[MR] Court Report from Gulf Wars

[Scribe0002 at aol.com]

Greetings to all who do receive this missive from Gisela vom Kreuzbach,  
naught but a lowly herald seeking only to serve and to learn. 
Herein find you the Court Report of Their Majesties Ragnarr Rex and  Anneke 
Regina held just after the hour of vespers at sunset on the feast day of  St. 
Dentlin being the 16th day of March Anno Societatis 41. Court was  set in the 
Atlantian encampment during the recent unrest in Gleann Ahbann and a  fair 
number, perhaps as many as 40 gentles, did attend. Seated with Their  Majesties 
were also Their Heirs Lucius Aurelius Valhalric and Arielle the  Golden. 
First, with the thanks of the King and Queen, did Lord Pagan Grendel,  land 
steward for the encampment, speak. He thanked all who camped in support of  the 
kingdom and encouraged everyone to return next year with the hopes toward  
creating a strong and glorious gate. 
Next did Their Majesties wish to recognize those gentles who, through  
service, arts and simple grace of character, had drawn Their Noble attention to  
publicly hold them out as a measure and standard for all to applaud.  
First came forward gentle Dawn West whom Their Majesties awarded  arms. 
Next came good Lord Skorri Einaarsson whose fighting served King and  kingdom 
well at war. For great feats of leadership and valor on the field His  
Majesty awarded a Sharks Tooth, fierce in its very form. 
Then came The Honorable Lady Anne La Settere, newly appointed the  Atlantian 
Mistress of Arts and Sciences to give her oath of fealty. Likewise did  Their 
Majesties swear Their protection and patronage of this good lady’s  endeavors 
to serve the kingdom. 
At this time, Her Majesty had Lord Loric Ironwood called before Her so as  to 
recognize his constant courtesy by bestowing on him the Queen's Order of  
Courtesy. 
Katherine Kyst of Falcon Cree and Eric Hawkins of the same place were  called 
forward and did kneel in the Presence to hear commendations for their  
service and appreciation for the light hearted manner in which they conduct  
themselves. These two were made Sea Urchins in the hopes that they would  continue to 
be examples to children of all ages, yea, even to those  grown. 
As the good children left court to inspect their glorious scrolls, Her  
Majesty did abandon the agenda of court business and direct Seigneur Lucien de  la 
Rochelle be called to court. He approached and made it clear that a good lady  
was most deserving of notice for all the work she has done, time she has 
given,  in order to get award scrolls created and in the hands of those who have 
earned  them. And though Lady Samara had organized much of the court’s 
business, as is  her wont, she was caught quite off guard to hear her own name called 
to receive  the coronet of a Court Baroness. 
Responding to the request of His Royal Parents, Prince Valhalric came  before 
the Thrones. His Majesty Ragnarr noted Valhalric has served the kingdom  well 
as War Lord but that this must needs change as His Highness' attention now  
focuses more greatly on preparation for that time when He will be King. Laying  
the groundwork for this, His Majesty released Valhalric from his duties, or  
rather, His Majesty fired the Prince from His duties.  
"Not fired for cause," stated His Majesty, "Fired for Elevation. I have  no 
words to express what My heart says this evening," He continued. Having  
removed his Royal Crown, Ragnarr spoke on, "Not as Your King, but as a knight of  
Atlantia. The Mid Realm lost a jem when they lost you." 
Speaking of the work Valharic has done leading the troops, His  Majesty 
concluded," There will come men who will do it differently but none who  will do it 
better." Replacing the Diadem of Atlantia on His Noble Head and with  strong 
emotion in His voice He gave leave for Valhalric to address the assembled  
troops one last time as their leader.  
"There are times in every warrior's life they are given boons," He said.  
"Such as an enchanted weapon that destroys enemies in battle. Atlantia is such  
as that. We are a kingdom that acts like a family in peace and a Kingdom that  
acts like an army in war, leaving no craft unused." He remarked how much He 
had  enjoyed leading the Atlantian Army in more then 20 campaigns and achieving  
victory in 19 of those engagements. However, He cautioned, "There is still 
room  for perfecting. Every weapon is honed again with each use." 
Finally, His booming voice carrying to all in the assembled crowd, His  
Highness swore, "You have my heart. You have my soul and forever you will have  my 
Sword." At that, he did courtesy to the troops and returned to His seat  
beside His Lady from which he announced His successor will be announced  and 
promoted at His Coronation. 
After the warriors returned to their seats, His Majesty summoned the  
Honorable Lord Jonathan Blackbow before the Thrones of State where He noted  
Blackbow's accomplishments in poetry and organization as well as his leadership  in 
battle. In recognition of the valor Jonathan exemplified on the field at war,  
His Majesty was minded to award a Sharks Tooth. Lacking the traditional token 
of  this award to hand, the King presented Jonathan with a white leather garter 
 which had been presented to His Majesty by Sir Alexis who was given it by 
Duke  Llywelyn of Trimaris. Jonathan was instructed to hold the garter until 
such time  as he found another worthy of recognition with such a storied token. 
Next were called together before court the Honorable Lady Anne La  Settere, 
the newly minted Lady Dawn West, Mistress Genvieve d'Aquitaine who was  not 
present and Baroness Adriana la Bretonne who, for their great diligence  going 
beyond the letter of their duties in retaining for the Queen, were  awarded 
Fountains.  
Lady Brig ingen Erranaigh was called into court next. Through her talent  and 
generosity of scribal work, which, Her Majesty noted with some surprise  
exceeded the creation of more then 500 scrolls, the lady was awarded a glorious  
green and gold coronet and named a baroness of the court which announcement did 
 to bring a stunned expression and great droplets of tears to the lady's  
face. 
Standing at the rear of the court were two young folks with banners. When  
Her Excellency Ysar de la Nuit Blanche was called forth, these good young  
gentles did proceed her to the Thrones where His Majesty reminded Ysar of the  
question He had posed to her at Twelfth Night, namely, would she consent to  
elevation to the Order of the Pelican. To this Ysar answered, "I have considered  
who I am but more importantly, who I will be." And she accepted.  
When the Order of the Pelican was called forward to assist in the lady's  
ceremony, however, Their Majesties deemed the number insufficient to the lady.  
The King proclaimed He was certain where more Pelicans might be found and  
invited the assembled to join in the journey. 
At this point did the entire group rise and follow Their Majesties who  each 
held a hand of the good woman and all walked to the gate of the Trimarian  
encampment where Their Majesties Trimaris were conducting Their own court.  
Begging leave of Martin and Islay, Rex et Regina Trimaris, here were the  Pelicans 
called forward, much to the apparent delight of these Monarchs as the  lady in 
question is, in fact, Martin's mother. 
Asking one more boon of His good Friend, Martin, did Ragnarr call forward  a 
subject of Trimaris, Baron Hanashi, leader of Clan Hanashi. Ragnarr related a  
memory of another king who had broken His chain and gifted each man who had  
fought with Him in that long ago battle, with a link of that chain in honor of 
 the skills, friendship and great valor evident that day.  
Ragnarr had been one of those. Now He held forth the chain He had worn to  
fight this war and did present His Excellency with that chain, inviting him to  
break it and gift a link to each man who fought in Clan Hanashi that war. He  
gave also a wooden box in which to keep the unused links which Hanashi was  
instructed to gift as he deemed proper in the future. 
At this time Ragnarr asked Hanashi to bring his warriors before the  court, 
which was done with impressive precision. The King addressed these troops  and 
thanked them for their great prowess on the field in support of Trimaris and  
Her allies which included Atantia. In thanks for all this He did bestow the  
King’s Award of Excellence on the Clan and each person who fought with the Clan 
 this war as well as an augmentation of arms. 
Here closed the court of Ragnarr and Anneke. 
Yet, after returning to the Atlantian encampment to enjoy the  companionship 
of their subjects, did word arrive that a lady called to court but  absent had 
been found. So did Their Majesties and a small number of Their  people, make 
Their way across the lands of the war camps to the gate of the  Great Dark 
Horde where they were invited in to the yurt of the Great Kahn. Here  did Their 
Majesties desire to reopen court, by the leave of the Great Kahn, also  called 
Mistress Rowena of Avalon and a resident of Atlantia. 
The expression of warriors suddenly pole-axed would not show so much  
surprise as did this lady's countenance upon hearing her own name called in the  
business of the court and she sank to her knees in courtesy. The depth of her  
surprise only increased as Her Majesty spake the words, "You have shown nothing  
but courtesy to Me and extended that courtesy to all around you." She 
continued  to extol Rowena's constant demeanor and its affect on individuals, the 
kingdom  and the Society as a whole and then did she induct the Khan into the 
Queen's  Order of Courtesy. 
Yet again, court was closed and so it remained for several hours but the next 
morning, well, therein be the makings of a later tale. 
I present these recollections to you for your enjoyment and benefit.  Please 
forgive any errors I may have made and please correct me. Be well and  travel 
fairly. 
~Gisela Kraken 




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