Titus Stephen West
Tramping of Feet

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Kagan Trent
By Arrow Swift

Well-trained longbowmen could commonly shoot 250-350 yards. Some modern archers using reproduced longbows have shot 350-450 yards while there is a claim of one man loosing an arrow 482 yards with a longbow.
- An arrow (or a bolt, if it’s from a crossbow) is not ‘fired’. This is a mistake many people make and which I am probably guilty of myself. The term ‘fired’ is related to gunpowder. Arrows are ‘loosed’.
- Crossbows are kept strung and loaded. Longbows are kept unstrung and (contrary to some movies and books) shouldn’t be hung over the shoulder.
- Medieval longbows were made to measure, and ranged from 6-7 feet in length.
- The wood of the longbow was protected with a rub of wax, resin, and fine tallow.
- Arrows called short bodkins were used for piercing plate armor while others called swallowtails were used to bring down horses.
Thundering of Hooves

On Roads / trails
Level or rolling terrain: 40
Hilly terrain: 30
Mountainous terrain: 20
Off-Road (or unkempt trails etc)
Level/rolling grasslands: 30
Hilly grasslands: 25
Level/rolling forest/thick scrub: 20
Very hilly forest/thick scrub: 15
Un-blazed Mountain passes: 10
Marshland: 10
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Found on Pinterest |
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Found on Pinterest |
Join the Legend Seekers for regular updates on Hope’s writing, first notices about sales, and free monthly stories about a pair of fantasy time travelers and realm leapers. Click here to sign up
The World in 2212
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Found on Pinterest |
By Blade and Mettle

- Long, dramatic pauses as two foes lock swords and deliver terse short (and, admittedly at times, cool) lines. Swords, when they lock, only pause the fight for the fraction of a second. And, when a person is fighting for their life, they don’t stop to for cute insults and comebacks.
- Punching and kicking when there’s an opening instead of just cutting or stabbing.
- Closing in to hit the enemy with the hilt or pommel of the sword instead of the blade (there might be a time when a soldier does use his hilt, but if the fighter can use his sword, then he’ll use his sword).
- Finishing off the enemy with a simple stab after minutes of nothing but trying to hack at him throughout the fight.
- Spinning and twirling the sword in one hand during the middle of a battle (or the warrior spinning himself) might look cool but will probably be the last dramatic act the spinner will ever make.
- Swinging at a disarmed opponent yet still missing him over and over. I mean, the person might be quick, but in a logical situation, he’ll probably be hurt or killed pretty quickly.
- Missing a strike so that the inertia of the blow spins the attacker around.
- Having the hero lose his sword and recover it. Sure, it could happen…maybe. It’s cool in books and movies. But for real life, if a soldier loses his sword he’ll probably be killed before he recovers it.
Elentisa
