Colum Cille 3D 2025
I was excited to be back at Ballywalter for a couple of reasons, one of which was because of the new species of pheasant introduced to the estate. This species is known as Reeve’s Pheasant and comes from China. And…
Tag archery passion
War of the Feathers – Part 5
X It was too much to hope that the Xellcarrians would have let them have the rest of the afternoon, Evander lamented. Then again, there was more desperation behind them than General Aedion had let on. On the horizon, like…
Lion, Bolt, Torn Scroll
The last winds of March in the year of 1199 must have stirred through the valleys of Limousin with no particular burden, no whisper of what tremor would so soon ripple out across the aching spine of the Angevin world.…
War of the Feathers – Part 4
V It was the same horse that had thrown Evander from its saddle not long ago. But that hardly mattered to him as he spurred it on, past the dead splayed across the battlefield, after the rider. He didn’t need…
War of the Feathers – Part 3
Day 2 I It had been too long a night. For General Casey Aiza his restlessness was now searing into something more tangible, a solid force he could finally apply. Still, it was bittersweet in a way. Since he was…
War of the Feathers – Part 2
IV “I always wanted to do a landscape of the Mayne Lighthouse,” Ebrill said, relief in her voice as they clattered down the steps of the lighthouse’s base into the refreshingly cool, salty air. Evander enjoyed the taste and smell…
War of the Feathers – Part I
The beginning of a war, the arrows of one nation against the griffin worshiping ideology of another nation.
Following on from the prologue published last month, Evander Penrose must endure against the surrealist nature of this conflict and build a defence to repel vast odds.
Aleksander Wat and Japanese Archery
Japanese Archery By Aleksander Wat (in Marcin Malek poetical interpretation) 1The hand to the bowstring speaks:Bend to me, yield.The bowstring to the hand replies:Strike bold, be steeled.The bowstring whispers to the shaft:O arrow, flee!The arrow to the bowstring calls:Unshackle me!The…
War of the Feathers
When a holy beast is slain by a rogue and so-called Maytoni prince retribution comes fast for the Maytoni nation. Their neighbours, the Xellcarrians, once bonded allies, are seeking blood as recompense.
Royalism is akin to heresy within Maytoni, going against their values of equality and equity - but this hardly stops families with bloodlines rooted in lost riches and prestige.
As the prelude to total war plays out on the Mayne Peninsula, Evander Penrose of the Maytoni Summiteers, elite archers, finds himself in unofficial command. He understands the contrived origins of the conflict, and wants the so-called prince handed over. Yet with the preparator in flight, and thirty thousand Xellcarrians on the horizon, Evander must hold off annexation, against six to one odds, whilst doing everything he can to prevent further escalation.
Yet the Xellcarrians are not his true enemy, as the Maytoni pro-royalist elements seek to ensure bloody total war erupts to ensure the resurgence of their own power.
For anyone who has read The Phoenix Archer, the name Evander Penrose and the War of the Feathers will be recognisable. This is his story about a defining event which has a profound effect on his character in The Phoenix Archer follow up, Orion's Legacy.
The Arrows That Sang Against Steel: The Spanish Conquest and the Vanishing Echo of Indigenous Archery
You never forget the first book that cuts you. The one that leaves a wound, not in flesh, but in the quiet, unguarded place where thoughts sleep before they wake to meaning. Mine was a battered volume on the The…...
DWild Sinusoid Limbs
Sinusoid limbs are multi-cam patented limbs by Davide Vicini from Genoa in Italy. Davide worked for many years as a naval carpenter, where he learnt about the different characteristics of various woods, fibreglass and carbon. This coupled with the fact…...
Archers Talkin’ Archery – Leeanne Halliday
More quick interviews with archers here in the north and elsewhere. Archers Talkin' Archery is back!
A Bow Drawn Against the Wind – Akira Kurosawa and his vision of men
Stories are not told. They are loosed, like arrows from a drawn bow, their fletching kissed by breath, their paths uncertain yet inevitable. A storyteller does not own the tale—he only pulls the string, lets it fly, watches it carve…
The Forgotten Legacy of French Archery
There are few things as revealing of a nation’s soul as the way it arms itself, not merely in the sense of conquest and defence, but in the quiet rituals and peculiar allegiances woven into its martial traditions. A nation’s…...
a whisper in the dark
You think you understand violence. You think you’ve seen it, measured it, weighed it in your hands like something you could master, something that bends to the will of the wielder. You think a weapon is just a tool. But…
Autism in Archery – Jessica Burcow
Welcome to a new series where I interview autistic archers about our experiences within archery. The goal here is to better inform people of our condition and needs within the sport. Furthermore, there will find plenty for those of us…
Thorgal – precision, restraint and choice.
The trade was small, insignificant in the grand scheme of things. A childhood barter, some scrap of possession given away for something else, though the details are long since swallowed by the tides of memory. I don’t remember what I…
“Field Ready” outdoor Column
The wind shifted. That peculiar scent of damp earth, wood smoke, and the first stirrings of green rising from winter’s quiet breath. The hedgerows outside my window whispered of coming rain, the kind that soaks slow and steady, not in…...
Andrew’s 20 questions – #26 michael hambly
Now this month we feature an absolute gentleman,… such a kind, thoughtful, considerate and lovely guy all round. he is one of the stalwarts of the great mayo archery club and always has a word of welcome and a smile…...
Smack my controversy Column
