Once Upon a Time...
Once upon a time, or once upon several different times at once, a Russian man by the name of Dmitri Skomorochov was travelling around the world, looking for adventure, for love, and for treasure. Along his way, he hopped two steps to the left and visited London in the 14th century. While there, he noticed the fighting nobles, the diseases and famine and poverty, and decided to stick around for a while. But establishing himself as a great and important man took at least a week, and Dmitri felt like he didn't have a week to spare.
Now at this same time and place, there was a young English nobleman by the name of Damon of Scarborough, a long-suffering poet, and low-level herald in the court of King Richard II. Young Lord Damon wished to go out into the world and experience a life full of decadence, debauchery, and sin, but was mortified at the idea of ruining the good name he had spent half his life trying to polish to a mirror shine. What he needed, he decided, was to trade identities with a carefree vagabond who shared a remarkably coincidental appearance with him, to achieve greatness in the English society, while he himself could achieve sinfulness in the darkest corners of the world.
As luck would have it, while enjoying a drink at the Blackfeather Inn, Damon happened to spot Dmitri, who had the look of a carefree vagabond enjoying a life of decadence, and amazingly enough, looked enough like Lord Damon that they could use each other as shaving mirrors. He strode boldly to the Russian's table and introduced himself proudly. Dmitri, of course, saw this court sycophant as the perfect opportunity to reach the important status that he craved, and decided that he could learn enough English in a few days to be able to pull off the switch.
And so, Lord Damon of Scarborough and Lord Dmitri Skomorochov shook hands, smiled slyly, and left the bar as Lord Dmitri Skomorochov and Lord Damon of Scarborough. And to all of the people in London who believed they were seeing Dmitri, they were actually seeing Damon, and the ones who saw Lord Damon, well, they wouldn't admit it, being in the darkest corners of sin themselves.
And thus, Lord Dmitri became Lord Damon, and never was anyone the wiser.
Seriously, though, I have given this a lot of thought, and would like opinions from my SCA friends. I've been aware for almost the entire twenty years of my SCA activity that I was a Russian name without a Russian persona. More recently, my SCA career has been focusing on my art/sci projects, and those projects have been written under the mask of Lord Damon of Scarborough. I finally must admit to myself and others that Lord Damon is actually my REAL persona.
I would like to hear back from people about how they think the new identity will work, if they think it will be a good or bad idea as far as name recognition is concerned, etc.. Logically, I think this is the best idea, but emotionally, I've been Dmitri for two decades, and will probably always be Dmitri in my heart.
Thanks for any advice or comments.
Now at this same time and place, there was a young English nobleman by the name of Damon of Scarborough, a long-suffering poet, and low-level herald in the court of King Richard II. Young Lord Damon wished to go out into the world and experience a life full of decadence, debauchery, and sin, but was mortified at the idea of ruining the good name he had spent half his life trying to polish to a mirror shine. What he needed, he decided, was to trade identities with a carefree vagabond who shared a remarkably coincidental appearance with him, to achieve greatness in the English society, while he himself could achieve sinfulness in the darkest corners of the world.
As luck would have it, while enjoying a drink at the Blackfeather Inn, Damon happened to spot Dmitri, who had the look of a carefree vagabond enjoying a life of decadence, and amazingly enough, looked enough like Lord Damon that they could use each other as shaving mirrors. He strode boldly to the Russian's table and introduced himself proudly. Dmitri, of course, saw this court sycophant as the perfect opportunity to reach the important status that he craved, and decided that he could learn enough English in a few days to be able to pull off the switch.
And so, Lord Damon of Scarborough and Lord Dmitri Skomorochov shook hands, smiled slyly, and left the bar as Lord Dmitri Skomorochov and Lord Damon of Scarborough. And to all of the people in London who believed they were seeing Dmitri, they were actually seeing Damon, and the ones who saw Lord Damon, well, they wouldn't admit it, being in the darkest corners of sin themselves.
And thus, Lord Dmitri became Lord Damon, and never was anyone the wiser.
Seriously, though, I have given this a lot of thought, and would like opinions from my SCA friends. I've been aware for almost the entire twenty years of my SCA activity that I was a Russian name without a Russian persona. More recently, my SCA career has been focusing on my art/sci projects, and those projects have been written under the mask of Lord Damon of Scarborough. I finally must admit to myself and others that Lord Damon is actually my REAL persona.
I would like to hear back from people about how they think the new identity will work, if they think it will be a good or bad idea as far as name recognition is concerned, etc.. Logically, I think this is the best idea, but emotionally, I've been Dmitri for two decades, and will probably always be Dmitri in my heart.
Thanks for any advice or comments.