The Society for Creative Anachronisms, the overarching organization responsible for the Thieves’ activities states their mission as “Creative anachronism takes the best qualities of the middle ages and recreates them in the modern world.”

These two foot soldiers look out of their element in a gymnasium.

“The combat is only one part of what we do, we re-enact all aspects of medieval life,” says 20-year member Daniel Suh, known to the S.C.A. as Okami. “Members research and develop a persona… upon joining they design costumes and submit their crest.” The society involves all aspects of pre-17th century life, with fine attention to historical accuracy. Suh’s persona Okami is derived from the Eastern world, though the S.C.A. primarily focuses on Medieval Europe.

Finding an adequate practice space is difficult for these warriors out of time. Working adjacent to a high school girls flag squad practice, dealing with common Medieval problems such as fire alarms, the Thieves of Hearts barony of the Society for Creative Anachronism’s Middle Kingdom congregated last Tuesday in the gymnasium of suburban Northlake’s Glenbrook North High School, as they do every Tuesday, to hone their swordsmanship and exchange tales of battle.

A knight in heavy armor.

The Thieves of Hearts are one of 17 groups in Illinois which with the organizations from other Midwestern states together form the Middle Kingdom. With 19 kingdoms in total, the S.C.A. is comprised of no less than 30,000 card-carrying members. According to the MidRealm, the Society for Creative Anachronism was founded in Berkeley, CA on May 1st 1966 by a group of individuals who shared medieval interests.

“Many of the early members of the SCA were also members of science fiction fandom, and it was through Fandom that the early SCA spread,” says MidRealm. “Within a year, it was incorporated and slowly began to extend itself beyond its old boundaries.”

“You can find a tournament of some variety or another almost any weekend out of the year somewhere in the world,” says Fendra, a book editor and member of the SCA member for 5 years. A history minor who came to Chicago 5 years ago, she learned that one is granted membership to the organization for the ‘princely sum’ of $35 a year, for which they are given the monthly newsletter of their kingdom. Not all participants are card-carriers however, anyone with an interest is welcome to congregate with the S.C.A. and the group attracts members with various levels of commitment.

On the practice field, it is acceptable to be seen in primarily street clothes.

“I’m what they call a stick-jock,” says Okami. Members like Okami focus primarily on the aspect of battle, with less concentration on the historical recreation. “A lot of research is done in regards to the methods of historical combat,” he says. Hand to hand combat is generally categorized as heavy or light weapons combat and is classified by the armor a combatant must wear in battle. Rapier fighters wield long, dulled blades and wear heavy clothing and helmets.

For heavy weapons combat, armor is made to withhold great force. A typical heavy weapons helmet can weigh up to 20 pounds. “You either make your own stuff [armor], or you know somebody who does,” says Alexander de Seaton of Altavia of The Thieves of Hearts.

Archers, swordsman and even equestrians can all be found in the S.C.A., though should one wish to do battle, they must ensure they are properly protected. Gwen relates a horror story of a member who neglected to wear all the essential components of his armor.

Wear A Cup by druano

All photos, video and audio were shot by Rob Fidler, Tom Butala and Dan Ruano.

In one of the linked attacks, Chicago police say the alleged attacker was identified in a physical lineup but was later released on lack of evidence.

This is an ongoing investigation and the information is subject to change.

Source: Chicago Police Department Records.

Andrew Huff speaks about Gapers Block at DePaul University (Photo by M. Reilley)

Andrew Huff, Co-founder of Chicago based Web site Gapersblock.com, was a guest speaker at a DePaul University Online Journalism class in downtown Chicago on Wednesday.

Huff, who has a Bachelors degree in Journalism from The Ohio State University, spoke about how Gapers Block began as a project evolving from blogging experiences.

Gapers Block was established in April 2003 and it provides a Chicago based information source regarding the who, what, where, and how of the city.

Gapers Block is listed as one of the “best city blogs” in Forbes’ Best of the Web.

The site, initially, was supported by the sales of T-shirt and other novelty items but today, is mostly ad-supported.

But in November 2009, Gapers Block won a grant from the Chicago Community Trust for $35,000 that funded original open reporting.   Gapers Block was one of 12 organizations to be awarded the grant.

Although the site has only a handful of paid employees, most writers contribute voluntarily, according to Huff.

“The majority of Gapers Block writers have a day job that doesn’t inspire them much and so they want to write about cool things that are happening around the city,” said Huff.

Huff’s career began in public relations but quickly made the switch to online reporting/journalism.  Gapers Block provided Huff with opportunities like blogging for companies like American Express and A&E Television and eventually allowed him to move away from public relations.

Huff also has other sites on the side that he likes to work on. One of the sites that stick out the most is Nineteenfiftyfour.org.  Nineteenfiftyfour, as Huff explained, is a site which posts the pages of his diary written in 1993.