Newcomers

If you found this page because someone at a demo, a park, or a friend's kitchen table said "you'd like this," you were right, and you're already further along than most of us were on our first day. The Shire of Nahrun Kabirun is a local branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism — people who study, recreate, and compete in the arts, combat, and crafts of pre-17th-century Europe, as thoroughly or as loosely as suits them.

Your first event

Come as you are. You do not need garb, a persona, or any equipment to attend a practice or a meeting — jeans and curiosity are a complete outfit for a first visit. If armored or rapier combat catches your eye, loaner gear is usually available at practice; ask whoever is running it, and they will find you something that fits. Nobody expects a newcomer to already know the vocabulary — "populace," "garb," "A&S," "fighter practice" — so ask what a word means the moment you hear it and don't hear it again.

Finding your footing

The SCA covers an enormous range: armored combat, rapier, archery and thrown weapons, dance, music, cooking, textiles, woodworking, calligraphy, brewing — if a craft existed before 1600, someone here is probably doing a version of it. You are not expected to pick one right away, or ever. Most members drift toward whatever they found themselves lingering over at their first few events.

Who to ask

The Chatelaine's whole job is welcoming newcomers, so that is the office to seek out with any question that feels too basic to ask anyone else — it is not. Officers wear their office on the roster, and most are glad to be stopped and asked "so, what does a Herald actually do?"