[Ravensfort] Thoughts on the future...

[Kief av Kiersted]

Heilsa all my good and true friends and neighbors...

Where are we going?

"What?!", you might say, "What do you mean?!!".

Well.....will we continue into the future as a united group with our heads
held high...proud of our past accomplishments as a Shire and Barony. Proud
of our Baronial family's individual accomplishments and successes. Proud to
be a part of one of the most cohesive and hard working groups in
Ansteorra... The first (and still, only) rural Barony in the Kingdom... A
happy bunch of disparate households, unique individuals (sometimes *very*
unique), and hard working folk... Our strength is in our *diversity*...sure
we argue amongst ourselves...sometimes quite loud and long... But...we all
pull together in the end... And, guess what...we have all survived and
thrived in this environment. This Barony has, probably, one of the most
successful records of well attended and popular events in the Kingdom... We
have produced Peers, and Court Baronies, and Grant level awards all out of
proportion to our actual membership numbers...and look to continue that
trend. We have held local, regional, and Kingdom wide gatherings by all
working as a *group*... The various members of Raven's Fort have been local,
and regional, and Kingdom officers...and we will produce more. Yet, we do
not have, at least until this very moment...the type of in-fighting and
backstabbing that is so very prevailent in other-not-to-be-named groups in
Ansteorra. I am hugely honored to call this Barony home. Raven's Fort is,
perhaps, the one place in the whole Known World that would have allowed me
to become such a productive member of the SCA. And I am profoundly grateful
for this fact...thank you all. Still...Families have problems...the larger
they are the more problems that crop up... Yet, the *best* way for those
problems to remain a *minor* concern is to air them publicly...... Not
hidden away in someones back room...or deep in their heart......

Or......will we start that ugly slide into hate and distrust and letter
writing campaigns and backstabbing and lies and pain and division and
brother tearing at brother's throat and sister screaming at sister's face
and public uproar and poison pen letters and death threats and threats of
violence (not kidding here...Her Majesty Larissa has already received an
anonymous threat over the Northkeep situation...think about it, friends) and
torn feelings and lost dreams and the long sad march into a screaming
nightmare of our group tearing itself apart.....

It's up to you all folks...each and everyone of you count. Without each and
everyone of you to give input and support we will dwindle and one day wither
away to nothing... To become, quote, "...dust in the wind..." When I stepped
down as Founding Baron I did trust in the honesty and wisdom of the Crown
and Kingdom Officers...trusted that they had made the best choice for the
Barony... The *first* thing that I did was swear fealty to the new Baron and
Baroness of Raven's Fort. I will do so again come this Defender...
Friends...I would have sworn fealty to *any* of the candidates had they been
selected by the Crown. Why? Because of my love for this group and all it's
people. I still trust in the honesty, honor, and wisdom of the Crown and the
Kingdom's officers. None of them have *anything* to gain by naming any two
people to the position of Baron and Baroness of Raven's Fort.

I will be the first to say this to everyone... I support Raven's Fort. I
support Ansteorra. I am the sworn man of the Crown...and Their Excellencies
of Raven's Fort. And I will be the sworn man of HL Niklas and HL Kezia come
this Defender. I pledge to each and everyone of you that may read these
words. I am a Raven's Forter, I live, breathe, eat, and dream about this
Barony's success and peacefulness...and I will work tirelessly to support
the people and Nobles of this Barony. Yet, you must remember, I *am* the
Crown's man...and I will do what they ask of me. To that end...I hereby call
on every person in this Barony to support the Barony of Raven's Fort and to
not stir up trouble, nor muddy the water, nor create distrust nor foster
hate nor begin any process that will bring shame on yourself, our Barony,
our Kingdom, our Baron and Baroness, or our Crown.

Who will stand with me?

Thank you all for your time and for your *serious* consideration of my
missive...


With Love and Respect and in Service to Barony and Kingdom...


Wæs Þu Hæl in TroÞ and FriÞ...!
Arenvald Kief av Kiersted, Baron Raven's Fort
"Better the Hammer than the nail..."

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