Ink Spatters

This assignment came as a real shock to me... And the results were worth the trepidation. Much care and research was given to Duchess Roxane Farabi's Laurel scroll - hopefully enough to match the same amount of research and devotion she gives to her persona and it's culture at each and every SCA event she attends. While I admit my initial impression of Roxane was marred by the murmurings of others upon the initial introduction of Her Grace to the realm of SCA politics, I have since come to make up my own mind, and have witnessed and experienced nothing but gentility and courtesy from this woman thus far. Be that as it may, I would still do my duty to the Crown and Signet in penning this piece for her, no matter my feelings, no matter what political situation may occur.

The challenge in actually penning this scroll for Her Grace was not the actual execution of the script, but the calligraphy itself. I do not know a word of Farsi - something I have hopes of one day correcting - and I did not feel any "pseudo" hand was appropriate for a Laurel - or any Peerage - scroll, especially for one who specializes in research. Words were sent over the internet to me by the illuminator, my good friend and "sister scribe", Mistress Mika. Hers was the brush that painted this piece, and brought it to life - unfolding a story laid out in paint of a woman coming to enlightenment through a quest for knowledge. Mika had actually managed to get Duchess Roxane to write up her own scroll, through a clever ploy (which will remain unnamed!), however, the script that was appearing on my screen on this end appeared to be a very modern Arabic font - possibly due to Microsoft Word.

That said, I asked a friend to place a call out to a translator who might assist with this task.... Lady Failenn from Atlantia answered the call privately, as her co-worker, Helen Yousefi, graciously offered her assistance. Amidst the turmoil of packing things for the upcoming move my parents are making, and the heavy thoughts of how to find time to do this while all the time worrying if this would be good enough to grace a Laurel's scroll, I began practicing the translation Helen sent to me through Failenn one weekend before the event. The fact that I did not know where the words began and ended set me back a little further, but after a quick proofreading, everything was done by the Thursday night before the event. All this while also coordinating the archery to be going on that weekend, as I had offered to be Marshal In Charge of Archery for Southern Region Warcamp, over dinner after K&Q A&S II.

Above all, what made it such a success was not only the teamwork involved, but the reaction Roxane gave. And the wonderful moment of His Majesty showing it to everyone *but* Roxane for a few moments.... Well that was just priceless. *giggle* All in all, I think it came out okay. ;)

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