And this is why we should never leave Photoshop in the hands of heralds.

My apologies to Doghouse Diaries.

No more will I travel, No more will I roam.
No more will I wander on salty sea foam." - Leaving Song, Andrixos Seljukroctonis

Home is a wonderful place, and I felt at home with this event. Thank you, Vatavia.

One. I know too many big words. But not as many as baronnemelisend.

Two. Valor was amazing. And I am so happy I got to go.

( and away we go! )

In short, amazing, awesome, and incredible.

And so I can mention everyone I saw and hung out with (so no one feels hurt), I'm listing them. Ha. Ha ha ha ha.

In alphabetical order: ( my silly bit of silliness ) Phew.

Such a fun weekend!

From time spent with great friends and my SCA family, I had a total BLAST. I left Maryville with Martinus about two after knocking about town with the Monster. We got into Three Rivers around seven (early!) and checked into the Cheshire Lodge. Hung out, and got ready for the next day.

Next day was beautiful! Sunny skies, colourful trees, and with an event, perfection. Martinus offered me his spare heralds' baldric, which I thought about taking, decided not to. Got to site around ten, and by that point had met up with purplellamaboi, scooterheather, huscarl105, rhodri2112, Tadamitsu (hereunto this point denoted as Tim), Cathus and Rowan, Duncan Eardstapa, Duncan Logan, Ruaidhri, Avraham, and a bunch more. It happens at big events like this. Got kissed, hugged, squished, poked, and flirted with (again, it happens, especially at big events). I like the attention. Won't lie.

I watched a few of the fights, but on the whole talked with people I hadn't seen in forever (or in my case, Coronation. That counts as forever, right? It does). That's when things changed.

Herman and Tim were pointing around the room, calling people's names. Curious, I went over to see what was going on (I must learn to not do that at events. Really). Ingeborg said "No, I was on retinue last reign. Thanks but no thanks." Doing my best Li'l Nipper impression, Tim looked at me and asked, "so, do you want to help out?"
Me: With what?
Tim: With Court tonight?
Me: Uh....?
Herman: We'll take that as a yes. Court's at five. I'll see you in the Privy Chambers at 4:30.
Me (scratching my head, wondering what the hell just happened.): Um. Okay?
Tim: It's okay. I'll tell you everything you need to know. You'll just be helping Herman in Court. We call them Stunt Heralds.
Me (Mind coming into full realisation): WHAT?!
Tim: Oh, it's not that bad. You'll give Her Majesty medallions, hold up scrolls, hold Herman's tankard, and if Herman's voice goes out, you'll finish the rest of the court.
Me (panicked): Um. Okay. (big gulp) I better get treated nice. And I might have to kill Herman.

After my duties were explained, and I was told to go sit down and fill up my tankard so that I might be able to get through Court, I hung out more with Martinus and Tim (I poked them both. Darnit.) and did various other sort of things. Martino and Ariel becoming the new Heirs didn't really surprise me much, to be honest, but I think they're a pretty cool sort. Got my hair braided all pretty for Court (really pretty hairstyle with two modified French braids coming together at the nape of my neck and that ended in a low ponytail. I felt pretty. :D Believe me, it rarely happens. (But that's for a later entry.) Being on my best behaviour in Court was HARD. Then again, I'm used to being a brat about things. During Court, a Teletubby costume had made its rounds throughout the Populace, so being on my best behaviour was difficult, especially since all I wanted to do was laugh. And hard. And loud.

The Court itself wasn't too bad. I juggled medallions, a hood, and a scroll for the Laurelling that evening, in addition Herman's pen, tankard, and occasionally the Big Damn Book. However, I had fun. I may do it again. We'll see.

After Court, Martinus and I, and a bunch of Leatherwolf went to Grbic, a Croatian restaurant, most of us in garb. Reactions were PRICELESS! Some had the courage to ask if we were all in a play, if it was like a Renaissance festival thing, and some just stared. (Honestly, by this point, it's become a hobby. Freaking people out is FUN!) Good food, and I got to hang out with some really great people.

After that, it was off to change (I had enough of wearing garb for one day. It was time for mundane clothes), and after that, it was off to post-revel at Duncan and Simonetta's. Much enjoyable. I hung out with huscarl105 and Ruaidrhi for a little bit, and then it was off to Bardic Land. And there, I watched Ferd get his hair done by Simonetta. It had braids and ribbons and feathers in it. I took pictures. By that point, Ferd needed to make a big crash, ran out of the room, and went to acquire noisy things.

He returned with Duncan and Simonetta's silverware. And a few pans. And at the appropriate time in Old Dun Cow, the din was ungodly as all of the silverware was thrown down the stairs with much gusto. Apparently, it's a new record. For what, I don't know, as I couldn't hear it, having been rendered deaf.

About that time, I started my goodbyes. I was tired. And all I wanted to do was sleep. So, back to the hotel.

Woke up this morning around nine, and we headed back about ten. I got home around four, and right now, all I want to do is SLEEP.

Next weekend is Crystal Ball. And I'm excited to help teach.

Oh. And as I was unpacking, I found that magical heraldry elves had snuck in a certain green baldric into my luggage. Yep. I's screwed.

So the previous device failed. Bah.

So, I did a different one. And it cleared.



It's like personalised plates for your car, really. And it can sometimes be a pain in the ass to get them.

My device didn't pass.

So, I got a few options, and decided I liked this one, better.



Azure, a chevron cotised between two mullets and a gryphon rampant argent. And yes, I know a few things need tweaked, but otherwise, I think this should work.

This one, at least according to Modar by way of Jib, should pass. I've got my fingers crossed.

Jib sat down with me online last night and we talked heraldry. And I think I may have something that I really like.

For those who speak heraldese, it's azure, a chevron between two mullets and a gryphon rampant argent. For those who don't, I'll be working up a doodle pretty soon. I may even go use Photoshop and make an icon out of it, but that means I have to get rid of one, or pay for an account, both of which I don't want to do. I think this is how it's supposed to look, so bear with me. I know heralds, I yell things, but I'm certainly not a book herald. :P I just go, "Ooh. Pretty colours," and that's it. Anyway, this is what I sat down and blazoned, on MS Paint, no less. And that's a headache.



Tada. So, once it comes back from conflict checking, I'll sit down, and get my stuff together for submission.

I'm back from Vertigo, and while this post is mostly for summersdream, we could look at this as a report from the site (even though I'm not the official herald...and I'm all right with that. Hush, Jib).

I left Maryville and the twenty-first century about 7 or so Friday evening, and I rode with Lost Moor's Marshal's wife, and we had a great conversation about garb and how I was basically running off of adrenaline to begin with. Got there an hour later (nearly lost the site a few times because the signs weren't as far out, and it was really, really, really dark by that point), trolled in, garbed up, and helped with the firewood. It was COLD. My goodness! Thank goodness for cloaks, otherwise, I would have frozen my tushie off. Their Majesties arrived about an hour after I got there, and it was the typical pre-revel quadruple-check list, and how I was basically pulled aside and given my heraldric duties.

The next day, I woke up early, froze my tush off getting garbed (and to this very day, I'm thrilled that my garb is actually quite a bit warmer than my mundane clothes), and headed out with my herald stick, my bag, tankard, and pens, along with my 3"x5" cards. I spent the morning doing camp cries and troll duty, and then though, at that point, the fire suppression system in the kitchen had gone off due to an exhaust fan problem, and the feast looked DOOMED. Doomed, I tell you, as everything was covered in a (rather thick) layer of white powder. Everyone went into action: HL Ishmala tore off to get resupplied, people started cleaning, and the kitchen activities had been moved out to the main hall. I thought it best to move outside, so I ate my lunch, and headed out to help field herald. I needed to be prompted a few times, but I'm rather proud of myself, and before long, His Majesty joined the field to fight, and started saluting the Marshall and myself when asked to give salutes. That was pretty cool. Anyway, Lord Lucian Fidelis is Lost Moor's Champion, though Duke Valens is still an incredible fighter, and I feel very honoured to have been able to see him fight (I think he won the Round Robin, but I'd have to double check).

After that, I took a kumihimo class with Francesca Lucci (I love Francesca. Note to self: you owe her earrings. Make them.), and LOVED it. I now need to start making trim for my surcote so that my arm openings aren't sad and drab. New addiction. Yep.

Court was fantastic, and I was recognised as being loud (*grins*). I warned Wilhelm. He can't say that he didn't know. Francesca, her lord Nicolas Wolff, and Aine all got their AOAs (I'm so happy for them!), and we handed out goodie baskets for the winners of the archery and champion tourneys. After court, it was time for feasting! And I was asked to serve Duke Valens, Duchess Susannah, Countess Elspeth, Daibhid and a few other gentles whose names I wish I remembered on one table and then HL Ishmala knew that I worked food service (though I reminded her afterwards that it wasn't that kind of food service), so I gained another table with the Countess Cadfael and a few other gentles. The food was FANTASTIC, even with the kitchen nightmare from earlier in the day, and apparently, I've been "collected" by Their Graces. I'm still not sure if that's a good thing, but Her Grace Susannah gave me a big hug after the feast and told me that I did a good job putting up with their ornery ways. After feast, I helped the Countess Cadfael pack things into her chariot, and after breaking up a fake squabble with a very loud "Do I need to separate you two?" was asked if I could help herald the Crown Tournament. (Sadly, can't. I'm at Tan-Tar-A for a Diocesan convention.) I merely beamed, then headed back inside for post-revel bardic goodies.

I scared Dorcas with "Gonads and Strife" after someone mentioned gonads, though I couldn't get through the song without giggling like a madwoman. I scared her to the point where I broke her. (*beams*) Their Majesties were definitely cracking up, too, and I had a lot of fun learning new songs and singing old songs and watching Guillaume make brass mould casts. I even got to talk with Her Majesty about gemstones and etsy, and here's the bizarrely cool part. About a year and a half ago, when I joined etsy, I spotted this jeweler who did fantastic work, hearted them, and didn't think anything about it afterwards. When Her Majesty mentioned etsy to Guillaume, I asked her what her etsy username was and it was the seller that did the fantastic work (I went ahead and bought the one ring that I've been wanting for-EVER, too, because keeping her in school is a good thing), and we chatted about etsy and other fun stuff for a little, and then I started singing with Dorcas again. Even helped His Majesty stay in pace with the bellows by singing with Dorcas, though I warned her I had no sense of rhythm. After post-revel, I still wasn't tired, so I hung out with Guillaume, and chewed the fat a little (and made several references to slasher flicks, because the camp just bore just a little too much resemblance to those summer camp slasher movies).

All in all, a fantastic weekend. I'm a little sunburnt, but other than that, I'm fine. I can't wait for my next event, and anyone who wants to go (and wants to take me) is more that welcome to do so. (Hint: Kris Kinder is on the eighth and ninth of December, and it's in KC)

It was a great weekend, and I'm exhausted. (And now I want garb. So, if you are looking for Christmas presents, the gift of garb is most definitely appreciated!)