Hammer

Welcome, Rinette! Glad you spoke up! Stay-at-home-parenting is a profession that I have lots of respect for. You know, I recently saw a great infographic about this: http://www.upworthy.com/its-pretty-shocking-how-much-money-this-person-would-make-if-they-didnt-love-their-client-so-much-2 I hope you're enjoying Balmung, and good luck with your two-year-old!

Welcome, Ilwe'ran! I'm glad you found a server that is more to your liking. I am very happy on Balmung myself. I hope to see you in-game!

Welcome, Cecilia! I roleplayed on Ebon Hawk too, but only for about the first 2-3 months after release. I'm also new here, and just started diving into FFXIV lore myself. Maybe we can compare notes. Although I am a little sad we didn't get another Roe, it looks like you've rolled up a cool Elezen. I hope your Fujin finds her Raijin! I've found loner characters to be more fun when they have a friend who constantly pushes them out of their comfort zone. By the way, did you see they just released FFVIII on Steam? Hope you enjoy your holiday break and get lots of playtime in!

Welcome, Pascht! I've got a birthday coming up soon myself. Fellow Sagittarius? What instruments do you play? Do you perform, or just play/sing as a hobby?

Thanks! Hammer would make a terrible damsel in distress, I'm afraid. But it would be funny to see someone treat her like one. Oh man, a Roe RP LS? Yep, sign me up! I'll keep an eye out for the people you mentioned, and thank you! :lol:

Hey, I'm a newcomer hoping to join the Intermission linkshell. My character's name is Thundering Hammer.

Man, I have a weakness for infographics. And this is fascinating. Somehow my favorite race-class combos in MMOs are always the least popular. Although apparently I picked the most popular primary job to balance it out. Thanks for sharing. You are a wealth of cool information. Delial! Yes, I remember you! In the mountains On Feathermoon, right? I take it you recognized my Thundering Hammer homage. I played Baji and Governor. Actually, I think we're Steam buddies too. How have you been? I'll keep an eye out for you in-game!

Sweet! *Roega-dame fistbump* But actually, we know each other already. This is Hel from Agoge. Glad to see you're still kicking around the RP scene. Haha, are Roe ladies really rare? But... why? They're so rad!

Wombat, I can relate to that -- I grew up wanting to be a warrior! I hope you find a good HEMA group someday. I've never been to a LARP, but having seen a few videos, I also think that it is really not the same. Have you looked into groups like the SCA, Dagorhir, or Belegarth? I don't have any personal experience with them, but they all do non-scripted armored combat, albeit with safety weapons or rattans. They each have chapters all over the US, so maybe you can find one within a reasonable driving distance? If gear affordability is an issue, keep an eye on eBay, Craigslist, and armourarchive.org -- as well as message boards for those various groups. You might also poke around your LARP group to see if anyone else is interested in starting your own group, or opening a new chapter for one of the groups I mentioned above. I bet they have good resources to help new groups get underway.

Thank you all for the welcome, and for the links and helpful info! I'll keep my eyes open for you guys in-game. I've been eyeballing those linkshells, but I'm not sure how to join one. I think I need to find someone (foolish enough) to invite me. Is that correct? I may drop in the Coffer and Coffin for a bit next week as you suggested, but 9:00pm EST is normally when I go to bed, so it'll be a short cameo, haha. Olofantur: You sound like someone who would enjoy the SCA! I have to confess I could never really get into the political kingdom games side of medieval history, but I have been teaching myself calligraphy and how to make illuminated manuscripts, although more like the kind you'd find in the Book of Kells. As for my armored combat group, we learn many different weapons. Each semester is structured around a different weapon. The standard curriculum includes single-handed sword, two-handed sword, hand-and-a-half, dagger/buckler, quarterstaff, and florentine. Advanced curriculum run the gamut of the more historically unusual weapons: axe, mace, warhammer, pike, polearms, etc., and our independent study for knighthood involves a weapon of our choice. They do train us how to use each weapon effectively against an armored opponent, though for the sake of simplicity we assume the opponent is wearing a standard set of full plate. (Many of our combat drills end in thrusts to the gusset.) The curriculum focuses on chivalry and knighthood, and the majority of our forms and drills are based on Hans Talhoffer's swordfighting manuscripts, so the instruction has more of a late Middle Ages English/Germanic feel. But on the whole, most of the students and instructors in our branch are more interested in the Viking and pre-Christian Celtic eras (myself included). They give us a high degree of flexibility in how we armor ourselves, so when I make my armor I'm going to try to give it a Celtic aesthetic. Between foam safety weapons, polyurethane training weapons, live steel, and armor, it is not an inexpensive hobby, but for nerds like me who have a long-standing fascination with medieval combat, it is money well spent. Sorry for the wall of text. I tend to ramble on subjects that inspire me.

Thanks for putting this event together. It sounds like a great opportunity for newcomers like me. I'll take a look at my schedule and see if I can swing it.

Hello all! I'm Emily, player of Thundering Hammer on Balmung. You can call me Hammer, or Ham -- I'm not picky. I just picked up FFXIV on Monday, and have been ravenously devouring it all week. I played the beta briefly back in 2010, and I am so impressed by how much the game has improved since then. I've been a gamer all my life, and have enjoyed roleplaying in MMOs for a little over ten years now. I haven't delved too deeply into the lore of this world yet, but I'm looking forward to learning! I'm interested in all shades of roleplay, though I don't anticipate doing a lot of "tavern" roleplay, because my gaming time these days is limited and therefore very precious. I'd love to find an adventuring companion/group to roleplay with through dungeons or leveling. But of course, random RP is great too! So if you see a giant white-haired Roegadyn looking lost in Gridania, please feel free to say hello. Don't let her angry glare fool you -- she just has a bitchy resting face. Beyond the game, I juggle many hobbies. I'm a student of medieval armored combat, which takes up a lot of my weekends. This week I'm ordering my first live steel swords, and I'm very excited! I also do a lot of wood and bone carving, and a little leatherworking. My goal for next year is to learn how to make functional leather armor and chainmail (because a full suit of armor can get really expensive!), but right now I'm trying to focus on pulling together a set of drinking horns for Christmas presents. Guess that's enough for now. I'm happy to be here, and I'm really looking forward to meeting new people. The community seems exceptionally helpful and mature so far, which is a welcome change of pace.