At an annual event in the Barony of An Dubhaigeainn, (Suffolk County, Long Island) after being involved with the Society for Creative Anachronisms for about 5 years, I was honored to enter into a Master/Protege relationship with Baron Master Ateño of Annun Ridge, OP, OL etc.
The event was called Potted Arms and was held at the UU Church in Huntington. In a semi-public ceremony, Ateño took on an Apprentice, Onora inghean Ui Ruairc, and myself as a Protege. We refer to each other as "Belt Siblings."
Above L-R Master Vettorio, Me, now THL Onora, Master Richard the Poor of Ely and an Unidentified populace member.
He presented each of us with a Contract, ably scribed by Master Vettorio Antonello, with the terms of the agreement, Ateño's Arms, and our Arms respectively. The space for my Arms was left blank because they had not passed yet.
The SCA has a College of Heralds, which, among other things, checks each person's proposed name and armory design to make sure it is not too close to ones that already exist. In the Society, one never HAS TO have their name registered, or even come up with armory. But if one DOES, it keeps anyone else from getting too close to yours.
Mine have since passed and I'm using my Arms as my Profile picture. It is supposed to represent ME so... why not.
After the signing of the document by Ateño, myself, and three adult witnesses, Ateño called forth a local child. He said that in period, documents would frequently be witnessed by a child so that, many years later, presumably even after the Principal signers were long gone, the now Aged Child would be able to say "I Remember"
This was the Formal beginning of my Path of Service, but I had already taken some steps upon it before I formalized it.
Flashback to Pennsic War XLI (41) in 2012. The Prince and Princess of the East were Edward II and Thyra I, and did not have enough retainers in Camp. A retainer is someone who follows the Titled Leader (Royal, Heir, Coronet etc) around, carries their things, keeps them on Schedule, holds the gifts they receive and the favors they give out, keeps them fed and hydrated, etc. Retainers help keep the Dream alive by making their principal look unburdened by the minutia of the mundane, up on the proverbial pedestal, and able to focus on the folks in front of them. It is a lot of fun, for me.
I didn't know that what I like to do was actually a JOB. I didn't know it was actually considered something important, that needed to be done, that it was SERVICE. I had read about the East Kingdom award structure, and about the Peers, and what they do, but I did not connect a Pelican to being a helper.
At that fateful Pennsic, Baroness Gianetta announced to Camp that Their Royal Highnesses needed more retainers. I volunteered and she took me over to EK Royal to introduce me. I met Princess Thyra, and her staff, and started retaining. I got to hang with the Royals, meet more people, be privy to what was going on. During EK Court later that week, I got to be in a physical position where I could SEE and HEAR everything!!! It was AWESOME... I could see the look on the faces of Award recipients, get a really good look at the fantastic scrolls and awards that the Eastern Artisans create, and then Give Away!! I could hear not only the Herald making his pronouncements, but also the
sotto voce sideline stuff. I could see (and be part of) the stage magic that goes into any type of performance. (And, believe me, Court is as much of a performance as any play, but with more audience participation and less script.)
Back home, after Pennsic, I started to
officially retain for our current Baron and Baroness, none other than Ateño, and his wife Lassar. I got to know them both, learned more about the society, and discovered that I was On this path, and I realized I wanted to Formalize it.
Ateño did not want to take on dependents while he was the Coronet.
I asked him to consider me just before he stepped down.
Onora had already had the discussion with him about becoming his apprentice. She is a phenomenal artist.
An apprentice's path is more about the physical art they can produce, and the research and work that goes into it.
An apprentice is less oriented toward service, and more toward art.
An apprentice may become a Maunche (which Onora has) and may also become a Laurel.
That is the highest Society Level Recognition for Art.
The mentoring of an apprentice is a little different from that of a protege, because the focus is different.
My request to Ateño to become his Protege was asking him to a) take on a second dependent when he might have been looking for a break after 5 years in Service as Coronet, b) take on a differently focused mentee, and c) take on well...me. I am a whole different ball of wax.
Above L-R Master Richard, me, Ateño and Lassar
He (obviously) accepted, and the summer after he stepped down, we had our ceremony.
