User:Kalara of Lochmere
Kalara of Lochmere
Introduction
I joined the SCA around 2008 in the Kingdom of Atlantia as one of the rare-as-unicorns female heavy fighters. I could not brew, or sew, or cook but I could not turn down an invitation to come out and try to learn anything, either. My persona is that of a Slavic merchant in northern Italy in the 15th century or so. I became a bard, and a teacher, and though my heart is still with the heavy fighters my knees protest. Today I am a thorn in the side of evildoers.
Heraldry
Vert, a chalice Or and in chief a fish haurient embowed argent. (A fish out of water.)
Persona Backstory
Kalara, who went by a different name then, grew up in the mountains of Lombardy in 1328. Her family was quite wealthy but also quite large. This led indirectly to Kalara being sent to a nunnery as a sort of trophy or hostage - it was complicated. In 1346 red crosses appeared on the bodies and the bread of those marked to die of the Black Death. Kalara was bricked in to a tower where she had a basket and a rope to lower down so that she might not starve to death, or be bitten by rats or attacked by wild dogs. In this way, and burning a great deal of anti-plague powder, Kalara waited out the plague for three years. At the end of the three years she escaped to find that she was the only survivor at the nunnery. Harvesting from the gardens at the nunnery, Kalara earned enough to buy good white flour and fresh butter. She made many apricot custard tarts (the nuns kept chickens and grew apricot trees) and fruit cakes, and traveled to her family's estate in the summer. There she was greeted with much rejoicing as the last surviving heir of the family. After putting her estate in order she traveled south to Genoa, to Florence and Rome where she was treated almost as a saint due to her generosity. Just as she was about to accept the marriage proposal of a very nice young Venetian, Kalara was poisoned to death, probably by a romantic rival, using a mixture of viper's venom, arsenic, and wolfsbane.
A&S Philosophy
Others may do as they please, but I would prefer to make something that is a treasure rather than something commonplace.
Service Philosophy
Many hands make for light work.
Classes Taught
- 2024
- 2023
- 2022
- 2021
- 2020
- 2027
- 2011
Miscellaneous Doings
Began bardic circle in Highland Foorde circa 2010. First meetings were in a museum called Schifferstadt. Bardic included a very fine wassail for Yule. This bardic was later hosted by an underground secret nerd club and got quite large. It may have split by 2020.
Sponsored several bardic challenges.
Played an inter-baronial prank at Highland Foorde's Feast and Foolishness that involved stealing the ancient Log of Ponte Alto and dressing it in landsknecht garb to honor Ponte Alto's Baron and Baroness at the time. You had to be there.
Makes plaster-decorated boxes.
Forestry Guild
Briefly Youth Officer in Lochmere.
Washer of Dishes with Milord Raven and other noble souls at Revenge of the Stitch and Harvest Wars.
Attended Coronation in Dun Carraig.