Welcome to Cove

Merit classes can be attended by any member of the AA. The more you attend, the more you learn.

After attending certain sorts of classes and gaining enough knowledge and understanding of said topics, you can teach these merit classes yourself to share your knowledge!

Merit classes that have taken place shall be posted below by whoever teaches the class, or a participator of the class.

*Signed*
Kelly Sanderson, Corporal

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Yesterday eve saw the very first Arkay's Archery Guild merit class! The Guild had been growing quite rapidly over the last few days and several of the Neophytes had already completed their Novice-task. Given the lack of exercises most of the attendees had, I decided to hold a mostly theoretical class.



The repeating Crossbow holds a magazine that can contain up to twenty individual bolts. The Crossbow arms the crossbow and loads a bolt automatically allowing you to rapidly shoot consecutive shots. It's major downsides are the lack of accuracy and power. This weapon is the preferred weapon for Neophytes and Novices. Without needing to arm or load the crossbow the new archer can concentrate on aiming and shooting. We took an in depth look at the different parts and everyone got to hold and familiarise themselves with the weapon.



After the thorough examination of the Repeater we moved on to the Heavy Crossbow, otherwise called Big Betsy or the Mauler. This crossbow packs quite a wallop, but it takes some considerable training and muscle to operate it. Too heavy to wield comfortably on a battlefield, these crossbows are generally used for their raw power. They're commonly used to unsaddle an upcoming cavalrycharge. In close quarters they're very difficult to use effectively but have been enhanced with a pike. When fighting at close range you're better off using the thing as a makeshift pike or club.



The Battle Crossbow is the most versatile weapon in the arsenal of the Archer. It's light, yet sufficient powerful to pierce armour. In front of the crossbow is a latch that allows you to configure the crossbow for speed and power or for accuracy. The accuracy of the weapon gives a skilled archer the ability to inflict precision and mortal wounds! When configured for speed and power the crossbow has been known to pierce armour and shock the target.

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Yesterday eve, another Arkay's Archer Guild Merit Class was held. This time the topic was movement and concealment. A topic which required the students to move out of the guildhall and into the forest surrounding Cove.

After arriving at the training grounds, Erik proceeded to explain that indeed a Covian wielding a Crossbow is the most lethal weapon in Sosaria. Unfortunately our enemies are well aware of this fact. This requires a skilled Covian archer to take full advantage of his ability to stay mobile and conceal his whereabouts!

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1. Concealment!

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There are three ways to remain concealed from your enemies:

• Behind trees!
• Behind buildings!
• From inside an archerhut constructed out of hides!

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2. Moving around your target

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Approaching your target while avoiding to be clobbered is quite a difficult task for archers! It depends a lot on experience, but to help the novice's ahead I showed them the Arkay Attack Sequence!

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3. Positioning

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We finished up by explaining that archers always pick up position quite a few paces behind the general army. The idea being to avoid being spotted by the enemy and then rain down your bolts as they collide with our more armoured boys!

After the training ended I handed out their merit badges and congratulated the men on an excellent training!