What's it all about?
Part of the fun in joining the SCA is selecting a persona, or a personal character from a specific historic time and place (with the restriction that a persona may not be an actual historic figure). Each person chooses a chronological and geographic time frame and proceeds to research customs, manners, ethics, dress, eating habits and other factors in order to fully develop the chosen persona (within the 600 A.D. to 1600 A.D. time frame).
The research done to develop a persona may be as complex or as simple as the individual chooses. Some members have chosen only a name, while others have fully developed personas and can talk to you in detail about their medieval “lives”.
People join the SCA for a multitude of reasons, for some it is the opportunity to find others with an interest in historical research, for others it is the research and perfection of crafting techniques and skills, for some it is the opportunity to learn and hone fighting skills, for still others it is a break from everyday life and the stresses of our modern world. Whatever their reasons, the members of the SCA as a whole are friendly, fun-loving and yet at the same time serious about their chosen interests within the Society.