Creating a society/order?

[Sir William]

I think we're on the same page...but I think as far as the armor stuff goes, we can cross that road when we get to it.  Jon and Jake are good to go far as I'm concerned, but I see this thing evolving naturally and we'll make bridges when necessary.

As for linking to the forum, well- it is how it all got started.  I would never have gotten to really interact w/you guys were it not for this site, and it espouses all of the ideals we all hold to...not to mention giving a face to the Order, allowing 'outsiders' to see how we interact, what it all means, etc.  Or not, I'll go along with the consensus on this.

I'll do some thinking on a cool name...any ideas for heraldry that might work its way into the signage?  Like a representative Beast as it were.

[Sir Edward]

Oh yeah, I would definitely like to make heraldry. Preferably something tastefully simple, that could be printed in monochrome for letterhead or business cards. This opens all sorts of possibilities down the line, like pin-on badges or whatever.

[Sir William]

What would be our Beast, as it were?  Maybe it could be the 'Order of the (Beast)', whatever beast we choose.  Like, the Order of the Crimson Gryphon, or the Order of the Cruciform Sword...think that last one came out of a movie because I can almost see it.  Indiana Jones, last Crusade?  Think that was it, although they were the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword.

The image would have to be hella cool, too.

[Sir Edward]

Whatever options we consider, we need to make sure to thoroughly google them first so we don't accidentally conflict with something else, or run into unintended connotations or whatever. It would be a good idea to check its abbreviation too, especially on urban dictionary.

[Sir Matthew]

Yeah, I think we are all pretty much in agreement and thinking along the same lines. I would definitely like to see some kind of Heraldry, but will leave that up to people with better qualification in that area than I have. Meeting over the interweb is intruqueing and certainly opens up possibilities to people from all over, I had forgotten that we do have international members here until I read Sir Gerard's post in another thread.

[Sir Edward]

Yep, I certainly would like it to be open to members both near and far, though obviously it'll be easier for those of us that are located near each other to be participatory in terms of events and the like.

[Sir Patrick]

If we can't find a heraldric beast to use, why not go with someone who was the personification of chivalry itself:  William Marshall?  "The Order of the Marshall" has a nice ring to it, and his heraldry wasn't to shabby either.

[Sir Matthew]

That is nice.

[Sir Brian]

That is very good Red Knight. Since discovering him in my research he undoubtedly was the very embodiment of chivalry.

Yes I very much concur with the moniker and the heraldry. 

[SirNathanQ]

Wow. This is pretty damn awesome. A actually am a knight w/ an order, but it's only a ceremonial thing. A real legit order would be sweet.
I cast my vote in with the lot of Order of the Marshall. That would also make for a great historical educating of general public moment.
(Average Joe):"Why did you pick that name?" (Us):"(proceeds to launch into a bio of Willie M's life and why he embodies chivalry)"

I think for the garb we should have a 10ft rule, and go w/ what was historically plausible. The person should pick a time frame and we judge plausibility based on that. (So we don't get some guys looking like the new robin hood movie running around w/ hauberk, surcoat and a sallet  At the same time, we wouldn't be banning some poor crusading knight for sporting a haubergeon. )
And for guys sporting innacurate forms of armour, such as Jake & Jon would pass, some knight might have had a funky fashion sense w/ his plate.
and were not trying to kill each other, so I think material shouldn't be a concern as long as it's reasonably representative of real armour. (Aluminum/Stainless=pass, obvious plastic=no)
And as if you havent guessed by now, Id want to join. And I sure as hell want to be a knight. But I am in high school right now, so I couldn't host meetings and such. And due to my busy schedule, I might not be able to make all of the events and meetings and such. But I'm not gonna use that as an excuse to not participate. I've got a kit that passes the guidelines we're kicking around, and you can bet I'll try to make as much as I can.
I was thinking that we could have a separate rank of Banneret, which don't mean that your better than the knights, but simply makes one eligible for the post of whatever admin. titles and duties that are going into this thing. This could allow the inclusion of high schoolers and college kids, and other people whom for whatever reason cannot/dont want to have people over & host direct an event.
Some requirements for banneret could be :at least 18, have own residence (or access to alternative area) that is fit for our types of armoured mayhem, been in the program for a while, ect. just some ideas.
BTW, 1st post!

[Sir Edward]

Welcome to the forum, Nathan.

Yep, all great ideas so far. For the name I was also going to suggest possibilities along the lines of (but obviously not identical) to some of the ones we already know of that have the right idea, such as:

• The Knightly Order of the Fiat Lux (Fiat Lux = "let there be light")
• The Knights of Veritas (veritas = truth)
• The Order of the Swords of Chivalry

The order I threw together in DAGGER was called the Order of the Silver Sword (silver often being equated with purity).

But I like the Order of the Marshal too. I think some googling may be in order to make sure we're in the clear. The abbreviation doesn't have any obvious problems either (KOM = "Knight, Order of the Marshal").

Based on our discussion so far, I may try to draw up a sample charter. Then we'll get to decide on all the fiddly little bits and pieces.

[Sir Edward]

But I like the Order of the Marshal too. I think some googling may be in order to make sure we're in the clear. The abbreviation doesn't have any obvious problems either (KOM = "Knight, Order of the Marshal").

Quick search (not even a few minutes) shows some of the closest things as:  

• Marshallans (Knights of Marshall, named in honor of Sir James Marshall) http://www.marshallan.org/
• Knight Marshal (former office in British royal household) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Marshal

[Sir Patrick]

Just found an Order of the Marshall on Facebook.  It's a page for anyone with Marshall as a first, middle, or last name.  Bummer.

[Sir James A]

There is a free program available on windows and *nix called "Skype" that I have used for VOIP stuff before. Works well enough considering it's free. I'm not sure if it supports video chat, but again, it's free.

I think the Order of Modern Chivalry would be great. It ties back into the forum here, and if this is going to be the basis for the members / founding members, it makes sense. It would also help to separate us from the somewhat cliche "Order of the {animal}" groups, which, for some reason, remind me of sports teams.

I agree with the "no storm troopers clause". An effort at a knightly kit should be somewhat of a requirement, as that's what we're based around. IMO, doesn't matter if the member only has a soft kit that is a rough representation of something medieval. Accuracy will come along as time and finances permit for most people. And some people don't want to own armor, which is perfectly fine, as they likely have interests in other medieval-ish topics; music, dance, and so on.

My schedule fluctuates wildly, to say the least, but I'd like to get out to participate when I can. I'll see if I can come up with a decent monochrome "logo" of sorts.

[Sir William]

I like the Order of the Marshal (one ell, not two) - one is based on last names, ours would be based upon the Greatest Knight, Sir William the Marshal.  I really like it.

Was flirting with taking his colors and heraldry as my own...this would be better.