Our local barony’s service award is the Order of the Salamander. Members of this order are recognized for a career of exemplary service to the group, and wear a medallion of a salamander on a red ribbon.

A good friend was to receive this honor, and Annys and I were given the scroll commission. We based it on a sixteenth-centry example of a writ for a knight of the Order of the Garter, both in text structure and in format. We thought it would be a cool touch to replace the seal of the Garter with something more appropriate to our sea-faring and foppish friend, whose baronial title (one of many) is Admiral of the Bhakail Navy. I found an Elizabethan-era example of what they thought sea-going vessels looked like, and based our “seal” on that, complete with sail art for the award and his personal arms.

Note: because he has a letter of marque from the barony (also one from the Kingdom, but that’s different), he is a privateer, if you please. Call him a “pirate” at your own peril, especially if he’s standing on the deck of your ship, pointing out how nice it is of you to donate so generously to the Baronial Coffers.