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by Hector of the Black Height
At Pennsic XXVII, one of the lasting images
burned into the memories of many of us is the sight of a thousand Eastern
fighters, formed into a column, marching off the field prior to the start of the
final scheduled battle of the War. Why the Crown of the East saw fit to lead its
fighters and archers from the field has been discussed and will continue to be
discussed for years to come. I do not wish to examine the motives of the mighty;
I am more interested in how this decision affected individuals.
A few minutes before the Eastern column formed
up, I had been standing among a few hundred Eastern fighters as I tried to find
two particular, wonderful spearmen from the Barony of Bakhail. Those Easterners
were happy, having fun and from what I could see were ready to take the field
again. I left the Eastern lines to rejoin Ealdormere's forces, and shortly
thereafter I guess their Baron told his people to pick up their kit and fall
into the great column. Off a thousand fighters marched. This must have been
dreadfully hard for all concerned. Walking off the field, walking away from a
fight, walking away and leaving a thousand other fighters behind, must have
seemed wrong to many in the column. Later, I believe several Eastern Peers chose
to swear fealty to the Crown of the East, apparently as a public sign of support
for the Crown of the East and its decision to take its army from the field. If
it was hard to walk off the field, think how hard it must have been for some
squires, apprentices and protégés to listen while their Peers said "I
support Your Majesties and your decision," if they didn't.
And that's what SCA fealty is about.
For the most part SCAdian fealty is pretty
easy stuff to give and take. You say some words and thereafter not much is asked
of you. Suddenly at Pennsic, feudal bonds were tested, in many cases perhaps for
the first time. It was no fun for anybody to walk away from a fight. The East
and its allies did. Whatever else I may think about what happened, I respect and
admire the discipline and loyalty that allowed a thousand fighters to walk away
from us. Suddenly the words that had been said by hundreds of Eastern fighters
were called on. The bonds were tested; no more talking the talk, it was time to
walk the walk. And they walked.
Fealty is a promise to obey. Sometimes
obedience can hurt; sometimes one's oath to obey goes against one's best
interests or conscience. The question has to be asked; which is more important,
your word or your own will and desires? The ultimate result of this sort of test
is the retention or return of squires', apprentices' and protégés belts.
A decision about whether or not to keep a belt
is hard to make. It must be made carefully, especially in this case, because in
this case the decision is being triggered by an isolated incident. A working
relationship between a Peer and a dependant should not be severed over one
disagreement, if at all possible. If the incident is extremely stressful or
entirely contrary to either party's concepts of honour and right within the
great game we play, then something's got to give. However, it would be a
dreadful pity to sever a bond and stress (or end) a friendship over one day's
events.
Feudal bonds are bonds between people. People
sometimes err. People don't always communicate clearly. People may make
decisions based on incomplete or faulty data. There is only one way to work
through a problem based on -- or exacerbated by -- a feudal bond. That is for
the parties concerned to sit down and talk. People solve people problems, one on
one. I am not condoning any decision made on August 15th. I am saying
that people on any side of an argument or a decision can be wrong, and they also
can admit it afterwards. It may be hard for a dependant to ask a Peer to admit
being wrong; for a lot of people, his or her Peer is a personal hero. Still, the
people part of the SCA is real, and perfect heroes are not part of any real
game. Heroes screw up. They go off in the wrong direction. They fart and spill
ketchup on their good garb. I believe strongly that a hero is an ordinary person
who, when put in the right place at the right time, does the right thing. Maybe
on August 15th some heroes did the right thing and others did the
wrong thing. That's a subject for many discussions over drinks of choice in
quiet places. The most important discussions along those lines will be between
the people who made the decisions and their dependants who are trying to live
with the decisions made.
It's easy to say that feudal bonds and the
conflicts they can cause don't matter that much. The East will have a new King
two months after the day. Ealdormere will be a new Kingdom before the next
Pennsic War. It's not like these issues will have lasting effects on local
game-play. Tournaments will still be run, people will still work on A&S
projects and so on. However, the end of Pennsic XXVII forced many to look again
at the ethics they espouse and the loyalties they support. In a culture where
the lingua franca is honour, ethics and loyalty are essential issues. The
echoes of that great parade of Eastern warriors will ring for many years in the
Kingdoms that fought, or didn't fight, the final battle of Pennsic XXVII.
Copyright A. McLean 1998. All rights reserved.
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