Chicken

Real Name: Erik Burton

Started Fighting: Spring 2001

Orginal Realm: Chamonix

Current Realm: Rhûn

Unit: Clan of the Hydra (Hydra Wall), Iron Crown (Hydra Veil)

Weapon of Choice: Spear, buckler, and club.

History

Chicken began his fighting career in Chamonix, a realm formed in 1996 for a former Numenorian which existed in isolation for many years, and developed a number of unusual rules, traditions, and standards as a result. He is a spearfighter in the line for Clan of the Hydra and a bad archer who keeps shooting anyway. He also builds way too many weapons. In the winter of 2004, Chicken began fighting with Clan of the Hydra, who turned out to be a damn cool bunch of nerds. Although he'd been fighting for years, Wolfpack Opener 2005 was his first event with over 150 people, and Spring Wars 05 was his first campout event.

Name

Chicken was not always named Chicken. The naming tradition in Chamonix was for all new fighters to choose a name by their third session. If they did not have one in mind, or if their choice was rejected, they would be given a name. Chicken chose his first name, a swordsman from literature, but it was four syllables, a bit pretentious, and didn't actually fit, so no one used it. Meanwhile, like many new fighters, Chicken fought for a year almost exclusively with a red sword. Chamonix required all weapons to be covered in a cloth matching the weapon's color, so some witty person had picked up some nice dark red cloth covered in chickens, perhaps to make a point. Lacking any handy alternatives, Chicken had used this cloth to cover the sword he later came to be associated with.

Finally, after more than a year of functionally having no fighting name, Chicken renounced his name and demanded a new one. After defeating two of the current masters for the privilege, he was allowed to choose a new name, but refused, allowing one to be chosen for him instead, knowing that such names tended to be far more memorable. After little discussion, he was dubbed Chicken, and few have forgotten it since.

Weapons

Chicken with whale flail and shield, Spring War 05. In the background is an incarnation of the sword for which he was named.

With no natural talent and little training despite his years of experience, Chicken had never been particularly good at any fighting style, which he viewed as an excuse to try them all. After his fighting with a red sword for his first year, he built a large yellow shield, which has served him well, and a short skirmishing glaive, among many, many other weapons. He learned the rudiments of fighting with a whale flail from Snake, the owner of the eponymous weapon, and has lately been trying out sword and round. He has also been slowly trying to learn to be a decent archer so that he can still be fighting in 40 years.

Chicken is an obsessed foamsmith, and has built many more weapons than he can possibly use. A current rough count, including weapons donated to Clan of the Hydra is at least:

25 swords
7 spears
6 glaives
6 shields
2 flails
2 axes
1 club
1 stabby dagger
2 dozen arrows
11 javelins

The Spear

Two days after Thanksgiving, 2004, a man named Thomas Alexander died in a car crash while visiting his finacée's family for the holiday. Thomas was also known to those from Chamonix as Tolonius, then Master of the Sword and spearman extraordinaire. Far more than that, he was an endlessly kind, fun, and generally wonderful human being. Not knowing anything else to do, I decided to learn to fight with a spear in his honor. I found my calling, and haven't looked back since.