Mikael MacLeod
Current Local Branch
- Barony of Glymm Mere, where I live and play
- Barony of Blatha an Oir, where I often play
- Squire to Sir Agmundr Glúmsson
- Provost to Maestri Rosa Marcella
Interests
- Retinue, Guard, Kingdom or Baronial Level
- War Fighting
- Battlefield Command
Story
The Chronicle of Mikael MacLeod
Written in the waning years of a soldier, in the lands of An Tir
In the name of memory and honor, I, Mikael MacLeod, once of the Highlands and now of the black and gold of An Tir, set quill to parchment. I am no bard, nor monk, certainly not a scholar, and time has stolen from me many things, swiftness of hand, sharpness of sight, and, gods be kind, the taste for certain wines, but my mind yet clings to its stories, and so I write, that they might not be lost.
I was born the son of a noble house, old in name and proud in blood. The MacLeods of the Rabbit Banner, so called for the sable hare emblazoned upon our standard, swift and cunning and small, yet never to be underestimated. Our lands nestled in the green glens of the western Highlands, where mist clings to the stones and the wind sings songs older than any crown. My father, Douglass MacLeod, was a stern man, full of iron and fire, and I, his firstborn, was raised in war and duty.
In my youth, I was betrothed to a fine woman, Isolde, daughter of a neighboring laird, fair of voice and bold of spirit. I believed our future assured. But fate, like the sea, cares little for the walls we build.
When rebellion stirred again in the Highlands, my father took up arms against the English king, and I rode at his side. The clans gathered under the old banners, and for a time it seemed the blood of Wallace and Bruce might rise once more. However, the English are patient in cruelty and swift in vengeance. Our forces were broken at Inverary, and my father fell beneath a foreign blade. I buried him with my own hands beneath the heather.
The King’s wrath was cold and calculated. My lands were seized, my title stripped. Isolde's father, ever a man of the wind, broke our betrothal before the ink had dried on the decree. I was left with naught but my sword, my name, and my anger.
I might have drowned in that grief. The Gods know that many men have, and none would have blamed me. But the gods, whoever listens, had other plans. A man came in the night, wrapped in cloak and bearing the seal of Byzantium. A recruiter for the Varangian Guard, he said. They needed men like me: tall, trained, unyielding. I did not ask questions. There was nothing where I was for me, so I gathered what little I had and sailed east. One of the items I took was the Rabbit Banner.
There, beneath the golden domes of Constantinople, I shed the tartan and donned the crimson and steel of the Guard. Among the Northmen and Rus, I found brothers. In fire and siege I proved myself. I fought in Thrace, in Cappadocia, at the walls of Antioch. The Emperor himself once nodded at me across a hall of marble and incense. I commanded men, held lines, took cities. I forgot my name, then remembered it anew.
Time is a wheel, and it brought me west again. When I returned, it was to the lands of An Tir, where Lions rule and the forests are thick with mist. I came not as a laird, but as a soldier seeking a banner. I found one eventually beneath Sir Agmundr Glumsson, a knight o fierce honor. I bent the knee and took his belt, a squire in his service still, and proud of it.
Of the incident of the Wee Spotted Snakes, I am forbidden to speak. Sir Agmundr has made it plain: silence is wiser than embellishment. Let it suffice to say that it involved unexpected tactics, questionable livestock, and a great deal of shouting. He just really hates the story.
I also found my love. As when I was allowed to be the soldier I was, I caused dissention among the Baronies of the Pacifica Region. The Coronets of these lands, under the wise council of their Majesties tempered me with marriage to her Ladyship Melissa of Dalmatia. As I write these words with ink, she sits near me reading her own tomes and drinking wine, both of us finding more gray than color in our hair, but happy to find them together.
Here now my later years, I look upon the world with the eyes of one who has seen much, too much, perhaps. But I feel the stir of something new in my blood. For though I have fought beside emperors and buried kings, I sense that this, here, in this wonderful and noble land of An Tir, is not the end of my story, but the beginning of a new chapter.
And for the first time in many years, I find myself glad to remember, and gladder still to write. So while I am but a humble soldier, I now turn to the role of historian and will try and tell you the history of this great Kingdom from when I came back to it’s lands, lost and broken, but as I was soon to find, never alone. — Mikael MacLeod
(The below link is updated on a semi regular basis, IE when something significant or memory worth happens. There is just too much to put on one Wiki page)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15eOZ4nqYWT6qM_QthspnO8zgVtTIkJ5tdWNiVCRI0CM/edit?tab=t.0
Offices Held
- Chronicler Blatha an Oir
- Deputy Heavy Marshal Glymm Mere
- Senior Heavy Marshal Qualified
- Junior Rapier Marshal Qualified
Awards
- Golden Blossom (Blatha An Oir) By: Yusuf Ja'bar al Timbuktuwwi el qalot, Angharat verch Reynulf - Mar 20, 2021 (AS LV)
- Award of Arms (An Tir) By: Sven Fallgr Gunnarsson, Rauokinn Eyverska Starradottir - Jan 29, 2022 (AS LVI)
- Shield of the Barony (Blatha An Oir) By: Yusuf Ja'bar al Timbuktuwwi el qalot, Angharat verch Reynulf - Apr 23, 2022 (AS LVI)
- Golden Spear (Blatha An Oir) By: Yusuf Ja'bar al Timbuktuwwi el qalot, Angharat verch Reynulf - Nov 5, 2022 (AS LVII)
- Baroness' Favor (Blatha An Oir) By: Angharat verch Reynulf - Aug 19, 2023 (AS LVIII)
- l'Esperon et du Lion (An Tir) By: Morgan of the Oaks, Livia Alexandra Severa - Dec 2nd, 2023 (AS LVIII)
- Shield of the Barony (Glymm Mere) Heavy champion May 2024 to May 2025
- Coronet Favors (Blatha An Oir) By: Nels Ulfger i Jaren, Elizabeth FitzWilliam of Carlisle May 27, 2024 (AS LIX)
- Crystal of Glymm Mere (Glymm Mere) By: Valentine L'argent, Tamsyn L'argent
- Hastae Leonis (An Tir) By: Ana de'La' Sara and Nicoli July 12th, 2025 (AS LX)
Roll at Events
- 2019 Ran Gate for Lord Defender in BAO
- Ran Shield of the Barony Tournament at Embers and Ambrosia 2022
- Yule 2023 Ran Heavy Tournament
- Lord Defender 2024 Ran Heavy and Rapier Tournaments
- Autumn War 2024 was co-land/camping Steward
- December 2024 Yule, Heralded in Her Highness Ana D'lasara for court
- February 2025 Carnevale, Court Heralded for their Royal Majesties with Andromache
- May 2025 Egils, Court Herald for their Royal Majesties to include heralding in their Majesties to Court
- 2025 Lord Defender Event Steward Blatha an Oir
Remaining Resume Items
Disclaimer: Mikael is the Partner to Melissa of Dalmatia and thus if she runs an event, runs part of an event, or is doing anything at an event you can assume that Mikael will be used for muscle, height, message runner, person finder, or in general errand boy. Thank you.
- 1998 June Fair first event
- 1998 Left for Armed Service. Did two events in Georgia
- 2004 - 2019 assisted event team for Egils assisting with cleanup of site for use, and parking, and random tent assistance.
- 2019 started fighting and doing retinue for Blatha an Oir Coronets
- 2020 Awarded Golden Blossom in BAO virtual court
- 2020 retinue/guard for Then Queen now Duchess Helena
- 2022 Awarded Award of Arms Ursalmas
- 2022 Awarded Golden Spear
- 2022-2023 Shield of the Barony Champion for BAO (New Fighter Heavy Champion)
- 2023 Chronicler for the Barony of Blatha an Oir
- 2023 Taught a class on basic Warfighting at Glymm Mere Practice
- 2023 Retinue/Guard King Morgan and Queen Livia
- 2024 Helped in the creation of the Legio Pacifica
- 2024-2025 Shield of the Barony of Glymm Mere, Heavy champion
- Autumn War 2024 Helped secure the alliance for the Pacifica Region (And Peace in that region) by agreeing to an engagement by Royal Decree to Melissa of Dalmatia
- 2025 Retinue/Guard King Nicoli and Ana
- 2025 An Tir West War Protected Queen Ana with His Lordship Sigmund Faust on the field of battle, multiple days.