Drachenboxes
Mar. 19th, 2026 10:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baroque_mongooseIn the SCA, monarchs rotate on a regular basis, which seems an excellent way to do it; of course, they're also not really monarchs but duarchs, if I may coin a word. From the very beginning of the SCA, nobody has ever fought for him/herself in a tournament; you fight for your consort. You may be married to, or in a romantic relationship with, this person, but equally well you may not; the last Prince of Insulae Draconis, Etienne, reigned with Princess Susannah, who was old enough to be at the very least his mother and possibly his grandmother. Etienne is actually married to someone else, who presumably didn't want to be Princess. Basically, your consort just needs to be someone you consider worth fighting for, and there aren't any restrictions on their gender. Indeed, in the next tournament coming up, we have Lady A, who is fighting for Lord B and being fought for by Lord C; and that sort of thing isn't uncommon. Then there's Lady D, who is definitely straight, but quite happily fought for Lady E in the last tournament. A consort in the SCA is basically a friend you trust to be able to rule with you if you win the tournament; and it's also not uncommon for someone to rule more than once with different consorts. It is, in any case, joint rule. The consort isn't there for decoration - they're there to work (and being SCA royalty is quite a bit of work).
All of which explains why, at the moment, Drachenwald has two Kings, Tuomas and Gilbert. I don't really know King Tuomas, but King Gilbert is a jolly nice bloke. And Their Majesties put out an appeal to the artisans of the realm for small tokens to be handed out to people attending their first court.
"What a good idea," I thought, "and how thoughtful of Their Majesties to start such a tradition." It was only later I discovered that they hadn't started it; this particular tradition has been going for years. I just didn't get anything at my first court, so I had no idea one was supposed to. They'd probably run out of tokens at the time.
So I bought five of those dinky little square manilla boxes from Hobbycraft, and what I'm doing at the moment is decorating them with knotwork. Their Majesties expressed a preference for the Drachenwald colours, which are red, yellow, and black; that could look a little stark if one wasn't careful, so, after some thought, I decided to keep the black to a minimum. I'm just using that to outline the knotwork. The knotwork is being done in red, and the background yellow. I've painted the insides of the boxes white, just because the manilla is rather dull on its own.
If I do this again I'm priming them; these boxes are a little too absorbent for comfort, so they're tending to dull the colours slightly. I think it's livable with, but I'd have preferred something a bit livelier. It also means I need two coats of paint on everything, and having to paint and then repaint complex knotwork designs is kind of fiddly. Nonetheless, they're starting to look good. Each box has a different square knotwork motif on the lid; you can get a multiplicity of different designs from the same basic grid just by putting the break lines in different places. They will, all being well, go to Coronation with me in June (this, by the way, is the coronation of the new Prince and Princess of Insulae Draconis, not the Drachenwald one... yes, I know, it's a bit confusing if you're not in the SCA), and then Their Majesties can duly dish them out.
It's just a small thing. But with everything else that's going on around now, it's really helpful.
All of which explains why, at the moment, Drachenwald has two Kings, Tuomas and Gilbert. I don't really know King Tuomas, but King Gilbert is a jolly nice bloke. And Their Majesties put out an appeal to the artisans of the realm for small tokens to be handed out to people attending their first court.
"What a good idea," I thought, "and how thoughtful of Their Majesties to start such a tradition." It was only later I discovered that they hadn't started it; this particular tradition has been going for years. I just didn't get anything at my first court, so I had no idea one was supposed to. They'd probably run out of tokens at the time.
So I bought five of those dinky little square manilla boxes from Hobbycraft, and what I'm doing at the moment is decorating them with knotwork. Their Majesties expressed a preference for the Drachenwald colours, which are red, yellow, and black; that could look a little stark if one wasn't careful, so, after some thought, I decided to keep the black to a minimum. I'm just using that to outline the knotwork. The knotwork is being done in red, and the background yellow. I've painted the insides of the boxes white, just because the manilla is rather dull on its own.
If I do this again I'm priming them; these boxes are a little too absorbent for comfort, so they're tending to dull the colours slightly. I think it's livable with, but I'd have preferred something a bit livelier. It also means I need two coats of paint on everything, and having to paint and then repaint complex knotwork designs is kind of fiddly. Nonetheless, they're starting to look good. Each box has a different square knotwork motif on the lid; you can get a multiplicity of different designs from the same basic grid just by putting the break lines in different places. They will, all being well, go to Coronation with me in June (this, by the way, is the coronation of the new Prince and Princess of Insulae Draconis, not the Drachenwald one... yes, I know, it's a bit confusing if you're not in the SCA), and then Their Majesties can duly dish them out.
It's just a small thing. But with everything else that's going on around now, it's really helpful.
no subject
Date: 2026-03-20 01:20 pm (UTC)I don't make cups myself, but making largesse projects like your boxes is one of my favorite SCA activities. They sound lovely!
no subject
Date: 2026-03-20 02:18 pm (UTC)