In the Kingdom of AEthelmearc, two lords prepared for battle by making armor chain mail from metal links. Watching them, their ladies discussed the next day's fencing matches.

This scene didn't occur in a medieval castle or a fantasy novel but at a meeting for the Students for the Appreciation of the Society of Creative Anachronism.

Started this year, the club creates a stronger connection between the university and the State College chapter of the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA), Adam Klein, club president, said.

"A lot of students go to renaissance fairs and want to take their interest a step further," Klein (sophomore-archaeological science) said. "But many don't know how. This club is a chance for students to get more involved."

The club studies history in the period between the fall of Rome and the early Renaissance. Members learn to knit, cook, dance, write -- and fight like medieval noblemen.

On Thursdays, about 10 student members meet with the State College SCA for workshops and to share knowledge. On Fridays, the club practices heavy armor fighting in Rec Hall. In the summertime, they practice on the HUB-Robeson Center lawn, Klein said.

Twisting metal links with pliers, Tom Harvey (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said making chain mail is an easy but time-consuming task. "I just learned how to do this last week," Harvey said. "It's just tedious. It'll probably take me four months to make a shirt."

In August, the club travels to Pennsic War, a national medieval festival near Slippery Rock with hundreds of workshops, merchants and a mock war. "The national SCA is divided into 17 kingdoms, and the kingdoms get divided into two divisions and have a huge battle," Klein said. "It's such a big event. More than 15,000 people come there."

But Pennsic War is more than just a battle, Briana Schmiedekamp (sophomore-biochemistry) said.

"I had been to some SCA meetings, and Pennsic was such an awesome experience," she said. "It made me a lot more interested in medieval things. I especially like learning belly dancing and Middle Eastern culture."

As part of the club, members choose an alternate name and research their medieval identity, including their occupation and clothing.

Schmiedekamp said she took awhile choosing her name, Layla, which means "the blue-eyed." "It's essentially role-playing," she said. "My major is pretty intense, so sometimes, it's nice to switch into an alternate persona. I don't even know the real names of some people in the club."

SCA member Nick Peters, whose medieval name is Lothar Rosenstill, said he chose a German name because he was interested in that culture.

"We choose names of nobility because it allows us more opportunities," Peters said. "The normal person wouldn't be able to write or have the money for certain pastimes."

But there are some challenges to studying this period of history, SCA member Mendel Schmiedekamp said. "A lot of times, people in that era took things for granted and didn't write them down," he said. "For example, people cooked their whole lives, so in their recipes, they didn't need to write down ingredients."