Scribe Notes

Volume 4, Number 8



Editorial

Unto the Scribes of the Principality of Lochac does Richard de la Croix send greetings

Good gentles, welcome to another edition of Scribe Notes. I would like first to wish you all a festive Yule and all the best for the New Year.

Activity was at an all time high over the last 2 months. I could hardly keep up with the requests for assignments and the volume of scrolls completed. We also had our second Scribes Workshop which again I think was a great success. But more on all of this later.

Progress Report

I received 13 AA's, 2 GA's, 2 OLM's, 1 OP and 2 Viscountal scrolls completed since last issue - wow! If we keep this up I am pleased to say we will be very healthy by the end of next year. Please keep up the good work.

Much thanks must go to Viscountess Muirghein ni Ghrainne for her efforts. A large number of the original scrolls above were done by her - thank you.

The Next Wave

Sealing wax is I'm happy to say, no longer a problem. Lord Armand de Montford and Mistress Rowan Perigrynne have come to my rescue, and I find that between them they have probably supplied enough wax to seal the current batch of scrolls.

Unfortunately, there may be some more bad news on this front. I believe Tancred has been replaced as Crux Australis Herald and Lord Thomas Flamanc of Kelsale will in future be assuming these duties. At the moment he is unsure of what his authority is as regards sealing, so it appears that handing scrolls out at Twelfth Night is unfeasible. I will endeavour to do my best to come to some arrangement before this time, but it doesn't look promising.

West in Crisis

The position of West Kingdom Chancellor will be handed over at Twelfth Night. I found it very difficult to obtain information on scrolls that were in the Central West awaiting sealing, so hopefully this situation will change with someone new in the position. Rumour has it that Mistress Aldith Anghaharad St George will be taking over the position.

I have also had a plea from the King and Queen concerning the ever increasing West Kingdom backlog. As such I have made an offer to help out on behalf of the Lochac scribes. I have volunteered us for: which I have said we will attempt to have done by next year end.

Now, I understand that it would be very easy to continue with what we are doing and only work on our own scrolls but this really isn't what the game is all about. However, I do also appreciate that you may not want to do West Scrolls over our own and I will be leaving this choice to each of you.

If you do want to help out, I will be more than happy to send you some Kingdom assignments. I will try and send out assignments 1 for 1 (ie 1 Central Kingdom for 1 Lochac scroll) and see how it goes. For the moment, if you'd rather only work on our scrolls let me know, otherwise you will receive a mixture.

For the moment, nothing has been finalised, and it does rely on the West Kingdom Chancellor thinking this is a good idea - so hang loose and I'll keep you posted.

Congratulations

Despite the volumes of work that I received, no-one moved up a rank in the last 2 months passed. Most of the work was done by existing Scribes but I suppose that's why they are Scribes in the first place.

I have had 2 requests from new scribes for assignments. I would like to welcome Elspeth Turberville and Eric Hravn to our number and they will both be receiving assignments shortly.

Workshop Revisited

The Scribes Workshop was held as scheduled on 4th Saturday November at Woodstock Community Centre in Burwood, Sydney. Eleven fearless workers turned up and they were (in no particular order):

Rowan Perigrynne
Richard de la Croix
Alarice Beatrix von Thal
Iseult de Lacy
Rionah of Caerlion
Lars Leiffson
Branwen of Werchesvorde
Frae Fitzalleyne
T riq ibn Jelal ibn Ziyadatallah al-Naysaburi
Kilic ibn Sungur ibn al-Kazganci al-Turhani
Peggy

A good time was had by all and everyone other than yours truly was quite industrious. Several people worked on originals while still others tried their hands at AA pre-printeds. In all quite a fun time.

There is to be an informal gilding workshop on or around 22nd January in Dismal Fogs. The event will be hosted by Lady Branwen and Lord Frae. I am unsure of any other details but I'm sure you could find out more from either of them.

New AA Designs

I went to the printers this month and had 300 new AA blanks printed (4 designs x 75 each). Unfortunately, they had trouble with their printer and wasted 100 of my stock. They did reduce the cost of the job accordingly, but it does leave me short of A3 paper at the moment.

There are still 4 more designs to be printed which will require another 300 sheets. I have only 200 sheets remaining, so the rest may have to wait temporarily. As I reported in the last 2 issues of notes, I am owed around $300 - $400 from the Heralds but am unsure at this stage when I can expect it. The account now has $78 remaining so I will not be able to buy paper supplies for the next few months until the financial situation is remedied. I only have 4 designs left to print but if anyone wants to work on another one contact me.

While on the subject of paper, I have in my possession significant quantities of high quality paper from my visit to the paper merchants. All paper is acid free, PH Neutral, archival quality and will supposedly last 100+ years without noticeable degradation.

For those interested in purchasing a quantity of this stock the prices the College is charging appear below. There is a slight mark up (rounded up to nearest 10c/sheet) on the original purchase price, but retail prices as anyone should attest are at least 2-3 times those given:

Freelife White
215gsm 650x455 (FYI A2 size is 594x420)
Price $0.40 per sheet

Freelife White
320gsm 650x455 (FYI A2 size is 594x420)
Price $0.60 per sheet

Parchmentine Natural
230gsm 650x455 (FYI A2 size is 594x420)
Price $2.00 per sheet

The Parchmentine Natural is running down quickly. I started with 100 sheets but have sold 30 already so you will have to be quick. I have also given away a further 5 to replace those used by scribes in completing scrolls. Since I will not be selling my stock below 30 sheets, this only leaves about that many for sale.

I don't do mail order (unless you live far far away and pay for postage), but you should bear it in mind that I have paper available at a good price if you or some-one you know is wayfaring to an event at which I will be attending, or lives in Sydney. Finally, I will endeavour to have some available at the Coronet event in Stormhold.

As mentioned above, if you complete an original scroll during my tenure as Provost you will be re-imbursed in kind for the paper you use (maximum 1 sheet per scroll). To claim your paper, let me know when next we will meet and I'll arrange to have the paper there for you.

Mailing List

The time has come for a purge of the mailing list. My postage bill has increased to the point where it is now pushing the $40 per issue mark. As such, I have decided to remove some of the people I currently mail to from my list.

There are a number of people who are receiving Scribe Notes by virtue of the fact that they once did some work for the College. These people were carried over from Rhianwen's mailing list and have continued on mine.

However, I have not heard anything from many of the names among these since I started in the office. For these people this will be your last issue unless I hear from you. To make this easier for everyone, on the envelope this issue came in, you will notice an expiry date in the top left hand corner under the return address. This tells you the issue number when your subscription expires. If you have "EXP 08" this means unless you write to me you will not receive issues past Number 8 (this issue). If you have "EXP 99" congratulations, your 'subscription' will never expire - at least while I am in office. Anything in between I think will be fairly self-explanatory, but as a rule of thumb it will be 2 years (12 issues) after your last scroll for the College.

Mailbox

Mail that is sent to the College of Scribes will be answered either here, or in a personal letter. Generally though, if an issue of Scribe Notes is close to being sent out you will probably find quick replies ending up here. If by some chance you would rather a private reply, just indicate so in your correspondence and the Provost of Scribes will happily oblige.

Muirghein

Thanks once again for your efforts with the original scroll backlog. I have sent off those requiring West Kingdom to sign and seal with the King and Queen. Hopefully getting scrolls back will no longer be as much a cause for concern as it has been in the past.

I will be giving Rhianwen some of the new blanks for yourself and others in Aneala. I will give her 5 of each design I have stocks for to take back so make sure you get some from her.

I have assigned you three of the AA's that were handed out in your reign. These are the only assignments currently unassigned by the College of Scribes, but I'm sure as time progresses and devices are registered more of these will appear. Details of these three will be given to Rhianwen when I see her in Stromhold.

Elspeth

Details of the AA's you requested were forwarded in a separate letter. If they didn't arrive, let me know but it may be due to the Xmas mail being very slow. Sorry for the delay but as I said I thought I'd wait until I had the new designs printed for yourself and several others.

If you have trouble with the calligraphy on any of them, or even just feel uncomfortable doing it, just illuminate the scroll and send it back. I will happily complete the calligraphy.

Nerissa de Saye

I was shown a piece of your illumination not more than 2 weeks ago (Cornelius and Morwenna's Fealty Scroll) and to say the least I would love to have you do original work for the College of Scribes. If you can find time I would be happy to hear from you and find out more about where you picked up your obvious skill.

Anyway, I was very impressed with what you had done as were many others. Please consider coming to work for the College if you are able to spare the time.

Frae Fitzalleyne

Thanks for the Viscountal scroll you completed and for supplying the article on Heraldry. As you can see below I have made use of it in this issue as the Feature Article. Keep up the good work and I hope to see you in January in the mountains for the workshop.

Branwen of Werchesvorde

Sorry once again for not remembering the paper. I sent it along the next day for Tariq to take back but it was raining and neither my wife nor he wanted to risk it getting wet. If its OK with you I will bring it with me on January 22nd to the workshop (PS. Is this still the correct date?).

As for your scroll design for the Pelican scroll it looked wonderful. I have already made some comments which you may feel free to use or ignore. The design was perfectly acceptable - as is - if you want to use it.

Feature Article

Lord Frae Fitzalleyne has provided us with this issue's Feature Article. It is actually a practical guide to heraldic emblazoning which appears in Debrett's "Guide to Heraldry and Regalia".

Once again, all the best for the Yule Season and the holiday festivities. Perfect time for working on that scroll you've been putting off for so long.

Good Scribing,

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Written by my hand this 10th January in the year nineteen hundred and ninety-six of the Common Era


3af84af.jpg Suggestions and corrections should be sent to richie@rowany.DIALix.oz.au ce