Taught a lesson the old fashioned way...

Guten Tag!

On the weekend I fought in my first tournament for a fair while, the Queen's Guard Tree of Chivalry in Abertridwr. Even though I didn't feel quite ready to get back on the horse so to speak, I felt like I had to honour Lord Benedick's courage in standing against all comers in his position as a member of the Queen's Guard.

And in case you're wondering how I did? I got walloped. Good and proper! I think I scored a single telling blow in the entire tournament and I'm not sure how I pulled that off. Probably a thrust when I was out of ideas and just flailed away!

But it was good to get out there again and not break something for once. It's been a long time since I've fought Lord Benadick and he showed me exactly why he's considered one of the finest non-chivalry fighters in WA. My stomach still hurts from an awesome shot he nailed me with that seemingly passed completely through my shield. And then I fought his Master, Sir Halfdeane. That was even more embarrassing. I couldn't touch him!

But I'm not letting my failure keep me down. In fact I'm seething at the moment so with any luck I can turn frustration into inspiration and tackle College Challenge head on. Who knows, one day I might even get a kill on someone.

Bechtold (the rusty)

A device for all occasions

Guten Tag!

Today I'm walking on air because my SCA name and device have been approved by the College of Heralds. My goodness that was an arduous process. It's such an arcane procedure shrouded in mystery. You find yourself watching the submission process updates wondering just what happens in the den of heralds during those passing months. For example, what the heck does "pre-proofreading" mean? And why does it take a month? I have this vision of a herald starting at my device for a month just to psych themselves up to proofread the single line description. Now I realise that the heralds have lots of submissions to go through but from the perspective of the person waiting for the decision, it's an agony akin to having teeth pulled, very slowly, one millimetre at a time.

But who cares? I have a device. I can even call it my arms since I've received my AoA. And to cap it off, at the Bal d'Aneala I was inducted into the Order of the Demi-sun for my service to the Barony of Aneala. So all in all a good SCA week for me! When the SCA is good it's great my friends. When it's bad... well, just read some of my other rants.

But anyway, yay for devices. Look out for my device to soon be plastered on everything I can get my hands on. At least it will be once I find a way to paint roses well. Why did a craft challenged person like me pick roses? Maybe I need to get some commissioned. Cinara, where art thou?

Oooh, and Cinara got her very awesome name approved as well and is moving ever closer to having her device approved. Parrots and ermine, boy does she have expensive tastes :)

Until next time,

Bechtold (the uncharacteristically enthusiastic).

P.S. here's my device, in all its computer generated glory. I'll paint it up one day, promise!

Recruitment in the SCA

Guten Tag!

There have been some really interesting discussions in the Barony of Aneala and the wider WA SCA community lately about growing the SCA in WA and perhaps moving towards a Principality (where we get a Prince and Princess of our very own!).

Of particular interest has been the discussion of growth, and what it actually means. Having a look through various definitions of the word, I have decided that my favourite is the following:

"A progression from simpler to more complex forms".

What I really like about this definition is that it allows for all kinds of growth. Why does this appeal to me? Because in all of the volunteer groups I have been a part of (yes I'm a committee junkie!), growth has to many people meant one thing and one thing alone - MEMBERSHIP!

And that's definitely a form of growth, no one can deny you've grown when you're bigger right? But I'm interested in the issue of complexity. Do we grow to become more complex by getting bums on seats? Certainly we have to plan more for the influx of new people. It was certainly more complex to cook for 100+ people than for 30ish! But what happens when you can't service all these people? Should you be servicing these people? Is the SCA about helping newcomers? Is that growing the complexity of our game? Certainly I wouldn't be an active participant these days if I hadn't of had lots of help on the way. And this is where the bums on seats mentality fails me. We can't adequately service that many people. Looking after newbies is hard work.

While I may be crucified for saying it, I'll reiterate: NEWCOMERS ARE HARD WORK! That doesn't mean they're not worth it! But what it does mean is that we need to recognise that it's hard work, and not bite off more than we can chew. I didn't join the SCA to be a service provider, I wax lyrical about fighting to newbies because I love to talk about it. I help someone learn the basics so that they can join in the fun. I don't do it to tick off another member on the roster.

And, while it sounds really harsh and uncaring, when I'm looking after a newbie, I'm sacrificing time I could be doing something else. But when I'm helping an impassioned and active newbie, it's greatly rewarding and probably gets me to learn about all kinds of new things as I help them through their journey. Now there are some people who will argue that I'm saying that we should ignore newbies and I'm not. In fact I'm saying quite the opposite. What I'm suggesting is that we invest lots of time in newbies, but only take on what we can reasonably accommodate and give each newbie the best possible chance of becoming a "lifer" and contributing to our game. In essence, I would rather spend all my effort helping out one passionate newcomer than try and hold the interest of 30 sorta-kinda-maybe interested types (quality over quantity and all that...).

This way newcomers can find their feet in the SCA (which we all know is not the easiest of processes) and contribute to that growth in complexity that we are all looking for. We all want our game to improve, we all want to see more fighting, more arts and sciences, more of everything. But I don't think we get that from a purely numbers based membership drive.

I guess my major concern is that we all seem to forget that the SCA is a group of people who have similar interests, not an organisation tasked with hunting out those who might be willing to join us and doing anything we can to keep them. As my lady Cinara so eloquently put it, "we're not a service organisation". We help newcomers because they enrich our game, not so we can make our membership statistics look good.

And yes, this is just my personal opinion, but that is the conceit I'm allowed through operation of a blog. Have a different opinion? Let me know in the comments. I'm actually really interested in this, because I dearly want to see the SCA in WA grow to be more complex, rich and exciting for all.

Thus endeth the rant,

Bechtold (the mildly opinionated)

Teaching the art of combat

Guten Tag!

So recently my attempts at getting back into the combat scene have been somewhat derailed by a flood of new fighters who want to learn how to hit people with bits of furniture cane for fun and profit.

As a relatively long term newbie to the fighting arts I seem to have become an impromptu teacher for these fighters, which is interesting considering my extremely limited participation in actual armoured combat to date and my long term injuries. It got me thinking, why do these fighters seek me out for training instead of the more experienced fighters? I've come up with a few reasons below, but what do you think? Am I a fraud for teaching them? Should I send them on to more experienced teachers? Should I just suit up in my armour and ignore the newbies? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Why people might be seeking me out for training

1. They're intimidated by the long term fighters - I can definitely see this, since I'm still intimidated by them! These fighters seem to prefer the pain-based reinforcement strategy for training where they keep whacking you until you wise up and start blocking them. Effective, but when you have no idea what you're doing, getting whacked continuously is no ones idea of fun.
2. I can't help but talk about fighting - GUILTY! Being an old hat at martial arts in general and an avid fan of armoured combat, weapons and armour of the medieval period, I don't really shut up and have an opinion on anything. So if a newbie asks me a fighting question, three hours disappear while I wax lyrical on every subject vaguely related, show every shot and block I can think of and reminisce about the few fights I've had.
3. I'm actually a good teacher - Not sure about this one, I'm certainly an opinionated teacher. With my background in Speech Pathology I can certainly talk people's ears off but I don't know that I actually teach them anything practical...
4. I'm procrastinating to avoid getting back into armour - Yeah probably... I'm still not confident that I won't break like a dried out twig when I get back into it and the newbies need help and I wouldn't be very nice if I abandoned them... insert increasingly implausible excuses here!
5. I'm just unbelievably good looking and charismatic and people can't help but be drawn to me - You keep dreaming there Bechtold...

So, what do you think is the reality of the situation? Advice needed, loyal followers (follower? Can you say followers if you read your own post and force your significant other to do so as well?)

Bechtold (the horribly unqualified teacher of heavy combat)

Liking the pain...

Yes you read correctly, I'm in pain and I'm loving it! Yesterday and the day before I went to heavy combat training and while I only did slow work, some of it got pretty intense. And I didn't break! Huzzah! Well, today I'm definitely suffering from all that training, old familiar aches are back and my knuckles are bloody. Not the greatest look for a corporate type but at least my clients will treat me with caution for a few days :)

And despite feeling like I've been through the spin cycle a few times, I'm actually enjoying the feeling of exhaustion. Isn't the human mind bizarre? I can't stand to go on a treadmill for more than 15 minutes and yet I swung a sword around for over an hour with no complaint.

So looks like the next step is to crawl back into my armour. Might give it a few days though, I think I need a nap...

Bechtold (the uncharacteristically masochistic)

Getting back on the horse

Guten Tag!

Yesterday I actually managed to wave a sword around and not feel like the Grim Reaper's icy

claws were drawing near. Huzzah!

Okay so I was using a boffer sword and wasn't carrying a shield but that still counts, right? Many thanks to M'lord Edmund for joining me in boffery shenanigans and forgiving me for a couple of nasty face shots and even a groin shot. Oh, and for not begrudging me for the occasional dramatic samurai-style disembowelment shot when I managed to pierce his defenses :)

Now I just need to get back into full-swing with the training, I'm even considering a diet (shock, horror disbelief!). Though how that will reconcile with my attempts at period cooking remains to be seen. So many recipes, so many kilograms of sugar...

Finally, some inspiration has returned! I knew I was on the right track when I started throwing mimed sword blows around the office. Oh work colleagues, what do you think of me?

Until next time,

Bechtold (the pleased)

So very tired...

Guten Tag!

Today I feel like a very old man... My joints are aching, my eyes are blurry and I just want to crawl under a blanket in my rocking chair and go to sleep.

Amazing to think that four years ago I could do 100 push ups and not break a sweat and nowadays picking up a sword makes me want to have a lie down. Damn treacherous body, use it while you can young whippersnappers!

So from that rant I guess you can tell my training is taking it out of me :) Basically I've just picked up my swords and worked through some slow work drills and I'm completely stuffed! I swear it was never this difficult in the olden days (I'm sounding like a grizzled 19th century prospector here, cursing out the young 'uns and complaining about my aches and pains!).

But I shall continue! For if nothing else, I am stubborn, and I am relying on that bullheadedness to get me through this. Wish me luck!

Bechtold (the temporarily geriatric)

First training session

Guten Tag!

So last night I turned up to my first training session back from injury. It was a College of St Basil training session and since I was working I showed up in my wingtips and suit! Let me tell you, business attire is not conducive to good fighting!

Anyway being a College training session I ended up teaching rather than training but it was good to realise that I do actually know a few things and not every iota of skill has fled me in my down time. It was fantastic to see a new Florentine fighter eager to learn and we even managed to get two college members into armour (they had just enough armour using every piece of equipment I had brought along!).

It was scary to see such natural talent in the college fighters, I'm really going to have to pick up my training or my comeback is going to be embarrassing. Time to start the pell work again me-thinks.

Oh dear, this is going to be more difficult than I imagined...

Bechtold (the not quite as confident as yesterday!)

Celebrating Lady Cinara

Guten Tag!

While I'm thinking about the flurry of activity that was the last few weeks in Aneala I wanted to take the opportunity to show off my fiancees achievements in the SCA. I've been amazed to see Lady Cinara take off in the SCA in the last couple of months and vastly eclipse my achievements!

In just a few short months she has:

• Received her award of arms.
• Become apprenticed to his excellency, Master Kilic.
• Earned a place in the Guild of the Silver Rondel.
• Been invited into a household.
• Made an incredibly intricate hat and dress combo (photos to follow shortly).

And that's just off the top of my head. So Huzzah to Lady Cinara Baraceco!

Oh, and here's a cute picture of us, just because I can. Thanks to Sir Andre for the very impressive photography skills!

Bechtold (the proud)

The long hard road back from being broken...

Guten Tag!

Well it has been a whirlwind few weeks in Aneala with the royal visit, devestiture of Lachlahn and Jane and investiture of their excellencies, Kilic and Branwen as Baron and Baroness of Aneala. And I'm exhausted:)

Saturday was extremely interesting being the first time I've cooked for more than about 8 people. We had around 140 people to cater for and some massive courts to go through during the day. It was a great experience and the kitchen team was awesome so I'll definitely have to do the kitchen thing again. Of course it was a little disappointing to miss pretty much all of the court happenings but there's always a next time! It's incredible to see how many people in the SCA will step up when there's a problem and I want to personally thank Lord Heath and Lord Laveoulus for their assistance when I entered "panic mode" a few times during the night. It was also fitting that Master Blacktower was elevated to the Order of the Pelican that night, as his leadership in the kitchen was truly the glue that held that feast together. Some people are just incredible!

Sunday was a bit melancholy for me though, as his Majesty King Gabriel took the field in a tourney. I am now convinced that one of the worst tortures on earth is to be a heavy who has to watch from the sidelines while such a great combatant takes the field. It was truly inspiring to see the level of martial skill possessed by the king and I was very proud of the brave Anealan's who acquitted themselves well against this paragon of martial talent.

So now I'm full of inspiration to push my broken body back into heavy but it's going to be a long road ahead. Even slow work is killing me at the moment but where there is a will there's a way. At least that's what I'm telling myself! I'm therefore using this blog to declare my intentions to rejoin the ranks of the fighting fit and will spend the next few weeks cataloging my trials and tribulations as I go once again into the fray.

Here goes nothing...

Bechtold (the aching)

SCA Overload!

One thing you quickly realise in the SCA is that if you participated in every activity that was on offer you would have to give up your day job! Now as attractive as that proposition sounds, I still have to eat so this brings me to the point of today's post, how to manage your SCA time. I'm actually really bad at this so if anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

Managing your SCA commitments

1. Realise you can't do everything - At least not at once! There's always some cool new activity that you could be doing but I've realised that you have to take a few activities and really give your heart and soul to them to get the best results. Most of my short SCA life I've been a "dabbler" and been really frustrated with my results. Now that I've focused on a few activities some of my stuff is actually working! As a fringe benefit, once you focus on a few activities people feel more comfortable investing time in helping you, rather than assuming that you'll skip off to your next activity in a few weeks anyway.
2. Beware the weight of expectation - Because I was doing everything for a while, people assumed that I would always do everything! That meant that there was a heavy weight of expectation on me and lots of disappointed people when I was too exhausted/bored/busy to participate in something. This all led me to a mini-burnout and I strongly advise against it. Participate in the things you want to, not what other people want you to.
3. Schedule non-SCA time - Heresy! No really, I have found that despite the howls of protest I occasionally hear when I don't show up to something, you really need some time away from the SCA every so often. If you're not having fun, sometimes it can help to just step away for a week or two. Soon the call of the sewing machine or the glint of your armour will drag you back, full of the enthusiasm that brought you to the SCA in the first place.
4. Get help - For the longest time Cinara and I tried to do everything ourselves, and were really afraid to ask for help. It's amazing how less frustrating sewing became for me once I was willing to let others show me how that anarchic, incomprehensible sewing machine actually worked! And don't be afraid to ask "dumb" questions. If it makes you feel better, I had to ask someone how to use Saffron. Oh the shame, the shame of it all...
5. Don't just say yes to everything - Okay, I'm going to come out an admit that I am the worst possible offender here and always agree to things without thinking about the consequences. Trust me, if you agree to everything pretty soon you'll get to the point where everyday is a seamless mix of WORK - SCA - BED with no time for anything else.

Well, that's all the advice I can offer. Who knows, one day I might even follow some of it myself :) Then I might be able to spend more time on the blog!

Until next time,

Bechtold (the perpetually overwhelmed)

Award of Arms

On the weekend I had the honour of receiving an Award of Arms along with my lovely fiance Cinara. From now on I shall be known as Herr Bechtold Vollarc. Huzzah! While I've heard the theory that by the time you receive an Award of Arms you should be so indoctrinated in the SCA that you need no awards, I wanted to post a couple of awesome things about being armigerous in the SCA.

1. Explicit acknowledgement of belonging - I guess the best thing about being given an award of arms is the knowledge that at least someone in the region believes that I am making a significant contribution to the barony and that I'm likely to hang around for a while. It's bizarre but receiving that award has done so much to dispelling any feeling of being an outsider in the group.
2. Right to bear arms - Okay so I could have previously born my heraldic device with impunity but it is so much cooler to have the right to display your "coat of arms". I've wanted a coat of arms since I was about 7 when I saw the Disney Robin Hood movie!
3. The Title - Ok so I'm vain but being called Herr Bechtold is just awesome. Now I just hope that people realise that the word "herr" has nothing to do with Nazi's.
4. Being called up in court - Yep, I'm really vain but there's nothing like being acknowledged in front of the group for your contributions. I've also realised that you can tell a lot about what people think of you by the number of spontaneous Huzzah's generated from the crowd as you are acknowledged by the B&B.
5. Presence in the Lochac Order of Precedence - I've got a Kingdom award! Now I feel like I actually exist in greater Lochac. So I might be X thousandth in the order of precedence but I'm there damn it :)

And so ends my entirely self-indulgent post on my award. Yay me. Aren't blogs great?

Bechtold (who REALLY can't call himself a newbie to the SCA anymore).

Role playing in the SCA

Ok so how many of you saw the word role playing and immediately envisaged that YouTube clip with the guy running around yelling "lightning bolt!" at people? (If you haven't seen it yet, prepare to be amazed...).

That clip is of an actual live action role-playing (LARP) game (and yes, they're really playing a game, it's not just a joke). When I watched this, and after I recovered from fits of uncontrollable laughter, I was struck by the terrifying thought that I might just be as strange as these people. I mean, the SCA wants you to create a persona right? And you're pretending to be that person in a make believe kingdom right?

Oh dear, I'm a LARPer!

How do I regain my dignity? Well in a shameless attempt to convince myself that I am marginally cooler than LARPers* I put together a list of things about SCA role playing that make it cool (well, cooler than running around pretending to throw magic at people).

1. There are many acceptable levels of role playing - All the SCA really requires is that you "make an attempt" at pre-1600 clothing and have a vaguely period name. This means there's room in the SCA for the guy who chucks a ratty t-tunic over their jeans as well as the guy with 60 pages of back story, a meticulously researched period garb and 20 years study in Middle English.
2. The SCA only role-plays the better parts of the middle ages - So we're role playing people in the middle ages huh? Ok, dysentery for all! Not so in the SCA. The basic tenets of the SCA seem to be, do things from the middle ages that are cool. If something plainly sucks (e.g. coffee was an unknown quantity) then we will 'creatively' ignore it (I LOVE the 'creative' part of the society for creative anachronism).
3. There's little rigidity in the setting - Ok, some people like the idea of recreating something down to the minutest detail and have a very defined era (e.g. let's recreate the town of blah in the month of November, 1067). This is not so in the SCA. Hello Mr. Samurai, why of course you can chat to that Tudor Fop over there, Elizabethan? Go talk to Mr. Viking over there. The SCA doesn't recreate a particular time so much as anything from the whole period and we 'creatively' ignore the fact that Mr. Eastern Persona should be trying to kill Mr. Crusader right now.
4. There's little rigidity in persona - So I'm a 12th Century German Crusader. But I also fence (generally 15th century onwards). And I'm making a Cotehardie (14th Century garb). Shock, horror, disbelief! And I don't speak German! And I don't murder anyone who looks at me cockeyed. Oh the shame of it all... Except in the SCA that's normal. If you feel like being an English dandy from the 16th century one day and a murderous Viking the next, go ahead! (Just don't mix the costumes, vikings in pumpkin pants aren't cool... well no-one in pumpkin pants is cool).
5. Less reliance on imagination - Ok this sounds really weird but what I mean here is we don't pretend to throw lightning bolts at people. We don't hit each other with paper swords and mime a grievous injury. Most of what we do is physically observable, with changes made for safety's sake. So I'll hit you with a piece of furniture cane rather than a bloody great big knife. Ok I didn't kill you but at least the visceral thrill of combat is preserved. We have enough to do suspending our knowledge of the mundane world, we don't need to complicate it with elves and dragons and magic.

So for me the best thing about the SCA is flexibility and the fact that there is a place for most people, no matter their aversion to role-playing in general. My lady Cinara always says that she enjoys wearing funny hats and silly clothes with friends and that's the level of role playing she's interested in. In the SCA she's found a home whereas in a LARP she'd just be laughing at the guy insisting he just killed her with a fireball. Geeks don't like being laughed at, she'd probably get an equally non-threatening disintegration for that one...

The SCA - Role playing without D20's, pixies and wool-knit chain mail. Gotta love it.

Bechtold (who is starting to worry that his hatred of pumpkin pants borders on the pathological...)

* My apologies to any LARPers out there. I'm sure you're actually really cool. Keep striving for that dream. May all your rolled up paper balls representing unimaginable magical power be on target.

Fencing versus Armoured Combat

Yay! Third post in one day. Work is really buzzing right now :)I've recently had my first training session in period fencing after participating in heavy combat for a year or so (I'm still trying to be a good heavy, I just break easy and need to do something when I don't feel like being used as a tent peg). Anyway, I wanted to post some initial impressions on the differences between the two arts (oh yeah, I called heavy combat an art, don't tell the heavies or they might feel it makes the sport too girly).

Differences between armoured combat and fencing:

1. There's a lot more thinking before blades cross in fencing: A lot of heavies I've fought charge in and have a whack and then think about what happened and what to do differently. Fencers seem to spend a lot more time thinking about what to do before they cross blades (which can be drastically dull for an audience!)
2. Fencers pose a LOT more: Okay it may just be that they're changing stances a lot before engaging but fencers like to stand around in cool poses a lot. Perhaps its got to do with the fancy finery they often wear but they do like to strike a pose. Heavies on the other hand strike poses over your defeated corpse.
3. My hearing isn't threatened when I fence: One of the most amazing things I discovered as a heavy was that getting hit in the helmet causes a ringing that is really bad for your ears. I'm mundanely a Speech Pathologist! That can't be good. Still, no heavy has had a blade break off, stab through their mask through their eye into their brain! Okay that happened in Olympic fencing but there's a tiny part of my brain that screams at me every time I pick up a rapier.
4. There's less visceral thrill in fencing: Yep, it's a chess game alright. The cerebral thrill of defeating someones guard is undeniably cool but there's nothing like beating someone silly with a big stick to get the heart pumping.
5. Fencing doesn't make you gay: Had to throw this one in! Some of the heavies seem to feel like their manhood would be sucked from their soul if they ever picked up a rapier. I can confidently say I still look at my lady Cinara the same way since picking up the rapier. That being said, I haven't fenced in pumpkin pants (and won't by the way, not even for money).

So which is better? I'm going to cop out on that one and say they're both pretty cool. Besides, this way I get to fight in twice as many tournaments (and lose twice as many times. Yay!).

Bechtold (now worried that his choice of both fencing and cooking in the SCA may have some unintended consequences...)

Newcomers

Ah being a newbie in the SCA. That wonderful feeling of terror coupled with an intense desire to join the people beating each other over the head with whacky sticks...

There's been a recent flurry of discussion in Aneala about newcomers and whether the SCA is encouraging and supportive of them. While debate has been focused on some particular individuals and their experiences, I thought that as someone who has recently emerged from newbie status (at least in my own mind!), that I would offer some advice to newcomers. So without further adieu, here is my undoubtedly biased, decidedly unscientific advice for newcomers to the SCA:

Bechtold's Rules for Newcomer's to the SCA (beta*)

1. SCAdians are, as a general rule, SHY - Your average SCAdian is not the most extroverted person in the world. Lots of SCAdians are the grown up versions of the kid who was picked on in school for being a nerd (that was me!). Remember this when you're at an SCA event and don't feel bad if someone doesn't come and talk to you. They're probably just as afraid of talking to you as you are of talking to them.
2. SCAdians are, as a general rule, OBSESSIVE - Your average SCAdian has a few medieval topics for which they could write a thesis on. Some of the amateur recreations produced by SCA members rival those produced by professionals and I'd argue some of the research conducted by SCAdians is more thorough than that produced in academic circles. This means that if you see someone doing something cool, if you ask them about it they won't be able to help themselves and will talk to you for hours! The heavy combatants in the SCA may disagree with the research obsession but ask any of them about their opinions on fighting and be sure to have a comfy chair to sit on, you'll be there a while!
3. The SCA is just as political as anywhere else, no more, no less - Don't come into the SCA thinking you can avoid politics completely. You can't. It's human nature to scheme, and play politics at every opportunity. Don't think you can avoid it, just try not to take it so seriously.
4. No-one knows what you are thinking - One of the big mistakes newbies make is to think that people know what they are thinking. For example, newbies will complain that people saw them standing around and didn't come and talk to them. For all everyone knows you might like to be alone for a while. Many SCAdians need a break from people every so often so if you're standing around by yourself people will probably assume you're happy with the situation. I fell into this trap a lot (still do!) so if you're feeling lonely, just go up to people otherwise they won't know. Can't find anyone to talk to? Go to the Baronial pavilion. The Baron and Baroness are typically stuck in their pavilion for much of the day and would probably welcome the company.
5. The SCA Award System Sucks!!! - Probably just sour grapes here but the SCA award system is slow, unscientific, often unfair and not particularly transparent. For example, some of the people who received Award of Arms before me had joined the SCA at a tournament I was simultaneously autocrating and heralding. Try to judge your success at integrating into the SCA in terms of the reception others give you rather than the awards you receive. It was a big moment for me to realise that people were sad when I didn't go to an event and that feeling of being valued was far better than a pretty scroll.

Well there's lots more I can think of but this post is already in danger of becoming a patented Bechtold "monster post" so in conclusion I'll just wish newcomers the best of luck. The SCA is awesome but I can sympathise with those who feel that its the world's largest clique. To some extent it kind of is, but stick with it and soon you'll be a valued member of the coolest clique around.

Bechtold (the not so newbie anymore)

*I use beta here in the sense that Google does with GMail in that this is actually a final release version but if anyone criticises it I can just say "but it's only a beta!". Nice work Google!

First Post

Imaginitive title huh?

Welcome to my blog. If you've found this site you probably know who I am, since who searches for 'Bechtold Vollarc' on a random whim? Don't answer that question, I don't want to know...

Anyway I'll be using this blog to talk about my time in the Society for Creative Anachronism. Original idea I know! Here I'll catalogue my adventures and misadventures, bitch about stuff that annoys me and generally use this as a self indulgent forum for waxing lyrical on whatever subject takes my fancy (within the bounds of the SCA of course, for details of my personal life, meet me in a darkened alley at 2am... never mind).

Please comment, keeping in mind that I will gleefully wield the moderators axe on innapropriate comments. Or not, depends how funny they are.

In short, if you enjoy tangential rants about SCA life with far too many bracketed comments (like this one) please visit.

Bechtold (obviously...)