Bards -Good Crowns

[jonwillowpel at juno.com]

Greetings from Duchess Willow de Wisp 
I wrote this on another list but it explains some of the things we need
from our nobles. 

 I have been Queen three time, once in Atenvelt and twice in Ansteorra. I
can tell you that the most important thing a crown does is make people
believe in the Kingdom. This is also the hardest.

 We have created a medieval model. In our case it is called Ansteorra.
Through interaction with this model we experience the middle ages. But
our model is suppose to allows us to experience the ideals of the middle
ages not the historical reality. It is important to note we are creating
a world based on the dreams of yesterday. The statement "not as it was
but as it ought to be" means the ought of been of the people of the
middle ages. We are not really studying history we are studying the
history of ideals. 

This brings up an interesting problem for the Crown.  They are in charge 
of making this model work but they have to work with real people. They
have to create around them this magical world where everyone's dream has
a chance to live and at the same time keep the day to day running, power
plays. misunderstandings, red tape and fights out of the line light. I
can tell you this is hard. 

The model starts with the Crown. They are the chief players in the Show.
They sit up in front and it looks like everything comes to them but this
is not true.  They are the first performers, they set the stage that
allows everyone else to play. They are also the MC's. They make sure
everything else happens. From them all the rest of us take our cues. IF
the crown says let there be entertainment, there is entertainment. If the
Crown ask for decorations, there is decorations. If the Crown ask for
dancing, there is dancing. If the Crown ask for role playing, there is
role playing. Many of the games we play privet around the Crown and the
Crown's representative, the baron/ess. The Crown embodies the Spirit of
Ansteorra. We depend on their insight and imagination. 

A good Crown makes the Game exciting for us.  They create situations that
allows us to feel that we are in a magical world. Our dreams come alive.
A Good Crown doesn't allow the mask over the reality to slip. A good
Crown doesn't let our peers appear petty or knights appear as anything
but heroic. A good Crown will pare down the red tape, make the government
friendly to the people and try to keep all of us behaving at our best.
The good Crown will put themselves out to make it better for us. 

An  "ineffective crown" is simply a Crown that doesn't do those things.
Sometimes it is because they lack "Presence". ( A side note; the reason
that we like our peers to have Presence is that their Presence help the
Crown with theirs). They just sit up front and talk to their friends.
Often they don't know what they are suppose to be doing. Often they have
no historical background. (The creation of a dream around the Crown and
the use of "SHOW"  was a common political practice in period. Some of our
most effective crown have simply stolen ideas from historical figures.)
Sometimes they are selfish, they think that as Crown we are all put here
to entertain them.  Sometimes they lack imagination and their ideas don't
fly. Sometimes they can't delegate. They hire the wrong people to create
the show or they don't realize that most of their officers are so busy
getting the everyday workings of the SCA off the ground that they don't
have time to create magic.  Sometimes they try to do things with too few
people. Most of time it is from lack of education. This is why the second
time Crowns are usually better at the job. 


I know my statement brings up a lot more questions but if I write any
more they will throw me off this list.  If you would like to hear about
historical techniques and SCA examples of how "good" Crown have worked
just ask. 

If anyone wants to use this feel free. 
Yours 
Duchess Willow de Wisp

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