[Namron] Protectorate and booze

[Duncan MacNamara]

This is what I wrote to them:



Greetings

I am Lord Duncan MacNamara, Captain of the Iron Lotus... and I have an interesting request to make of you. The Baron/Baroness is one of the people I like to gain permission from, and I preferr to attain permission for these things in advance... rather than "sneaking by" so to speak, like some people do. My group is a nautical one... we promote knowledge of seafaring life and early piracy. One of the most visible things people think of when they hear the word pirate or sailor, are Cannons. We have a few small scale signal cannons that we bring with us to events. We don't fire them off carelessly, nor do we fire them off without permission. We have certain proceedures that are followedwhen doing a "cannon firing demonstration, and we have the proper safety equipment handy in case something goes wrong (I haven't had a single accident in 10 years of dealing with Pyrodex).

Here are the facts about my Cannons:

1. They fire a black-powder substitute, Pyrodex, which is safer to handle and doesn't require a permit to use... That being said, I am fully legal.

2. They do NOT fire a projectile of any kind. They are strictly signal cannons, to fire a blank load ONLY. They do fire a piece of tissue-paper wadding about 6-10 feet, which is closely watched to make sure it doesn't catch the grass on fire. Once again, I haven't had a single accident in my 10 years of experience.

3. We keep the proper fire-safety equipment within reasonable reach in case a spark tries to start a fire, although it has never happened. 

4. Only myself and my Master Gunner (who are both over 21) are allowed to load or fire these cannons, and they are not loaded until we are ready to fire. If you see us carrying a cannon around, you can be assured that it's unloaded. We do not let the general public fire these cannons under any circumstances.

5. In addition to this, there are strict loading and firing proceedures that we follow to the letter. I have around 10 years of experience with black powder and black powder substitute-firing weapons.

6. When doing a Cannon Firing Demonstration, I treat it almost like an Archery function. There's a "firing line" that the cannons are arranged on, and a "public" line, 15-20 feet back, that the general public is not allowed to cross. They are fired downrange at the archery range or near it, since that is the safest logical place. We are camping on the backside of the wagon circle, which is right next to the archery range. If we ever fire them "in camp", we have a portable range setup that we use. they aren't fired carelessly.



Also, our services as Cannoneers are available to signal other things as well if so wished, such as the start of the Tourneys and such... or to start court off with a bang (yes, I know... terrible pun there...) Most people this has been suggested to so far in the past have thought it was a neat Idea. I would be willing to signal whatever the barony wishes us to, or not... either way on that. However, I would request permission from you, that if I attain the proper permission from the other people I have to, that me and my crew can do a cannon firing demonstration at the archery field after the archers are finished with it, and be allowed to fire our smaller cannons at our camp range for our crew meeting (the smaller cannons I'm referring to are less loud than a standard black cat firecracker, while the biggest one we have is .50 caliber and very loud.) Once again, we're camping on the backside of the wagons, so we're right near the archery range already as well. If allowed, I will work it out on the schedule to whenever you will allow, and I have my own heralds who are willing to announce it when it's time, so that we don't pull from the Baronial workforce.

I would greatly appreciate your permission on this, and will be similarly emailing the other people I have to attain permission from.

Thanks for your time,
In Service,
Lord Duncan MacNamara
Captain of the Iron Lotus
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