I'm seriously tempted to do enough research to put together an Etruscan persona for the SCA. As far as I can tell, my limited sewing skills would mean I could make my own garb, and hello pre-1920s women's lib.
Though I still want a Japanese persona, and a Viking one. And Elizabethan clothes, though not really the persona. Just the pretties. (None of which I have the sewing skills for just yet, BUT I plan to take classes next spring. We'll see. I'm practicing bits and pieces by letting out old yukata right now.)
Want want want want want. Oy.
So. Etruscans spoke a Greek-ish dialect, but were on the Italian peninsula in the 5th and 6th centuries (and before that, as the early Romans did a lot of borrowing from them while turning their noses up at the fact that woman drank with men in the same room *gasp!*), and by 600 had been taken over by the Romans. Ravenna was part of Etruria, and has been a major site throughout, so there's a possible surname/byname there if I can find the linguistic documentation.
Vikings -- I really need to dig up a cohesive history of Norway, because the national costume(s - they vary by region) is a fascinating thing, but probably not much more recent than 1800-ish, though a later period Norwegian persona could be potentially quite fun. My limited Scandinavian knowledge, heritage notwithstanding, comes to a shuddering halt with the 12th century. Oops.
Japan -- this one I can do; I've got the lingo (mostly), the clothes (mostly), and the historical nerd-degree and hobbies to pull off a late 16th century upper middle (merchant) class or lower noblewoman persona, and still fit in the Sado/Chado (someone, someday, will tell me which one is in common use now, because I hear differently every flippin' time it comes up, including academic texts) hobby. Though my tea kit will need some outfitting to handle travel and camping. I suspect I'll be raiding the local Marukai for pottery selections and a less-expensive tetsubin.
Oddly enough, I'm finding I'm not interested as much in the 11th-12th-13th century English/French/Norman areas as I used to be (though the clothes look good on me, and the veil - if I can ever get it to lay right - hides my hideously modern-yet-overgrown pixie cut). Short hair in the Viking area was, sadly, a sign of servitude and bondage, so no dice there. [I'm finding wigs aren't quite as dreadful as they're made out to be by others, though.]
I am hoping to have this all figured out soon; I suspect I'm going to go with a "main" Viking persona, and an alternate Japanese persona (because as much as I like to think I have thick skin, I don't - it's paper thin and I have a short temper, so naysayers would drive me batty in short order. Also, there aren't many that I've seen, locally, and I'm not so good with the stand-out-in-a-crowd feeling.). And if I could just figure out a NAME I liked well enough to register with my device, I'd be good to go. Oy. I suspect there aren't any medieval versions of my modern name, and while I'll answer to "Kitty," that, too, is probably not going to pass the local herald. Huh. Doubly aggravating that the names I like are of people I know, so it would be MORE than awkward to try and find something similar.
And one of these days, whether I figure out my persona or not, I WILL manage a T-tunic with gores. I will. (Scary! *hides*)
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