[MR] Curiosity

[Towey, Brian]

Friends and neighbors-

As you can imagine, the ouster of Count Aveloc has set tongues to wagging on
many discussion groups and bulletin boards.  I have no direct knowledge of
the people or events involved, and therefore I am not entitled to an opinion
of my own.  However, some of the 150+ postings on the Armour Archive struck
me as being particularly well said.  In case you are not already tired of
the whole matter, here is a sample.

Your servant,

Charles Fleming

p.s. All quotes were cut and pasted without additional editing or
spell-checking.

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I cannot say wether these allegations are true or not. I hope this is
settled to the satisfaction of all parties. The whole episode leaves a sour
taste in ones mouth to read it.
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Let his actions speak for him. In the 'In Service To The Dream' video,
Aveloc is fighting the king of another kingdom. He hits the other king in
the back of the head with a wrap from some cartoonish-ly huge two-handed
mace, injuring him. You can see, right after, he's holding the other king in
a one-armed hug, shaking him & smiling, asking "You alright?".
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How about this? I was at that event. The cannon was inside the park which
was the area contracted by the sponsoring branch for the event. The cannon
was fired the first time and all involved were descended upon by an autocrat
and several other responsible folk and told in no uncertain terms that there
was a burn-ban in effect (which is utterly and unremarkably common in
Southern Oregon in mid-summer) and that the firing of fireworks and/or
firearms in the park was expressly prohibited. Aveloc completely blew the
lot of them off and ended up firing the cannon again. An officer *did* show
up at the event site and Aveloc paid him $200 to end the matter. I *heard*
him say afterward, "I don't care about the d*mn fine, I'll pay it but I'll
fire the cannon again if I want to!" He *knew* it was illegal when he did
it. Now he's claiming that it was an act of "civil disobedience". Against
what? Not firing things that combust gunpowder in a dry area during a
burn-ban? 
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"She spent many years at our SCA gatherings wearing nothing more than a
copper bikini top (with embossed nipples) and a brief buckskin loincloth."
I think the above sums up so much of this case for me...

If this is the way they play SCA out there then what hapens might as well be
on another planet.
This woman spent 10+ years wearing that and no one though to "help" her get
a clue about genuine pre1600 clothing or alternately suggest a different
expression for her hobby????
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Does anyone else think it's funny that we have a former King accusing the
BOD of being selected in an unrepresentative manner? The only reason Aveloc
had any authority within the Society was his ability to hit people with
clubs, and he's complaining that the way the BOD is selected is silly? 
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If the Marshalate had showed some testicular fortitude, I don't think Aveloc
would have had the opportunity to get himself in so much trouble.
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It is hard for marshalls to display testicular fortitude when it's the King
misbehaving, and when the Chivalry support him.
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And even if I felt that Aveloc was the victim of a conspiracy, I would be
unwilling to have my name attached to anything like the petition posted on
the site. 
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That site is such a mistake. It's not going to convince anyone who wasn't
already on Aveloc's side.
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I was just astounded that on more than one occasion police reports were made
due to his actions at events. Hello? How often does that happen?? I've been
in the SCA 24 yrs and I can't recall the police being involved in more than
a handful of issues ever.
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I do not buy Aveloc-the-persecuted for a secopnd. The answers are in some
cases just plain slimy with trying to shift blame and dodge. One of his
ansers covered an incident that happened with a dear friend of mine. I trust
her. One of the reasons I trust her is that she has a manageable enough ego
to regularly admit when she was in the wrong and step up to wear the
consequences. She does not take things too seriously and forgives very
readily. She described the incident form her point of view. It was different
to Aveloc's. His didn'tmentioon the knocked unconsious, the running straight
over her and the screaming abuse at her after he had to sit out of a battle
while the marshals discussed the behaviour. I find the "it was all her
fault" attitude in this and other "answers" to be what constitutes him as a
real danger to others both on and off the field.
Incidentally I know the helm that he refered to as having an unsafe chin
cup. Bullsh*t.
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But in his defense of "I wasn't at Lilies 3 years ago", he is absolutely
honest. It was more like 4 1/2 years ago. How Clintonesque. 
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As a side note, the Adrian Empire has had a huge influx of people in the
last two years in the An Tir area. I figured "stuff" must have been coming
down in the SCA there to have such a high defect rate.
Some of the attitudes described by the "sca defectors" are surprisingly in
line with the impression of the attitude I got from Aveloc's response,
though to be fair, his name was never mentioned... 

Its really unfortunate. I play both games, but hate to see people leave the
SCA due to bad politics, poor treatment, and/or especially because they
aren't seeing a culture of Chivarly.
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There are many misinformed opinions about lawsuits related to this post.
WHAT ARE THE DAMAGES?? 
If they are simply that someone can't play in a social club, then I laugh at
that. Put a dollar amount on being a part of a club.  I know the SCA is a
very important, if not the central part, in many peoples lives, however, put
that in front of a jury.
A jury will think of this like he was kicked out of the local bingo hall or
they revoked his membership to the Lions club. There is no basis for a
lawsuit of any kind.
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