Acorn War

[aprilstarchild]

Believe it or not, that was probably the most fun I've had at an event so far this year. This despite the fact that none of my coven friends and none of Tyson's family etc. were there. It was me and J and about half of the members of The Leo's Pride.

The weather, I must admit, was spectactular. At The Gathering it was freezing and rainy, at Seadogs and Long and Short of It, it was hot. Ha! Mostly clear all weekend with just a few clouds, a very light sprinkle Saturday morning, in the mid-seventies in the day and chilly (but not unbearable) at night, under a bright moon that was just-past full. The site had lots of trees, to boot, and wasn't at all crowded.

Friday night we got there rather late and at first we couldn't find anybody. Then as we were wandering around (again), I saw a familiar figure walk by..."Frederick! Thank god! Where's the Pride?" *lol* Yeah, he's pretty distinctive, even in the dark. And I managed to find the ship, even with his terrible directions.

That night was pretty chill, at least for me and J. We went to bed relatively early...I remember waking up twice, once to the sound of people singing, once to the sound of people having sex. The second time, either the moon was really bright, or it was near dawn! It was the only sound other than snoring, so probably the second.

There were a lot of classes on Saturday, but I couldn't take all of them, unfortunately. There was one on hand-spinning I would have liked, because I do know how to use a drop spindle, but they also covered how to check out a fleece, and how to wash and prepare it before spinning. The Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary shears their wool animals (sheep and alpaca) once a year, and have told me in the past that they'd give me the fleeces. Hell yeah--I can't think of a more cruelty-free way of getting wool! They said they won't sell it, but I can't see them making a complaint if I come to a work party and make a donation.

The class I did end up taking was about embroidery. J was planning on just half-watching while working on his homework, but got so caught up in the class that when it came time to start making stitches, he ran to Merchant's Row to get a small embroidery hoop just like mine--everything else was provided by the teacher. We're both working on a small image of leaves and flowers. I get impatient with it, but the instructor told us that you can do embroidery in larger stitches with thicker thread (especially on the edges of garments), and my mind immediately jumped to--yay, another use for my spinning! I might have to dye some of it.

At Merchant's Row we got not-quite-matching pewter wine cups. They hold probably two and a half shots' worth. I also got a cotton cap, mostly so I could reverse-engineer it and make it out of something thicker and warmer than unbleached cotton. I've decided that the real reason people covered their heads in period was to hide their dirty hair. *lol* If I wear the cap with my mundane clothes, I look like a Mennonite or something. It sure does make me look more properly like my persona, but I can't imagine my persona wearing that kind of thing anymore once she ran off to be a pirate, except maybe out of habit. Or to hide her dirty hair.

Saturday, late afternoon, I decided to attend court. I knew that some of my friends were going to be involved, so I was excited. I was able to get a seat right in front (I swear there were 150 or more people attending court), and completely by accident, I ended up right next to the Baroness of the Three Mountains, which is the Barony I live in. Turns out the Baroness is a really neato person. And I have to say that it ended up being very convenient, as she was able to answer my questions and tell me what was going on--court is ever so much more interesting when you know who people are and why they're doing things! I still wish I'd brought my spinning or embroidery so I had something to do with my hands.

Members of Fire and Steel announced the entrance of the prince and princess (the royalty who were at The Long and Short of It) by fire-breathing, which was well-received. Later on, Sable presented a scroll to them. Captain Josef was sitting on the sidelines...literally crying! It kicked ass, and I felt so proud of my ship.

Lots of people were given various awards by the king and queen of An Tir. The king is a funny guy. When people get awards, they get illuminated scrolls. They look so awesome. I want one. *lol*

So, some of what I learned:

The King and Queen are referred to His and Her Majesty. They're announced before they come into court, and everyone stands up, and curtsies or bows when they walk by. The Prince and Princess are referred to as His and Her Highness and come in next. Both spots are earned by a person winning a major battle, and their partner (I know that at least one Queen won her position, with her husband becoming her King). Baron and Baronesses are appointed by the King and Queen and don't have to be partnered--the Baron and Baroness of The Three Mountains aren't, which according to her is "very convienent, as I can go complain about him to my boyfriend and he can complain about me to his wife!" They have really cool crowns--the Baroness' has trillium flowers, and the Baron's has pine cones, along with a little image of three mountains. Near as I can tell, they only wear them at court.

An Award of Arms is the first level of recognition in the SCA. I forget how you earn it--I think mostly by getting a reputation for chivalry and skill and just plain hard work. The one just above that, I don't remember the name.

One of the awards I saw someone receive is a Laurel. It's the equivalent of getting a Knighthood, but in the Arts and Sciences. It's a big deal--I saw one woman actually get it, and another was told she would get one at the next event she attended where the King and Queen would be, so she could bring her friends and family to the ceremony and prepare. That one was mega-cool--when she walked up, I recognized her outfit, it was a spotlessly perfect replica of a dress I've seen in a medieval book of hours. I can't find the image, but I remember exactly what the dress looked like--it was blue, with red lacing in the front, and a white underdress, and a white headdress. When the other woman received her Laurel, I commented to the Baroness that I've seen weddings with less ceremony! Lots of pomp and all that, including all the present Laurels standing up and around her, and several of them speaking to her talents. The woman did glassblowing and juggling, among other things. Now she can wear something representative of a laurel on her garb.

That night there was a dance, a couple British dances, an Irish one and one from Venice and a Russian one tossed in. J danced with me for most of it, which made me very happy. I can't remember the last time I had that much fun dancing! For a good part of it, we even had live music, with half of a Celtic band called Rose in the Heather. Amusingly enough to me, I have one of their CDs from three years ago! My favorite of the dances was called Trenchmore, and it's Irish. There's a fun part where you turn all the way around in a circle with your partner, and then go down the line behind you, doing half turns with all the other people of the opposite (usually) gender down the line and full turns with your own partner, so you're going around and around until you get to the end. I got so over-enthusiastic that I was always ready for the full go-round before J was. The Russian dance came after J ran off to get us both more beer, so I partnered up with a woman shorter than I was and in tribal belly-dance clothing, and she danced the man's part in the Russian one. It had stomping and clapping and the tune was the same as the theme song for Tetris!

J was sleepy before I was, but I didn't stay up that much later. I did, however, join in a group of singing people. I helped sing a song with the chorus, "And if you can't get laid at Pennsic War you'll never get laid at all!" and a few people started singing it with "acorn war" instead. Having had a bit to drink, I was brave enough to stand up on a picnic table (I had help) and sing "Twiddles" to a crowd of about thirty people, who all laughed and hooted. Including the King and Queen. Yes, I have sung a bawdy song about sailor's women, to the King and Queen of An Tir. My life is so awesome sometimes. I also helped get started a round of "The Scotsman," which everyone knew the words to and was a lot of fun.

This morning we left earlier than everyone else--J has a lot of homework due tomorrow, and didn't get much done while we were there. The site didn't close until five, so plenty of people were still just hanging out. We found out that one of the booths had vegan elephant ears, so we each got one covered in powdered sugar and made messes of ourselves eating them. On the way home we stopped at Fry's, so he could get a PS2 game and I could buy Thom Yorke's solo album. They had a DDR game set up, so I play a few times. There's a mix out that's newer than any I've played before, that has the Sneaker Pimps and Chemical Brothers on it. But the game itself wasn't out on display, so I have no idea which version it is! They were selling a new kind of DDR pad though--it's a lot more comfy and sturdy than the old ones that you had to modify. I forgot to see how much they cost, which sucks because J does have a PS2, and does like DDR, so we could have some fun with that.

Goddamn this entry's long. Oh well. I know I'm going to officially join the SCA now. And get a "real" name. Because I just had too much damn fun, and I like the Baroness.

And now, I'm going to find out what I need to make lasagna for dinner, and get it. Mmmm...lasagna.