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OOC Explanation *Small fliers are spread and nailed about with some neat writing and a small crude map.* "Dear reader, I, Mark Lander, am attempting to form a group of marksmen and ones wishing to learn the way of the bow and the woodsman. If that may interest you, then I would like you to either send me a bird with the application below filled out, or we may meet in person. I am a marksman of many years and much skill, and look forward to having peers in this art." *A short application is then listed with sufficient space left for answers.* ((What is your MC username?)) What is your name? What race and sub-race are you? Are you a man or a woman? How old are you? What training with a bow and other related skills have you had? Are you willing to become a helpful member of the community being formed? What skills or trades do you excel in? Are you willing to follow a dress code and the creed of the group being formed? Finally, what exactly has led you to want to join us? Any additional comments? *Then, a small crude map is included with a circled area.* "That is where I am considering setting up our camp. If you wish to meet me or comment on the location, please do so." More OOC ((That region needs 5 people. I already have two counting myself and someone else, and the pillar is not a big issue. If you are another group reading this and were planning on settling down there, send me a PM so we can talk.))

Introduction The knights of the forests...The shadows of the night. We stick to our oath... bow's first... sword second. We fight in the forests and use our skills with a bow to our advantage. We are a group of men free for ourselves... that guard the land. We make sure that Valles is safe from crime... We are essentially a guard force... but we're also a separate guild. We listen to only one... and no other. We fight the enemies of our lands till our last breath and we will never surrender. The Beginning of the Rangers The rangers had a grave beginning. Nym Vala the leader of the first rangers. sat watching the burial of Emperor Siegmund, he felt alone... being Elvish, he watched his close friend, Ericus Sarino, A young boy he himself had trained the arts of the bow and stealth. His young apprentice stood guard, watching over the burial. After the rights were said and everything was done... a small group of 3 stayed... Nym slowly approached his head down. He looked up at Jonathan Othaman and spoke with his calm voice, after some negotiating he had formed the rangers of Valles. The peace was soon disturbed by an attack by the goths. Nym using his archery skills. Soon dispatched both of the attackers with kill shots. After sometime, the group were gave a small encampment and made this in the base in Valles. Ranger Ranks: Ranger Apprentice: An apprentice ranger whom will get a mentor, he or she will become a shadow when the mentor deems them for them to become a full scale ranger (or a shadow) these rangers will not yet get a full longbow, They however will receive a recurve bow, a bow which is much easier for them to learn with. Ranger: This is a full Ranger, this person will receive a longbow and will be taught to use it, after this the person shall receive missions and will also fight for the cause. The shadows will be allowed to roam around freely as they wish, but however may-be called for battle or for scouting. Elite Ranger: This person has show their worth and has developed a huge amount of skill and loyalty for their time for Valles and the rangers themselves, these people will get a Apprentice and will be expected to train them to the highest of standards that they can. They will also in battle get a small amount of rangers to command, this will consist of three, and they will expected to shoot to high standards. Shadow Ranger: This is the best of the best in the ranger corps, these people have shown true loyalty and have true skill with a bow. He or she has also show true skill in commanding. This person will get a group of 6 and will have a say over them. This person will also get 2 apprentices that he or she must try to train them to the highest of standards. They also are leading rangers in stealth and may give the other rangers advice if they need it. Nocturnal: These rangers are the second in command, and command over most of the over rangers, They have a unit of 8 and are allowed to hand pick who are in this group, it requires a lot of loyalty and time to join this section, they may accept applicants and choose who joins the guild. He or she will get 2 apprentices and they will grow to become ranger, they are also allowed to accompany the leader to any meetings with any other guilds or nations. There is only 2 nocturnals usually and are allowed to choose when someone becomes a ranger or not. Umbra: The leading Ranger, he or she has full control of the guild is allowed most of the decisions, he can give out jobs to any of the ranks and is allowed to choose the ranks of any of the corp's. He has the ultimate decision over all. If the Umbra dies. Then the guild shall cast a vote of whom they wish to be the leader of the corp. They are also required to be at a ceremony to become the shadow rank Housing: A member of the corps will get there very own room to share with another ranger of the corp, they will get a bunk and also a chest for personal items and use. Uniform: A member of the rangers may wear anything that is grey, green or dark red, and gives the illusion of the forest, they may have to wear certain uniforms sometimes but they may wear what they wish for comfort. Though the uniform has to be light, simply to not restrict movement at all. Recruitment Application ________________________________________________________________________________ OOC Information Mc-Name: Skype(State yes or no): Have you had any ban reports or ban's on the server? In Character Information Name: Race: Age: Skilled with: Why you wish to join: How did you hear about us: Are you prepared to die for our cause: You see a man in a forest, attempting to grab a man, What do you do? Previous combat experiences: If you are given an apprentice, do you deem yourself worthy to protect them? Will you listen to your superiors without hesitation? Do you accept loyalty to the Ranger corp? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Umbra (Leader): Nym Vala (joke13)

A Guide To Bows By oblivionsbane This is a guide I wrote to explain not just how to emote bows, but why you need to emote them a certain way and the differences between each. When I first joined LotC these guides were a lot of how I learned how to RP and became the RP'er that I am today. So I am making this not only to try and help fill the void that guides like Crossbow 101 left now that it has been taken down, but also to provide the most thorough guide on bows possible. I also advise reading ski_king's guide on how to get shot after reading through this guide. A link can be found in the Further Guides and Reference portion at the bottom of this post. Types of Bows -Short bow- Short bows are basically just small curved pieces of wood with a string. Quality varies, but generally they don't exceed 60 pound draw weight. This is what most bows on LotC are assumed to be in PvP/MC unless otherwise stated. Short to medium range -Recurve bow- A bow that is basically strung against it's natural curve. This allows for a little more power. Usually these max out around 85 pounds or so at most, normally having 60-65. Short to medium range. -Composite bow- Extremely complicated and time consuming to make. It can take six months to a year to produce just one. It is basically a recurve bow with horn and sinew made into it, giving it a lot of power for it's size. Also due to the glue that is used to hold it together, it is very sensitive to water so you need to keep it as dry as possible. It maxes out around 110 to 120 if made with absolute quality. These bows were known for their effectiveness in horse archery, especially if being used with a tool called a thumb ring. It also has the same emote order as the previous two, making it quite the weapon. Medium to long range. -Longbow- The strongest of all the conventional bows, usually standing around six feet tall, making it somewhat cumbersome. It can have an extremely high draw weight for a bow, maxing out around 200 by some claims. Because of it's draw, it requires training in certain techniques and large muscles built just for it in the arm used to draw with. It takes about four to six years to reliably and effectively learn how to use a longbow. This bow takes an extra emote to balance it's strength and attribute for it's added time to draw. Elves usually use these bows, since they are also usually taller and live long enough that they can take full advantage of the longbows extensive learning curve. Also it is worth mentioning because of their size and shape they were rarely used on horseback. In the hands of a skilled longbowman, a longbow is one of the most dangerous weapons on the battlefield. (As an added note, longbows don't exactly have a typical range/strength that other bows do. Longbows can be shot high up into the air, and gravity pulls the arrow down at fast speeds making their power and range variable upon how it is fired. Although firing in the air is more than a little inaccurate most of the time.) Medium to very long range. -Crossbow- The crossbow is a widely varied weapon utilizing internal mechanisms to fire. It's mechanisms consist of a trigger, usually a metal bar on the underside of the weapon, and a piece of metal that pops up with an audible click for the string to rest against when spanned called a nut. When the trigger is pulled the nut drops down and the string goes forward, catching the missile and propelling it. Medium to extremely long range for the most powerful ones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ziq5zm4uO-Y Two things really set one crossbow apart from others, it's draw weight, and the method in which you span it. There are multiple ways to span a crossbow, which method is chosen is usually decided by the actual draw weight of the weapon. If it has a fairly low draw weight, like a eighty to a hundred pounds, it can be spanned by hand. If it is more in the league of typical crossbows, around 200-300 pounds, it is spanned by a lever that attaches to the stock and the string, pulling the lever back and placing it behind the nut. Or alternatively there is a belt where a piece hangs down that attaches to the string. You attach it then simply stand up, using the muscles in your legs to span it. Left to right: Windlass, levers(top), cranequin(bottom), and belt spanner. Then there are the big boys, the cranequin and the windlass. These bows can range widely in power, usually having over six hundred pounds of draw weight, and maxing out in some finely engineered bows at a little over a thousand. The cranequin is a crank that spans the weapon by using gear(rack and pinion), the windlass however uses pulleys. Crossbows, depending on the method used to span them, can take at the very least four and at most about six or seven emotes for the windlass and cranequin. As a final note, it is IMPOSSIBLE to carry a loaded or even spanned crossbow with you. It would more than likely go off on accident from you carrying it. Not to mention it would damage the machine if you leave so much stress on it for so long. Finally you can't carry a loaded crossbow around with you, the bolt only goes into a little notch, it can very easily fall out. If any of that doesn't faze you, the fact it is power gaming on par with catching an arrow in mid flight, should. How to Emote -Normal Bow, Recurve Bow, and Composite Bow- Take out the bow, get an arrow from your quiver, nock it while pulling the bow back, aim and then fire. -Longbow- Take the longbow out, get an arrow from your quiver, nock it and begin to pull the bow back, raise the bow, aim and fire Crossbows: -Hand spanned- Get the crossbow out, set it on the ground putting your foot into the stirrup, span the bow back and pick it up, set a bolt into the notch, aim and fire. -Lever- Get the crossbow out, set it on the ground putting your foot into the stirrup, get the lever out and attach it to the bow, span the bow before taking the lever off and picking it up, load a bolt into the notch, aim and fire. -Cranequin/Windlass- Get the crossbow out, set it on the ground putting your foot into the stirrup, get the cranequin/windlass mechanism and attach it to the bow, wind back the cranequin/windlass, unwind the device just a bit to set the string against the nut before taking the spanner off, pick the bow up and load a bolt into the notch, aim and fire. Piercing Armor This is dependent mainly on the strength and distance away the bow is fired. Here is a table on armor penetration(for typical plate.) Draw weight/Range: 0-50 Up to chain mail from ten meters. 50-100 Can pierce plate reliably out to fifteen meters. 100-150 Can pierce plate reliably out to about twenty-five meters. 150-200 Armor penetration as far out as thirty five meters. 200+ Increasing penetration at increasing ranges. Other Bows -Chu-Ko-Nu- This is basically a repeating crossbow invented by the Chinese. It works by having a magazine on top of the bow attached to a handle. When you pull the handle up and back it spans the crossbow for you and drops a bolt down into it's notch. When the handle is fully pulled back it automatically launches the bolt. These bows usually had low draw weights and were extremely inaccurate, made to not even be aimed. Now, I should say that these are BANNED on LotC to my knowledge. The reason being people power gamed them saying they were capable of high draw weights, while still keeping their relatively high rate of fire. -Yumi- This is the Japanese bow. They were varying in size, but were all large, the largest being one of if not the largest bow ever used in combat being close to and sometimes just exceeding seven feet tall. They had low to medium draw weights because higher draws were never needed on the Japanese battlefield. They were however capable of impressive range. It should also be noted these bows were made to be used on horseback along with on the ground. -Crossbow pistol- This is basically a crossbow small enough that it can be held and fired with one hand, sometimes incorporating a pistol grip. They used low draw weights of not more than 40 pounds. Again, these were power gamed and subsequently BANNED as far as I know. (Also the pistol gripped ones are more modern technology and don't fit the theme.) Equipment -Thumb ring- A ring that goes on the thumb that allows you to pull the bow string back using the more powerful thumb digit. This is primarily used in horse archery to give a cleaner and more controlled shot while galloping or at a canter. It works by basically having it so that the string rests against it rather than the flesh of your thumb. -Quiver- You probably know what this is already, but basically it is a container for arrows usually put on your back or sometimes your belt. -Bow case- Not seen being used often, it was basically a case you put a bow in while running around to help protect it from the elements and make it easier to carry. -Wrist guard- A piece of leather or equivalent that goes on the hand that holds the bow to protect from the string hitting the hand. -Bow scope- Doesn't exist... Yet. Arrows There is a wide variety of arrow designs in the world, that can do an equal variety of things, but mainly you need to know three. -Bodkin- Popularly used for piercing armor. They are short and come to a point rather quickly. -Broad head- Basically an arrow with two to four blades coming outward from the main arrow. This is what you probably think of when thinking of a typical arrow. -Blunt- These are for stunning a target or for practice shooting. They hurt a lot and can do fair damage to bones and organs if it hits in the right spot with enough power. Further Guides and Reference Longbow Video Composite Bow Video (That last one I would pay more attention to the examples rather than what they say. They say somewhere in there, or what it sounds like to me, that a composite bow could have a four thousand pound draw, which is /quite/ impossible.)