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One of the attractions some of us find in the Combined Realms is the opportunity to imagine, for at least a few hours, that we are actually medieval people in a medieval world. One problem with doing so is that many other people are playing a different and inconsistent game. It is hard to be a medieval person while answering questions about the sources for my clothes or my food, or even while the people next to me are conducting such a conversation. It is to aid in achieving this end that the Enchanted Encampment Movement has been put forth.
Set up a clearly marked area of encampment within which everyone stays in persona all of the time. Those who wish to discuss Video games or nightclubbing can do it somewhere else. Those who would like to be medieval people for half an hour but not for an entire event can visit. If treating the Society as a joint fantasy is, as I believe, more fun than treating it as a costume party, they will enjoy themselves and the idea will spread.
Enchanted Ground is an encampment where everything is persona appropriate. This means everything from the conversations of the inhabitants to the tents and furnishings in the camp. It often happens when a group of friends make a deliberate effort to come to events in persona, support each other in their roles, and gradually ease the people around them into doing the same. It usually starts at an event when a group of true believers fence in a patch of ground for their encampment and let it be known, by posting a sign or other such warning, that whoever came inside was undertaking to join them while he remained. The first requirement is that participants be willing to stay in persona; the second is that their equipment be reasonably period in appearance.
An Enchanted Camp is a camp in which everything visible within the camp itself is as period as humanly possible. The most common purpose of the enchanted Camp is to aid in the formation of Enchanted Ground. While the central objective is to encourage persona play (being in persona), it was determined that it would be easier to achieve that against an picturesque period style background. One does not have to worry about how to deal medievally with Coleman lanterns and boom boxes if there are none to be dealt with.
An Enchanted Encampment is a patch of ground where a reasonable effort is made to achieve Enchanted Ground within an encampment.
Some things to consider when planning to create an enchanted encampment are:
· Tents
· Cooking stations (camp stove or grill)
· Cookware
· Feastgear
· Drinking vessels
· Garb
· Benches
· Tables
· Chairs
· Banners
· Ice chests
· Trash receptacles
· Music
· Musical instruments
· Topics of conversation
The feeling of being transported into a fantasy realm just isn’t easy when surrounded by so many mundanities. If you would really like your encampment or presence at an event to look more “period” and you’re wondering what you could do to make it look better, there are inexpensive ways to start!. Like most of us, you can’t afford to spend a big chunk of cash on a custom made pavilion, furniture, etc. In truth, you don’t need to. You really can make your modern gear look better with a little effort and with just a little more work can make you own accoutrements and equipment that has the right flavor.
The obvious first step for making your encampment look more period is to make it look less modern. Get rid of anything modern - easy to say, harder to do. Get rid of or hide your soft drink cans, plastic bags, Rubbermaid containers, those folding nylon camping chairs, your tennis shoes or any item that looks like it’s made of modern materials.
How do you hide it all?
It easy; you just make it look like something else! For example, you can’t really afford any new camp furniture, but you’ve already got folding card tables and nylon camp chairs, make fabric covers to go over them. This is a great opportunity to display your device. Find appropriate patterned fabric and cover your tables, coolers, or anything that has a modern appearance to it. The richer the texture the better, tapestry style materials look fantastic.
Pavilions and Tents
A real pavilion is a wonderful thing, it looks great, you feel like you are really there, but a new pavilion can be very expensive. However, you can change the appearance of your tent or hide it in a number of ways.
Using sheets or fabric panels suspended from poles and crossbars make walls that surround your tent. These can be painted with scenes from your favorite medieval manuscripts or treat them like tapestries. This will give some additional privacy and if you create a second roof, may even aid with some climate control in your tent.
Try building a simple PVC snap together frame that will encompass your tent and drape the sheets or fabric panels on it. It is lightweight and inexpensive. Failing that inexpensive pop-up 10’ x 10’ sun flies are available. Make fabric covers and sides for these, add dags, paint them to add color. Cover your existing tent with this or if you are feeling adventurous, camp in this.
A relatively easy medieval tent is the Viking style tent, similar to an inverted V (Δ) in shape, they give you opportunity for decoration with the ease of setup and dismantle. This can also create storage space around your modern tent for all those mundanities you want to hide from public view.
Furniture
You can really make your campsite look very period with some additions of furniture, a couple nice wooden chairs, a table, A wooden cover for your ice chest, storage chests, and other elements.
Beds
At some point you really get tired of sleeping directly on the ground, but you don’t want to bring a whole bed. An easy and inexpensive way of making a bed platform is to use milk crates as supports and two pieces of plywood approximately as planks on them. The crates can be still used as storage bins and tuck out of the way when not being accessed. Then cover the whole thing with a cloth. Use an air mattress, futon or a couple of sleeping bags as padding and cover with more.
Chairs
Modern camp stools and directors chairs can be painted with scenes from manuscripts or with your personal or group heraldry. Directors chairs, nylon folding chairs and folding wooden chairs can be covered with “cozys” as a way to hide their modern look. Decorate these covers with painting or appliqué.
Tables
Hide your modern folding tables under dollar-a-yard fabric tablecloths.
Make a trestle table with sawhorses and planks or pieces of plywood with benches for seating.
Storage
Traditionally, barrels and wooden boxes, trunks or baskets would have been the containers of choice, but these aren’t always convenient to build, store and transport. A multitude of modern sins can be hidden out of sight, such as clothing, feastgear, foodstuffs, kitchen equipment and loose camp junk.
Boxes and chests are probably the easiest to make or modify. IKEA sells a toy chest, which can be modified by painting with scenes from manuscripts or with your personal or group heraldry and adding rustic metal hardware.
The larger chests also make great chairs and benches. Another great way of hiding your ice chest is to make a chest that goes around it. Make a circular cooler cover by gluing wood veneer to cloth and closing it around your “barrel” with hooks and eyes.
Baskets, especially covered ones are an excellent way to hide small things in your pavilion, they add to the overall look of your area.
Floor coverings
Look for Oriental or Middle Eastern rugs at rummage sales and the discount stores. Preferably, use rugs made with synthetic fibers, you don’t want to have your nice real wool Persian ruined in the next downpour. For an extra bit of protection, put down a plastic tarp first before setting your pavilion up, then place your carpets and rugs, this will keep them cleaner and in better condition.
Lighting
Keep your fluorescent camping lamp hidden in your tent or encased in a painted acrylic tube of “stained glass”. Lanterns with glass faces or stamped metal lanterns are a wonderful source of light and look quit good inside and hung outside the pavilion. Be very careful with open flame from candles and oil based lamps.
A huge variety of “rustic” lanterns are available. Lanterns can be placed inside the pavilion or hung outside on the iron crooks available from most discount and dollar stores.
Decorations
Decorate your encampment with pennons and banners. Show off your personal arms, your company device , or your household’s heraldry. Use the banner poles to define the boundaries of your encampment.
Feast gear, drinking vessels, plates, pitchers, eating and cooking utensils Glass, ceramic or metal is appropriate. Look for handmade goblets, plates and serving ware. Some of the brightly colored Mexican and Italian ceramic ware has very a appropriate look. Metal plates, chargers and drinking vessels should be either tinned, silver plated or lead-free pewter since brass and copper can react with the contents and make you sick.