In our continuing series of "who-is-who" interviews we spoke with Lord Rhys Penbras ap Dafyddand. Lord Rhys has taken the Barony by storm with his hard work and eagerness to help, but what is his story? He was nice enough to answer a few questions for us. I hope you enjoy!
Real Name: Brandon Baranowski
SCA Name: Lord Rhys Penbras ap Dafydd
Persona: Southern Welsh, the former county of Glamorgan/Glamorganshire. I'm currently torn between 3 time periods: Late Iron Age, Early 14th Century, and Early Elizabethan.
Past Personas have included: 10th Century Danish, 11th Century Kievan Rus, & 12th Century Mongol
How long have you been involved in the SCA? I've been participating on and off since 2002. I started in the Middle Kingdom while in college, but then, after about a year, moved over to playing Dagorhir when the local Barony didn't have the activities I was interested in. I moved to the Kingdom of Meridies in 2007, and spent a couple of years in the Shire of Rising Stone. Moved again in 2012 to the Northern Tip of Middle Kingdom and dabbled for another few years. I finally came to Æthelmearc in 2014 and actively got involved again starting with Their Excellencies' Investiture in 2015.
What activities do you participate in? While I used to be primarily focused on heavy fighting, embroidering and cooking, my interests have turned towards the operations and background activities that drive the Dream. I greatly enjoy event planning and running, and currently enjoy taking reservations for a number of events, working troll, and organizing the merchants for Ice Dragon. In the same vein, I recently succeeded THL Beatrice as the Kingdom Events Coordinator, and am working with the Kingdom Seneschal, Web Minister, & Chronicler to streamline the events submission and update capabilities on the new Kingdom website. 
When I'm not working Troll, I try to put in many hours working as a retainer for Their Excellencies. It's a great opportunity to meet new people, learn new things, and lend a helping hand. I've just passed my 6-month anniversary as Barony Exchequer and haven't run away screaming, so I call that a win. Once I get past some Real Life hurdles this year, I'm hoping to break out my brushes and delve back into the Scribal Arts. I'm working with THL Zosia and Baroness Ekat on becoming a voice Herald to support our Barony during courts, and our populace when afield. I've also started dabbling in the more research and design side of the Heraldic arts, and with enough research, and practice, hope to lend a Heraldic hand to the Barony in the future. I had my first successful submission, from start to finish, with registering my own name and heraldry with the College of Heralds!
I will likely never get back to fighting (though Combat Archery is REALLY tempting), but I'm hoping to enjoying cooking, sewing, and teaching classes again in the "near-ish" future. I have a few class topics in mind already, and a stack of fabric just waiting to be turned into new garb. And ultimately, I enjoy service; service to the Barony, to the Kingdom, to the Dream. I find joy in helping others have joy, and that makes it continue to be fun.
SCA Goals for 2017:- Attend my first Pennsic War (even if it is only for a few days).
- Voice Herald my first event.
- Build new garb that reflects the culture & time periods I'm currently interested in.
- Create at least one scroll for a Kingdom or Barony event.
- Explore the possibilities of autocrating an upcoming event.
