[Northkeep] About that news from Thirtieth - long

[Jennifer Duffee]

Congratulations! I would have loved to have been there to see it, but Johan
and I have been enjoying weather in the mid-70's/lows 60's, sandy beaches,
and Higgins Arms and Armory Museum. ;) Let the picture exchange begin!

Jeni/GG

On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 10:08 PM, Jennifer Carlson <talana1 at hotmail.com>wrote:

>
> Thank you all for the vivats and congratulations.  I'm still floating a
> little over it all.  Joy is a sensation that doesn't come along often, and I
> want to hang onto it as long as possible, so I wrote it down for those who
> would like to hear what happened.  Be warned, this is a LONG post.
>
>
>
>
>
> Those who attended the Great Court at Ansteorra’s Thirtieth Anniversary
> event saw the culmination of a vast conspiracy, in which an as yet
> undetermined number of people pulled off a “gotcha!” for the record books.
>
> >From the point of view of the utterly clueless victim, the events leading
> up to it went like this:
>
> Dairmaid and I had not planned on attending, but three weeks ago he says to
> me “You know, we probably should go to Thirtieth.  Someone ought to be
> taking pictures.”  My normal reaction to such a comment would be “Who are
> you and what have you done with Dairmaid O’Dunn?”  I mean, really – Canton,
> Texas, in July????    But he has a new mistress in the form of a Sony SLR
> and enjoys taking pictures at events and he is a historian/librarian by both
> nature and nurture, and I had a hankering to see who would show up at
> Thirtieth, and we could stay with my brother who lives an hour from the site
> . . . so I said yes and made the arrangements.
>
> Some months back, Mistress Elizabetha had asked me to make a prize for the
> A&S competition, and I had a commission for a Centurion’s cloak to be
> delivered at the event (more about those scheming Disciples of Mars later),
> which meant I was preoccupied with getting both projects completed on time.
>  Then, on Wednesday before the event, I got a frantic email from Her
> Excellency saying that Lord Kevin would not be able to attend, and would I
> please herald for them in court?  Frequently, if there is no Laurel business
> at an event’s court, Dairmaid and I will slip off site early.  Since the
> court would be late in the evening, I figured Dairmaid wouldn’t be keen to
> spend a day in the heat, then hang around through court until almost
> midnight only to face an hour on the interstate before getting to bed; but
> when I told him I’d been asked to fill in, he said “ok.”  He said it perhaps
> a bit quickly, without any eyeball-rolling but, as I said, I was too
> preoccupied with carving a prize box and stitching a cloak to notice.
>
> Except for the heat, it was a perfect trip, as we had a swift and easy
> drive Friday evening, then spent a couple of hours puttering around the site
> before we headed for my brother’s house for the night.  The next day, I
> braved the heat long enough to make a round past the merchants, then headed
> for the hall and the sanctuary of air conditioning.  During the afternoon I
> took an excellent class on finger-loop braiding, which got me volunteered by
> His Excellency to teach a class at WinterKingdom (more about HIM later).  I
> judged a couple of A&S entries, conferred with fellow Laurels, conversed
> with some people I hadn’t seen since my college days in Bryn Gwlad, and
> generally had a really good day.  We went to dinner with friends, and were
> back on site well before I was supposed to link up with the baronial
> entourage.
>
> If you haven’t been to the Community Hall in Canton, it is much like the
> new Education Exposition building on the Tulsa Fairgrounds: a large, open
> building big enough to hold easily a thousand seated people.  Upon a stage
> sat the Ansteorran thrones, flanked by those of the Crown and Heirs of
> Gleann Abhann, who were in attendance.  On the floor, ranged out from the
> stage in order of seniority, were the thrones of all the thirteen baronies.
>  The two wings of thrones stretched nearly the length of the hall.
>  Northkeep, being the youngest, was furthest out to one side.  (Hmmm, the
> youngest of thirteen.  Sounds mythologically significant, don’t you think?)
>  Special stands set behind each barony’s thrones had been made to drape the
> heralds’ tabards on, which made for an impressive heraldic display during
> the day.
>
> So, the heralds suited up and the entourages collected and lined up for a
> grand procession. (chronicled on Dairmaid’s Flicker account at:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/imarcc/3714974191/in/photostream/
> Their assembled Excellencies and the populace were seated, and court got
> underway.
>
> Let me say that, if you’ve never been to one, Grand Courts are long.  Some
> are very long.  Mistress Rhiannon informs me that, in the Middle, they often
> stop court for “mead breaks,” which are like seventh-inning stretches with
> alcohol.  In Ansteorra, we tough it through.  This GC was expected to last
> only a couple of hours, and I was prepared to have sore feet well before it
> was over.  Nobles get to sit through a court, and the baronial guards swap
> out every fifteen minutes or so; but the heralds are court Marines: first
> in, last out, and on our feet and ready for action the whole time.  The few,
> the proud, the weird.
>
> The Crown had a great deal of business to get through.  They made the usual
> opening remarks, welcomed their brothers Gleann Abhann, made thank-yous to
> various people, and took fealty oaths from several baronials, officers of
> state, and the Chivalry.  Baroness Druinne was called up to be thanked for
> autocratting, then was ambushed and on the spot elevated to the Order of the
> Pelican (Vivat!).  This ceremony took a while, as many peers wanted to speak
> for her.
>
> This was followed by a marriage proposal (forgive me, I forget who proposed
> to whom, but she shouted yes and the kiss made everyone go “aaaww!”)  and
> the passing on of the offices of Star Principal Herald and Kingdom
> Seneschal.  Several awards were given out, including a Sable Talon bestowed
> on Northkeep’s own Thorvald Egilsson!  Vivat!
>
> Trying to be a good court herald, I dutifully noted each name and award as
> they were given.
>
> The Crown called forward all of those for whom this was their first event.
>  Then everyone was asked to stand.  Those who had been in the SCA less than
> five years were asked to take their seats.  Then those who had been playing
> less than ten years.  Then less than twelve…fourteen…sixteen…  Twenty,
> twenty-one, twenty-two…  This was fun at first, as you saw people you just
> KNEW predated you sit down.  Then it was a little unnerving, as more and
> more sat and you were still standing and you realized just how much of an
> old duffer you are.  Having been in 28+ years, there weren’t too many still
> on their feet when I sat down.  The oldest were two people who had been in
> 37 years.  Yowzah!
>
> Then the Centurions came forward to welcome Madoc of Glastonbury into their
> order.  I’ve made a lot of Centurion cloaks, for almost as long as there
> have been Centurions, and it made me feel good to see so many cloaks from my
> hands on display.  Back at Castellan, the Centurions had called me before
> Their Majesties to give me word-fame and payment for the latest delivery of
> cloaks.  That was a touching moment that reminds me of why I love being part
> of the SCA.  They made me cry that day, drat them.  Anyway, I leaned over
> and mentioned to His Excellency that sometime this year would see the making
> of the one hundredth Centurion.  He asked me if I had made a hundred cloaks.
>  I told him no, I had made somewhere between 35 and 40, as best as I could
> remember.
>
> Next came a Court Baronetcy for Chaundra of Loch Rayburn.  I diligently
> scribbled the lady’s name, then had to scratch it out when I realized I had
> misheard it, and was re-writing it when the applause died down, so I wasn’t
> really paying attention.
>
> Except I thought I heard my name.  My full name.  Dunstana Talana the
> Violet.
>
> I look up, and see Their Majesties, looking at me.  Thinking “What the …?”,
>  I look at Their Excellencies, who have turned in their chairs and are
> looking up at me, and I get this sudden feeling of being in deep
> you-know-what.  But when you’re summoned, you answer, so I say to His
> Excellency “You’ve got to help me get out of this thing,” because you don’t
> go as yourself before the Crown while wearing someone else’s livery.  Their
> Excellencies got me out of the tabard, which was a trick due to the
> four-foot-long veil pinned in place on my head, and because the neck opening
> of the tabard was only just big enough to get my head through.  They freed
> me from it and rearranged my headdress and sent me on up.
>
> I hadn’t a clue in the world why I had been called.
>
> Then I’m climbing the steps and kneeling, and looking up at Their
> Majesties, who are smiling and speaking the familiar words about having
> heard much about me and what I’ve done, and I’m trying to read between the
> lines for clues of what it was all about.  Then suddenly they yield the
> floor to Baron Ian (I hadn't noticed Their Excellencies follow me up), who
> delivers a beautiful speech about the projects I’ve done and the things I’ve
> made.  He then uses my own words to repeat what I had told him only moments
> before, saying “by her own admission, she has made between thirty-five and
> forty Centurion cloaks.”  Sneaky, tricksy Baron!
>
> Someone, I don’t remember if it was him or His Majesty, said something
> about the Centurions, and Her Majesty asked me to stand and turn, and I saw
> the central aisle was filled with a phalanx of Centurions, who are all
> grinning at me and holding out their cloaks to show them to the populace,
> and I start getting weepy.  I turn around and His Majesty hands me a
> handkerchief.
>
> The herald began reading a scroll text.  I can recognize every scroll text
> before the first sentence is finished, but my brain was so muddled that I
> couldn’t tell which one he was reciting until I heard the words “Baroness to
> the court of Ansteorra.”  Dairmaid got a perfect shot of my “gaping codfish”
> expression as realization sank in.  I started sobbing, and when I looked up
> again, Her Majesty was holding before my eyes the most beautiful coronet I
> could imagine.  It was PURPLE!  Purple velvet, with beadwork laurel wreaths
> all about it and rimmed and topped with pearls!
>
> Pretty much everything after that was a blur through the adrenaline and the
> sniffles.  I think I was hugged by the entire population of Ansteorra, and I
> remember pointing at my head and shouting “Isn’t this the COOLEST thing
> you’ve ever seen?”
>
> And my feet had magically quit hurting.
>
> The sequence of photos of it all start at:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/imarcc/3714796001/in/photostream/
>
>
>
>
> That’s how I saw it.  Now, for the conspiracy.  I have since found out that
> I was set up like a three-rail billiard shot.  I’ve seen onions with fewer
> layers than this scheme.
>
> Various conspirators have since confessed to their roles (including HL
> Livia Madeline Montgomery, some of you may be interested to know).  Many of
> them were given up by Dairmaid who, being Dairmaid, and snooped out most of
> the plot before the event.
>
> Back up some months, I’m not sure when, to when the recommendation was
> first put in.  I don’t know who all among you were in on that, but thank
> you.  Their Majesties, not knowing me personally, wanted to opportunity to
> do so before they made their decision, and that’s where the Centurions come
> in.  Part of their intent in pulling me out of the kitchen at Castellan for
> the public kudos was to get me in front of the throne for a royal
> introduction.  Clever Centurions.
>
> Dairmaid, being of a devious nature and therefore able to recognize
> deviousness on the wind, caught scent of the plot and took it upon himself
> to convince me to attend Thirtieth.  When you’ve been married to someone for
> twenty-three-and-a-half years, you THINK you know them.  He’s still being
> smug about it.
>
> Then, when he learned the award had for sure been green-lighted for
> Thirtieth court, he informed their Excellencies that they needed to give me
> a reason to stay through court.  Hence, the “frantic email” from Her
> Excellency asking me to herald.  Do not play poker with this woman.
>
> His Excellency never so much as cracked a smile or gave a betraying twitch
> the three times Saturday I asked him if Northkeep was going to have any
> business in court (I was out of practice and needed to prep myself).  Even
> after Thorvald got his Sable Talon and I asked if there was any more
> Northkeep business in court, His Excellency said “we’re saving the best for
> last” with such a complete deadpan I had no reason to suspect anything.  An
> Academy Award nomination for best devious performance by a Crown Appointee
> goes to Ian Dun Gillan.
>
> I’ve since heard the names Keigan and Elizabeth de Calais as deserving
> indictment, and I know there are others.  Thank you all.
>
> And there is one special conspirator who deserves mention: Lady Charmaine
> Talbot, the artisan who made my coronet.  It is a thing of beauty, the kind
> of coronet I would have made for myself. I appreciate the effort that went
> into it, and the matching box with a beaded laurel wreath worked on the
> cushion - that was a thoughtful, lovely, extra touch.
>
> Knowing that not only does my community think enough of me to put me in for
> the award, but to ask someone to craft a coronet tailored just for me turns
> me into a big pile of mush every time I think of it.
>
> I suspect there are others out there, all of you quietly beaming at your
> success.  You deserve your sense of satisfaction.  It was a “gotcha” that
> only the best barony in the Knowne World could pull off.
>
> In servicio et humilitate,
>
>
> Talana, Baronessa
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Lauren found her dream laptop. Find the PC that’s right for you.
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/choosepc/?ocid=ftp_val_wl_290
> _______________________________________________
> Northkeep mailing list
> Northkeep at lists.ansteorra.org
> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/northkeep-ansteorra.org
>