Renown, sort of

A very weird thing happened to me yesterday, and that's saying a lot in my case. Miach and I attended a Tribe Rot Mahne fighting practice held out at Viscountess Juliana and Vicount Gunther's place, 3 Moons Farm (or possibly Ranch) in Cool. Sigurgata, the fighting household of Duke Uther, attended also. The weird thing was that a woman introduced herself to me by announcing, "I know who you are, Sciatha."
No one usually knows who I am. Even if they've seen me before, and at times even if they've spoken at length with me before. I've often puzzled over that, because I'm not a shy type and I don't normally go places and sit in the corner. My girth is also hard to overlook. But the SCA is an odd place full of odd people, many of them very self-conscious to the point that they actually are not conscious of anyone other than themselves. The NORM is for people not to know me.

So, we had a very pleasant day. I chatted with Duchess Eliana, who bestowed my AoA several reigns ago, and learned a bit about pattern knitting which she seems to have picked up very quickly in the last 4 months. I chatted with Lady Isolde, the Princiapality Chirurgeon, about period plastic surgery. I chatted with Viscountess Bronwyn and another Lady about Feminine Mysteries. At the gloaming, we all moved outside and there was a huge potluck feast and we ate until we were bursting and some folk drank until they were falling over -- but Miach and I had a couple and then switched to tea, because we were driving home. And on the way home, we discussed the Byzantine politics of household and knightly alliances, and how best to maintain good relationships while meeting Miach's need for advancement in his martial arts skills. And it occured to me that we are finding ourselves much more comfortably than I would ever have imagined in the company of Royal Peers, without our being Peers ourselves. This has caused changes in the way we are playing the game. Because once you start seeing things from the perspective of that level in the SCA, it makes it more difficult to be content with hanging out in your local group exclusively.

Just a few short months ago, I was in love with our Shire, collectively. And I still love the folks here. But I am finding myself frustrated with them more frequently, also.
Most of our Shire prefers to spend time in the Shire, and view their SCA involvement as local: they put on local demos for the Scouts, or for the local college, or add "color" to local events such as the Christmas Parade or Ladie's Night Out. They put on events hoping to draw people up the hill to the Shire, such as the Emeritus Feast or the Viking Tourney. They are absolutely wonderful at doing these things, and they pull together well as a group to do them.

The problem is, there is a huge SCA world out there. And it is a world in which one of the stated goals of the Shire was to gain renown. And there just isn't much Shire presence in that greater world, aside from Miach and myself and the two local Knights and Viscountess Juliana. The Shire is very well represented amongst the local mundane community, and very scantily attends any SCA events. Including events held in nearby locations, such as Golden Rivers and Danegeld Tor.
Lord Geoffry and Lord Eoin are finding themselves unable to attend these things, and Baron Wylowen is often physically unable to attend. Unless one, or all, of these good gentles attend -- no one else aside from our household (which includes Michaell and Miriam) or the Knight's households will show up.

We have gained so much and gotten so much joy from our time in the Shire, but we never intended that we would give up our membership in the West. And especially after being on Viscount Daniel and Viscountess Aeschine's court, for me at least, by necessity new bonds were formed with folk around the Principality. Miach has even larger circles, of bonds to fighters all over the West and to the Court of Titus and Eiles, and to the members of his fighting household as well as to Gunther and Richard personally and their squires. From an improbable beginning nearly 3 years ago, Miach has emerged as the only unbelted fighter in the Shire to consistently show up at not only Mountain's Gate's official practice, but the Golden Rivers gather and he is now probably going to start going with Gunther to the practice in the Mists that Uther runs. He has also attended, and gained valuable insight from Richard's practices.
There are those who are better armorers, and those who are more historically accurate in their kit, and those who have been fighting much longer. But there is absolutely no one in our Shire who has been more consistent and dedicated to learning the art and putting in the time on Court and at events than Miach. Of course I say this as his Lady, but any objective observer would agree with me. And it has paid off. Miach now has quite a bit of renown, has drawn the attention of not only the two local Knights, but also some of the more prominent Royal Peers in the West and in Cynagua. Fighters that Miach feels would have been on a par with the most famous Knights and Kings of the medieval world, due not only to their awesome fighting skills but also their mundane educations and professions, and their innate sense of self, honor and responsibility. In many ways, he is pulling me along with him, because I would be content to hang out with Lady Miriam and Lord Michaell and plot on how to increase our local An Tellach Mor members -- a goal that I still aspire to, but one that I suspect Miach often overlooks.
I am feeling this is the end of the beginning, and the beginning of something much bigger than I would ever have believed likely back when our Cheiftain, Morgan, was sitting at our table and convincing Miach to make the journey to Great Western War. It would not have happened if it had not been for the Shire, and that is a fact. Everything that has brought us to this point can be traced back directly to the Shire, and yet it seems like our natural progression is to begin to identify more with the very larger SCA world in which once we were beneath notice. Like all good mythic journeys, perhaps this one will end up in the future back where it started, but for now, it appears we are gathering the Fellowship and setting off.