The Armour Archive

Animal Weretiger wrote:Frieman wrote: I didn't see a single instance (not one) of thick skins, dehydration tempers, or ego monsters. Even the marshals and the waterbearers were great. Even the Tuchux wenches were friendly and helpful, and they are famous for being unforgiving.

This struck me as somewhat insulting. Would you explain what you meant by that please?

I hope that you will accept that I intended in no way to be insulting. I don't need to insult the wenches, and I have no reason to.

I have always been warned to just stay away from the wenches. Never by a Tuchux (that I can recall), but I have been told by several people that I should just steer clear. The general impression I have was "Just let them play their game, they don't want to play yours."

My few experiences with the wenches have reinforced this belief. I can't recall any but one. I was standing in line at a coffee house, behind a wench, and I realized that I had a chance to meet a tuchux in a social setting. (For background for those who might read this) There is an erroneous rumor about the hash marks that at least some wenches will wear on their arms. I noticed that the wench in front of me had nine, and I said, "That's a lot of hash marks there." The reply I got was "Yeah, I get around" and she turned away. She hadn't noticed that I had a dozen tags hanging on my belt, and I got the impression that she definitely didn't want to meet me in a social setting, so we both sat alone at separate tables, and drank our coffees in silence. I hadn't meant to insult her, and I should have told her that, but I didn't.

So the impression I got was "Prickly and unforgiving, best to leave them alone."

My experiences this war were entirely different. I came off the field with a broken strap holding up my leg harness, and I asked the fighter who was walking off next to me if he had any ducktape, as I had forgotten to bring any. He said "No, but the wenches do." and led me over to the wenches. They greeted him by name, and he asked them to help me get the strap fixed. No less than three wenches helped me, smiling, laughing and giving me water. Since the strap fastened to my kidney belt (beneath my body armor) I was essentially holding my skirts up while they taped the broken strap underneath, to my belt. I can recall one of them saying "This is definitely the wierdest armor repair I have ever done".

I got back into the battle because of the wenches, and I killed several more opponents that day. I wouldn't have without them. I hope that you will accept that I would not knowingly insult them.

freiman

No worries mate. I figured I'd ask before I assumed anything. Some of the wenches wear hash marks indicating how many wars they[ve been to. For the wenches it's a mark of pride when they last.
Also, some SCA people make all sorts of assumptions about our wenches and act according to those instead of respectfully. It happens enough that the wenches look out for it and so do those of us that escort them. People get the impression that our wenches are untouchable. They are. They like it that way. We make sure they feel like they are cherished and treasured because of the excellent care they give us. I'm glad they helped you, you seem like a decent fellow and all. I know it isnt always easy to get a clear impression of folks.
BTW I looked for you. I was gonna give you a dollar and smack you around but I never saw where you were. Good job on your fights though. Seriously.

Hey Animal, Tuchux Wenches are awesome! They gave me water when i really need it, thus elivating them to goddess status....

No worries. We love them. They take pride on taking care of us and no one does it better than they do