House Corvus has had a busy Fall! We wouldn’t be us if we weren’t busy autocratting, cooking, running troll, MoLing, marshaling, etc. We do so love to be busy, that’s a fact. But, we’ve also been busy growing! There is a unique and special joy that only comes when we, as a household, find people who share our work ethic as well as our philosophy. When those people want to enhance the work they do as individuals, while simultaneously supporting all the good works that House Corvus brings to the Society, we engage in that oh-so-rare event, adding someone to our ranks. Well, this Fall it hasn’t been as rare as years gone by. We’ve brought in five new members since mid-August, with several more on the horizon.

Why the sudden growth spurt? Well, as with all things Corvus, there’s nothing sudden about it. Rather, it’s the culmination of long, careful consideration and observation. It’s simply coincidental (and exciting) that we’ve opted to move on these inductions in close order. After all, deep/near constant reflection upon our membership; past, present, and future, is a very Corvus thing to do. However, sometimes, you have to move from the theoretical to the actual. And action is something that Corvus does well. Especially when it’s acting upon our convictions. Our newest members are beyond worthy and, luckily for us, they have judged House Corvus worthy of them as well.

We had planned on a slow, steady course of inductions throughout the Fall, starting with Sacred Stone’s 30th Anniversary event in September. But, when we saw how many members of House Corvus were at Aire Faucon’s Flight of the Falcon event in August, including the very couple whom we wanted next to induct, we just couldn’t figure out why we were waiting. The seventeen members of House Corvus attending Flight of the Falcon soon became nineteen as we welcomed Signore Camillo da Milano and his wife Signora Stella da Lodi into our circle. If you haven’t met this extraordinary couple yet, you will soon enough! With a drive to contribute that simply makes my head spin, there is little doubt that you will see them working at an event near you in the very near future.

To our delight, inducting Camillo and Stella at FotF meant that we could move up our next couple’s induction to the aforementioned Sacred Stone birthday event. At the same event where Lord Niccolo Giovanni and Lady Lucrezia Francesca Giovanni received their Awards of Arms, they also joined House Corvus! The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, especially since I wasn’t sure at first that Niccolo and Lucrezia would even be at Birthday, let alone getting their AoAs! I hope that the event was as special for them as it was for me. It was wonderfully serendipitous. They are a joyous addition to our circle.

This also meant that, we now had no induction planned for War of the Wings VII, which was a blessing in disguise. So many members of House Corvus contributed so much of their time to making that event a success, that stopping for an induction might have cost us our momentum. And House Corvus was firing on all cylinders at WoW! All twenty-three of us in attendance were pretty much occupied 24/7 working the event, especially THL Murienne l'aloiere, Lord Edmund Hawkesworth, and Lady Caitilin MacDonoghue, all of whom served in key staff positions (autocrat, reservationist, and deputy autocrat, respectively). But most every Corvite there contributed in meaningful and often exhausting ways. It was nothing short of dazzling. Thank you.

Also at WoW, a backlog scroll competition was held. Over 50 scrolls were prepared to help the Atlantian Clerk Signet’s Office. Out of all those scrolls, the baronial coronets of Marinus and Nottinghill chose a favorite for each barony. Their Excellencies Nottinghill selected one of the scroll blanks produced by our own Mistress Rachel de Johnstone as their baronial choice winner!

And that brings is to last weekend. What a wonderful time spent traveling to the barony of Thor’s Mountain’s Silver Hammer event. After a beautiful drive up towards Asheville, I got to get a big hug from Lady Isolde Corby while picking up my travel companion Mistress Rhiannon ui Neill. We arrived at Chez Ó Comhdhain as planned and spent the weekend with THL Mícheál Ó Comhdhain, his gracious wife Lady Krystyne McGowan and my fabulous godchildren MacKenzie and Colin of House Corvus. Not having seen them since last year’s Corvus workday at Robyn and Aine’s home, I was stunned at how much ‘Kenzie had grown. She’s nearly as tall as Rhiannon!

After enjoying our breakfast, Clann Ó Comhdhain, Rhi and I set out to the event site where we met up with fellow Corvites Baroness Deirdre Fletcher, THL Aine O Grienan, and Lord Vilhjálmr bani. Baroness Deirdre drove over with a surprise guest (the Corvus-adjacent) Baroness Eliska Alexandrovna. It was a chilly, but busy, event! Rhiannon’s protégé Jack had a bunch of his friends there and put on a lovely hospitality spread. He and Vilhjálmr fought in the day’s many rapier fights while Mícheál did wonderfully well in the heavy tournament. Deirdre and Rhiannon presented gifts to Her Excellency Thor’s Mountain as well as Their Meridian Majesties. We also made similar presentations on behalf of House Corvus. Of course, the day culminated for us when we welcomed Captain Jack Marvell into House Corvus! We wouldn’t learn until we returned home that, while the ten of us were out at Texas Roadhouse seeing how many yeast rolls Vilhjálmr and I could eat, Jack was in TRM’s Court being inducted into the Order of the Meridian Blade. See, that’s what happens when you skip out on Court!

Not surprisingly, we have another busy event schedule looming. Atlantian Fall Crown Tourney is only days away -- where two members of House Corvus are being fought for as consorts. Thanks to Caitlin and Edmund, House Corvus will be setting up a field pavilion and, with all of our contributions, Corvus will be hosting a nice hospitality spread. It should be a fabulous day, whatever the tournament’s outcome. While the tournament ensures the continuity of the Atlantian Crown, it’s the efforts of House Corvus and other dedicated Atlantians attending the event that ensure the continuity of the Kingdom itself. And that’s always time well spent. --BRAN

I miss this. The Roundtable, that is. And other folks have written before, so maybe it’s time I stepped up to the plate and took a turn or two (dozen). I need to write more, and honestly, I just need a wee bit of inspiration to make me do so. Giving Bran something for the Roundtable might be it.

But the Roundtable is not the only thing I miss. I miss the constant chatter on the e-list. I miss the Happy Birthdays when the auto-reminder pops up. I miss planning trips to events and workdays and all kinds of things we’ve kinda fallen short on doing, or on inspiring each other to do. And maybe, that’s the thing… Facebook is easy, fast, inviting and seductive. It’s easy to pop on there, post and pop back off, whereas on our e-list, we actually have to participate in a discussion or conversation or plans. We can’t just say ‘oh, I’ll send Bob birthday wishes on his Facebook’. Because while b-day wishes on FB are nice, they aren’t specifically b-day wishes from your household family. It’s not a moment in time that the household stopped to think ‘Hey! Bob’s having a birthday, and he’s one of OUR OWN.’ Yep, to me, that makes a difference. It’s why I make the effort, even when I’m feeling pressed for time. (Although, I do wait for the second reminder so I’m nearer the actual date.) These are things we ALL used to do, and rarely get to anymore. It’s possible that some of our newer folks don’t realize that. They weren’t present for the trend…

Just like ‘So, who’s going to X event, and let’s plan to hang out some’. We don’t always have to take the entire pavilion set up and hospitality table. It was just so doggone lovely to have a spot where we all parked our chairs this past weekend, and even if we strayed away, we gravitated back and hung out with our family. It’s not like we live in a commune and see each other every single day. Aine’s 3 hours in one direction; the Petersens are 3 hours in the other. I can’t tell you the last time I felt like I had a chance to hang with Aine or Krystyne. Yet, Saturday, I did. And it was just flat out delightful!

I don’t know what events everybody is attending. That could be my own fault, being caught up in my own world and not paying enough attention, but hey, there are 54 active Corvus members on that web listing. What the heck are all you folks doing? Not just events… Anybody taking a class? Got a new job?

I know so much of real life is dragging a lot of us down. Politics, economy, elderly/ailing parents and responsibilities, work, etc., and those are ALL very legitimate issues. We all feel pulled in a million different directions and only have so much time in the space of a day, or so much of ourselves to give. (Lord knows I live that life!) But really, Corvus is WORTH that extra ten minutes. Ten minutes to say, ‘Hey, I’d like to learn X, anybody willing to help me?’ or ‘I’m going to Yule Toy. Can we do dinner afterwards?’ or ‘When’s our next Corvus workday?” Ten minutes to connect, reaffirm and strengthen the bond that makes us Corvus.

We go through lulls. It’s normal. It doesn’t mean we aren’t doing anything. Heck, Atlantian Twelfth Night is proof of that! But I think sometimes, we forget to kick back in, once whatever is occupying our time slows down. Or kick back in anyway, just because part of the wonder of being a part of this household, is the support base that we provide for each other. If we are forever busy doing our own thing in our own little world, we miss out on that support base and the camaraderie which makes Corvus different.

This is probably especially difficult for our newer members to grasp, because they entered in the midst of some of us (me included) being lull-ish. Somebody has to start the trend and others have to join in, to show that it is a trend. ;-) They haven’t seen the haiku battles, or shared the silly flash games. They might not know that Ealdthryth is our bean counter. Or that there’s enough heraldic knowledge in Corvus to start our own College of Heralds, and that fiber arts questions asked here will be answered faster and BETTER than anywhere else!

I guess what I’m saying is…I miss you, family. And in acknowledging my own part in that absence, I’m gonna start trying to get back in the habit. I’m not great with the haiku’s, but I can find silly links to post, and I’ll happily tell you where I’m going and what I’m doing. I would love to see us spending more time together, both online and in person. Let’s make 2013 Corvus Family Year, and let’s start practicing now. --RHIANNON

NOVEMBER 2012
1st – Muriele’s Birthday
3rd – Atlantia: Fall Crown Tournament in Windmasters’ Hill (Apex, NC)
11th – VETERAN’S DAY!
17th – Atlantia: Jester’s Tourney in Misty Marsh (Florence, SC) Murienne is cooking.
22nd – THANKSGIVING!
24th – Rebecca's Birthday
24th – Mckenzie's Birthday

DECEMBER 2012
1st – Atlantia: UnEvent in Caer Mear (Richmond, VA)
2nd – Sine and Oshi's Anniversary
4th – Bran's Birthday
7th – Julianna & Luqman's Anniversary
8th – Atlantia: Yule Toy Tourney in Nottinghill Coill (Pickens, SC)
15th – Atlantia: Feast of Saint Andrew in Tear-Sea's Shore (Walterboro, SC)
17th – Caitlin's Birthday
18th – Victoria's Birthday
25th – CHRISTMAS DAY!
29th – Trimaris: Hero of the Chalice in Wyvernwoode (Brandon Camp Rotary)
31st – Helena’s Birthday

JANUARY 2013
1st – NEW YEAR’S DAY!
4th – Krystyne and Michael's Anniversary
11th – Julianna's Birthday
12th – Atlantia: Atlantian Twelfth Night by Charlesbury Crossing (Greensboro, NC) Bran and Caitlin are autocrats, Murienne is cooking.
13th – Ronan's Birthday
19th – Atlantia: Ghuesse of the Stone in Middlegate (Jamestown, NC) Murienne is cooking.
21st – MLK DAY!
26th – Atlantia: Tourney of Manannan mac Lir in Tear-Sea's Shore (Cordesville, SC)

FEBRUARY 2013
1st – Murienne's Birthday
2nd – Atlantia: Kingdom Arts & Sciences Festival in Sacred Stone (Jamestown, NC) Murienne is cooking.
11th – Oshi's Birthday
14th – VALENTINE’S DAY!
16th – Atlantia: Tourney of Ymir in Windmasters' (Cary, NC)
18th – PRESIDENT’S DAY!
20th – Isolde's Birthday
23rd – Atlantia: Nottinghill Coill Baronial Birthday & Investiture in Bennettesville, SC
26th – Niccolo's Birthday
28th – George's Birthday

Did you know that, anytime there’s a crossword puzzle in the Roundtable, the solution is online at the House Corvus website? In the online edition of our newsletter, rather than print the crossword puzzle, we simply post the solution. So, if you’re ever stumped or just want to see how you did, you don’t have to wait for the next print issue.

Solution to crossword appearing in Issue #54.