How I Found the SCA (or the SCA Found Me)

This began as a Facebook Post by Fergus Ó Dubhshláine. It occurred to Duchess Natalya de Foix that these stories should be stored in Compendium Caidis.

Please feel free to add your own story.

From Lachlan of Cromarty

When I was in highschool I stumbled across a demonstration at Jackson's Mill in Lewis County, West Virginia. The demo was hosted by the Barony of the Debatable Lands (Pittsburgh, PA. Then Kingdom of the East, now AEthelmearc). I recall seeing heavy weapons fighting and got to try my hand at fencing. Being D&D players, my best friend John and I were pretty intrigued. We wanted to do armored combat, which eventually I would try long before picking up fencing for real. But first we helped found a shire in Morgantown, WV known then as the Shire of Swampwater Springs (not my name!--I did design atrocious branch heraldry, however!). Our first real event was Pennsic in perhaps 1984? After high school, I moved to Caid and John moved to Pittsburgh. We both participated in our respective kingdoms for some time, though John was more interested in other Living History groups and eventually parted from the SCA. I'm apparently here for good!