Field Book, Opened and Closed.

(Here continues the tale of my Field Herald's Manual. This is part [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] six of the story. The FINAL installment!)

With my book almost completed, the last thing I needed to do was put a section in the beginning that gave a framework for all the things that need to be done before Court begins.

My best friend Simcha had made up a Court Mad Libs sheet, and I really liked the idea, so I decided to use something similar in my book, in a much more stripped down format. The top of the sheet has a prompt for all the essential data that you need to open Court:

• Date
• Place
• Hosting Group
• Seneschal
• Anno Societatis Year (what year is it again?)
• Pronunciation of the Monarch's Names

Under the header section, I gave myself space to write down who else was on the dais, any announcements that the Crown needed me to give, and a space to note my additional heralds. These sections really help me fill out my court report!

I also added a place to write down the opening cry because I know that I always get flustered and just open with something plain, and I know that's a place where I would benefit with some forethought.  I do love the fancy language, but I'm not good at it on the fly.

When we open court, this is the place where we can really add some cool medieval flair! It's the place where you can sing the praises of the Nobles you are calling in, where the most vaulted adjectives are no longer over the top. But before court is a really busy time, and also, if I was writing this book to be used by other people, I knew that I could not depend on everyone to be a poet in such a short amount of time, so I sat down to write a few short ones for other people to use. My favorite one is full of alliteration:

All rise for (Name) and (Name), the Crown over Constellation, Monarchs of the Midlands, Overlords of Oaken, Potentates of Pentamere, Amir and Amira of Aethon, Sovereigns of the glorious and far-reaching Middle Kingdom!

Remember that you should ALWAYS check and make sure that your chosen opening is acceptable to the noble that you're calling in, especially if you don't know them, or if you are a new herald. Sometimes, a set of Nobles has a particular title that reflects their persona that they would prefer to use, so you should make sure to get that as well. Here's the officially recognized alternate titles maintained by the College of Heralds. If you know it ahead of time (some Royals publish this at the beginning of their Reign), you can do a little research and really give their court procession something perfect for them!

Always, ALWAYS check your fancy opening with the Crown...
OR ELSE!

If you're going to write your own, you can use some other beginnings to really give it some gravitas. Feel free to use these, or come up with your own.

• All hail and behold your Crown...
• All rise and bow your heads with respect...
• Rise, good gentles!
• Look with awe, people of the Midrealm! (my favorite!)

If you only have one Royal at your event, be sure to mention the other in your opening cry. For example, "(Sovereign's Name) who is inspired by (Consort's Name)" or "(Consort's Name), by the prowess of (Sovereign's Name)".

When writing your own, you want to include all the official details of the court. The date and AS year and the host group's name. That way you don't have to say them at the end of each of the awards given out.

With the opening section done, my book was finished! As you can tell from my many posts about it, I am very pleased with how easy to use it is. I've been slowly distributing it to the heralds of the Kingdom, and I've gotten a lot of happy messages from heralds who love it, which warms my heart.

If you'd like a copy, you can find it in the Midrealm Document Library.

Happy Heralding! May your arms never again grow tired.