By Kumata Kurō Ie’naga and Guillemette Falaize
The arts and sciences in our Society can take many varied forms. Coins, books, hand-forged swords, wines; the list goes on and on. There is, however, one art that rarely finds itself highlighted in our Society, despite the huge influence it had on the Middle Ages throughout the world: vinegar.
Without it, sekanjabin would be impossible; for that alone, we here in the sweltering heat of Pennsic owe it the praise it so rarely receives! Luckily, one gentle here at Pennsic has chosen not simply to give vinegar its due, but has dedicated his persona to the manufacture and distribution of this vital fluid.
Oswyn Swann, the alternate persona of Oswyn of Baðon, is a vinaigrier, a seller of vinegar. He has spent a portion of this War travelling from Royal encampment to Royal encampment, sharing his wares freely with the monarchs and populaces of the Kingdoms of the Known World, much like what happened (minus the direct Royal patronage) in Europe in period. At the time, long before the sale of bottled vinegar began in 1740, if one sought vinegar, one would wave down the passing vinaigrier, fill your vessel from their cask, and pay them the going rate. That rate, as it happens, for Oswyn’s wares, is nothing—at least at this War!
In the manner of Duke Cariadoc’s Enchanted Ground, Oswyn has decided not to break persona as he wanders the grounds with his vinegar, his cask and cart rattling along the roads of Cooper’s Lake. Long may both his pinot noir vinegar and his period practices enrich our Society!