ST - SCA backgrounds

[Mike C. Baker]

It has been a while since I've filled something like this
out, but there have been a few changes since then, too...

>Many of you may have seen this on other lists titled 'The Blank
Form'. I am
>curious as to what the members of the Steppes have developed in
their
>personas. Please fill it out and send it to the list. We can get to
know
>each other a little better and maybe understand where we are all
coming
>from. :) I will start with sending my own after this one.
>
>SOCIETY NAME:

Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra,

which translates into modern English roughly as
"Omar the son of Majid, who is like the young camel and also the
hog-plum"

>SEX OF YOUR PERSONA:

Male

>PERIOD OF YOUR PERSONA:

Very, very late (AD1560ff)

>PERSONA STORY:

(full version takes six hours, and is growing even as I type...)

Iranistani orphan adopted into merchant household; foster
father poisoned, Amra escapes into the caravan trade.
After amassing a small fortune, he passes through the
Italian city-states at the height of the condotierri period,
enters the Spanish court guards, and ends up in
Nuevo Mexico as a reward for certain exploits.

Yes, considerable New World influences were experienced
in the European court prior to 1600...

>FAVORITE GARB TO WEAR?

Caftan (if the image helps, this is nothing more than
a variant upon the theme of the chiton

>LEAST FAVORITE GARB TO WEAR?

Anything without decent foot protection

>BEST THING ABOUT THE SCA?

Sense of community & associated respect for honor-bound values

>ONE THING YOU COULD CHANGE ABOUT THE SCA?

Restructure to allow non-combat methods of choosing Crowns to
alternate
or somehow rotate with Crowns won by right of arms

>NAME ONE EVENT IN HISTORY YOU WISH YOU COULD BE A PART OF:

Within the SCA period of study (AD600 to AD1600), there are  a
thousand
years to make choices from.  Tough Choice!

Alright, with that stricture:  allow me to borrow from another, more
modern fantasy,
and request being the lifelong companion and apprentice of Galileo
Galilei.
(The "event" in this instance being the entirety of the man's
life...)

>PERSON THAT INTRODUCED YOU TO THE SCA:

William Blackfox (Mark Wallace), some years before his greater
recognition
and wider renown.

>LONGEST DISTANCE TRAVELED TO AN SCA EVENT:

Including demos, approximately 900 miles (alright, I was there for
a science fiction convention).

For specific purpose of participating in a tourney, about 650 miles.

>WHO IS THE MOST INTERESTING PERSON YOU HAVE MET IN THE SCA?

Possibly Duke Flieg Hollander.  Too many choices!

>WHERE'S THE MOST INTERESTING PLACE YOU'VE EVER GOTTEN A BRUISE?

<this is a family channel> Inner thigh.

And, no, it wasn't during combat.

"Further deponent saith not."

>YOUR FAVORITE AWARD THAT YOU'VE RECEIVED?

An unofficial bauble from the hand of William Miesko, called the
Bear,
received after competing for the position of Premier Bard of
Ansteorra

>WORST EXPERIENCE IN THE SCA:

Being forced by circumstance into supporting the removal of at least
three different officers (separate occasions / conditions).

(No, I won't talk about these further except there be very great
need.)

>THE MOST INTERESTING CAR TAG YOU'VE SEEN ON A SCADIAN'S VEHICLE?

License plate or bumper sticker?

Bumper Sticker:  (paraphrased?) Ladies Sewing Circle and Terrorist
Society

>ONE THING YOU WISH YOU'D BOUGHT AT AN EVENT BUT NEVER DID?

Full set of fitted-out armor

>WORST PERIOD FOOD YOU'VE ACTUALLY TASTED?

truly dreadful stewed / pickled fish

>BEST PERIOD FOOD YOU'VE ACTUALLY TASTED?

(period-inspired recipe, I don't care to try foods preserved
for four centuries)

This is getting to be a _really_ tough item to answer.

HE Gwendolyn of the Copper Beeches, of Wiesenfeur,
has the best rendition of the Platina cheesecake I have
experienced.

The best overall _feast_ I have experienced was at
Moonshadow Guardian in AS XXVIII (maybe +/- one year?)

>BEST EVENT EVER?

No fair! No fair! Too many good experiences. Settle for three
(four)?

Best War (to date):  "Queen Willow's War" (1st Ansteorran / Middle;
also my first full event)

Best Tournament-oriented Event: Elfsea Springfaire with the
"peasant weapons" comes in second to Steppes Warlord

Best "Court" / "Winter" Event: Candlemas, with Sir Ricardo
as Kitchen Steward (Steppes 12th Night at Fair Park, even
with the difficulties posed by the cold, is a close second
in this category)

>THE MOST PEOPLE YOU'VE EVER CRAMMED INTO A VEHICLE TO MAKE IT TO AN
EVENT?

If you include fighter practice, either 9 or 11. (NOT including
armor / weapons)

In a Mercury Bobcat wagon.

>THE ODDEST THING YOU'VE EVER TAKEN TO AN EVENT:

(I was a secondary participant) A glass crown.

>THE WORST THING YOU'VE EVER FORGOTTEN TO TAKE TO AN EVENT:

Tent stakes

>THE ODDEST QUESTION A MUNDANE HAS EVER ASKED YOU?

"Are you a priest?"

(Actually, I am -- but not in the sense that _they_ intended.
I was returning from a volunteer gig as the storyteller for Saint
Nicholas...)

>HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN AWAY WITH SOMETHING JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE IN
GARB?

Yes.

>HAVE YOU EVER WORN ANY PIECE OF REGALIA (YOURS OR SOMEONE ELSE'S)

Yes.

>YOUR DRINK OF CHOICE AT AN EVENT:

Burkeswill or a variant thereof (Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Coke,
Diet Pepsi ... ); else water

>WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST PIECE OF GARB?

Really cheesey reversed bathrobe

>YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY OF THE SCA?

There are too many, almost, to choose just one.

My favorite personal-involvement memory was tying
for third place with Burke at a special tournament
many years ago (held in a format that is preserved
currently / has descended as Squires & Cadets)

>WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW?

More research, assembling equipment for rapier combat,
assembling equipment for heavy combat, more onomastic
skills, more generic research, more detail for The Bardic Paper,
more performance pieces, more practice time for all of the
above, critique of Modius' first draft media contact guide,
more cooking research, more / better sewing skills, more /
better calligraphy & illumination skills, more friendships.

LESS bickering, negativity, and obtrusive modernity at events.

I'm certain that I have left something out.

> PERIOD TENT OR MUNDANE?

Still working on this (my transport situation dictates the
viable alternatives at this point -- and for my persona,
at least one of the correct options, native to Texas, cannot
be sustained by the majority of the campgrounds
we use in the SCA.  Face, wikiups just aren't something
one can tote around in a car-topper -- particularly if you
can't find brush & willow / other saplings to cut or shape
when you arrive.

My oversize earth pimple is a reasonable
substitute under the circumstances.)

>FIGHT OR SHOP?

BOTH!

> SHOP OR COURT?

BOTH!

>DO YOU WANDER OR SIT AROUND THE CAMPFIRE?

Again, both.  More sitting than in my early experience with the SCA.

>WHAT LEVEL WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACHIEVE IN THE SOCIETY?

The highest to which my time, effort, and skills can propel me given
the
level of participation I can manage to support.

I can dream of a Crown, or any peerage.  It is not mine to say which
are within my grasp -- only which I will not knowingly seek.

> AND FINALLY...
> WHAT ONE PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A NEWBIE?

Like so many other things in life, you get the most out of the SCA
when
you put the most into the experience.  Fun = fun, teaching =
learning, and
(believe it or not) sometimes the two even cross paths.

Cuskynoles!

Mike C. Baker
SCA: Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra
"Other": Kihe Blackeagle (the Dreamsinger Bard)
My opinions are my own -- who else would want them?
e-mail: kihe at ticnet.com OR kihe at rocketmail.com

============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.