Archive for January, 2012

"What? Me hungry!" said the barbarian

As you may know, in the past we have had some of our readers submit their funny LARP stories to us so that we can share them with everyone. For newer readers, LARP stands for Live Action Role Playing, and it is a game where you actually become your character and roleplay him or her out in a physical setting. Depending on the organization you are with, there can be combat with safe-for-combat weapons, while other games use other methods. It is a great place to utilize Medieval and Renaissance costuming.

This particular story starts in the town’s Medieval Tavern. Most of the players had gathered for the Saturday afternoon feast and were enjoying merriment and games. Since everyone was going to be in one location, the game directors had organized a valuable piece of information to be released to the players by way of a good old fashion tavern fight.

While everyone was enjoying their meals, the two people who were “staging” the fight were throwing taunts toward each other, gearing up for this elaborately planned affair. The tension was running high as the players were waiting to see what exactly would happen in the following altercation.

Just as one of the participants got up to draw their sword, something unexpected occurred: A player, taking the role of a barbarian, did not wish to have his meal interrupted by petty barroom antics. Before the person initiating the fight could even draw their weapon, this barbarian picked up his club and used a skill that knocks someone out for ten minutes, thus adverting the fight.

Once complete, the barbarian sat back down, looked up, and realized that everyone was looking at him. He simply shrugged his shoulders, that were covered by his Medieval Barbarian wrap, and said, “What? Me hungry!”

Please feel free to share your own funny LARP stories in the comments section!

A simple recipe of baked pears:

Again, pears cooked without coals or water: to instruct the person who will be cooking them, he should get a good new earthenware pot, then get the number of pears he will be wanting to cook and put them into that pot; when they are in it, stop it up with clean little sticks of wood in such a way that when the pot is upside down on the hot coals it does not touch them at all; then turn it upside down on the hot coals and keep it covered over with coals and leave it to cook for an hour or more. Then uncover them and check whether they have cooked enough, and leave them there until they are cooked enough. When they are cooked, put them out into fine silver dishes; then they are borne to the sick person.

– Scully, Terence, ed. and trans. Chiquart’s “On Cookery” – A Fifteenth-century Savoyard Culinary Treatise. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1986.

Ingredients:

3 pears
sugar cinnamon mixture

Instructions:

1.) Preheat oven to 400F (200C).
2.) Cut pears in half and core. Place in an oven dish and bake for 35 minutes. Pears should be slightly browned when done. Mix sugar and cinnamon together adjusting amounts of each to suit your taste (I used 2tsp sugar and 1tsp cinnamon)
3.) Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture to taste and serve

If you are planning on a Renaissance themed dinner, then these Baked Pears can be an excellent desert compliment to the meal. For added ambiance, consider serving the dish as an authentically as possible while wearing this Tavern Keep Clothing.

Enjoy!

Pearson's Renaissance Shoppe is your source for Renaissance and Medieval info!

Have you ever considered exploring your interest in the Renaissance or Medieval era? Have you ever wanted to don some Medieval armor and participate in a Live Action Role Play or Society for Creative Anachronism event? Are you looking for specific types of costumes for a theatrical production? If you’ve answered “Yes” to any of these questions, then we can definitely help you.

We also wanted to take the time to let you know that we have a number of resource articles that can help provide you with more information about the various types of costumes you can find on our site. There are also some tidbits of advice that you can use in order to better your experience when it comes to your Medieval costume. Whether you want to be a wizard, or you want to wear a lady buccaneer costume, you can find information that can be helpful to you.

We are always here to help, but we wanted to let you know about this Renaissance Resources page so that you can browse through all of the information that we’ve assembled to see if you can find additional answers.

We hope you find the exact costume that you are looking for!

If I were to venture down the path to this cavern...

After the Vampire demanded the whereabouts of the Baron’s daughter, Grantiere bravely stepped forward.

“Given her elderly state,” he began, “Her rate of travel has been slowed.”

“She is on the road and should be here within the hour,” Celebryn added.

The Vampire pondered the response as he slowly paced before us. He cast a glance toward the Skeletal Mage, then back toward us. He squinted at us in what seemed to be disapproval.

“The Baron wanted us to offer you this pendant in exchange for your mercy,” said Grantiere as he held out the trinket.

“If I were to venture down the path to this cavern,” the Vampire started, “I would eventually encounter the Baron’s daughter.”

“That is correct,” responded Grantiere.

“Well then,” said Rulatha, “If that is accurate, then I suppose you wouldn’t mind waiting here until I can confirm your claim.”

He nodded toward his mage. The skeleton raised its arms as the ground beneath us start to rumble. Skeletal arms emerged from the ground as a battalion of the undead warriors surrounded us and proceeded to bind us together. As their lifeless forms were following the commands of their leader, I noticed that the chain they were tying around our Medieval belts was extremely rusty.

Before I could completely process this thought, the chain was pulled tight and we were completely restricted. The Vampire stood with his back to us.

“If you have deceived me, my entire host shall be unleashed upon your kingdom,” said Rulatha as he disappeared into the shadows.