Baronial Business

The Salamander Newsletter, Meeting notes, and Officer reports.

February 2025 Business Meetings Notes

Barony of Bhakail Meeting Notes: February 20, 2025

Officers in Attendance: Mikael melrakki, Margarette la Gantiere, Bryan Mac Dhunghaill, Chana Freidl the Maker, Dillena o’r Gwyrdd, Ellyn Grene, Mael Eoin mac Echuid, Scolastica Capelleria, Ysmay de Lynn

Other populace in attendance: Philadelphia Brown

Events

Waking of the Salamander

A bid was submitted by Chana and Ysmay and has been approved. The concept for the event is a return to Artisan’s Village, with learning from each other in an informal way that is accessible to the public. The dates for the event are April 18- 20, 2025.

Champions and Commons & Bhakail Yule

Bids are sought for these upcoming events! Yule is tentatively scheduled for December 13, 2025.

Tavern 2026

Potential dates are either January 24 or 31. The plan is to pencil in for the venue at the German Society for the same weekend as Birka.

New Business

Announcements from the Seneschal

Davit Jamburiani, who is primarily interested in Book Heraldry, has taken the Deputy Herald position. Congratulations to Davit!

Scolastica Capelleria now the Kingdom A&S Deputy for online displays. Congratulations to Scolastica!

Bhakail Sheetwall for the East Kingdom Encampment at Pennsic

Bhakail is not currently represented with a sheetwall at the East Kingdom Encampment at Pennsic. If you are interested in helping out with making a new sheetwall, please reach out to Margarette or Chana.

Additional Officer Reports

Coronet’s Report – Baron Mikael melrakki

Events. Lots to say about events.

First, Tavern was excellent. Good food, good camaraderie and we have new Bardic and Gaming Champions.

Waking of the Salamander is just around the corner. This is your last chance to let me know if you think someone deserving of an award to be able to be given at that event.

The first ever Rapier Crown is coming up. The whole society is keeping an eye on this.

And there are a bunch of local events that people should be going to: Nova Schola, A&S Champs, Mudthaw, Coronation to name a few.

Also, Ysmay and Chana are working on codifying an event process to make it easier for people to run events. A step by step guide with details on how to do some of the steps such as getting the announcement on the kingdom calendar and setting up the paypal registrations.

Minister of the List – Honorable Lord Bryan mac Dhughaill an Boghadair

There is nothing to report. I have not heard anything about the classes yet.

Minute notes recorded by Ellyn Grene

Feebruary 2025 Officer Reports

Following are the monthly officer reports that have been submitted prior to the Bhakail monthly business meeting of February 20, 2025.

Salamander Pursuivant’s Report – Finnólfr Hrafnsson

Court – At the Sign of the Elderflower and Boot

We had an excellent court where we crowned two new Baronial Champions!

Melvin Silber won the Bardic Competition hosted by Sabine de Kerbriant and is our new Baronial Bardic Champion!

Emily Della Luna won the gaming Competition hosed by Magister Rowen Cloteworthy and is our new Baronial Gaming Champion!

We thank Magister Rowen and Zacharie de Syrens for their excellent service during their time as Baronial Gaming and Bardic Champions respectively.

In addition, Dragmall Viðnir was presented with a Flame of Bhakail for his creation of the astounding new Baronial Archery Regalia. Lady Dillena o’r Gwyrddol and Lord Aiden Underhill were presented with Flames of Bhakail for hosting and running the event. Finally, Anshelm Hofer was given a Flame for his fantastic dayboard for the event.

In addition to court, I have assisted Francisco de Monte Cristo with registering his new Device and have begun working with Merlin Silber on registering a name and device.

Rapier Marshal – Don Melchior Kriebel

Rapier practice continued to be held at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Media. There were no incidents of note, and attendance was heavy, with 18-24 fencers in each practice.

Of note we sold one of the old loaner rapier (one that everyone but one person hated – the one who bought it) the funds from that sale have gone towards the purchase of a new loaner rapier blade.

We are also starting work on a long-term project to reduce the bulk of the rapier loaner gear using the new rapier armor standards.

Archery Marshal – Lady Ellyn Grene

Nothing to report.

Chronicler – Lady Ellyn Grene

The next issue of The Salamander will be published in March. Please send me any content you would like to contribute by March 21.

Minister of Arts & Sciences – Honorable Lady Scolastica Capellaria

If you are interested in teaching a class, holding an A&S night, or other A&S related activity, please contact me!

There are A&S opportunities at the following local events:

March 1, 2025: East Kingdom Crown’s Arts and Science Champions Competition: Kingdom A&S Championship! Settmour Swamp, (Washington NJ.) A great place to display and compete on the kingdom level.
March 8, 2025: Nova Schola, Hartshorndale (Collegeville PA). A Day of learning with classes!
March 29, 2025: Mudthaw XLIV, Settmour Swamp (Washington, NJ). A&S Challenge and Display.
April 12, 2025: Dumpling-fest aka Dumpling-Palooza, Shire of the Rusted Woodlands (Sussex, NJ). A day of cooking and learning about dumplings!
April 26, 2025: Spring Schola, Barony of An Dubhaigeainn (Stony Brook NY)
May 17, 2025: Lions End Schola: Pride of Lions, Canton of Lions End (Glen Cove, NY). A Day of A&S Classes and A&S Competition.
May 23-26: Quest for Wit and Wisdom, Barony of Settmour Swamp (Pittstown NJ). A weekend of questing and learning about Celtic history and Lore.

The Kingdom MOAs office now has a calendar for arts and science events across the kingdom! https://moas.eastkingdom.org/event-calendar/

If you have any A&S interests that you would like to explore, need help researching something, or are looking for resources feel free to email me at MOAS@bhakail.eastkingdom.org. I also would love to see what you are working on! Please send me pictures of your projects!

Chatelaine – Lady Chana Freidl the Maker

Nothing much to report. A few responses from my mass PAX email blast have been trickling in, bringing our total positive responses to 5! Better than ever before! A lot of the people from outside Bhakail received emails from their local chatelaine, since I copied them on the initial message, but I don’t know if they’ve followed up since then.

Bailiwick of Ivyeinrust – Deputery Seneschal Livie Petralia reporting

Thank you to everyone who attended the February business meeting for the Bailiwick!

Our next meeting will be Monday, March 3rd. Still at 7:15pm. Still virtual (link will be announced closer to the meeting date).

We will be having an A&S open house gathering, but we are no longer trying to coordinate scheduling a room and parking and wearing pants. Instead, PLEASE ALL join us for AN AMAZING lowkey A&S EXTRAVAGANZA in which we all hang out on zoom and craft. At home. Or work. Or wherever. No matter where you are or what group you are in, please feel free to join us! Friday, February 28th from 4-8pm EST. You do not have to stay for the whole thing. If this works out, we will schedule others at different times so that if this conflicts with a religious service, hopefully the next one will not. But we are doing a thing! Possibly in pajamas (all outfits should be safe for workplace screens).

And we’ve updated the website so that the next local event we will be highlighting is Hartshorn-dale’s Nova Schola on March 8th. If you’d like to coordinate carpooling to get there, bring that up on the listserv or the baronial discord!

January 2025 issue of the Salamander

Here is the latest issue of the Bhakail newsletter, The Salamander. Read inside for details about Tavern, and the court reports from Bhakail Yule Revel XLV & Baronial Investiture.

January 2025 Business Meetings Notes

Barony of Bhakail Meeting Notes: January 16, 2024

Officers in Attendance: Mikael melrakki, Margarette la Gantiere, Bryan Mac Dhunghaill, Chana Freidl the Maker, Dillena o’r Gwyrdd, Ellyn Grene, Melchoir Kriebal, Mael Eoin mac Echuid, Martyn de Halliwell

Other populace in attendance: Philadelphia Brown, Roseia Posey, John, Livia Petralia

Old Business

Changes to the Bhakail Financial Policies

As initially discussed at the December 2024 business meeting, the Exchequer has proposed changes to the Bhakail financial policies. These changes include to reorder and renumber items to bring it in line with EK financial policies and to specify staggered terms for the at-Large seats on Bhakail’s Council of the Exchequer (CoE) aka the “Finance Committee.” Martyn made a motion to bring this to a vote, seconded by Mael Eoin. A vote was held and passed.

Baronial Herald

Letters of intent for Salamander Pursuivant (Herald) were invited and one letter was submitted by Finnolfr Hrafnsson. Motion to bring to vote by Chana, seconded to Mael Eoin. A vote was held to appoint Finn and passed.

Bhakail Finance Committee Membership

Martyn reported that Motte Nachfalter, Gisella Szabo, and Bryan Mac Dhunghaill have been appointed to the finance committee.

New Business

New Bhakail Discord Server

Bhakail will be launching a new server on Discord this evening. Details on how to join will be communicated by email and other communication channels. Reach out to Dillena if you have any questions.

Proposal for a Combined Regional Baronial Championship Event

Time was offered for any additional feedback beyond what has been solicited prior to the meeting. Margarette reported that the feedback from the populace to date has not indicated interest.

Bhakail Event Planning and Planning Guidance Documentation

Chana and Ysmay are working on a document that provides guidance on how to successfully plan and organize the various baronial events. If you have ideas on what should be included in this document, please reach out to Chana (chatelaine@bhakail.eastkingdom.org) or Ysmay (chamberlain@bhakail.eastkingdom.org). Baron Mikael encouraged event organizers to think about how to incorporate more SCA activities into the baronial events, and also for planning for events to start as early as possible.

Baronial Thrown Weapons Marshal

Mikael has volunteered to be reinstated as the Bhakail Thrown Weapons Marshal. A vote for the position will be held at the February business meeting.

Additional Officer Reports

Minister of the List – Honorable Lord Bryan mac Dhughaill an Boghadair

Nothing to report. There will be a virtual class in the spring, I will let you know in case you are interested.

Minute notes recorded by Ellyn Grene

January 2025 Officer Reports

Following are the monthly officer reports that have been submitted prior to the Bhakail monthly business meeting of January 16, 2025..

Coronet’s Report – Baron Mikael melrakki

Greetings,

Well, I have survived my first month as Baron, so I guess that is a good start. 🙂

Once again, I want to thank everyone for your faith and confidence in me. I will strive to do my best for Bhakail and hope to see the Barony prosper.

I have set myself several goals for things to work on to improve the Barony, such as reviewing our bylaws and financial policies, our event planning process, and our champions. However, if there are other things that you have noticed that you believe can be improved upon, please let me know.

I am here to serve you, but I can’t do everything. I need you to be my eyes and ears. If there are people needing recognition to let me know. If you have ideas, come forward and let me know. If you can run a class or a workshop, let me know. If you want to help, but don’t know where to start, let me know.

Mikael

Archery Marshal – Lady Ellyn Grene

Practices are on hiatus until spring appears.

I’m now set up to submit scores for the InterKingdom Archery Competition (IKAC), which is a privately sponsored “postal match” style shoot open to the entire Known World. The annual standings are based on the scores of the top 3 archers from each kingdom in different divisions, and medals are awarded after the season closes. The divisions are based on equipment used (open bow, open crossbow, period bow, period crossbow), and with adult and various youth archer divisions. An IKAC round is equivalent to two Royal Rounds plus 2 timed ends each at 30 and 40 yards. Support the East in 2025 by coming out to Bhakail archery practice and shooting some IKACs!

Chamberlain – Dame Ysmay de Lynn

There will be an organizing session sometime in the next few weeks to put everything away, from Yule and Tavern, label and catalogue everything. Having all the items in the same place seems to be working for the event stewards and cooks.

Chronicler – Lady Ellyn Grene

The chronicler keeps chronicling. If you have any content to contribute to the next issue of the Salamander, please get it to me by Jan 20.

Minister of Arts & Sciences – Honorable Lady Scolastica Capellaria

Winter is here and its time for our Bardic and Gaming Competitions which will take place at the Sign of the Elderflower and Boot on January 25:

***Bardic Competition:***

This year’s Bardic Championship will be in two rounds.

One round will be based on the theme of Winter. The work can be, warm & cozy, seasonally festive, dark & cold; however you want to represent the season. The other round will be bards choice. Be prepared to present a favorite performance piece, or something you love.

Performances may be any kind of entertainment, including but not limited to songs, instrumental music, stories, dance, juggling acts, and puppet shows. Pieces should be period, period-compatible, or SCA-related, but no documentation will be required. Each piece should be less than 5 minutes. If there are five or more contestants, contestants may be eliminated after the first round.

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***Gaming Competition: ***

Bhakail is in the midst of an exciting time! We have just witnessed the Investiture of our new Baron, kennari Mikael melrakki. It is one of His Excellency’s early obligations to appoint a new Baronial Gaming Champion. At Tavern at the Sign of the Elderflower and Boot, a new Champion will be decided. The format will be as follows. Boards will be set out for chess (a medieval form, rules below), nard (backgammon without doublets or a doubling cube), alquerques, plaisant (modern checkers or draughts), and fox and geese. Players may play any combination of games, but must win at least two different games. The player with the most wins at the end of the tourney will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the champion will be decided by a best of three of nine man morris.

Our version of chess will be one of the earliest versions, taken from CA #71 and called “simple chess” by the author. All pieces except the pawn and the queen move as modern pieces do. The pawn does not have an opening two space move, but otherwise moves and captures as in modern chess. The queen may move only two squares, though in any direction as in modern chess. There is no castling. A pawn that makes the final row is promoted to the capitol piece that started in that space, though the king or queen’s space is promoted to a bishop.

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If you are interested in teaching a class, holding an A&S night, or other A&S related activity, please contact me!

There are A&S opportunities at the following local events:

January 18, 2025: Owlsherst County Twelfth Night (York PA). A&S Display, period games, sing-along and dancing.
January 25, 2025: Tavern At the sign of the Elderflower and Boot. Barony of Bhakail (Philadelphia). Baronial Bardic Competition and Period Games Competition.
March 1, 2025: East Kingdom Crown’s Arts and Science Champions Competition: Kingdom A&S Championship! Settmour Swamp, (Washington NJ.)A great place to display and compete on the kingdom level.
March 8, 2025: Nova Schola, Hartshorndale (Collegeville PA). A Day of learning with classes!
March 29, 2025: Mudthaw XLIV, Settmour Swamp (Washington, NJ). A&S Challenge and Display.

The Kingdom MOAs office now has a calendar for arts and science events across the kingdom! https://moas.eastkingdom.org/event-calendar/

Deadline for entering the EK MOAS A&S Online Display is November 15, 2024! Contact me or email MOAS.Display@eastkingdom.org with any questions or more information.

Chatelaine – Lady Chana Freidl the Maker

I have reached out to everyone that gave me their contact information at PAX, a total of 67 emails. I copied their local chatelaines as well, allowing me to reach out to chatelaines in 6 kingdoms. A lot of people have yet to respond, but a couple people have been in communication since PAX and we are looking forward to welcoming them. I highlighted Tavern as a great event to introduce them to the SCA in a small environment, and I know at least one newcomer will be joining us there.

Pennsic report – Pennsic pre-reg has begun, and online paid pre-reg ends June 15th. Please note the Pennsic War website has been updated, and new rules about Pennsic are being released. If you camp with Bhakail, please notify me if you intend to camp with us again this year before pre-regging. We will have a camp meeting this Sunday, January 19th, at 5pm using the Google Meet link used for our baronial business meetings (https://meet.google.com/gpf-gerd-ikj).

Webminister – Máistir Mael Eoin mac Echuidh

I am still redoing the website; the current theme is a custom theme that doesn’t allow photos and having newcomers encounter a wall of just text isn’t very engaging. Looking for content – photos especially – to keep the website appealing.

December 2024 issue of the Salamander

Here is the latest issue of the Bhakail newsletter, The Salamander. Read inside for details about Bhakail Yule Revel XLV & Baronial Investiture and the court report for Champions and Commons

December 2024 Business Meeting Notes

Officers in Attendance: Muin maqq Minain, Ellyn Grene, Bryan Mac Dhunghaill, Martyn de Halliwell, Chana Freidl the Maker, Finnolfr Hrafnsson, Melchoir Kriebel, Mael Eoin mac Echuid, Ysmay de Lynn,

Other populace in attendance: Philadelphia Brown, Mikael melrakki, Alesia de Maris

Events

Yule

Planning is going well. Changes to the schedule are requested to Martyn by Friday. Some volunteers are still requested for setup (please be there by 9am to help with setup) and as gate warden. Reach out to yule@bhakail.eastkingdom.org to volunteer or for more information. Anyone who needs loaner garb (gold key) can contact Chana at chatelaine@bhakail.eastkingdom.org.

PAX

We had a hugely successful demo at PAX Unplugged this past weekend, which included medieval games, fencing demos, and heavy fighting demos. Contact information was received from 67 people who were interested in learning more about the SCA.

New Business

Changes to the Bhakail Financial Policies

The Exchequer has proposed changes to the Bhakail financial policies to specify staggered terms for the at-Large seats on Bhakail’s Council of the Exchequer (CoE) aka the “Finance Committee.” The changes were discussed and will be reviewed at the January business meeting for baronial approval

Council of the Exchequer

There are currently vacancies for the At-Large seats on Bhakail’s Council of the Exchequer (CoE) aka the “Finance Committee.” Two of the seats have to be filled by people who are not greater officers of the barony. If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to Martyn at exchequer@bhakail.eastkingdom.org.

Baronial Herald

A call has been put out for letters of intent for Salamander Pursuivant (Herald) as Lady Ragna Grímólfsdóttir has resigned. If you are interested in the position, please submit a letter of intent to Margarette la Gantiere at seneschal@bhakail.eastkingdom.org.

Minute notes recorded by Ellyn Grene

December 2024 Officer Reports

Following are the monthly officer reports that have been submitted prior to the Bhakail monthly business meeting of December 10, 2024.

Archery Marshal – Lady Ellyn Grene

Baronial practices have wrapped up for the winter and will resume in the spring once the weather is springy enough. Thank you to all who came out to the range maintenance day on Black Friday.

Chronicler – Lady Ellyn Grene

Finishing up the next issue of the Salamander!

Chatelaine – Lady Chana Freidl the Maker

We had a hugely successful demo at PAX Unplugged this past weekend, which included medieval games, fencing demos, and heavy fighting demos. I received contact information for 67 people who want to learn more about the SCA and will be contacting them and copying their chatelaines on those emails. I have a ton of people to thank, which I will do after I’ve slept a bit more, but suffice it to say, our demo team was incredible this year, and each year is better than the last!

November 2024 Business Meeting Notes

Officers in Attendance: Muin maqq Minain, Margarette la Gentiere. Dillena o’r Gwyddol, Melchoir Kriebel, Ellyn Grene, Bryan Mac Dhunghaill, Martyn de Halliwell, Ysmay de Lynn, Scolastica Capelleria, Chana Freidl the Maker, Mael Eoin mac Echuid

Other populace in attendance: Mikael melrakki, Gisela Szabo, Finnolfr Hrafnsson, Aiden Underhill

Events

Yule

Planning is moving forward. Maryn reminded everyone to pre-register for the event, and requested volunteers to help in the morning with event setup and with running gate. Reach out to yule@bhakail.eastkingdom.org to volunteer or for more information.

Tavern

A bid was submitted by Dillena o’r Gwyrdd to the Exchequer and is pending review by the financial committee. A motion was made and passed to approve the bid, pending the official approval from the financial committee.

PAX

Chana is exploring ways to allow a fencing demo at PAX and best options to keep the budget for the event to a minimum.

New Business

Baronial Herald

A call was put out for a deputy herald. Finnolfr Hrafnsson volunteered for the position.

Changing the day of the baronial business meetings

Meeting on Tuesdays conflicts with two other baronial events, heavy fighter practice and social. Discussion was held about the day of the week and week of the month to which business meeting could be moved to avoid conflicts and allow officers and the populace to attend, and how to best request input from the populace. Margarette will be requesting input from the populace for the best scheduling moving forward. For January 2025, the plan is to have business meeting on Thursday, January 16.

Bhakail Order of Precedence

It has been brought to Margarette’s attention that the baronial order of precedence is in need of updating. There is a spreadsheet for tracking the OP; Finn volunteered to share this information with the populace to see where updates are needed.

Minute notes recorded by Ellyn Grene

November 2024 Officer Reports

Following are the monthly officer reports that have been submitted prior to the Bhakail monthly business meeting of November 12, 2024.

Rapier Marshal – Don Melchior Kriebel

Bhakail rapier practice continues to be held at the Reform Lutheran Church in Media, PA. Attendance has been good with numbers around 14-18 fencers. There were no incidents of note.

Archery Marshal and reporting for Thrown Weapons – Lady Ellyn Grene

Sunday, November 17 will be the last regularly scheduled archery and thrown weapons practices for 2024. TW targets will be disassembled on Nov 22 so Mikael can take them to 100 Minutes War. We may be able to squeeze in a few more archery practices, if people are interested and weather permits.

But that’s not all for the season! On Nov 29 (Black Friday) we will be having a range cleanup day to give a good fall cleanup of the TW and archery ranges to thank MIkael for the use of his yard and to set us up for success in 2025! Stay tuned for a specific start time.

Chronicler – Lady Ellyn Grene

It’s November, and that means the next issue of the Salamander is coming up! If you have any content you would like to contribute, please send to me by November 15.

Minister of Arts & Sciences – Honorable Lady Scolastica Capellaria

Fall is here, and Bhakailis are busying themselves by preparing for Yule! Competition themes for the A&S and Brewing Competitions have been announced!

***A&S Competition:***

We all have made mistakes, some big, some so tiny only you are aware of, but we always learn something from them. Show me a mistake you made on your arts and science journey, a small error in planning, a project you’ve put down or restarted, or a hypothesis proven incorrect, and tell me about what you learned from it. Display your mistake, your attempts, and the final result!

Entries must not contain food or liquids per site requirements as the competition will take place in the library. If you are interested in presenting food or beverage for this project, please contact Scolastica in advance to make arrangements.

Documentation is encouraged. Please forward documentation to Scolastica in advance of the event for full review. Please contact Scolastica Capellaria at 253492@members.eastkingdom.org with any questions.

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***Brewing Competition Rules — Just Gruit!:***

Hail all ye good gentle brewers! For this year’s brewing competition we are throwing it back to the days before hops were widely used to bitter the beers and other beverages. Before the 1200’s, a variety of bitter and flavoring adjuncts were used instead, such as dandelion, bog myrtle, mugwort, rosemary, resin and juniper. All beverage types will be allowed, meaning beers, ciders, meads and wines will all be judged. Whatever your drink, your submission must be flavored with at least one herb. Anything with hops will be disqualified.

Beverages will be judged on presence of an ingredient list, documentation and taste. At the very least, please list your ingredients so we may know what we’re drinking. Mystery brews (those without ingredient lists) will not be judged due to the risk of not knowing what we’re imbibing.

**Please avoid Mint as Kennari Mikael is allergic.**

A note of caution: Please do your research before adding herbs to your brew. Some plants can cause allergic and other adverse reactions. For example, henbane was used to flavor beers in Germany and gave people the sense of flight and hallucinations. It’s also a very toxic nightshade and, taken in high quantities, can cause coma, respiratory paralysis and death. So please, let’s not kill our fellow Bhakailis.

Good luck and Gānbēi!

Any questions please contact Lui Wing-Ken at adamlouie@gmail.com

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If you are interested in teaching a class, holding an A&S night, or other A&S related activity, please contact me!

There are A&S opportunities at the following local events:

November 16, 2024: Harvest Toys for Tots Tourney (Carlisle, PA). Classes will be had.
December 14, 2024: Bhakail Yule (Philadelphia, PA). Our baronial Arts and Science Competition, Brewing Competition, and revelry with music, dancing and laughter.

The Kingdom MOAs office now has a calendar for arts and science events across the kingdom! https://moas.eastkingdom.org/event-calendar/

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Deadline for entering the EK MOAS A&S Online Display is November 15, 2024! Contact me or email MOAS.Display@eastkingdom.org with any questions or more information.

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Chatelaine – Lady Chana Freidl the Maker

PAX approaches and I am excited for this year! If you are willing and/or able to help at the booth, please let me know. We will once again have heavy fighting demos on Saturday and are working with some fencers to see if we can include them this year as well.

As always, be kind to each other. Help each other. Include those who may be new to our family.