Announcement: Accidental Release of Business-In-Confidence Information

On January 29th, 2023, SCA Inc. Information Technology was notified by concerned members that the archives of the SCA-Comments list serve were accessible to the public. Although it is not the designated reporting channel, the comments email address has, at times, been used as a harassment and discrimination reporting vehicle. Subsequently, the breach had the potential to jeopardize a victim’s right to privacy and SCA Inc’s responsibility of protection for them. Upon receipt of this information, my team immediately acted to shut down the breach. However, data had been exposed long enough that several search engines had crawled and archived the data. The extent of this security breach was emails sent to SCA-Comments@lists.sca.org between April of 2022 and January of 2023.

The initial exposure was contained within a few hours of notification. Over the next couple of days other avenues of exposure to the same and similar data were found and locked down. My team began the process of getting the search engines to remove their archives of the information. At this point, we believe all access to that data has been removed and we feel that publishing this information will not cause further risk to any individuals concerned or the organisation.

The root cause of the breach was a misconfigured archive setting when the email address for comments was changed last year. To prevent further similar occurrences, SCA-comments has been moved entirely off the list serve system. The correct email address for comments is “SCA-comments@sca.org” (although the ‘lists.sca.org’ address will still work for now). This has been active for some time.

SCA Inc. Information Technology apologizes for any alarm or inconvenience anyone may have suffered because of this breach. Particular thanks go to Matthew Simon Ryan Cavalletto (Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin) for initially alerting us to and helping assess the scope of the issue.

Anyone wishing to further discuss this matter should contact me (it@sca.org) and John Fulton, SCA Inc. President (president@sca.org).

Sam Davis, Manager, Information Technology

 

Accidental Release of Business-In-Confidence Information

From Their Royal Majesties: Prepare for War!

Arise Calontir! The time of war comes swiftly. It is time to prepare.

We will be travelling to Atenveldt to help Our Cousins establish a new war in Their realm, the War of the Phoenix. And while We are not calling a muster for that war, there is an unofficial muster page here that you should fill out if you might be interested in going. That way We can attempt to get enough land for us to camp together.

After that is Winter War Maneuvers in Vatavia. Even if you are unable to attend Gulf Wars, your presence there will help prepare your friends who can go. His Royal Highness is Our armored combat general, and he has great plans. Come and find out what they are.

Finally, if you can go to Gulf Wars, or think you might, please sign the muster list for that here.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as can make it to these events.

TRM Logan & Ylva

October 2022 Letter of Heraldic Acceptances and Returns

FROM THE OFFICE OF SAKER HERALD

The latest Heraldic Letter of Acceptances and Returns was published December 15, 2022. These items have been processed through the College of Heralds and have been made official or returned for further work.

CALONTIR ACCEPTANCES:

* David de la Cloude. Name and device. Argent, in pale two clouds gules. Nice 13th-14th century English name! Nice cant!
* Hamilton fitzHugh. Name change from holding name Jack fitzHugh. This is an appeal of the original February 1991 return for using a surname as a given name. At the time, precedent required that “the use of surnames as given names should be limited to surnames actually shown to have been used as given names in period.” This precedent was overturned in April 2010, when a more general pattern of late period surnames in England being used as given names was established, and so we may joyfully register this name.
* Irial mac Uilliam. Name. Nice 15th century Irish Gaelic name!
* Numerius Volusius Germanicus Secundus. Device. Quarterly gules and sable, a cross counter-vairy Or and gules between a pair of wings in bend Or.
* Rúna Úlfsdóttir. Device. Per saltire Or and azure, a wolf’s head erased argent between in cross the runes algiz, rahu, fehu, and urhuz counterchanged.
* Sancha Lestrange. Badge. (Fieldless) Issuant from a snail shell opening to chief Or a flame proper. Nice badge!
* Sem’iyye bint Tahir al-Hindi. Name change from Miakushka Loshkina. This name combines a Turkish given name and an Arabic byname, an acceptable lingual mix post-1100 per SENA Appendix C.
* Týki Mikaelsson. Name. Submitted as Týki Mikaelson, this byname is not constructed correctly. The patronymic byname formed from the Old Norse given name Mikael is Mikaelsson. We have made this change for registration.
* Volusia Zoe. Name and device. Argent, a rat rampant sable vested purpure and hooded Or. The Roman cognomen Zoe is found in several inscriptions cataloged in the Epigraphic Database Heidelberg as documented by Gwen Recorder. Nice Imperial Roman name!

CALONTIR RETURNS:

* Visvamitra Yavana. Badge. Per fess argent and vert semy of acorns Or, atop a tree a brown squirrel proper maintaining an acorn Or. This badge is returned per the August 2015 Cover Letter: “A held or conjoined charge which is not identifiable will render the design unregisterable. A charge may be rendered unidentifiable through the usual methods, including reduction in size, poor contrast, etc…” [emphasis added]. As the held acorn has poor contrast with the field, this design is unregisterable.
You can find the entire Letter here: http://heraldry.sca.org/loar/2022/10/

From Their Royal Majesties: Upcoming Order Meetings

We plan to meet with the following orders at the events listed below. Please make every attempt to attend with potential candidates for inclusion.

Toys for Tots:

  • Iren Hirth
  • Stile Hirth
  • Masters of Defense

Crown Tournament:

  • Chivalry

Kris Kinder:

  • Laurel
  • Pelican

Winter War Maneuvers:

  • Stile Fyrd
  • Stile Hirth
  • Iren Fyrd
  • Iren Hirth

This list is NOT comprehensive, as additional meetings may be added after Our Heirs are known.

As we informed all the Fyrd orders at Coronation, they are encouraged to meet on their own and present candidates to Us through the online award recommendation system. If enough candidates are brought up, a meeting may be called.

TRM Logan & Ylva

Announcement: Suspension of COVIDSafe Policy

Calontir EnsignGood Evening Calontir,

When the COVIDSafe policy was initially announced nearly a year ago, we did not immediately adopt it. We examined the available data, determined the need based on that data, and created a criteria for adoption, review, and suspension that was data driven. This approach was designed to prevent major decisions of this kind from being made based on fear or misguided political rhetoric. This approach has served us well.

As many of you have likely noticed, there was an announcement today from the SCA Board of Directors, the text of which can be found here…

Board Resolution – Amendment to COVIDSafe Policy effective 1 December 2022

…They have made the decision to suspend the COVIDSafe policy across the SCA effective December 1, 2022, and to reserve unto themselves any future decisions regarding COVID related policy. After consulting with Their Majesties, and Their Highnesses, the decision has been made to continue the COVIDSafe policy, and current COVID Guidelines for Event Attendance, through Toys for Tots on November 19th, 2022. That event will be the last event for both in the Kingdom of Calontir. This will keep us in compliance with the directive received from the Board of Directors while extending the protections offered by the current policy for as long as is practical.

If you have any questions, please email me at Seneschal@calontir.org. If you have feedback for the Board of Directors regarding their decision, please email them at sca-comments@sca.org. Decisions made for all are never easy. Please remember to keep all feedback respectful.

Together we will continue to do the best we can for the kingdom that we love. We are Calontir. We will endure.

In Service,

Galen

Bavarian engraving of a medieval tournament from the 1400s. Public domain in the US

An updated Marshal’s Handbook for Rattan Combat (includes Combat Archery and Siege Weapons) is now available. Read the details and download a copy here:

Updated Marshal’s Handbook for Rattan Combat Now Available

Comments are strongly encouraged and can be sent to:
SCA Inc.
P.O. Box 611928
San Jose, CA. 95161

You may also email:
SCA-comments@sca.org.VISIT WEBSITE

Announcement: New Emergency Deputy Seneschal

Calontir EnsignIt is my great pleasure to announce that the new Emergency Deputy Seneschal for the Kingdom of Calontir will be Countess Giulia Isabella da Venezia. I look forward to working with her in the coming months to prepare her to take over as the next Kingdom Seneschal when the time comes.

I would also like to thank His Lordship Saito Takauji for serving in that role as I continued to seek a successor. I wish him well in his upcoming role as the next Baron of Mag Mor.

In Service,
Galen

Announcement: Position Opening for Kingdom Advocate

Calontir EnsignThe Kingdom Advocates work as a team to address concerns, help bring about resolutions to disputes, and investigate reports of inappropriate behavior.

Our current Kingdom Advocates are Duke Tristram of Lindisfarne, Countess Conna ingen Ui Chearbhaill, and Mistress Halimah bint ‘al Abbas ‘al Tanji. They have done a fantastic job under uniquely trying circumstances. Due to a combination of plague and corporate restructuring, they have been in their roles for a greater than expected period of time, and would like to retire to their estates to enjoy a well deserved rest. We announced the newest member of the team, Lady Eawynn ingen Broccain, in court last night. We will need others as well.

If you are interested in serving Calontir in this capacity, please submit your letter of intent to Seneschal@calontir.org, and copy the advocates at Advocates@Calontir.org. Letters of intent are due by August 20th, 2022.

If you have any questions about the office please let us know. Thank you.

In Service,
Galen

Announcement: Position Open for Kingdom Seneschal and Emergency Deputy

Calontir EnsignThe current Emergency Deputy Seneschal for Calontir, His Lordship Saito Takauji, will be stepping up as the next Baron of Mag Mor at the end of August. This means that I am in need of a new Emergency Deputy Seneschal.

My warrant is also up in November, which means that I am seeking a successor for my office.

If you are interested in serving the kingdom either as Emergency Deputy Seneschal, or the next Kingdom Seneschal, please submit your letters of intent to Seneschal@calontir.org by August 17th, 2022. If you have any questions about the office, please let me know. Thank you.

In Service,
Galen