Answer 14: Advisors

"Okay, so I was talking to K.C. and another question comes up. From what I gather from him, the new Prince/Princess appoint royal advisors from each of the Peerages. (Whether this is a standard or not, I'm not sure, but he said he watched it happen at one point.) He indicated that these advisors tend to be Royal Peers to make things easier, since they've already been in your shoes. He also indicated that you don't necessarily have to "know" them, but they should know ahead of time whether or not you wish to appoint them to this post and they should support your bid for Crown prior to your fighting in the tournament. From this point, they can advise you on the best method of operation. So my question is thus:

14) Who would you appoint from each of the Orders to be your three advisors?"

We have discussed this a little off the list, and I'm not sure this is required as you have it stated here. I think we've agreed that they don't have to be Peers, but it's a good idea if they are. And I think the term is Thegns, but this may be something completely different than what you're asking.

Since I have not talked to anyone about this, these are just some initial thoughts. I am not asking or appointing anyone right now. These are just some people that come to mind right at this moment.

Knight: Sir Toen, Sir Yoshimitsu, Sir Ivan
Laurel: Mistress Maerwynn, HG Mistress Syr Ariel, Master Sir Waldryk
Pelican: Master Sir Toen, HG Mistress Syr Ariel, Master Modar

These are all off the top of my head. I'm sure these would change and others may be added once I get closer to deciding. Plus it depends on them, of course.

Answer 12 & 13: Preprints

"12) On the subject of preprints and awards, would you prefer to set someone else to design them or would you be more prone to designing them yourself?

I realize from what I read today that preprints for a reign appear to be done at least a month before an actual reign starts (which makes sense considering the fact that they want to give out awards during the beginning of their reign, but I'd simply never really considered it). Basically, as the reigns stand now, you have three months to either design or have someone else design 5(?) preprint awards (plus, I'm sure, quite a few other things to do or decide).

13) Would your awards be in a Japanese style and, if so, did the Japanese give out awards like they did in the West? If not, what century/culture would you choose?"

Since I do not have any experience on designing a scroll, I would probably be more comfortable with someone else designing it. However, I would want to have some input on the design. I've always like the scrolls that have a common theme for a reign. Like during Suzanna's last reign, they tried to have a representation of Hubert somewhere on the scroll. I find that interesting and unique for that particular reign.

The style of the scrolls would still be European based, but I might have a few Japanese touches made to it. I don't want to force my persona's culture on someone's scroll. I would however wish to have have something Japanese on it, probably kanji, so that it would be unique and identifiable from my reign.

Whether the Japanese gave out awards like in the West, I have not researched it, and I have not heard much of such awards. I'm sure they did to a certain extent, but to how much they did, I am not aware of that. Since the country was divided up into warring clans, I'm sure some awards were given, but they only would be worth anything in their own territory.

Answer 11: Type of Consort

"Which is more important to you and why...

...to rule with your significant other (ie, the person you love)?

...or to rule with someone you know will make a good ruler?"

The easy, and hopefully obvious answer is BOTH. But, I understand the basis of the question. If I had to choose, which would I? Considering my situation has changed a tad since this question was probably asked originally, it makes for a interesting question to ponder.

Ideally, I'd hope that my consort would be both, and since I was not seeing anyone when I decided to fight in Crown, I was resolved that my Consort would be someone who would make a good ruler. But now that I am seeing Isolda, that puts a different outlook on it. However, since she is new to the SCA, I don't think it would be fair to her or Calontir if she was my consort at this time, but I would consider her in the future. That would be a baptism by fire and putting more stress on the reign that will already be there.

Now I was just speaking specifically to my situation right now. If you mean generally speaking, and the person could not be both my significant other and a good ruler, then I would probably lean towards someone who is a good ruler for my first reign. If this wasn't my first reign, then I would go with my significant other. And this is with the assumption that we both think she would be able to handle being Queen, or that she even wants to be Queen.

In the end, the best scenario would be that my consort would be both someone I love, and someone who would be a good ruler.

Crown Roundtable

While at Fall RUSH, I made an audio recording of a roundtable on being Crown. It actually came out pretty decently, even with the interuptions. Once you've had a chance to listen to it, I would like your thoughts on the matter.