She had received the assignments, but there wasn't much personal information available for the recipients and neither of us knew them personally. We did however, know the time period of the gentles receiving the awards. With that in mind we strove to make the scrolls as accurate as we could to their personas.
The first one I worked on was for Galvyn Lockhart. The Order of the Tyger's Combatant is an Order of High Merit, often know as a Kingdom Level Award. The OTC is given to gentles for excellence in armed combat. With the subject in hand and a general idea of what I was going to do I set down to go to work.
His persona was listed as 14th Century, English. Which firmly puts him in the era of Chaucerian England and all the rhyming couplets that that contains. I enjoy witting in rhyming couplets and it seems that I am garnering a reputation for executing them with aplomb.
One of the other few pieces of information I had was that the gentle was a former King of Acre. A group similar enough to the SCA that we consider them as distant cousins to us. I wanted to represent some of his past history in the scroll but was unsure what to do. I reached out an contacted the current Tyger Clerk of the Signet: Master Nataliia Anastasiia Evgenova for suggestions as how to represent this in the wordsmithing.
Master Nataliia suggested phrasing the reference as "A distant cousin of ours, once sitting on the throne of Acre." and gave me permission to us it in the scroll. Not for nothing, but I was rather proud of rhyming Acre with Nacre. As far as we could find, it appeared as if Galvyn Lockhart did not have any registered Arms. I was in a bit of quandary, as having no idea what he would want his arms to be nor the eventual heraldic language that would describe them, I had no way to make the Latin rhyme. I left a space for them to be written in between a rhyming couplet. That was the best compromise that I could come up with. I also left a note for the herald who would be reading this out in court. What is actually written is: "Today with weather most varied, We Grant him the right to bear these arms:
****SPACE FOR ARMS***
That he can wear with strength and vigor, gained without the use of mystic charms."
The note for the herald instructs them to drop the word "these" from the first line of the couplet while reading it out loud in court. A subtle difference but I believe the nuance of the language would be appreciated. By including "these," there is an implication that a description of the arms was to follow. By omission, it could be read in aloud in court without hinting that anything was missing.
Galvyn Lockhart's Order of the Tyger's Combatant
King Brion, Fulcrum for contenders in these bounteous Eastern Lands,
Queen Anna, Inspiration and support for all who work with their hands.
We have heard of A distant cousin of ours, who once sat on the throne of Acre,
Galvyn Lockhart’s name is heard, whispers on the aimr, like a shimmer on nacre.
A fighter skilled in the ways of shield and sword, great sword, and axe,
A gentle known in battle for being steadfast, having his fellows' backs
His prowess at handling the hilt of his weapon of choice has been noted,
He has been seen at tourneys, battles and challenges, a warrior most devoted.
Today we have decreed that Our Galvyn Lockhart is to to receive,
All accolades the Order of the Tyger’s Combatant is due, by Our leave.
Today with weather most varied, We Grant him the right to bear these arms:
****SPACE FOR ARMS***
That he can wear with strength and vigor, gained without the use of mystic charms.
Done this day, March 25th in Our Barony of Settmour Swamp
At the event called Mudthaw, with all due circumstance and pomp!
The second scroll recipient of the Tyger's Combatant was Joachim Liechtenauwer. I received a lot of information about his prowess on the field, and that he has a German persona, but again, not very much that was personal. My first step was to discover if he has an East Kingdom Wiki page, which he did, and that let me know his time period and that he considers himself of the Teutonic Order. That was enough to get me going.
I looked up any poetry in Germany of that time and found a few translations of works, largely on Wikipedia. The works didn't appear to have any particular standardized structure, such as rhyming couplets of iambic pentameter. With the cadence of the few English translations I found in mind, I dug into the work.
I decided on 4 line stanzas and made sure to include all the information needed in a scroll.
Joachim Liechtenauwer's Order of the Tyger's Combatant
Behold!
The sun had made its circuits yet again and on the very day
Of this annual gathering to see if the mud has thawed,
Do we, Illustrious King Brion and Glorious Queen Ana, who sit on high,
Look and see the man called Joachim Liechtenauwer.
His valour upon the fields of war has made fighters tremble before him.
Yet, when the blood returns to their hearts
It becomes clear to all that Joachim has endured many hardships,
That make him stronger and more generous for them.
A noble man, not unskilled in yielding to those more expert,
his agile mind is able to learn and overcome the pain of error,
He does not despair, nor does his countenance fall; instead,
He has learned and grown and blossomed into his gallantry.
Upon Our commanded, Joachim Liechtenauwer is brought to Us
And, as he has come, he has been told about these causes;
Then, give unto him that which is more than before;
Today he is become a member of the Tygers Combatant!
From aforementioned effort We decree he deserves this High Merit.
We have declared this matter to be settled to all and none may sunder it.
Here in the open, of March the 25th in the damp fields of Mudthaw
In the Barony of Settmour Swamp, Anno Societatis Fifty One.
For both of these scrolls Lord Arthur le Taverner was my Beta.
