Preface (NRSKW)

Preface by the Editor

Hello, and welcome to Belegarth Medieval Combat Society! This guide is intended as a comprehensive guide to the rules, customs, and people of Belegarth. As always, if you can’t find what you need here or in another Belegarth website or publication, the best thing to do is ask a knowledgeable veteran fighter. If you don’t live in an area with an established Belegarth group, please utilize the web board located at the national Belegarth website (http://www.belegarth.com). There are loads of friendly and informative people there that would love to answer any questions you have about Belegarth, the universe, and everything.

Credit Where Credit is Due

I’d like to thank Bhakdar, Lili, Ninuvin, and Poeir as my primary proofreaders. Thank you to Bhakdar for helping me write content and providing excellent weapon designs for the appendix. Thank you to the Belegarth population as a whole on the web boards for everyone’s input and suggestions for making this manual better and more complete. Thank you to all the photographers and realms that provided photographs and illustrations. Thank you to everyone who taught me everything I know about fighting in the first place, without you I would know nothing.

-- Xipher

Preface to the Wikified Version

While setting up to start a new realm, I looked to the Belegarth boards (http://boards.belegarth.com) for a ‘Streamlined Book of War’ or some other new member friendly handbook. Finding that there were several projects, some new, some old, none complete, I decided to start my own. My project however did not endeavor to create any new content, but to tie sources of information together in a way that they would be updated automagickly. Based largely on Xipher’s book and Cib’s ‘New Realm Starter Kit’ document package, I titled my project ‘The Wikified New Realm Starter Kit’. The book you are reading is one of many possible results from this project, contributed to by not only Xipher, Cib or myself, or by Bhakdar, Lili, Ninuvi, and Poeir, but by anyone that has ever added information to the Belegarth wiki.

Being a book contained on the Belegarth Wiki (http://www.geddon.org) and compiled by realm leaders, ambitious players, or anyone that has an interest in using the Belegarth: MCS system, this ‘book’ could take any number of forms, i.e. a PDF or MS Word document, an HTML document, a printed Manual, etc. Also, because this book is compiled and formatted by those interested parties, versions may differ in formatting and content. This is intentional as each Belegarth realm may have differing needs, view points or customs regarding any number of things. Take these differences in stride as Belegarth is a large and diverse community, and with the exception of safety related issues, most anything is acceptable. We are all here to share in and enhance each other’s fun.

-- Eeach Lighteningclaw, HORDE Gutterrunner