The folks who are planning on entering special instruction categories need to contact me by midnight tonight [February 15th]:
Several categories have special preparation needs, especially this year Entrants are required to contact the Pent Coordinator before registering
These categories are:
– Beverages
– Culinary Arts
– Curiosa
– Performance ArtsThey have until the regular registration deadline of March 1st to upload their documentation, etc. – today is only pre-registration to indicate intent of entering.
Everybody’s documentation and photos, etc in all categories except written word and the written part of Applied Research needs to be uploaded by March 1st.
You cannot keep finetuning your documentation and turn the final version in at the event. The judges will start looking at stuff on March 2.
Mistress Cori
Category: Events
Virtual Æcademy This Saturday!
Don’t forget, Æ thelmearc’s Virtual Æ cademy and War College is this Saturday! Here’s the schedule and Zoom login info. Take a look!
The Virtual Æcademy class schedule for Saturday is live on the Kingdom A&S Website:http://aeans.aethelmearc.org/sched-aecad-f21/
There are TWO sheets! The class schedule on the opening page and the description of the classes on the next sheet. Also there are EIGHT breakout class rooms, so use those horizontal and vertical scrollbars!
The zoom info for the event is:
Topic: 2021 Fall Æcademy and War College
Time: Dec 11, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/88342585365?pwd=bUpuOHA5NXQxdEF6YmZYaDkzMVBWZz09
Meeting ID: 883 4258 5365
Passcode: 123456
One tap mobile+19292056099,,88342585365# US (New York)+13126266799,,88342585365# US (Chicago)
November Stellar Tourneys!
Hello Debatable Lands!
The next Stellar Tournaments will be:
Sky List – Archery – Sunday, November 14th at practice
Sun List – Heavy Fighting – Sunday, November 21st, at practice
Moon List – Rapier Fighting – Sunday, November 21st, at practice
(Weather, permitting of course. If our marshals cancel practice, the tourneys will be likewise canceled.)
Read more about this month’s Sky List (Archery) here.
We have a special treat for November’s Sun and Moon List, in that both the heavy and rapier fighters will be competing in side-by-side lists!
This special cross-over is a great opportunity for fighters to observe similarities and differences in fighting styles, and enjoy each others’ camaraderie. This is likewise an opportunity for MoLs, Heralds, and Listrunners to gain experience in running multiple lists at once.
We will be breaking from Stellar Tournaments in December, but will resume (if safe) in the new year!
Turlough’s Pouch Project
If you were able to attend the recent coronation event, or if you are an avid reader of Court Reports, you probably saw this item:
Her Majesty was very pleased by the Arts and Sciences display and wanted to recognize her choices for the day, Turlough Feolain and Douceline de la Hay, with rings from her hand.
Final Court of Maynard and Liadain Coronation, 25 September a.s. 56
Turlough is local to the Barony, but he and his spouse Finé (fee-nyuh) joined just before lockdown, so not everybody knows them well. Together they built the vardo camping trailer that you may have seen at the Barony meeting. So what was Turlough displaying at Coronation? I reached out to Turlough regarding this project and he sends:
This is a fancy kidney pouch with brass mounts and buckle. The body has “accordion” side panels that allow it to hold more than one would guess, a modern contrivance for cell phone accommodations. The fine black leather is layered with a second thicker leather for sturdiness. The pouch is decorated with red stitching and the closure strap has a simple tooling pattern for added visual interest.
Crown: A Banner Day for the Debatable Lands!
Salve Accolens! Hello Debatable Lands!
I bring you news of Crown Tournament, held in the Shire of Misty Highlands on August 21st. VIVANT to the Kingdom’s new Heirs, Prince Gareth and Princess Juliana!!! So many wonderful things happened for and by our Barony members and former members. Time to share!
In Royal Court, Their Majesties in Their wisdom:
-Awarded Mistress Antoinette a Golden Escarbuncle and Baroness Shirin an Award of Excellence and wished them well as they transferred the office of Slyvan Signet to Master Jonathan
-Awarded now-Lady Forveleth Arms
– Awarded 3 other AoAs to Debatable Landers not present and bade Baroness Hilda to convey them. We will do so at our Baronial Court on Sept 11.
-Named the Moneyers’ Guild the Principal of a new order – the Order of Crowns Treasure, which is for those that go above and beyond in contributing largesse. The Guild is a Kingdom Guild, but many are Debatable Landers! The new Bookmaker activity at Crown Tourney, for example, was run and coins made by Earl Byron, THL Guillaume, Lady Violetta, Lady Argentia, THL Nicola (ooh, spoiler!) and our neighbors Master Ian and Master Annais.
-Awarded Lady Dorothea a Keystone for service
-Gave Lord Ronan a Cornelian, the Kingdom’s award for Courtesy
-Surprised His Excellency Baron Brandubh with an Augmentation of Arms, which allows the recipient to use elements of the Kingdom Arms in their own personal heraldry.
-Inducted THL Nicola Beese into the Order of the Fleur d’Aethelmearc, the Grant Order for Arts and Sciences
-Inducted our neighbor THL Sumayya al Ghaziyah into the Order of the Millrind, the Grant Order for Service.
-Inducted our former Baronial Seneschal (now Kingdom Seneschal) Mistress Illadore into the Order of the Pelican
-(and other wonderful things for our neighbors around the Kingdom!)
The Baron and I would like to thank the folks that contributed to the gift basket for the new Baron and Baroness of Blackstone Mountain: The Debatable Lands Brewers’ Guild, Lady Tristan for her beautiful embroidered napkins, and Mistress Arianna for her lovely handwoven trim! And to THL Hara and Lord Owen for retaining for us. Vivant!
A VERY special thank you to Master Ishiyama for handing me a HUGE stack of new Baronial stickers!! one with the black comet badge and one with our motto, Salve Accolens (which means “Hello Neighbors!”) on a yellow background. Ask me (or him) for them!
A BIG WELCOME to the folks for whom it was their first in-person SCA event: Rei, Eleanor, Austin, and Lady Forveleth (our Exchequer), and anyone I missed!
Also, to the Debatable Landers serving at the event, you rock! I’m sure I didn’t see everyone, so forgive me if I miss you: Meesteres Odriana and Baroness Soteria for MOLing; Lord Ronan, Baron Edward, THL Kuma, and Forveleth as Heralds for the tourney and procession; THL Boden, Master Ishiyama, THL Hara, and Otto as banner-bearers (Boden resplendent in his Defender of the Sun baldric!) Don Jorundr, Baron Brandubh, Lord Owen and Master Kieran for heralding for the Kingdom; the Moneyers Guild folks (above) for the new Bookmaker activity and the site tokens; the MANY folks who ran Mistress Illadore’s reception and provided reception food; Countess Ali, who provided social media updates; Duke Sven and Duchess Siobhan for serving as Their Majesties Chamberlains; many folks that helped set-up and tear-down (so many I didn’t write them down!) A special thank you to Otto, Makilah, Don Marcus, and THL Sumayya for helping with our personal pack-in and pack-out, too!
And of course, to the combatants and their inspirations who fought and inspired honorably: Count Byron and Countess Ariella for each other, Sir Maghnus for Brehyres Gwendolyn, our neighbor Syr Hagar for Baroness Anna Eisenkopf, our former members THL Lothar for THL Sumayya, and Lord Patrokles for Fox.
A Banner Day for the Barony! Celebrate!
In Levitate et Caritate,
Baroness Hilda
AAR – Arts and Sciences Practice
It was a small but mighty A&S practice this past Sunday at the Washington Boulevard practice site. The day was sunny and beautiful, and there was only a faint occasional whiff of sulfur from the sewer vent.
Ishiyama brought a wooden bench he’d made, then sat on it while practicing braiding. Forveleth showed off some wire and bead jewelry, and some tablet weaving, and worked on an embroidery project. Li stopped by on the way to Archery practice, and showed off a Chinese helm and a small but mighty crossbow.
It was a wonderful day to spend in the park, and so amazing to see real people again in person now that it is safe. We wore our masks and kept our distance anyway, but amazing to be together with our neighbors enjoying the day. Salve Accolens!
AAR – Woodworking Field Trip
This is just a brief After Activity Report about the Woodworking Guild Field Trip this past Friday. Only a few of us managed to make it, but it was totally worth the trip. The main reason we went there was that Morikawa Rei mentioned that even though the price of construction lumber has gone up five-fold over the past year, woodworking lumber places like Woodcraft have not re-priced their stock. So, what looked like expensive specialty materials a year ago now looks like reasonably priced wood.
In addition to that, when Rei, Turlough Feolain, and I arrived on Friday; Woodcraft had just received a shipment of off-cuts that they were selling at a serious discount. They had a stock of rough cut cherry, maple, cypress, and oak boards, in 4/4 and 8/4 thickness for $5 and $10 each! Not very wide and most only ~3 feet long, but still.
Turlough was looking to make some tool handles, so the thick lumber was just perfect. Rei is planning to make some furniture, so being able to get more than enough furniture-grade lumber at a discount price was perfect. I bought some lumber, too, but I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do with it. I’ve been thinking of doing some turning.
Anyway, they probably still have a lot of that stuff left, so if you need nice lumber at a nice price, it’s worth the drive down to Canonsburg. Thanks for suggesting the field trip, Rei! I also spoke briefly to an employee, and they have a classroom there where we might be able to have meetings or workshops.
Missive from the Baron and Baroness
By now, as many of you know, Pennsic has been postponed again until 2022, due to the ongoing pandemic. For many of us, this news is disheartening, as Pennsic plays such a large role in how we play in the SCA here locally. We miss our friends, we miss the camaraderie of the fields of honor, we miss hugs and campfires, and being surrounded by 10,000 of our closest friends. It seems at times, our souls are frayed with the longing of it.
Take heart, Debatable Lands…. We are still here. We are still a community.
We know that this past year, and even before that, has been full of challenges – and the pandemic has just been one. Our personal lives have changed dramatically, in ways that only you personally can know and understand. Our hobby, like most of the world, has endured the rough edges of social awakening, in all its forms. We’ve seen each other’s words, and have spoken words, online and in social media, that stem from pain, and cause pain. Our humanity has been on display, in every facet. It’s difficult. So difficult. And we’ve felt it, too.
But, Debatable Lands… We are still here. We are still neighbors.
The edges may feel bruised right now, but the core – the very core – of what makes our hobby so amazing endures. Courtesy. Honor. Shared Passions. Camaraderie. Joy. Our challenges cannot shake them. They cannot be erased. We are still here.
We remember Baroness Hilda’s first event. A small 30-ish person schola in Highland Park. She took a class by Master Dani on medieval counting, learned what Troll was, and pasties. She was offered a seat on a cloak at a bardic circle and made dear friends. We can still have these events.
We remember the day Baron Brandubh chose his SCA name. It means “black raven” in Gaelic. And he wanted a wolf on his heraldry until we joined Mistress Elsbeth’s Laurel staff, and spent hours and hours in her basement, absorbing all things heraldry and making lifelong friends, and discovering jicama. We remember, too, the day he attained Grand Master Bowman, the swelling of pride and accomplishment. Our interest groups can still meet.
We remember the day the Brewer’s Guild opened that oak cask of aged, redacted 14th century mead to bottle, from under Master Tofi’s stairs – the smooth, perfect taste of it, the feeling of shared appreciation, the laughter of friends brought together. We can still research our passions and share in the joy of it.
We remember the day we saw our first tourney – the raw feeling of it just below the surface of the type of chivalry we thought only existed in storybooks. The violence and speed and beauty of our athletes giving primal life to our ideals of honor. Those ideals and feelings of chivalry are alive and well and are still burning bright in our hearts. And very soon, we will be able to bring that to external realization again. Soon.
We remember our first SCA campfire, the cold, still air meeting the warm light of the fire, songs and conversation and laughter ringing into the night, our bellies warm with drink and friendship. We can still meet with our friends over a campfire.
We know you have had experiences just like these, and countless others. Remember them. Recreate them in all the old and new forms that are available to us today.
They Joys and Passions of the SCA do not live on the fields and in the camps of Pennsic. They live in US. No one place is the SCA. WE are the SCA.
We Are Still Here.
In Levitate et Caritate, and Cheers,
Baron Brandubh and Baroness Hilda
And Ad Gloriam Aethelmearc, and SALVE ACCOLENS!
12th Night Updates – Classes, Movies, and more!
Details are still rolling in, but we hope you’re looking forward to 12th Night on January 16th as much as we are! A couple updates:
- We are looking for staff! We need “Zoomerators”: people to monitor the online rooms, let people in, etc. It’s pretty easy, and there is (short) training! Shifts are two hours. Contact Baroness Hilda if you can volunteer.
- Fighting classes have been announced! Times are still being negotiated, but the classes are a mighty line-up indeed:
—Jarl Steinarr Aggarson: Reading Unknown Opponents in a Safe Way
—Viscount Sagan: An approach to Successful Training, Practice and Combat
—Count Seto Gesshuko: How to Stay Deadly with At Home Fighting Exercises - There are 12 hours of 12th Night! The Shakespearean play, in the form of movies, courtesy of Master Alaric, from the collections of the late Lord Albrecht. This activity starts earlier – at 11am, and runs later, til midnight!
- THE GREATEST COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE TROUPE IN THE KNOWNE WORLD has announced their 12th Night activity – “Choose Your Own Adventure, with I Genesii”…. more info to come, but I wouldn’t miss this, if I were you!
More info on the event here: http://debatablelands.org/events/2021-01-16%20Twelfth%20Night%20Social.php
Gift Exchange! Sign Up by Jan 2nd
A Mid-winter Holiday Gift Exchange in the Barony? Yes, please! Harkening back to the days the Barony did “Secret Santa” gift exchanges, we are having a Secret Gifter Gift Exchange this year. Here’s how it works:
—Throw your name in by midnight tomorrow, January 2nd, and you’ll be given a recipient to give to on January 3rd.
–Send or drop off your gift to your recipient so they have it *in hand* by January 15th. Gifts should be $20-ish or round about 2 maker-hours. You’ll receive a gift by then, too!
–At the 12th Night Social on January 16th, at 2:30pm, we’ll unwrap our gifts together! [Note that this part is optional… you can totally participate in the gift exchange without going to the online unwrapping party.]
–Sign up here: http://bit.ly/12thNight21-GiftExchange .
Hurry, time is running out!