by James "Sir Tao" Murphy
1) What does this heraldry currently
represent?
This heraldry is the
current national heraldry of Blackwood “Proper”
2) Please describe
your heraldry for us.
Starting from the center: the heraldry is an outline of an owl sitting on a sliver of a moon, on top of a
yellow eight-pointed star which rests on a field of blue and green quarters,
surrounded by a silver border.
3) Give us some
background. How did your heraldry come to be? Who or What created it?
Short answer or long answer?
Short answer: Sir K
Long answer: The original
heraldry of Blackwood under Prince Nigel was a blue field with a gold star.
When Sir Santiago (Dark/Dimos) headed up just Idaris province he had a blue owl
on a silver moon on a black background as the provincial heraldry. When Sir
Santiago (Dark/Dimos) declared himself Lord of all of Blackwood (declaring Sir
Aerik dead) but then soon after sacrificed himself for his true love, Sir K was
then placed in change of Blackwood and new heraldry was necessary. Sir K
started with the blue owl and silver moon, but changed them to black to mourn
the passing of Sir Santiago (Dark/Dimos). He put these in front of the gold star
(represents majestic nobility), and put the star on the field of Blue (represents
loyalty and integrity) and Green (represents growth, self-reliance, and
independence). Sir K also added a sliver border (which represents peace and serenity). The cardinal points of the gold star just barely touch the silver
border. Now typically metals should never touch, but Blackwood is not known for
following all the rules.
Other stuff that belongs
here:
The sworn provinces of
Accoria, Acteon, Thorn Valley, and recently Northern Alliance have the choice
to freely keep their own heraldry or adopt the “proper” heraldry. At this time
I believe only Acteon has modified thier heraldry to include the gold star.
It should also be noted
that each internal province also has its own heraldry that can be seen at
Blackwood feasts and other events. Some members have put it on the back of a
standard tabard.
As the Clontarf Blackwood
Casio is based in Castle Clontarf, its banner is the same as the Clontarf
heraldry (yellow wheat stock and red prancing lion, on a field of black)
4) Why was this heraldry
chosen to represent you? What is the symbolism behind it? What was the
inspiration behind the design?
I guess I should have
read this question before I answered number 4. Any known parts of this answer
can be found above.
5) How long as the Heraldry
been in the Game? Has it changed at any time since it was first created?
This
question too has many parts answered above. Prince Nigel’s banner was first
used in 993? At some point a five-pointed crown was added in the lower left
quarter. I am unsure when Sir Santiago (Dark/Dimos) created the Adaris heraldry,
but I suspect it was around 1004, the current Heraldry as described above was
first worn in late 1009 early 1010.
6)What
do you hope seeing this heraldry means to the rest of the Realms?
We
play the game, we fight the fights, we cook the foods, we solve the riddles, we
celebrate the victories, we have diverse characters, we are not all the same,
we are not all different.
And:
“For
a nation that has ‘not our problem’ written on their currency, they sure do get
involved in a lot of other nations' problems.”