The bards bathed back to back. Scrubbing firmly, and running fingers through wet hair. The two men were relaxed in the water. It was a mutual moment of tranquility, now that the old gaffer had stopped singing. Even the headache of his hangover seemed dull now, in the quiet water. Only the soft splashings of their bathing, the gentle waves against the old dock, and the pitter-patter of modest rain could be heard.

            "Eliash, we've got to purchase a canoe this afternoon."

            "We got more than enough tips last night, unless you spent all those crownlets on that--" the eunuch stopped himself, On that whore. How insensitive of me.

            "She chose not to monger herself to me," Johm answered solemnly. "Took to me like I was some kind of prize."

            "Mm-hmm," Eliash replied.

            "Shouldn't have, cousin. Naieyle's sword'd make me more fruitless than you, if she found out."

            Eliash laughed high and softly, I should be more consoling, not laughing at his petty jest.

            Johm faced the Slough Inlet, while Eliash looked out across the marshy river as he wrung his mop of dark brown hair. The rain fell harder, then, torrentially intense.

            Then, the eunuch saw a face emerge from the water. He swore, he recognized it. It was unmistakable, how she gasped for air. A gasp he had seen before. Does she intend to toy with his addled memory of last night?

            "Is something wrong, El?"

            He had always felt that Johm was the protector of their troupe. His cousin's shoulders were broader and he had grown taller in adolescence. And Eliash's magical talents had no use in combat. Johm had protected him in bar fights and lyrical squabbles. Now, though, it was his turn.

            Her arms pulled her closer to them with every stroke.

            "Time to show that old man. Sing the first three verses of the Lied Upon Thee ballad," Eliash instructed. "Don't use your falsetto, though, so as not to grate our senses."

            "All right," Johm answered, with a reluctant tone of interrogation. He cleared his throat.

            Rain fell all around them. The temperature was dropping.

            "Yoo-ou liii-ied upoo-on me-ee," he began, "And yoo-ou to-oold me-ee, Tha-at yo-oou lo-ove me-ee!"

            With his cousin distracted, the eunuch made firm eye contact with her as her face came up for breath. The sounds of her splashing were muffled by the downpour, and the singing.

            "Yeet, I he-eard it ii-in your voooiice," Johm continued, his voice rising in a crescendo, "Sa-aw ii-in your eyes, yoo-our choo-oice!"

            She stopped her breaststroke, and stood in the water a few feet away.

            A loon called out in the distance, and the rain kept falling without mercy.

            Eliash cocked his head to one side.

            "Yo-ou too-old me it was no-othing though I kne-eew you'd liii-iied upon me! Kne-eew you'd lied to-oo me!" Tears welled up in Johm's eyes, as he looked out at the empty beach-side houses. The rain washed them away.

            The eunuch drew his smile slyly up to one side, and pretended to be happy to see her. One shot at this.

            She walked towards them, slowly, the water up past her breasts. Her smile met his, and she moved her eyes to the naked back behind him.

            He shifted his stance, moving towards her, into deep water. Eliash had a diminutive height, thus only his head was above the water. Indeed, that is her.

            "Yo-ou thought I woo-oould noo-oot knoo-ooow," Johm was now singing in top volume, his deep voice thick with emotion.

            Eliash's fist arched out of the water, and slammed forcefully into the side of her head. His other hand was already covering her throat in case she screamed.

            She lost her balance and her consciousness, then fell up to the surface where she floated like a waterlogged tree.

            And as his cousin kept singing, the eunuch placed one foot against the edge of a rock, and then pushed off with it. In doing so, he pushed the floating body away, towards the shadows beneath the old dock. No more will you come between Johm and Naieyle!

            "Aaa-and now you woo-oonde-er why I'm go-g-g-g-gone."

            "Stop!" Eliash said as he dog-paddled around Johm's side. "You remembered the lyrics perfectly. And we wrote that how long ago?"

            "Two years ago," Johm answered. "Why the sudden nostalgia?"

            "I don't know," Eliash lied. "Boredom, I guess."

            And the wench of the slough floated calmly in the shadowy reeds below the old pier.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Basic Information
- Foreword
- Major Characters
- Minor Characters (Incomplete)
- Symbolism (Incomplete)
- Relevant Geography
- Miscellaneous Details
- Cryptic Notes

BASIC INFORMATION

TITLE: Fencing Fame's Fiance
INTENDED LENGTH: Novel
GENRE: Medieval Fantasy Romance & Adventure
NARRATIVE MODE: Third Person Limited Omniscient
AUDIENCE: It's for teen and adult readers. Rates at about PG13 right now. However, it might easily get Mature rating, depending upon how it unfolds. Right now, there are sexual undertones that aren't very subtle, and some fantasy violence which hasn't gotten graphic yet.

Chapter titles are to be triple alliterations of sorts, as the first half dozen suggest. Double entendres and other witticisms are preferred, but not necessary.



ANYTHING BELOW THIS POINT CONTAINS POTENTIAL SPOILERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.


FOREWORD

None of this information is set in stone. However, that does not include that which recapitulates what is already written. And writers are not limited to pre-existing characters and towns on these lists. They are mostly just to help keep track of aforementioned things.


MAJOR CHARACTERS

Naieyle von Haeville
- Pale-Skinned, Female, Heterosexual, Bald, Age 18
- Trained by the renowned Forest Fencers
- Niece of Baron Armatre of Haeville.
- Engaged to Johm.
- Is developing ardor towards Allerk
- Killed Celinde's husband.
- Naieyle is bald, and has a collection of wigs. This is part of her trade, which occasionally demands quite a bit of deception. It is yet unclear what keeps the wigs on her head in a fight. And there's probably some strange rune tatooed on her skull.
- She was inspired by this music video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hv7Vl0RbBI

Allerk ibn Gerauhd
- Tan-Skinned, Male, Heterosexual, Black Hair, Age 13
- This is not his real name.
- Prince, but not crown prince, of a southern country. He guards this secret.
- He is to be the adoptive heir for his uncle, the king of Lakeland. However, the queen takes the throne because of Lakeland's racism towards the tan-skinned king.
- Thus, if his brother dies, he will grow up to be king of two countries.
- The King of Lakeland takes 'sapa', an extract of freshly squeezed grapes boiled in lead vats. This is to pale his skin. It also makes him infertile, hence the lack of an heir. (This is also used by Marlew von Slough.)
- Ibn means 'son of' in Arabic names.
- Allerk hides his identity in paranoid fear of a racist killing. His first contact with a Qurystal is to grant him powers over the water.
- He is to face an arranged marriage to a young maiden upon arrival in Crownlake. She will meet him prior, when Naieyle is charged by Sir Brutan with protecting the young girl.

Johm von Haeville
- White-Skinned, Male, Heterosexual, Red Hair, Age 18
- Traveling troubadour with his cousin, Eliash.
- Engaged to Naieyle.
- Unknowingly bought a shard of Qurystal, thinking it was a diamond. He had it set in the engagement bracelet.
- The Qurystal has granted Johm a great deal of strength and charisma. It stems mostly from vanity.
- Johm has a close-range telepathic link with Eliash.
- Johm's father is a fugitive.

Eliash von Haeville
- White-Skinned, Male, Bisexual, Brown Hair, Age 19
- Johm's eunuch companion, a fellow bard and his cousin.
- The two play shawm and fagotti (oboe and bassoon) interchangeably. The eunuch is responsible for widdling the double-reeds from boiled stalks of bamboo.
- He is able to magically read the emotions of a crowd, and thus manipulates them through the music. Feelings, not thoughts, are what he reads.
- Possesses supernatural hearing.
- Possesses a close-range telepathic link with Johm.

Marlew von Slough
- White-Skinned, Female, Heterosexual, Brown Hair (Dyed Blond Sometimes), Age 21
- A prostitute from the Slough Inlet
- Taken a strong liking to Johm.
- She is to become a traveling companion of Naieyle and Allerk.
- She is anaemic and infertile, because of the amount of sapa she ingests. This boiled extract of grape juice gives her a pale complexion, and acts as a contraceptive; thanks to the lead vats in which it is boiled.
- Possesses supernatural sight.

Sir Brutan Windsmire
- Male, Age 30-60
- A deadly servant of the palace.
- He has enlisted Naieyle, in hopes that she will be the personal body guard of the soon-to-arrive crown prince. (Allerk)
- He has also enlisted Eliash and Johm, because he recognizes their powers of manipulation over a crowd. The intent is to use them to control the courts of Crownlake.
- Brutan wears a gray cloak and a grim face.
- He may or may not have a liking for saffron-haired prostitutes. And he may or may not enlist them to the brothels of Crownlake.
- He follows his charges in the shadows, ready and eager to kill them should they stray from their allegiance to the crown.

Celinde von Broche
- White-Skinned, Female, Heterosexual, Gray Hair, Age 66
- The Banshee Bard of Broche is a vengeful old woman.
- Wife of the slaver that Naieyle killed.
- She intends to stalk the fencer until she has an opportune moment for vengeance.

Rossel Windsmire von Gabe
- Male, Heterosexual, Age 16-20
- Saves the injured Celinde after her run-in with that mean and nasty fencer.
- Takes an interest in Marlew's beauty.
- Plans to keep Marlew from getting in the way of Johm's engagement.
- Enlists Naieyle and Allerk as travelling companions to take a large egg to Crownlake.
- Distantly related to Sir Brutan Windsmire

MINOR CHARACTERS (incomplete)

The Slaver: Celinde is his widow. He was killed by Naieyle in the second chapter, The Slaver's Slit at Slough.

Marlew's Grandfather: He appears in Bathing Beau & Bodice, and Quartz-Quelled Quandary. It is implied that he disposes of Marlew's stillborn fetal corpses with the same magic that summons the creatures of the variety that attacked Naieyle in the first chapter.

The king of Lakeland: Allerk's father. Political marriage. From the south. Faces racism. Does not rule over the country, because of this. However, he ingests sapa to pale himself. This has led to his infertility, which has left the queen without an heir.


SYMBOLISM (incomplete)

Black and red birds, namely the cardinal and the red-wing blackbird, have been used as omens to foreshadow doom.

The wildlife have been used to fill in the world around the story and give a sense of nature. However, they're actions and reactions often have some subtle connection to what is going on in the heart of the story.

Rossel's tugging of his earrings doesn't mean much yet, but it can easily be twisted into something we can interpret and use as symbolism. Maybe something to do with his wealth and insecurities?


RELEVANT GEOGRAPHY

Broche
A marshy boardwalk town, origin of the smokesacks and the Banshee Bard. It thrives upon rice-farming.

Haeville
The center of a rural farming community, run by Baron Armatre. There is a nearby lake, however it is not part of the network of lakes, rivers and portages that stretch from the Slough Inlet to the blighted foothills on Lakeland Kingdom's northern border.

Slough Inlet
A small port town on the south edge of the network of lakes. It is a modest town, which thrives upon the ebb and flow of travelers.

Crown Lake
The lake itself is run-off from a mountain glacier, that has filled a circular, crown-like crater upon the mountain's bottom edge.

Mount Crownlake
This is the tallest mountain in the land. It is a landmark over central Lakeland Kingdom. It towers above the clouds, into five peaks and an uninhabited sky island. However, few go up that high... and survive.

Crownlake City
The bustling capital city of the Lakeland Kingdom is perched around the rocky edges of Crown Lake. It has a castle.


MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS

The diamond on the engagement bracelet is the world's tiniest Qurystal.

Merfoxes, yet to be depicted explicitly, are some kind of scale-tailed, flipperless mix between a fox and a dolphin.

The plan is for the travel to Crownlake to play out much as any sword-and-sorcery journey, but with a tent-setting, canoe-tripping, portage-taking medium. That's the standard.

The currency of Lakeland, crownlets, are metal coins shaped like crowns, diadems and circlets. Some are hollow in the middle, while others are not. The symbol is ALT 0128, a 'C' with two lines through it.

I will record, here, the values of all the coins. But first, I must re-read.


CRYPTIC NOTES THAT DYS KEEPS HERE BECAUSE HE'S TOO LAZY TO OPEN A TEXT FILE

The Laughing Loon's Lode
Looting a Lewd Load

updated Jul 31 by Dysphemism