[MR] All sorts of things

[Arthur Donadio]

Greetings Fair Atlantia:

Dear friends, the moment you have dreaded since Crown Tournament in November 
has come at last; The Prince's Ramble on the Merry Rose.  But do not worry, 
you will recognize the next one more easily and be able to hit the delete 
button before you even read this far.  I would like to take this opportunity 
to echo Valdemar and Ursula's thanks to the truly staggering number of 
people that helped with Ymir this year.  This fact is even more impressive 
when you consider that Windmaster's has just done a major demo and hosted 
12th Night, and will be the scene of the upcoming Tournament of Chivalry.  
But enough of my hometown pride; on to the future.

Gulf Wars is almost upon us.  If you were thinking of making a last minute 
trip to southern Mississippi in March, I highly recommend it!  Ragnarr and I 
will be there but Her Majesty and Her Highness will not; so the more 
Atlantians that go, the less lonely we will be.  As Kingdom Warlord, I am 
adopting a new philosophy for Gulf Wars:  if the mission sucks, we won't do 
it.  How's that for a radical departure?  I figure that Gulf Wars should be 
our opportunity to really play and keep things loose.  In August, we will 
take our big, soul crushing army to Pennsic and impress people with our 
discipline.  But with 30-50 fighters at Gulf Wars, I think we should all go 
as cavalry.  No line combat for us!

Next item.  Unbelts are often mystified by what the Chivalry is looking for. 
  The simple answer is that it differs from candidate to candidate, but that 
we want you to fight at the median of the Order, SERVE your local group 
and/or Kingdom, have some familiarity with the arts, be able to entertain 
the populace (juggling, singing, stories, dance, whatever), know the law and 
customs of the Kingdom and Corpora, present a good appearance on the field, 
and not wearing your ass on your shoulders too often helps too.  And last 
but not least, you must be a peer.  But what does that mean?  It is hard to 
define, so I use an example that Anton came up with.  Let's say the King and 
Queen are at Pennsic and the Queen falls very ill.  The King gets his keys 
and prepares to drive the Queen to the hospital.  On the way out of camp, he 
turns to Lord X and says,"Lord X, the King and Queen of the Middle and the 
King and Queen of the East are on their way here for dinner;  you must take 
my place."  Then the King and Queen leave.  Lord X probably does not have to 
cook or serve, but he has to take the Crown's place and host this meal so 
that the Crowns of visiting Kingdoms feel taken care of and leave the camp 
with a good impression of our Kingdom.  This requires organizational and 
leadership skills, etiquette, poise, tact, and dignity.  If you can do all 
that (and are a master of armored combat, the arts, or service) then you are 
probably a peer.

I am going to hold Chivalry meetings at the following events:  KASF, 
Tournament of Chivalry, Coronation, Crown Tournament, Sapphire Joust, 
Assessment, and Pennsic.  There will be others, but these will be the big 
ones.  These are also the events that offer unbelted fighters the best 
chance to display their melee and tournament skills against and among the 
knights.  Has that clue-by-four hit you yet?  Now some of you unbelted 
fighters may thing you have great combat skills but that some other dark and 
nefarious force is holding you back.  If I am speaking to you, then drop me 
an email and I will try to enlighten you.  But I warn you, I will be honest. 
  If you cannot fight your way out of a wet sack, I will tell you so.  If 
you have other issues, or perceived issues, I will tell you about those.  
This thread leads us naturally to . . .

CROWN TOURNAMENT.  I have a great idea that I stole from the Kingdom of the 
West.  Let's have this huge party where we polish our armor, honor those who 
inspire us, have a big parade with banners and pageantry, and then let's 
find the best fighter in the list by making him/her prove it on our bodies!  
And let's encourage knights and barons and squires and even fairly new folks 
to come on out and fight.  The worst that can happen is that you win.  And 
if you win, I guarantee that your great officers and your peers and your 
baronage and your people will support you.  They have supported me in good 
times and bad, and I am not always easy to get along with!  So this is your 
invitation to compete in our Crown!  You could not ask for a prettier site; 
it is near Boone in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.  And if you 
come and fight, I will challenge Mistress Ros and my Champion, Master Bryce 
to compose a song with every CONSORT's name in it so that your inspiration 
will live forever!

Other Stuff!  Have you hugged a Laurel today?  You see, Laurels, who make us 
all prettier do much of their work in solitude.  They make pretty stuff and 
people ooh and ahh over it, but then the moment is gone and there is a great 
deal of 'what have you done for me lately' sort of pressure on them.  So, at 
your next local meeting, hug a laurel - unless they have knitting needles or 
knives or something.

War Council.  I am pleased to announce that the Kingdom Warlord has 
appointed Lord Sylvanus Perrin Northern Region Commander.  Lord Sylvanus is 
published on strategy and tactics, has worked hard at his local practices, 
and told his university class that knights don't know what they are doing.  
Now it is his turn.  HRM Ragnarr Blackhammer is appointed Central Region 
Commander. HRM Kynabhur is appointed Captain General of Archers.  Lord 
Mungoe McKlinchey is named Deputy Kingdom Warlord and Kingdom Siege 
Engineer.  Lord Marc Daubigny is named Southern Region Commander.  Please 
take the opportunity to thank these individuals for giving of their time to 
see that our army is safe and dangerous.  And last, Count Valharic is named 
Deputy Kingdom Warlord and will take over the Warlord job during Pennsic.  
Valharic comes from a rich melee tradition in the Legio Draconis of the 
Midrealm, is a proven small unit and army commander, and enjoys the 
confidence of allied commanders of many kingdoms.

Appearance on the Field.  I have been very pleased with the efforts of the 
rapier and armored fighters on the field since we started enforcing the 
appaerance standards.  My thanks to everyone for trying to get into the 
spirit of greater authenticity.  If you feel that anyone is unfairly 
applying or misapplying the standards to you, please let me know.

And last but not least. . . have you quizzed a Pelican today?  See, the 
Pelicans do all sorts of stuff and much of it is behind the scenes.  And 
Pelicans seldom wear any regalia that says I got my Pelican for X.  I mean I 
guess you could see a Pelican for exchequer work with $ signs all over his 
tunic, but that would be kind of wierd.  So ask some Pelican you do not know 
why he/she received his/her Pelican.  You may learn alot about the workings 
of our kingdom, other kingdoms, and the SCA.  Did you know for example, that 
we have several Atlantian pelicans who have worked at the national SCA 
level?  Talk about knowing where the bodies are buried!

If you have plowed through this Ramble, you deserve an award.  But these are 
the things I am thinking about this evening.  Some of them I hope will be 
informative, most are not. Spring is just around the corner, though it is 
hard to imagine on a snowy day like today.  And I always feel that with the 
coming of the Spring there is a flowering of activity in the Kingdom.  I 
hope you feel it too.

With Warm Regards to All, I remain

Yours in Service to Atlantia,

Cuan

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