The East Kingdom ( was Re: Edmund of the Middle)

[Meg <megb@maine.com>]

Poster: Meg <megb@maine.com>

As a proud member of the East Kingdom, I post the following for your
edification. Please note, if you forward the bottom letter from TRM
Timothy and Gabrielle, please forward the entire letter.

I hope it clears up some confusion. :)

In Service,
Lady Marcella neyn Gylys 

> OKay, I've gotta ask now...
> 
> What happened??
> 
> I was at the War, but had to leave on Thursday, due to some health
> concerns, and missed this part...what happened??
> 
> <factual accounts preferred, I realize some emotional coloring is bound
> to occur, but please, at least give the uncontrovertable facts,
> privately if you see fit>
> 
> Gorm of Berra
> gormofberra@mindspring.com
******************************************************************
Unto all interested and concerned parties do Timothy and Gabrielle, King
and Queen of the East send greetings,

 We understand why their may be some curiosity in regards to our actions
on the field of battle on Saturday.  Rather than let the rumor mill or
idle speculation carry the day, we thought it best for us to explain our
actions.  Please know that we harbor no ill will towards anyone
involved, and we are sorry that the last hours of Pennsic were tarnished
for so many.  Regardless of what you may suspect or believe, this is why
we took what action we did.  Though we consulted and had the support of
others, the final decision was ours and ours alone.  If you find fault
with it, blame us and not others.
 On Friday, at the conclusion of the Bridge Battle, we were told by a
marshal that the Middle had control of the bridge closest to the archery
field.  Since I (Timothy) knew the results on the other two bridges,
based on the information available, we assumed that the Middle was
victorious.  However, a few minutes before the Great Court that evening,
we were informed that, in fact, the third bridge was in dispute at the
time the cannon went off.  The unfortunate timing of a medical hold that
required fighters to back off to allow an injured fighter to be removed
made it appear that the Middle had control at the end.
 A Middle Kingdom marshal, Duke Sir Dagin, and an East Realm marshal,
Count Master Bjorn Karlsson, called a Marshal's Court to discuss the
matter.  Amongst others present at this meeting were Duke Sir Gregor,
the Marshal-in-Charge of Pennsic, and both HRM Kenna and her advisor
Duke Sir Palymar. We were told that the decision of this meeting was
that there was no easy resolve to the matter at hand, and that the
matter should be resolved by their majesties (Kenna, Gabrielle and
myself).  With this information, Gabrielle and I pondered all of the
ways to settle this dispute.
 Before the Mountain Pass battle, we tried, to no avail to locate either
HRM Kenna or Their Highnesses.  The marshals started the battle, and the
East won a hard fought, very chivalrous battle.  When it was over,
Gabrielle and I , along with a rather large escort approached HRM
Kenna's pavilion to make our proposal.  I spoke for the two of us, and
said something to the effect of "Your Majesty, we feel that both sides
have fought too hard for the war to end in a draw.  We propose a single
combat between either myself, my champion or my heir and any fighter on
your side to decide the outcome of the battle."  To us this seemed a
fair and equitable way to decide the outcome of the battle.  We were
told flat out that the Middle had won the Bridge battle and they were
not going to accept our offer.  They were unwilling to negotiate.  It
was theirs.
 Because of a separate, unrelated on site incident, at this point HRM
Kenna was in tears and Gabrielle and I decided that under the
circumstances everyone concerned would be better served to have the
Middle declared the winners of the disputed Bridge battle.  We told HRM
Kenna that we would accept this.  At this point His Highness Dag told us
he would not accept from us that which was already theirs.  Further, and
as far as Gabrielle and I were concerned, here was the one item that
truly broke the camel's back, so to speak, he stated, and I remember the
words exactly, "Ordinarily the Middle fights for chivalry and honor.
This year, however, the Middle fights to win". Considering how
chivalrously both sides had fought all war, and how everyone on both
sides had been fighting in Jafar's memory, we consulted several of our
Chivalry  as well as our Allies.  We agreed that leaving the field and
not fighting the last battle was the best course of action (though our
advisor's individual reasons may or may not have been the same).
As we were leaving, HRH Dag said several things that were insulting and
inflammatory.  My champion, Duke Sir Gregor, took exception to these and
challenged HRH Dag in my defense.  When we returned and the fight was
preparing to commence, he attempted to apologize for the inflammatory
comments.  I stubbornly refused to accept his apology.  They fought, and
His Highness won, whereupon he reiterated his apology and I accepted.
 In his further defense, I would like to state that HRH Dag did come
over to East Kingdom Royal encampment later, in order to ensure that
Gabrielle and I were really not upset with him.  I told him, as before,
that I had accepted his apology for those inflammatory things said, and
told him that the insulting words were not what had led to the East
retiring the field. (What did lead us to retiring from the field was his
statement that "Ordinarily the Middle fights for chivalry and honor.
This year, however, the Middle fights to win," which he had not
apologized for and we don't feel he could since it was a statement of
personal belief and ideology rather than an insult that could be
apologized for).  I stated to him that I would not, nor could have the
troops return to the field.
 There had been a few other incidents during the week that had been
somewhat inflammatory, but for the most part, they were either pranks
gone awry, or misunderstandings.
  I certainly wish that I had accepted HRH Dag's apology for his insults
towards us before the challenge match, but Gabrielle and I are certain
that we made the correct decision when we had the troops march off the
field.  The war was turning into something that it hadn't been, and
Jafar's memory didn't deserve that.  In defense of ourselves, the
decision was nearly universally received by the Eastern and Allied
chivalry and commanders, especially those who knew all the details of
the circumstances. We do believe that when HRH Dag said "Ordinarily the
Middle fights for chivalry and honor.  This year, however, the Middle
fights to win" he was not speaking for the entire Middle Kingdom, but
his words had a drastic effect nonetheless.  In many ways, regardless of
how the last few minutes of the War went, both sides may be considered
to have won.  Certainly all the fighters and archers were having a good
time, and it was a war fought for Honor and Chivalry.

Setting the record straight,
In Service to the Society,
Timothy and Gabrielle

=======================================================================
List Archives, FAQ, FTP:  http://merryrose.atlantia.sca.org/
            Submissions:  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org
        Admin. requests:  majordomo@atlantia.sca.org