[ANSTHRLD] Blazon

[Teceangl]

Aryanhwy asked Rodrigo:
> Have you started at RfS X.1, and marched on through X.2 and X.4,
> comparing what the rules say to the two pieces of armory that you
> have?  If not, then my suggestion is to try that out, and see if
> you can get the answer yourself :) - and if there's anything
> you're unsure about, then ask and I'm sure someone can help you
> out.

Rodrigo replied:
> What are RfS X.1, and marched on through X.2 and X.4?

(cue fanfare)
(cue spotlight on Rodrigo)
    "Welcome to the Wonderful World of HERALDRY!"


If you're going to conflict check, you need some tools.
You've found the online Ordinary, that's good.  Ignore that thing called
"Blazon Pattern Search".  Click on one of the two "SCA Ordinary" links
and think of it as a table of contents.  Look for Bend under B, etc.

The Rules for Submission (RfS) are those things which say whether a name or 
piece of armory is registerable.  Find them at 
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/regs.html

Note that the secion on armory starts well before the part about conflict.
Style is insta-boing.  Violate style and all the conflict checking in the
world won't redeem the armory.  It's pretty intuitive, though, so a read-
through should give you the familiarity you need to know where to look up
specific points later.  You already know your proposal is okay style-wise,
I'm sure.

Section X ("ten" to ordinary people, "ecks" to heralds; we don't say "ten
dot four dot C", we say "ecks-four-cee") deals with conflict.  It's
basically a checklist.  When you're checking a piece of armory start with
X.1. then run down through the end of X.4. and see if you can clear the
conflict under any of the rules.  Clear it, and you can stop checking against 
that particular piece.  (For now, totally ignore X.3. as it doesn't apply
to anything but branch arms.)
X.5., the visual test, is very rarely applied and a good rule of thumb is,
"If the fields don't match, it's probably not an issue."  Don't let it
worry you much.

So you get the Ordinary in one window and the RfS in another.
In the Ordinary, go to B for Bend, find Bend Sinister, and check the RfS
to see what you're looking for.  Note X.4.d. only gives one CD for change
of tincture of a charge, so you should look at bends in tinctures other
than just sable.  Note that X.4.a.ii. gives a CD for changing the field,
so you should look at fields in tinctures/divisions other than plain
ermine.  Note that X.4.a.ii. plus X.4.d. equals two CDs (the magic number
of CDs to clear conflict as explained in X.4.'s first paragraph) and realize
you look for bends in any tincture on ermine, and sable bends on all
fields.

Your eyes will cross and you'll founder.  We all did.  So then you look
at what you find and if you have questions you post 'em here and say,
"Help?" and voila!  We will help you understand what you're working on.

Checking one's own armory is a terrific way to learn conflict checking.
Your device proposal is a wonderful piece of armory to check, as it is
uncomplicated and meets requirements for simplicity under a couple of
the Rules under section X.

Don't let it intimidate you, just have fun learning.  We'll be here when
you need us.

- Teceangl

P.S. Baroness Isrith went to Estrella, so please don't take a lack of 
response on her part as being ignored.  She'll be back in a bit over a week.
-- 
   This would give a headache to any herald who had to look at it long
	enough to blazon it. (KFW, 11 Aug 77 [14], p. 6)