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.

Yes, technically, I've posted this already. But, after this weekend and a conversation that newcastleepl, ermenrich, and I had, some things got fleshed out.

"Let's say that today, in Court, someone begged a Boon to elevate you to any one of the three Peerage orders...what would you want for your Peerage ceremony?

Who would you have speak for you? Present the regalia? What about the vigil? Ceremony style?"

Okay. I'm not going to plan too much more of what I'd want, mostly because I am too easily changeable. But, after talking with newcastleepl and ermenrich about who we would have to speak for us, if, by some weird fluke we had been announced for the Peerage today, who would we have speak for us. Of course, this is totally up for change. I don't expect to get a Peerage for a while, nor do I look for the recognition. I want to learn more, have fun, love lots, and look good while I do it.

So, here goes.

Chivalry: Baron Sir Duncan Fearmach, HE Sir Erich Hlodowechssun fon Hocheichhallu or Conde Fernando Rodriguez de Falcon
Laurel: (One of my hard ones!) Mistress Fionnuala, HE Sir Erich Hlodowechssun fon Hocheichhallu or Mistress Tsire.
Pelican: HE Elasait or Cts Lyriel. All righty. Considering I live on the other side of the state, there's a ton of B3R folks here. Goodness.
Royal Peer: Cts Elspeth of Stonehaven, Cts Isabeau, or HG Hywela.
Populace: (The other hard one for me!) Ewen Macleary, Ermenrich von Duisburg, Cathus the Curious, Rhodri ap Hywel or HE Mirabel Wynne.

...I know too many people. This could be a problem.

It's a start. And I know I won't ever get to a point where I have everything figured out. I know me too well. And seriously, I know this is a long way off. I've learned very quickly that expecting stuff, even if you feel you deserve it, just leads to broken-heartedness and eventually hard-heartedness down the line, and I don't want that from something I love too much.

(Compagnia homework from Jib. I'm just now getting around to it. Feel free to comment. It helps the brain think things through.)

---

[[Since I'm the only guy on the list...I can say Queen... ;) ]]

Sooo ladies...here's a little homework for you...to be completed between now and the time that you really do become Queen. *heh*

Read through the West Kingdom Royalty Handbook: http://www.westkingdom.org/files/RoyaltyHandbookRev9.PDF

I'd like to hear your thoughts on what you would do if you were Queen. I'd like to hear ideas of what you'd want for largesse, what style of scrolls you'd want, etc. etc. ad nauseum. This is basically a chance for you to put on the fantasy hat and think about everything that you would want or need to be Queen.

I'd like this to be an open discussion for you to contemplate things and ponder what it would mean to be Queen.

Until the next time,
Jibra'il.

---

I figured I better get around to it.

I think a lot would depend on who my King was. I'm all for the Byzantine Coronation in purple and gold (yeah, that's pretty damn nifty), but I'm all for bringing in influences from his persona's culture, especially if it's one that would have had contact with the Byzantines.

I've been joking about making my reign a full family affair with the Compagnia, but honestly, I'd seek out dependable, organised people to do their jobs. I'm keen to have my Chamberlain and Herald to be close, but distant enough to keep themselves occupied properly. Possibly even people who had done the job before, and had done it well.

I'd style myself as Queen in the proper Greek way: Basilissa.

As for tokens, I'd love etched beads or even pewter coins. If I could wrangle some kind of small pectoral pendant with an angel* on it...yeah, I'd be one super-happy camper. Hell, even little pewter or brass repoussé angel pins or pendants done in the style of an icon would make me super, super happy.

Largesse is hard for me to figure out, as I'm one of those pragmatic people when it comes to gift-giving a large amount of the time. I'd love to be able to give things that the reigning monarchs of kingdoms could get great use out of (the stationery idea is awesome!), but I also want to make sure that it's also going to be able to get several uses out of it. I might have to come back to this.

Scrolls would be partially dependent on my King. I love C&I, and I love the idea of an early period scroll and an later period scroll, depending, of course, on how late later period is.

I'm not sure who I'd have make my county coronet. TE Jane and Angelo have amazing coronets, but I'm far too rough and tumble, I think, to handle the nice pretties for long. I love TG Valens and Susannah's leather coronets, and that's something I could handle. (Maybe, eventually, one of each?) Then again, Drachenstein Treasures does amazing work, and I might be convinced to not be quite so rough and tumble for one. For a metal one, I'd be happy to see lapis or amethyst or even moonstones on it, maybe with angel wings around the brim.

Stepping down, I would style myself again in Greek: Komitissa.

As for stepping down, I think it'd be cool to see the individual devices of the outgoing King and Queen. I'd also adore having a heraldic surcote for that occasion, even if it is just -slightly- out of period for me. Or at least, something to change into afterward. (No, I'm not a garb whore. Really.)

I think that's all I've figured out. A lot of it's up in the air, I know, but I'm more apt to not stand out too much, especially in the role of Queen. It's a partnership, as far as I see it.

-Constantia

*per device acceptance. Yes, I'm thinking about an angel on my device. It's my own little way to cant the crap out of it, given my name ("Constantly of good character"). Angels also show up a ton in Byzantine artwork. (Yes, I went to Einarr's class on heraldry for non-heraldic cultures. Fascinating stuff. God, I'm such a herald.)

Jib is a great Brother.

He even gave me a new nickname.

Lady Brat-child.

You can now return to your regularly scheduled evening. Day. Whatever.

Had waaaaaay too much fun over the weekend with kampfrau and rhodri2112 and Countess Branwen.

Left KC with everyone Friday evening after seeing Valkyrie withkampfrau and rhodri2112. Yes, Tom Cruise is a terrible actor. No, the movie isn't horrible, but it does leave some things to be desired. Dropped things off in the 'Ville, found that my blue card had arrived (thanks to Martinus, I am an official SCA member now. :D I think it was a great Christmas present.) and I didn't require my print-out. Yay. We stayed at Alex and Roise's in Omaha, and I snorted a lot. Their Graces Eringlin and Alethea also stayed with Alex and Roise, as well as Luke (?). Lots of fun, tried not to die with a ceiling fan sharing the space with the top bunk I slept in.

Day of the event, woke up, got dressed in some pretty awesome Byzantine if I do say so myself. My new Pashmina included. Did some waterbearing, did some hanging out, lots of chatting, carded wool, helped make butter (and showed a few people how to make it), ran around placing bids in the silent auction for an awesome gown (three words: ice blue linen), and I'm pretty sure a lot of other things, but I can't think what else I did quite yet. Traded a pair of earrings for a hyooge bottle of Sabi's first batch of mead, which I think is really good. Went to court, and apparently I'm a bad kid, according to ruaidhriprime and liadan_m, so it was up to sit with the other bad kids in the balcony, but with that meant that we could see things like HRM Maerwynn signing for two gentles who are hearing impaired, but earned their AoAs. I thought it was very nifty. Sat feast thanks to kampfrau, and had fun. Poor Rhodri, though, sitting inbetween trimguy and me. (And Rhodri, I'm Roman. May have spoken Greek, but dammit, I'm Roman. If we really wanted to get nitpicky, Armenian or so, but dammit, I'm Roman.) Feast, while good, was something I had to choose what I ate. Not a big pea fan, so I avoided the soup course. Dessert, though, was awesome. I really liked the Apple Snow. :D I'm realising that I was downgraded from retinue table last year (which was fun with odiernelion and Ermenrich and Kasha), but still quite fun. :)

Anyway. Postrevel. Had fun singing and snuggling. As well as snorting. A lot. And by a lot, I mean a twenty-five snort laughing jag. Adelaide and Mairi Rose were also there (yes, in the same room, snorting at different times. And yes, the drinking game was in effect), so needless to say, while it was a smaller postrevel, it still had a lot of drinking going on. I suppose I'm to be at some sort of blame here.

I did sing my planned QP piece, but because I won't be there due to work obligations, I'm writing it off as practice for a later competition. I think it sounded good, at least, I'm pretty sure it sounded good.

Somehow, my bottle of mead not only survived the day, but survived postrevel as well. summersdream, want some drinky-beverages when you come back? Also, are you thinking about coming to Bellewode again this year? I'm trying to see who might be interested. There's also an event a couple weeks after that I'm supposed to try to teach a dance class at that I think you might like to go to. It's in Leavenworth, so not that far away.

While that's on my mind, huscarl105, do I need to contact anyone about teaching at Ceilidh? And what would you like me to teach? Or, to phrase better, what do you think would be best for me to teach?

Anyway, back to the weekend. Went back to Alex and Roise's, and had a huge pancake breakfast, shared stories from the day (including the wearing of my oh-so-awesome WiFi detector shirt on the way out!), and got everything ready to go...but I've now realised I'm missing my Byzantine garb. rhodri2112, was it found in your vehicle, or do I get to email Dolan?

Got back to town, went back to work today (but I'm off until Saturday), and opened presents from the boy's family, including more Bath and Body Works stuff and a few Longaberger things from his mom. He got me this little clear bouncy ball with blue glitter in it that is my new plaything near the computer for the time being. Might make it into some new photos.

Anyway, I'm going to bring this to a close, as I'm feeling that I'm starting to ramble a bit.

I am back from Kris Kinder. Good time, that's for sure. rhodri2112 and kampfrau picked me up Friday night, and it was a fun two hours down to KC. I gave her the present I made for her (which she totally rocked all day Saturday) and, they made me snort. Funny, yes, but my nose still hurts...but I suppose those are leftovers from postrevel. Anyway. Got to KC about nine, hung out with kampfrau, talked garb and other things, and went to bed early, given that the next day would be long. I maintain I have a pretty kick-ass SCA family: kampfrau gave me a tunica, and we're settling on garb for other things. Silk is nummy, I maintain. Burgundy silk, even nummier. :D Purple and gold garb! (No, I don't bleed purple and gold. Nope.) Remind me to bead stuff for you, kampfrau, and with a bit of direction. I think I can make it manage well.

The next day, we headed out. I did a lot of window shopping, as I have most of my gifts either already made or for my actual family, figured out. However, I bought Anti some of HE Anneliese's soap (it'll have to cure for a little bit longer, but he seems pretty happy I remembered him, and I think it's helped ease the stuff that happened...uh...a few nights ago). I also bought lemon curd, and an awesome poison ring with five little garnets in it from the cooks' guild (and I do apologise for being perhaps overly excited about showing it to everyone. I am rather partial to shinies.) Then I socialised. A lot. As usual. I also sang with Christian's group, and even recorded a piece for CalonSound Project. I sang soprano. For those who know my singing voice, I don't normally sing soprano. I normally sing low alto or tenor. I can sing soprano, but it's not my favourite thing to sing in the first place. But I did sing soprano for this particular piece we did. I still have Gaudete stuck in my head (I maintain that I need to get a quartet to sing it at church for Christmassy things).

After the event, I went to Genghis Khan with huscarl105 and Ferd's household, asked my questions, got answers, was satisfied by said philosophy espoused, and after that headed to postrevel. Sang stuff, wore my Cthulhu slippers (which just about everyone loved. Hee hee hee), snuggled with people...all that good stuff. Got accused of alcohol abuse (I bumped into liadan_m, spilling a little bit of her Mike's pomegranate lemonade all over her). Snorted. A lot. My nose hurts. Talked more with huscarl105. (BTW, measurements are as follows. Waist: 31 3/4" Hips: 40 1/2" Inseam: 32 1/2" Yes, I'm mostly leg.)

Went back to kampfrau's. Dropped. Out like a light.

Woke up this morning, and ended up back in Maryville at noon or so.

Yes, I had fun. Yes, I'm tired. But yes, this was so worth it.

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.

Taking a breather from cleaning. Nearly done, so I should be able to get a nap in before Anti's parental units, his brother and sister-in-law, and possibly niece show up tomorrow for belated birthday stuff.

Jib posted this on the Household listserv. Interesting to think about, at the very least.

So...as a joke, people on the SCA-Persian list were trying to discuss what the five pillars of the SCA are...in comparison to the five pillars of Islam...and no one's really been able to come up with a solid idea for the five pillars of the SCA...save for one:

Pilgrimage (hajj): In the SCA, this would have to be renamed to Pennjj, for the yearly sojourn by thousands to Pennsic War.

I'm also personally thinking there are probably two more...one is quite the opposite of the Islamic version, but:

Almsgiving (zakat): In the SCA, this would be "largesse".
Fasting (sawm): In the SCA...this would be "feasting"...rather than "fasting"

But I'm out of ideas for Faith (iman) and Prayer (salah). Anyone have any thoughts?

Then, later, this was posted.

Hrm...someone may have finally come up with ideas for SCA alternatives
to "Faith" and "Prayer".

Faith would be similar to the concept of "The Dream"...completely
undefined, but everyone knows what it is...to them. (Side note: I came up with this one. I'm rather pleased with myself. :P)

Prayer could very well be one and the same as "fealty" and the many other oaths spoken in the society.

So if I put those together, the Five Pillars of the SCA could be:
* Pennjj (or )
* Largesse
* Feasting
* Fealty and/or Oaths
* the Dream

Hrm...*contemplates the meaning of all of this*

I'd think fasting would be akin to a vigil, but not everyone goes through that.

Anyway, back to cleaning and stripping off layers of skin chemically! Yay! :P

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.