three Hammock Inn was delighted to announce the introduction of a new hammock early in the month thanks to an enthusiastic Raw Recruit. VoidExile created the Sand Trap Hammock and its proving to be as popular as the other hammocks. One note of warning, you may have to duck frequently during usage!!

 

The Infantry were most pleased to be invited to the Cavalry’s Christmas Ball. We would like to extend our warmest thanks to Twinnie and her team for their hospitality and wish them all the best for the coming term. Its been a fabulous occasion and a great way to celebrate the festive season.

 

Announcements

 

Could all Infantry members please remember to submit their Matrim votes to Corki before 7th January 2007.

 

Congratulations to Mystica (Infantry) and Son of Battles (Cavalry) who announced their banding on 17th. All the best to both of you and a long, happy friendship.

 

 

 

All that remains is to wish all of our fellow Banders a happy and prosperous New Year and to hope that 2007 proves to be as much fun as 2006 has been.

[Taymist]

 

Page 4.

 

Archers December Article

(By Morrigan - RLO)

 

It’s December, its Christmas and several Archers are coming home.

 

Northie, who completed her Raw Recruit training and joined the Infantry last month, decided to change regiments and return to her home, the Archery Range. Welcome back, Northie!

 

Staffy also successfully completed his RR period and joined the Archers. He even managed to get killed several days after he officially became an Archer and our recruits still haven’t succeeded in finding out who was the assassin. So there’s a ghost floating in the Range!

 

Peck was on a long LoA during the past months but fortunately he came back a couple of days before the end of the year and now the Archers Regiment can greet the New Year together with him, Staffy and Northie

 

There were several promotions this month. On the 1st of December, Booklover was promoted from Private First Class to Corporal, Dragonlover – from Sergeant to Master Sergeant and Leane - from Under-Lieutenant to Lieutenant. During the second promotions for the month two more Archers got promoted. Wooly is now a full Lieutenant and Amavia is a Master Sergeant.

 

In the begining of this month the chance to create a personal South Park character of our own gathered the Archers and even some Cavalry and Infantry members. There'll most probably be an exibit of all the characters the Banders have created in the Band's Museum.

Here's the site of you wish to check it yourself:

http://images.southparkstudios.com/games/create/sp_game.swf

 

Considering December as a month of holidays and celebrating, one cannot forget about the alcohol.

And when speaking of alcohol, what first comes to an Archers' mind is 'the Quivering Arrows Tavern'. Well this month we had some difficulties finding the tavern (during a certain period of time we even had a problem finding ouselves due to Corki-like creatures all around the Range) for our own sign was stolen by a naughty cavalryman.

 

As soon as he joined us, Staffy opened the Staffmaster Distillery and Lounge for visitors and now we have one more warm and homey place at the Range where we can drink, talk, have a rest…and do whatever we wish to have fun.

 

As drinking was mentioned, a significant event is taking place in the Quivering Arrow Tavern – the honourable…hmm, yeah, honourable cavalryman Steel Axe with the help of “a friendly Aes'sedai” is experimenting with our beloved regimental drink- the flaming shot in a way that’s expected to change its taste mid drinking.

A wayward Red Arm is investigating the matter and still cannot discover if it’s a trick or the allegation of Steel Axe is simply result of the fact that flaming shots are quite a strong drink for non-Archers

 

On a last and very important note, I must say that the writer of this article made grand efforts to completely sober up before sitting in front of the comp. All efforts proved useless.

 

Thank you for reading, see you next month.

 

And Happy New Year!

[Taymist]

 

Page 5.

 

Playing Santa

 

(By Footman - RAL Infantry)

 

ATTENTION: Santa spoilers ahead!!

 

 

I remember vividly sitting at the top of my stairs as a child at 4 or 5 in the morning. Christmas was the only day of the year I would voluntarily wake that early, and I did it with relish!! I remember sitting at the top of the stairs practically hovering off the floor from excitement as I bounced in anticipation and knocking on my parents’ bedroom door every two minutes asking if it was time. I remember my parents finally getting so fed up with my brother and I that they would get up and go downstairs. We waited at the top of the stairs until they told us to come down, usually with my father making some comment about no presents, or how much coal there was (he had that kind of humor). Finally my brother and I were allowed down and we would maybe touch one of the 15 or so stairs from top to bottom in our haste. At the landing of the stairs, we would turn a corner and gaze into the living room that had gone from decorated with tree and a few presents, to a Christmas wonderland, filled with mounds of presents and toys! It seemed that Santa had had time to not only drop some presents off that night, but took the time to assemble a few of the larger ones.

 

At that landing my brother and I paused to stare in wonder at the spectacle that had become of our living room and my parents Christmas photo album has one for each year of the looks on our faces when first we gazed upon our bounty of gifts. They even have one that they took a few years back while my brother and I were visiting when I was in my twenties, just for old time’s sake. It was here, that our stockings were hung from the stair banister and that was always first. Before presents came the stockings filled with candy, fruit, nuts and little gifts of joy. It was then that we would tear into the gifts. We had one rule: no cleaning up the paper until everything was opened and a photo of the chaos was taken. Of course, many years there would be a forgotten gift or two that we would find while cleaning up all the wrapping paper. Shortly after waking up every Christmas came my mother’s oh so delicious Belly Busters!! Yummy cooked bread dough in a thick, creamy cinnamon sauce of pure bliss!

 

My brother and I always checked the milk and cookies left for Santa, and the carrots left for his reindeer. There was always a bit of milk gone and a bite or two from the cookies. The carrots were always eaten with only a few bits left. I often looked upon my parents with pure happiness in my eyes, and saw how happy they were to see my happiness. It was many years before I found out what really went on, but they were wonderful years.

 

Now I’m a father of three, and my son is beginning to question the existence of Santa, while my next youngest is just learning who Santa is. This last Christmas Eve saw a bedtime of 4 a.m. for me. Digging all the gifts out of hiding, wrapping them up with the hidden wrapping paper that looked nothing like what we had used for the gifts that were already under the tree, and getting the breakfast prepped for the next morning. My kids blessedly slept in until 7:30, giving me 3 and a half hours of sleep. The children woke to all the presents and were blown away. My in-laws had brought all of their gifts over and the living room was filled with gifts! My 2 year old daughter was proudly saying her new words of merry Christmas over and over again, and my son read and re-read the note Santa had left him in response to the letter he had left near the milk, cookies and carrots he had left out. The pure joy my children had that day and the happiness that brought to me is unexplainable. I found it funny that we had to pull my daughter away from a toy just to get her to open the next, which she would want to play with until we pulled her attention from that one for the next gift. Those things and those feelings can only be described as the magic of Christmas. It isn’t about the gifts for me, it’s about the happiness my kids have in believing about all the magic that surrounds Christmas.

 

I’ve listened to my father-in-law tell of growing up in the Kentucky mountains and how he would be lucky to receive some nuts for Christmas. He told of one year he would never forget that he got a candy cane. He also made a promise to himself that his family would never see days like that, and worked double and triple shifts in the steel mills of Baltimore so that his family would have a happy Christmas every year. I remember the first few years my wife and I were together and how we were lucky to have a large dinner for Christmas, and maybe a present or two. I’m thankful that my son was too young to remember those years, and it is because of that, that I always donate as much time and money to the Salvation Army and Toys for Tots (God bless the Marines for that organization) as I can. Some years I donate more time than money for lack of the latter, but I try to do something every year. There is nothing better to see in this life, than a child that expects nothing, getting a toy and some clothes and food… and nothing sadder to see. I hope everybody remembers that the holidays are much more than the religious or social beliefs that started them. The holidays are a time to make magic happen, to become Santa in little ways. I know that people are not poor only during Christmas, but there is no better time of the year to give a little of that magic to somebody in need. No time during the year that will affect a child more than when they can wake and see something for them on Christmas.

[Taymist]

 

Page 6.

 

 

Joust Wars, a Battle of Past and Present

(By Direwolfjon - Caldareis, Cavalry)

 

 

Two knights face each other at the end of the lists. They spur their horses into motion and charge one another with a lance in their hands. CRASH! The sound of the lances hitting the opponent or their shield is heard all over the area. This phenomenon is known as jousting. This article will give a brief history of the joust and then compare and contrast the medieval jousting to the jousting that occurs presently.

 

Jousting has been around for several centuries. A Frenchman named Godfrey de Preuilly is credited with the creation of tournaments and jousting in the year 1066. This was also the same year as the creation of the feudal system. In the 12th century King Henry II banned jousting for a while because it drew so many knights that he did not want his fighting men to injure themselves during tournaments. King Richard I eased this ban and allowed five places to hold jousts if they obtained a permit every time. The idea of the tilt was not implemented until after 1400. The decline of jousting came about with the creation of the musket in 1520. Now that the history has briefly been discussed, let’s move onto comparing the past and present versions of jousting.

 

The past and present forms of jousting have some similarities between them. After the formation of the tilt, the early days of jousting used one-on-one jousts, which are still used today. Both early and modern jousting are forms of recreation and entertainment to the people and the participants. Although both forms of jousting are meant to be recreational and entertaining, both are very dangerous and can lead to death. Early and modern day jousting are both very competitive events. One type of old jousting and the modern version are both based on points. These two forms of jousting awards points for breaking your lance on your opponent or their shield. The combat is to neither continue on foot, nor to the death. In both the early day and modern versions of jousting, the participants use lances, wear armor, and ride horses. The jousters are divided by a thin cloth wall that stands shorter than the height of the lances during the tilt in both forms of jousting. Now that the early and present day jousting have been compared, let’s contrast the two.

 

There are several differences between early day and the modern day jousting. In the early days there was a melee joust in which several knights would charge each other and it was every man for themselves in a way. The knights would charge in lines and eventually it would turn into a mock battle, and all the participants would fight whoever was close to them. Another difference between the early day and modern day joust is, in the early days, jousts were used to settle disputes judicially, while in modern time, jousting is not used to settle disputes. If you were successful in the joust, then you were not guilty, but if you lost, you died. In the early days, during battle the lances were sharpened and meant to kill, but modern jousts are just for sport. In modern jousting, the participants are meant to only break their lances on their opponent and not try to knock them off their horse, which is if it is a one-on-one joust. In the early days however, they did try to unseat their opponent, and if in battle they tried to harm them anyway they could. In modern jousting, more often then not, the joust is not a one-on-one tilt, like the early days. Most modern jousting involves skillful competitions. The events are normally, ring spearing, quintain hitting, which is hitting a stationary shield, or tent pegging. Tent pegging is using the lance to hit a wooden ground target and carry it away. These skills were used as practice in the early days, but not at an actual jousting event. These are the differences between early day and modern day jousting.

 

This article presented a brief history of jousting, a comparison of early and modern jousting, and a contrast of early and modern jousting. Jousting offers fun and excitement, but it also brings danger. If you break your lance, that means you get bonus points. So, the next time you find yourself in the lists, just remember to aim true and strike powerfully with your lance.