[Ansteorra] FW: Aveloc and Gulf Wars

[morgancain at earthlink.net]

Forwarded by Permission.


Original Message:
-----------------
From:               "Robbin Long" <broinnfhionn at yahoo.com>
Date sent:          Sun, 3 Feb 2002 19:37:31 -0600
Subject:            [SCA-RoyalPeers] Gulf Wars Allegations


We have spent a lot of time thinking very hard about whether to write
this or not.  When crap is thrown at our feet, Radu and I are not the
kind of people who generally stoop and throw it back.  However, the
manner in which the Gulf Wars incidents were oversimplified and
trivialized on Aveloc's site and on various bulletin boards has us
alarmed and concerned, and there are some things we have finally
decided to air.

First, We are not going to go into a charge-by-charge detailed
counterpost of the things presented on the site.  If anyone has any
specific questions regarding what happened as reported in our
Marshallate report, we will be glad to address them.  Our Earl
Marshal, Baron Sir Conal MacDale, one of the finest men to ever hold
that office, is uncomfortable with the idea of just releasing our
Marshallate reports for the consumption of the Knowne World, and we
happen to agree with him.  BUT the fact remains that at last year's
Gulf Wars Aveloc had marshallate problems with over five separate
marshals. The violations ranged from poor blow acknowledgement and
excessive force to illegal weapons to illegal grappling.  He not only
repeatedly ignored marshallate instructions and corrections, he
encouraged other fighters from his Kingdom to do so as well, and
argued contentiously during the process. In the report, written before
the investigation commenced, our KEM noted that the only thing more
unpleasant than dealing with Aveloc at the war was a compound leg
fracture.

The important thing to realize here is that none of these men knew
Count Aveloc from Adam.  No personal vendettas can exist without
personal knowledge.  There was no conspiracy, no witchhunting.  In
fact, it was this very fact that kept administrative action from being
taken.   The offenses were so spread out over the course of the war
and over a multitude of marshals we were never able to put it all
together until the war was over. Let us emphasize something here - had
we been able to at the time, our Marshallate would have initiated
actions to have his Fighter Authorization suspended.  This is
something that we deeply regret, and we have taken steps to prevent
such oversights at the War in the future.

When we saw the initial marshallate report, while we were Heirs and
before we even knew of the Board investigation, we had intended to
send Aveloc a letter containing his first and second marshallate
warnings and emphasizing that if he came to Gulf Wars this year, any
marshallate infraction would result in his immediate expulsion from
the event.  We declared this intent to our Earl Marshal at the time
and to the Society Marshal at a later event where he was present.
After seeing the final report, we revised that intention to uninvite
him from the War entirely.  We had held off only to temporally link
the warning to the war. After we were informed of the investigation,
we decided to await the final decision of the Board - if they had not
banished him, the letter would have been sent the next day.  If he was
- well, we don't beat dead mules here in the South.  The rest is a
matter of record.

What has sickened us the most about the entire affair is Aveloc's
contention that the Board action was in response to moves to protect
the power and the Sovereignity of the Crowns.  During the course of
the Gulf Wars affair, when the marshallate refused to pass his
weapons, he bypassed our ENTIRE marshallate chain of command (which
was clearly outlined in the Conventions), including our Sovereign, and
appealed first directly to the Society Earl Marshall.  This despite
the fact the the King is by tradition, Meridian Law, and Corpora, the
final authority of appeal on all things Marshal in his Kingdom.  Oh,
he finally did see our King, as he says, but only after Duke Eringlen
sent him packing back to him.  For someone to declare that they
believe in the Sovereignity of the Crown, and violate it when it suits
him is hypocrisy of the first order, but it is very much in line with
his behavior at our War.  He followed the rules only as it suited him
and broke them flagrantly when it did not.

The Gulf Wars Marshallate problems were only one small part of this
entire mess.  But it was our part, and although it alone was not
enough to banish him, it was enough that all involved on our end
consider Count Aveloc to be a danger on the field and a disgrace to
his belt. We cannot answer to the rest of the charges, but knowing how
the Gulf Wars charges were twisted and misrepresented, and this cannot
help but cause us to speculate on the rest. We are also greatly
affronted on behalf of ourselves, our Marshallate, and our Knights,
that Aveloc brings into question and dismisses the integrity of over
five of our Chivalry without pointing a finger at the only other
common factor among all the incidents - himself.

Radu and Broinnfhionn
Meridies Kiralya and BannRigh

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