[Loch-soilleir] Serpent's Symposium - New Loch Champions!

[Baron of Loch Soilleir]

Greetings All with joyous tidings from Loch Soilleir's Serpent's Symposium
V!

We would like to express Our satisfaction with Lord Aki Seulf as Loch
Artisan and Maestro Diego Fortuna de Almeria as Loch Bard  Both of these
fine gentlemen served with honor and showed growth during their time as Our
Champions.  It was a privilege to have them represent Us and the Loch.
Sadly, we had to release them as Champions this weekend.  It was a
wonderful day of competitions at Serpent's Symposium to select their
successors.

Bardic had three skilled competitors:

Mhearai Hamelin performed a beautiful selection from a traditional Japanese
song about the iconic cherry blossoms.  Then, in the second round, we
learned about the earth's creation from the traditions of the Cherokee
tribe.  Mhearai entertained and educated.  Mhearai has been in our Society
for only four months and has shown great skill and breadth in their
performances.  I look forward to seeing them more and more!

Jalali of Salamis gave us a classic SCA song as prose and then lifted
our spirits with a humorous filk of a sea shanty.  It was a joy to
witness and hear as Jalali got the crowd involved and entertained us all!

Tenochcacuitl Delmar presented selections from Nahuatl poetry that taught
us something new and then presented a heart-wrenching and stirring
performance of a song crying out for the return of a husband and father
taken for slavery.  He silenced the hall and brought tears to our eyes.


Four people entered amazing pieces to become our Artisan:

Brenna MacDonald made us proud as our Rider (Equestrian Champion) by
entering Middle Eastern inspired horse barding!  Her step-by-step process
shown in her documentation was fun to follow and We look forward to seeing
this project progress!

Tenochcacuitl Delmar presented a patolli board game and pieces with
in-depth and well presented documentation.  This was a fun entry for me as
I have a personal passion for historical board games!  We were able to
learn not simply about the the game, but about Mesoamerican culture as well.

Kellennin de Lanwinnauch recreated an Aztec Codex.  Not a page from a
codex, but the codex itself!  It was carefully crafted to be as faithful to
the original writing as possible in execution.  The documentation presented
was phenomenal and taught so much about Aztec culture and writing.

Alia Killough entered her first A&S competition ever!  She presented a
lovely woven basket made of pine needles crafted in the style of several
Indigenous North American tribes, notably the Seminole.  For her first
entry, she even provided documentation where were able to learn about
basketry from several different Native American tribes.

All of those who entered the competitions brought something special and we
were overjoyed they chose to honor Us and the Loch with their entries.
Thanks to Our outgoing Bard, Maestro Diego, and Lord Cassian for assisting
Us with selecting Our new Bard and to Lord Aki Seulf, our outgoing Artisan,
for helping us select our new Artisan.

Our new Champions are:
- Loch Bard - Tenochcacuitl Delmar
- Loch Artisan - Kellennin de Lannwinnauch
We are proud to have both of these fine people represent Our Barony and Us
for the next year!


In Serpentine Service,
Brian & Elena,
Seventh Baron and Baroness of Loch Soilleir