While the outside weather wasn't exactly cooperating, the Green Glacier Adventure Clan really liked the Spring Fair. Sure a lot of events had to be inside, because of weather that was more conducive to winter rather than spring, but the Medieval/Renaissance Fair motif that was set up for the fair went right up their alley. While Peter, Jerry, Adam, and Tom had all gotten into athletics and weight lifting after becoming Animalians, likely to impress Mara, Lina, Reva, and Dela, that didn't mean that they'd lost interest in things like "Dungeons and Dragons," which the Spring Fair played to in many ways.
"So these things is what a lot the fantasy games are based on?" Mara asked with some curiosity as they walked along.
The group was there primarily to see the fair and that for the moment the concerns on who was paired with who wasn't really a factor. The fact that the four male and four female Box Turtle Animalians had something of an "interchangeable" relationship while they settled on who would be who's bond mate wasn't major part of what they were up to and in many ways it hadn't interfered in their friendships, interests, and ideas. In some ways many of those things were actually reinforced, particularly as the "Green Glacier Adventure Clan" gained members and went beyond them. They noted that Sherry was present, and the Triceratops Dinotopian had a Wooly Rhinoceros Animalian with her. Both were also in costume that fit in quite well with many of the adventure themes that their club also enjoyed.
"Loosely," Peter nodded as they made their way toward Sherry and Wanda, "though the games add in a lot mystical and magic type things..."
"Though even that has certain things that were inspired by real events," Adam added, "You know... stuff that couldn't be easily explained with the science of the time..."
"So naturally God or Satan did it," Reva commented.
"Or some sorcerer, yeah," Peter nodded, "as Arthurian Legend sorta treats Merlin as something of a hero and guide for Arthur... and all of that sets the stage for the games that have been set up in a fantasy type setting. It's fun to act out and have challenges set up to overcome."
"A shame the weather couldn't be more cooperative," Tom grumbled as he looked down for a moment.
They all nodded to that and eventually made their way up to Sherry and Wanda. Peter was the first to arrive, though he did note the irritated snort from Wanda.
"They're turtles," Wanda grumbled, "You got me to dress like this for turtles..."
"Box Turtles," Lina answered.
"Of the teenage mutant ninja variety," Dela said with some humor, gaining glares from the others, "what?! I had to say it."
"So... you're ninjas?" Wanda asked.
"No," Peter answered, "We've joined some of the various dojos that have been established here in Animalia... but no. We aren't ninjas."
"We're adventurers!" Jerry raised one arm with his pointer finger pointing skyward.
"Of course," Wanda said slowly as she glanced to Sherry.
"And they have been civic minded," Sherry said back to Wanda, "Helping people cross the street and so forth. In that, while some things they do for fun may not fit the old definition of "normal..." none of that really applies to any of us anymore."
Wanda gave a small nod to that. Before Animalia, the idea that there could be anthropomorphic animals living in their own society would have only been something in comic books and cartoons, and many of which fit two genres. One was for little kids in which the most vulgar word in the comic was "darn." The other more for those who were into more adult pleasures. After Animalia, though, in a sense both had become reality in that there were anthropomorphic animals everywhere that in some ways could easily be considered "perfect" for attracting mates and yet had ten base edicts that were essentially on par with just about every other moral code she'd ever heard about. And she was part of it now, as she looked town her muzzle to see her horns and wooly fur.
"I can see your point there," Wanda gave a sigh and turned back to the Green Glacier Adventure Clan members, "I'm Wanda. I've been working with Sherry with regard to the Rhino Guard training."
"I'm Peter, head of the Green Glacier Adventure Clan," Peter shook Wanda's hand, and was very impressed by how large and muscular it was in comparison to his own. He had grown bigger and stronger when he became an Animalian, but like Sherry, Wanda was in a very different league from him, but then... box turtles weren't known for being very big. "These are my friends: Jerry, Adam, Tom, and Peter..." He gestured to his friends and then turned to the Clan's female members, "and these are our dates... bond mates... girlfriends... Lina, Reva, Dela, and Mara."
Wanda did shake hands with them politely. The boys were respectful, though she found that it was actually the girls who were the most curious.
"You're built like a lot of the other Rhino Guard members," Mara began, "are you...?"
"I'm a Wooly Rhinoceros, a Pleistocene mammal from northern Europe and Asia," Wanda explained, "It's closest living relative is the Sumatran Rhinoceros. The rest of the Rhino Guard... that are Rhinos are all White Rhinoceroses. We may be similar in many respects... but that's more a size issue than anything else."
"So... did you pick it out of interest in the animal in history?" Mara asked curiously, remembering some of the guest lectures and presentations that Rex Ramos had given in visits to WSA and other scientific presentations connected to Horizon, "Like Mr. Ramos chose to be a T Rex?"
"Maybe a bit..." Wanda admitted, "but there is also some interest to be different from the other Rhinoceros Animalians."
"Nothing wrong with that," Reva told her, which made Wanda nod.
Wanda did nod at that. She may not like the costume, she found that the Green Glacier Adventure Clan's members were reasonable and weren't going completely into their whole "fantasy theme" that Sherry had described. It was enough to let her see that they could tell the difference between fantasy and reality. In that, Wanda agreed to go along with the group while they were at the Spring Fair, if only to socialize with each other.
The group made their way around the various booths, which did hold some various pieces of information that was held to be fairly interesting. For Peter and his friends, a lot of this was really in how many of the games they played before they became Animalians had so many pieces of inspiration from aspects of Medieval history. The thing that soon attracted a lot of the attention of Lina and her sisters was one of the booths where the "knights" from the jousting tournament that was part of the fair was also set up for some of their own historical presentations. Some of the booths talked on how "knights" operated more as military enforcers that would have more in common with mobsters than the image of Lancelot or King Arthur, but that wasn't the one that really held their interest.
The one that held their interest was one that discussed and covered the development of armor. The booth was manned by two knights, one was the "Rainbow Knight" who was dressed in chain mail with a cloth tunic that hung over the linked chain that made up his armor. The other knight was the Maltese Knight from the tournament. The turtle sisters were most intrigued by the fact that the Maltese Knight was in full plate armor.
"Wow," Mara spoke with some amazement.
"Amazing what a few centuries of development will do, isn't it?" the Rainbow Knight replied.
"Centuries?" Tom wondered.
"Yes," the Maltese Knight nodded, "For much of Ancient and Medieval history, the most common form of armor was chain mail. Think of it like knitting a sweater, but instead of wool, you're using metal links that are interwoven to hold them together. It was easy and quick to manufacture and in many ways could allow any knight to be armored."
The Rainbow Knight spun in place with his arms outstretched to show how easy he could move in mail armor.
"And against arrow fire and most slashing attacks the mail would actually provide quite effective protection," the Rainbow Knight spoke, "it may not stop an arrow outright, but in penetrating the links it would lose momentum and would be stopped by padding underneath the mail armor."
"But against massed spears or more heavy attacks with a broadsword or a larger battle axe that sort of flexibility could be beaten, and at times was beaten," the Maltese Knight spoke, "Particularly in the sense that Chain Mail was often used and developed as a cheep means to produce good armor. Toward the end of the Medieval Period and getting into the Renaissance/Reformation Era as metal working skills advanced, knights could invest in Plate Armor that would do better against those blows."
"Like a turtle's shell?" Lina asked.
"In a way," the Rainbow Knight nodded, "the solid metal would do better against the heavier blows and would be well made make it easier for the knight to function in combat... Though it too had its weaknesses. As because plate armor is using solid metal, it isn't going to be as flexible, and in certain situations, such as certain events in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 either gaps where the plates met or overlapped were exploited and the French Knights couldn't move fast enough... particularly after they'd been forced off their horses..."
"But those cases are very circumstantial," the Maltese Knight added, "and the use of plate armor remained the standard for heavy cavalry and many elite military units across Europe. It is the arrival of cannon and firearms that would ultimately see an end to the use of body armor."
"Interesting," Tom commented.
And it was, and while the Green Glacier Adventure Clan had no desire for war or anything like that, that didn't mean they weren't interested in the history to some degree. Meeting Sherry again was nice and meeting her partner was even better. For Peter, that made their visit to the Spring Fair a successful one.