Greetings, Altavia!

It’s been a busy time in Caid since our last council meeting! The week after Coronation was quiet with only a few Altavians (not His Excellency or I) down at Winter Weekend but after that it was three weeks straight of tourneys and events.

First up was Consort’s Champion Martial in Dun Or. We had several Altavians in both the armored and rapier sides of the event including Lord Altavia, Griffith, and Phelan on the armored side and His Excellency, Caterina, and I on the rapier side of things. Congratulations to Sir Valentine and Master Tyndel, the champions of the day! Thank you to everyone at Dun Or that hosted a lovely day…especially Nafar and crew for serving up a donation lunch of yummy street tacos and of course to Cassandra, Monique, Eadric, Cat, Merlin, and everyone else who helped with set up and tear down.

The next weekend was a glorious day down in Gyldenholt for the Unbelted Tournament. We had many hands on deck to help with set up and tear down and Gyldenholt ran a glorious event as always. Altavia fielded three competitors, Griffith, Phelan, and Giachino. Out of a huge list (69 fighters) Phelan went all the way to the 7th round, Griffith to the 5th, and Giachino to the 3rd. Giachino was also named one of the most chivalrous fighters on the field by the Ladies of the Rose. Good job, all!

Next up was the arts and sciences-focused Festival of the Rose out in Ridgecrest. Myself and my ladies, Cassandra and Monique made the trek and had a wonderful day viewing the art and listening to performances, followed by dinner and karaoke fun with the Horsemen of Judgement Keep. Thanks to everyone in Naevehjem for running a wonderful event!

Rounding out recent events was Red Star Rapier War this last weekend up in Wintermist! While camping was chilly it was a wonderful event and Altavia fielded one of its largest war fighting contingents in recent years with His Excellency and I, Mistress Cecilia, Lyric, Caterina, Daniel, Phelan, and Master Alexander Baird taking the field for Altavia, with Merlin taking lots and lots of photos! We also had quite a few Altavians (Courtney, Anwyll, and Cora) helping Sir Master Jamal with his amazing feast entry. The fighting was fierce, the friendship was heart-warming, and the event was spectacular. I highly encourage everyone who can attend to do so in the future; the Horsemen put on a heck of a war!

This weekend (fates willing and the weather holds off) will be Calafia-Gyldenholt Friendship tourney down in Calafia. The following weekend is Crown in Angels and Consort’s Champion Archery Thrown Weapons here in Altavia at Woodley archery range. We will be at Crown cheering on all the combatants and ask anyone who is able to come out to Woodley on Sunday to please help out with set up and tear down.

Looking a little further down the road, there will be a baronial investiture in Dun Or at the beginning of April so please start sending largess my way. If you need ideas, please let me know.

Have a great month, Altavia, and remember…we love you, always!

Yours in Service to the Dream,

Baron Nikolaos Phaistos

Baroness Briana MacCabe

Greetings, Altavia!

Welcome to the New Year! We hope that you all had a lovely holiday season full of fun times with the people that you love.

It has been quiet, event and practice-wise, since our last missive. With the holidays and much-needed rain hitting southern California, we have only had one fighter practice since the beginning of December 🙁 Many thanks to Sibylla for arranging and encouraging alternate hangouts on Discord during fighter practice time the past two weeks and to those that have joined the hangouts. It’s certainly not the same as getting out there and practicing but it’s a great spirit-lifter when “recess” gets cancelled for weather.

This past weekend was the Coronation of King Optimus and Queen Issa and Caid’s bi-annual Privy Council, and they were both full of important pageantry, conversations, and, at the end of the day, much love for the Kingdom we play in and the Game we play. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the bountiful largesse and amazing gifts we presented to their Outgoing and Incoming Majesties and thank you to all who processed in with us. As always, Master Colwyn creatively announced Altavia’s presence and entertained the assembled crowd. A highlight of the day was the beautiful and theatrical exit of their then Majesties and now Graces Adam and Staeina on amazingly decorated and kitted out Viking ships; more theater like this please! And, of course, many thanks and deepest gratitude to Duke Adam and Duchess Staeina for their calm and thoughtful leadership throughout their reign!

Many congratulations, also, to Altavia’s own Master Laertes who stepped up as Kingdom Seneschal during Saturday’s Coronation! He takes over from Sir Tiberius Finn who masterfully guided Caid through some of the darkest times. Thank you, Sir Tiberius, for your tireless service to the Kingdom of Caid and enjoy your well-earned break.

On Sunday, His Excellency and I attended Privy Council, skillfully run by our new Kingdom Seneschal, where many important and weighty subjects were discussed. A large part of the conversation was around officer burnout, recruiting, and how we can all help each other make sure our territories have what they need to keep going strong. If you have any ideas on how we can partner with other baronies and shires on events, demos, or other efforts, please bring them forward…no idea is too big or too small to be discussed. At the end of the meeting there was a difficult discussion around the investigative process in the SCA and what can be done during this process to help members of the populace that may not feel safe attending events.

While we don’t need to go into details here, we know there were many things that took place this weekend and leading up to this weekend that you may want to discuss further. Please know that His Excellency and I are always here to listen, to bring your concerns forward when needed, and to help you work on any solutions you might want to propose. At the end of the day, though we may have different opinions on many things, we ALL love this family we call the SCA and want to make sure it is a fun, safe, and inclusive space for all for years to come.

Yours in Service to the Dream,

Baron Nikolaos Phaistos

Baroness Briana MacCabe

Greetings everyone.

We had a great month, full of celebrations with family and friends. We had Thanksgiving and the beginning of Yule season. But first we commemorated Naevehjem Frost Dragon Anniversary. It was a bit chilly, but the kinship was warm and heart filling. Thank you all who made the long trek to welcome their new baronage,

The next week was Isles Anniversary. It is always a cozy, low key event with lots of fighting and friendship. Thank you all who came and celebrated with us.

After that was Thanksgiving and Medieval Marketplace. We hope you all got to be with the ones you love, and ate as much you wanted. Also, shopping and fighting at Marketplace was fantastic. The Baroness and I are so very thankful for all Altavians. You all make us look good.

Then Yule season started. Parties were had all over the kingdom and Altavians were among the party goers which means fun was had everywhere. Thank you to all who attended Gyldenholt/Lyondomere Yule with the Baron. Games were played and smiles were had.

Finally, and most importantly for us was Angels/Altavia Yule.Happy Yule! So much work was put in in recent months planning this party. Although we had building setbacks, it was a spectacular success. Thank you all for your hard work. The stewards, officers, decorators and people who cleaned up were vital to that success and fun. The bardic performers were stupendous and the table decorations looked gorgeous. The Toy-for-Tots table was overflowing with gifts and the games table was overflowing with competition. The food smelled delightful and the company was as well. Thank you again. Altavia Rocks!!

We now have heirs. Lord Griffith and Lady Amabel are now Lord and Lady Altavia. We know they will be great for the future of our barony.

We want to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. We appreciate every single one of you. We will see you next year as we celebrate Coronation in January.

Thank you

Baron Nikolaos Phaistos

Baroness Briana MacCabe

Hello Altavia and Happy Turkey Month!

The end of October was a busy time for the barony with one of our favorite events of the year, Agincourt Archery Tournament and Feast! We had lovely weather for the tourney at Woodley and a small but mighty crowd! His Majesty Adam was in attendance at the tourney and awarded Marianna Lightwood her award of arms…congrats Lady Marianna! We had a fun but challenging archery competition set up by Christof and won by Master Daffyd ap Thomas, congratulations! Over on Thrown Weapons, Cecilia set up a fun mushroom-based throw and Lady Sibylla strong-armed the competition to become our Thrown Weapons champion for the year. Thank you to Cecila, Christof, Pagnus, Tezar (Lists), Elle (Gate), Lynnette (Gate and Auction), Natalia (Auction and Fretted Fork), and our set up/tear down crew of Monique, Cassandra, Anne, and Giachino for all your help at the tourney!

That evening saw the return of the Agincourt feast and it was a wonderful meal and event. Many, many kudos to our cooks, Matlens and Giovanni, for a very tasty meal under some challenging circumstances! Thank you to Meliora and Eadric for helping out in the kitchen to make sure the cooks had the support they needed, to Lynnette for wrangling our servers and to Sibylla for running the logistics for the evening. During the feast, a brief court was held with His Majesty and Eadric was added to the Order of the Crescent for his cheerful service throughout the Kingdom. Congrats, Your Lordship! Thank you to everyone who joined us, including our Cousins Driebergen, for food, dancing, performances, and the surprisingly efficient clean up at the end of the evening. Special shout-outs to Xerus and Saystine for transporting and doing the bulk of the dishes in our “satellite location” 😊

The next weekend saw an Altavian contingent head out to Dreibergen’s Rocky Horror-themed anniversary event….SO MUCH FUN. Thank you to all who joined us in the dragonwing and congratulations to our dear Baron for being part of the winning final team in the Rapier lists!

This past weekend, a small contingent travelled down to Calafia for their Anniversary where we saw Baroness Danyel invited to join the Order of the Pelican, spoke to Master Oliver for his vigil for the Pelican and then ate some really good BBQ after the event. It’s a long trip, but always a lovely event.

The rest of November is going to be busy, busy, busy with Naevehjem Anniversary and Investiture this weekend, Isles Anniversary and the Laurelling of Master Todde next weekend, and then Medieval Marketplace the Saturday after Thanksgiving. There will be Altavian presence at all of these events, so please feel free to join us in the wing or designated pop-up 😊

Finally, Yule is almost here…yay! Please join us for a planning meeting this Thursday and start thinking about what you want to bring to share on the potluck table. Also, now would be a great time to get your baronial award recommendation letters in so we can honor all our wonderful Altavians!

His Excellency and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families, either by blood or by choice, and know that we are very thankful to have all of you in our lives!

Yours in Service to the Dream,

Baron Nikolaos Phaistos

Baroness Briana MacCabe