[Ansteorra] Odd question reguarding persona development

[Elisabeth B. Zakes]

On 9/27/06, Susan <catmafia at hughes.net> wrote:
> I think the part that confuses me is where people insinuate themselves
> into the private lives of historic figures, much as the mistresses of
> King Henry.  If one assumes to be a lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth,
> how much of what you do is based on working around very specific known
> details and how much is more free form?  If you have a persona of this
> nature and are into playing persona, how do you handle the dealings in
> your SCA life that fall outside of the activities that this person would
> experience?
>
> Susan the Curious

Tivar and I try to yank historical data into our personae. Don Tivar
is one of the Gentlemen Pensioners, those guys with the halberds who
guard the Queen. (You can see them in this picture:
http://home.austin.rr.com/moondragon/Blackfriars.html) As he is a
Baron, we would likely have had an estate, though not necessarily a
large one. Now, there happens to be a town in Devon called Tiverton,
and yes, we've been there, and it even has a castle. <G> Okay, works
for us. That's where his Baronial estate is, and that's where I spend
most of my time -- managing Moondragon Manor while he's dancing
attendance on the Queen.

Anything non-Ansteorran or non-SCA about our personae comes from this
premise. We try to fit our Ansteorran lives within this context. As
Tivar mentioned elsewhere, those people you see arriving at a site,
unloading the wagons, setting up the Don's pavilion, etc. are our
servants who make sure everything is prepared for the arrival of their
Lord and Lady. Then they discreetly vanish into the tents to make
dinner and keep the place picked up, and then reappear when their
Baron and entourage have left to pack everything away again. The fact
that Chris and Elisabeth (the servants) resemble Don Tivar and Lady
Aethelyan to a remarkable degree is, I'm sure, mere coincidence.

Aethelyan Moondragon
Bryn Gwlad