Photo Courtesy of Steve Meisky

Photo Courtesy of Steve Meisky
Volume VII, Issue
April 2014
The Vigil
T H E
B A R O N Y
SPECIAL
POINTS OF
INTEREST:
A
O F
T H E
M i s s i v e
M I D D L E
f r o m
O u r
To the Wonderful Populace
of the Middle Marches,
Missives
from Her
Excellency
Eilis and Baronial Seneschal
Gulf Wars
Recaps
Scroll Blank
Challenge
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
A Missive from the Seneschal
3
A Missive from the Chronicler
3
Middle Kingdom Scroll
Blank Challenge
4
Baronial Twelfth Night
4
On Springtime Humours
5
Upcoming Events
6
Gulf Wars Recaps
8-9
I send you warmer
greetings as the winter
snows FINALLY begin to
melt here in our lovely Barony. The first quarter of
2014 has had some fantastic events, demos, and our
first ever Quarterly Baronial
meeting. At our January
Baronial Twelfth Night
event, we had the honor of
the Dragon King and Queen
themselves in attendance
with a hearty pot-luck to
finish off the night. In February, we were able to secure a site for indoor armored combat, A&S, and
fellowship for our first ever
Quarterly Baronial Meeting.
Over 30 people were able
to enjoy some time fighting,
work on heraldry projects,
and the scroll blank challenge at the Carroll Civic
Center located in Carroll,
Ohio. Don’t forget to check
each quarter for another
meeting! March was a blustery month with much
planned activity, but alas
the winter snows prohibited
a lot of our time together.
However, Middle Marches
was proud to have over 35
people in attendance at
this year’s Gulf Wars! Hoobah to the Barony!
Photo Courtesy of Steve Meisky
The next few
months will bring forth
more opportunity for Grace
and Chivalry, especially at
our upcoming Baronial
Championship Event in
April. Please come and enjoy the pageantry known
only in the SCA as His Excellency and I choose our
next Baronial A&S, Armored
Combat, and Rapier Champions. The month of May as
always brings preparations
for War and our gracious
Shire of Mugmort will again
be hosting Mugmort Melees on May 10th, 2014.
Here His Excellency and I
will choose our Archery
M A R C H E S
B a r o n e s s
champion. June will again
host another Quarterly Baronial Meeting (the date
has yet to be finalized)- with
a focus “Prepping for Pennsic” whether you’re fighting
in preparation for war, making your clothing for the
season, or just plainlooking for ideas of what to
bring for Pennsic. This will
be the meeting to attend!
As always I would
like to finish this missive
with my gratitude toward all
of you here in the Barony.
The Baron and I will soon
welcome our son into the
world and many of you have
given gifts of time, money,
and presents for our child.
We are both extremely
humbled and blessed to
have caring and wonderful
people like you here in the
Barony and wish to express
our gratitude for those
many gifts. Thank you from
the bottoms of Our hearts!
Middle Marches to the
Fore!
P a g e
3
T h e
A
m i s s i v e
F r o m
T h e
Greetings to you all from Lady
Maggie, your friendly Baronial
Seneschal.
Lastly, I wish to set a spark within you all. I would like very
much to see our Barony continue to unite and support
each other. I would love to see Middle Marches encampments at events like Blackstone Raids, NOWM and Baron
Wars. I would also love to see more heraldry displays both
individually and as a group. We will be trying to plan some
get togethers to help folks with heraldic display and
classes to help improve your “period presence”. Be on
the lookout.
Photo courtesy of Sydony Elizabeth Morgan
I could not be more proud to be part of such a great
group of people. Please don’t hesitate to call me if you
need anything.
Yours in Service,
Things here at home are equally
busy with A&S faire season in
full swing. Please, go, enter,
judge, enjoy all of the beauty
that can be seen. Our artisans
are as strong a force as our
warriors are upon the field. We
A
Lady Maggie O’Donnell
PS—Lady Maggie is currently looking for a Deputy
Seneschal. Interested individuals may contact her at
[email protected]
M i s s i v e
Unto the Populace of Middle
Marches, greetings and happy
spring!
As the spring thaws come, so
does event season! It’s my favorite time of year— time to
shake the dust off of chairs,
tents and coolers, time to visit
with folks that I don’t get to see
during the homebound winter
months, and time to enjoy the
fellowship of the SCA at any
number of events I can point my
compass toward.
As the events line up on the
calendar week after week, and
multiple events occur on the
same days, I find myself turning
to you all of you, and to request
your assistance.
If you find yourself at an event
this Spring, and you see a fellow
member of our fine Barony doing
S e n e s c h a l
will be holding our Baronial Championships for Heavy
Weapons, Rapier and A&S on April 5th at Blacklick Metro
Parks. Please come out and vie for the opportunity to
serve our Barony as a Champion. Due to site restrains, we will be having our Archery and Thrown weapons Championships at Mugmort Melees.
Now that the clouds are starting
to clear and the earth is beginning to awaken to Spring, things
are busy here in the Barony as
well as our Kingdom.
Middle Marches was well represented among the contingent of
Midrealm populace that made
the trek down to Gulf Wars. It
was a great week of pageantry,
fighting, shopping and merriment. I encourage you to sometime make the trip if you are
able and to see what things are
like in other parts of the Known
World.
V i g i l
F r o m
t h e
something awesome, let me know
about it! Take a picture or two if you
are able, and send them my way.
Send me an email with 150-200
words about what happened at the
event. It doesn’t have to be at one of
our Barony’s events, either. Many of
our talented artisans, and skilled
fighters, fencers, and archers travel
through out the Oaken Region and
beyond! If you are one such individual, or just a travelling spectator, I
encourage you to become a guest
columnist in The Vigil. We all think
our Barony is the best there is, so
feel free to brag about it here!
Submissions can be sent to me via
email at [email protected]
Please do not hesitate to contact me
with any questions.
In Service to the Dream and the
Chevron,
Lady Nyah MacPhee
C h r o n i c l e r
Photo courtesy of Nyah MacPhee
V o l u m e
V I I ,
I s s u e
V
P a g e
B a r o n i a l
T w e l f t h
N i g h t
In January, the Barony hosted its annual Twelfth Night Celebration.
We were honored with the presence of our King and Queen, and
spent the day enjoying the company of good friends, working on or
displaying our Arts and Sciences, and working on scroll blanks for the
Middle Kingdom Scroll Blank challenge. Their Majesties’ held court,
in which very deserving individuals received recognition for their arts
and service. The day was capped off with an excellent potluck feast,
as well as wonderful music and dancing.
Pictured right—members of the populace working diligently in a
Scribal Workshop hosted by Her Excellency Eilis the Stone.
Photo courtesy of THL Aasa Sorensdottir
K i n g d o m
S c r o l l
B l a n k
C h a l l e n g e
At the Valentine's Day Massacre Event
inspiration
held in the Baronry of Andelcrag, Submission for the 3rd annual Middle King-
1 point for having a specific order/
dom Scroll Blank Challenge were ac-
award badge
cepted Once again, the Middle
1 point for “WOW” factor
Marches showed up in force with an
(A note on the inspiration part—it DOES
overwhelming percentage of the total
NOT say it has to be PERIOD inspiration.
submissions. 95 of the 126 scrolls sub-
“I like daisies and the color purple, so I
mitted came from Middles Marches. At
did a vinework design with daisies and a
the end of the score tabulations, The
purple illuminated letter P” will get you
Barony of Cynnabar was declared the
a point just as well as “This is a replica
winner of the challenge.
of a page from X’s Book of Hours ,
As controversial as the results may
dated to the Xth Century”).
sound to most of us, I spoke with The
Our Barony is to be commended for its
Honorable Lord Ian the Green ( who
OUTSTANDING effort, and a well de-
was in charge of the previous two
served second place. Hoobah to the
year’s challenges), to clarify the exact
criteria used in judging the competition.
Sheer volume is impressive, but not the
key to winning the contest. The judging
criteria are as follows:
1 point per scroll
1 point for documentation (who
did the work, material used, and
Barony of Cynnabar for submitting
The scroll blank above is the work of Lady Maggie
O’Donnell. It is a perfect example of a 3-4 point
scroll, credited to the Middle Marches for the Scroll
Blank Challenge. The “WOW” point is subjective,
but in the opinion of the editor, earned here.
some truly outstanding scrolls, and
winning the day!
4
V o l u m e
V I I ,
I s s u e
V
P a g e
5
O n S p r i n g t i m e H u m o u r s
B y M i s t r e s s R o s e M a r i a n
Greetings! I’m Rose Marian. I’ve been playing in the Society for over
2 decades, with parts of those in 4 different kingdoms.
I have dabbled in many different arts and science over the years
and I hope I can be of help in enhancing your learning and activities
in the arts and sciences.
I would love to know what you all are interested in learning, so I can
help bring you the information and learning experiences you desire.
I hope to bring you some period humoural (and humorous) information in my missives as well…and so to spring (my favorite season!)
Tis the Lenten season now and spring attempts to escape from winter’s icy grip. The season of spring is hot, moist and temperate, corresponding to the element air and the humour of blood.
This fortunate sanguine temperament favors certain activities in
diet and hygiene. However, the restrictions of Lent on the faithful
postponed the favored dietary humoural balancing foods.
No meat, dairy products or eggs were allowed during the strict days
of Lent. Fish dishes were favored, and pottages of peas or beans
thickened with grain products, and served with bread.
Photo Courtesy of Mistress Rose Marian
Nuts were commonly used during Lent by the nobility, and there are recipes in period that use nuts to create illusion foods that look
like things not to be eaten in lent, but can be eaten because nuts are allowed.
Almonds in particular were used for these “fake foods”, and there are recipes in period manuscripts for “eggs in Lent” –made of
almond paste to look like an egg, right down to coloring part with saffron for the yolk! Also “cheese in lent” and “an illusion of butter”, so a noble could serve these to his guests thinking they were getting an illicit treat, only to discover the viands were Church
approved after all!
As to activities, going on a pilgrimage was not unusual during Lent as a further sign of penitence and preparation for the joys of
Easter. Any theatrical diversions had a Biblical theme to reinforce the messages of the season.
Once Lent was over and the Eastertide feasting could commence, the following foods were considered best to eat in spring for balance of the bodily humors:
By the Italians, chickens, curlews, eggs (real ones, and not more than 5 at a meal); and by the Arabs, wild plants they call scariole
(a wild lettuce having prickly stems, now common in Europe. I speculate it was brought there by the Moors, or by those returning
from the Crusades), and they are also then in the habit of drinking goat’s milk (which would be available again after the birth of
kids in the spring.)
Activities for spring recommended for humoural balance are blood-letting (see your local physicke), sexual intercourse (spring is the
only time of year this may be a freely done activity for humoural balance), baths, drinking spiced concoctions to stimulate digestion
(likely necessary after the privations of Lent), and using purgatives (to help cleanse the body and get rid of any lingering ill humours
from the winter.)
Other necessary activities in spring (though not for humoural balance) were ploughing and planting and other preparations for the
growing season, plus the births of the next generation by livestock.
Question: What would your persona be doing in spring? Please drop me a note with your persona information and the related activities and I’ll collect them and publish the list next time.
Here are a few references for the information above:
L. C. Arano, 1976, “The Medieval Health Handbook”, NY: George Brazillier, Inc., 153 pages
M. Collins & V. Davis, 1992, “A Medieval Book of Seasons”, NY: Harper-Collins Publishers, 144 pages
J. Spencer, trans., 1984, “The Four Seasons of the House of Cerruti”, NY: Facts on file Publications, 142 pages
www.godecookery.com
I look forward to the journey with you all,
Rose Marian
Tirnewydd Minister of Arts and Sciences
V o l u m e
V I I ,
I s s u e
V
P a g e
A w a r d s
R e c i e v e d
KINGDOM AWARDS
The following gentles recently received recognition from the Crown.
HOOBAH!
(Chronicler’s Note: Please contact me with any errors/omissions and they will
be published in the next issue).
Andreja of Mugmort— Award of Arms
Caitlyn of Effervo—Silver Acorn
Celeste of Dernehealde— Award of the Purple Fret
Cristoff of Tirnewydd—Order of the Willow
Eilis the Stone—Order of the WIllow
Gebhard Rauten—Court Baron
Gwyneth Banfhidhleir—Order of the Cavendish Knot
Katayoun al-Aurvataspa—Court Baroness
Marco Borromei—Court Baron
Marcus Pinarius Draconarius - Order of the Silver Oak
Margaret Anne O’Donnell— Order of the Willow
Nyah MacPhee— Award of the Purple Fret
Photo courtesy of Andreja of Mugmort
Wilhelm Salzburger—Order of the Willow
S C A
T r i v i a
: H e r a l d r y
Trivia Compiled by and published with permission by Dutchess Elena of Beckingham, KSCA
A continuation of Duchess Elena’s Trivia that was posted in our last issue. This round has to do with heraldry.
1. What does a laurel wreath mean on a device? A Crown with a Laurel wreath? A crown without a laurel wreath?
2. What kingdom bears the Celestial crown, and why? Who bears the voided Crown, and who bears the Ancient and
Honorable Crown?
3. Trimaris, Ansteorra and Midrealm have name and device closely linked with geographic location……..what is the
connection for each? Bonus if you know the meaning of the dragon for the Midrealm. (Hint: it’s all the same kind of
humor)
4. What is the meaning of the name and meaning of the heraldry for: Pentamere? Constellation? Midlands? And
North and South Oaken? (HINT: It is still the same brand of humor)
5. How did CAID get its name? (HINT: the name is ‘CAID’ not Caid)
The last three questions are used to illustrate the rampant humor used by heralds throughout the Society. Most
kingdoms have this brand of humor in names and devise, if you have the heraldic knowledge to know what you are
looking at. This really is one of the cases where the more you know, the funnier it gets!
Trivia Answers can be found on page 7
6
P a g e
7
T h e
U p c o m i n g
V i g i l
E v e n t s
April
5th— Middle Marches Baronial Championship—Barony of Middle Marches (Columbus, OH)
5th— Martial RUM—Barony of the Flame (Louisville, KY)
12th—Spring Training and North Oaken Regional A&S— Shire of Rivenvale (Warren, OH)
19th— Grand Tournament of the Unicorn - Marche of the Unicorn (Oxford, OH)
24th-27th— Blackstone Raids— Barony of Blackstone Mountain {Aethelmearc} (Ripley, WV)
26th— It Takes My Child to Raze a Village and Pentemere Regional A&S—Canton of Weldlake
(Howell, MI)
May
Middle Marches
Baronial
Championship
Blacklick Metro
Park—April 5th
2014!
3rd— Coronation of Cameron and Amalie—Shire of Mynydd Seren (Martinsville, IN)
10th—Mugmort Melees IX— Barony of Middle Marches (Granville, OH)
15th—18th—Aethelmearc War Practice— Canton of Steltonwald {Aethelmearc} (Slippery Rock, PA)
16th—18th— Border Raids—Barony of the Flame (Elizabethtown, KY)
16th—18th— Constellation Academy of Defense— Shire of Mynydd Seren (Spencer, IN)
24th-25th—Spring Crown Tournament and Kingdom A&S— Barony of Sternfeld (Tipton, IN)
30th-1st— Death and Taxes—Canton of Dun Traigh (Holland, MI)
June
6th-8th— Northern Oaken War Maneuvers XVIII— Barony of the Cleftlands (Wellington, OH)
13th—15th—Push for Pennsic— Canton of Hawkes Keye (Lebanon, OH)
13th—15th— The Seventh Bardic Roundhouse— The Barony of the Cleftlands (Homeworth, OH)
13th-22nd— Lillies War— Kingdom of Calontir (Smithville, MO)
20th—22nd— Baron Wars— March of the Marches (Perrysburg, OH)
T r i v i a
A n s w e r s
( F r o m
P a g e
6 )
1 - A. A laurel wreath on a device indicates land, or the person that administers that land in the name of the Crown. They are found on the devices of
groups.
B. A Crown with a Laurel is the device of a Kingdom or Principality. It is required on Kingdom devices but optional on Principality devices.
C. Royal peers and Court Barons/Baronesses can register a coronet on their arms. Most register the type of coronet they would wear, pearled for Barons/Baronesses, Ducal for Dukes/Duchesses, county for Counts/Countesses. But any of them could use a default coronet of three points that looks
like a crown.
2 - A. Trimaris bears the Celestial Crown because it is the home of Cape Canaveral. Later, Trimaris claimed many celestial bodies (satellites, mars, ect. )
by putting triskele stickers on Titan launches, but that is another story.
B. The West bares the Voided Crown . The West device is a green laurel wreath and crown on a yellow field and was registered before the Society device, and apparently, the Society needed permission to conflict.
C. The Ancient Crown is the Crown on the Midrealm device. See, we really are including Midrealm trivia here too.
3— A. Trimaris – Tri = 3, Maris = Seas, and are the Gulf, the Atlantic and the Caribbean. The Triskele is the three waves coming together, and also happens to be the badge of the US Transportation service. …… Imagine finding a large blue Triskele on the tail fin of a 747!
B. Ansteorra – An = 1, Steorra = Star, Lone star, as is appropriate for the Lone Star State.
C. Midrealm – The Pale is the middle between the East and West, and the Dragon, from the concept that when the Mid was formed as the third Kingdom it covered most of the ‘unknown’ lands and in a Medieval map unknown areas were often marked with ‘There be dragons’. To compound this, the
original group (Barony/Shire Under the Mountain) had a Dragon on its device, and they were Tolkien fans, so there was probably no avoiding getting a
dragon on these arms.
4—. What is the meaning of the name and meaning of the heraldry for: Pentamere? Constellation? Midlands? And North and South Oaken? (HINT: It is
still the same brand of humor)
A. Pentamere = Michigan - (in a smash of latin and Italian) Penta = 5, Mere = Lakes (the Great Lakes), and have a gauntlet on a blue field because
everyone from Michigan holds up their hand as a geographical representation of the state when providing directions.
B. Constellation = Indiana – Three stars on blue field. The Indiana state flag is blue and has a spray of stars. Nearly all groups in Constellation have
included a star in their arms. It is said that any group that does not has a tendency to befall trouble. Whether it is because they don’t know the kingdom
traditions well enough, or just bad luck, we don’t know…….
C. Midlands = Illinois – roughly both the middle of the country and the middle of the Kingdom at the time it was named. It bears the Midguard serpent,
and Midguard was in Norse legend the middle of the Universe.
D. Oaken = Ohio And KENtucky, the oakleaf is a play on the name and the back ground of North Oaken in Blue and South Oaken in Gray is a play on the
sides during the Civil War. (Oaken as a whole is on green.)
5 - CAID is the only reasonable name they could come up with using the four first letters of the 4 baronies when CAID was formed…..Calafia, Angels,
Isles and Darachshire. Writing it with capitals will show you know the story.
P a g e
8
T h e
G u l f
W a r S
V i g i l
R e c a p
By Mistress Gwyneth Banfhidhleir (edited with permission)
This year was my 5th GW trip. Previous travel buddies have included Brise, Kataline, Erzebet, Frances, and now my newest
apprentice Amari.
We arrived Sunday early afternoon and set up in Camp Cerberus, a multi-kingdom camp at the end of Wagonkiller road,
comprised of and members of House Cerberus/Tribe of Judah/
Ice Bear and Crimson Fist from Trimaris, Calontir, West, and the
Middle.
GW is usually a pretty awesome experience because it's a much
smaller and more intimate war than Pennsic and all that entails3800 vs. 10,000+.
To me It's also a "purer" version of the SCA, i.e. a lot less of the
fringe element presence who try to play their game in our sandbox. That's about all I'm saying on that. For the Middle it's our
version of Spring Break. Being an ally versus a Principal participant changes the game for us immensely.
Opening Ceremonies
Tuesday morning was opening ceremonies. I like being part of
the pageantry so I volunteered to retain for her Majesty. She had
requested Eastern European attire to reflect her raiment, so I
went with a Russian silk coat. (Red of course) . The entourage
and populace assembled at the Horse arena and we made our
way throughout the camp singing our chosen anthem for the
war, "Where are the Dragons?" It's not an easy song to memorize
because of numerous verses, so most of us chimed in on the
chorus. We aren't as famous for our bardic culture as our children kingdoms of Calontir, Northshield, and Ealdormere which is
an interesting paradox. We declared our alliance with Trimaris
this year and that's always a fun time.
SRM Moot
I finished my shift to make it in time for the Society Rapier Moot.
SRM wasn't in attendance but plenty of other people with lots of
opinions were. Overall there are a lot of rule changes coming for
Cut and Thrust (C&T), Rapier, and Youth Rapier.
Rapier War Points
The MidRealm fielded about 25 or so for the melee points,
which is an excellent showing.
Field
Our objective was to take the middle of the field between the
Trimarian Pony Lords (a cadre of crossover heavy fighters to
rapier) and Atlantia. 1st engagement went well. 2nd got Ansteorra's attention and they rolled over us. I believe the 3rd one
we won so Trimaris took the first rapier war point du jour.
Ravine
Once again, the Middle took the Middle. Our most dread and
awesome Queen Vukasin held the center flag with her 2 handed
sword for most of the fight. It was pretty fierce most of the battle. My biggest issue from the other side was calibration. Several
times I called out stiff shots when I was killed.
There were numerous issues with 2 handed swords in the ravine causing safety issues so 10 minutes left, the head marshal
of GW rapier decided to pull all 2 handers out.
The abruptness of the decision confused most of us, disrupted
the momentum, and made more than a few upset. So we were
ordered by our Dread and Awesome Queen to reclaim our flag as
she had held a 2 handed sword. They just woke up the Dragon.
Duel
For the 2nd year in a row, I had a duel with Domnhall o
Coilean of Trimaris. He and I have been buds for a few
years. Terms were 25 passes; winner gets a bottle of
scotch. We both bring scotch. Most passes were either
single or with buckler. He brought a larger war board that
was challenging to get around, and I brought by German
Talhoffer style buckler. Clean fights, fewer double kills
than last year's duel. The final score was 16-9 to
Domhnall.. Jean-Michel d'Aix en Provence served as my
second and filmed the bouts.
Ansteorran Rose Tourney
Friday was the Rose tournament. This tourney is one of
the largest rapier tourneys hosted. About 154 fighters to
show up and sponsored by Roses on and off site. some
are pre arranged sponsorships.This year I showed up
unsponsored again and was asked by Countess Sir Trude
of Lacklandia to be her unscarved fighter. My 2 opponents were Jean Robert of Northshield and Lord Wulfram
of Gleann Abhann. Both matches were clean. Jean
Robert's Rose, Countess Guinievre, ordered Schtick as
part of the duel, so I died a glorious death and he caught
me in a dip. Wulfram's bout with me went well and he
admired my buckler technique.
Afterwards I marshaled bouts until it was time for Elina's
knighting. I came back to watch the finals between Don
Matheus and Don Crowley. Don Crowley had a bad back
spasm in a previous match and so could not continue
and this yielded the fight to his opponent.
Overall
I had a great time despite the cold weather. I met some
old friends I hadn't met yet and caught up with close
friends who I rarely get to see. I'm hoping to arrange
some non-event time with them in the near future. We get
so busy working respective events that any time together
is rare.
Photo Courtesy of Mistress Gwyneth Banfhidhleir
P a g e
9
T h e
T h e
H e a r t
o f
t h e
V i g i l
D r a g o n
By Gebhard Rauten
I recently authorized rapier. As part of the Queen’s
guard, I felt it was my part to protect the Queen on every
list she enters. In this process, I learned rapier fighters
have their own culture, legends and stories. I also
learned that fencers hold the Queen very dearly and
was told the story as to why. (Please note that I get hit in
the head repeatedly two or more times a week, so I may
have a few/a lot of details wrong.)
A long time ago, in a Kingdom far far away, there once
was a King. As he sat on his throne, he noticed a new
batch of fighters starting to show up in his Kingdom. They weren’t wearing armor nor carrying sticks of
rattan. They had blunted swords and bright clothes. He
declared “I find them all hopeless thugs and thieves.
They’re dangerous and too brightly dressed! I’m going to
ban the fencers.”
As he was drafting the banishment scrolls (all people
are presented a scroll when banned, normally featuring
a monkey throwing poo), the Queen came into the room
and proclaimed “You will not ban my fencers!”.
To this day, the rapier fighters considered themselves to
be Queen’s men and women in repayment to the Queen
who defended them so many years ago.
However, maybe for Trimaris and the Midrealm there is
another reason for rapier combatants to consider themselves Queen’s men or women. This is not due to something that happened long ago, but something that happened on the list at Gulf Wars XXIII.
It was nearly the end of the rapier ravine battle. The
Midrealm was tasked with holding the middle point, and
the fighting had been fierce. The point is box on a stick
with levers on opposite sides, one yellow and one blue.
To hold the point, a person must be left holding one
lever. Every so many minutes, the color of level that is
held down collects points.
Her Majesty of the Middle, Queen Vukasin and her
Dragon Army so tasked, She armed Herself with Her
mighty long sword, though She held it by Her side. She
stood at the point, held the lever and called encouragement and inspiration to the nearby troops defending Her
and the point.
As the battle grew to a close with only a few minutes
left, the marshals called a hold and announced
that “two- handed” weapons and the people holding
them were being asked to leave the field for wielding an
improper weapon. As She strode away from the long
held point, the entire Midrealm Army turned as one and
followed their Queen off the field in support.
After several minutes of confusion regarding the decision, a marshal came over to explain to the Queen of
the mighty Midrealm why this decision had been made.
After a reshuffling of people and equipment the the battle resumed. Vukasin, our mighty war Queen, charged
Her army to return to the field and slay the enemy to the
man.
Many times I have heard people in high ranking position
say they worry because they are not eloquent of words
and wish they knew better words with which to inspire in
times of need. However, I have found that people of
strong character will always have the right words when
the time arises.
Her Majesty of Trimaris, Jung-Mie, stood before the
united armies of Trimaris and Midrealm and called out
to the assemble host, “For Her Majesty Vukasin! We are
going to take the point in the middle and kill everyone of
them!” “Follow me!” And as she charged into battle, I
could hear Her chant “Midrealm!” The army followed
Her into battle, a mighty tide upon the foes. With the
last seconds winding down, Our Majesty Vukasin rejoined the front with Her Majesty of Trimaris. Together
they dispatched the last of the enemy forces.
Shortly after the decisive conclusion of the battle, the
army formed a ring, His Majesty Cellach and Her Majesty Vukasin in the middle. They called forth Queen
Jung-Mie for They had seen the fire of the dragon burning in Her heart. For Courage and Valor on the
field, They gave her an award of the Dragon’s Tooth.
Rapier fighters should be proud of their Queen, not because She protected them from a tyrant King of legend,
but instead because She protects them from being
poked in the face while standing next to them on the
line, for rallying the troops, for being the first in the
charge, and the last to leave on a retreat.
If you are lucky enough to have a Queen like Jung-mie or
Vukasin, you should be proud, for your Queen fights with
the heart of the Dragon.
Photo Courtesy of Gebhard Rauten
T H E
B A R O N Y
O F
T H E
M I D D L E
M A R C H E S
This is the April 2014 issue of the Vigil, a publication of the Barony of Middle Marches of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. (SCA, Inc.). The
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To the Fore!
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