Belts of the Eternal Flame

Editor's Note: On April 9th, 2015, the final article in this original series wrapped up. The series was meant to not only let the community learn a little bit about the signina on each knights belt, but the knights themselves. The series wrapped up with then, knight commander Dav Hayden's article, it is only fitting that we kick off the revival of this series with the current Knight Commander, Ryan Welch. We encourage you to read all the past articles outlined in this article. 

Ryan "King Orion" Welch

1. What year were you awarded your white belt?

2022

2. Who administered "the punch" and-- be honest!!--did it hurt?
My brother Saka punched me. It did hurt, but I think he went a little easy on me at the time.

3. Whose belt did you wear until you got your own, and how was this significant for you?

I was knighted with Mathies's belt, which at the time surprised me because I expected to be wearing the belt belonging to a different Matt B. When I asked him about it, Mathies told me that he volunteered his belt because he say a lot of his younger self in me. We had an amazing conversation about that, and I still think back on it often.

4. Please describe your own belt's heraldry.
The heraldry on my belt is a green field split by three bends (blue, white, then blue again) with a Crowned Rowan Branch in black as a charge above the bends, and two black concentric diamonds as a charge below.

5. Why did you choose that heraldry to represent you?

 The green green-blue-white-blue-green of my heraldry are a combination of my home nation (the Azure Guard, blue-white-blue) and the nation I started (the Cerulean Company, green-blue-green). Normally these are displayed as pales, but on my belt they are bends because that seems to be traditional among Chimeronian KoEF.

The crowned rowan branch stands for the Avatars of Chimeron. This charge is used for many things in our Kingdom, though usually in white or silver. Black often associated with the Avatars, which is why it is used here. Nonetheless it is reasonable to read this charge as a representation of many aspects of my relationship with Chimeron.

The two concentric diamonds is the Beast rune for Time, which in the way of this language can also also be interpreted as Cycles. This comes from a ritual I attended while I was Alexander Cecil's mentorship. This ritual called for elements which included the past, the present, and the future. In my boldness (perhaps too bold, perhaps just bold enough) I stood in the position for future, as that seemed most fitting for the relationship between a knight and his squire. The magic of that ritual left a, shall I say, Beastly impression on me, and through that the rune became for me a symbol of the cycles of mentorship, the passing of knowledge from one generation to the next. Perhaps it is worth noting that of all the milestones I represent in my personal heraldry, my adoption of Cycles is predated only by my induction into the Azure Guard. 

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6. Who did the artwork on your belt?

I made the design and Pat Bobell painted it onto my belt.

7. What do you remember most about your knighting?

It was a miracle that I was able to attend the event at all. I had just completed my third and final round of chemotherapy only a week prior, which is an ordeal beyond description. Despite all my determination to attend Black and White, we had no idea if I would have the strength to make it through the day. Crystal and my sister kept a close watch on me, to see if I was fading so that they could take me home before I truly crashed. And this was the truth, but not the whole of it. Through a great order of good fortune I sustained myself through the entire event and was suitably surprised to be called up during court. However, I learned afterwards that if things had gone differently and I needed to make an early exit, the entire order--with the blessing of the day's staff--were prepared to leap on a signal from Crystal and stop the entire event in its tracks so that they could conduct my knighting. This demonstration of love from my community shocked me more than the belt itself, and is by far one of the kindest, most touching, most meaningful things that has happened to me. It has inspired me to spend the rest of my lifetime carrying such kindness, not as debt to be repaid but as a legacy and and an emotional heirloom to be passed on to those who succeed me.

8. What does being a KoEF mean to you?

On a personal level, my belt is a celebration of my dedication to both myself and my community in equal measure. My time in the Realms has had a significant positive influence on my growth as a person. Being a Knight of the Eternal Flame means that I channel this influence back into the community by helping others on their own journeys of self-development while continuing my own.

View Retrospective - Belts of the Eternal Flame

An older series in the View took a close look at the individual heraldries on the belts of the Knights of the Eternal Flame and asked them to tell us about why they adorned their belts the way they did.

We're preparing to bring back this series in the very near future to look at the belts of some more recent KoEF, so let's take a look back at the old articles from this series!

• Sir Vawn
• Sir Kyntela 
• Sir Kazmar
• Sir Oliver
• Dame Phoenix
• Dame Twenaria
• Sir Wil
  
• Sir Duncan
• Sir Pyr
• Sir Radstar
• Sir Zula
• Sir Nighthawk
• Sir Panther
• Sir Temorse
• Sir Tao
• Sir Aeston
• Sir Lysis
• Dame Freesia
• Sir Iawen
• Sir Malaki

Belts of the Eternal Flame - One Last Thing

Who Are the Knights of the Eternal Flame?

 By Mike "Sir Panther" Palumbo

The KoEF recently adopted a mission statement:

An organization comprised of Knights that believe in the continued betterment of the Realms community, and recognizing individuals that embody this.

But who are these knights and what does this mean? The Knights of the Eternal Flame is an OOC/IC order started when the creator of the realms identified some outstanding role models who helped him create the game world we play in. It has withstood the rise and fall of empires, the ebb and flow of the ever-changing rule systems, and the secession and subsequent reunification with the Knight of the Realms.

If the EHC is about the rules of the realms, the KoEF is about its soul. The KoEF was founded to be a collection of role models. Every other realms organization falls in line with its commonalities. Event Holders are game masters. Nations are about a shtick, style, or philosophy. Guilds are about a school of practice. Only the KoEF collect the best of them all and puts them in the same room despite their differences. Hell, it celebrates their differences. Nowhere else in the realms is there a more diverse and varied group of leaders, with a simple common goal: Be the best role-model.

Keeping true to our one tenet, to thine own self be true, we've amassed people who bring their A-game to the realms in ways that are hard to quantify. We have people who are outstanding at certain character types, bringing richness and style to our game world. We have knights who have been groundbreakers in female combat and weapon making, serving as role-models for all women in our game. There are great questers and great fighters; people who throw events, and people who take whatever time they have and devote it to marshalling and NPCing. We have people who revolutionized our quality of fighting and elevated the tournament structure such that old retired fighters want to come and compete again. And we have people here who have brought mentoring and recruiting to a level we haven't seen since the days of Queen Meg. And when we recognize these people, and award them this belt, newer players see that and they know: this is the path. It's not a clear one, it never has been, but it's clear to us when we see it in them. It's about bringing your best to the table.

That's what KoEF is.

So whether a knight recently earned their belt and looks forward to a future of great contributions, or they earned it years ago with great contributions that brought us to this moment, their impact has forever changed the realms for the better. The flame is carried and passed on, and burns eternally bright.

Belts of the Eternal Flame

[Editor's Note: this piece marks the last of the Belts of the Eternal Flame series, so we thought it would only be fitting to end with Dave, who is the current Knight Commander of the order. We at the View would like to take a moment to sincerely thank the Knights of the Eternal Flame for both their support of and participation in the series. As the series has run throughout the weeks, we hope that the community as a whole has been able to learn a bit more not only about the insignia on the belts, but also about the knights themselves as people and players, in addition to getting a more personal look the order itself. We hope you have enjoyed the series. A special thank-you also goes out to Jesse "Mestoph" Gifford, for taking many of the belt pictures that made up a crucial part of the series.]

Dave "Sir Vawn" Hayden

1. What year were you awarded your white belt?

It was 2010, at North/South.

2. Who administered "the punch" and-- be honest!!--did it hurt?
Kelly Bonci/Dame Twenaria. I honestly don’t remember if it hurt, I was still a little shocked. She definitely did not hold back though, and I had a very respectable bruise shortly thereafter.

3. Whose belt did you wear until you got your own, and how was this significant for you?

Sir Blade’s. It meant a lot to me because Tom is someone who I respect a great deal. 

4. Please describe your own belt's heraldry.
A simple path leads from the bottom to a white tower on a hill, surrounded by a dark blue sky. The blue then fades into a birch bark pattern on the top. 

5. Why did you choose that heraldry to represent you?

The path, which was inspired by The Realms heraldry, represents the journey that I believe both life and my time in the Realms are – an effort to continually become a better person and do what I can to make the world a better place. 

The tower symbolizes the utopian ideal of “the bright city on the hill”, a place like Camelot which embodies the very best of what we have to offer. A place where virtue and honor and truth and valor motivate people’s decisions and actions.

The tower also, along with the dark blue sky, represents Eagle’s Rook, which before I ever entered the game was designed to be the Realms equivalent of that better place. 

The birch pattern represents the Coupants. The Coupants were part of Janna’s Insectafae plot which ran in the early-to-mid 2000s. That plot was very significant to Vawn’s character development and the ramifications from it help to define how I play him even to this day.
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6. Who did the artwork on your belt?

Katie Giasson was kind enough to transform my abstract ideas into a work of art. 

7. What do you remember most about your knighting?

What I remember most is being completely surprised. I know Kelly and Janna and Blade spoke, though I could not tell you what they said other than I remember it being complimentary. I was pretty tired from fighting all day, so I wasn’t thinking too much about who they could be talking about as people tend to do. I think someone had to nudge me after my name was called; I was still trying to process it even as I was walking up.   

8. What does being a KoEF mean to you?

It is unquestionably an honor to be made a Knight of the Eternal Flame – it’s a validation of how you’ve conducted yourself and what you have contributed to the community. But it’s also an obligation to continue to live up to those same ideals that got you knighted in the first place.  

Photo by Jesse Gifford

Belts of the Eternal Flame

Alysha "Sir Kyntela" Metcalf

1. What year were you awarded your white belt?

2014, at North/South War. I’m still a KoEF newbie!

2. Who administered "the punch" and-- be honest!!--did it hurt?

Seth Flagg. It did hurt in the moment, but I think my adrenaline was running so high that I forgot to feel the pain afterwards.

3. Whose belt did you wear until you got your own, and how was this significant for you?

I wore Jason Rosa’s belt. It was the obvious choice, really. Jason has been my friend and mentor for many years. He is the one who brought me into the game. He also squired me under the Knights of Rhiassa, during which time I developed many of the qualities I believe led to my knighting.

4. Can you describe your own belt's heraldry?

The heraldry on my belt is the Huntress Guild heraldry- a white spear head on a bronze background. I also included the diagonal bronze stripe to keep with the traditional KoEF style.

5. Why did you choose that heraldry to represent you?

I chose this heraldry because the Huntress Guild represents what I strive to be as a player and an OOC person: a strong, confident woman. Re-launching the Huntress Guild, originally started by Tanja Johnson, was a project I worked on as part of my squireship. Through my work on this project I grew tremendously as a player and a person. It taught me many valuable lessons about leadership, organization, event-holding, fighting, and collaboration. Perhaps most significantly, it gave me the confidence that I lacked as a shy newbie. The Huntress Guild transcended a simple squirely task and became an integral part of my Realms experience, so it seemed appropriate to use as my KoEF belt heraldry.

6. Who did the artwork on your belt?

My dad.

7. What do you remember most about your knighting?

I remember the moment when I realized they were talking about me. My stomach dropped and my ears started buzzing; I thought I was going to pass out. I can’t really remember much of what was said after that moment. I was honestly completely surprised.

8. What does being a KoEF mean to you?

To me, being a KoEF is not only a recognition of making a positive impact on the community, but also an expectation of continued service and commitment to the Realms. Wearing my belt is a reminder of that expectation.

Photo by Jesse Gifford