Riddle Game #11

[higgins]

Riddle time! What is going on in this picture? Yes, it's an activity!



If you can't think of what that activity could be, you can also take guesses at what those items are and why they are set up that way.

[thirtythr33]

Is it a form of quintain?

[higgins]

Alas, we don't have horses

[Marras]

Two shields used to protect from projectiles above? Maybe that leather of cloth is used to provide additional cover?

[higgins]

Hint: The pattern on the shield is weird. And you've probably seen it on a picture before if you've been paying attention.

[Marras]

They have been part of setup for tournaments?

[thirtythr33]

A couple of ideas... none of which feel like the right answer though.

First of all, the pattern is from here:


My first idea was that you broke your heater and decided to scavenge it by breaking down into a pair of bucklers. However, the arrows don't match up unless you also had the inside of the shield painted prior to its use. If this were the case, the "activity" looks like trying to put a new bend in the wood by lashing it tightly over a post. If this were the case, I imagine you would repaint the correct heraldry over it afterwards.

Another idea along the same lines as the quintain above is that it is some other kind of shield that needs to bear heraldry but isn't used for fighting. Such as for a Tree of Shields or Pas d'arms. We know that depending on the challenge the shields would have different paint.

I just don't know why it would bear only half the heraldry. The only thing I can think of is some kind of weird Impalement for a marriage. From the above the green/black would take the Femme side of the heraldry but it would usually be combined onto one field not two half shields held side by side.

[higgins]

First of all, the pattern is from here:

That is indeed one of those exact shields.

My first idea was that you broke your heater and decided to scavenge it by breaking down into a pair of bucklers. However, the arrows don't match up unless you also had the inside of the shield painted prior to its use. If this were the case, the "activity" looks like trying to put a new bend in the wood by lashing it tightly over a post. If this were the case, I imagine you would repaint the correct heraldry over it afterwards.

That's the gist of it! The term that I was looking was "shield recycling".

Basically we had two heaters torn up beyond use, so, we cut them down into striking shields. They are indeed tied down to set in the bend. They'll get several layers of canvas next. Maybe some paint, too.

Oh, and the "leather" on one side... It does look a lot like rawhide on the image, but it's actually just paper to make sure that the glue applied to patch up the plys on the broken side wouldn't adhere to the cord.

[thirtythr33]

Huh. For some reason after finding the picture of the heater it didn't even occur to me that there could have been two originals. Your hint about the paint being weird made me overthink the heraldry. I did notice the rivets and the nails and padding matched up on the right striking shield but the left one threw me.

Are you not allowed to use a metal to rim the edges of your shield to make it last longer?

I'm killing your riddles higgins .

[higgins]

I'm killing your riddles higgins .

Yes! Yes, you are!

Huh. For some reason after finding the picture of the heater it didn't even occur to me that there could have been two originals.

The third one is still going!

Are you not allowed to use a metal to rim the edges of your shield to make it last longer?

It's technically allowed if you cover it with authentic materials, but that's quite a bit of hassle in itself. We're experimenting with more layers of canvas now and see how they hold up.

I'm sure more authentic materials would also help. The trouble with plywood shields is that the plies come loose after repeated hits and after that the shield just shreds:




That sticker on the back denotes that before meeting its thankless and wretched end, this shield has passed Battle of the Nations weapon check

Nylon webbing sucks for rimming, as it's too soft. The third shield would be in similar condition, but I took off the nylon rim at some point and repaired it.



Stuck a load of wood glue in there and it was almost as good as new. Here it is, re-rimmed with rawhide. It's getting softer as well, but still has some life left in it.