What is Warhammer?
At times, its tough to explain exactly WHAT Warhammer is. We can run you through the hard data – army lists, stories from the Old World, poop jokes, etc. – but that only helps a little bit. In the end, you really either know it or you don’t. That being said, there ARE things that can help point you in the right direction.
The good Ms. Flack sent this along earlier today, to help refresh the minds and hearts of The Faithful:
The post was created in 1154 by King Henry II as the chief official in the Exchequer Court, whose purpose was to put the Lord Treasurer and the Barons of Court in remembrance of such things as were to be called upon and dealt with for the benefit of the Crown, a primary duty being to keep records of the taxes, paid and unpaid.
The Exchequer Court is reconstituted every year for the ancient ceremonies of the Rendering of the Quit Rents to the Crown by the City of London at the Royal Courts of Justice. There are three of these; the oldest dating from 1211. In this ceremony, the City of London pays service for two pieces of land: The Moors near Bridgnorth in Shropshire, for which the City must pay two knives, one blunt and one sharp.
The second oldest has been made, entered in the Great Roll of the Exchequer, since 1235. This is for The Forge (forge) in Tweezers Alley, just south of St Clements Dane, near the Strand in London, for which the City must pay six horseshoes and 61 horseshoe nails.
These two Quits are paid together as one ceremony. During the ceremony, a black-and-white-chequered cloth is spread out — it is from this that the word Exchequer derives. These two events are combined with the introduction to the Remembrancer of the City’s newly elected Sheriffs.
The six horseshoes and the sixty-one Nails are themselves over 550 years old, since after being rendered to the Queen’s Remembrancer, they are preserved in his Office and with the permission of the Crown, they are loaned to the Corporation of London to be rendered again the following year.
The Solicitor & Comptroller of the City of London presents the horseshoes and nails and counts them out to the Remembrancer who then pronounces “Good number.” The knives are tested by the Queen’s Remembrancer by taking a hazel stick, one cubit in length, and bending it over the blunt knife and leaving a mark, and the stick is split in two with the sharp knife. This practice stems from the creation of tally sticks where a mark was made in a stick with a blunt knife for each payment counted. When payment was complete the stick was split down the middle, leaving each party with half of the marked stick and creating a receipt (or foil and counter-foil). After the knives are tested the Remembrancer pronounces “Good service”.
The Brit’s sense of tradition and monarchy is the most intriguing thing. Hopefully some of the Brit’s charm translates to the game.