Why I joined the SCA

as told by Baron Soni Kurai Chikara Hito
Squire to Duke Sir Kane Redfeather


My story is somewhat similar but different. I was very big on D&D. I ran a local group at the collage and we have several nice size events. I brought in big names of the time for free and we had lots of free TSR stuff. We took a team to GenCon and won every event we played in. TSR said "We don't go in for the active role-playing like those SCA people". So, when they showed up at our event, I sent 'em outside in the rain to do their demo. Only 1 or 2 people went out to watch. One was a friend of mine. She joined the SCA and tried to talk me into joining too.

I said no but she talked me into going to a meeting. It was at someone's house. I got board and decided to do a few magic tricks I had been working on. My favorite was to make a coin disappear and then fall from under a ladies..... errr, chest. I had another that caused an item to disappear right in front of you, but everyone else could see how I did it. Great laughs.. They talked me into doing a magic act at an event. I went to the event. I wasn't a member and knew nothing about the SCA but I helped and worked my butt off trying to help do a lot more than I knew how to do. But the event was swamped. Almost 75 people had attended. :)

At feast, I went into my act... I appeared in a cloud of smoke, I'd made a good Chinese Sorcerer outfit. I did several tricks including having the King and Queen select matching cards with their names on them and turning 1 oz of water into 1/2 gal of wine. Along with card tricks and making things appear out of thin air.

Everyone enjoyed it. I set my things aside and was called to speak to the King and Queen. It seems that Her Majesty was very religious and was concerned about satanic magic. While I talked, some brash-mouthed blonde started jabbering. She got up and went over and pawed her way through my magic tricks trying to see how I'd "done that".

She made a big show of it and when I saw what was happening I rushed over to save my props being pulled apart by this rude woman. I vowed never to do magic or have anything to do with the SCA ever.

But that blonde woman came back and said she was sorry. She didn't mean any harm. She was very nice. Then I met her big blonde husband. We talked. I said the SCA seemed ok but I was going to be fighting or anything. There is a lot more to the story, especially about the next event that I attended.

My first SCA event that I kinda still didn't know anything. I cleared my garb with several people but the minute I stepped out of my cabin and started up the road, there was that same blonde woman. She had some crown or something on her head. She walked right up to me and started taking in a low friendly voice. She wanted to know how long I'd been in the SCA. Was I from out of Kingdom?
(answer: 3 weeks, from Little Rock) Then she said: "It doesn't matter to me, but some people might get upset about you wearing that -white- belt". (So, much for help from the local SCA costume people.) I received an AOA the next event from that Same Blonde Woman and her Blonde Husband. Later he made me a squire.

I could have caught hell,
I could have never been involved in the SCA.
I would never have been as happy in my life without Cliff and that brash-mouthed blonde woman.



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