I'm feeling good now...really good. Physically and spiritually. But that wasn't true a couple weeks ago. A couple weeks ago, I LOST IT. And here's why:
- My Guard is largely absent from events. The same two or three gentlepeople seem to be doing ALL the work.
- My Head of Court is largely absent from events. I was thinking, for some crazy reason, that she'd be organizing our appearances and coordinating with other Heads of Court.
- The Principality Seneschal is unable, due to time and finances, to perform the duties of that office in a timely fashion. We nearly didn't have a Coronet site. The Kingdom Seneschal and the Deputy Principality Seneschal nearly had to take over.
We talked to the Captain of the Guard over dinner at his home, and he swore to get the Guard into shape.
We duked it out with the Head of Court, but there's no winning that game. So we followed the advice of some Peers, and we're just carrying on smartly and accepting whatever she wishes to do, and honestly - I'd rather just do it and save the hassle. An interesting side note on this is that I now truly no longer care, am not offended or hurt, and actually feel somewhat relieved and more warmly towards our Knight and his Lady than I have for some time.
I discussed the whole matter with our Artisan Wrangler and her hubby, who has been on several Guards, and they assured me that this is an ongoing issue with the Cynagua Guard that has been happening over the last several reigns. They assured me that we are actually loved and respected by the Populace.
One thing the HoC DID do was to get the ball rolling with the Garb Wrangler. Since we actually needed garb, we had each had three tunics made by Auntie or E'taine of Silver Desert. In addition, I purchased 3 undertunics (one of which has walked off, somehow..), two apron dresses, two early period gowns, a sideless surcoat, and two tunic/trewes black basic garb outfits for our Samhain costume bases. Currently, the goal is to wrangle two more outfits from our Court and to have some of the Silver Desert peeps embellish a couple tunics. Oh, and also wrangle peeps into making two woolen coats: one Rus for Himself and probably another Ionar style coat for me -- or a Viking, they're very similar.
Now, this is what our GOAL is. What actually happens may be wildly different.
In fact, our experience so far is that people will only accomplish a fraction of what they commit to. Except the Artisans. They're freaking awesome.
I FINALLY received the Harp tokens that were supposed to be given out at Investiture. What I received wasn't what we agreed on, but at this point I'm going with the flow. Himself has yet to receive his Prince's token rings, other than Uther's. I'm seriously debating with myself on taking up jewelry and metal casting, and the only thing keeping me from it is the cost of a kiln.
We're down to our last available 2 K in fundage, and I'm considering taking out a small loan on my 403(b) plan to get us through January, when we're going to Oertha and we have Twelfth Night to deal with.
On the upside, we really are having fun. We're giving away a LOT of beautiful work on the part of our Artisans. We're getting excited about archery again, and we're promoting a Cynagua Archery Championship for the first time in years. We've gotten to know some admirable and awesome people: Master Edward le Kevere, Mistress Michaela McCollum, Robear de Percival, E'teen and E'taine, Elizabeth Margarete, Mum, Angus, Eibhear, Farleigh, Treasach, Rachel (I always forget her SCA name), Don Tiberius, Don Coronado, Aradonn, Sir Vincenzo....some of whom have been supportive of us for years, but many of whom were not on my radar at all and have surprised and overwhelmed us with their service and support.
It more than makes up for the people who we thought we could count on that dropped the ball, or never had any intention of carrying the ball, or didn't even realize there was a ball in play.
Morgan and Siobhann have been very helpful, both as confidants and also in that they have given us a lot of largesse over the years and we've finally been able to give it out. And it's very remarkable largesse: circlets of leather, bracers, jewelry, games, wooden wasters in a variety of styles. Petra has supplied us with jars and jars of jellies, and Stephen of Burgundy has supplied us with excellent cordials.
Gregory of St Albans has taken on the Chirurgeon position, despite being active duty and overseas frequently.
The current Prince Heinrich and Princess Inara of The Mists are wonderful, wonderful people and have been a blast to work with.
Argos West, the household led by Viscount Sir Loclan and Viscountess Vigdis, was a wonderful asset during the Cyn/Mists War.
The Incipient Canton of Fitzraufia (Miles and Alfar and their squires and ladies) was also a great boon to us, did us great honor and provided much entertainment that was sorely needed at the War.
When this is all said and done, Miach will be offered Knighthood, I'm fairly certain of that. And we'll start our own household, and it will probably be much more like Chataeu de Camville than we would ever have thought prior to this reign. There will be rules, and expectations, and standards and protocols.
We've seen what happens when there aren't clear expectations, and we have thanked the Gods and Ancestors many times since stepping up, that Miach is a Herald and that Miach was the perennial Guard member for so many reigns. We've both come to appreciate the work that we have done. I have realized that I'm actually not a crappy Court member, I'm an average Court member. And while we always knew that Miach was a good Captain, we now know that Miach was so far beyond the norm for a Guard member and a Captain that he was truly excellent.
Sir Geoffrey Scott and Catherine of Wessex are the Lord and Lady of The Mists as of today's Coronet. We will work well with them, as we enjoy their company already.
It's almost October, we're going to Crown, we're going to Great Western War, and we have our Coronet - all in a whirlwind month. And then we can ease up for the last two months of the Reign, do some feasting and save some time off and some money up. October is the Big Month. Bring it on.
No comments:
Post a Comment