Calontir Legends 4 - Geoffri of Warienne
Post 4 - Baron Geoffri of Warriene
Geoffri of Warriene was one the founding members of the Shire of Forgotten Sea. His journey in the SCA began in September of AS XI (1976) when his gaming friend Bill Fesselmeyer (William de Couer de Bouef) introduced him to Robert and Diana Bailey (Dorian Moonraven and Diane Moonraven). By October, the Shire of Forgotten Sea was formed and an application to be an official branch of the SCA was submitted. At the time, another SCA group had already formed, called the Shire of the Fountains. Even though Fountains had come together first, Forgotten Sea was the first to submit their paperwork, so Forgotten Sea became the official SCA branch in Kansas City. On November 23 AS XI, Forgotten Sea held its first feast, with members from both the Forgotten Sea group and the Fountains group. <Side note - some of the original Shire of the Fountains members had broken off to form their own group, the Shire of the Golden Phoenix. All three groups were rolled into Forgotten Sea.>
As the SCA grew and new shires were established in places like Ystrad Stradele (Carlsby) and Asta Svartrgandr (Spinning Winds), Geoffri worked to help these new shires grow. The Chronicles of Calontir record that Geoffri of Warriene dreamed of a special part of the Midrealm, made up of heartland SCA groups. It was Geoffri who suggested that this place be called Calontir. On May 29, AS XII, Geoffri was one of those representatives of the Calontir shires who petitioned the Crown of the Middle Kingdom to recognize Calontir as a Region.
The Shire of Forgotten Sea held its first Kingdom-level event on July 23, XII. Geoffri had deemed that if the winner of that day's tournament be from Calontir, then that person would become the Champion of Calontir. All the fighters in that day's list were all Calontiri, save one. In the finals of the tournament, Lord Eric Ragnarsson from the Barony of Wurm Wald met Lord Brummbar von Schwarzberg of the Shire of Three Rivers. Lord Brummbar won the day and became the first Champion of Calontir.
When the Shire of Forgotten Sea celebrated their first anniversary on November 19, AS XII, Geoffri of Warriene was chosen to be the Bailiff of Calontir. Geoffri had nominated Stepehn Ironhand for the position, and Stephen had nominated Geoffri. It has been said that of all to which Geoffri undertook, the only thing at which he failed was getting Stephen selected as Bailiff. On December 17, AS XII, King Merowald and Queen Kirsten awarded arms to Geoffri.
May 28, AS XIII, brought Geoffri of Warriene to Three Rivers, where he would witness Stephen Ironhand and Arwynn Antaradi invested as the Baron and Baroness of Three Rivers, the first coronets in Calontir. On the same day, Geoffri would be formally recognized as the Deputy Middle Kingdom Seneschal for the Region of Calontir. By July of AS XIII, Regional Officers had been chosen. On July 29, Geoffri, as Regional Seneschal, would join the rest of the Calon Council (the Regional Officers) and present the first Calontir awards.
February 10, AS XIII, would be an important day for Forgotten Sea and for Geoffri of Warriene. As Calontir gathered in the Barony of Three Rivers for the annual Changelings event, King Nathan travelled there as well. On that day, Forgotten Sea would become Calontir's second Barony, with Geoffri and Marianne of Warriene invested as the Baron and Baroness. Unfortunately, Geoffri's life would soon take him from Calontir. On April 21, Geoffri resigned his Baronial Coronet and the office of Regional Seneschal. From King Nathan of the Middle, Geoffri was honored with the coronet of a Court Baron and the Order of the Dragon's Heart. From Warlord Brummbar, Geoffri of Warriene was named as the Premier of the Order of the Cross of Calontir.
Although Geoffri's time in Calontir was brief, it was his vision that Calontir would develop and identity and culture of its own. Geoffri of Warriene's work in the early days of Calontir started Calontir on the path to one day becoming a Kingdom in its own right.