Greetings to the most noble populace of Insulae Draconis! This month witnessed the naming of our Kingdom’s heirs to the thrones of Drachenwald, Duke William and Duchess Isabetta, at the Crown Tourney so ably hosted by the fantastic team at Dun in Mara and their supporters. The event also highlighted two subjects for Us: Awards and Boasts.
Their Majesties hosted a pre-Curia discussion regarding three new proposed Kingdom level awards, and the discussion on these particular awards will continue in other forums, to which We strongly encourage Our populace to lend their superior rhetorical skills in assisting the Kingdom to a resolution. The proposed award details can be seen in the Dragon’s Tale.
On the subject of awards in general: in the past month We have received a significant increase in award recommendations, for which We thank and applaud you all! Each and every award recommendation reflects not only the contributions of the recommended populace, but also the love and commitment of the recommenders who take the time to submit the recommendation. We read and consider each recommendation with joy, but We do wish to advise everyone that the granting of awards in court is a long process. These awards are not given lightly, and involve the unseen labors of many hands behind the scenes. What We wish to convey here is to encourage everyone to recognize those who deserve recognition in as many forums as possible. While the formal awards process can be slow, a simple “Thank you” one-on-one, a public cry from your local heralds, or an announcement at feast can all be supplemental, and important, recognition in addition to a formal award submission. Reading the flood of award submissions over the past month has filled Our hearts and filled Us with the desire that these stories be more widely shared across our Principality.
And a magnificent method of sharing such stories is through the Boasts. The Crown Tourney itself once again demonstrated that while Drachenwald leads the Known World in the practice of boasting, Insulae Draconis leads the Kingdom in this noble art. Humorous, poignant, and challenging, the boasts performed at the Tournament were of the highest quality and added to the magic of the weekend. But why is boasting currently confined only to those entering a martial contest? We feel that this honed skill of our talented populace should be extended to other venues: feasts, courts, around the camp fire, even the beloved morning wake-up calls of our heralds in the early hours of the morning. We would receive with joy boasts at our feasts documenting the accomplishments of those deserving of recognition for their contributions to our shared enjoyment, or boasts of one’s own accomplishments. While it is not fashionable in our mundane cultures, boasting of one’s own deeds was very common in certain periods and cultures of the medieval age, and it was rare to allow strict veracity to interfere with a good story. We would be overjoyed (and probably generously inclined) to hear more boasts of our populace’s own deeds or deeds of their fellows at feast or other public venues.
It has been an exciting month, and We look forward to the next with great anticipation! We hope to next see many of you at St. Bede’s Fair in Our Shire of Flintheath!
Yours in service,
Roland, Prince and Jahanara, Princess