With the new season only two weeks away, everyone is starting to break out the gear and garb they didn't use over the winter. Folks who stopped during the winter are starting back up again, and those who continued through the winter welcome Spring's warm dawning.

What's interesting is how much Anvard grew over the winter. By the end of last season, Anvard had accumulated a fair number of folks throughout the duration of the same. Over the winter, though, our numbers grew dramatically. After the Brotherhood of the Broken Skull, the Brotherhood of Northshire, and the Myrmidons were set as 'inactive', they were replaced with several units for whom we have high hopes.

Sir Jack III and his Green-Hilted Swords not only bring several more people to the ranks of Anvard, but Sir Jack III brings over ten years of Western Martial Arts and combat experience.

Up in Billerica comes Allana, and Ex Tumulous Nos Venit, a band of young fighers whom we hope will blossom into hardy warriors.

The Mountain Blades, a subunit of Northern Blades, adds even more to roster of Anvard.

With the influx the new members, we look forward to regularly fielding anywhere from 15-30 warriors. We are however, a bit jaded about the whole affair; many is the time we've seen people join up and come to the first few battles only to drop out at the end of the season when winter rolls around.

We're being optimistic, though: we hope these new units will stay active and grow. The biggest issue with everyone staying active in Anvard is due to the unique nature of the realm itself: we're spread out over 5 states. That is unusually widespread and large for a realm.

Take care everyone!

Humbly,

Turgon