What Crux Australis does - a summary

These duties require an average commitment of 10-15 hours per week, with a minimum of around 5 hours per week.

Submissions:

Organises monthly meetings to check recent submissions and decide whether to forward, pend or return each one.

Writes 'Letters of Return' for submissions which are returned by Crux or Laurel and 'Letters of Acceptance' for submissions registered by Laurel.

Creates a monthly 'Letter of Intent' and arranges for its distribution to the commenting members of the College of Arms and (along with copies of the submissions) to Laurel.

Responds to, or forwards on, questions from heralds and the general populace seeking advice on matters heraldic.
 

Administration:

Manages the finances of the "SCA College of Heralds Inc" account, and sends a financial report annually to the Lochac Exchequer.

Issues warrants for group heralds and adds and removes people from the roster as required.

Appoints deputies and delegates work to them (and must take on their duties if the deputised office falls vacant with no replacement).

Maintains the submissions and correspondence files.

Implements new heraldic policies as required.

Reports quarterly to the Crown and the Lochac Seneschal.

Encourages the study and use of medieval onomastics, armory, heraldic display and pageantry.
 

Ceremonial:

Swears fealty and presents the Great Seal of State at each Coronation.

Is nominally herald-in-charge of every event they attend in Lochac.

Uses the Great Seal and the herald's seal on award scrolls produced by the College of Scribes.

Upholds the and defends the dignity of the Lochac College of Heralds.

What Crux's current deputies do

Astrolabe Herald (currently Alys de Wilton)
Astrolabe is Crux's deputy for the New Zealand groups. Their duties are not yet formally defined, but are proposed as:

• Overseeing the heraldic aspects of integrating the New Zealand groups into Lochac (especially the Order of Precedence).
• Creating a copy of the New Zealand heraldic files.
• Pastoral care and encouragement of the New Zealand heralds.
• Management of a separate bank account for New Zealand submissions.
• [optional] External commentary.

Baryl Herald (currently Giles de Roet)
This is currently a courtesy title for Crux's 'Drop Dead' Deputy. Previous holders have been in charge of either internal or external commentary. As 'Drop Dead' Deputy, they are required to:

• Assist Crux Australis in his/her duties
• Understand the running of the office in case he/she is required to take over at short notice
• Fill in for Crux Australis in times where Crux is unavailable to fulfill their duties for an extended time (i.e... overseas holidays, sickness, etc...)

Bombard Herald (currently Thorfinn Hrolfsson)
Bombard is Crux Australis' deputy for ceremonies. Their duties are as follow:

• Responsible for devising protocols and ceremonies for Their Majesties and ensuring the protocols and the ceremonies are available.
• Aids other heralds to devise ceremonies as needed for Baronial and other Courts.
• Makes sure that the ceremonies, scrolls, promissories and other props for any Kingdom Courts are at hand.
• Following consultation with their Majesties and their successors, prepares a customised Coronation ceremony for each new Crown if required.
• Works to ensure that less-experienced Court heralds receive opportunities for training, so that there will be sufficient competent heralds to handle Their Majesties' business.
• Acts as the ceremonial War Herald of the Coronet of Lochac. At Their Majesties' command issues formal challenges, demands for surrender and so forth. May, at Their Majesties' request, carry the banner of Lochac into battle.
• As requested by Their Majesties, and with the assistance of as many members of the College as are needed, organises Grand Marches. They must be sure that the needed props and tools (cards, pencils, OPs) are on hand.
• Report to Crux Australis Herald on the state of the office 6 weeks prior to the coronation of a new King and Queen of Lochac. The dates for reporting are therefore (approximately) 19th March and 19th November in each year.
• Within six months of taking office, designate and train a suitable deputy in good time to ensure smooth transition of the office between holders.
• Undertaking other activities concerning ceremonial heraldry under the direction of Crux Australis Herald as is determined needful or desirable from time to time.

Canon Herald (currently Morag Freyser)
Canon is responsible for maintaining the Order of Precedence and the Gentry List. Their duties are as follow:

• Ensure all publications of awards in Pegasus are entered into the database.
• Ensure all registrations by Laurel of names and armoury submitted by the Lochac College of Heralds are entered into the database.
• Be available to the populace to answer queries about awards held and names and armoury registered.
• Within six months of taking office, designate and train a suitable deputy in good time to ensure smooth transition of the office between holders.
• Provide the Crux Australis Herald with an Order of Precedence and Gentry List 6 weeks prior to the coronation of a new King and Queen of Lochac. The dates for providing such are therefore (approximately) 19th March and 19th November in each year.

Hund Herald (currenlty Thorfinn Hrolfsson)
Hund is a courtesy title given to the chief commenter on external Letters of Intent. It is currently (and always has been) held by Master Thorfinn Hrolfsson. Commentary on external Letters of Intent is not the sole prerogative of Hund. Hund's duties are:

• Produce a Letter of Comment at least every 60 days (preferably monthly) on the Letters of Intent published by other Kingdoms' Colleges of Heralds.
• Maintain a library of standard and specialist reference works on onomastics and armoury.
• Report to Crux Australis Herald on the state of the office 6 weeks prior to the coronation of a new King and Queen of Lochac. The dates for reporting are therefore (approximately) 19th March and 19th November in each year.
• [optional] Redistribute external Letters of Intent to other commenters in Lochac.
• [optional] Hold regular commentary meetings to assist in the duties of the office and train others in commenting and general book heraldry.

Mortar Herald (currently vacant)
Mortar is the deputy for education and training (the title was initially given to Crux's deputy for field and voice heraldry). Their duties are:

• Creation of policies on advancement within the College of Heralds.
• Production of educational articles for The CAMeL, the Crux Australis website and other publications.
• Co-ordinating the creation and maintenance of a Lochac Heralds' Handbook.

Rocket Herald (currently Gabriel Kalathetos aka Thanatos)
Rocket is responsible for production of The CAMeL, the (ideally) monthly newsletter from Crux Australis to the Lochac College of Heralds.

• The "Crux Australis Monthly Letter" is intended as an information source on the progress of submissions and other heraldic matters for the heralds of Lochac. This should be kept in mind when producing this document. Special mention should be made of any change in policy, new information or Laurel precedents made in the last month. Production should ideally be monthly, and at the very least quarterly.
• All submissions sent to Crux, whether forwarded, returned or pended, must be included in this document along with all registrations and returns included in the Letters of Acceptance and Return (LoAR). This is especially important as Canon Pursuivant uses this as official notification of registration for their database.
• A copy of The CAMeL should always be sent pro gratis to the following people: the Crown of Lochac, their Heirs (once selected), the Seneschal of Lochac, the Kingdom Historian and the Provost of Scribes.
• All group heralds should be strongly encouraged to maintain a subscription to The CAMeL on behalf of their group. Production and distribution of the paper-based version of The CAMeL should always be a higher priority than the production of the freely available web-based copy.
• Nobody's personal details (legal name, address, phone number, etc.) should be included in the online version without their permission.

Last updated by Uberto Renaldi, 24 February 2004