About Squires

This is a a listing of Quotes from players in their own words about Squires. Add to these pages if you wish but please do not remove the words of others even if you disagree with the opinion.

On the number of Squires and pages one knight can have.

Glen

I think putting any arbitrary limit is silly, and I also think limiting it by number of belts is silly. If Knight A is able to teach and mentor three people, bully for him. He should have three squires if he wants them. I can't see any way giving him three more belts suddenly makes him able to teach and mentor four times as many people, though. Having more belts does not give a person more time or energy to devote to helping other people. Likewise, having only one belt does not limit the amount of time and energy a person has to devote to helping other people.

I also think way too many people take this whole knights/squires/MAA/Page thing way to seriously. Every time I see someone accept being bossed around just because they're wearing some color of belt I want to shake them till their brains rattle and scream, "Have you no pride? Grow a spine!"

Grendel

I took one man at arms during my whole amtgard time (when I was a squire), and made him my squire after they gave me the white leather strip.

way I figure it, it's a relationship between you & your squire, depending on what you both want to invest in that relationship, and what you can afford to invest, etc, should help determine how many 'whatevers' you take. to some maybe it doesn't mean much, it's just more notches (I have 'X' squires, blah blah blah, and they are all qualled for belts, blah blah blah)

I have a connection with my squire, he's my bro, sometimes he makes mistakes, but I'll always be there for him, I am his friend, at times his consultant, etc, he makes his own choices, and the best thing I can do is provide my knowledge, my friendship, my support, and my honesty.

I would feel strange offering a belt to someone my own age or older, in a way taking that 'apprentice' is like being a parent I figure, I usually look for 'squire' material among the younger amtgarders, or newer amtgarders. I hope that I can help give my squire the tools he needs to be successfull, the support and understanding, and the kick in the ass he needs. I am only successfull if he is successfull

right now I would say I have enough time and energy for maybe one more squire, with my squire and his man-at-arms, things are turning into quite the family/circle of bros. there are a few I can think of that would fit into this family, I'd be good with 1 more squire but probably no more than that, no matter how many belts.

to me number of belts doesn't matter, it's about the people involved, what they are willing to put into it, and what they can afford to do with that relationship.

Belkev

While I dont support any kind of hard and fast rule about how many people I should or shouldnt squire. I have 3 right now. One basically comes to events. If they want to take a man at arm I will support that. However with the squires I have I like it. They are low maintainance and dont cause my heartburn. I got no complaint

Rewth

regardless of tradition, a knight or squire should never belt more people underneath them than they can actively support.

my knight has i believe 5 squires... but, i'm the only one that is still active. at no real time has she had difficulty giving us each the direction we need. truthfully i'm fairly low maintinence, the occasional conversation is all we've really needed. had she been more active she could haveeasily managed a 6th or 7th squire these last few years.

but to set an artificial limit is silly. its a pointless restriction that serves no purpose. 2 is a good guideline. especially for folks that don't always manage thier time effectively. but as a rule it sucks.

Michael Hammer of God

Good Knight-squire relationships are an amzing part of this game. No knight should have more squires than he or she can maintain that kind of relationship with. I never had more then 3 active at a time even though I have had 10 in my time in Amtgard. Thats a good guide.

Arthon

Fools! You are all fools! Do you not see the potential profit and power that is at your finger tips?

Say, for instance, that I am a knight. I then squire four people. Each is required to 'donate' ten dollars to me per week for the privilage of wearing my colors (which of course they will be buting from one of my special 'garger' contacts at bargain basement prices).

So far, so good, but it gets better.

Now, for argument's sake, let's say that these four squires each takes on four men-at-arms. These men-at-arms are also required to purchase all garb from my specially liscensed 'dealer' at . However, here is where getting in on the ground floor helps out the squires. The ten dollar-a-week surcharge still applies. Each squire collects the ten dollars, gets to keep 50% for 'upkeep' and then passes along the rest to me (franchise fees).

I know what ya'll are saying ... "Good idea, Arthon, but how can I make it better?"

Let me tell you how. Each of these men-at-arms then aquires, let's say, four pages. Again, the clothing must be purchased, but the rates are retail mark-up now. Each page kicks up his ten bucks - the man-at arms takes his 25%, the squire 25%, with the remaining 50% going to the man at top.

So now, I have 84 people under me, profits coming in from clothing and belt sales at a fairly constant rate and a solid $440.00 coming in every week. Plus, I have a standing army to crush people at whatever event I attend.

Welcome to Uncle Arty's retirement plan.

Rolando Darkjester

The 6.1 rules said "Should" which means its a suggestion not a rule.

My opinion, let each Knight/Beltline make that decision for themselves. If a person finds them being offered ( or having accepted) a belt into a so called "Squiremaker" line, they can always politely decline, or return the belt., same goes for a squire/maa/page who finds they don't have enough attention from their Knight.

Talisin

Why, exactly, do people keep trying to regulate this? It's one of those topics of discussion that never freaking dies and nothing ever changes. Since squires (as previously mentioned) get no real in-game privileges, and the knight/squire relationships are between individuals, who CARES if some tard decides to squire 20,000 of their closest friends? Quantity does not equal quality, in either direction, and things like that will take care of themselves. Those 20,000 squires probably won't be taken seriously, and I can't see any truly quality individuals being happy in such a situation for very long.

If they are, it's likely because the whole thing is no more than a belt to them and chances are that's all they want. Let 'em. Those 20,000 squires don't affect my relationship with my squires or make it any more or less than what it is. Why waste time and energy worrying about it?

On Squirehood

Randall

It's a mark of respect in some places. I know several people who I believe deserve to be squires, not because they might learn something but because they're the sort of people who ought to be squires. That's why it's so maddening when some chud gets given a red belt.

Little Raven

It sits heavy on a person, sometimes. It's something that tells others, hey, look at this person. Whether or not they deserve it is another matter entirely, but it's something that says to others, here I am. Look at me. And whether you want to or not, they're going to look at you.

Weezicus

I've seen problems with people because they view it as a symbol of status, and I dislike that notion. Some say you become part of the junior "good-ol' boys", but that comes with your viewpoint, attitude, and prior relationship of Knights. I see squirehood as someone taking a vested interest in you and your success, and that it shows to others that you want to succeed. It also shows to some that you are willing to help out in whatever way possible, which could get you roped into additional service-work.

Jynx Mercades

I find that my greatest times were being a Squire. It's a time when you start to shape yourself, with some mentorship from one's knight, into a future leader and someone the society as a whole can start to see -AS- one of those who are worthy to be a Knight. Many times those men and women will stumble, they'll falter a little. But those Squires who stand back up after that kind of embarassment are the ones who truely go on to shine and become one of the Knights of Amtgard.