What we accomplish in the Sheriwood and Aglarond groups is based on the harmonious working together of great hearts and creative minds who share a clear vision and love to role play. Today, I want to share with you more about how you fit into the structure of our group and how working together builds a most powerful team!
Over the years it has become apparent that those who stay and contribute share our vision and values of respect for others and love of Tolkien’s works.
As with all volunteer groups, friendships, fellowship and dependencies grow. From the beginning we have always had a structure upon which we have built our group to ensure order. In this way, together we can achieve much with grace and joy.
This is a special class for you so you have a greater understanding of the “governance” of our lands. In it we will take time to review the various groups and how they fit within our structure. You will learn of opportunities you can take to progress, learn and achieve more while you grow your responsibilities. Hopefully it will be enlightening and help everyone feel stronger about their path to contributing.
Take care and Hugs, Nerdanel (Maralee Greenwood)
SHERIWOOD GOVERNANCE CLASS
Today I am going to go over some basics of leadership- most of you have been with us awhile. The Goal of this class is to demystify our steps of progression through the various rings and roles.
It is one thing for sure- leaders and those who would BE leaders are the first to attend classes. Thank you for demonstrating your interest. We had a formal structure before we set up the first prim in the City and Forest. It is not all that apparent- yet has always run quite smoothly. As we continue to grow we wanted to share more about this.
When someone is invited to be a leader, they receive a copy of a document called Leadership in Sheriwood/Tirion. In it there are the details to this structure. First and foremost, we are a volunteer group and stick together based on shared values, authentic fellowship and a love of the vision of the lands (which we will cover soon). As with all volunteer groups friendships, fellowship and DEPENDENCIES grow.
Many hands lighten the load of responsibilities. When we began, we wondered if we would ever have more than 50 people in our little group – and today we have…over 300 in Sheriwood and nearly 400 in Aglarond. Of course only a small number are ever active at one time and some have been inactive for a long time. Yet we rely on those who are here helping.
OUR VISION
Some have asked recently about our Vision and it is critical to our structure. Who here would be able to share what our vision is?
Finarfin: *Raises his hand*- We would like to think that If Tolkien came to our forest…he would know where he was…feel at home..and know he was among the real elves HE himself created. We can do no higher honour than to live his vision in our memory.
Thank you Finarfin. Yes, our vision is simple and it is easy to remember. For those of you who are new to our lands, we ARE Tolkien based and because of our dedication many amazing personalities have visited our lands, including Ted Nasmith, who is one of the official Tolkien artists and his comments were very encouraging.
TOLKIEN TRIBUTE ROLE PLAY LAND
We describe ourselves as a “Tolkien Tribute Role Play land”. Our stage play is set within the first seven chapters of Tolkien’s book, The Silmarillion. Our labours are undertaken with an eye to our vision and our desire to open the hearts and minds of our visitors, and residents, to the amazing magic, wonder and powerful lessons of this book.
Additionally, we have a greater purpose and that is to challenge individuals to read and understand the literature of Tolkien. By this we begin to open hearts to the Sheriwood Foundation.
THE SHERIWOOD FOUNDATION
For those who are new, the Sheriwood Foundation has existed as a Federally and State Government registered charity in the United States of America since 2008. We are a wholly volunteer group and use funds donated to the Foundation to help disadvantaged youth with tools to help them with their reading. if you wish to know about the Sheriwood Foundation, you can go to http://www.sheriwoodfoundation.org But do not do it now please…
For our leaders-: In an effort to ensure there is an understanding of the “governance” of the lands of Sheriwood and Aglarond here are the basics. Most importantly this is SECOND Life, therefore here are our three KEY rules we must always ALWAYS keep:
- First Life MUST always come first.
- It takes time to learn and grow, so you MUST take time to learn and grow.
- You MUST have fun each day.
For leaders there is a fourth rule:
- If you are chosen to be a Leader, and accept this responsibility, you MUJSTt always remember that you are setting the example for others who are always watching you.- it is why being a leader in our lands is not easy.
THE LEADERSHIP TARGET
Compared to Aule and Anaire, and other teachers who have such super-duper visual aids, THIS is mine. There is NO significance to the colours, only that I needed to make them different. I made these layers circles but there is ALSO no significance to how far away a circle is from the centre-only to say that, each builds upon the other and rests upon the other. ((You can see this visual aid in Yavanna’s special classroom in the Forest.))
All who are given special roles and responsibilities are entrusted with these based on their time in our lands, both how long they have been here, how frequently they are here when they are in Second Life, their willingness to help use their skills and abilities for the good of the lands.
THE WHITE CIRCLE
The centre of the target is one person. Who might that be?
Yavanna/ Sheridanne Kelley is this small white circle. It is where everyone aim their arrows. She is our High Protector and the one ultimately responsible for the lands and the administration of the Sheriwood and Aglarond Groups. Yavanna also pays for everything – as Aule says “she who pays, says!” Sort of cute and Aule-like.
With this responsibility she is also the judge and tie breaker during debates-that cannot be solved easily between others and with the help of the leaders.-She takes responsibilities for final sign off of rules-guidelines. She advises and suggests major projects, documents and also for any significant exceptions made to the rules or residents. Her hope is that there are VERY few exceptions.
One of the primary reasons we use The Silmarillion as our guide, is to support the leaders and all who would help protect our culture and stage play. It saves so much time arguing with someone when you can simply point to the book and/ or the illustrations of John Howe or Ted Naismith, with regard to what is “realistic and proper” in costume and decorum.
GOLD RING
The next circle is GOLD. The Gold circle represents the Elders. The Elders are those who have been here the longest. They are the most trusted advisors. They are the ones who have, over time, made significant contributions- to issues, decisions and solving problems.
Let me list them for you- actually-let me show you where to find the official list:
- Open the Sheriwood Group profile please
- There are some tabs on the Group profile
- Select “Members and Roles”
- In this tab there are three more tabs
- Go to Roles”
- Find the Elders
The list rarely changes for obvious reasons. We save the Elders for all major decisions, they are sort of our “high court”.
BLUE RING
The BLUE ring represents the Ringbearers and the Knights (in Aglarond). They are the working Administrators. They manage the smooth running of the lands, help keep order and secure our lands to keep them safe and orderly. They are key in advising about role play and issues of governance and peace. You can find a current list of them also in the Group profiles of Aglarond and Sheriwood.
GREEN RING
Within the GREEN ring are three groups. These are the official Sheriwood/ Aglarond Leaders, the Wardens and the Guardians. Let me share about each of the three:
SHERIWOOD LEADERS
Sheriwood Leaders are an overall group that covers all lands. It is headed by Yavanna. Some who are part of this group are in training for specific responsibilities. They meet with varying regularity and help make collective decisions.
Within the Sheriwood Leaders are representatives of the other groups as well. So they are like a House of Representatives. There is a separate group for the Sheriwood Leaders-and you can search for it when you wish to know who is within this group.
Guardians
The Guardians of the Lands. There remains much mystery around this group. It is quietly active and its primary purpose is the gathering together those who have demonstrated over time their understanding and skill with role play. They help lead and develop our group quests. One of their capabilities is their skill with weapons. Like all our leaders they are in the lands when they are in this virtual world.
They watch and listen to what is happening and work together to create realistic day-to-day activities and quest based role plays. They represent the highest standard of role play and adherence to our history and culture, as presented in our source, The Silmarillion. They have a special group which you can also search for called the “Noldorian Guardians of Tirion” It is headed by me and Feanor.
Wardens
Wardens are selected for their trustworthiness and great skills with mysteries and scavenger hunts. They are responsible in any of various ways for maintaining order, harmony and peace. Most of all, they do this by overseeing the management of our land’s resources (prims). They are involved in security to some degree as watchers.
They also may be called upon to mentor those who come to consider a life in our Forest about the importance of prims.- The Advisor to this group is Elder Valla-: There is no group for the Wardens-: but at this moment they are: Elder Valla (the best there ever has been with Pete, who has left SL), me, Feanor and Anaire.
NOTE: If you see something laying around that you believe should not be there, please inform one of us by leaving us a notecard with the date, the coordinates and your name so we can take action when necessary.
RED RING
The RED Ring holds so much of this together! This RED Ring is the circle of GUIDES. The Keeper of the Keys of the Guides is Anaire. There is no group more visible and no group that is more important to our efforts to ensure more people feel “at home” in our lands.
They are responsible to ensure people who visit and live in our lands feel the warmth of welcome, fellowship first of all and second that they know best how to adjust their “character” to fit into our stage play. They welcome, give tours and are a font of understanding, where things are, and how things work.
Within this group is a sub group of Mentors who work tirelessly behind the scenes. When someone is new to the lands, we try to assign a personal Mentor. The Mentors are a pool of members who know the lands and can devote some personal time to another.
Being chosen to be a Mentor gives anyone an opportunity (especially the Guides) to take on more responsibility. If you wish to know who the Guides are, there is a separate group for them called, “Guides of Tirion”.
YELLOW RING
The Yellow Ring consists of two groups.
HEALERS – HANDS OF ESTE
Within this Yellow Ring are healers, called Hands of Este. The healers serve the lands- with their healing and support skills- during natural and unnatural disasters, illnesses, after battles and other dangers.
The group was pulled together by Healer Cucuawe, who remains the head and advisor of the Group. Day-to-day running of the activities is by Anaire at this time. Those who serve in this role have an innate interest in healing and have developed an understanding of healing in our times and are vital in preparing and caring for those who are hurt or ill.
They have the heart and courage to pursue this service to others in spite of potential danger to their own lives, as well during quests. There is a special group for this called “Hands of Este”.
RANGERS OF TIRION.
At the writing of this document Vanwen as the leader of the Rangers has been replaced by Feafelme. She is rebuilding the group now. The Rangers are a bit “secretive” sometimes. They are great with their weapons, in role play, in tracking and questing. They join forces with the Guardians at time,-but remain close to their leader.
They are our primary scouts for role plays, who help with planning, strategy and training skills; and are key to keeping us all together during quests. They have their own group called the “Tirion Rangers”.
PALE MINT GREEN RING
Here is where everyone comes together as one. As you would know now, Tolkien did not create a Medieval world with a hierarchy that would call out superior or inferior ones. With the creation of Tolkien’s Elves comes one of the major difficulties with our role play and that is the concept of Egalitarianism – meaning we are all, as Elves, equal and serve and care for one another.
For those of you who are new, we do not curtsey, bow to other Elves. Other Elves may have a responsibility to lead, but they are not above anyone else in station.
A WORD ABOUT KNEELING
We do however, kneel to the Valar. For those of you who might wonder about this, we kneel, not because we worship the Valar. The Valar ARE great and amazing powers who were used to create almost everything through their songs in the role play.
We kneel when they appear (unless we are at a barding time, or an out of character (OOC) event) to demonstrate our recognition of the One they represent in the world to the Elves. This is Iluvator (God in Tolkien’s works). And we do not rise or stand in role play until they give us permission to.
HOW TO LEARN and GROW and SERVE
How do we pursue our passion to serve? For most in our lands there seems a resident and shared desire to share and help others. But how do you begin if you are new? You may have real life skills as a healer for instance- and this could possibly be something you want to pursue here. That would be great. so how do you “volunteer” for anything around here?
There is a progression. All who enter are asked to be Noldor Elves, although some exceptions are made for those who need to be animals (and this is agreed upon by Aule and the Elders, when necessary). In this capacity, you are in reality “auditioning”. Others are learning more about you and you are learning more about us and our lands, culture, history and role play.
We ask you to relax and to keep true to the Three Primary Rules. During this time of “audition”, we want you to learn where you are, who the other players are. We want you to watch and learn from the others here.
FIRST QUEST = THE NATURE QUEST
The first step for EVERYONE is the Nature Quest. Why do we want you to complete the Nature Quest? There are five main reasons:
- To help you learn and understand Tirion Forest, our main land
- To appreciate the many animals and plants that are endangered or even extinct
- Once complete, it gives you a sense of accomplishment
- To have some fun. We ARE into fun-though some have pulled their hair out to finish it.
- It gives you Quest reference points (such as meet where the little turtle walks by the kingfisher’s tree)
All who wish to be given additional responsibilities will finish the Nature Quest. By then, you may have an idea of a “stream” of interest,-such as the Healers or the Rangers. You now know the leader of each group and can approach them or wait to be recruited dependent on your demonstrated interest and engagement in the lands and role play.
Most of the groups have required quests and skill requirements that are taught. There are exercises to develop your skills.
PARTICIPATION, LOYALTY, TIME SPENT IN THE LANDS
All who would apply themselves to quests and study in these areas of responsibilities, and those who come with qualifications, experience are most welcome. We will enjoy welcoming you and hope you will find many reasons both at times of quiet and times of busyness to spend time in our lands learning about them (there are seven lands/ sims). Anyone is welcome to seek out the leaders and learn more about how they can serve.
NOLDOR ELVES ARE OUR STRENGTH
A note about general roles is important before I end. : All who come to the land will initially be asked to take the role as Noldor Elf. The Noldor is who our story is about. However, if there is a clear recognition by the Guardians and Sheriwood Leaders of someone’s additional qualifications, they may be considered for other roles or responsibilities.
If someone is recommended or recognised in this way, the Elders and ultimately Yavanna make the final decision in consultation, to share a special role with them.
I hope this class helped demystify our steps of progression through the various rings and roles.
Sheridanne Kelley on Role Play 