Greetings unto the populace!

The glorious Shire of Dragon’s Mist doth seek a new Defender of Arts & Sciences! The Defendership will be held at the Dragon’s Mist Defenders Tournament  June 22-24, A.S.XLII (2007) in the inspirational setting of Camp Wilkerson between Rainer and Vernonia, Oregon.

Wilt thou try your hand at our Arts & Sciences Defendership?

Here are the criteria….

Candidates may submit ONE entry (object/performance/research paper) or they may enter a "suite" of 1-3 items which bear a direct relationship to each other and function together under a unified theme. The entry must have documentation.

All Defendership candidates are asked to process to the invocation of the A&S lists with their banner/flag (and a herald to announce them if they so choose.) The victorious Defender will be asked to give a short explanation and viewing of their winning entry at the Shire moot.

You will have an assigned time to present your entry to the judges. You will have a time slot of 30 minutes and your explanation to the judges must be no longer than 15 minutes. They will ask you questions after that and then move on to the next entrant. The populace is encouraged to watch the presentations but in the interest of time, only judges may ask questions.

There will be tokens of thanks for ALL entrants. The grand prize winner will hold the honor of Defender of Dragon’s Mist for the next 12 months! (And will receive a really cool thingie, which shall be a really cool surprise!)

You will notice that we have kept the entry criteria simple. This is NOT a Kingdom level A&S event. The purpose of a Shire level A&S competition is to encourage people to TRY! The focus of the judging will be to help you get your feet wet in the A&S competition-style events and to help you improve your work in a respectful and encouraging way.

To get you started, here are some of the categories you can consider when making a possible entry:

                                                           

Bardic Arts, such as storytelling                 Animal Accoutrements

Basketweaving                                            Animal Husbandry

Beadwork                                                    Armoring: all forms

Calligraphy                                                  Bookbinding

Cooking: all forms                                       Costume Accessories              

Costuming: all periods and forms                Ceramics and Pottery

Dance: all forms                                          Equestrian activities

Dramatic Performance                                Herbcraft

Drawing                                                       Ironworking & Toolmaking

Dyeing                                                         Lapidary

Embroidery and Needlework                      Leatherworking

Glasswork: blown glass                               Metalworking: daily use items

Glasswork: stained glass                             Metalworking: jewelry

Glasswork: sculpture                                  Musical instrument manufacturing

Illumination                                                Papermaking

Juggling & Tumbling                                  Research

Knitting & Nalbinding                               Scientific Instruments

Knotted work                                            Sculpture & Stonecarving

Lacemaking                                              Siege Engines

Music composition                                   Weapon making (archery, rapier, etc)

Music performance                                  Woodworking: manufacturing

Painting                                                    Woodworking: decorative carving

Poetry                                                      Spinning

Weaving loom                                         Weaving: tablet

Weaving: tapestry

This is not an inclusive list but meant as a springboard for ideas!

Remember: you MUST provide documentation. However, keep it to-the-point and easy to read (ie; no fancy fonts, use bullet points, etc). The judges are not going to have a lot of time to read your research. The contest will be held in the lodge that has an open side; therefore your entries will be protected from the weather but if you wish to have an entry that is messy (ie; dye pot or fire), you will have the opportunity to do so. Please contact me formore info if this applies to your entry.

Remember, this is a DRY site. No alcohol of ANY kind will be permitted. This includes brewing and vintning entries as well. Sorry. If you feel you must rant at the unfairness of it all, please send me an email so we on the planning committee can share your pain.

IF YOU ARE ENTERING A RESEARCH PAPER AS YOUR ENTRY, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR PAPER TO THE MINISTER OF A&S (Beatriz de Chambéry) NO LATER THAN JUNE 1ST. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS.

More information will be posted as the event draws nearer. Good luck with the creative process and if you have any questions, please contact Beatriz (A&S) or Rafaella (Autocrat) at any time!

Peace~
Beatriz de Chambéry                                                   

Dragon’s Mist Minister of Arts & Sciences

Helpful Links:

http://www.larsdatter.com/ten_things.htm

http://www.larsdatter.com/index.htm

More to follow!

Last updated, March 13, 2007 (RdA)