(It is fairly difficult to write a biography like this without at a minimum seeming like one is blowing ones own horn, so please forgive me if the prose seems somewhat arrogant. The author has had a past rife with arrogance, and though he's recently been doing his best to eliminate it from his life, it's important to know that ego and arrogence color a great deal of the story you're about to read)
A long long time ago (July 1979 to be exact) a tall, skinny 13 year old boy sat reading the August issue of one of his favorite magazines, Soldier of Fortune. In it was a two-page article with one black and white photo of two guys in the woods in armor fighting. The article was about the Society for Creative Anachronism, and the shy young man was immediately in love, knowing he'd found his niche hobby, if only he could someday escape the vile clutches of Teenage Life in Carlsbad, New Mexico (tm).
One day, over a year later, his mother brought to his attention a posting in the Carlsbad Current-Argus giving the details of a tournament hosted by the local chapter of the SCA the coming weekend. Well, as you might expect, the boy was there!
Enraptured by the pagentry and prowess displayed on the field, the boy quitely enquired as to how one might become a part of this fun. He was told that that very evening, several member would be meeting at the home of Lord Gustavus the Enchanter and Lady Gaelbhann of Woodelven (Tom and Lynn Kindel) to talk with prospective members and give them some idea what the SCA's all about. Afterward they would be playing a game of D+D, and they'd be happy if the boy could stay and play. He did both.
Finances were in short supply, so our intrepid hero raised money to travel and buy cloth by mowing the lawns of Tom and Lynn and their neighbors. He autocratted a couple of local tourneys, and in 1983 Faniudhol Bluesword was rewarded for his labors by TRM Christopher and Constance of Atenveldt with an Award of Arms at The Outlands Coronet Lists hosted by TH Eldr and Angelica, and won by Sir Michael die Zauber-Zunge von Essen, who fought to make Keridwen of Montrose Tanistsa of The Outlands, and Princess in due course.
Shortly thereafter, Cathyn (who had gone through quite a list of names by this point, but finally settled on one) met a woman in the far-away Barony of al-Barran , and moved north after graduating High School. Having lived and fought for over four years in a shire with only two other fighters, his skills with a sword increased exponentially now the he was in the deep end of the pool in the single greatest fighting Barony in the Known World. Cathyn, aged 18yrs, 6mos, 3 weeks, then lost his first Crown Tourney in the finals, to a very honorable Knight, Mika Longbow. That same day, he became one of Sir Raymond the Quite's squires, a relationship that lasted several years, until Cathyn fell prey to his darker, more fun-loving side, and joined the Crimson Company.
The Atenveldt years were good to Cathyn, or so he thought at the time, him being a travelling man of low moral standing and high fighting skill. Somewhere about this time, the Principality of The Outlands acheived that maturity, identity, and size that merit elevation to Kingdom status, and The Outlands did just that. A short while before that glorious day when Master Gunwaldt Gulbjorn made his lady, Mistress AElflaed of Duckford, the first Queen of the Outlands, Cathyn, along with his good friend Lord Argon Skulcrusher (now Duke Artan McAilin) received from the hand of the last Prince, His Highness Johann, companionship in the Order of the Prince's Gauntlet, for personal service to the Prince. A week later, HRM Trelon of Atenveldt invited Cathyn into the Order of the Hawk's Lure for fighting.
All in all, it was a good time to be Cathyn.
Click here to see Part Two.