There is this series of books called Dies the Fire written by S.M. Stirling which Carey read and then foisted off on me to read. I did enjoy the books which are apocalyptic and I always find things like that interesting. I like watching shows that show what would happen to the Earth after humans go or a giant volcano like the one in Yellow Stone, which is a giant caldera filled with lava. These things are interesting so the book was interesting. It was also a hard read not so much in that it's complicated or obtuse, more that it had really hard scenes dealing with things I didn't want to think about. The reason I bring up this book is because some of the characters in it were in the SCA. They then set up a kingdom and castle which are based on Norman era with William the Bastard.
Then several months later Carey tells me he wants to join the SCA and that he found a group that we could go visit that meets on Weds. As he was currently reading one of the books in the series I was skeptical as to his reasoning on wanting to join. Plus I knew it was going to cost money and time to do the research. Then he said he wanted to be a Viking, which I already knew because he's heavily into Norse mythology and Asatru. I was curious however, so we went and it was interesting. More importantly to me was that everyone was extremely nice and welcoming.
Since I lost my friends, not died just not friends anymore, right around the time I met Carey I haven't really been friends with many people. I know a lot of people and only count a handful of them as friends. No really a whole handful maybe less. Carey is my best friend and I adore spending time with him and with Emma. As it is we spend a large amount of our time together. Anyways I digress.
Carey is drawn in by the fighting and fun while I am drawn in by the sense of camaraderie and warmth that everyone emanates. After a few visits to fighter practice and talking to people the decision is made to join. Then came the big part what time period, who are we, and working around my need to still be married to Carey while playing and his need to be a Viking and most vehemently not wearing of the tights.
So far we have settled upon 10th century Normandy with me being French/Frankish and him being Norse/Norman. I'm learning about the history of the time which is fun because I already love history and want to major in it. (Working in a museum sounds like so much fun! Nifty new/old things to look at!) Clothing is fun and I have found several references and finally found some picture references. Names? Not so much. Viking names are easy. French names from that time period are difficult for me. I hate the ones I've found and the ones I found that I like are from 1290 not 900 something.
As usual I'm probably making this too difficult as I am a perfectionist but I have plenty of people willing to help. I've also decided to attempt to learn to sew well and make our garb. This in it's self shall be interesting. I will post results on here so keep posted. :)
