[MR] newcomers (And white belts)

[David Wendelken]

> Long ago at my first event, I came as a steppes horseman.  
> I had a big brass dragon pendant on a brass chain, and a 
> tulwar sword tied up in a muslin sash.  I was promptly 
> scolded by a KSCA who objected to both the sash and the chain.

Milord Charles,

With more than a thousand knights in the SCA over 40 years of time, there
are bound to be a few that need remedial training from time to time.  

I, for one, have occasionally needed (and blessedly received, in full
measure) a swift kick in the rear to remind me to follow my ideals in better
fashion.

I can attest that the good ladies of this kingdom pack quite a wallop whilst
at this particular task.  :)  (Keep up the good work!)

I can only hope, should you witness such a travesty of good manners again,
that you would step forward and defend the victim of such effrontery.

I stand at your back.  

Milord Charles Fleming, if it pleases you, consider doing so "A Quest" that
I lay upon you.  

To claim your reward, you must bring me a link from an offending knight's
chain, won in a contest of honour with them over just such a matter.  You
must bring with it the full and proper name of said knight and the name of
the kingdom and group within which they reside.

I promise that the reward will be suitable for the worthiness of such an
action.

>I thought it took some imagination to see either a plain gold chain 
>or a white belt in that getup.  

Truly, it did not matter if it WAS a white belt and a plain gold chain!

You were brand new and should be immune to a scolding for not knowing 
SCA-specific customs.  If you had been walking up to women and groping 
them, the knight (and any other gentle handy, for that matter!) would 
have been perfectly right making it PERFECTLY clear such behavior is
not tolerated.  But how could a newcomer be EXPECTED to know all our
customs.  WE don't know all our customs!  They differ from group to group
and year to year.

As it is, I think the knight was out of line, and their actions were not to
their credit.

Yours in service,
Sir Andras Salamandra,
of the lineage of Duke John the Bearkiller, 
of the lineage of Count Francois duVent.