Topic: Crown’s proposal and Populace’s views for alternate crown tournament formats, initially proposed for Spring 2024 Crown Tournament
Hosts: Their Majesties of the East Kingdom, Matthias & AEsa Feilinn
Moderator: Liadan ingen Chineada
Notes by: Medhbh inghean Ui Cheallaigh, with thanks to Theo Holtz, who also took notes and forwarded them
List of Attendees at the end of these notes
A version of this transcript may also be read on Google Drive.
Related Resources
- Post from Jan 24, 2024 on Their Majesties’ webpage
“Regarding the East Kingdom’s Request for a Spring Crown Variance” - Post from Feb 3, 2024, on Their Majesties’ webpage
“Responding to the Board’s Feedback Regarding the Spring Crown Variance” - Post from March 7, 2024 on Their Majesties’ webpage
“POLL: TRM East Seek Feedback on Alternate Crown Tournament Formats”
Opening Remarks
Matthias: Thank you, We appreciate everyone’s input. We really do listen to all feedback. We encourage anyone’s comments. One main point: We are here to discuss the variance We put forward, and alternate Crown Tournament variants overall. We’ll moderate if the conversation swerves over into deep changes to EK Law.
We submitted a variance to allow Rapier for Crown Tournament; the BoD returned it (not denied). Why’d We do it? This is core to Our beliefs – always working to improve Our corner of the SCA. By doing that, We can be proud of the SCA going forward. We believe inclusivity is important to a healthy Society. The more people who have the ability to be Royals is to the benefit of everyone. We took the smallest step We could to open up more, building on what our friends in Lochac did previously.
Feilinn: The variance and BoD response has been distributed. I’ll give a brief overview of what BoD sent back.
[Feilinn read the email from the BoD, which is copy & pasted below in its entirety]
“The Board would like to extend its appreciation for the thoughtful proposal submitted by the Crown of the East Kingdom, proposing a one-off trial of alternating rapier rather than rattan for the combat format.
Acknowledgment is also given to the participants across the Knowne World who corresponded with the Board on this significant matter. The Board expresses gratitude to many correspondents for their respectful and positive contributions, regardless of their stance on the proposal.
Upon thorough review of the submitted request, logistical challenges associated with the proposed test emerged, particularly concerning location and timeframes. Factors such as transportation availability and delays in passport processing have been identified. Additionally, feedback received suggests a lack of sufficient consultation within the Kingdom before submitting the proposal.
Considering these considerations, the Board has made the decision to return the proposal to the East Kingdom for reconsideration and potential resubmission (noting the need for the proposed trial date to change as part of this reconsideration). The Board recommended that the resubmission includes relevant evidence demonstrating comprehensive consultation and resolution of logistical challenges. This approach aims to facilitate an unbiased evaluation of the proposed test on its merits rather than being hindered by logistical constraints.
This matter holds significant importance for the Society, and it is imperative that it be approached with due diligence. Any test will have ramifications for the Society world-wide. Presently, there is no consensus view held by the Board regarding the path forward. The Board, much like the Society itself, encompasses a diversity of views and perspectives among its Directors.”
[end of BoD’s comments when returning the variance proposal to the Kingdom]
We really want to get feedback from the populace. Attendees tonight are likely mostly from the East, but We may have cousins from other kingdoms present. We want to hear from all. We have spoken with the Orders of Chivalry and Masters of Defense and have received comments by email. We’ve heard from 7 Kingdoms and had 50 members at the January meeting at Birka.
Some might ask: Why are You doing this if the BoD returned variance? If Our Heirs or other future Crown wants to propose a variance for Crown Tournament, having this info will help them make an informed decision about whether to go forward with the same/similar proposal, or decide it’s not the right effort at that time.
[At 8:15, 40+ attendees. (at height of the meeting, 55 attendees)]
Comments and Questions from Attendees
Mat Wyck: Thank you, I’m in support for extending options on how to choose leadership. There are so many options beyond heavy. I would like to see more discussion about the costs of a Reign, to the individual and otherwise. We should be making sure there are support structures in place, so folks who haven’t traditionally been in the running for Crown can have transparency into Reigning.
Matthias: Great point, that sounds like a good Gazette article, especially with info from previous Crowns. It’s definitely expensive. The Kingdom does provide some support, but it’s expensive.
Klaus: Are we going to put this to a polling? I think it’s an important idea to take the temperature of the Kingdom. This is so far divergent from the past that knowing the populace’s view is important. Also: What if people who aren’t planning to go to/doesn’t like Pennsic, to have to go to the Tournament? I think we need to go with the populace view on this. Last time we talked, the conversation was about talking with the populace, but not moving forward without polling.
Matthias: I just put the link to the polling into the chat, Zoom attendees get it now, it will be live tomorrow. The survey can be filled out by members from other kingdoms. I agree that getting feedback is really important. Thank you for raising this point before. I wasn’t clear about the point you were making about Pennsic.
Feilinn: This was done seeking the input of the communities in parallel with submitting the variance request. Our intention was to have it in for the BoD to discuss and make a decision on, and if it came back from the populace with strong negative opinions, We wouldn’t need to move forward. With the timing/schedule of the BoD meeting and our Crown Tournaments – it’s really tight, but not insurmountable.
Klaus: May I follow up about Pennsic? The proposal right now is for alternate reigns, summer/winter. If we’re in a one reign per discipline format, what about A&S, etc? I’m all in favor of being more inclusive. Shouldn’t we be creating variances per discipline? That would call for multiple Crown Tournaments, so armored fighters would be Pennsic Crown once every 1.5-2 years.
Matthias: Thank you, I understand. Anything else going forward would have to be another variance request. We are collecting data to have it available.
Feilinn: This is a one-off variance. Anything regarding future changes is a new conversation, is there interest, etc. I acknowledge your concern, Klaus, but it’s almost out of scope for Our intent. We want to change one variable, go from there.
Eleanor fitzPatrick: I have info to share, possibly tangentially relevant. At the BoD meeting at Pennsic, I was irritated with BoD saying to a person in a wheelchair – if you want a new format, propose one. I think that the door should be opened by those already on the inside, not battered down by those on the outside. The Society DEIB officer, Baron Charles de Bourbon, is interested. He had intended to propose, for the February BoD meeting, a committee to explore alternative Crown Tournament formats. This might have fallen off the radar? It’s not clear. I check in with Charles every now & again.
Matthias: Thank you.
Wormwood: Thank you, Liadan for running this meeting, and Your Majesties for hearing this feedback. I was caught off guard when I heard of variance; I hadn’t known the conversation was happening. I’m ecstatic, have wanted this for a long time. I came into SCA through friendship with fencers, so that’s the group I have the most affinity with. Good to support level this at BoD level: make a small change, to see if we can make this happen. I was thinking today: if we can make Crown rapier work, how can we expand? Maybe have a feast, and the best cook wins, for example. I think the focus should be on how can we make this work, once? There will be hiccups. If we don’t make it work once, we won’t have the opportunity to make it happen again down the road.
Matthias: Thank you. We agree. We kept it as small as We can. BoD has to keep in mind, this change will affect Society-wide.
Katla: Has there been any feedback from the BoD since their January meeting? My understanding is that the Crown has asked for feedback?
Feilinn: February 2nd We received the initial response from the BoD (BoD mtg Jan 27-28). That same day, We emailed back to ask clarifying questions. Feb 3rd, We received an acknowledgement of email. Feb 13th, 16th, 27th – follow up emails from Crown. Later on 27th, We received a reply from East’s Ombudsman. He was having a technical issue, hadn’t received email for two weeks, which was odd. He was going to get back to Us within a day or two. We have followed up two more times, have not yet heard back. The email conversation is with the East Kingdom Ombudsman, the Crown, Their Highnesses, Society Seneschal. We are following up weekly, or more often. We are being annoyingly polite
Liadan, a question in the chat from Anastasia: Could this open another discussion about possibly having a principality, as an alternative to the variance?
Matthias: Yes, but the principality is another question. This is my personal opinion – the Kingdom is large and would benefit from having one more principalities, especially for groups that don’t get royal presence often. They could recognize more people, baronial investiture, etc. There would be more opportunities for inclusion. But yes, this could open the principality conversation, because you could make the point that a principality would be easier for an alternate Coronet format.
Feilinn: To dovetail with Matthias, a principality conversation is a separate discussion, but in general, there’s nothing preventing a large group from petitioning to be a principality. If we had a principality, they’d need a variance to have an alternate Coronet Tournament. You don’t need a variance to be a principality. If folks want to discuss this, We’re happy to chat about it and help.
Matthias: Principality has to be from group level up, not from Crown level down.
Anastasia: Thank you
Ryan Mac Whyte: I’ve sat on the peerage committee for the last seven years. While on that committee, there was a sister committee for the 2020 census. I’m one of very few people who have seen the census data. All I can say without breaching confidentiality is that the armored combat community is getting older, faster. Rapier has had an influx of more, younger people, especially since the MoD was created. All data show that rapier is growing, archery, equestrian are growing; armored rattan is shrinking. It’s inevitable, if not now, then at some point. Thank you, Your Majesties, Your Highnesses if you’re here, for taking this shot. We’re all getting older. Rapier, archery have exploded since 2015, and have come back since the pandemic. Rattan? I’m not sure, I haven’t seen the stats. If the East doesn’t do this, who’s going to take the shot?
Matthias: Thank you. This is a bit tangential, but it’s important to say. Their Highnesses couldn’t be here, but support this fully, and have been kept in the loop the whole time. We greatly appreciate Their support.
Bari of Anglesey: I have a few concerns, which I have voiced before. I want to respond to a few things. Last I checked, the heavy community isn’t shrinking. It’s been on a plateau since the early 2000s. I don’t doubt we’re getting older and it may shrink in the future. It’s bigger than rapier at the present moment. To the question of if not now when? I ask the Crown – Don’t throw dirt into the grave of this yet/right now. It’s scary language to hear that heavy is old, past, let’s get rid of it and bring in younger people. It’s upsetting. I expect the poll to be heavily in favor of rapier Crown. Question: If armored fighting just isn’t popular anymore, where do we go? If we’re talking inclusion, bringing in people who are outside of the way the Society was founded, where does heavy go? Maybe redefine Crown responsibilities, etc.
Feilinn: We’re not throwing out heavy fighters. This is a one time variance to see if this is a viable possibility. Some data from when we submitted the variance, pulled from MoL in December: at that time, the East had 332 authorized rapier fighters, which is 71% of 465 authorized rattan fighters. This doesn’t take into account cross-overs. There are more heavy fighters, but the numbers are pretty close.
We looked at some entrants for Crown Tournaments, and those who entered the Rattan & Rapier Championships – those numbers were part of the initial variance request.
Bari of Anglesey: About a year ago, my data showed about 50 crossover fighters. That might have changed but it’s a rough order of magnitude.
Matthias: I love people who do both, take both fields. They have the King’s love.
Eleanor fitzPatrick: I’m wondering – in feedback so far, I’ve heard a bunch of people say we should have a more inclusive Crown, we should have more ideas – has anyone brought forward other ideas than the Crown’s variance? Having the Crown Tournament be the same except rapier is very simple. Are we looking at anything else?
Matthias: We are not putting forward anything else. We’re collecting data on what people want. Some comments in email have made suggestions beyond rapier. People have suggested another position, not-Crown, but could have royal precedence (not quite sure how that would be fleshed out), Crown and a second position.
Feilinn: No concrete ideas have been formulated through the discussion. The proposal by Our Cousins in Lochac was very broad. BoD said “No, we want a specific concept.” There’s been both positive and negative feedback. One or two have suggested a few ideas, like adding a rapier or a thrown weapons element, and the sidebar suggestion Matthias was just mentioning. We are happy to listen to other ideas, but there’s not much We can do at this point. We’re happy to listen and gather information. If you have a specific idea, email the next Crown, and also email the BoD. If a lot of folks have a concise view, as long as we’re polite, it goes a long way. Folks have said A&S, service for variants, but no specific ideas as to what “let’s do this” might look like.
Matthias: Lochac has polled its populace; they’re generally in favor, too, and are building on what the East did in ways that are relevant to their kingdom. We will probably talk with Known World Majesties at Gulf Wars, and We’ll see what feedback is there. I’m looking forward to it.
Katla: On the comment about non-martial ways to win Crown Tournament, let’s not let the idea of perfect inclusion be the enemy of any inclusion. Rapier is easy to try, similar to what we know now. We could try other things in the future. Write in proposals for non-martial variances. Don’t vote against a one-time thing to see if it works, just because it doesn’t include everybody.
Matthias: That’s fair, and most feedback has been in that vein, and polite, which We appreciate. Thank you.
Bo of Malagentia: On the point of perfect inclusion getting in the way: I think diversifying Crown Tournament is a good idea. I think the variance proposal in general would have more strength if we fleshed out options. That would paint a wider picture of everyone involved, everyone has a shot. Truly diversifying, not “just” rapier. I understand that rapier is itself a huge thing to grow it in scale exponentially, but it might seem more inclusive, have the support of the kingdom to have more fleshed out ideas as well.
Matthias: Thank you. I encourage folks to fill out the survey. We’re asking more questions than interest in a rapier variance, to gauge interest.
Samson: Thank you, Your Majesties. One point I want to speak to about inclusivity. Crown is already is open. Yes, there is a combatant side, but we are ignoring the Order of the Rose, who have sat the throne without fighting. Anyone can already sit the Tyger Throne. It feels weird to say we’re doing this to be inclusive, when there are two people on the throne. That’s my main point: anyone can sit the throne.
Matthias: Thank you for your words.
Robert Tytes: I’ve been hearing something a few times, not just in this conversation. If we recognize that being royalty and being able to fight for Crown Tournament, inherent to inclusivity, that means we have to find ways to share the power. If heavy is seeing itself as being diminished, being brought down to the same level as everyone else, that’s important to reexamine. We should be looking at this as raising people up, looking at both sides of the conversation.
Matthias: Thank you. This is a hard conversation, and an important one. It will go on for a long time.
Bari of Anglesey: To address Bobby’s comments – I’ve not heard anyone say this will diminish heavy, but it is taking away our Olympics. Crown Tournament is the pinnacle event for the heavy community. If the problem is representation and who gets to have authority, fix THAT. This is taking something away. If we have a different format in the fall, that IS taking away from heavy fighters who can’t participate.
Judith & Galefridus: Galefridus: I’m thinking about Samson’s comments that anyone can be a consort. My concern is that in order to be a consort, you have to have a relationship with someone in the heavy list community. Yeah, anyone can be a consort, but that relationship/caveat has to be there.
Judith: When You first started, You said You consulted with Chivalry. What kind of feedback did you get at that point?
Matthias: The feedback was mixed. Some in favor, some not, a lot of the points that have been expressed tonight were expressed in those meetings. We had meetings at Twelfth Night and at Birka, combined Orders of Chivalry and Masters of Defense meetings, both groups in the room at the same time, to get combined feedback. A lot of the same information as folks have brought forward tonight.
Judith: It’s human nature not to like change.
Matthias: Some liked it, others didn’t, some didn’t comment because they were thinking about the point.
Feilinn: From the original feedback of people emailing Us – I have notes from Twelfth Night and Birka, but those are in notes and I’d have to look them up – data from email: 53 responses over a 10 day period, 92% in favor of going forward with the variance, 7% not in favor, 43 folks from East, 10 from other Kingdoms, 7 other Kingdoms represented. About 50-50% peers/non-peers. Overall, 49 yes, 4 nos. Of the 5 self-identified Chivalry (regardless of whether they were multiple peers), 3 were yes, 2 not in favor. Of the 3 Chivalry who said yes, 1 East, 1 Lochac, 1 Atlantia. Of the 2 chivalry not in favor, both East.
Donovan Shinnock: I want to go back to an earlier comment. It’s not like we’re trying to take away the Olympics from the armored community. It’s the 150 meter dash. Right now, that’s all that gets run. Hey, you know what else is cool? Pole vaulting. Let’s try it once, see how it goes, then back to the 150 meter dash. It’s not feasible, it’s not going to happen to take away the whole Olympics.
Matthias: Thank you.
Margarett Napier: I kind of agree, no one is taking this away from fighters. I know a few fighters, they’re proud, always want to compete. This adds on to it. Say consort isn’t fighting, maybe down the road, the consorts compete in an A&S contest that adds to the fighters’ points. Allow the other groups to get in on it too.
Matthias: Thank you.
Mat Wyck: Briefly, a lot of this is change management stuff. If interested, Planet Money, an NPR podcast, over Martin Luther King Jr weekend: Planet Money and pagers, great piece about changes in power structures, what goes into change management, why are people interested in or adverse to change; things to consider. Listen to the podcast, it’s worth it. I deal with a lot of change management in my job; this could provide insight to everyone interested in the topic.
[This is the link to the Planet Money episode, “Why Do Doctors Still Use Pagers?” from Dec 8, 2023: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1197955913]
Liadan: Thank you.
Elizabeth Elenore Lovell: (Liadan tech issue, we’ll come back – put message in chat)
Margreta Gyllenstierna: To go back to the Olympics analogy: 1. Crown champions exist. 2. The Olympics has events all the time, every single time, it’s not a good analogy. I know that people who are for the change keep harping on this point, but it’s not taking anything away. It’s adding to the beauty. Change is ok, it’s not going to ruin everything.
Matthias: Good point about the Olympics analogy. We can move on from it now.
Blue: I’m new, I don’t know the history. I think Heavy fighters for the Sovereign, and some other thing to be the Consort, though I can understand there’d be conflicts of interest, so it’s tricky. There are Championships for rapier, too. By winning Champions, all that you get is being Champion. You’re behind the throne vs getting the chair when you win and have more responsibility. Yes, rapier has its own Championship, but it doesn’t have the same reward, so to say, “as winning Crown Tournament.” Not as equal a footing, in terms of what we get out of fighting in Crown Tournament.
Matthias: There have been other, Palatine baronies (although it’s not the same thing as we’re discussing here) Hawaii & other islands choose their baronial Coronets by rotation, depending which one. There has been an EK Crown where one round was archery WAY back in the day. Sovereign / Consort is interesting, but keep in mind, the royal role is a team job. The team has to be doing it together, no matter what the format is.
Feilinn: To dovetail with that, candidly, we’ve been friends for 20 years. As Consort, if I wanted to be a consort, I would want to know WHO I’d be consort for. Personally, I need to be comfortable with the person who’ll see me at my best, and behind closed doors, see me at my absolute worst. We’re in it together; the job is really hard. When things are good, they’re great, but when not good, really not good. If I were the consort with someone I just met that day, I couldn’t do as good of a job as with someone I have known for a long time.
Matthias: I agree, and We’re both still smiling, still alive. Go us!
Arne: I think a lot of folks got hung up on the analogy, but at the end of day, I still see it as, I know it’s an unpopular view, if rattan fighters can’t compete because the format isn’t rattan, then that IS something being taken away. I think this is what Bari was trying to say. As I said at the two meetings, I can’t support something that takes away from the armored community. I’m more than willing to explore ideas, like maybe a third Crown. There are other ways to diversify who reigns.
Matthias: Thank you. We appreciate your feedback back, each time.
Kay Leigh Mac Whyte: You met with the Orders of Chivalry and Masters of Defense. Have You had input from the Order of the Rose?
Feilinn: Yes, after the combined Chivalry and Masters of Defense meeting Friday night at Birka, I took that to the Rose meeting on Saturday. The issue monopolized much of the time, but it was more like a briefing of the discussion, Countess Marguerite kept the conversation on point. Some strong yes, some mixed (“beneficiary of status quo,” “I feel weird having an opinion”), some, “Yes, I want to see more people have a chance, but how do we go about doing it?”
It was clear from that meeting that if the variance had gone through, the Consort still has a job. We’d treat that person the same way, regardless of how their partner got them to be the consort. If they did the job & did it well, they’d be counted in the Order.
Roses from Eldomere were present but did not really express an opinion. Rapier is much smaller there.
There was some support, some wanted to think more.
Elizabeth Elenore Lovell: I have a different perspective. You know who my husband is. I see a different side. I’ve been a fighter. I’ve fought rattan, rapier, I’ve done archery, thrown weapons. If there’s a marital activity I’ve tried it (except equestrian). Mercedes de Calafia said to a bunch of folks at my table years ago, when discussing awards, accolades: it’s not pie. More for the fencing community or an alternate group who is trying to attain the right to sit the Tyger Thrones does not mean less for another group. If we have two crowns in a year or three, it just means that perhaps rattan takes a break that time, or perhaps rattan is one round, fencing is another round. More for one does not mean less for someone else. I feel for anyone who feels deeply that changing this will change the core of who we are. Because change is hard. Having been brought up as an 18 year old me in the SCA by Ronald Wilmot, and Darius, and Ice Falcon, and the guys who went out there and swung a stick I understand where rattan holds its place in the East. But so does rapier, and so does archery, and so does thrown weapons, and so does equestrian. And so does A&S. Everybody has a place. And it’s time for a change.
Matthias: We appreciate your words, thank you.
Klaus: Thank you everybody. Last point: I think we can all agree that time is a finite thing. We only have so much. A lot of us only have a few fights, a few Crown Tournaments left before we age out. That’s an inevitability. I would urge Their Majesties, if this is a road to continue on, then we take a point from the West, and to echo Arne, have a third, have a fourth Crown Tournament. That is not taking away, is in fact adding. We can fully explore the viability of a rapier Crown without taking away from rattan. It’s a way to get buy-in from those staunchly opposed like myself.
Matthias: Thank you. We hear you. Please fill out the poll, put it there too. This is how the information will be kept longer term.
Simona bat Leon: I missed the first half, I have caught the last half hour of the conversation. I have two things to say: 1. As someone who has no interest in reigning, a lot of this is speculative in my case, but I am a subject of the East. I haven’t picked up a heavy list weapon, I’m not a marshall, but I really love and have always loved that I can have a full SCA life without picking up rattan. I picked up rapier, once, but that’s not going to work out. I hear fears that rattan will lose a position, but I’m not hearing an equation. It IS an equation. It’s not pie. An opportunity to expand, expands it for everyone. We’re not saying heavy list fighters can’t figure out rapier. His Majesty has figured it out well. Once their body betrays them, they can pick up A&S, should we figure that format out. The more opportunities are more opportunities for EVERYONE. 2. I have a philosophy: shared pain is diminished, shared joy is increased. Sharing the joy of a reign, makes it easier on everyone mentally.
Ryan Mac Whyte: Arne and Klaus, I respect you both, I really like you both. Arne said a word that stuck in my head, Arne said “sacred’ – I have a problem with that. Yes, Crown is a big deal, I’ve been Herald, I’ve competed in two Crown Tournaments. That word struck me as dangerous. It’s the biggest thing you do all year, I get it, it’s the biggest thing for an armored fighter, but I don’t know how to parse this. I didn’t know how to react. If it’s something sacred, it should be shared, a shared joy, not something that’s held. A bunch of comments, what about the consort? I have a consort, I’d love to make her a Countess. Like Blue said, you get a job for a year if you win Championship. You don’t get a coronet. You don’t get a chance to promote your friends by offering them space on a reign. Having it so tightly held is dangerous, it really is. I don’t know how to react. Arne, Klaus, please talk with me at an event. It’s important to have a conversation like this. I’ll be at Coronation.
Matthias: Thank you. Everyone’s opinion is valid. Everyone has been respectful. These are hard conversations. The East has been doing well with having these hard conversations. Thank you everyone.
Liadan: from chat, can’t unmute: Milissent de Haithwaite: Has there been a discussion of term limits, something to prevent four-time Royal from reigning in another format?
Matthias: That’s an interesting idea, put it in the polling. There have been a lot of new folks who have reigned once in recent years.
Wormwood: Feeding on the commentary about change, taking something away, etc. – if we stayed with two crowns, yes, there’s an aspect of taking from heavy, one fight per year, the side of “taking away from.” Back in the beginning, there was only the order of Chivalry, then Pelican, Rose, Laurel, Defense. None of that took from Heavy. It gave opportunities for others to reach the same level, Kingdom level, Society level. I see this effort as trying to achieve that same thing. Giving others who don’t do rattan a chance to achieve the same levels of greatness. I have a theater background – give more people a chance to be center of attention, be the lead in the play, not just in the background. Champions are in the background. That may be fine for some, but others aspire to be the lead. It would sadden me if someday, we couldn’t work this out.
Liadan from chat/Gavin Kent: Is there a concept for how these discussions would be collated and brought to the BoD?
Feilinn: Yes, this meeting is being recorded, notes are being taken, which will be released. We have notes from the other meetings. We’re going to collate everything, and the results from polling. Some people came in after Matthias shared the poll link in the chat, everyone here gets first crack at the poll. It will go out on all channels tomorrow. We’ll get the raw data, crunch numbers, package the information as checkboxes of what the BoD is looking for. A future Crown can say: look, this is what was gathered in 2024, notes, polling data. Other Crowns in other kingdoms can chat as well, see what the East has done.
Mercedes de Calafia: If I remember the comment I made years ago: it was that pie is finite, but cookies, as a lot of people call our awards, are easily shared, and can be infinite. Having been Kingdom Seneschal, I know that there are so many wiser people in this kingdom than the 60 people who have sat the throne. Only 60. So opening it up to the vast amount of wisdom out there I think can do nothing but serve this kingdom very well.
Matthias: Thank you.
Arne: Regarding what Klaus said, we’re up to four crowns now, one thing that has kept me from sending in a Letter of Intent is the bar of entry, the financial burden that a reign does put forward. I’ve been behind the throne in many capacities, I’ve seen the sausage made. Having four Crowns would really lighten that load, not entirely, but would help in a measure in making the Crown more financially accessible.
Matthias: Thank you.
Leo MacCullan: Thank you for having this. When I was fighting rapier, I was sad about the max level I could reach, that’s one of the reasons why I got back into heavy. When it comes to Crown, I’m very much in favor of teamwork, to have it one sided where one person is doing the winning, I’d like to see a shared burden, both people are doing something, get points, whatever and then the winning team rules. It’s more equitable, more fair, less one-sided.
Matthias: Thank you, we appreciate your words.
Elaenore fitxPatrick: Musing about the comments tonight on opening Crown or other formats taking away from rattan. I think we’re asking the question wrong. It IS taking away from rattan the exclusive right to sit the throne, but is that more important than keeping that right from everyone else?
Bari of Anglesey: To add to what Klaus and Arne have said, we don’t speak for all heavy, all Chivalry, all previous or would-be Royals. I’m open to additional opportunities, whether more Crown Tournaments or expanding the format to include rapier, team, etc. No problem with serving under a won Crown via another format. My big concern is reducing Crown opportunities to one year or one every two years. I support it if it’s expanded to three or four per year.
Feilinn: We appreciate your words. To note: adding more Crown Tournaments, that’s out of scope, we would need change in East Kingdom law. The scribe part of my brain needs to say this – Reigns are hard to schedule awards. More reigns = harder to schedule. This is out of scope, but I had to say it. Scheduling, especially in winter months, is hard.
Speedbump (Samuel Peter Bump): I’ve been thinking about what some Chivalry have said, how for them, how Crown is much different from Rattan Championship or other tournaments they could enter. I love seeing high level fighters get ready for Crown Tournament, how they get ready, get excited, and I would like to see that same excitement for rapier, for A&S communities. I’d like to see that excitement shared with more people.
Matthias: Thank you, We appreciate words.
Liadan: No hands right now.
Matthias: We’ve been going for 1 hr 45 minutes. Call it here?
Feilinn: Let’s give folks another moment to gather their thoughts. We appreciate everyone’s time on a Thursday, between jobs, kids, dinner, and we’re all traveling on weekends. We really appreciate it. This conversation needs to happen. Right before Gulf Wars seemed like a good idea three weeks ago, but it’s tricky!!!
Blue: To the previous speaker: I understand your perspective, currently the heavy fighters have two championships they can fight in per year, having fewer will suck. But currently, heavy has that opportunity, but currently, the other martial communities don’t even have that opportunity at all. Some of us also want to have that opportunity. It’s so exciting when it comes to that time, so much energy, we want to share in that too.
Closing Remarks
Matthias: Thank you, everyone, We really do appreciate the feedback. Please fill out the polls, spread far & wide, it’s for everyone. Be sure to note your Kingdom if not from the East.
Feilinn: We are happy to collect data from other kingdoms. At Gulf Wars: Ansteorra, Artemesia want to know about what the East is doing, Lochac is actively polling their populace. We don’t live in a silo. Chat with your friends. We want to hear more, share ideas, it can really help.
Thank you to Liadan for moderating!
Matthias: And thank you to Medhbh for taking notes. Thanks to everyone. Our emails are open, although We’re traveling to Gulf Wars this weekend. Email access is spotty on site. We’ll do Our best to get back to you in a timely fashion when We’re back.
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Populace Speakers in Order
Mat Wyck
Klaus Winterhalter
Eleanor Fitzpatrick
Wormwood
Katla of Viborg
Anastasia Kurt Kalbi
Ryan Mac Whyte
Bari of Anglesey
Eleanor x2
Katla x2
Bo of Malagentia
Samson (Pádraig Ó Brádaigh)
Robert Tytes
Bari x2
Judith & Galefridus Peregrinus
Donovan Shinnock
Margarett Napier (Alexandra)
Mat Wyck x2
Margreta Gyllenstierna
Blue Cunningghame
Arne Ulrichson
Kay Leigh Mac Whyte
Elizabeth Elenore Lovell
Klaus x2
Simona bat Leon
Ryan x2
Milissent de Haithwaite
Wormwood x2
Gavin Kent
Mercedes de Calafia
Arne x2
Leo MacCullan
Eleanor x3
Bari x3
Speedbump – Samuel Peter Bump
Blue x2