Sunday Archery

---->New Weapon>
Hehehe. We've acquired a new skill! That of an archer.

Our love for the medieval era was born in elementary school. We were fascinated by the simple life they had. We envied, and still do envy the ease at how they lived. There was always work to be done, skills to harness, and royalty to impress. It was up to oneself to hone their talents. Our hands were moreso relied on than our brains. School wasn't required to make a living. Perhaps apprenticeships were a way of learning, but still, qualifications were more often proven than written... At least, that's how we've dreamt of it.

When we were less than 10, our eyes glittered at the sight of combat weapons. Especially swords. That is still our weapon of choice. However, we were also intrigued by bows. We saw a silver and black toy one. We still remember the day that our father bought it for us, and the bargains we had to plea. We think that we offered to practice the piano more. Ah, how we detested practicing the piano back then... But our want was greater than our detest. That's how we were able to attain it. Although it was a toy, it was fun. We were able to add a little bit of reality to our imaginations; our world of joy and laughter. We find the most comfort in our dreams... But moreso in knowing that there are others that wish to share and partake in the same adventure.

Now that we think about it... We always played those kinds of games with our friends. It was always 1+1 roleplaying though. We don't remember a time when we roleplayed in a group. We enjoyed being with just one other person the best. We still do. There would always be some kind of quest for us and our roleplay companions to venture on; obstacles to overcome. Solving problems was fun, especially when it involved jumping over pits of sand and fire, crawling between boulders, climbing up vines and swimming into underwater caves.

Our basement was small, and the arrows were flimsy in the wind... So we were never able to draw out its full potential. Bwah, the item was shortlived either way. It broke because we drew the string too hard... But the memories of joy still remain. Actually, we may still have remenants of its arrows somewhere though... Hmm... We shall look for it.

Ah... So that brings us to today. We were using loaner gear; wooden bows and arrows. None of the fancy metal, plastic or fibreglass stuff. It's generally not allowed anyways. The goal set by all is to try and be as medieval as possible. We were definitely down to the basics... But at least our shots flew in the direction we wanted, and even hit the targets a fair amount of times. =) We are definitely excited for the next time!

What's more, is that we made friends. =) The archery was all free, thanks to the Medieval Society at our university. The correct term is actually: The Society for Creative Anachronism. Ben Dunfirth is the name that represents the Hamilton and Brant county. We reside within the kingdom of Ealdormere.
"The Kingdom of Ealdormere is comprised of many diverse groups over a large geographic location. We are comprised of most of Ontario, Canada, with the exceptions of Essex County (Windsor) and Thunder Bay." - sca.org

Ah, so we fletched for about 2-3 hours. We were given a quick lesson and pointers. Archery really isn't hard to learn... It's the aiming that one must to practice on, and one definitely needs to build up strength to use certain kinds of bows. We only used a shortbow, but we witnessed others use longbows and crossbows. Around 5 pm we ceased to feast. We ate at a British pub, Winchester Arms. Personally, we ordered the special of the day: a hearty Roast Beef dinner. It complemented our medieval activities well. Yum. There was enough left over for another meal; we definitely packed that home. Hehe. We'd have definitely made more of an effort to come out last year, if we had known that it was to be so much fun. Overall, it was an excellent day. Our souls were highly satisfied.

---->Links>
Society of Creative Anachronism: http://www.sca.org/

Together or Apart?

----->Poetry>

Together or Apart?
by <-Lorac->

If my hands were blades, my face would bare flesh.
Scratching, Ripping, Tearing;
At the heat that seeps from my skull.
This fury warms me,
but my furnace grows weary.
There is nought left to burn but myself.
My howls, growls and shouts,
Echo within my heart, alone.
It's hollowness numbs,
But permits for the flames to grow;
Charring, Raging, Engulfing,
In this deep, dark abyss.
The wants are gone,
The needs are gone;
So begone with your foul kiss.
All or nothing;
I no longer care.
Without my heart protesting,
I am free to dare.
However, I lay waste,
Shattered from the chase;
My body is no more.
You touched my mind,
With your hands...
I forgot that they were sharp.

----->Quotes>

"If my heart could beat, it would break my chest. I can see that you're unimpressed." - Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Karo Sliverwick

Hum, so we established this blog weeks ago... Yet we didn't post because, well, firsts are always supposed to be grand. It's just like your favorite food. You try it once -> "It's so awesome!" -> You want to try it again. Then you buy a lot of it + eat a lot of it and at some point your tastebuds are going to say, "Again?" and you're going to think, "Gee, I remember this being a lot better." We tried to think of some kick-ass story to tell, but we realized life isn't always epic. Actually, mundane can be epic... Depending on who the story is being told to. We suppose it's natural. Once you're exposed to something over and over, it automatically gains the title of "regular", and Regular just ain't good friends with Special. Moreover, we started to realize that the mini stories that we did want to log weren't being logged because they weren't good enough to be our first. x_x

So you can probably already tell a lot about us from that first paragraph. Let's see:
- We like food
- We like stories
- We have been deemed perfectionists by many... >_>
- We are procrastinators
- We are either too lazy to re-tell a story, or epic things don't really happen to us... >_> Or both. Q_Q

Bwah... But fear not; we decided it's time to begin.

Welcome to our domain!
________________________________________________

---->The Origin of The Name>
If you already know us, you probably already know that we like to find meaning and reason within the world around us. We like order, we like the simple things in life... The majority of us anyways >_>;. We admit, Karo is a derivative of the name given to us at birth. Sylvarwick, however, is not. We know it's rather challenging to say (since to pronounce it the way we do you've got to roll your tongue a bit), but this is the net. Only looks matter right now, haha. At first we were stumped between the sliver of a wick, and the silver in a wick. One could imply that no matter how thin, a wick is still a wick that could be the start of a great fire. We liked that idea very much. On the other hand, we like silver too, and Sylvar was more unique. (Go ahead and google both. One has 8 hits, the other has none. Haha.) Also, we asked the opinion of one of our dearest friends and she said 'Sylvarwick' "is more visually pleasing". We take great interest in hearing opinions outside our own; especially that of those close to us. We are who we are thanks to the people around us. We know that they are leading us in the right direction. We would like to think we have good judgement on this matter. Therefore, we accepted the dub "Karo Sylvarwick".

You're probably wondering: "Who are 'We'?". Unfortunately, we have yet to be wholly defined. We don't think we ever will be. We suppose it'll be up to the readers of our humble chronicles to make sense of us. Although, no one can ever be completely labeled. Change is constant. It may be gradual, it may be sudden... But it happens none the less. We are no exception. We wish to track our change; this is why we have decided to re-tell our tales.

We know people often ask themselves, "How did I get here?" or even, "Where did I go wrong?". In a lot of ways, a change is like a dragon. It can be beautiful, scary, approachable, intimidating, wanted and hated at the same time. Sometimes, change is the dragon that must be allowed to roam wild and free, and other times, it is the dragon that must be tamed. Choosing between the two is what makes the difference -for they are the only options. It is unfortunate that some people make the mistake of thinking that the dragon must be slain. To be in the same place forever is a mistake. Without change, would there be meaning? Would there be anything to look forward to? Anything to gain? We might as well be stuck in limbo. A world without pain is a world without happiness after all. How can heaven be heaven if there is no pain? Would we be satisfied in knowing that the pain of our past would be just a memory? That nothing bad would ever happen to us or our loved ones, evermore?

This brings us back to change. A lot of the time the problem lies within the identification of it: If change already took place or whether change is even needed or not.
For example: You smell horrible. You breathe fire AND you eat humans AND you don't brush your teeth. It's safe to say your breath smells like burnt, rotting corpses. (Have you ever smelt burnt hair before? That, itself, would make anyone run.) As a result, everyone around you refuses to come near. You probably don't know why; because you've always had bad breath. However, a recently-acquired fire-breathing-human-eating friend points out to you that it's because your breath stinks. You realize that if you want everyone back you must choose to change your ways. The only other option here is to ignore your friend's insight.
The point is, thanks to your friend, you must must now make a choice, whether you like it or not. If your friend didn't notify you, you would have always been making the choice of "doing nothing about it" without a conscious clue. Slim chance that you'd have given up your human-eating-fire-breathing habits randomly. Of course, there is always reason for change. Whether that reason is important or not is up to you. But when you do decide that it is important/urgent, there's a good chance you're planning to change.

We've often said that we had an inner demon, but we misunderstood. We were battling our inner dragon: the need and want for change. We know we must let it free to be able to grow... but everything just becomes frustrating when other people try to make us tame our dragon/restrict its movements, no matter what the reason. Even so, at least we know what must occur. To realize the beauty of the beast, one must first know of its existence. Only then can they make the journey to see it.

We're ready for that adventure.
So, where's the dragon?

----->Quotes>
"Marriage is the reward for change; for bettering oneself -for becoming more worthy of a partner." - Professor Juliette Merritt, on Pride and Prejudice

"Change is constant. Fear is its companion. Conquer fear... And you can unlock the secrets of change." - Trance from Andromeda

----->Questions for next time...>
What is the ideal heaven?